NHL Season 08-09

[Sepukku]

I hope Scuds or Brooks gives Hossa a big fuckin helping of boarding with a side of Injured Reserve list.

Its funny the Rangers fans were so energetic in overtime and acting like they were the greatest fans on Earth (and the Rangers played along with this, saluting the crowd after the shootout), when they were booing their team throughout the final 5 minutes of the 2nd period and briefly again during the early stages of the 3rd.

[Ivaden]

I want Hal Gill to crush Hossa, but that's just because Hal is like an inch taller than me and I can envision myself doing it easier. Tickets for that game are already fucking ridiculously priced, wish I could get some though. Wouldn't be surprised if they set up the jumbotron outside of the arena for that one. F section on Ticketmaster last time I looked were like $175 lol, yeah, no thanks.

[Sepukku]

Yeah! My friends are lucky, 3 of them are going, but it cost them $100 apiece. Oh well, I'm student rushing the Flyers game November 13th later that week, which should be just as good.

[BadKarma]

I hope Scuds or Brooks gives Hossa a big fuckin helping of boarding with a side of Injured Reserve list.

Its funny the Rangers fans were so energetic in overtime and acting like they were the greatest fans on Earth (and the Rangers played along with this, saluting the crowd after the shootout), when they were booing their team throughout the final 5 minutes of the 2nd period and briefly again during the early stages of the 3rd.

They played like absolute shit for the last half of the 1st and all of the 2nd period. It's new york, they play like shit they get booed. They play like they're on crack they get cheered. Actually, reason they got booed is because of no effort in the play and flat out laziness.

[Oxyminus]

I hope Scuds or Brooks gives Hossa a big fuckin helping of boarding with a side of Injured Reserve list.

Its funny the Rangers fans were so energetic in overtime and acting like they were the greatest fans on Earth (and the Rangers played along with this, saluting the crowd after the shootout), when they were booing their team throughout the final 5 minutes of the 2nd period and briefly again during the early stages of the 3rd.

how could we not be energetic after a comeback like that? the place was still buzzing from Zherdev's goal. the boo's in the 2nd were from the team looking lost on a 2 minute 5-3...which was inexcusable to walk away without one goal. there actually wasn't any booing in the 3rd. the crowd was very behind the team which had picked up its play significantly.

and for the record, the Rangers salute the home crowd after EVERY home win. they've been doing that the entire post-lockout era. them doing it lastnight was nothing special.

[Sepukku]

The only salute the Rangers fans deserved was the Stone Cold Salute. That crowd was like all the fair-weather 17 year old girls who claim to be Pens fans now that we're kicking ass the past season and a half. They know nothing about wearing jerseys to high school despite the team playing for the top lottery pick and the days of endless propaganda about how the likes of Milan Kraft, Rico Fata, and Colby Armstrong are going to be the cornerstones for turning the franchise around. Real fans don't stop cheering no matter what.

I'm sorry, New York fans are a joke. The Yankees brethren are the only ones who do it right. Jets fans, Giants fans, Mets fans, Islanders fans, Rangers fans, Knicks fans, all do it wrong. You can point to attendance figures or whatever all you want, its not hard to fill a stadium when you have 6 million people and limitless tourists to sell to. New York fans need to come down south a little and wear their jersey to a NYR-PHI or NYR-PIT game, or wear something like a Browns jersey to a Steelers game or a Cowboys jersey to an Eagles game. God help me, I hate Philadelphia, they play dirty, and their fans are ignorant and barbaric, but at least they're passionate, diehard fans who do it right.

[Oxyminus]

The only salute the Rangers fans deserved was the Stone Cold Salute. That crowd was like all the fair-weather 17 year old girls who claim to be Pens fans now that we're kicking ass the past season and a half. They know nothing about wearing jerseys to high school despite the team playing for the top lottery pick and the days of endless propaganda about how the likes of Milan Kraft, Rico Fata, and Colby Armstrong are going to be the cornerstones for turning the franchise around. Real fans don't stop cheering no matter what.

I'm sorry, New York fans are a joke. The Yankees brethren are the only ones who do it right. Jets fans, Giants fans, Mets fans, Islanders fans, Rangers fans, Knicks fans, all do it wrong. You can point to attendance figures or whatever all you want, its not hard to fill a stadium when you have 6 million people and limitless tourists to sell to. New York fans need to come down south a little and wear their jersey to a NYR-PHI or NYR-PIT game, or wear something like a Browns jersey to a Steelers game or a Cowboys jersey to an Eagles game. God help me, I hate Philadelphia, they play dirty, and their fans are ignorant and barbaric, but at least they're passionate, diehard fans who do it right.

*yawn* you bore me. how is your haterade tasting?

basically saying you're saying being a violent fan to opposition fans makes a better fan? I'm not going to defend the "suit" element that is present at Rangers games, and probably any other sporting event in NYC and other major markets. but the true core Rangers fanbase is as good as it gets. sure we boo from time to time, because we're frustrated when the team isn't playing as well as they should. but we also endlessly cheer when their effort is clearly at the level it should be, regardless of the score. you're just throwing generalizations for the sake thereof, and that's cool. I know my fandom so it doesn't really need to be defended to you.

at the end of the day. you're just upset because lastnight our big guys showed up when it mattered most, and yours didn't. Lundqvist got crosby twice in OT, and again in the shootout. oh yeah and...this guy!!!

[Sepukku]

lolwut

[Oxyminus]

that was last season. this season is this season. last I checked we're 1-0 against the pens this year. all your trip to the finals, and beating by the wings got you was losing malone, hossa ditching your ass to the wings, and the prospects and picks you gave up to get him.

congrats on your eastern conference championship banner. celebrate losing all day long.

[Sepukku]

Wow, you're 1-0-0 against us this year. You beat us last year in the regular season too, and look what that did for you

All that got for you was the loss of Shanahan, Straka, and Jagr going overseas to cast a fatal voodoo spell on one of your best prospects.

[Oxyminus]

we didn't lose shanahan, straka, or Jagr.

we opted to not resign them because it was time for the team to overhaul the roster to become a faster and younger team and address the fact that the guard needed to be changed. Drury and Gomez were brought in last season to be the new core of the team. the moves made, or not made this offseason were an extension of that.

and by the way, bringing up someone actually dying, which is clearly much larger than a sports rivalry is really classy.

[Sepukku]

All I can say is, wow, what a cop out.

[Oxyminus]

I talk about the game....you switch to fan bashing...to which you go back to the pens winning in the playoffs. to which you go on to someone actually dying.

I'm copping out?

get the fuck out of here until you're ready to talk about hockey. actually stay the fuck out of here until you can carry a decent discussion.

[Sepukku]

Calling me unclassy for bringing up some nobody's death is a cop out. I'm not paying some future superstar one more ounce of mourning than I do every anonymous person in Africa whose died in the time we've been bickering. I don't care if he's soon-to-be-rich. I don't care if he's good at sports. Celebrities and athletes are spoiled little shits and I won't treat them to the same conditions everyone else does. When we hear on the news "2 people died in a car crash," we think "same old, same old" and don't get sad over it. But some nobody I heard of once a year and a half ago who is good at playing a sport with wooden sticks and vulcanized rubber dies, and I'm supposed to be broken up over it?

As far as talking hockey goes, we will go farther than you this year. Garunteed. And you can quote me on this 20 pages down the road in this thread come April if your Rangers go farther in the playoffs than my Penguins. Barring Crosby or Malkin being out during the playoffs, we will go farther than you.

There's also talks of us doing a Hossa-like trade for Gaborik. It could potentially cost us Jordan Staal (either in the trade or if we managed to sign Gaborik in the offseason instead of Staal), but I think it'd be worth it. The jury isn't out on Staal yet, as he had a brilliant rookie year but then regressed this past season. His performance this year, while back at his natural position, will determine his future with the Penguins as well as the length and amount in his contract with whomever he does sign with (RFA this summer).

Additionally, the Hossa deal wasn't that bad, even with only having Hossa for 3 months. Getting Pascal Dupius and Hal Gill for Esposito (who has 2nd-3rd line center potential TOPS) and the 31st draft pick in this past (weak) draft is hardly a bad deal. Losing Erik Christiansen and Colby Armstrong is no big deal at all, they're viewed as a joke here now, especially Colby. Colby was good for 2 things only... and neither of them were on the ice. He was Crosby's best friend and he attracted much swooning of the previously mentioned 17 year old girls. That's it. He had one good season here, the first year Crosby was here when we still had nobody and he played the season on Crosby's top line and jokingly, even the power play. But lets face it. Even you or I could put in 5-10 goals a year taking passes from Crosby.

[Oxyminus]

I'm not asking you to be broken up about it. The biggest issue I've had about Cherepanov's death is everyone I know knows me as their token "Hockey fan friend" and thus when once or twice a year a big hockey story pops up, they insist on asking me about it. why should I care more about a hockey player than a person?You're right in that nobody should be more broken up about his death just because he played hockey. for everytime I hear someone say how now the rangers need to replenish their farm now, and how to do it, it makes me sick because they're trivializing that Alexei Cherepanov was a real person, not just a hockey player. ultimately it deserves as much, or as little attention/respect as anyone else who dies in a tragedy. so for you to bring it up to "one up" in a discussion for the lulz, and trivialize it, is classless.

You clearly know your prospects and players better than I do. so I wont argue with you on their quality. but ultimately deals like that are made to win a cup, or at least in hopes you'll lock down the player in question with a good contract. you guys accomplished neither one. so I wouldn't get all happy about it getting you to the finals, all it did was get Hossa acquainted with his new team.

as far as making a trade for Gaborik... basically eveyone has been to some degree discussed as being in talks with minny, since they've openly said he's already on the market. I don't see how you make that trade though. for one, I don't know what you're offering up as far as prospects are concerned. But more importantly, do you have the cap space to re-sign Gaborik? He's making 6.3mil this season, and logic says he is going to command at least that if he goes UFA this summer. and do you want to lock up that much money on a fairly injury prone player?

edit: Rangers are still working on many things this season. Drury and Naslund are still not going. lastnight it was very evident that Gomez is pushing to the fact that once he gains the zone, he is being collapsed by 4 defenders, and he fires a shot instead of slowing the play down and giving his teammates an opportunity to get into the play. The PP is still obviously a joke. but with all this they're still finding ways to win. I'll take a 8-2-1 start from a team that is clearly not clicking on all cylinders yet. We're going further than the Pens in the playoffs this year. book it.

[Sepukku]

We managed to offer Hossa 7.1 somehow, and if Staal was gone (and Gonchar gone in 1 more season, likely, with how Goligoski and Letang have stepped up) I don't see how we couldn't do 8-mil'ish it at least, as according to hastily googled ESPN/Yahoo sports articles, Staal is costing us 2.2 Mil towards the cap this year since it accounts potential bonuses. Fedotenko and Satan are on short deals too, I'm pretty sure. Gaborik is indeed injury prone, somewhat, but God help me, the idea of him and Crosby together makes me shake with excitement. What he lacks in defensive two-way play, he more than makes up for with speed and offensive skills over Hossa. He is just so damn fast.

If anything, I'd want to see some dedication to team play from him. He seems pretty self-centered. Jagr/Ovechkin/Malkin-ish. If he took less than somewhere else to play with us, I'd be happy to sign him in the offseason.

[Oxyminus]

next season the Pens have 14.1M coming off the books by way of Fedotenko, Satan, Sykora, Staal, Talbot, Kennedy, Thomas, Sydor, Gil, Goligoski, Scuderi, and Sabourin.

Could you fit Gaborik for 8mil? technically yeah, but that doesn't make it a good signing. Thats 11 roster spots (and you figure one of Fedotenko, Satan, or Sykora would then not be back) to fill with ~6mil to do it. thats about 600k per player, and some of these guys right now are already getting in excess of 2mil and not taking into account your young guys on this list, upon completion of their rookie contracts are going to be looking for raises. in short, thats bad salary managing, in my opinion. especially considering he is injury prone and a purely one-way player. sure offensively the idea of Gaborik flanking Crosby is compelling, but it's probably a pipe dream, at least outside of a one season rental. anyway, a Gaborik deal is not likely since he's on IR which makes him hard to move.

[Sepukku]

Sydor is so ridiculously done its not even funny. Thomas is scrap material, he just randomly pops in the lineup once a month somehow. Where does he come from? The AHL? The Phoenix Coyotes? The ninja turtles sewer hideout? I don't know.

There would be an assumption that it would cost us both Staal's resigning and one of the three you mentioned.

That leaves Sabo, Kennedy, Talbot, Goligoski, Gil, Scuderi, and 2 of the 3 wingers. Kennedy, Talbot, and Goligoski all will be cheap. Scuderi and Gil I expect can get a couple mil per year. Satan just turned 34, and Gil is in his 30s, so I don't see them potentially getting more than a year or two. Gil I can see even taking a pay cut, he loves this team it seems. It certainly would be tricky, but not impossible. Possibly a back-loaded contract, like 6 mil the first year or two, and then going up to 8-8.7 mil (but of course not exceeding Malkin and Crosby's 8.7 mil.) for the last 1-3 years. We managed to give one to Hossa, I see no reason why we cannot manage it again. Our office has been very good at both drafting and handling the salary cap and contract negotiations, I have faith in them.

[Oxyminus]

That's just not a signing I make. I don't think Gaborik is in the league of Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Lecavalier. Close, but not worth 8mil+ in my opinion. not for a guy who's best season was 42+41 in 77 games...good numbers yeah, but not 8mil+ numbers. especially if you're expecting him not to play any defense, any probably only play 65-70 games a year

[Sepukku]

I just think from watching 3.2 years now of Crosby turning lead into gold with the wingers around him, Gaborik tops those numbers even if he plays ten games less than that 77 game campaign.