New Chatroom

I decided after this morning's chat to go find another chat page. Introducing the new and improved EVERYTHING HOCKEY CHAT PAGE!!! Heres the link:

http://chatshack.net/habscaps9

"THE CHATROOM"

Hey hockey lovers and site viewers today marked our first ever Chat room talk. I was disappointed by the amount of people who showed with like 10 people thats it. I will be trying to do this every Saturday morning and maybe the afternoons sometimes. I will post here for when there will be a Chat room talk. I would also like the fans to vote on what we should call the Chat. Anyway our first day was okay with some good people coming in to chat.I would like to thank Pengal and FlyersX for there positive remarks. I may have one tonight after all the games or during the games being played. I'll let you know as soon as I know what I'm gonna be doing.


Until then its,
Ovie's Best Friend signing out.

Cutting Your Losses : Marian Hossa and Brian Campbell

So Marian Hossa has decided to openly announce that his chances of re-signing with the Atlanta Thrashers are "slim". I'm here to tell you that I've had enough. If I'm a general manager and my player openly says something like this, c'est au revoir mon ami!

GM's and fans alike don't need this kind of attention around their team. The Thrashers are in the heat of battle for 8th place in the Eastern Conference. And now their best player tells them he is likely to move on. What kind of reaction does this attract from the locker room? He's abandoning his team and what's worse; he's comfortable in announcing it to the media. So what does Don Waddell do?

Well, you start by trading Hossa immediately. The Thrashers have to look for help elsewhere, and trading Hossa as soon as possible will only strengthen their playoff hopes. Get rid of the attention, get their motive back on track, and most importantly, get rid of the player. If Waddell waits until the Trade Deadline, other teams will know that he is even keener on moving him and the Thrashers will more than likely get fleeced.

In the Thrashers case, I am not suggesting unloading him for picks and prospects, because quite frankly, they’re not the Leafs. I am suggesting swapping him with others players that will help the club attain the playoffs. Considering Hossa’s contract, why not aim big for players like Martin St-Louis, Brad Richards, Mats Sundin and Olli Jokinen, just to name a few.

On the other hand, the Thrashers can attain a multitude of players by swapping Hossa for a package deal. This kind of thing can smooth out more holes on an inconsistent Thrashers club and place more responsibility on the young and super talented Ilya Kovalchuk.

With that said, the Thrashers -- if they believe it is best for their club -- can call the season quits, trade Hossa and attain a hefty package of draft picks and prospects. This would all but obliterate their playoff hopes but assure them an even brighter future.

However, I don't believe that would be fair to the fans that held their Thrashers allegiance with pride even after the club missed the playoffs for 10-straight years. They deserve better. The city hosts a club that can be competitive and with a little tweaking and quick decision making, they could turn this ship around.

Waddell, the ball is in your court.

A similar situation resides in Buffalo Sabres defenseman, Brian Campbell. The young and offensively gifted Campbell is uncertain of his future with the Sabres, his contract negotiations have erupted from one extreme to the next. And now reports are suggesting he is done negotiating until the end of the season.

Darcy Regier has a huge decision on his hands. If you wait until this season passes by -- which could very well foresee the Sabres out of playoff contention -- Campbell could end up walking for nothing. Like Daniel Briere and Chris Drury before him, he would be another star departed from the passionate city of Buffalo.

If I am Regier, I give Campbell one more contract offer, if he declines, then I trade him at the deadline for some much needed assets. Campbell is a vital piece to the Sabres defense, but the asking price would be quite surprising. But if the Sabres do not want to risk missing the playoffs, then swap him. Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle comes to mind. Aim high, because you never know.

Sure, it's risky business considering all that has happened to the Sabres this past year. But it is a painful decision which needs to be done. It is now time to put their foot down and establish a foundation for players to come.

The Dreaded NHL ''No-Trade Clause''

In the "Salary Cap" world of today's NHL, all teams must configure their rosters to fit within the Cap currently set at $52M USD. And this system encourages a bargaining chip - the no trade clause.

While general managers employ this for different reasons, it ends up having the same effect. Some will use it to pursue players in the free agent frenzy to assure them of stability with their club, and with the same reasoning it is also used for RFA's.

But I ask you this: Is this something important for the NHL?
Personally I wouldn't mind seeing it removed from the league entirely, but some restructuring would also be appreciated.

Look at JFJ, for example. It can be argued that he lost his job because he abused the NTC's to assure the players stability. Ferguson put himself into a corner by giving a no-trade clause to Bryan McCabe, Tomas Kaberle, Darcy Tucker and Mats Sundin. And I ask you this: If JFJ had not given those players a no-trade clause, would he have his job today? It is something to ponder.

With the freedom to trade these players at will, JFJ could have easily moved some of them right when things went awry. In fact, JFJ told TSN last night that he had growing interest for McCabe, Kaberle, Sundin and Tucker from GM's around the league, funny how that works out.

Another example is the Tampa Bay Lightning. GM Jay Feaster has included no-trade clauses in the contracts of Brad Richards and Martin St-Louis. The Lightning are near the bottom of the NHL this season with three of the best forwards in the league, yet Feaster can do little to nothing to cure his club'€™s woes because St-Louis and Richards need to give permission to be dealt.

But here's another question: Should NHL players have this kind of power? Sure, some will argue every player should have the right to stability, but I disagree with this. When you're playing professional sports, you have to be prepared with the possibility of changing cities. The whole basis off their career is to play hard and impress to stay with their team.

With the NTC, player movement is also on the decline. Don't get me wrong, as always there will be a load of trades at the deadline, but this all goes back to the Ferguson scenario. If teams like Toronto were able to unload their players at the deadline without wondering about the possibility of those players waiving their NTC's, we'd see a considerable difference of liveliness come Feb.26th.

So here are some suggestions to mitigate the effects of this flaw (IMO):

- - Teams should be limited in the number of players to which they can grant no-trade clauses. This would force teams into only giving NTC's to their star players, thus making it much more interesting come Feb.26th.

- - Assign a cap value to a NTC - charging the no-trade clause against the cap would ultimately cost the teams more money, making them think twice before unloading them on half the team. (Thanks Scoop)

If you don't like that, there's always my suggestion - eliminate it. Doing this ensures a no-safety zone for all players and, come Feb.26th, a frenzy of trades would occur. Do the players really need that stability? This is something they surely considered when they chose this career path, so the lack of it won't come as a huge surprise to them.

Richard Zednik Cut by Skate

It was a pretty scary incident last night in Buffalo. The city was once again subject to an on-ice near-death situation due to a skate blade cutting a player's neck. First it was Clint Malarchuk in 1989, and yesterday it was Florida Panthers forward Richard Zednik. For the squeamish, don't watch this video because there is plenty of blood.




According to reports, Zednik lost 5 of his 8 units of blood on the ice. There was so much blood on the ice, that Buffalo was forced to bring out the Zamboni to clean it up. There was question about whether the game would go on, but after about a 15-20 minute delay, the game continued.

Interestingly enough, the same doctor in Buffalo who helped Zednik to the hospital was the same doctor who attended to Kevin Everett, the Buffalo Bills Lineman who was thought to be paralyzed for life after being hit in a game last year.

The doctors who treated him also said that Zednik's carotid artery was cut 3/4 of the way, literally hanging on by a thread. It was as if someone took a knife to his throat. Luckily Zed is just fine, and should be able to resume his life in about 6-8 weeks. Hopefully we'll see him back in action on the ice sooner rather than later.

Here is a picture going around the internet that really shows the seriousness of the cut. Again, if you are squeamish, do not look.

This Old House with Bob Goalie

It's been far too long since I last posted something however, as the old saying goes, quality, not quantity. In case you couldn't tell by the title, this is another one of those "The Leafs must sell everybody and rebuild" blogs so reader beware and suggestions are welcome.

Most people save the best for last, but not me. Just like an old house being torn down, it starts with the foundation. The first and foremost issue at hand here is Sundin. He just has to go. It sounds very backward and it reads very strange, but Sundin is the most valuable player available this year at the deadline and we should take full advantage of it. In my mind, there is no other player that is as talented as Sundin and is available at the deadline. Even in years past, who can put up a solid case to be better than Sundin at the deadline? Forsberg last year? He was not 100%. Guerin? Tkachuk? No. The only guy that is comparable is Ray Bourque and we all know how that story ended. The fact of the matter is, the events of last year are different from this year. Last year, there were several pretenders who thought they were contenders such as the Islanders and the Thrashers and other teams that just flat out got the wrong players like San Jose. This season, we're talking about Sundin who's on a different level than these guys were last year and we're talking about contending teams like Anaheim and Detroit. Big difference.

Rumors circulating have reported that Anaheim, despite signing Selanne, are still in the hunt for Mats Sundin. Other teams included in these rumors are Calgary, Vancouver, San Jose and sometimes Detroit. Obviously, trading with some teams will be much better than trading with others, like for example, trading with Vancouver would not be as favorable to this team as it would be to trade with Anaheim. Vancouver has defensive prospects, which we have plenty of already, and Anaheim has some offensive weapons we could add that we need. Now, the price of Sundin has been thrown around a lot and honestly, I think it should be more than Forsberg cost last year. Forsberg was a potentially great player but he wasn't 100% and Nashville paid accordingly. This year, we have Sundin who is 100%, as motivated as ever, and as talented as ever. Teams will have to pay to play, and significantly might I add.

I'll start with the best trading partner, Anaheim. I expect Bobby Ryan and EDM 1st round pick. The Ducks have all the defense and goaltending in the world, but they do not have the same Selanne/McDonald connection they had last year. Selanne will take awhile to warm up to the player they NEED him to be and McDonald is just gone. Getzlaf on the top like works, but on the 2nd line, nothing would be more dangerous than having Sundin. If the Ducks have any problem with cap space, I will gladly take any contract we have to. Waivers is not a hard thing for us to use. Burke is a smart GM but so is Fletcher and I think this is in the realm of possibility. Right now, the Ducks are poised for the Cup and will be for a few years so the draft and prospects aren't the most important thing to them considering they have a legitimate chance to win back to back Cups.

The next best trading partner, and also most unlikely, is the Detroit Red Wings. From the Red Wings, I expect to see one of two packages coming our way. The first being, Filppula, Andersson, Emmerton or Grigorenko and a 3rd round pick. Joakim Andersson, Cory Emmerton and Igor Grigorenko are all 2nd/3rd line prospects. Filppula is a great young player that the Red Wings might have to consider giving up instead of a 1st rounder or other more notable prospects like Kindl or Ryno. The other deal consists of, Grigorenko, Andersson, Emmerton, 1st, 2nd in 08 and 3rd in 09.

For the Sharks, I think a fair price would be, Pavelski, Setoguchi, 2nd in 08 and a 3rd in 09. The tricky thing about the Sharks however, is they are also interested in Antropov, Kubina, and even Raycroft. There is also the outside chance of Blake being in their plans, although, long term, I doubt the Sharks would be interested in him. In a deal consisting of Sundin and Antropov, I would add Bernier to the previous deal. If Kubina is added, I expect Ehrhoff in return. Raycroft, if they need him, can go for a 5th or 6th round pick.

Following the Sharks, are the Flames. The Flames have got a huge problem at center. They have two or three guys who are great 2nd liners, but nobody who can really play with Iginla. His latest goal slump is proof of that. Sundin in Calgary would be a natural fit, and personally, value aside, my favorite (probably because Calgary was my prediction for Cup winner this year). In return, I would expect Boyd, Backlund, Giordano (playing in Russia but still owned by the Flames), 1st and 2nd in 09. There are also rumors that the Flames are interested in Antropov or Tucker so for either of them you add Taratukhin to the deal. I think Taratukhin is an Antropov-like player that the Flames could afford to let go for a run in the playoffs and instantly replace him with a more developed Antropov. Tucker has a NTC, but going home, to a competitive situation would do him and his game wonders. Many think Tucker is playing hurt, while I think that is true, I think there is something else killing Tucker and that's the lack of true competitiveness. I think he feeds off of it, and in Calgary, he will get it, plenty of it.

Then finally, comes the Canucks. Of all the teams rumored to be interested in Sundin, the Canucks are the team I am the least interested in. They have nothing the Leafs could possibly need other than improved versions of what the Leafs already have, however, if the Canucks are interested, it is worth going over what we could get in return. I would expect Bourdon, Hansen, Raymond, 1st in 08, and a 3rd in 09 or, alternatively, Kesler, Raymond, Hansen, 2nd in 08 and a 3rd in 09.

Once Sundin is dealt, I would love to re-sign him, however I see some destructive decisions if he does return. For one thing, if Sundin returns, you can rule out any remote possibility of the Leafs even thinking about getting Tavares because the idea when Sundin is on the team, is making the playoffs. I believe the Leafs need two if not three years away from the playoffs to rebuild and restock this team properly. Point to the Flyers of this year, but what people forget is the Leafs don't have a Richards, or Carter, or Gagne to build off of. The Leafs need a few really high 1st round picks before they even think about the playoffs again. The only scenario where I re-sign Sundin, is if he returns and does it Steve Yzerman style where he accepts to play a lesser role on the team and the team itself admits to playing prospects and not signing or trading for established players and/or veterans to make a playoff push.

As you can see, the biggest step is trading Sundin, but, similar to a house, that's just the same as knocking the biggest pieces of the old house down because the big stuff is gone, but there is still some walls left standings, some walls, we need to tear down and replace.

I've already mentioned Antropov a couple of times, and a few others once in the San Jose deal, but one player I have yet to mention is Vesa Toskala. Toskala is a 30 year old goaltender, who is smaller than the average goaltender in the NHL, however, he is beginning to show that he belongs in the top 15 if not 10 in this league in goaltending. On a team that plays a sound game but needs goaltending, Toskala is perfect. In Toronto, a rebuilding phase would see the development of Pogge and the rise of Toskala clash. I would be in favor of holding on to Toskala for one more year, however, if it is possible to get good value for him now, we can't say no and I think I have found a pretty good compromise. That compromise would see the Leafs deal Toskala and Antropov to Nashville, if Antropov isn't already dealt with Sundin, for Mason, FLA 1st, 2nd in 08 and a 3rd in 09. Mason makes 3 million a year, only 1 less than Toskala, so for Nashville, who is trying to make the playoffs and need to make them for fan support and revenue, it makes perfect sense. They also get a two-way winger or center who can score too. The Predators have no problem scoring but they do need a more defensive aware player and Antropov is that guy, at a bargain of 2 million for this and next year.

I would personally deal Sundin, Antropov, Kubina, Tucker, Toskala, and just about any player 30 and over that another team wants, except Kaberle. In return, if we deal with Anaheim, Calgary, San Jose and Nashville with Sundin going to Anaheim, Tucker going to Calgary, Kubina and Raycroft going to San Jose and Toskala and Antropov going to Nashville, a good situation would see us acquire, Bobby Ryan, EDM 1st, Ehrhoff, SJS 5th, Mason, FLA 1st, NSH 2nd, and NSH 3rd in 09 in return. Not a bad way to start rebuilding in my opinion and not that out of this world either, all it takes is an effort to sell the veteran players we have, and move forward with a younger core. Next year, I would hope to see a lineup that included, Kulemin, Tlusty, Vorobiev, Earl, Pogge, and any other player on our list of prospects that can play in the NHL next year to develop their NHL game and to add to the future positively.

In conclusion, I'd like to apologize for the length of this blog, but it was just something I felt I wanted to put all together, in one blog. I know some of my ideas are things that will not happen simply due to the fact the Leafs want to win quickly and doing things slowly and steady in this organization just do not happen, but I ask for critical responses, and just to take everything with a grain of salt as I've tried to keep things as level as possible for all parties involved. Hopefully, this old house is torn down, and we can start to build something more modern as we move forward and continue our quest for the Cup.

North Dakota Magic in Minneapolis

The North Dakota Fighting Sioux, ranked #3 in the USCHO.com/CSTV Division I Men's Poll, tops the hated #18 ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers in overtime 2-1 with this beautiful goal by freshman Evan Trupp. Words cannot describe this goal.