NHL Off-Season Thread

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:22 pm

pk500 wrote:
LAking wrote:
The Kings are paying Visnovsky nearly $6 million per season -- Lubomir Visnovsky, for Christ's sake!

You obviously haven't seen the guy play much. He was 4th in goals among defensemen and tied for 8th in points, and that was in only 69 games. The guy gives it his all every shift. He's a smart player. He's more than just an offensive dman. And it's 5.65 mil a year.
The guy has missed 75 games over the last five seasons, so a f*ck of a lot of good his talent will do when he's in the press box.

Plus I don't understand Lombardi signing Preissing to be the Kings' PP point man at nearly $3 million per season. Isn't that Visnovsky's job?

Or is Lombardi signing Preissing as an injury fill-in for when his $6 Million Man inevitably gets hurt?

Take care,
PK

Since when should teams just settle for one PP QB type dman? Preissing at $3 is hardly breaking the bank, and they will need him when Blake retires.

Pronger has missed 99 games in the past five seasons, what good is it to have his talent on your team?

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:26 pm

Let's say Lombardi was shut out in the UFA market in key areas of need. Would you want him to sit back and do nothing? If the Kings were in the same position as the Oilers, would you feel a bit differently if Lombardi was tendering the offer sheets?

I would lose almost all confidence in the guy. The Oilers are just desperate at this point, and giving away tons of draft picks and over paying RFAs isn't gonna magically fix the problem. Like you said, he's trying to save his job. He's putting a quick band aid on a gaping wound.

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:57 pm

Up until recent seasons Visnovsky never missed a shift, check out a few Kings games PK he is the real deal and better than any oiler D thats for sure.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:56 pm

Jimmydeicide wrote:Up until recent seasons Visnovsky never missed a shift, check out a few Kings games PK he is the real deal and better than any oiler D thats for sure.

No question. But that's giving Visnovsky -- who is a fine player but I don't think worth $6 million per season -- the shaft since the Oil had four rookies, Steve Staios and Jason Smith on their blue line for most of last season.

Yes, I think Visnovsky is overpaid. But then again, Souray is making $5 million per season for being a gun at the point on the PP. And Visnovsky is better than Souray.

So I guess that's the going rate. Salaries are jumping, big time -- blame it all on Kevin Lowe.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:01 pm

LAking wrote:I would lose almost all confidence in the guy. The Oilers are just desperate at this point, and giving away tons of draft picks and over paying RFAs isn't gonna magically fix the problem. Like you said, he's trying to save his job. He's putting a quick band aid on a gaping wound.

The Oilers are desperate, no question. But it's a hell of a lot harder to get UFA's to come to Alberta, with its frigid winters, unrelenting fans and higher taxes, than LA with its sunshine, anonymity and lower taxes.

So Lowe is doing what he can within the rules. Putting a Band-Aid on the wound is better than letting the team bleed out.

Plus if Katz buys the team and fulfills his promise of spending to the limit of the cap, $4 million per season for Penner might end up being less of a financial hit than it appears.

I think it's a moot point, anyways. Something tells me Burke will match, especially if Niedermayer decides to retire in the next week. Then the money will be there to keep Penner.

But this case isn't nearly as cut-and-dried as the Vanek situation. Regier made it very clear that he was going to keep Vanek because he was just as desperate as Lowe to salvage a hockey team in Buffalo, with all of the UFA losses for that team.

I'm not sure if Penner is that vital to Anaheim at $4 million per season. Probably, but it's not as obvious as the Vanek situation in Buffalo.

Take care,
PK

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:42 pm

pk500 wrote:
LAking wrote:I would lose almost all confidence in the guy. The Oilers are just desperate at this point, and giving away tons of draft picks and over paying RFAs isn't gonna magically fix the problem. Like you said, he's trying to save his job. He's putting a quick band aid on a gaping wound.
The Oilers are desperate, no question. But it's a hell of a lot harder to get UFA's to come to Alberta, with its frigid winters, unrelenting fans and higher taxes, than LA with its sunshine, anonymity and lower taxes.

So Lowe is doing what he can within the rules. Putting a Band-Aid on the wound is better than letting the team bleed out.

Plus if Katz buys the team and fulfills his promise of spending to the limit of the cap, $4 million per season for Penner might end up being less of a financial hit than it appears.

I think it's a moot point, anyways. Something tells me Burke will match, especially if Niedermayer decides to retire in the next week. Then the money will be there to keep Penner.

But this case isn't nearly as cut-and-dried as the Vanek situation. Regier made it very clear that he was going to keep Vanek because he was just as desperate as Lowe to salvage a hockey team in Buffalo, with all of the UFA losses for that team.

I'm not sure if Penner is that vital to Anaheim at $4 million per season. Probably, but it's not as obvious as the Vanek situation in Buffalo.

Take care,
PK

I love the fact that Burke is actually on a fishing trip with Glen Sather right now. What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall in that cabin.

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:05 am

Or a fly on the chum bucket. Most likely fishing for shark.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:27 am

B. Burke will come up with a classic statement, you can bet on that. If he's matching K. Lowe's offer, then it's pretty sure that S.Niedermayer told him that he's done. If not, he may just takes the draft picks from EDM, both C. Perry and R. Getzlaf are RFA's next year and I am sure he'll have to be ready to come up with some big bucks to re-sign them.

But I don't blame K. Lowe for what he's trying to do with his team. Everyone is trying t improve theirs and it just seems logical to me at this point that his biggest mistake is not the recent offers to Vanek and Penner but his inability to sign R. Smyth last season while he had a chance, especially when it's rumored that the difference was around $200.000 or so.

Another question I have for Lowe is why sign Pitkanen whom he just acquired for just a one year term as he becomes an RFA next year? One thing for sure the NW division will continue to be as competitive as hell.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:21 am

tjung0831 wrote:I love the fact that Burke is actually on a fishing trip with Glen Sather right now. What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall in that cabin.

Every other word would be bleeped if the conversation ran on TV or radio!

Take care,
PK

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 11:49 pm

It didn't take long for B. Burke to fire back at Lowe's offer:

"I have no problem with offer sheets, they are part of the CBA," Burke said on a conference call. "I think it's a tool certainly a team is entitled to use. My issue here is this is the second time this year in my opinion Edmonton have offered a grossly inflated salary for a player, and it impacts on all 30 teams and I think it's an act of desperation by a general manager who is fighting to keep his job."

"I was not notified of this until an agent faxed it into us," he said. "I thought Kevin would have called me and told me it was coming. I thought that was gutless."

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:04 am

10spro wrote:"I have no problem with offer sheets, they are part of the CBA," Burke said on a conference call. "I think it's a tool certainly a team is entitled to use. My issue here is this is the second time this year in my opinion Edmonton have offered a grossly inflated salary for a player, and it impacts on all 30 teams and I think it's an act of desperation by a general manager who is fighting to keep his job."

No quarrel with this comment.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:10 pm

Mike "Suitcase" Comrie is poke-checking Hilary Duff:

http://www.tmz.com/2007/07/26/hilarys-g ... king-dude/

Damn, I thought she was about 16 ... Checked IMDB.com, and she's just shy of 20.

Take care,
PK

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 3:27 pm

Comries dad coaches a local peewee team here localy hes friggin loaded too , some guys have all the luck.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:47 pm

They're made for each other. A mini-Chris Therien and a teenager who looks like a 35 year old hooker who loses 10 pounds every time she takes off her makeup.

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:00 pm

pk500 wrote:Mike "Suitcase" Comrie is poke-checking Hilary Duff:

http://www.tmz.com/2007/07/26/hilarys-g ... king-dude/

Damn, I thought she was about 16 ... Checked IMDB.com, and she's just shy of 20.

Take care,
PK

I bet he's all over Duff's muff...

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:21 pm

NHL and ESPN are talking:

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/in ... imeout=900

Let's hope the NHL can return to ESPN. Say what you will about the flash-over-substance nature of the network, it does set the menu for the prominence level of American sports.

The NHL needs to be on ESPN if it has any chance to return to the stature it enjoyed in 1994 when the Rangers won the Cup.

Take care,
PK

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:52 pm

Man, it really has all been downhill from the 93 and 94 seasons which were the first NHL seasons I ever watched on TV.

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 12:19 am

Why not some discussion on the new RBK Edge jerseys. IMO it just keeps getting worse. Check out these new designs. Is it just me or did all the teams use the same damn template?

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa26 ... 071239.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/ ... G_1340.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b362/ ... 23blue.jpg

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q124 ... Jersey.jpg

http://images.sportsline.com/u/ap/photo ... 24x768.jpg

It's a shame that the canucks didn't just get rid of the whale logo. And it blows that the Rangers had to change the placement of the letters because of the new underarm material the jerseys have. The new bruins jerseys were so great. I got my hopes up that a lot of the new jerseys wouldn't be that bad, but it's been all downhill ever since.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:04 am

The Bruins' jersey is cool, but it has little to do with the Reebok redesign and a lot more to do with the new spoked B and the bear patches on the shoulder.

To me, the new Reebok designs are much ado about nothing. They really don't look that much different other than a few vertical stripes on the front and some striping on the arms.

Take care,
PK

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:09 am

man...

those look like s***.

the pens jersey was pretty good...looks horrible now.

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:26 am

I'm hearing now that the canucks pic is just a photoshopped caps jersey. Hope that's true.

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:44 am

I believe that Canucks jersey is a fake. It's been floating around for sometime. I believe it's just a photoshop job.

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 3:10 pm

tjung0831 wrote:I believe that Canucks jersey is a fake. It's been floating around for sometime. I believe it's just a photoshop job.

i hope so!

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:41 am

Sudz wrote:
tjung0831 wrote:I believe that Canucks jersey is a fake. It's been floating around for sometime. I believe it's just a photoshop job.
i hope so!

R U guys talking about this one? Don't really like it myself, but they should keep the marine blue with the classic hockey stick as the main logo, although I do hear rumors that Vancouver will be also as a main front.

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 2:54 pm

when is the NHL going to show the new gear?

F gary bettman.