2010-2011 NHL thread

[Steve9347]

Niemi had a nice run... a stretch I'll never forget. However, let's be real here. His numbers show he was the worst Cup-winning goaltender in the last 5 years (saw this on CSN, so it must be true). He won us some games in the SJ series, but without our amazing defense in front of him and high-scoring, he would have been shown as just a regular, backup goaltender, which really he should be.

 

He's not Huet bad (not many are) but he's not amazing, either.

 

Marty Turco, in my opinion, is a world-class goaltender. He's a bit long in the tooth at 34, but history has shown that goaltenders can remain at peak-performance well into their late 30's. The only issue is health when the 'tenders start to age.

 

Turco handles the puck brilliantly, which is going to help our defensemen move the puck out of the zone even quicker (they are already the best in this aspect in the NHL imo). Turco, behind a really bad defense, put up a .913 save percentage last season.

 

It might not be a permanent fix, but the Blackhawks goaltending position is improved considerably for the 2010-2011 season with Turco instead of Niemi.

 

It's going to be a really fun season. The best part about all of this (even though they basically traded their entire 3rd and 4th lines) is that the Blackhawks best players are only going to get better (save Hossa) as they enter their primes (or in the case of Toews and Kane, enter their pre-primes).

Edited August 5, 2010 by Steve9347

[EvilJester99]

Hendry officially signed, 1 year $600k one way deal per capgeek.

[SoxAce]

Hawks might be looking at Tim Kennedy as well. Solid LW (and can play some center), very young (24 yrs), and Patrick Kane's BFF (same hometown). I've seen comparisons to Versteeg. (small guy, but hits) May not have as much offensive upside as Kris, but is better defensively supposedly. Might be a nice pickup for the third 'grit' line.

 

Brouwer-Toews-Kane

Stalberg-Sharp-Hossa

Kennedy-Bolland-Skille

Bickell-Dowell-Kopecky

 

Though Q shuffles people around anyways.

 

 

[Steve9347]

Hawks might be looking at Tim Kennedy as well. Solid LW (and can play some center), very young (24 yrs), and Patrick Kane's BFF (same hometown). I've seen comparisons to Versteeg. (small guy, but hits) May not have as much offensive upside as Kris, but is better defensively supposedly. Might be a nice pickup for the third 'grit' line.

 

Brouwer-Toews-Kane

Stalberg-Sharp-Hossa

Kennedy-Bolland-Skille

Bickell-Dowell-Kopecky

 

Though Q shuffles people around anyways.

Don't forget about Makarov...

 

I think we'll see the top level talent shifted around a lot to help the others along and increase our punch on the third line. You'll see a line of Kopecky - Bolland - Hossa I'd bet in there a lot as well.

 

Q is a master of shuffling lines.

[SoxAce]

John Madden to the Wild.

 

1 year, 1 million. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=329729

John Madden's contract w #mnwild is 1-year, $1 million. Can make up to 250K in games played and playoff bonuses. 1.25 cap hit, says source

 

Thanks for helping us win the cup Mad-dog.

 

 

EDIT: Oh... and Chris Chelios officially retires finally.

Edited August 6, 2010 by J.Reedfan8

[The Critic]

EDIT: Oh... and Chris Chelios officially retires finally.

 

Thank God.

Go away, Cheap Shot.

[GoSox05]

Anyone know when Blackhawks tickets go on sale. The Blackhawks webiste is doing me no good.

[LittleHurt05]

Anyone know when Blackhawks tickets go on sale. The Blackhawks webiste is doing me no good.

 

All I could find is that last season they went on sale Mon. August 17, but the press release just came out on the 11th. That's probably not much help, but I'd guess the info should come out anyday now.

[Balta1701]

An arbitrator has sided with the NHL in voiding Kovalchuk's deal with the Devils, and he is now a free agent again.

 

The first time I typed this post, I accidentally wrote "Nets". Man I've got a long way to go before I'm good on this sport.

[whitesoxfan101]

An arbitrator has sided with the NHL in voiding Kovalchuk's deal with the Devils, and he is now a free agent again.

 

The first time I typed this post, I accidentally wrote "Nets". Man I've got a long way to go before I'm good on this sport.

 

I'm interested to see if this has any sort of effect beyond just Kovalchuk, and am mildly surprised the arbitrator sided with the NHL.

[CanOfCorn]

I'm interested to see if this has any sort of effect beyond just Kovalchuk, and am mildly surprised the arbitrator sided with the NHL.

 

From EJ Hradek of ESPN:

 

Without much of a sleight of hand, not only did Bloch uphold the NHL's right to reject the 17-year, $102 million contract between star sniper Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils, he also hid another bit of news in a footnote (No. 23) on the second-to-last page of his written decision. (You can find the whole decision here.)

 

It was right there for anyone with a magnifying glass. Simply, the arbitrator tells all that the league continues to investigate similarly structured deals signed by Hossa, Roberto Luongo, Chris Pronger and Marc Savard. In the footnote, Bloch references the NHL's continuing investigation of those contracts, saying the league does so with "at least the possibility of a subsequent withdrawal of the registration."

 

The only thing is...Hossa has actually played under his contract, so I can't imagine the NHL would be able to do anything about that one. Luongo, Pronger and Savard on the other hand....

[whitesoxfan101]

From EJ Hradek of ESPN:

 

 

 

The only thing is...Hossa has actually played under his contract, so I can't imagine the NHL would be able to do anything about that one. Luongo, Pronger and Savard on the other hand....

 

Interesting. I'm pretty sure the long, cap circumventing contracts of Zetterburg and Franzen on Detroit are also ones that have been played under for a year like Hossa, so I don't think they could touch those since it's too late now. You bring up an interesting point on Luongo, Pronger, and Savard though since those are extensions that haven't started yet. I believe they all start this season though, so if the NHL wants to go after those deals, they'd better move quickly.

[CanOfCorn]

Interesting. I'm pretty sure the long, cap circumventing contracts of Zetterburg and Franzen on Detroit are also ones that have been played under for a year like Hossa, so I don't think they could touch those since it's too late now. You bring up an interesting point on Luongo, Pronger, and Savard though since those are extensions that haven't started yet. I believe they all start this season though, so if the NHL wants to go after those deals, they'd better move quickly.

 

Of course...if the NHL already OK'd those three deals, I think the NHLPA would fight tooth and nail to keep those contracts in place.

[Steve9347]

Yeah, look at it all you want, but if you start nullifying previously approved deals, you have yourself a big time strike a-comin...

[SoxFan1]

Depending on the D-man Bowman will bring in to play the 5th/6th spot, I give Stan a B+ on the off-season. He was faced with a terrible situation, and was able to keep the core almost all intact by keeping 19-88-81-10-36-2-7-4. The only move I was actually upset about this off-season was letting Ladd go.

 

It terms of Niemi, I said on the first page of this thread Niemi wasn't as large of a priority that others were(Hjalmarsson), and if Tucro was actually signed at the 1.3 figure, and they bring in another capable body into the mix because of it, I'm 100% fine with the decision.

I agree with EVERYTHING in this post, especially the part about Ladd.

[Steve9347]

Hawks could be so f***ed.

 

Supposedly, the NHL has the power to cancel those deals, and assign cap hits to the yearly amount they make.

 

IE, they could cancel the Hossa deal, and give the Hawks a 5 million cap hit to boot so they cannot sign him.

 

If this happens, f*** the world.

[Balta1701]

Hawks could be so f***ed.

 

Supposedly, the NHL has the power to cancel those deals, and assign cap hits to the yearly amount they make.

 

IE, they could cancel the Hossa deal, and give the Hawks a 5 million cap hit to boot so they cannot sign him.

 

If this happens, f*** the world.

I don't know this league that well, but in any other league, admitting that a team had broke the rules and in the process won a championship by doing so tends to reflect poorly on everyone involved, including the league.

[Steve9347]

I don't know this league that well, but in any other league, admitting that a team had broke the rules and in the process won a championship by doing so tends to reflect poorly on everyone involved, including the league.

Yeah, I'd be shocked if they were able to do this.

 

Though, it happened in baseball just fine and dandy with the steroids.

[CanOfCorn]

Hawks could be so f***ed.

 

Supposedly, the NHL has the power to cancel those deals, and assign cap hits to the yearly amount they make.

 

IE, they could cancel the Hossa deal, and give the Hawks a 5 million cap hit to boot so they cannot sign him.

 

If this happens, f*** the world.

 

As I and you said before, if they cancelled any of the previous ok'd deals, they would have a huge fight on their hands with the NHLPA. i could see it going to court, especially Hossa's since he's already played a year. The NHL has better footing with Luongo, Pronger and Savard, but they also OK'd those deals too, they just haven't played under them. But if it went to court, I can't imagine any judge siding with the NHL on Hossa's contract.

[whitesoxfan101]

I don't know this league that well, but in any other league, admitting that a team had broke the rules and in the process won a championship by doing so tends to reflect poorly on everyone involved, including the league.

 

Want to get at least a little nervous? Read this article: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/devils/bewa...6WIW0ufCLOEupKJ

 

The Blackhawks had better enjoy that 2010 Stanley Cup while they can, because yesterday's circumvention ruling against the Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk means that the NHL now has license to pursue a similar case against Chicago and Marian Hossa, with potential victory in that action giving commissioner Gary Bettman the power to vacate the title if he -- and he alone -- so chooses.

 

Bettman under Article 26 would then be in position to levy debilitating penalties including fines up to $5 million; forfeiture of an unspecified number of draft picks; and, and this is the kicker as applies to the Blackhawks, "a forfeiture of any NHL Game(s) determined to have been affected by a Circumvention."

 

Would the NHL do this? I really doubt it, and this is probably just a sensationalist NY writer trying to get attention. But with Gary Bettman, you can never rule out much of anything.

[Steve9347]

That'd be the end of their f***ing league.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Want to get at least a little nervous? Read this article: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/devils/bewa...6WIW0ufCLOEupKJ

 

 

 

Would the NHL do this? I really doubt it, and this is probably just a sensationalist NY writer trying to get attention. But with Gary Bettman, you can never rule out much of anything.

going "scorched earth" on a NHL champion would be an absolutely HUGE PR disaster for the NHL. Plus, it's been almost a year since the deal. They had plenty of time to address this if they really wanted to. The problem was that the Kovalchuk was HUGELY obviously a work around. Hossa's deal kind of is, but it's not nearly as egregious.

[Balta1701]

That'd be the end of their f***ing league.

Yup. I'd rather cheer for Miami than watch a league that did that.

[HuskyCaucasian]

I can see Bettman saying "what's done is done, but watch out. We're watching you now"

[Steve9347]

I can see Bettman saying "what's done is done, but watch out. We're watching you now"

One can only hope. They cannot take my Hossa away.