2012 NHL Offseason Thread: ROCK OUT WITH YOUR LOCKOUT

[Selamis]

On a sidenote, Chris Mason is instantly my second favorite goalie because he has a fucking awesome Eddie (Iron maiden) mask

http://ingoalmag.com/news/iron-maide...ashville-mask/

That is p. awesome, however I wonder if he has to seek the approval of Iron Maiden to use that image since I'm sure they, or their record company has it copywrited.

[Thoronas]

Yes but I doubt Tambilini and Lowe would have gone the rebuild route with no 1st rounders. They'd probably be making aggressive trades and sitting around the #9-12 spot for the past few years.

So basically they'd be the Flames.

[Richybear]

Yes but I doubt Tambilini and Lowe would have gone the rebuild route with no 1st rounders. They'd probably be making aggressive trades and sitting around the #9-12 spot for the past few years.

Ok, true enough. But then that leads to this:
For trade bait, they'd have no first rounders left, as they'd have gone to Buffalo.
Shawn Horcoff - Who for $5.7m or whatever the shit overpayment he got, isn't gonna bring in much at all. Not until Milbury is a GM again.
Ales Hemsky - For years the media tried to hype him up here as he was our ghetto version of Datsyuk. Uh, no.
Dustin Penner - It depends which Dustin Penner shows up on each night, what a team would think he's worth.
Ryan Smyth - Heart and soul guy who got overpaid by Colorado, but you'd wanna hang onto him, as you know he's gonna bust his ass each night.
Sam Gagner - We'd still have him left from the 2007 Draft, but he'd be our only first rounder (unless we made deals) between then and now. But what are you gonna possibly get for him?
Robert Nilsson - LOL
Andrew Cogliano - Speed for days, but that's about it.
Sheldon Souray - "Anyone want a guy who can shoot 15734 mph, but miss a soccer net from 3 feet away? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?"
Patrick O'Sullivan - He made the Oilers, but can't even crack Phoenix's lineup. That says a ton about how pathetic the roster was here for a couple years

So aside from grinders, and 1st liners on this roster, that'd be 2nd liners at best on any other team, it's not like you could be overly aggressive. No picks to really throw in the mix, as even a high 2nd rounder isn't gonna get you terribly much. The team would look older, haggard, and as was said, Flames v 2.0. "Oh look, they're gonna hang onto Jar .. er Ryan Smyth like he's gonna help them. That's cute. " To top it off, it's like 99.9999% of players have their NMC/NTC deals, and if a team like "Hey, are the Oilers on your list of potential teams?" it'd be met with "hahahahahahaha... oh, you were serious. Ummm... lemme think... Nope."

[Vaspinne]

So basically they'd be the Flames.

It's... it's too true to actually be insulting in any way, lol

The good news is that Calgary doesn't have as much of a hard time attracting players I would hope, what with being the 5th most livable city IN THE WORLD!!!












...FU Toronto and Vancouver at 4th and 3rd respectably. Which is hypocritical of me as I currently live in V-city

[Deader2818]

Wow, the NHLPA's offer is basically as joke as well. This is going to get ugly.

[bluefan]

After the year the Jets come back we have to deal with this now

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

[Thoronas]

Wow, the NHLPA's offer is basically as joke as well. This is going to get ugly.

Did more details come out or that just your opinion from the overall summary so far?

Edit: Are you referring to this? http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/...g-program.html

[Deader2818]

Nah, was from TSN here http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=403145

According to TSN hockey analyst Aaron Ward, the offer also calls for a limit on 'non-player' spending such as costs for head coaching, front office and management payrolls.

In addition, the union's proposal suggests - at the discretion of both the NHL and NHLPA on a case-by-case basis - giving extra draft picks to teams in financial trouble.

The players' offer also allows for franchises in distress under special circumstances to be permitted to trade or sell up to $4 million in cap space to another team - giving the team a way of adding another 'paycheque.'

[Ace-o-fire]

Nah, was from TSN here http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=403145

According to TSN hockey analyst Aaron Ward, the offer also calls for a limit on 'non-player' spending such as costs for head coaching, front office and management payrolls.

I don't know how i feel about this. sure i could see head coaches and assistant coaches, but you start putting a limit on other aspects of the front office then you are limiting the growth of the franchises.

I'm mostly thinking about the wings since they are always throwing former players on their staff, so if you put a limit on this then you are limiting the franchise's ability to grow overtime through members of their organization taking part in their team after they have retired.

[Sepukku]

How is that a bad offer? Players have to submit to stricter limitations on their potential pay, they're not out of their right to ask that there be accountability on costs for other non-player hockey personnel.

And the other 2 options are at least attempts to address what the NHL Owners are crying over (small market teams not being able to afford talent) - and the owners have 0 suggestions themselves to fix it other than "you have to legally require us to stop giving the money we keep giving to you."

I'm not crazy about bad ideas, but at least proposing bad ideas are a step in the right direction for good ideas.

[Sepukku]

As far as Im concerned the owners are still way out of line and are the guilty party if there are games missed this fall.

[Deader2818]

the selling cap space part is the dumbest part of it all really.

[Ace-o-fire]

the selling cap space part is the dumbest part of it all really.

Depending... obviously sending it to a higher profile team is a shitty idea, but having the ability as a team that rebuilding being able to sell off some space for a year doesn't seem that far-fetched. and it allows the teams that are on the edge of being playoff contenders to make one or two moves that they could play into their favor.

I would like it to see a max of one year on cap space selling, otherwise it'll get out of hand quick.

[Sepukku]

It would definitely need to include a limit by purchaser, not a limit by seller. EX: NYI could sell off $9m in 3 $3m chunks to contenders, but a contender like CHI, PIT, or PHI cannot acquire $9mil cap space in $3m chunks from NYI, ANA, and TB.

But see, this is creative brainstorms of solutions already - more than the owners ever attempted. Also, theres the one solution no one in the NHL offices wants to admit....if you don't want struggling teams in markets not embracing hockey.... don't put teams in southern USA tropical climate cities. Even worse, don't put them there against high end sporting alternatives.

THE DALLAS STARS CAN'T KEEP FANS SHOWING UP DURING COWBOYS SEASON?! GET THE FUCK OUT, NO WAY!

[Palin]

The selling cap space has a pretty small limit on which a team can exceed for a season from what I recall. Something like 2-3 mil. Trading for cash is stupid though, the PA is stupid for suggesting it.

don't put teams in southern USA tropical climate cities. Even worse, don't put them there against high end sporting alternatives.

What was Boston, Pittsburgh, and Washington's excuse then? Every US team except MIN struggles with attendance when they're doing poorly.

[Sepukku]

The selling cap space has a pretty small limit on which a team can exceed for a season from what I recall. Something like 2-3 mil. Trading for cash is stupid though, the PA is stupid for suggesting it.



What was Boston, Pittsburgh, and Washington's excuse then? Every US team except MIN struggles with attendance when they're doing poorly.

Boston - Disagree with me or not, Bruins is still only the 4th best team in town with Brady-era Patriots, Celtics, and Red Sox.

Pittsburgh - Steelers is just as stiff competition as the Dallas Stars in terms of how insane the football popularity is and Pittsburgh isn't exactly a disposable-income-loaded city for fans to give their money to 3-4 teams + college sports like they might do in So Cal or NYC.

Washington - Washington isn't a sports town, yeah I went there.

You're right in your assessment that wins and fans do have a correlation, but you're lying to yourself if you say you don't honestly acknowledge the southern teams are fighting an uphill battle every year that they stay there. It seems like the fans jump off ship quicker when the wins dry up and take more time to warm up to a newly winning team.

[Palin]

Nah I'd agree with you, the Southern teams have it a bit harder with the bandwagon falling on or off. But hockey is such a niche sport in America that any town can experience the same thing Dallas has. Hell even 2 years ago in NYC (when the Rangers were just medicore) I noticed MSG was not even close to full on weekday nights against non-top teams.

I don't think the propping up bad franchise thing has much to do with location unless its a systematic issue like Phoenix's arena being in Glendale. 5 Years ago Colorado and Dallas were some of the highest grossing teams in revenue in the NHL. In Dallas's case, only when Hicks when retarded and bankrupt did the on-ice product suffer, and thus the fans disappeared. Markets in Nashville, Dallas, Tampa and even Sunrise have shown they can be successful under the right conditions.

Anyways, I agree with the PA that the answer to it all is a better revenue sharing program, so that in 5 years when the new "struggling US bottomfeeder" goes in the red the system is there to break the fall.

[Wulfgang]

The cap space trade thing is interesting because it is probably the only thing large and small market teams would agree upon; Wyshnyski (sp) on PD talked about it today. Not going to be a huge impact regardless. At least the PA didn't rock a counter-proposal as absurd as the owners' original one. We'll see, but I think we lose preseason + 15 games.

[Ace-o-fire]

Lose pre-season and end up with a 60 game season is what i'm thinking.

Either way, if they players where smart they should hold out for a 8-10+ contract so they/we dont have to go through this shit every 5 years. and it would be smart for them because every damn time there is a contract dispute owners want the players have less and less cash. so sign something long term would make the most sense for them.

[Ishido]

The PA's offer is very similar to the NHL's in terms of "this will not happen."

Also trading cap space, buying draft picks, are all terrible ideas. Trading cap space is another method of cap circumvention, this time with a small benefit for the small market teams.

The PA is looking better at this point because they've come out with something in their proposal that attempts to remedy what is causing and will cause problems now and in the future. Revenue sharing is pretty much a must at this point. The PA is getting a lot of traction with the fans because it's a lot easier to identify with millionaire players than billionaire owners who are not skating around being seen, and they have a lot of good talking points, and are trying to address the issue.