Jagr!!! an other FA's

[JDDZ]

I'm not sure if Philly wants to win a cup or sell jerseys, what do the rest of you think about all the moves this year?

[Traelin]

I just know it would be a tragedy if the lightning somehow didn't resign Stamkos.

[Ardwen]

Lightning have said they will match any offer he gets up to and including the 20 pct per season max

[Ardwen]

Rangers and Flyers seem to be doing the most, unless you wanna count all the low level 3rd and 4th line moves some teams seem to over do just to seem active

[Traelin]

What's the latest on Crosby? There have been career ending concussions before. I hope that doesn't happen to him. From what I read last season though it didn't look good.

[Gibreficul]

What's the latest on Crosby? There have been career ending concussions before. I hope that doesn't happen to him. From what I read last season though it didn't look good.


Even here around Pittsburgh, not much has been said about Crosby since the end of the season. Last "official word" was that he was progressing well through the mandated steps of a concussion recovery, and sometime in the last weeks of the regular season, when he started some full speed, light contact type of practices, experienced some setbacks. I'm going to assume that no news is good news during the off-season, and again assume he'll be at training camp, along with Malkin and his two reworked knees.

As for the Jagr thing. Well... I have mixed feelings. It was one thing for Talbot to go to Philly, he was looking for a payday. Jagr could make more money in the KHL, so his return to the NHL is for something else. All that said, he talked with Mario, and his agent spoke with the Penguins, and led them to believe he was going to sign. It was a lot of hype around the area to say the least. When it was all said and done, he used Pittsburgh's offer to increase his dollar value. The fans of Pittsburgh will let him know their feelings when Philly visits da burgh this season.

I wonder how Talbot will be received by the fans of Philly, all things considered.

http://www.puckreport.com/2011/04/today-in-nhl-history-carcillo-fights.html

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l3drt5pB49Q/SfRscshCIyI/AAAAAAAAESw/RRJbC_FmCS8/s400/talbot.JPG

[milesalpha]

Philly is a mystery this year, Jagr is going to make up for Richards and Carter? My poor Leafs have done almost nothing, though I love the Franson deal. Montreal still needs some size and scoring. Ottawa will be shooting for the first pick next year.
Sure hope I see Crosby back on the ice, of course I hate him the way I used to hate Gretzky (he's not on my team after all) but he's the best player in the game.

[Geshron]

Jagr doesn't sound immensely confident in his interviews and coming in with a one year contract, let's see how that translates on the ice. As a Hawks fan it's been more or less the aforementioned third and fourth line movements (Brunette, Mayers, O'Donnell, McLean) so we can only hope for the best once more. Glad that MMA is a year round sport, already having withdrawals from the NHL.

[Traelin]

It's going to be really weird having the Winnipeg Jets in the SE division. I wonder what the fate of the Coyotes will be in the long run.

[milesalpha]

Didn't they have the primary buyer pull out recently? I am thinking the players should begin French lessons (Quebec City).

[Gibreficul]

It's going to be really weird having the Winnipeg Jets in the SE division. I wonder what the fate of the Coyotes will be in the long run.

Does this mean Winnepeg will travel more miles than Dallas this season?

[Drunken Durfin]

fuck Jagr.

[Xanator]

fuck Jagr.

This one, I agree with.

[Gibreficul]

I think someone's having a bad day. And I can't disagree.

[JDDZ]

Speaking of the Jets being in the SE, does anyone know what the reorganization next year will be like?

[Gibreficul]

Speaking of the Jets being in the SE, does anyone know what the reorganization next year will be like?

You know, I opened a map of the NHL cities. I tried to develop a re-division of the league with the intent of keeping travel to a minimum. I will say, that's a job I don't want to have. The northeast is so densely populated with NHL teams, and it turns into a speckle as you move west. Dallas is pretty well isolated. The best solution I could come up with involved adding a couple expansion teams, namely another Texas team, (Houston, maybe) and perhaps a Portland/Seattle area team.

Part of what I was trying to do was make sure the re-division didn't break up any of the established rivalries. An eight division league, assuming a 2 team expansion, makes four teams per division, and only complicates the problem. I think we're all just stuck waiting to see what Toronto wants to do.

[Carl Spackler]

Speaking of the Jets being in the SE, does anyone know what the reorganization next year will be like?

From what I understand, Detroit will wind up in the East.

Will be interesting to see how they'll handle everything. Like Gib said, the NE being so densely packed it creates a problem.

[Gibreficul]

From what I understand, Detroit will wind up in the East.

Will be interesting to see how they'll handle everything. Like Gib said, the NE being so densely packed it creates a problem.

What about Columbus?

[Carl Spackler]

What about Columbus?

Columbus is an interesting case, here's why I think they lose out:

1) It's the Red Wings, they're constantly a contender and having to go back and forth to the west coast for potentially 3 series in the playoffs is draining. They might get some love from the league because of this. Columbus not being an annual contender could relegate them to a tougher travel schedule.

*Side note - At least this year the Wings should be getting a new plane so they don't have to land halfway across the country because they can't make it from Detroit to LA on one load of Fuel.

2) Columbus is closer to Nashville, St. Louis and even Dallas for that matter.
Also, I think the league benefits more from having Detroit playing more Original 6 games then it does from having them play 8 against Chicago.

My couple reasons, I guess we'll see next year.

[JDDZ]

*Side note - At least this year the Wings should be getting a new plane so they don't have to land halfway across the country because they can't make it from Detroit to LA on one load of Fuel

Damn, the Wings are still flying an old DC-9? I'm pretty sure the newer MD-80s could make it from Detroit to LA, but that would be stressing their range, not leaving much as a choice for an alternate airport.

But seriously, the Wings have won the most cups in recent history, and they still haven't bought a nice brand new (or hell, a used one) plane with a decent range that doesn't guzzle gas? If they were using a a 727, I would forgive them, those are bad ass planes.

[Gibreficul]

Any time I hear someone base a hockey decision on a team's inclusion or exclusion in the "original six" i want to go find Don Cherry, and use him as a bat to beat the "original six" mentality out of them. There's 30 teams in the league, not 6. You can't give 20% special treatment and shit on the other 80%.

Alright, now that I've let off some steam... well.. MAP...

http://www.section303.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/NHL-map.jpg

A big thing to consider is... filling arenas. Detroit sells tickets. Great fan base up there. Columbus is a growing team, still barely 10 years old, and their fan base is stable, but small, and growing slowly. Detroit people TRAVEL for games. (or they're just escaping Detroit.) Columbus is more a college football town than anything, so the people aren't as willing to travel. I don't think Detroit would hurt any from being left in the west, but I think Columbus would benefit from being moved to the east. I guess we just wait and see.

[Carl Spackler]

Any time I hear someone base a hockey decision on a team's inclusion or exclusion in the "original six" i want to go find Don Cherry, and use him as a bat to beat the "original six" mentality out of them. There's 30 teams in the league, not 6. You can't give 20% special treatment and shit on the other 80%.


The fact remains it's a marketing tool used by these teams around the league, and some people fall for it. If it's putting more asses in seats, it isn't a bad thing.

[Gibreficul]

The fact remains it's a marketing tool used by these teams around the league, and some people fall for it. If it's putting more asses in seats, it isn't a bad thing.

My point was that Detroit puts asses in seats. Leaving them in the west won't change that. Putting Columbus in the east would probably increase their attendance significantly. I won't say I'm not biased, I am... I've gone to Columbus something like 4 times for games over the past 3 years when the Penguins played there. Each time, the split of fans leans more in favor of Pittsburgh. I'd love to see Pittsburgh visit Columbus 3 times a year.. those extra home crowd games are nice.

Had you mentioned that Detroit in the east would probably boost TV ratings, I couldn't argue against that. I'd still rather see more teams pack the house than be told the TV ratings are better... We all know it's a much better game in person. All we can do is wait.

[Carl Spackler]

My point was that Detroit puts asses in seats. Leaving them in the west won't change that. Putting Columbus in the east would probably increase their attendance significantly. I won't say I'm not biased, I am... I've gone to Columbus something like 4 times for games over the past 3 years when the Penguins played there. Each time, the split of fans leans more in favor of Pittsburgh. I'd love to see Pittsburgh visit Columbus 3 times a year.. those extra home crowd games are nice.

Had you mentioned that Detroit in the east would probably boost TV ratings, I couldn't argue against that. I'd still rather see more teams pack the house than be told the TV ratings are better... We all know it's a much better game in person. All we can do is wait.



Yes it is just a waiting game now. However, I will be very surprised to see Columbus in the East.