NHL Thread.

[4runnercrazy 10+ year member]

sharks got rid of taskala //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

Drury/Gomez and Rafalski's deals are pretty close in terms of numbers. 5 year/30mil for Brian(avg 6mil/yr), 5 year/35mil for Chris (7mil/yr), and 7 yr/51mil for Gomez (7.3mil/yr). Considering what was on the market, and the general consensus that Gomez/Drury were two of the top 3 forwards available- the other being Briere, and that both were within their conference, I think they're great deals for the Rangers.
The Rangers are in pretty good shape defensively- they added Mara at the trading deadline and he played great for them down the stretch, and Girardi was a nice surprise coming up towards the end of the season. Malik is a solid defender with size, and Pock, Tyutin, and Rozsival are all very good,young players.

Like I said, once the Rangers lock up Henrik, Avery, Shanahan, and Prucha, they'll be in good shape.

i'd rather invest in defensemen then overpriced forwards. just because drury and gomez are the best available, doesn't mean they are worth the price. the wings paid a little more then they should've for rafalski, but i'd rather spend it on defense then forwards.

also shanahan is hitting near 40. why do you want to lock him up? to me it sounds like the rangers of old. with a salary cap now in place this seems like foolish spending. had the cap not been in place, i'd understand it more.

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

i'd rather invest in defensemen then overpriced forwards. just because drury and gomez are the best available, doesn't mean they are worth the price. the wings paid a little more then they should've for rafalski, but i'd rather spend it on defense then forwards.
also shanahan is hitting near 40. why do you want to lock him up? to me it sounds like the rangers of old. with a salary cap now in place this seems like foolish spending. had the cap not been in place, i'd understand it more.

Agreed. If there was one thing the Red Wings needed to address this offseason it was defense.

 

[snova031]

i'd rather invest in defensemen then overpriced forwards. just because drury and gomez are the best available, doesn't mean they are worth the price. the wings paid a little more then they should've for rafalski, but i'd rather spend it on defense then forwards.
also shanahan is hitting near 40. why do you want to lock him up? to me it sounds like the rangers of old. with a salary cap now in place this seems like foolish spending. had the cap not been in place, i'd understand it more.

Because Shanny still showed he can produce at a high level. He got 60+ points last season. Team him with either Gomez or Drury on the 2nd line and that's a pretty good tandem right there. I doubt Shanahan will sign anything more then a 1 or 2 year deal. If they can fit him under the cap, there's no reason not to sign him.

Like I said, the Rangers have a pretty young, solid group of blueliners. I really didn't see them picking up any top defensemen this offseason.

The Rangers probably did spend more on Gomez and Drury then they were worth, but that's what you need to do. If they didn't cough it up, some other team would have signed them that same day. The Rangers have a few young, talented forwards, but their big names are getting old- Jagr is 35, I believe Straka is 34, and Shanahan is 38. I'm glad that they locked up two of the better centers in the league for the next several years.

 

[snova031]

Agreed. If there was one thing the Red Wings needed to address this offseason it was defense.

Rafalski was a great pickup, especially considering the loss of Schneider. Looks like Hasek will come back for another season, although I think they should have made a move for a solid tender that can split time with Dom next season.

 

[snova031]

I read a rumor that Detroit may be looking to trade for Raycroft since Toronto traded for an inked Toskala to a 2-year extension.

I don't think Raycroft would be a great pickup, unless they have no long-term plans for him, and can land him for very little. If they do bring back Hasek, he might work out well as a backup that can log a decent amount of games, but I couldn't see him being a long-term solution after Hasek is gone.

 

[snova031]

Icelanders signed Bill Guerin to a 2 year/9mil deal.

 

[Randy Savage 5,000+ posts]

Bizzump

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

Red Wings start the season off with a win //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Randy Savage 5,000+ posts]

Watching the Icelanders vs. Rangers tonight...glad Cablevision finally added Versus in HD.

Comrie has been great for the Isles so far...

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pab978XyR3E&mode=related&search=

Back when I used to regularly watch the NHL.

That was 10 years ago, and the Red Wings roster is so different yet they still manage to stay in contention every year.

 

[Randy Savage 5,000+ posts]

Ut oh

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=rm-saintpaul110107&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

I never understood why Detroit was hockeytown when the Tigers and Lions seem to be more of the favorites. It's kind of funny that the Hockeytown Cafe is filled with more Tiger crap then Red Wing crap. I've been to Minny numerous times and got the sense it was more of a Vikings city then a Wild city.

 

[Randy Savage 5,000+ posts]

I never understood why Detroit was hockeytown when the Tigers and Lions seem to be more of the favorites. It's kind of funny that the Hockeytown Cafe is filled with more Tiger crap then Red Wing crap. I've been to Minny numerous times and got the sense it was more of a Vikings city then a Wild city.

Well that place used to be a madhouse in the mid 90's when the Wings dominated- the arena, at least.

Sucks to see what the NHL is now...I remember watching games in Detroit, Colorado, NY, etc. in the mid 90's, and the places were nuts. I went to one Ranger game in the mid 90's, and the atmosphere was amazing.

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

Well that place used to be a madhouse in the mid 90's when the Wings dominated- the arena, at least.
Sucks to see what the NHL is now...I remember watching games in Detroit, Colorado, NY, etc. in the mid 90's, and the places were nuts. I went to one Ranger game in the mid 90's, and the atmosphere was amazing.

The Red Wings still draw pretty big crowds. For some reason after the strike I really lost interest in hockey. The Red Wings ranked 2nd behind the Tigers in my interest, now it goes Tigers>Lions>Pistons>Red Wings. I miss the rivalry between Detroit and Colorado, and even Dallas. I have a lot of relatives that live in Minneapolis and when I go there, I just don't get the sense it's a hockey town. It seems as if I were to ask people if Minnesota has a hockey team, they wouldn't know. Seemed to be a lot of Viking people.

I think in large part Hockeytown Cafe turned into a Tigers bar is because it's right across the street from Comerica.

This past season it seemed like the Red Wings took a back seat. There was more coverage on the Pistons playoffs, and more to do about the Tigers opening up, then the Red Wings playoffs. I think it has more to do that Detroit has more upper tier teams now then in the 90's when it was just the Red Wings really.