NHL awards/draft/off-season/training camp/preseason running thread

Re: 2007 NHL awards, draft and off-season running thread

Can't argue those picks at all, actually those would have been the four I would vote for if I had a vote.

 

Re: 2007 NHL awards, draft and off-season running thread

NHL will announce its salary cap for next season later on this afternoon: $50.3 million

Not bad when you consider the first cap was $39 million.

 

Re: 2007 NHL awards, draft and off-season running thread

Before long we'll be right back where we started.

 

Re: 2007 NHL awards, draft and off-season running thread

I believe $55 million is as high as the cap will go.

Interestingly enough, the new cap has given birth to long-term, big-money contracts like Rick DiPietro's. Prior to the cap, teams offered shorter, high cost deals, like three years at $24 million.

 

Re: 2007 NHL awards, draft and off-season running thread

James Mirtle's current blog--he's a Globe & Mail guy--about the current state of the NHL is, well, quite simply brilliant

http://mirtle.blogspot.com/2007/06/death-of-franchise-breaking-up-is.html

The bottom line, I believe, is that Canadians simply want hockey to be beloved wherever it's played, and that when teams win the Stanley Cup, it means something to the fans involved. The NHL's unfortunately become entwined with the national identity here, and the league's wild goose chase for improved American television ratings and revenues has failed to the point that it risks irreparably damaging its credibility in both countries.

It's time to admit the NHL is what it is, and that its stronghold is in Canada. The six Canadian franchises generated one-third of the league's revenues in 2006, which means the average American franchise produces roughly half the revenue of a Canadian one.

No one is saying this should be a predominantly Canadian league; the country simply doesn't have the population base to support that many teams. But it's unequivocally clear that this country is integral to the NHL's survival, and it's high time Gary Bettman and company treat Canada as more than an afterthought when it comes to integral issues like the placement of franchises.

 

Re: 2007 NHL awards, draft and off-season running thread

Something to bookmark: the top ranked hockey blogs

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pSPsHl7rXDfdR4xbrHI7RAQ

Off Wing Opinion (1) is good but I still think James Mirtle's (2) is the best hockey blog around. Guy knows his stuff.

 

Re: 2007 NHL awards, draft and off-season running thread

Mirtle's blog shows a complete lack of understand of why Nashville has struggled attendance wise. It has nothing to do with hockey being "beloved" or not. It has everything to do with Leipold and his front office ticking off Gaylord and other corporations in Nashville enough that they no longer purchase the expensive season tickets in the lower bowl.

I hate columns like that. "It's not that we don't want hockey there, it's that it obviously doesn't work" when that's not the case.

Several of the now thriving markets - San Jose and Tampa to name two - struggled early with growing the sport, even as much as 8-10 years into the franchise in the case of the Sharks. Nashville's struggles, especially since they stem from a personal dispute in the corporate world, may be more of the same.

I think a team in Hamilton is the last thing the league needs, quite frankly, especially with an owner like Balsillie who has a clear disregard for how to handle things in the business world.

Finally, how is Bettman treating this like an afterthought? The way the scenario plays out is this - Balsille and Leipold come to a handshake agreement for $238 million. The franchise cannot be moved yet and may not be moveable in the next few years (the 14,000 attendance out clause has not been triggered, the city of Nashville can prevent that clause from being triggered by purchasing the extra tickets, and season ticket sales in Nashville have jumped significantly, especially among the corporate world, since he announcement). And even if they could be moved, the teams in Buffalo and Toronto could block a move to Hamilton, so that city may not even be in the mix.

Instead of waiting for the sale to be finalized on paper, before he gets approved by the BOG, before he finds out if the Preds even can move, Balsillie goes out and makes an ass of himself by all his K-W/Hamilton area campaigning. While he's doing this, he refuses to enter into a binding agreement with Leipold. Leipold understandably gets peeved and says "screw you" to Balsille.

I see nothing that Bettman or the Preds did wrong to deprive the poor Hamilton natives of their hockey team. I see a Canadian businessman who did everything wrong and screwed up any chance of him purchasing a team while putting a big dent in his shot at being granted an expansion franchise.

I would like to see a breakdown of revenue and exactly how much of that comes from a.) the Habs and Leafs and b.) the Canadian television deals. Plus, I've heard both "one-third revenues" and "one third non-gate" revenues - which is it?

 

Re: 2007 NHL awards, draft and off-season running thread

The cap isn't the only thing changing. If I remember correctly, the age for free agency is younger by a year, too, yes?

 

Re: 2007 NHL awards, draft and off-season running thread

Devils think Scott Gomez will sign elsewhere.

http://www.bergenrecord.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxMzMmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcxNjAyODgmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2

 

Re: 2007 NHL awards, draft and off-season running thread

Tim Thomas can now revert to being the backup he is, as the Bruins traded for Manny Fernandez.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=212343&hubname=nhl

 

Re: 2007 NHL awards, draft and off-season running thread

No surprise here. The question is will Lou use that money to keep Martin Brodeur from facing 60 shots a game?

 

Re: 2007 NHL awards, draft and off-season running thread

The Wild ought to be able to ride Backstrom. He showed his ability when Fernandez went down last season.