NHL Season 08-09

[Thoronas]

Mark Eaton looks like he needs to bulk up. Someone pop a syringe in his ass.

[Arnwulf]

What, no one's going to say "OMG Cooke's hit on Ruutu was dirty and intentional!!!!"? Ok I'll say it, hehe.


(For the record I don't think it was, but I figured it fit in with the context of the Pens fans going nuts from the Ovechkin hit, which was obviously overblown considering Gonchar is playing just fine)

[Arnwulf]

Oh yeah, and after watching Game 1 of Pens-Canes, I definitely think the Canes will win, Fleury won't play like that every night and the Canes sure as heck will put that kind of offensive pressure up every game considering that's how they've been the whole post season so far.

[Abraxas]

well, cooke is a dirty player. its not surprising.

[Palin]

Ok I'm going to list some phrases that should never, ever, ever be spoken while you are broadcasting.

Scrambly Wambly
Frog's Tongue
Magic Puck
Happy Hands

Versus, pay some fucking attention to the fucking pinhead you have doing the broadcast. He's a fucking idiot. Get someone, anyone else, that isn't a fucking retard. kthxbai

That's Daryl "Razor" Reaugh, our color commentator over in Dallas. He can be off the wall sometimes, but he's really fun once you get used to him. He also is extremely knowledgeable of the game and is one of the most unbiased announcers I've heard throughout the league.

[Absolutely Virtue]

well, OVECHKIN is a dirty player. its not surprising.

fix'd

fucking thug

etc

(still bitter)

[Selamis]

You know, I really wish we had never signed Campbell....this guy is a freaking bum. Way to give up a 3 on 1 in god damned overtime, costing your team a win that they shoulda had because they played equal to, if not better than the Red Wings for most of the game. This is not the first time he's made a mistake that cost the Hawks a win. I've been on his case since the first ten games of the season after seeing him, and big whup, he can skate and do spin-o-ramas. How about shooting when you have an open net instead of wrapping around the net, or I don't know, not turning the puck over at the blue line. Hawks instantly have a huge hill to climb now because of this idiot. Gah.

/rantoff

[Lost]

You know, I really wish we had never signed Campbell....this guy is a freaking bum. Way to give up a 3 on 1 in god damned overtime, costing your team a win that they shoulda had because they played equal to, if not better than the Red Wings for most of the game. This is not the first time he's made a mistake that cost the Hawks a win. I've been on his case since the first ten games of the season after seeing him, and big whup, he can skate and do spin-o-ramas. How about shooting when you have an open net instead of wrapping around the net, or I don't know, not turning the puck over at the blue line. Hawks instantly have a huge hill to climb now because of this idiot. Gah.

/rantoff

lol no. If you wanna follow that logic it should been lopsided game with all the posts that the wings hit.

[Ishido]

I have to give it to Khabibulin, he's played much better than I expected and what his stats showed heading into the series. Chicago is also doing a great job at winning 50/50 pucks and controlling the puck, not letting Detroit clear.

Really hoping the Datsyuk/Hossa/Holmstrom line starts producing, they're playing well right now but have nothing to show for it.

[Dense]

I have to give it to Khabibulin, he's played much better than I expected and what his stats showed heading into the series.

This. Khabibulin is gaming. I'm surprised/impressed that the Hawks put up so many shot last night (although Babcock even admitted during the post-game, that the Wings needed a 2-day-break). If you look back at games 2 and 6 of the Anaheim series, you can see the same tiredness from the Wings. The Hawks really needed to win last night to make this a competitive series (imo). I think the Hawks will win on Friday, but the Wings will win one in Chicago.

[Brill Weave]

I must say I was eagerly anticipating news from the NHL saying that Cooke would have a disciplinary hearing since they didn't do it to Ovechkin. Apparently the NHL isn't concerned with their players well being.

[Norelco]

You know, I really wish we had never signed Campbell....this guy is a freaking bum. Way to give up a 3 on 1 in god damned overtime, costing your team a win that they shoulda had because they played equal to, if not better than the Red Wings for most of the game. This is not the first time he's made a mistake that cost the Hawks a win. I've been on his case since the first ten games of the season after seeing him, and big whup, he can skate and do spin-o-ramas. How about shooting when you have an open net instead of wrapping around the net, or I don't know, not turning the puck over at the blue line. Hawks instantly have a huge hill to climb now because of this idiot. Gah.

/rantoff

And now you know why the Sabres didn't want to give him a huge contract. It's GMs and owners such as yours and Kevin Lowe from Edmonton that have fucked up free angency.

[Brill Weave]

It's GMs and owners such as yours and Kevin Lowe from Edmonton that have fucked up free angency.

Oh my God, no. No, no, no, no. Kevin Lowe I agree with wholeheartedly. Dale Tallon is not in that category whatsoever. Look at their roster. More than half of it is home grown talent called up from the minors. This season on the Blackhawks roster are only five players that arrived via free agency. The only three that people would recognize are Brent Sopel, Cristobal Huet, and Brian Campbell. Sopel was a cheap deal and Huet reasonable. Campbell was a steep price and Buffalo simply did not want to spend that much money. Everyone else on their roster including Martin Havlat and Patrick Sharp arrived via trades. So no, Dale Tallon is not an irresponsible GM. Not even close. Now if we want to talk about how stupid Kevin Lowe is I'm all for it.

But Dale Tallon and Kevin Lowe should never been mentioned in the same sentence, ever.

[Arnwulf]

But Dale Tallon and Kevin Lowe should never been mentioned in the same sentence, ever.

But you just.....ah, nevermind. ;p

Hawks have a steep hill to climb, but Detroit has always been vulnerable on the road, so I say Chicago at least takes one. They may lose in 5 though.

[Norelco]

But Dale Tallon and Kevin Lowe should never been mentioned in the same sentence, ever.

It doesnt matter that he acquired other players via trade and draft. The simple fact that he is massively overpaying for a mediocre player like Campbell is making it difficult for teams to resign their own D-men when they try to make a comparison case.

In general, people paying 8+ million a year for a player like Briere or Campbell is bad for the game. The Hawks are going to be in trouble down the line if they expect to re-sign Kane and Toews and their other players if they can't dump Campbell. I can't think of many teams willing to take on his contract when he's older.

I can honestly say I am not surprised in the slightest that Campbell coughed up that puck. That's what he does. $8M for a puck moving d-man who doesn't play much D. Okay.

[Brill Weave]

Which is your opinion, and that's fine Norelco. But while you're pointing out that GM's like Tallon are the reason that other teams can't sign their defenseman due to outrageous contracts, I can't help but think you're wrong. Which let's face it, we both know hockey and we could go back and forth for a page or two before we get bored and pick on Mark Eaton. Now did they overpay for Brian Campbell? I think they did. But that's just my opinion. It's also incredibly unreasonable to say that one signing is now impacting every team in the league.

We both understand that the signing made waves, without a doubt. But even with Campbell signing that deal, other deals have been made that are a clear contradiction to what you're saying. Examples incoming!!!

Brian Campbell - 7.14 million this year
Wade Redden - 8 million this year
Michael Roszival - 7 million this year
Nicklas Lidstrom - 7.45 million this year
Dion Phaneuf - 7 million this year
Kimmo Timonen - 7 million this year
Lubomir Visnovsky - 7 million this year
Zdeno Chara - 7.5 million this year

Now to me there are three monumental, clear cut players on this list who were vastly overpaid for their services. Redden, Roszival, and Visnovsky. The rest do a very good job and Campbell's contract is in line with some of the other elite defensmen in the league. But once again, I stress to you that I do agree they are overpaying him. But he is not the reason why teams can't re-sign their defensemen.

Sergei Gonchar makes a little over five million a year, Roszival and Redden both make more and play a far less productive game than Gonchar does. That's part of the problem. Here, at least to me, is the bigger problem. Not the guys making between six and eight million a year, but the guys that are signing for four to five million a year. Don't get me wrong there are clear cases of people being overpaid. Campbell is a six million a year man at best imo.

But when you have GM's signing people like Roman Hamrlik to deals that are over 5.5 million a year, that is what's contributing to the problem. Give a lot of money to scrubs and other scrubs are going to want more also.

[Brill Weave]

Just looking at the offensive production of a couple of the guys to compare to Campbell(skewed I admit since it's just the O-side) here is how he stacked up against the other huge money earners.

Nicklas Lidstrom - 59 points
Brian Rafalski - 59 points
Brian Campbell - 52 points
Zdeno Chara - 50 points
Dion Phaneuf - 47 points
Kimmo Timonen - 43 points

And just to pick on the Rangers again, was it really worth paying Wade Redden eight million dollars for 26 points, from an offensive defenseman? Or seven million for Rozsival's paltry thirty points? It fascinates me that the Rangers are able to make money with decisions like that.

[Dense]

But you just.....ah, nevermind. ;p

Hawks have a steep hill to climb, but Detroit has always been vulnerable on the road, so I say Chicago at least takes one. They may lose in 5 though.

I don't know what you've been smoking, but you're way off mark. Depending on what you mean by always, let's check out these stats:

Regular season away record for the wings 08-09: 24-12-5
Regular season away record for 07-08: 25-12-4
I'd hardly say that's vulnerable.
Last year's playoffs they were 7-4 in away games.

[Norelco]

But he is not the reason why teams can't re-sign their defensemen.

He is not THE reason, but I feel that he is one of the reasons.

I won't argue with you though, I'm too tired today. =)

The reason I mentioned Lowe was because of the BS thing he did to Thomas Vanek/Sabres when he was an RFA at age 23, giving him a crazy offer sheet. $10m that first year. I think in total Vanek may have signed with the Sabres for $50m for 7 years.

Dunno how the contract will play out. Lowe might have done us a favor but it seemed like a dick move at the time.

[Brill Weave]

Well shit he did the same thing to Anaheim with Dustin Penner. The difference was Anaheim wasn't going to match what Edmonton offered Penner. It was a douchebag move that is the stuff of legends. Sadly now he has these overpaid players meshing well with the young homegrown talent like Gagner and Cogliano it's only a year or two tops before Edmonton is back in the playoffs.

The difference with Vanek and Penner is that Vanek had enough respect for Buffalo to not sign Lowe's offer sheet. Penner didn't.