Ah, the reality of the situation is finally crashing in on Suzy Sunshine (aka Ek).

"If you can keep your head while all about you are losing theirs. . . . perhaps you have not fully grasped the seriousness of the situation."

Winter Classic is no Super Bowl. Who needs Tortorella and Nash when we have Coughlin and Eli! Who needs Bettman? Mickey Mouse plays well in Disneyville, not professional sports. NHL professional? UH.. HAHAHAHA!

Well, they certainly did helped out the last few years with Leno and Ehrhoff.
- JDJ

To be fair, I'm not really sure you can compare the deals given to Chara and Niedermayer with the deals given to other crappy players. I wouldn't call $7M for Chara an overpayment now, let alone 5 years ago.
- niedermayer27

Both of these statements are true (really minor nitpick: Chara got his contract 6 years ago). However, for anyone to claim that the Sabres were responsible for the salary inflation that took place requires a gross misrepresentation of what was going on at that point in time. I'm not saying $7M for Chara was an overpayment - but I am saying that $6.5M per for Briere and just over $7M per for Drury were not way out of line given what other guys were already getting less than 2 years removed from the end of the lockout.

Eklund: The Magic of the Winter Classic ...Just Another Bargaining Chip.
- Eklund

Winter classic is a joke. Bargaining chip? Players and Fehr are a bunch of tards and this sport will be irrelevant once again for four years after they start the season(next year)then they'll strike again. Absolute joke what these idiots are doing to the fans and most of all to themselves, morons

Winter Classic is no Super Bowl. Who needs Tortorella and Nash when we have Coughlin and Eli! Who needs Bettman? Mickey Mouse plays well in Disneyville, not professional sports. NHL professional? UH.. HAHAHAHA!
- TJ

He said it's the closest the NHL gets to the Super Bowl, in that it's become the NHL's signature event, not that it compares to or is close to the Super Bowl.

@FriedgeHNIC's 30 Thoughts he says the teams driving the lockout are BOS, ANA, CLB, FLA, NYI, PHX, STL, WSH and DAL.


we could do without most of those teams.....lets just move forward without them
- Barx

And how does he know this when no one on the owner's side is allowed to talk about anything? There's no way you can convince me that Philly and MN aren't also driving the lockout, especially given that their owners are part of the negotiation team and have been part of the problem with the ridiculous contracts being offered in the first place.

jacobs hand is buried so far up bettmans vagina, you can see his fingers when bettman speaks
- Barx

Tough to skate with your ankles in the air.
- Aetherial

Bum sliding is considered skating

Not so much.
- JDJ

at least they have good fans.

Well Said Ek!

The NHL Winter Classic is an annual event held by the National Hockey League (NHL) on or around New Year's Day in which a regular-season hockey game is played outdoors, in an area hosted by an NHL team. The first outdoor NHL game was the Heritage outdoor game held in Edmonton in 2003 between Edmonton and Montreal. It became an annual event in 2008. After featuring only American teams for its first five years, the 2013 NHL Winter Classic will feature its first Canadian team, as the Toronto Maple Leafs play against the Detroit Red Wings. The first Winter Classic was held in 2008.
- Symba007

Those were great games!! Looking forward to the (sadly and cant believe it) first canadian winter classic... enough about how america has been a driving force ek. great country, som egood people but not where hockey is best played and sorry the greatest games ever have not been games played in the states, imo. so tired of your usa usa usa ( i get its an american website)america has had one good tourney ever and that was with herb brooks at the helm...thats it

No I was serious. The Leino and Erhoff contracts drove up inflation in the league. Do you guys not understand how this works? Lamo gets signed for way more than he is worth, so when some team offers another player, lets say a mike fisher an offer, his agent counters with "are you kidding me? Leino got 'x' amount of dollars, therefore my guy is worth more".


There were also reports that Pegula was going after Richards and basically anyone else you have heard of the last 2 years on the market. Even if the player has no interest in buffalo the agent uses that against the other teams to get his guy more dough.
- Buffalo--Sabres

Since the total amount you can spend on salaries (with wriggle room re contracts that get around the intent of the cap) is driven by revenues, these contracts are not inflationary. What they do is distort how teams spread around the money they have. Right now, the owners and players cant agree on the total amounts available for salaries. They have not addressed the issues that determine how money is spent -- contract length, entry level, etc -- in a major way yet.

No talks in two weeks....

Those were great games!! Looking forward to the (sadly and cant believe it) first canadian winter classic... enough about how america has been a driving force ek. great country, som egood people but not where hockey is best played and sorry the greatest games ever have not been games played in the states, imo. so tired of your usa usa usa ( i get its an american website)america has had one good tourney ever and that was with herb brooks at the helm...thats it
- munky123

The 1960 Olympics and the 1996 World Cup disagree.

2002 and 2010 Olympics weren't too shabby, either.

1991 Canada Cup was respectable.

But thanks for playing.

Those were great games!! Looking forward to the (sadly and cant believe it) first canadian winter classic... enough about how america has been a driving force ek. great country, som egood people but not where hockey is best played and sorry the greatest games ever have not been games played in the states, imo. so tired of your usa usa usa ( i get its an american website)america has had one good tourney ever and that was with herb brooks at the helm...thats it
- munky123

i'd love to skate with you.

The 1960 Olympics and the 1996 World Cup disagree.

2002 and 2010 Olympics weren't too shabby, either.

1991 Canada Cup was respectable.

But thanks for playing.
- Atomic Wedgie

World Jr's in Buffalo were good.

Since the total amount you can spend on salaries (with wriggle room re contracts that get around the intent of the cap) is driven by revenues, these contracts are not inflationary. What they do is distort how teams spread around the money they have. Right now, the owners and players cant agree on the total amounts available for salaries. They have not addressed the issues that determine how money is spent -- contract length, entry level, etc -- in a major way yet.
- Canada Cup

Except Buffalo had like an 88 million dollar payroll last year. They buried contracts everywhere. I think they set a record for highest AHL payroll of all time.

He said it's the closest the NHL gets to the Super Bowl, in that it's become the NHL's signature event, not that it compares to or is close to the Super Bowl.
- buffalofan19

If the "winter classic" is the NHL's signature event the NHL is in alot more trouble than this lock out. Playing a regular season game outside against the Penguins is no big deal.

No talks in two weeks....
- Flyers_1488

They don't care why should you?

The 1960 Olympics and the 1996 World Cup disagree.

2002 and 2010 Olympics weren't too shabby, either.

1991 Canada Cup was respectable.

But thanks for playing.
- Atomic Wedgie

Hehe okok so theres a few the tone of my comment wasnt justified, sorry. when ek writes sometimes i get a little cranked up over nothing . still find it silly this is going to be canadas first classic.... secondly so far the teams that are bringing the league down are south of border... frustrating[img][/img]

Except Buffalo had like an 88 million dollar payroll last year. They buried contracts everywhere. I think they set a record for highest AHL payroll of all time.
- Buffalo--Sabres

If leaguewide revenues hadn't increased from $2.2 billion to $3.3 billion and if they hadn't had an owner willing to spend to infinity and beyond to buy a Cup for the team, the Sabres wouldn't have been able to spend anywhere near that much.

BTW, the Sabres only had Morrisonn ($2.075M) down there from what I can find. The Rangers had Redden at $6.5M alone, and then put Avery down there for a while.

Hehe okok so theres a few the tone of my comment wasnt justified, sorry. when ek writes sometimes i get a little cranked up over nothing . still find it silly this is going to be canadas first classic.... secondly so far the teams that are bringing the league down are south of border... frustrating
- munky123[img][/img]

I mean no offence by this, my munky friend, but how old are you?

Because it wasn't too long ago that the majority of Canadian franchises were dragging down the league, and the Canadian Assistance Program (brought in by Gary Bettman) was created to stabilize Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa.

Guess where that money came from? US franchises.

Without it, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa would no longer be in the league.

You might want to think about that for a few minutes before harping on US franchises.

If the "winter classic" is the NHL's signature event the NHL is in alot more trouble than this lock out. Playing a regular season game outside against the Penguins is no big deal.
- Cptmjl

Classic is sick.



71,000 + in attendance, and there was demand for at least 40,000 more tickets . We didn't even win and it was one of the greatest says of my life. They could do this every weekend in January and I would go to all of them.

Classic is sick.



71,000 + in attendance, and there was demand for at least 40,000 more tickets . We didn't even win and it was one of the greatest says of my life. They could do this every weekend in January and I would go to all of them.
- Buffalo--Sabres

57,000 + watching the two greatest franchises of all time play a game in -30 >>>> then any other classic

57,000 + watching the two greatest franchises of all time play a game in -30 >>>> then any other classic
- HuileHab

It was falling.




You just cant tell in that ariel view. Funny part was during every intermission or break to fix the ice the snow stopped. Play resumed, snowing like hell.