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GAME ON! NHL Lockout is finally done.

I kinda learned to live without hockey... the only thing that might lure me back would be the chance to watch the Leafs crash and burn IAW TML SOP's.

 
Mike_R23A said:
I kinda learned to live without hockey... the only thing that might lure me back would be the chance to watch the Leafs crash and burn IAW TML SOP's.

Ha ha, such envy...I hope the Leafs get another first round 'bye' vs. Ottawa this year ;D When did beating the Leafs become more important than Lord Stanley? Oh yeah, nevermind...other than that I don't mind them, they're my 6th favourite Canadian team!
 
I am very glad hockey is back on!! I was a huge Oilers fan all through junior high. I quit watching it in high school because I just wasn't too interested. I didn't know how much I really enjoyed it until last year when I couldn't watch it. I am quite excited to watch this year. Plus, my cousin can stay in Canada now, and not have to go play overseas!  ;D I like having him here playing for a Canadian team!  :cdn:
 
Island Ryhno said:
[glow=red,2,300]90 Owen Nolan - good, but not great. Overrated.
91 Eric Lindros - Tons of potential, but wasted due to PCS. Potential doesn't win Cups.
92 Roman Hamrlik - Good, but not great. still could get better.
93 Alexandre Daigle - Total Bust.
94 Ed Jovanovski - Excellent D-Man, but not in the range of a Coffey or McInnis...yet.
95 Bryan Berard - See above re:Lindros
96 Chris Phillips - See above re:Jovo
97 Joe Thornton - Excellent Centre. Maybe the best player in this list.
98 Vincent Lecavalier - Fantasic year last year. We'll see if he has longevity.
99 Patrick Stefan - Patrick who?
00 Rick DiPietro - Good, but not great. Goalies take a while to mature.
01 Ilja Kovalchuk - Unproven, obviously. Too soon to tell.
02 Rick Nash - See above re:Kovalchuk
03 Marc-Andre Fleury - see above re: DiPietro. Still unproven in the NHL.
04  Alexander Ovechkin - See above re:Fluery.
I still contend that a greater number of top quality players are available as Free agents, and a lot of them are more desireable than Crosby. There are only 200 players under contract for the upcoming year!

BTW, if you thought the Leafs sucked before, wait till you see how bad they suck when they can't spend money like a horny Private in Budapest!
 
Caesar, I agree with the free agent market, problem is now the teams HAVE to build through the draft. There will be no more star stacked teams. No more proof than Philly need be seen, I'll bet that this year Philly has no Leclair, Recchi, Zhamnov etc etc. You will see lots of young guys like Carter, Richards etc. I think the whole dynamic of the NHL is changed, young teams are going to make a big push (see Edmonton, Florida, Carolina) as they have very good young talent and lots of cap room to add a star or two. Free agency will not be the same as it was before. Also and we could banter back and forth about this all day, but I bet if you asked teams right now if they would take a free agent star like say...Sackic or would they prefer to get Crosby, what do you think the % would be on Crosby. In any case it's going to be a very exciting new NHL. Can't wait!
 
Actually Toronto is probably going to look fairly good this year and in the future.  You also have to remember that us buying major names at the trade deadline is a recent move, hell the first time we did it was for Nolan and that was only what? 2 years ago? 

Montreal, and Ottawa have done the same over the past few years.  So yeah, as much as you wish it, the leafs aren't going to suck this year.

 
I don't know about that Sheerin, most certainly they will lose a number of the vets they have on the team and they have very little in the system to replace them. Trust me I watched the baby leafs wallow here for the past five years. Outside of Carlo Colaiacovo, Matt Stajan and maybe Kyle Wellwood, there is nothing in the system. You pair that with the possible loss of Mogiilny, Niewendyk, Roberts and Belfour and I think leaf fans are in for a tough year.
 
The Leafs may not suck this year but they  are not gonna win the cup either LOL I got better odds of winning the supper 7 ::)
 
well its rumoured there is going to be a buy out clause in the new CBA so we can use that to free up some space.  I think right now we have 8 players under contract for next season, though these 8 account for about 27 mill.  So if we're able to buy out some players we have some significant room to work with.  Various players have said recently like Lindros and Allison that they'd be willing to come to Toronto for reduced salaries - i even read one report where Lindros said he'd be willing to work for league minimum in Toronto. 
Players like Mogilny, Roberts and Niewy have also said that they'd be willing to take major pay cuts to play one more season in Toronto. 

Sadly our farm system isn't that great, but we do have some good prospects coming up, though we do need more forwards. 

I personally think the leafs will be fine under the new system. 
 
Sheerin said:
Actually Toronto is probably going to look fairly good this year and in the future.   You also have to remember that us buying major names at the trade deadline is a recent move, heck the first time we did it was for Nolan and that was only what? 2 years ago?  

Montreal, and Ottawa have done the same over the past few years.   So yeah, as much as you wish it, the leafs aren't going to suck this year.

Toronto has 11 players under contract for 05-06 totalling 28.2 million, leaving 10.8 mill for the rest of the team. Last year, their payroll was 6th highest (62.4 Million), behind Detroit, Dallas, Philly, and Colorado. Their payroll for the 3 seasons prior was:65 (6th), 51.5(6th), and 41 million (8th). They are big spenders. Despite this spending they mange to win how many Cups? A lot of the other big spenders have won, but not all, or come close: Detriot, Colorado, Dallas, San Jose, etc. TO doesn't have a lot of room.

Ottawa has 13 players for $24.8 million, they are in the same boat as TO.

Montreal has 12 players for $17.5 million, which isn't too bad. They'll be ok but they don't have a ton of room.

Edmonton has 13 players at $13.5 million, but they won't hit the cap, and are expected to only spend around 33 million, so pro-rated to a cap limit, that's 19.5 million, which is still not too bad, but not great.

Calgary has 13 players at $14.1 million, with no reports of them not spending to the limit, so they have 24.9 million to spend...that's quite a bit if they can get their top players signed cheap.

And now for Vancouver, who have 9 players at 13.5 million (including Bertuzzi), and only Naslund and May as unrestricted. They have 25.5 million to spend. If they pay Naslund say, 7 million, which is possible, they will have 18.5 million for 2nd/3rd line guys...pretty good I'd say.

TO will be lucky to get middle of the pack this year, Calgary and Vancouver will be really good, and the rest will be right behind them. Assuming they all are equally sucessful in trading and drafting.
 
Guys, don't forget about Alexander Steen.

I'm less concerned about how the Leafs are going to do this year than I am about the game getting f*cked up by new/modified rules. I must admit that I'm more of a hockey fan than a Leaf fan. Except where the Sens are involved. I'd still like to see the Leafs lose to Ottawa throughout the reg season and waste them in the playoffs! >:D
 
Habs rule, bottom line. Most cups, last Canadian team to win the stanley cup. Got an awesome roster this year.

As for Crosby, the kid is good, but I've yet to see him play at NHL level, as the rest of you, so I won't say he's going to be a real good player, an awesome player, or a crappy player. I've seen kids like him before though, take Mike Ribeiro of my habs. He's good, but he's not nearly as good as what people had thought. He did outstanding in the minors, recording points well over the 100 mark, as did crosby. He was even compared to Gretzky.

All I'm saying is, before I call him "the next gretzky" or "teen phenom" or any of that, I'll have to see him play a few NHL games.
 
That'll be Gretzky, with a capital G, show some respect my man.  ;D As for hailing Crosby, if you listen very closely to the hockey people in the know, they've only whispered "greatness" a few times, and they've been right. Lemieux, Lindros and now Crosby. He's the real deal. There are lots of players who put up giant numbers in the juniors, but never get so much as a sniff, Crosby has all the tools. The Gretzky comparisons are not fair for two reasons. 1) None of the other greatest players in history are even close, so it's a no deal. 2) Crosby plays way more like Forsberg than he doe's Gretzky.  8)
 
Island Ryhno said:
Crosby plays way more like Forsberg

I went to a Memorial Cup game this year and saw Crosby play, and he really is very much like Forsberg...that's the same comparison I made after that game...
 
Crosby's going to Pittsburg.....bastards!

Here's the list:

1    Pittsburgh Penguins
2    Anaheim Mighty Ducks
3    Carolina Hurricanes
4    Minnesota Wild
5    Montreal Canadiens
6    Columbus Blue Jackets
7    Chicago Blackhawks
8    Atlanta Thrashers
9    Ottawa Senators
10    Vancouver Canucks - here's hoping they trade up for Brule!
11    Los Angeles Kings
12    San Jose Sharks
13    Buffalo Sabres
14    Washington Capitals
15    New York Islanders
16    New York Rangers
17    Phoenix Coyotes
18    Nashville Predators
19    Detroit Red Wings
20    Philadelphia Flyers
21    Toronto Maple Leafs - Ha-ha! Blow Leafs, Blow!
22    Bostin Bruins
23    New Jersey Devils
24    St. Louis Blues
25    Edmonton Oilers
26    Calgary Flames
27    Colorado Avalanche
28    Dallas Stars
29    Florida Panthers
30    Tampa Bay Lightning
 
yeah.. sad.... but there are plenty more players to choose from, and to be honest, I don't think any one player can do it for a team. I'll have to see him play at an NHL level before I say Ohhh he's so great... or, Ohh Sidney's a phenom, bla blah blah. If he can rough it, he'll do fine. The question is, can he take the big league hits?
 
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