Running 2007 NHL regular season thread

Apart from Lecavlaier and St Louis they really don't have anything else up front.
i sure hope Torterella doesn't get fired, he is far to entertaining

 

New ownership would be wise to fire Jay Feaster and hire a hockey guy to take the job. Feaster had a Stanley Cup team built for him by Rick Dudley and he's done nothing to improve the organization since the Cup.

Kari Ramo looks like a nice goaltender but with that young group of defensemen, there is going to be some long nights for the Lightning. I think most GMs would have traded St. Louis or Richards to get the cheap assets into the mix so when the goalie and defensemen are ready, they'll be deep enough to make a run.

As it stands, few teams will unload a #1 pick and top six forward prospect for Richards. I think TB can still get that type of return for Marty.

 

There's a bingo. I'm guessing this season is lost, so they can hope to get a decent pick out of the lottery and grab Drew Doughty or Zach Bogosian. Heck, if they win it they could even grab Stamkos.

 

Helluva read ... although I find it lazy writing to ask questions of the reader (that said, I've been guilty of it, but it's still lazy as hell) ...

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01132008/sports/too_much__too_soon_795331.htm

January 13, 2008 -- SO WHAT will the Caps do this sum mer when a team - and there will be a team, Alex Ovechkin can take that to the bank, too - extends an offer sheet to emerging star and impending Group II free agent defenseman Mike Green for, oh, seven years at $6 million per?

What will the Flames do when Dion Phaneuf remains unsigned long enough to extract either an offer or an offer sheet in the 10-year, $90M neighborhood coming off his Entry Level contract?

How much money will the Penguins have to pay Evgeni Malkin to keep him from becoming a Group II free agent when his current contract expires?

What will the Blackhawks do when Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane both come up for extensions two summers from now?

And what kind of a league is it, and what kind of a system is it, exactly, under which the NHL operates, where an immense and dramatically increasing percentage of the players' overall take goes to athletes who have been in the league for three seasons as opposed to those who have played for 10 or 15 years?

This is going to become a signal internal issue for the NHLPA membership, once the players actually begin to pay attention and understand the ramifications of a developing hard-cap salary structure driven by management's fear of allowing players in their early 20s to hit the Group II, offer-sheet market.

 

Sorry, JR ... Scotty isn't interested.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/47506/

If the Toronto Maple Leafs are planning a front office shakeup, it won't involve Scotty Bowman.

The Hall of Fame coach reiterated to the Detroit Free Press on Sunday that he has no plans to leave the Red Wings, the team he has worked for since 1993-94.

"My commitment is with Detroit," he told the Free Press.

Bowman told Hockey Night In Canada on Saturday that he was interviewed by the Leafs for an executive job last summer, only to be turned away by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president and CEO Richard Peddie with three weeks until the start of the season.

 

As was mentioned earlier this season, but amplified now the deals for Ovechkin and Richards have happened, how much is Lecavalier going to command after next season? If you're the Lightning, you know you have to lock him up. With Lecavalier aged 27, you may need to be looking at 8-10 years, $9.5 to $10 million per.

And my money number may be low, since the salary cap is on track to go up again after this season, meaning the max-deal will go up proportionally as well.

 

Cujo has signed in Calgary for $1.5 million, one year.

 

Mad Mike couldn't scare him off, eh? I guess he provides a better backup option for Kiprusoff.

 

The guy has 47 starts already this year ...

 

Good for Cujo. Classy guy.

One of the most popular athletes the Leafs have ever had and the greatest road hockey goalie every to play in the NHL--and I mean that as a compliment.

 

Am wondering if he's bringing the wife and kids or if I'll be able to figure at which hotel he'll be staying for stalking purposes ...

 

Brian Campbell says he's all done negotiating with the Swordsmen until after the season:

[quote author=John Vogl]The Buffalo Sabres presented Brian Campbell with a replica of the Presidents' Trophy on Monday. They did not give him a contract.

Odds are now greater that they never will.

http://www.buffalonews.com/258/story/251445.html[/quote]

That worked out well for them with Briere and Drury, no? Unsurprisingly, Sabres fans are on the warpath. I may give the new evening guy on WGR a listen tonight, purely for the entertainment value of the meltdowns he's sure to field...