Loved the way Lu handled the presser. This has been more of a circus than any player should endure for something he didn't cause.

Does this thing boil down to a compliance buyout now? There is no way he is skating with the Nucks into next season is there?

Loved the way Lu handled the presser. This has been more of a circus than any player should endure for something he didn't cause.

Does this thing boil down to a compliance buyout now? There is no way he is skating with the Nucks into next season is there?
- nathanjf

If we were going to buy him out we would have already traded him to the leafs.

LOL yet Luongo hasn't taken the great Canucks to the promise land. And if he is so great why give the number 1 job to an unproven Shneider? All the other teams are laughing at the Canucks(who have never won a cup), because the cap will go down next year and the canucks will have Luongo riding on the bench.

Gillis needs to stop investing in sleep doctors and put the money into lawyers so he can find loop holes in the cba to get luongo a new contract.

If Reimer doesn't play in the playoffs oh well. At least we don't have a terrible contract for another decade.

LOL yet Luongo hasn't taken the great Canucks to the promise land. And if he is so great why give the number 1 job to an unproven Shneider? All the other teams are laughing at the Canucks(who have never won a cup), because the cap will go down next year and the canucks will have Luongo riding on the bench.
- Allstarzz

LOL yet Luongo hasn't taken the great Canucks to the promise land. And if he is so great why give the number 1 job to an unproven Shneider? All the other teams are laughing at the Canucks(who have never won a cup), because the cap will go down next year and the canucks will have Luongo riding on the bench.
- Allstarzz

go find a job.

any of you guys have optik tv?

If Reimer doesn't play in the playoffs oh well. At least we don't have a terrible contract for another decade.
- Allstarzz

So when is Tucker finally off the books?

any of you guys have optik tv?
- golfingsince

My parents do. They seem to like it. Definitely has more features than my shaw pvr.

The sky is not falling. This will sort itself out in time, until then we've got to get healthy and get into the playoffs!

I've got optik tv. Love it!

Is there a Canuck fan anyone feels sorry for more than Esplen?

LOL yet Luongo hasn't taken the great Canucks to the promise land. And if he is so great why give the number 1 job to an unproven Shneider? All the other teams are laughing at the Canucks(who have never won a cup), because the cap will go down next year and the canucks will have Luongo riding on the bench.
- Allstarzz

It's like a TML bandwagon crashed into an internet cafe that was handing out free stupid pills.

What is going on around here?

It's like a TML bandwagon crashed into an internet cafe that was handing out free stupid pills.

What is going on around here?
- moondawg

The Canucks. No offense.

Is there a Canuck fan anyone feels sorry for more than Esplen?
- systemtool

Lu?
Not to the extent as Ian but I do feel sorry for him....
He deserves more

We're not giving him away, he's an all-star. Nonis didn't offer up enough. Blah Blah Blah. Lou said it best himself "My contract sucks". The roster player that Nonis referred to in the presser was Scrivens, the back-up. That's who he wouldn't even give you off the roster, that's how terrible the contract is.

One team in the entire league considered taking that contract. Don't blame anyone except Gillis and his superb GM skills. $1.3M cap space, 15 players. Insert sarcastic clap here.

thanks guys, heard some people didn't like it. I prefer their channel options / pricing.

If Reimer doesn't play in the playoffs oh well. At least we don't have a terrible contract for another decade.
- Allstarzz

But you may just have a terrible team, which seems to be less of concern to Leafs fans than the salary cap judging by posts around here.

Forget about traditional numbered lines... Too inside the box to make the most of what we have at our disposal. Find complimentary skillsets and let them loose.

Sedin Sedin Burrows

Jensen Roy Kesler (if Jensen can earn it, otherwise Raymond slots in)

Higgins Lapierre Hansen (shutdown line)

Raymond Schroeder Kassian
- DrChristianTroy

Oh please, yes.

It seems that individual lines only have continued success when they're able to dominate their opposition in some specific way. i.e. Size & strength or speed or playmaking ability, etc.

The Sedins and their pass & cycling game has always been successful when they get favorable defensive matchups and are eventually able to cause breaksdowns in defensive coverage. Doesn't happen as often in the playoffs, but it sure keeps the other team's top D pair busy.

Kesler, Raymond and Grabner was an exciting line combination for a few games a number of years ago and we saw something similar again recently when Schroeder was centering Raymond and Hansen. They were able to bottle up teams in their own zone and create turnovers using their speed on the forecheck. Getting this type of line out against a slower D pairing causes all kinds of havoc.

LA Kings have had success using big bodies all on one line, dumping the puck in and overpowering teams below the goal line.

To know what this team is really capable of, I'd like to see the following combinations stay together until they can establish some chemistry and a style of play that dominates their opposition:

Sedins and Burrows stick to their time-tested cycle game.
Roy between Raymond and Hansen for a speed line.
Kesler between Kassian and Higgens for a line that grinds down low on the forecheck and gets bodies to the front of the net.
Lapierre between Wiese and warm body #3 on a dump/chase/hit 4th.

Unfortunately AV seems to prefer having lines that are 'balanced' or have a little of everything. End result seems to be that they just end up getting dominated by the opposition. If he could ever be persuaded to go with this other philosophy....

The Canucks. No offense.
- systemtool

The Canucks make TML fans come here and spew garbage?

For the record, Luongo's contract doesn't suck. Zetterberg, Hossa, Franzen and Duncan Keith all have similar contracts. What sucks is Mike Gillis made a commitment to Lu and he didn't follow through with it. Where as teams like Chicago and Detroit, who made long term commitments to players, stuck with their guy.

It only sucks because he's trying to trade it! He should be honouring his commitment and trading Schneider as they are currently comparable talents.

It's like a TML bandwagon crashed into an internet cafe that was handing out free stupid pills.

What is going on around here?
- moondawg

This site has become infested by 10 year old brats who love to keep hammering the same nail.

For the record, Luongo's contract doesn't suck. Zetterberg, Hossa, Franzen and Duncan Keith all have similar contracts. What sucks is Mike Gillis made a commitment to Lu and he didn't follow through with it. Where as teams like Chicago and Detroit, who made long term commitments to player, stuck with their guy.

It only sucks because he's trying to trade it! He should be honouring his commitment and trading Schneider as they are currently comparable talents.
- LeftCoaster

Very well said Lefty.


Also the NHL did change the rules to how a contract could be structured . They accepted the old contracts in the old CBA and now punish them in the New CBA .That rule should have been for any contract signed after the new CBA.

Other teams will be fighting Gary soon too when one of their back sliding contracts has them paying a guy like Kovi a high cap hit and he makes 10 points in a season.

Gillis will have Lu on LTIR from years 7 to 9 just like Pronger.

Oh please, yes.

It seems that individual lines only have continued success when they're able to dominate their opposition in some specific way. i.e. Size & strength or speed or playmaking ability, etc.

The Sedins and their pass & cycling game has always been successful when they get favorable defensive matchups and are eventually able to cause breaksdowns in defensive coverage. Doesn't happen as often in the playoffs, but it sure keeps the other team's top D pair busy.

Kesler, Raymond and Grabner was an exciting line combination for a few games a number of years ago and we saw something similar again recently when Schroeder was centering Raymond and Hansen. They were able to bottle up teams in their own zone and create turnovers using their speed on the forecheck. Getting this type of line out against a slower D pairing causes all kinds of havoc.

LA Kings have had success using big bodies all on one line, dumping the puck in and overpowering teams below the goal line.

To know what this team is really capable of, I'd like to see the following combinations stay together until they can establish some chemistry and a style of play that dominates their opposition:

Sedins and Burrows stick to their time-tested cycle game.
Roy between Raymond and Hansen for a speed line.
Kesler between Kassian and Higgens for a line that grinds down low on the forecheck and gets bodies to the front of the net.
Lapierre between Wiese and warm body #3 on a dump/chase/hit 4th.

Unfortunately AV seems to prefer having lines that are 'balanced' or have a little of everything. End result seems to be that they just end up getting dominated by the opposition. If he could ever be persuaded to go with this other philosophy....
- YeOldTimer

This.

Having lines with specific roles and styles will give each player a specific role and identity on this team and will help them be more consistent. Also each lines specializing in different aspects will make them that much harder to defend against teams, slower teams might struggle against the speed lines while speedy and smaller teams would struggle against the lines that cycle and go to the net. Having a defined shutdown line frees up the other lines to play more offensively and over a playoff series, the opposing top line will have some games where they don't contribute offensively if you line match hard.

Really glad all of these fans from other teams are here classing up the blog ....