i had to google it, dont' get that commercial up here.
- sensarmy_11

Ha

i had to google it, dont' get that commercial up here.
- sensarmy_11

And aren't you sorry you did?

And aren't you sorry you did?
- StLBravesFan

a little bit, yeah

Any GM that pays Bolland $5 mill should be fired. Are you nuts. A walking wounded soldier, that is Bolland. Why even last season he was hurting in the playoffs. Not the same Bolland as the first Cup. Though he had a big moment against Bruins.
- jhawk59

I disagree.

When the cap goes up, salaries increase. Sure, $5 million per season for Bolland sounds high at first, but in a couple of seasons it might be viewed as a bargain.

Bickell and McNeil for Bourque and Eller. There is no other way.
- soad_live

No.

I disagree.

When the cap goes up, salaries increase. Sure, $5 million per season for Bolland sounds high at first, but in a couple of seasons it might be viewed as a bargain.
- EKolb13

I agree completely about the salaries issue, Eli. Many here have not made the adjustment to the new salary structure as the cap increases. Many use the salary of another player signed three years ago as the comparison to a player that has recently signed. This is wrong; the proper comparison is to a player that was signed VERY recently. In fact, for a long contract (over three years) agents and teams will project the market out over the length of the contract and try to get the AAV to a number that will be appropriate in the middle of the deal. Doing otherwise would be malpractice for the agent.

I know this doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but Toledo's head coach stepped down yesterday...

Slow news morning...

http://www.13abc.com/stor...alleye-head-coach-resigns

I know this doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but Toledo's head coach stepped down yesterday...

Slow news morning...

http://www.13abc.com/stor...alleye-head-coach-resigns
- EKolb13

Judging by their record and where they are in the standings, which is last, I would say he was about ready to get canned anyway. A case of the players tuning him out?

Judging by their record and where they are in the standings, which is last, I would say he was about ready to get canned anyway. A case of the players tuning him out?
- rtang415

Maybe that's part of it? I don't follow the Walleye too heavily.

I know there was a news story last week that I posted here that stated that Toledo had thought about dumping or changing one or more of it's NHL affiliations after the season ends. The main complaint was that Toledo has had 80 player transactions so far this season and it was believed by the Toledo organization that this was a big part of the problem reflecting their record.

With 80 personnel changes, I would venture to guess that it's tough for the team to have any chemistry for too long.

http://www.toledoblade.co...rt-Walleye-s-success.html

I know this doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but Toledo's head coach stepped down yesterday...

Slow news morning...

http://www.13abc.com/stor...alleye-head-coach-resigns
- EKolb13

Sounds like an absolute shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhit show down there.

Hey Phil I think he's still third in the league in assists or something ridiculous like that...which isn't all that bad. And another Norris on the way.
- DK002

He's a lock as a finalist and has a great shot to get his 2nd Norris

He's a lock as a finalist and has a great shot to get his 2nd Norris

- philco28

All of this talk about Keith being a Norris candidate - and I know he has a ton of assists- but:

Aren't the Hawks somewhere in the middle of the league in goals allowed?

Shouldn't a defenseman who plays 35%+ of his teams minutes be downgraded for that performance?

Shouldn't the Norris winner come from a team with a better simplistic defensive record (and I realize that GA is a simplistic and perhaps unfair way of measuring a team's defensive results)?

@MarkLazerus: #Blackhawks RT "@MaStrozyk: Teuvo Teräväinen, the youngest player in the line-up, will be sporting the C for Jokerit tonight."

I disagree.

When the cap goes up, salaries increase. Sure, $5 million per season for Bolland sounds high at first, but in a couple of seasons it might be viewed as a bargain.
- EKolb13

The same can be said for Bickell at $4 million.

Judging by their record and where they are in the standings, which is last, I would say he was about ready to get canned anyway. A case of the players tuning him out?
- rtang415

You can't necessarily judge the coach of a farm team on wins and losses. A farm team is in place primarily for developing players.

All of this talk about Keith being a Norris candidate - and I know he has a ton of assists- but:

Aren't the Hawks somewhere in the middle of the league in goals allowed?

Shouldn't a defenseman who plays 35%+ of his teams minutes be downgraded for that performance?

Shouldn't the Norris winner come from a team with a better simplistic defensive record (and I realize that GA is a simplistic and perhaps unfair way of measuring a team's defensive results)?
- StLBravesFan

let's be honest here, the norris is about points first, and defense second.

keith is, i believe, 2nd in scoring by d-men (just behind karlsson), but it quite a bit better than him defensively.

he isn't the best shutdown guy in the league, but when you mix offense + defense, he's easily, IMO, the best overall d-man in the league this year.

I would guess the 3-4 finalists would be keith, karlsson, pietrangelo, weber....and I think keith wins it pretty easily (i think karlsson and weber are gonna get killed cuz of their +/-)

@MarkLazerus: #Blackhawks RT "@MaStrozyk: Teuvo Teräväinen, the youngest player in the line-up, will be sporting the C for Jokerit tonight."
- DarthKane

Interesting. Where's our Finnish correspondent at to shed more light on this story?

You can't necessarily judge the coach of a farm team on wins and losses. A farm team is in place primarily for developing players.
- paulr

I don't know if that's necessarily true at the "AA" level. If I'm not mistaken, at that level, affiliate teams can only have "x" amount of players they can send to that level.

In a way, it's part development, but it's also about putting a winning team on the ice at the same time. If you want to fill the seats, teams have to win in that league.

EDIT: ECHL teams are allowed twenty players on the active roster. In order to make it work, especially with a team that has two NHL affiliates, I would venture to guess that the ECHL team needs to keep a certain percentage of regular players who have no affiliation with AHL/NHL players, and have to keep a certain percentage of roster spots open for their NHL affiliates.

Toledo currently has 7 players on the roster with ties to Rockford and Chicago, and Cinncinatti is currently housing one "prospect" (I'm using the term loosely).

All of this talk about Keith being a Norris candidate - and I know he has a ton of assists- but:

Aren't the Hawks somewhere in the middle of the league in goals allowed?

Shouldn't a defenseman who plays 35%+ of his teams minutes be downgraded for that performance?

Shouldn't the Norris winner come from a team with a better simplistic defensive record (and I realize that GA is a simplistic and perhaps unfair way of measuring a team's defensive results)?
- StLBravesFan

The Norris trophy seldom goes to the best defensive defenseman, it goes to the defenseman with the highest point total and the defensive stats are sort of factored in. That said a plus 19 for Keith looks awfully good in that regard.

One day I would like to see a new trophy, call it the Bobby Orr trophy for the highest scoring defenseman and give the Norris to the best all round defenseman.

I don't know if that's necessarily true at the "AA" level. If I'm not mistaken, at that level, affiliate teams can only have "x" amount of players they can send to that level.

In a way, it's part development, but it's also about putting a winning team on the ice at the same time. If you want to fill the seats, teams have to win in that league.
- EKolb13

The Toronto Marlies had a very good winning percentage a few years back. But they did it with journeyman veterans who weren't being considered as Leaf prospects. Other than winning what is the point of that? I want to see the Hawk farm teams develop players as they have been rather than focusing on winning. That said if the players are well developed and are a winning team, that is a huge bonus.

The Toronto Marlies had a very good winning percentage a few years back. But they did it with journeyman veterans who weren't being considered as Leaf prospects. Other than winning what is the point of that? I want to see the Hawk farm teams develop players as they have been rather than focusing on winning. That said if the players are well developed and are a winning team, that is a huge bonus.
- paulr

One of the attributes young players have to learn is how to win - which can only be taught by winning: protecting a one-goal lead with three minutes left, overcoming a one or two goal 3rd period deficit, keeping control of a three-goal second period lead.

It's a delicate balance, but I would think - like in baseball - consistently winning NHL teams have consistently winning farm teams.

let's be honest here, the norris is about points first, and defense second.

keith is, i believe, 2nd in scoring by d-men (just behind karlsson), but it quite a bit better than him defensively.

he isn't the best shutdown guy in the league, but when you mix offense + defense, he's easily, IMO, the best overall d-man in the league this year.

I would guess the 3-4 finalists would be keith, karlsson, pietrangelo, weber....and I think keith wins it pretty easily (i think karlsson and weber are gonna get killed cuz of their +/-)
- sensarmy_11

Thanks for bringing weber up! wanted to see what you guys thought about the possibility of him being traded is and for what return. Oh, And Zepplin is the best band in history IMO

One of the attributes young players have to learn is how to win - which can only be taught by winning: protecting a one-goal lead with three minutes left, overcoming a one or two goal 3rd period deficit, keeping control of a three-goal second period lead.

It's a delicate balance, but I would think - like in baseball - consistently winning NHL teams have consistently winning farm teams.
- StLBravesFan

I agree 100%, but my point is there is no chance for a team that is there primarily to develop players when other teams are stacking their rosters with older non prospects.

I agree 100%, but my point is there is no chance for a team that is there primarily to develop players when other teams are stacking their rosters with older non prospects.
- paulr

Yes.

One of the attributes young players have to learn is how to win - which can only be taught by winning: protecting a one-goal lead with three minutes left, overcoming a one or two goal 3rd period deficit, keeping control of a three-goal second period lead.

It's a delicate balance, but I would think - like in baseball - consistently winning NHL teams have consistently winning farm teams.
- StLBravesFan

I understand the learning to win thing. Many of them already have that in the tool belt, as they've generally been the most dominant player on the ice growing up. To me it is far more important to develop the physical AND mental skills (how to think the game) that will help the NHL team (and the player). Sometimes this means that the "prospect" gets put in positions he hasn't yet earned in comparison to the "vet". Let's say Brookbank could be sent down freely, without waiver fears. He'd be the best defenseman on Rockford's back line, clearly a better defender than Clendenning at this point. But they might decide (and should, imo) to play Clendenning and Dahlstrombergman against the other team's top line to try to get them ready for the bigs. I would think those two would develop better playing the other teams' best line. And to me, that is more important than the learning how to win thing - the Hawks have that in their group in spades and the new guys will catch on there.