2010 NHL Offseason chatter

[Lee.]

The closest Gretzky got to his defensive zone was about 6 feet in front of his blue line, where he skated back and forth waiting for a defenseman to clear a pass out to him. He rarely, if ever, got between an opposing player and his own team's net.

So does Gretzky's imcompleteness make him not an elite player?

I'm commenting solely on whoever it was's comment about him being the all-time +/- leader.

Comedy addendum: You'd have had 92 goals too with Winnipeg and LA in your division.

[habsfan1]

Halak made one last pit stop in Montreal today to greet the fans one last time. Look at all the people who showed up and cheered for him, despite the fact that he's playing for another team. Halak is a class act.

[The_Admiral]

lol the thrashers signed nigel dawes

There needs to be a billboard in Atlanta that says "THRASHERS HOCKEY: Some of my best friends are black!" or something.

Oh and apparently they're moving Byfuglien back to defense. DID YOU GUYS EVEN WATCH THE PLAYOFFS

[NEW.ERA]

Dawes I really believe was the one that got away.

Another Sutter blunder.

[TFoA]

lol the thrashers signed nigel dawes

There needs to be a billboard in Atlanta that says "THRASHERS HOCKEY: Some of my best friends are black!" or something.

Oh and apparently they're moving Byfuglien back to defense. DID YOU GUYS EVEN WATCH THE PLAYOFFS

According to our internet buddies over at Bird Watchers Anonymous on SB Nation, the Thrashers currently have 21% of the NHL's minorities. They have 7 or 8 minorities in their system, and I think they have 6 or 7 that are going to be on the team for the first game. To put this in perspective, the team(s) with the next most minorities on their squad has 2. They would have one more if they didn't buy out Brashear. But yeah, kinda funny that they may have more black guys on their team than the Braves do.

As for Buff playing on the blue line...hey, he's versatile enough to do whatever. He can play defense, or he can continue to blossom as a solid power forward like he did in the playoffs. Personally I'd prefer him on the wing. Not like this is set in stone anyways, from what I've read they're just going to give it a shot & see if it works out in camp.

Also...NHL + Hulu = win. Full Games, Condensed Games, Classic Games. Pretty cool.

[oddball]

lol the thrashers signed nigel dawes

There needs to be a billboard in Atlanta that says "THRASHERS HOCKEY: Some of my best friends are black!" or something.

Oh and apparently they're moving Byfuglien back to defense. DID YOU GUYS EVEN WATCH THE PLAYOFFS

According to our internet buddies over at Bird Watchers Anonymous on SB Nation, the Thrashers currently have 21% of the NHL's minorities. They have 7 or 8 minorities in their system, and I think they have 6 or 7 that are going to be on the team for the first game. To put this in perspective, the team(s) with the next most minorities on their squad has 2. They would have one more if they didn't buy out Brashear. But yeah, kinda funny that they may have more black guys on their team than the Braves do.

As for Buff playing on the blue line...hey, he's versatile enough to do whatever. He can play defense, or he can continue to blossom as a solid power forward like he did in the playoffs. Personally I'd prefer him on the wing. Not like this is set in stone anyways, from what I've read they're just going to give it a shot & see if it works out in camp.

Also...NHL + Hulu = win. Full Games, Condensed Games, Classic Games. Pretty cool.

And the same 4 people who show up to Braves games, will show up to Thrasher games... Oh wait, that's Tampa with the same 4 people showing up to Lighting games and Rays games. There are probably 100 people who show up to games in Atlanta.

[TFoA]

lol the thrashers signed nigel dawes

There needs to be a billboard in Atlanta that says "THRASHERS HOCKEY: Some of my best friends are black!" or something.

Oh and apparently they're moving Byfuglien back to defense. DID YOU GUYS EVEN WATCH THE PLAYOFFS

According to our internet buddies over at Bird Watchers Anonymous on SB Nation, the Thrashers currently have 21% of the NHL's minorities. They have 7 or 8 minorities in their system, and I think they have 6 or 7 that are going to be on the team for the first game. To put this in perspective, the team(s) with the next most minorities on their squad has 2. They would have one more if they didn't buy out Brashear. But yeah, kinda funny that they may have more black guys on their team than the Braves do.

As for Buff playing on the blue line...hey, he's versatile enough to do whatever. He can play defense, or he can continue to blossom as a solid power forward like he did in the playoffs. Personally I'd prefer him on the wing. Not like this is set in stone anyways, from what I've read they're just going to give it a shot & see if it works out in camp.

Also...NHL + Hulu = win. Full Games, Condensed Games, Classic Games. Pretty cool.

And the same 4 people who show up to Braves games, will show up to Thrasher games... Oh wait, that's Tampa with the same 4 people showing up to Lighting games and Rays games. There are probably 100 people who show up to games in Atlanta.

Well I never! 100 people?! No wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, there's at least 150 in there. Get ur numbz rite, bro!1!!

[oddball]

lol the thrashers signed nigel dawes

There needs to be a billboard in Atlanta that says "THRASHERS HOCKEY: Some of my best friends are black!" or something.

Oh and apparently they're moving Byfuglien back to defense. DID YOU GUYS EVEN WATCH THE PLAYOFFS

According to our internet buddies over at Bird Watchers Anonymous on SB Nation, the Thrashers currently have 21% of the NHL's minorities. They have 7 or 8 minorities in their system, and I think they have 6 or 7 that are going to be on the team for the first game. To put this in perspective, the team(s) with the next most minorities on their squad has 2. They would have one more if they didn't buy out Brashear. But yeah, kinda funny that they may have more black guys on their team than the Braves do.

As for Buff playing on the blue line...hey, he's versatile enough to do whatever. He can play defense, or he can continue to blossom as a solid power forward like he did in the playoffs. Personally I'd prefer him on the wing. Not like this is set in stone anyways, from what I've read they're just going to give it a shot & see if it works out in camp.

Also...NHL + Hulu = win. Full Games, Condensed Games, Classic Games. Pretty cool.

And the same 4 people who show up to Braves games, will show up to Thrasher games... Oh wait, that's Tampa with the same 4 people showing up to Lighting games and Rays games. There are probably 100 people who show up to games in Atlanta.

Well I never! 100 people?! No wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, there's at least 150 in there. Get ur numbz rite, bro!1!!

Oh, I'm sorry. I've forgotten to count the players and coaches on both teams!

[The_Admiral]

Byfuglien doesn't really have a position other than "in front of Roberto Luongo," is the problem. He's not particularly versatile; they moved him off the blue line because he was really bad there. The first few playoff games were Duncan Keith doing the work of two men while Byfuglien occassionally forgot which direction to go, and it's not like Nashville has the sort of relentless attack that requires real shutdown prowess. He's a joy when he ups his game in the playoffs, but he really frustrates in the regular season when he takes days, weeks off.

[Brendan]

soooooooooo

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=333690

A little steep would be an understatement. How the NHL can say this is fair is beyond me. Many teams pulled the same trick and wern't fined, it's ridiculous.

[NJTank]

Because Gary Bettman is a douche and is tired of seeing the Devils beat the suck ass Rangers every year.

[JQK]

Until Vancouver, Chicago & Philly get some penalties, this whole situation will continue to be a fu*king joke.

[charger77]

Until Vancouver, Chicago & Philly get some penalties, this whole situation will continue to be a fu*king joke.

Throw the Wings in that mix too (Zetterberg & Franzen)

[charger77]

Bobby Ryan signs a 5 yr / $25.5 deal with the Ducks

[Still MIGHTY]

Bobby Ryan signs a 5 yr / $25.5 deal with the Ducks

HALLE - ING - LUJAH!!!

Bobby (or his agent, who knows) wanted 3 years at that money. Bob Murray and the Ducks wanted 5 years at a little less. But they both get something. Thank God that's finally done with. It's basically the same contract Getzlaf and Perry signed 2 years ago, but possibly more bonuses or incentives because of the impending CBA negotiations.

All in all. It's a win-win. Bobby gets his money and stays in Anaheim, the Ducks get the contract length and their 09-10 leading goal scorer.

Now if there were only some more defensemen to be had... (Hopes the Ducks can help out the Devils with their salary cap crunch)

[BrySmalls]

Eric Belanger has signed a one-year deal with the Coyotes.

[TFoA]

NHL Board of Governors approve new playoff tiebreaker rules.

Starting with the 2010-11 season, the tiebreaker among teams with the same total of points in the standings will go to the club with the most regulation and overtime wins -- no longer including shootout wins in the decision.

The tiebreaker system also is used to decide NHL Entry Draft order and any waiver-claim priorities during the season.

So wait, the tiebreaker used to be shootout wins?! Wow, NHL.

[oddball]

NHL Board of Governors approve new playoff tiebreaker rules.

Starting with the 2010-11 season, the tiebreaker among teams with the same total of points in the standings will go to the club with the most regulation and overtime wins -- no longer including shootout wins in the decision.

The tiebreaker system also is used to decide NHL Entry Draft order and any waiver-claim priorities during the season.

So wait, the tiebreaker used to be shootout wins?! Wow, NHL.

No. It was actually total wins, and total wins was whether you got a win in regulation, overtime, or a shootout. I still wish they would go to just wins and losses, and forget the point system. You either win or you lose. I understood the logic behind the old system (two points for a win, none for a loss, and one for a tie), but a point for overtime and another point for a shootout win, it's just starting to become convoluted. Let's simplify it and say, you win or you lose. I realize ditching the points would be a break from tradition, but when you start getting into different types of wins and a point system, you just have to wonder "Why?" Football, baseball, and basketball don't give anything extra if you win in overtime/extra innings. Hell, even NASCAR doesn't give extra points for winning after a green/white/checkered finish, their version of overtime. Simplify it NHL.

[HedleyLamarr]

Exactly.

Either go to just strictly wins-losses (since every game winds up with a winner and a loser) or, if the NHL must stick with points in the standings, adopt a soccer-style points system and get rid of overtime games (for regular season games, of course): 3 points for a win, 1 point for ties, and 0 for losses.

[Sodboy13]

I'm completely in favor of a 3-point standings system (3 for regulation win, 2 for OT win, 1 for OT loss) that's caught on in Europe. It probably makes too much sense for the NHL, though.