2016 NHL Off-Season Thread

[Kramerica Industries]

Wait the...what the...how the...

 

 

Just how exactly did Yzerman pull that off?

 

[BeerGuyJordan]

13 hours ago, chrysleraspen08 said:

 

With the state of the Oilers organization, I honestly think having a 19 year old captain is the least of their problems.

 

12 hours ago, the admiral said:

Bigger problem:

 

 

Nothing, and I mean nothing, should overshadow the fact that they had four of the past six #1 draft picks, going into last season, and still finished dead last in the West.

[The_Admiral]

6 hours ago, McCarthy said:

Here's my hot take: Captains barely matter. At the very least the amount they matter is disproportionate to the amount it's discussed in hockey circles.

 

Leadership matters, but having a sweater letter doesn't imbue you with it. Eric Staal once pooh-poohed the notion of leadership through captaincy by saying it just meant he had to talk to the referee. Surprise, Eric Staal sucked and the Hurricanes sucked.

[2001mark]

Captains are usually the ones facing the media in the locker room.  At least that's the word around these parts, & whom would always would be best at it from the room.  

Personally, I admire teams who name captains who are not their best player.  

 

As for the Oilers, like I said pages ago, the organization was apt to name McDavid captain 2-3yrs from now.  Bob Nicholson has said as much, they weighed it out & didn't want those 2-3 full seasons of having the C over Connor's future, ever critiquing the eventuality.  Just pull the trigger now & get on with business.  Besides, naming Lucic one of the assistant captains basically makes him the real leader of the room for now.

[Flames1fan]

Calgary gets  Kris Versteeg

There team going be one of the best this year 

 

2016-17 Calgary Flames Roster

Forwards

#10 Kris Versteeg (RW)
#11 Mikael Backlund (C)
#13 Johnny Gaudreau (LW)
#17 Lance Bouma (LW)
#18 Matt Stajan (C)
#19 Matthew Tkachuk (LW)
#23 Sean Monahan (C)
#25 Freddie Hamilton (C)
#36 Troy Brouwer (RW)
#39 Alex Chiasson (RW)
#67 Michael Frolik (RW)
#79 Micheal Ferland (LW)
#93 Sam Bennett (C/LW)

Defence

#3 Jyrki Jokipakka (LD)
#5 Mark Giordano (LD)
#6 Dennis Wideman (RD)
#7 TJ Brodie (RD)
#8 Nicklas Grossmann (LD)
#27 Dougie Hamilton (LD)
#29 Deryk Engelland (RD)
#61 Brett Kulak (LD)

Goalies

#1 Brian Elliott
#31 Chad Johnson

[FGM13]

Kris Versteeg tries out on a PTO with Edmonton, gets offered a contract, and instead goes to Calgary for under 1 million. Ugh.

[Flames1fan]

calgary looking good 

[The_Admiral]

How'd the World Cup do for Jeremy Jacobs and friends?

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com//opinion/hockeys-back-and-the-nhl-is-still-sticking-it-to-canadian-fans/article32324463/?cmpid=rss1&click=sf_globe

Quote

According to the Globe and Mail’s David Shoalts, Rogers paid $30-million for Canadian TV rights to the World Cup, compared to the $5-million (U.S.) paid by ESPN for the American TV rights, and another $2-million or so paid for European rights. The prices are no surprise, given the Canadian TV audience was many times larger than the American.

 

Another $30-million or so in World Cup revenue came from corporate sponsorships; again, the primary audience was the Canadian fan.

Ticket sales are believed to have brought in a further $30-million. All of the World Cup’s round-robin and playoff games were played at a venue where demand for hockey consistently and overwhelmingly exceeds supply: Toronto’s Air Canada Centre.

Critics are upset that the league appears intent on skipping the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. They think this is short-sighted, and they’re probably right. And for Canadians, who since 1972 have been obsessed with best-on-best, nation vs. nation showdowns, the idea that the NHL can’t interrupt its interminable season once every four years to give us a Paul Henderson moment is infuriating.

But from the NHL’s perspective, replacing the Winter Olympics with the World Cup has a compelling financial logic. The former costs the league money up front, and the payoff, if there is one, is distant and uncertain. The World Cup, in contrast, earns real cash, the kind you can count. And as long as the games are played in Canada, that cash is guaranteed.

The bottom line is this: In a little over two weeks, the World Cup took in more revenue than the Phoenix Coyotes or Florida Panthers generate in an entire season. The league put the equivalent of a new franchise in Toronto for a few days in September. And then, having fleeced the locals, it packed up its carnival tent, counting its winnings as it headed south for the winter.

 

 

This is literally House of Cards. I don't mean that there are parallels to a popular subscription-television show about the inner workings of politics, I mean this league's entire business model is a house of cards.