CircleTheWagons

Crosby is great BUT he won't put a team on his back for a few years. Remember, Pierre Turgeon was going to be the "Next One" too.

Wow. I thought I was conservative about hockey rules. Your definition of hockey and mine are VERY different - yours sounds like trench warfare to me. My vision of hockey was shaped in the '70s with Les Canadiens and the '80s with the Battle of Alberta (damn Oilers ). For me hockey is a game of speed and skill and in the last ten or fifteen years I've seen very little of both. Watching players battle in front of the net to slap at a loose puck for 15 seconds hoping it goes in has nothing to do with speed or skill. Lets see those 160lb guys fly through center ice and slip through old, tired defenseman no longer allowed to grab him by the jersey instead of using their geriatric hip. Hitting that guy in stride moving through center ice without leading him to "death by defenseman" is tough. Here is what I've seen in the last few years: Slap the puck from behind your net to a winger sitting at the blue line who chips it by the defenseman and hopes a teammate picks it up, crosses the redline and dumps it deep. Opposite winger pressures the defenseman in the corner, followed by the center looking for a loose puck. 80% of the time the defenseman gets to the puck slaps it around the boards to his winger. Wash, rinse, repeat. If the forward gets the puck they throw it at the net hoping somebody can whack in a rebound. I admit it takes toughness to play but it's very boring hockey (to me). Besides, if the new rules suck, get rid of them after the season. We already know the old rules suck.

The player's know they don't have a choice. First, the NHLPA executive will sign off on the deal so only 50% of the players need to vote for it. Second, if the majority of players vote against it, I'm convinced most of the players who voted for it will leave the association and play in the NHL in the fall. At that point, the rest of the players would have to fall into line. Good luck to the Sabres, but the Flames are ready and Iggy wants his Cup. GAME ON.

Joe Ferguson. Nothing to do with his current battle, everything to do with his strat-o-matic card. Sorry for the obscure '70s reference. He was the man when I started following the Bills.

In case you haven't been paying attention the last couple of years, the "fish" are silent

Haiku jumped the shark Two years ago with a loss against the hated fish

Sorry this is slightly off-topic, but if you are a "sports fan" rather than just a football fan, the British Lions (rugby) are touring New Zealand while you are there. These are currently the top two teams in the world - the Brits are the defending World Champs and ranked #2, while the Kiwis are currently ranked #1 in the world. I have had the opportunity to see a Rugby Test at Eden Park in Auckland with the Kiwis against the hated Aussies in 2000 and it was WAY better than attending the Superbowl in Jacksonville. Find a way to go to a match, you will not regret it. The teams hate each other and the Kiwis have a lot to prove against the World Champs. If you can't go, at least make sure you find a big pub in one of the cities to enjoy the atmosphere, I promise you won't regret it.

If you are arguing with a woman about "the relationship" you have already lost. Think about it this way, if you were debating with a woman about football, would you really care who won the argument?

I totally agree with the rest of your comment. However, the teams have made their books available - I remember our owners in Calgary complaining last fall that the players REFUSED to look at the financials - apparently the NHLPA position was that the books were "cooked" so the information would be worthless. Of course the same "cooked" books were used to sumbit corporate taxes, so the players were accusing the owners of tax fraud, but that didn't matter. I think Goodenow knew that the league was sick and has been sick for a long time, surviving on expansion fees for the last decade. Goodenow did not want to partner with the league, he preferred to milk the cow as long as he could.

I say this with utmost respect, but I think you're making a bigger mistake than anything in the article. I have no problem with labelling Bettman and Goodenow as sideshows, but trying to determine a winner or loser is irrelevant. Financially, the NHL is sick and has been sick for a while. A majority of teams have been losing money and the fan base is shrinking in many markets. A new financial system is needed that allows everyone to ice competitive teams and keep their stars (salary cap / team revenue sharing). In addition players need to promote the game better - tying the salary cap to overall revenues helps incent the players to grow the sport. Unfortunately, their has been a long history of mistrust in the NHL and I think Goodenow has used it to galvanize the players, telling the Union that ownership is trying to screw them and the teams are cooking the books to show a loss. Now that the union is finally examining the finances, Goodenow has lost his leadership and players will become part of the solution (yeah!) This does NOT mean the players lose. The players will win from being a partner in a healthier league moving forward. Ownership has always had a reasonable position, unfortunately their past relationship with the union ruined the opportunity for a fundamental shift in the relationship without a work stoppage. Hopefully the length of this response is worthy for a FFS post

I have always agreed, but I think I will get one of the next gen consoles. I don't have any compelling need to upgrade any of my computers right now and I'm getting a BIG HDTV screen this fall for football, so I'm thinking about adding a XBOX 360 to the system. I'm must be getting old - I'm tired of upgrading my computers that already work.

How the heck do you HATE Nash I just don't get it. I see you're in Pats Land - maybe he reminds you too much of Brady...

In my world, a guy who punches the ref at a kids sports event doesn't have a bunch of pissed off supporters. At best, he's got some embarrased friends trying to pretend they don't know him. If he hasn't calmed down and wants to keep attacking the ref, what would you do? Trying to control the guy seems reasonable to me. I would agree with you if the idiot had calmed down and wasn't still going after the ref - I had assumed he was tackled by the other fan to prevent him from hitting the ref again. I definitely wouldn't be worried about humiliating a guy who had just punched a ref at a girls rugby game.

Who knows. But you think he deserved an asskicking for trying to control the guy who just assaulted the ref? The idea that it was a "rohnert park" parent should be fuggin irrelevant. If you're thinking that way, stay the heck away from kids sports. I may even try to get you banned from ever attending a girls rugby game

Has to be the Master Control Program (MCP) and his henchman Sark. Hey, leave me alone, it's ORF (Obscure Reference Friday) and just about beer time

When you're talking about our "King" - the Great One reigns

Your preaching to a former Expos fan. AMEN brother

Can't some signing bonuses be clawed back? I think Cleveland is going after part of Winslow's and Miami wated some of Wickys. I don't really view the signing bonus that way, although it sounds reasonable. I view the signing bonus as part of the team's commitment to the player - if it's a big bonus spread over a long contract, there's less chance the player will be cut and have his signing bonus accelerated. In addition, for younger players, it's one of the ways management can get around the rookie salary cap(I think). Players who think they are significantly underpaid aren't going to be happy employees - I would rather they sat out than made up some mysterious injury to sit on the sidelines.

You really think the problems with baseball and basketball are because of guaranteed contracts? I disagree but I didn't really intend to argue "for" guaranteed contracts, just defending players "holding out" without them, if that makes sense

I used to think that players should honor their contracts but I don't anymore. If the contracts were guaranteed then I would agree. Teams can cut players in the middle of a contract for underperforming so I don't see why the players shouldn't be able to do the same thing if they aren't being fairly compensated. By the way, I think guaranteed contracts are going to be one of the sticking points in the next round of collective bargaining.

Being surrogate GMs wasn't enough on TBD, now everyone wants to be surrogate parents My boys are 7, 4 and 3 and all of you guys voicing opinions about raising other people's kids, especially the posters without their own kids, are fuggin idiots. BTW, my kids will probably be able to see the new Star Wars - but not until it's out on video. The movies are too loud and too "BIG" for my kids in the theater, even just my seven year old. I know my kids and I make decisions based on my kids, their maturation and my beliefs.

Not taking sides in this argument, but I'm pretty sure honest football fans should remove the quotes from the Pats dynasty. Fuggin Pats.

I believe in SDS

Shouldn't we start these posts with a (PP) to indicate a Positive Post and allow some of the negative ninnies to avoid them? That said, I love that Big Mike's working hard, but I could care less if he is "sleek" and "svelte" - he is a lineman, adjectives like "ugly," "big," and "mean" sound better to me.

I honestly believe that if JP doesn't give us the best chance to win by the end of training camp, he won't start the first game. The focus is on developing JP this offseason, but the NFL is not a developmental league - the player that gives the team the best chance for a win on Sunday starts, regardless of position. Anything less disrespects the fans and the effort of every other player on the team - see NY Giants 2004. JP's leash is 4 preseason games. If he's not ready to start Week 1, Holcomb takes us to the playoffs instead.