Hawks sign Barker
The Hawks have confirmed they have signed restricted free agent defenseman Cam Barker to a three-year, $9.25 million contract extension.
The signing was a quick response to the announcement made earlier Monday by the NHL Players Association that it had filed a grievance against the Hawks over the way their restricted free agents were notified of their qualifying contract offers.
It meant the Hawks could have lost Kris Versteeg and Barker should they be declared unrestricted free agents by the impartial arbitrator that now will hear the case.
Barker made $984,000 so it's likely the mistake by the Hawks cost them more money in the end to re-sign the defenseman who had 6 goals and 34 assists last season.
The status of only Versteeg now is in question since the Hawks signed five of their other restricted free agents on Monday: Troy Brouwer, Ben Eager, Colin Fraser, Corey Crawford and Aaron Johnson.
According to a source, those five restricted free agents chose to re-sign with the Hawks rather than be part of the union's grievance. Brouwer and Crawford signed two-year deals while Eager, Johnson and Fraser re-uppped for one.
Obviously the agents for Versteeg and Barker saw the Hawks' blunder as a golden opportunity to get their clients a bigger payday.
The qualifying offers for both players was less than $1 million from the Hawks.
The Hawks claimed their qualifying offers were mailed on the June 29 deadline and postmarked with that date. Some players didn't receive the offers until after the start of free agency on July 1.
The NHL's collective bargaining agreement calls for the offers to be faxed or sent via overnight courier.
Lost amongst all the Barker/Versteeg angst it the fact that, yesterday, Black Monday as it will come to be known, we lost Pascal Pelletier to the Columbus Blue Jackets. I guess all we can do now is to sit back and reminisce about good ole number 27. It begs the question, what was your favorite moment of the Pascal Pelletier era?
and he almost scored.
It may be a done deal by the morning newspaper.
So dave Dreger's NON STORY ends with the 5% possible scenario he played up for days being on ethat even Versteeg's agent knew was now not going to hold water in court.
Guess I is answering dat! Hey and puck, when have we worried about too long of posts here, lol?
So I am pretty sure we are close or over the Cap.
and I am also sure there are lots of signed Blakhawks who can be packaged before September for a number four defenseman, who agrees before the trade that he understands his role as the stay home partner for Campbell.
If we are UNDER, we stand pat, baby! No need to worry about replacing Walker or campbell having a quality partner to let Hjarlmarsson develop on a 3rd pairing with Barker.
Will it REALLY matter if the offense sputters or has to score 6 because we gave up 5 in the "season?" The rock says, IT DOESN'T MATTER.
If we are under they wait until the trade deadline add a quality four who needs a chance to win a Cup before he reitres, and a quality back-up tender if the tires explode on Crawford /Niemi
At the deadline you pay the salary for a month, you clear salaries that impede the Toews signing and you go for it.
But if we are under, we are done I thinks.....
Thanks my friend...i dont think we`ll ever find total agreement even though we all are hawks fans for life..
I think Bolland/Ladd helped make Havlat look good , although i think im in the big time minority on that one. But dump/chase and crash players are the ones that i pay attention to and he (Ladd) was one of our unsung players for the entire year and a steal for us. Because we signed Kropecky he might knock Ladd to the trading block and i hope i am wrong...we have Kane Hossa Buf Brouwer Sharp Kropecky Skille and Ladd ..plus 4th liners Eager burish and fraser.
Thats 11 wingers and Ladd is an RFA next year and if he has a 20g/40 ass year which seems reasonable to me and plays with Bolland/Hossa
he will be in line for a nice raise.
I was hoping to trade sharp/Skille and have the following lines:
Hossa Toews Kane
Ladd Bolland Versteeg
Buff Madden Kropecky (what a crash line!!)
Eager Burish Brouwer
what do you think?
I enjoyed speaking to REALWIZ and other fans during and after the 2nd day of camp. I hope I can speak to Jackukel wed. I will file a report on prospects, Steve Rain, but I will write it as a rough draft and edit it, since I have to ensure it is not too long a post. I will tell you know, however, that Dowell and Brophey are more for depth, and more for Rockford developmental purpose. They are useful as back ups due to NHL injuries and possibly salary cap (I doubt salary cap issue will pertain). Each farm club wants to have a certain amount of players that they can expect to do certain things. Dowell and Brophey can play defense. Each team wants rushing defensemen. We have some players who are good for the AHL and maybe not the NHL. That could be smallish Connelly, and maybe Denis-Pepin will fit in here. DenisPepin has to control speedy forwards, but otherwise has a lot to offer. Anyway, Lavin and Carlsson are the d-men closest. Lalonde will be the main man in junior; he was on a second pair and has much to do in development -- but he has speed and skill. Anyway, a team can have only a set number of contracts in its system,so I know Berti is history and I suspect Bickel may be, too. Fallon is goo, maybe has NHL ability. The ivy league kid Richards supposed to be good, there is also the impressive goalie in camp. Anyway, back to Dowell and Brophey -- they are 3rd line or 4th line types NHL at best. Skille is someone who goes in a trade once the Versteeg situation is resloved. Skille offers a speedy forward can be used in various roles and fills a need for an NHL team. He won't be a big scorer. A trade scenario works like this: Chicago identifies whom they want, then offers the sort of players the other team can use
I sent my prospects camp review to John who wasn't able to be there and he will post it on hockeybuzz, ironic ,after they banned me for a week after saying Eklund stirred imaginary ridiculous pots of trades from day to day....
I think Havlat may have inflated Bolland and Ladd's numbers last year but I do not see Hossa playing even strength with Toews and Kane, only only on the pp. That is why I think Ladd and Bolland will get Hossa and that is an upgrade to Marty. Both are a year older and on the upside, Ladd is only 23 and has been around for years and is ready to blossom. Kopecky will not take Ladd's spot on the second line I am sure of that. Sharpie, Skille and Barker along with Versteeg if he remains a Hawk are all candidates to be moved for a skilled gritty dman if they can find one. Also if goaltending becomes a problem for Huet or the backup don't be suprised if Marty Biron gets a crack at it as I can't see him being a starter anywhere now with possibly LA being interested. Biron has had two good playoffs in a row and been lack lustre during the regular season. Pronger will make Emery look much better and Marty got shafted in my opinion. A good defence does wonders for the goalie stats, just ask Osgood. Top notch numbers for a mediocre goalie. Unfortunately the salary cap is taking it's toll on a lot of good players but I think it is a good thing for the good of the league. I don't think a city should be able to buy a stanley cup and with parity here it gives all teams a good crack at it. Question for Boldirev, were you a canuck fan when Boldirev came over to the Canucks?? He was a super talented player who I like very much.
You have got to be joking..me a canucks fan?? lol ive been a hawks fan before Boldirev was drafted and i will die a hawks fan..hopefully not before they raise the cup! The day they traded Ivan Boldirev (rota, russell) to Calgary (for Lysiak philapoff fox ribble and zaharko) was a terrible time in my life. I still dont have to look up the trade its perm text on my brain. Even though we improved the next year with the addition of Terry Ruskowski and Rich Preston i still felt betrayed by the deal...Than Lysiak was suspended 20 games for tripping a ref. I almost gave up on the hawks when Mike Smith was brought in however
Anyway Biron? i dont know but him and Huet are similar. I wanna see what Crawford/Niemi have over a stretch before its time to panic. Good point about the def making the goalie better and puck control also works well.
Dont get me wrong about Ladd but they may want more skill and speed on the 2nd line especially if Hossa is matched with bolland. Havlat shied away from corners and contact when he could and thats why ladd was a great fit.
The salary cap is talked about a little too much here (largely because of me) but I would rather trade Sharp because of his salary (4mill) and send Huet to the minors if he doesnt step up this year. However this team the way it is (save for the goal situation) i would be happy to start the season with.
I didn't like that trade either.
four forwards: Fraser, Dowell, Aliu, and Beach, not to mention Makarov . . . We have bodies to deal.
I think because of cap concerns/roster spots Fraser/Dowell start in the minors and Beach/Aliu have one year left in the junior to fulfill unless as he proved last year (beach) he is good enough to stick. My type of player...
There is only so many roster spots to add to the youngest team in the NHL ..and makarov hasnt signed yet (no rookie camp?)
we could easily throw 3/4 bodies at someone...for maybe the leafs Kaberle??? ok im dreaming
He kinda reminds me of my old wingers Ted Bulley/Grant Mulvey
disclaimer..Im not Ivan Boldirev just impersonating one of my fav hawks...but i miss that line for the 3 good years that they had together.
I dont think i ever saw a bad game from Andrew last year.
According to ESPN, his agent and a number of other sources (who are all prob quoting his agent)
"At that point, it would be possible for Versteeg to be declared an unrestricted free agent, and the Hawks could lose the talented, young forward on the open market. But Versteeg’s agent David Kaye said he doesn’t want it to get to that point. “We’ve been negotiating with Chicago fairly regularly here, and I expect hopefully something will get done in the next few days,” Kaye said Tuesday.
Rock n Roll Dale
Never seen this before
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGSU0OX4qYA
Tallon say in a press conference "...the Blackhawks have traded Brent Sopel and Colin Fraser to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Erik Godard. With the signing of our RFAs we needed to clear some cap room. Pittsburgh lost two defensive defensemen through the free agency period so there was a good match. We are happy to get Erik Godard. We felt there were some players and teams that took shots at our top players last year. Hopefully this helps prevent that..."
You really need to have an MBA to figure out some of these CAP's in sports(Especially the one in basketball)
I don't mean to sound dumb, but isnt the only penalty of going over the cap a luxury tax?
If the Hawks can make a solid run and win The Cup, the packed UC and concessions plus all of the licensing(Greatest uniform in sports) should more than cover this.
If I am not right, please someone enlighten me?!?!
SB, trust me, even an MBA won't do, with all the clauses and sub-clauses, and sub-sub clauses. A good source is http://www.capgeek.com. If you go to the calculator section you can look at where the 'hawks stand. There's a check box towards the top which "includes bonuses". With this checked the 'hawks are about 500k over the cap. With it unchecked they have about 4.6 million in cap space. I might be wrong about this, but I think because the Collective Agreement has expired, the bonuses no longer count as part of the cap. It's good for a rough idea. I tend not to worry about this stuff too much—next year will be next year—as management has to be looking at the big picture.
As for the fine, I don't believe you can spend ala Steinbrenner and just pay. You might have to make roster moves to get under the cap ceiling. Otherwise, we'd see much more of it.
Edit: I just checked CapGeek again, and it looks like they've taken out the include bonuses check box. In a footnote at the bottom of the list it describes what becomes of the bonuses if they actually are payed-out and the numbers exceed the cap. They are applied to the next years cap as a penalty. One would think, then, that in addition to a fine that excessive cap spending would be dealt with the same way. So, according to his numbers the 'hawks have 4.1 MM available at the moment with 23 players signed.
I think this year the bounses can't be pushed forward like they were in the past. Basically teams could carry the bounses forward and count them as part of next year's cap.
If you are curious, you can actually check out the CBA on the NHLPA website.
http://www.nhlpa.com/CBA/index.asp
Page 217 of the PDF explains the Performance Bonus rules and when it can be carried forward. I think if the NHLPA extends the CBA instead of exercising the option to terminate it next year, then the situation changes. The way I've heard it explained, basically, if this year could potentially be the last year in the current CBA, they can't carry bonuses forward. Earlier in this CBA it could be done because there were more years garunteed in the agreement.
if this so, then the 'hawks are over the cap. So, as we all have assumed, there's got to be trade or two coming down the pike and the 'hawks will have to give up more salary than they get in return. Wonder how, easy it is to do that kind of deal in a cap world? Draft picks aren't going to help us in the short-term. A physical D-man has to be on the radar.
Barker got what he deserved and pretty much the same money he would have received as an RFA. His cap hit didn't increase very much and last year he showed tremedeous improvement. The ~3 mil a season will be cheap in the long run as this guy has the skills. Offensively, on the D, only Campbell is better because of his playmaking and speed, which compliments well with Barker, who can really let it go from the point. This is why the PP will continue to be solid for the Hawks. I think we'll see a number of D to D passing plays with one timer goals in the future.
well said
Now that this whole debacle is just about over, what is the supposed trade that is about to go down?
Hawks have:
Kane, Toews, Sharp, Hossa, Buff, Brouwer, Ladd, Bolland, Fraser, Eager, Kopecky, Burish, Madden, and possibly Versteeg. Throw in prospects like Aliu, Makarov, Beach, and Skillie.....and we have WAY too many forwards. Not a bad thing. I heard Tallon state in the post Hossa signing that guys like Skillie and Beach should be on this team.
I do like Burish at center. I think he played very well in the playoffs, and was an outstanding pentaly killer.
Again, this whole cap thing is beyond my understanding. I trust Tim to compute it correctly and he comes up with 51.6 million including Brown's buyout. Yet capgeek.com, nhlnumbers, and hockeybuzz are all different. One even had Johnson as an UFA, and Keith as well. Unreal.
That's why I think it's pointless to argue this cap thing because they all conflict with one another, and nobody knows what the hell is going on.
Dale said early last year that for Skille to contribute it had to be on the top 2 lines. How is that poss with Hossa/Kane and is that the way he stills views him? As much as i like Ladd didnt Kopchecky take his job?
Ladd/Skille and Sopel and draft picks are my guess as a start for a defenceman
ps i like Burish too and Mcdonough referred to him as marketable around the community, so im guessing he is a lock with his gritty play and cheap salary.
Gets back to the whole RFA thing. I believe Ladd is one next year.
I will say, it will be interesting to see what lines Q puts together. I think one of the reason the Hawks were so successful last year, was that they had 3 lines that could hurt you, and it caused a lot of matchup problems for teams on the road or at home.
Since he signed for only $9 mil instead of leaving for up to $15 mil, does Barker beleive he has shown loyalty to the organization?
Is his head scrwed on tight enough so that he knows he has a lot of work to put in to reach his potential?
Or, is he looking at a new condo and shopping for a Ferrari? Will he cruise for the next two years before looking for a new contract in the third?
I agree he may have been qualified for $1 mil, but probably wouldn't have signed for less than $2.75. So we got him at $3. I thought he grew by leaps during the second half, and made the second PP unit so much more dangerous. He and Campbell are different, though. Despite the occasional watch-me-do-pirouettes lapse, Soups is much more confident and assertive with the puck; Barker is still learning how and when to pinch. I think what gets him in trouble is hesitating on the decision, and then he's all left feet when he needs to get back. But anyone who thinks he's replaceable needs to look around the league and see who other squads have at 4-5-6. We have, IMO, a top-3 one-six setup. Calgary has the best 1-3, but after that . . .
Now Barker is signed. Unfortunately for me, I just don't see the mobility coming from Barker. I like his shot, I like him on the PP, but even strength (God forbid in a 4-on-4) his slowness is sorely overexposed.
Younger guys like Brower, Dowell and Crawford all have deals through '11; to go along with Beach, Bertram and Aliu. With a few other tradeable guys like Buff or Johnson, there's certainly a lot of options they could have to secure that one big, mobile defenceman.
Counting Niemi towards a 20-man for this season, they're right about $55.4M. For 10-11, counting Crawford as the 2nd goalie, they have nearly $37M committed to only TWELVE guys...WOW!
I wouldn't be terribly disappointed to lose Versteeg. Am I insane? I have nothing against him, but he's not a game-breaking talent. Mason and Ryan were deserving Calder candidates . . . Versteeg was boosted by his early season point totals. All those points count, yes, and they helped us win games, but my gut tells me he has maximized his value. The names Sergei Berezin, Petr Prucha, and Patrick Poulin(!) come to mind.
If the NHLPA grievance fails, qualify him and then trade him. If the NHLPA wins . . . meh. He was a good soldier and deserves what he can stir up on the open market.
Well, mostly. I am still about 50-50 regarding his potential, but it's very possible we have already seen his best. He was a great rookie in the first half, but many other rookies were better in the second half. I was a bit surprised that he still received a nomination.
best rookie we've had since Kane ;)
The Hawks lucked into him for Bochenski but to let him walk for zero is poor management
The whole hawks defense save Keith should be working out with the older guy who was coaching the prospects camp on monday. Especially Seabrook & Barker. The guy had some of the best powerskating drills ever. And as a whole, the kids had a lot of footspeed. A kid named Muzzin was flying and picking corners with the best of them. So I look him up on the roster & he is a defenseman. Sweatt has a lot of speed, but I am not sure about his hands.
However, the goalies were being coached to take the first shot on their knees, put the rebound in the slot, and then get up and move to the side and take a rebound shot. The shooter on the side had to wait a bit for the goalie to get over. Oh well, that coach probably loves Huet. And it wasn't Stephane Waite.
My twitter is getting burned down by goal updates via the Hawks. I wish I could make it there to see some of these kids in person. Especially, beach, and aliu.
Not much case if everybody else signed. Anybody think Versteeg wants to leave? I don't.
The Hawks can be as much over the CAP as we want until September.
Lots of bargaining chips.
I wonder if that Ottawa player is coming for four or five guys?
pipedream.
Lots of ways to get a really nice defenseman now.
The idea for each player is to NOT have to go in front of an arbitrator. If you want to stay you want to settle, give and take.You have to look at market value. Rob Scuderi gets 3.4 a year and is 30 years old, not a PP cannon, just 6 foot.
Scuderi is what I would call a fourth year pro.
He doesn't have near the upside of Barker, the size of shot.
Barker has played half as many games with 66 points.
Scuderi has 39 points to compare.
Scuderi's job is not to be a scorer, or a set up man.
His job is to play solid in his end and make the safe pass.
He will never over power anyone.
We can't call Barker a defensive specialist that is for sure, but there are qualities that show an upside offensively that Scuderi will never be able to match.
Barker will make 3,083,333 hardly a knee jerk reaction signing to me.
Maybe I am delusional, but my head was clear through the start of this mess.
and I think Barker wanted to stay and did.
If Versteeg doesn't he loses out on a possible ring and gets a bigger house and plays his career with a bad team.
Whether the Hawks get the picks after they win the court battle, or lose Versteeg, just what did they lose? Bordan Borgeanski (sp)?
Versteeg--Still not 100% sold on him. I don't think the Hawks will be a worse team without him, but I don't think you can discount his skill. I saw it when he was called up vs Phoenix in 2008 when he showed flashes. The problem the Hawks are running into, is that these kids get called up so late and show a flash here or there, and the Hawks sign these guys after seeing only 1 year of what they can or can't do. What happens if Skillie comes up this year, and scores 20 playing on a line that is loaded? Does that mean he's worth 2-4 million next offseason? They need to do a better job evaluating these guys before throwing huge deals at them. I know it's not a bad problem to have, but the log jam is getting pretty thick, and it may be time to use some of these guys that they think are busts, but are still coveted by other teams, and get something for them.
Barker--Props to him for staying here. Could have made the business decision and took more money, but he didn't. I agree with JJ that he's a 5-6 defenseman at best. HE plays physical one game, but then the next game he's timid as hell. He also falls asleep in front of his net. I can live with all that, if his PP skills continue to develop and he becomes a Gary Suter type defenseman.
Still would love to see the Hawks get a big, physical defenseman. Somebody who can protect #51 and cover his butt when he pinches.
Isnt this a little arrogant of you considering you didnt think our RFAs would get offers...its clear they would have and Barker/Bolland and soon Versteeg will prove this.
Also you were running down barker as was the theme on here for his defensive laps ...i reminded you defenceman dont hit their stride till at least 27 and he was valued around the league. A source informed dareen dreger that he would sign for at least 3mill...yup he is valued around the league.
Now im not totally running you down as everyone uses these threads as a sounding board..but you werent right ..i wasnt either, but i was all over the players worth issue ,almost bang on!
The Hawks overpaid for Barker, and I think Tim hit it on the head. Clearly, they want control in the end, and they want compensation if they lose these guys. Which I'm fine with, but now the pressure is on Tallon even more to make a deal.
Barker is a 5-6 defenseman on this team most likely. The only way I see him on the second pair is if #51 gets hurt or gets dealt, and either way the other defenseman on that pair needs to be a really, really solid veteran who can think and skate.
And if you're going to go after Wiz, go after him on Huet and Niemi (he's wrong about both of them!)
(BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!)
(Just ribbin' ya there, Wizard!)
When you missed the boat completely is all im saying...rem Bolland?
Barker was locked up not only for control but for how he is viewed around the league and more importantly by our team. A rookie defenceman with 40 points and playing major minutes (5/6th defenceman your words) and he is 23!! Three million as per Bolland`s deal will be a bargain after next year and that is what personnel managers around the league would bank on had he been declared a UFA.
ps I watched every game last year and was impressed by a lot of our young guys who BTW need to grow by making mistakes and not being run out of town because they made mistakes in their biggest tests of their hockey life. This is how character is measured learning from mistakes by a patient organization that believes in you!
Dale Tallon was right!!!
Don't you think they could have signed Barker and Versteeg for much less if they are RFA's instead of UFA's? They already offered Barker just over a million for one year, and now they have to pay him $3 mil for 3 years. This isn't a major issue, but it certainly hasn't helped their situation. Versteeg and Barker are easier to trade if they're signed for less money.
million. I said that before.
They are made so the player is RETAINED, so you can CONTINUE to NEGOTIATE.
If the negotiation goes poorly the PLAYER can take the etam to an arbitrator where his bosses go in (like Scott Bowman) and cite all their faults and why they aren't worth what they thing they are. It is humiliating and furthermore IF the PLAYERS wins a larger contract, he in most cases than not gets ship out in a trade for anything, but he goes to a cappier team in the case of the hawks, right?
That should explain a little better that the million means nothing except I WANT YOU.
First don't believe what every sport writes says...they get parts from other writers who aren't using their noodles either.
ROB SCUDERI based on his Cup performance signs for more.
Maybe you can morph the argument into who should get paid more a scoring defenseman or a solid relaible one, or a younger one with upside????????
The idea for each player is to NOT have to go in front of an arbitrator.
(If the team wins arbitration they are happy, if they lose they just TRADE the player almost EVERYTIME, or in most cases.)
If you want to stay you want to settle, give and take.You have to look at market value. Rob Scuderi gets 3.4 a year and is 30 years old, not a PP cannon, just 6 foot.
Scuderi is what I would call a fourth year pro.
He doesn't have near the upside of Barker, the size of shot.
Barker has played half as many games with 66 points.
Scuderi has 39 points to compare.
Scuderi's job is not to be a scorer, or a set up man.
His job is to play solid in his end and make the safe pass.
He will never over power anyone.
We can't call Barker a defensive specialist that is for sure, but there are qualities that show an upside offensively that Scuderi will never be able to match. he can grow his defensive game and believe me he knows what happened against Detroit and doesn't want to be that defenseman.
Scuderi signed for 3.4 million.
Barker will make 3,083,333 hardly a knee jerk reaction signing to me.
Maybe I am delusional, but my head was clear through the start of this mess.
and I think Barker wanted to stay and did.
If Versteeg doesn't he loses out on a possible ring and gets a bigger house and plays his career with a bad team.
Whether the Hawks get the picks after they win the court battle, or lose Versteeg, just what did they lose?
Brandon Bochenski ???????
I hope Canadian fans who've been all over my blog get their wish and Versteeg goes to Toronto for like $4 million a year.
Then they can experience the thrill of really bad penalties at horrible times and an apparent complete lack of ability to make a dump-in.
And Versteeg can experience having every bad play he makes dissected by every media outlet, over and over, 24/7/365.
I will tell you, the fans of other teams vastly overrate both Barker and Versteeg.
Wiz, Pitt overpaid for Scuderi. He's another 5-6 d-man on a good team. The Hawks would have resigned Barker for probably less without this little mess.
Cmon man...he is a ROOKIE!!!!
I have to question hockey knowledge and experience when i read comments like that Jacukel!! (penalties)
How much team building and player development exp do you have? Players only develop through adversity, making mistakes and getting a taste of what it takes to be successful. Kris Versteeg hardly played like a rookie for much of the year..killing penalties and playing important minutes through out the playoffs.
Kane took some bad penalties throughout the year but when your a small player receiving close attention night after night, that is what young players do...react!
We are the youngest team in the NHL still....mistakes are on the menu until the team matures. We have an incredible opportunity here and our front office is being proactive.
Lighten up, pal. I was being a little bit sarcastic.
Versteeg's a good player, but like a lot of Hawk fans, you seem to be ready to send him to the HOF along with Barker and some others.
I look forward to you enlightening me and the rest of us here with your hockey knowledge.
too funny ...i just believe in giving players a chance especially ones that play above their expierence level (versteeg)
re read your post..how was i to take it?
im just a fan like everyone else with my opinion which is just as worthless as the next..
Ivan,
I am a natural smarta--. Just ask my buddy Wiz. :)
Ya might ease up on the hockey knowledge comments though. There are a few people on this blog (Like Wiz and a few others) in particular who know a little about what they're talking about. And this isn't a rah-rah blog either.
I dont treat it as a homer blog....because i have been involved in hockey my whole life and have been a lifelong fan (ask my wife) so i take it seriously.
and i am smarta## as well. but hold no illusions we will win the cup next year but we are headed in that direction. i just tell it like it is..my version...and im not the only one on here that does that ...by far.
I just want to say I really enjoy both of your post most of the time. I have been criticized here because of my Khabibulin39 name and how I defend him when he has been off. Keep up the good work guys! I have been a fantasy nhl gm since 1979 building through the amateur draft, free agency and trades and retaining the same team. I watch at least 40 nhl games a week and highlights of all. I really do know my stuff and my opinions sometimes are different than others who know their stuff. Tell me though what you think of A. Ladd. I predict he will be second line and score 20g and 40 assists for 60 points if he builds on last years performance. Especially if Hossa replaces Havlat on the Bolland line. I am interested to hear what others think Ladd will produce and what line he will be on next year. I appreciate all comments, just trying to see what true Hawk fans think of him.
Ask any penguin fan what defenceman they could least afford to lose.
A shutdown defenceman is not worth 3 million? He evidently was to a team that has a bevy of young defenceman and wanted a role model for them...that is worth 3 million!
These are the under the radar signings that (not talking about money) makes teams better. When the exact opposite happens and you think a player can improve on a career year you get the over paid Adrain Aucoin!