NHL and NHLPA Reach Tentative Deal

[bayrider]

finally!!!!

looks like Crosby goes to the winner of the lottery. Determined by balls!

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature.asp?fid=7314

[Steffan]

Lets Go Islanders!! Rangers Suck.... :happy:

YAY Hockey is back...weeeeeeeeeeee

586210864[/snapback]

:no: some will never learn. Rangers are better then the Islanders.

[beardly]

Hockey was gone? I hardly noticed.

[Ayepecks]

Hockey was gone? I hardly noticed.

586212706[/snapback]

Then don't post in the topic, troll :)

[NEVER85]

:no: some will never learn.  Rangers are better then the Islanders.

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The Islanders are a playoff team at least. The Rangers haven't made it to the postseason since 1996/97.

[Boffa Jones Veteran]

Shorten the season by 20 games thats fine with me, but keep the playoffs the same. I love the play offs.

[Ayepecks]

Shorten the season by 20 games thats fine with me, but keep the playoffs the same. I love the play offs.

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That wouldn't help revenues, even if the TV ratings did increase... it'd be far less attendance due to those 20 games.

[bayrider]

a 62 game season would be too short. I think 70-75 would be adequate. And whats this i hear about adding 4 more teams into the playoffs?!? seriously, we already have the biggest playoff pool in sports, y do we need to add more teams?

[Ayepecks]

a 62 game season would be too short. I think 70-75 would be adequate. And whats this i hear about adding 4 more teams into the playoffs?!? seriously, we already have the biggest playoff pool in sports, y do we need to add more teams?

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4 more teams? That sounds like a dirty rumor to me... at least, I hope it is :huh:

[Ayepecks]

Delete me...

Edited July 14, 2005 by Scorpio

[scsgoal31]

4 more teams? That sounds like a dirty rumor to me... at least, I hope it is :huh:

586214631[/snapback]

it would be a Pre-Round 1 playoff between the 8th and 9th seeds in each conference to determine which team will go onto the Big Dance.

I think it would be a 1 game playoff..maybe best of 3

[Steven]

:no: some will never learn.  Rangers are better then the Islanders.

586212693[/snapback]

because they signed like all the expensive players and still didn't make the playoffs? :laugh:

[Ayepecks]

Islanders > Rangers

[NEVER85]

Canadiens > Leafs

Had to throw that in there. :D

[u_diddy]

Hockey was gone? I hardly noticed.

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Yeah, an entire season was lost. First time in professional sports history. There was probably too much other stuff going on in Omaha Nebraska to notice! LOL

[Ayepecks]

Canadiens > Leafs

Had to throw that in there.  :D

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Red Wings > Canada

Had to throw that in there. :D

[NEVER85]

Red Wings suck. ;)

Their farm system is worthless and the new cap has screwed them over. No more cup reigns for them.

[Ayepecks]

Red Wings suck.  ;)

Their farm system is worthless and the new cap has screwed them over. No more cup reigns for them.

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You obviously do not know what you're talking about, as they actually have one of the best farm systems in the league. And the new cap has far from screwed them over if you knew what you were talking about (yet again) ;)

[NEVER85]

You obviously do not know what you're talking about, as they actually have one of the best farm systems in the league. And the new cap has far from screwed them over if you knew what you were talking about (yet again) ;)

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Yeah, one of the best farm systems somehow now means OUT of playoff contention. A severe lack of #1 draft picks has killed Detroit. The Grand Rapids Griffins missed the AHL playoffs last season, and are a mediocre franchise at best, so obviously you don't know what you're talking about.

Detroit is just like Toronto, requiring old run-down veterans to succeed. Yzerman, Hull (now in Phoenix), Chelios, need I go on? Overpaid players well past their prime. When all these players retire, which will most likely be before 07/08, what will Detroit do? Their top prospects are the likes of Jiri Hudler, Niklas Kronwall, and Igor Grigorenko. Basically no name players. Yeah, I'd say Detroit's in great shape. :rolleyes:

[Ayepecks]

That's quite the uninformed post... perhaps you should really research what you speak of instead of just typing names into Google and pretending to know what you're talking about, because it's utterly obvious to me that you do not.

It is true that Detroit hasn't had many first round draft picks over the years, but to say that they haven't gotten good draft picks from the later rounds is absolutely silly. Maybe you don't know those names, but Detroit has numerous prospects that are of high value (Jiri Hudler, Niklas Kronwall, and Igor Grigorenko, as you mentioned). If you haven't seen them play then why don't you just keep quiet and stop pretending to know facts that you don't know?

Maybe you haven't paid attention to the trades that Detroit has made over the years, but almost everytime they're involved in a trade the other team wants some of their highly-touted prospects. Ever wonder why that is? It's not because they suck, I can assure you of that. Detroit has some great scouts that are able to find some great later-round talent (Jiri Hudler was a surprise slip -- if you haven't heard of him you simply don't pay much attention in the hockey world).

Also, don't tell me Grigorenko is a "no name player". You really should watch what you're say if you're going to go off half-###### like that -- Grigorenko has been a EXTREMELY HIGH rated prospect. Go back and research him, buddy. Look at who some of his line mates were in Russia and then tell me he's a "no name". You simply haven't heard of him because of some health problems and a near-fatal car crash. But do not think that just because you haven't heard of him means others have not.

Don't insult me by going on Google and typing in things and hoping they're right.

[NEVER85]

Hmmmm, now I'm accused of googling up names. Interesting. I'm sure I just typed in "Detroit Red Wings top prospects" and got a list of players. Sorry, try your luck next time. The only message I'm getting from you is "if someone makes any sort of negative comment towards my favorite team, despite the fact that they may be true, I have to respond in kind". Next I suppose you'll be saying how Detroit is the real Hockeytown. Yes, 3 Stanley Cups in 6 years, what a dynasty, worthy of the title "Hockeytown. Yep, Detroit sure is Hockeytown. :no: The only real hockey towns in the NHL are Montreal and Toronto, sad to say.

Just for the hell of it, I did some more "research" on these supposedly great Detroit prospects.

Jiri Hudler - A Martin St. Louis sized player, with about ? the skill. Minus 1 point.

Niklas Kronwall - Suffered major knee injury, missed an entire season. No one ever comes back 100% from a major knee injury. Minus another point.

Igor Grigorenko - Suffers severe injury, entire career was in jeopardy. A type of injury that changes someone forever. Minus yet another point.

And just to provide some clarity to your otherwise unenlightened state of mind, 3 prospects doNOT> equal a top system. Typically, a good system means you have a good core of up-and-coming talent in most areas. Detroit lacks this, therefore, you are wrong. Debate it if you wish, but this isn't my opinion, this is fact.

[Ayepecks]

Your ignorance truly isn't flattering, you know.

How many times have you ever been to Detroit? Do you know the fan base? Because anyone that's been there in the last 20 years knows that it truly is a "Hockeytown". Maybe if you weren't getting your panties in a twist about how an America team can't be a "Hockeytown" you'd realize this... but it seems to me you're just another Canadian who likes hockey and pretends to know everything about it.

And don't give me any bullcrap about how you didn't Google that... I'm sure you did, or else you wouldn't have mentioned them all in the first place. Or do you just happen to go to all the Grand Rapids games in Michigan? Yeah, I really think you do.

And your "research" is a disgrace. You know nothing about the prospects, yet you look at one feature and go "OMG MINUS 1 POINT I WIN, YOU LOSE!!111one!!1111". Please. That's the most immature post I could have expected out of you, and it's exactly what you did. You know absolutely nothing about Igor Grigorenko, yet you pretend to simply based on the fact that he was in a car crash. Maybe you should check up on his progress instead of making such ignorant posts.

And, despite your stupidity of saying so, it is an opinion, it is not a fact. Perhaps you should go back to kindergarten and learn the concept of "opinions" and "facts". Maybe Toronto's farm system suck -- I honestly don't know and I'm not going to Google up names pretending I do -- but I know Detroit has a great scouting division and constantly finds great players in later rounds.

Tell me, how many players that Toronto has drafted are now key players on their team within the past 8 or 10 years? Detroit's got Zetterberg and Datsyuk. Going back even further you can to mention Jiri Fischer, Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Mathieu Dandenault, Darren McCarty, Tomas Holmstrom, Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Osgood, etc.

Oh, and yes, I am accusing you of googling them (or at least looking them up on the internet) since you just happened to spell all their names correct and list them in the exact order that they are ranked in Detroit's prospect system.

Going off Toronto's website of players they drafted:

- Alexei Ponikarovsky

- Tomas Kaberle

- Nik Antropov

Wow, great... a bunch of no name players! Even your crappy players weren't drafted by the Leafs, let alone one of your big-name players -- I don't care WHEN they were drafted, either! Don't disgrace Detroit's farm system by your utter lack of knowledge and try to compare it to Toronto's.

[NEVER85]

I don't claim to know everything, nor do I pretend to. Also, it's funny how Detroit suddenly started calling themselves "Hockeytown" after their 1997 Stanley Cup victory. Why weren't they considered Hockeytown during their 42 year Stanley Cup drought? The timing of that is fairly unusual. It has nothing to do with them being an American team. Minneapolis/St. Paul can be considered hockey cities, and the closest they came to seeing a Stanley Cup was the 1990/91 season when they lost in the finals to Pittsburgh. So, your misconception that just because I'm Canadian, I must think that an American city can't be a hockey city is erroneous. Also, I don't care if you think I googled up those prospect names. I know I didn't, and that's all that matters. Just because I can spell their names correctly isn't just cause to accuse me of googling them up.

To be fair, I have no doubt you do have a rather detailed knowledge about the sport, and could've mentioned things I overlooked, but why did you suddenly bring up a bunch of statistics about Toronto? I could care less about the Maple Leafs. I'm a Canadiens fan, not a Leafs fan.

Anyways, to end this little tirade we have going, if the Red Wings perform equally as well under the $39M cap as they have in the past 10 years, I will solemnly swear to never debate anything hockey related with you again, as I would undoubtedly have been proven wrong. Time will tell.

[Chris Allen Veteran]

I should have clarified....

It seems like hockey has the absolute longest season in the world.  what...80 games in the regular season, followed by 2 months of playoffs, and then they are back in preseason in another 2...so it seems that their highlights are always on sportscenter.

As for the sport itself, I just find hockey incredibly dull...but that's just my opinion...sorry.  :/

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Uh, EXCUSE ME! The NHL season is NOT 80 games!!! GEEZ! It's NOT even CLOSE! How could you even THINK that!?!?

It's a quite modest 72...goodness :p :whistle:

I agree the hockey season is a long and drawn out one. Being a hockey fan I can STILL say it goes on forever.

[NEVER85]

Uh, EXCUSE ME!  The NHL season is NOT 80 games!!!  GEEZ!  It's NOT even CLOSE!  How could you even THINK that!?!?

It's a quite modest 72...goodness :p  :whistle:

I agree the hockey season is a long and drawn out one.  Being a hockey fan I can STILL say it goes on forever.

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I hope that was sarcasm. :huh: