2009 NHL off-season trades, rumours, draft thread

I know the idea was thrown around towards the end of the season, but a lot has changed since then, plus that's a lot of cap space that suddenly disappears for nothing. If I had to guess, he gets one more year to prove himself. The worst that happens is he has a long ride up in the press box, or maybe sent down to the minors ala Martin Gerber. But Tambellini wants to get bigger so i think he will be given a chance with Quinn.

 

As far as I'm concerned (even though it's costing me a meal because I stupidly bet on Kelowna), Windsor coming back from 0-2 to win the Memorial Cup is one of the biggest deals junior hockey has ever seen. I would take the 2008-09 Spitfires over the 2004-05 London Knights any day of the week based on guts and determination alone, not to mention talent.

And I hope Mickey Renaud is smiling down on his teammates.

 

Wow! Wasn't that London team the one that went like 30 games without a loss, with Corey Perry on it? People were talking about them as one of the all-time greats.

I didn't think any of the teams this year were all that great, which is one reason a team COULD start 0-2 and come back to win it. Most of the games I saw (except the final) were very close, with little to separate the teams.

I did feel bad for Kelowna goalie Mark Guggenberger. Having a game like that in a big game can scar someone for a long time. I hope he finds a way to bounce back.

 

Windsor would have had to put both Engelage and Unice in goal to have any hope of staying within five goals of that London team.

I agree with Mark, none of the teams were particularly strong and Windsor was the wrong team to let hang around. If Kelowna went balls out in the round robin, Windsor goes home 0-3.

 

And to further win friends and influence people in the league, Balsillie is going to unveil his plans for renovations to Copps Coliseum today. Too damn funny. Talk about big chutzpah.

http://thestar.blogs.com/thespin/2009/05/balsillie-keeps-pressure-on.html

 

FYI:

With the start of the fitness testing portion of the 2009 Scouting Combine on Friday, fans will be able -- for the first time -- to track the progress of some of their favorite prospects.

NHL Central Scouting's public Web site (www.CentralScouting.NHL.com) has been redesigned and will be re-launched Friday morning when the first group of prospects begins the fitness testing at 8:30 a.m. ET.

 

Your Central Scouting link doesn't work.

Here's a story by Wharnsby on the combine

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/hockeys-top-prospects-brset-to-go-through-hell-br/article1158672/

They're holding it at a hotel by the Toronto airport, about a five minute drive from the office. Maybe I'll go up at lunch and report back.

EDIT: And they're blogging on it over at TSN

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=280255

Sample:

Chris Kreider, ranked No. 14 by NHL Central Scouting, has a very lean body. He's listed at 6'2, 201 pounds but there is no way he weighs that much. Kreider achieved a very strong vertical. He then proceeded to throw up at the end of his VO2 test - it should be noted that this doesn't weigh against Kreider in the eyes of the GMs. People generally see this as a sign that a player pushed himself to the limit.

 

By the way, it's not the NHL offseason yet.

 

Take out the "www" from the URL and it'll

Take out the "www" and you're golden.

 

Aces, Sea Bass. Thank you.

 

You're right, but you also know as well as I do that the NHL would throw up silly arguments like "there is no viable way to renovate Copps Coliseum" if he wasn't taking the initiative like he is.

Just like the league would have said something completely asinine like "there's no evidence that the market in Hamilton and area can support a team" if he hadn't taken deposits on season tickets before or wasn't soliciting online support now. It's all bullshit, but most of the U.S. media wouldn't know it's all bullshit and would print the NHL's claims verbatim, leading it to be accepted as gospel.

 

What's the ballpark time frame a team needs to get up and running in a new location?

I know the NBA's Supersonics bailed out of Seattle as soon as the season ended, even had a fairwell night at their last home game.

I'm figuring three months, absolute minimum, to get established, sell seats and suites, new uniforms, all the marketing stuff the league does, scheduling, etc. I think that may be part of the league's resistance to this. They didn't see it coming and aren't prepared to shift gears quite so fast. I suspect in the case of most other relocations (Carolina, Denver, Dallas, Phoenix) they probably had about a year's lead time, at least behind the scenes if not publicly.

I wonder if Balsille agreed not to move so fast if he would find a warmer reception. Sure, staying in Arizona for another year as a lame duck is a big-time money-losing proposition, but I suspect relocating a team on short notice is a major headache for the league.