T1B

Could do what Malkin has done...


Malkin became the first NHL player in 89 years to score goals in his first six games, beating Los Angeles goalie Dan Cloutier with a wrist shot 8:29 into the first period and giving the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
The 20-year-old Russian phenom matched the mark shared by Joe Malone, Newsy Lalonde and Cy Denneny, who each scored in their first six games during the NHL's inaugural season in 1917-18.

I don't think Selanne's rookie record is in jeopardy or even Mike Bossy's mark but after just seeing those half-dozen of games and with Crosby feeding him the puck, I think Malkin can net 40-50 goals this year. The Pens future looks very bright with Crosby, Malkin, Staal and Armstrong up front and Fleury is starting to mature as a goalie.

Shoalzie wrote:I don't think Selanne's rookie record is in jeopardy or even Mike Bossy's mark but after just seeing those half-dozen of games and with Crosby feeding him the puck, I think Malkin can net 40-50 goals this year. The Pens future looks very bright with Crosby, Malkin, Staal and Armstrong up front and Fleury is starting to mature as a goalie.

Yet again the Pens are referred to with hope only in the future tense. Not to Rat Pack anything but once more the Pens will not make the playoffs and people in shittsburgh will bitch and moan and eventually players will ask to leave and the whole conglomerate of 1st rounders will amount to nothing until they get decent coaching and an office that knows what the fuck they are doing.

Croskin is not the saviour of the Pens. I don't think there ever will be such a thing.

The real question is if the Pens will be able to pay these dudes in 2-4 years. In the world of salary caps there probably won't be money for all of them.

Mainiac wrote:In the world of salary caps there probably won't be money for all of them.

Even in a world without salary caps I doubt there will be enough money for all of them.

Mainiac wrote:The real question is if the Pens will be able to pay these dudes in 2-4 years. In the world of salary caps there probably won't be money for all of them.

Financially the Pens now have the money to do it with RIM backing them...
I'd forcast the Kitchener Penguins playing and selling out a brand new Research in Motion Arena. And with it being outside of the protection area barrier of both the Leafs and Sabres, there'd be no penalties...

But as you've said, the salary cap's going to rob the fans and NHL of one team that has the potential to be a dynasty..

Way to go Gary... :roll:

Smoked Meat wrote:

Mainiac wrote:In the world of salary caps there probably won't be money for all of them.

Even in a world without salary caps I doubt there will be enough money for all of them.

That's unfortunately true...I don't think raising the salaries for entry level players will because once they get their chance to make more money after that first contract is through, they'll look for more. Even if somehow they can hang ont their young players, they won't have much for anything else.

Otis wrote:Way to go Gary... :roll:

Heh... again, Otis, Gary only did what the owners asked for. I suppose you NHLPA bittermen need to have someone to hang this on.

Without a salary cap, at least 20 of 30 teams wouldn't be able to afford all those players either. They'd have to trade them to the Wings, Leafs, Avs, etc. for younger cheaper talent.

There was always a salary cap for most teams. Only before, it was self-imposed due to financial constraints.

You should be thankful anyway... the cap has forced the Leafs to finally go younger and cheaper, and it seems to be injecting some new life into that aging squad.

JD wrote:

Otis wrote:Way to go Gary... :roll:

Heh... again, Otis, Gary only did what the owners asked for.

Which owners was that JD, the ones of teams that didn't have the money to afford a franchise and really, should have either been sold or contracted?
Or the owners that had the money but were to fuck'n cheap to spend it on making their team better (s'up Harley, Wirtzman and Jacobs)

Don't confuse poor with cheap..

I suppose you NHLPA bittermen need to have someone to hang this on.

Yeah God forbid that the people who actually do the work and make the game what it is should be restricted from a capitalism.. :roll:

Without a salary cap, at least 20 of 30 teams wouldn't be able to afford all those players either. They'd have to trade them to the Wings, Leafs, Avs, etc. for younger cheaper talent.

You know what, the Jays are in competition with the Yankees, Red Sox... I have no problem with what George spends or if the Sox want to run up a $150 million cost on players salaries. Too bad certain hockey fans have that woe is us, we can't compete with the big spenders complex...

There was always a salary cap for most teams. Only before, it was self-imposed due to financial constraints.

And it worked extremely well. Those that could did, those that couldn't bitched about their hard done by teams owned by cheap ass owners...

You should be thankful anyway... the cap has forced the Leafs to finally go younger and cheaper, and it seems to be injecting some new life into that aging squad.

You mean all of the draft picks that Quinn is responsible for drafting and properly developing by not rushing them up?

e wrote:you're dreaming, otis. the kansas city penguins are having a beautiful new arena built for them as i type this.

e, I truely hope that KC does get a team..

The Panthers desperately need a place to play where people actually give a rats ass about them...

Of course, the same could be said for the Predators or the Thrashers...

Otis wrote:Which owners was that JD

Probably all of them, shown by the fact that the owners were united in their cause. Additionally, you've heard nothing from any owner talking about how they lament the outcome. They gave their agenda to Bettman, and he executed it.

the ones of teams that didn't have the money to afford a franchise and really, should have either been sold or contracted?

Well, if you pine for the days of the Original 6, maybe that would be the favourable outcome.

Or the owners that had the money but were to fuck'n cheap to spend it on making their team better (s'up Harley, Wirtzman and Jacobs)

It's too bad there are a couple bad owners, but at least they have to operate with the salary floor as well as the cap. Thanks to the new CBA, of course.

Yeah God forbid that the people who actually do the work and make the game what it is should be restricted from a capitalism.. :roll:

Well, if you can honestly look at this past off-season and tell me the players aren't still cashing in, I don't know what to say. It's still a competitive market and teams are still bidding for players. But now, teams with cap space are bidding for their services rather than simply the teams with unlimited financial resources.

You know what, the Jays are in competition with the Yankees, Red Sox... I have no problem with what George spends or if the Sox want to run up a $150 million cost on players salaries. Too bad certain hockey fans have that woe is us, we can't compete with the big spenders complex...

Actually, what I think is too bad is that you're OK with the Jays getting their butts handed to them year after year after year with no hope of reprieve. Funny, too, is that only this season, when they actually spent more money than past years, did they not fall out of the races by the All-Star break. The Jays are in competition with George, and they're perpetually losing. As a casual observer of MLB, I find that pretty sad.

You should be thankful anyway... the cap has forced the Leafs to finally go younger and cheaper, and it seems to be injecting some new life into that aging squad.

You mean all of the draft picks that Quinn is responsible for drafting and properly developing by not rushing them up?

Hey, keep your thinly veiled swipes at Hap or whomever out of your arguments with me.

JD wrote: Well, if you pine for the days of the Original 6, maybe that would be the favourable outcome.

It's Toronto's only hope for a championship. Don't be too hard on them, J.

JD wrote:

Otis wrote:Which owners was that JD

Probably all of them, shown by the fact that the owners were united in their cause. Additionally, you've heard nothing from any owner talking about how they lament the outcome. They gave their agenda to Bettman, and he executed it.

Short term memory loss much?

Gary Bettman's influence in all of this. When the commissioner's contract was redone in 2000, he had an important clause put in. To institute whatever new labour agreement he wants, all the commissioner needs are the votes of only eight of the League's 30 owners.

Perhaps you forgot about Snider and MLSE speaking out and being threatened with fines for daring to go against Betteman's issued gag orders.. gag orders.. you know, like Harper does with his MP's...

I guess you forgot about Kings President Tim Lieweke being fined for his comments against Gary...

And perhaps you missed the Canucks GM's comments last week on this very topic...

Canadian Press

10/30/2006 6:18:38 PM

VANCOUVER (CP) - The age for free agents in the NHL "is a joke" and could result in the Pittsburgh Penguins losing Sidney Crosby when he's just entering his prime, Vancouver Canucks general manager Dave Nonis said Monday.

"Pittsburgh is going to put seven years of development money into him and he can leave when he's 25," Nonis told a B.C. Chamber of Commerce meeting.

"I think if you assemble a good team, fans want to see that team stick together for more than one or two years. Our current agreement does not lend itself to that.

That's the cost of a salary cap...

JD wrote:

the ones of teams that didn't have the money to afford a franchise and really, should have either been sold or contracted?

Well, if you pine for the days of the Original 6, maybe that would be the favourable outcome.

Actually, contracting a few cheap ass franchises would be best for this league and I can say that there's a good number of hockey fans that would love to see the days of the Original 6 back again. I mean really who gives a shit about a team in Nashville.. certainly not the people of Nashville with their whopping attendance of 8000 fans a game..

JD wrote:

Or the owners that had the money but were to fuck'n cheap to spend it on making their team better (s'up Harley, Wirtzman and Jacobs)

It's too bad there are a couple bad owners, but at least they have to operate with the salary floor as well as the cap. Thanks to the new CBA, of course.

Wow, what a trade off... forcing the franchises that actually give a shit and are willing to invest in their team to accept a deal that gives in to the cheap ass owners.

Way to prop up the bottom feeders...

Hey wait a minute, you might be onto something... since Alberta's supposedly loaded, perhaps Canada should take a page out of this book and cap the oil prices and spread the wealth around even more because other provinces can't afford to keep paying more. We could call it the National Energy Program err Cap
Surely you won't have any arguements with that premise then since you support it in one business...

JD wrote:

You know what, the Jays are in competition with the Yankees, Red Sox... I have no problem with what George spends or if the Sox want to run up a $150 million cost on players salaries. Too bad certain hockey fans have that woe is us, we can't compete with the big spenders complex...

Actually, what I think is too bad is that you're OK with the Jays getting their butts handed to them year after year after year with no hope of reprieve. Funny, too, is that only this season, when they actually spent more money than past years, did they not fall out of the races by the All-Star break. The Jays are in competition with George, and they're perpetually losing. As a casual observer of MLB, I find that pretty sad.

No hope of reprieve? Oh ok... you're right, teams that don't spend won't ever win anything...

And the Florida Marlins have never won the World Series, the Oakland A's and Minnesota Twins didn't make the playoffs this year...
As to the Jays, they were right in it up until the all star break. If their 2'nd and 3'rd starters had been healthy they'd have been contending right down to the wire.

JD wrote:

JD wrote:You should be thankful anyway... the cap has forced the Leafs to finally go younger and cheaper, and it seems to be injecting some new life into that aging squad.

You mean all of the draft picks that Quinn is responsible for drafting and properly developing by not rushing them up?

Hey, keep your thinly veiled swipes at Hap or whomever out of your arguments with me.

Alright.. you've got me on that one... Mea culpa...

Otis is IB with a 40 of Timbits and a beer hangover.

Otis wrote:Hey wait a minute, you might be onto something... since Alberta's supposedly loaded, perhaps Canada should take a page out of this book and cap the oil prices and spread the wealth around even more because other provinces can't afford to keep paying more. We could call it the National Energy Program err Cap
Surely you won't have any arguements with that premise then since you support it in one business...

Well, obviously we disagree on all counts and I'm not going to change your mind, but regarding this, it's pretty much already happening with Alberta sending a lot more than it's fair share of money to other provinces. And yeah, I'm fine with it because that's the concept behind being part of a larger entity, ie, Canada. In the NHL, the league as a whole is better with the sum of all its parts... bottom-feeders or not.

As for Nonis' comments, and I've already addressed this, 20 of 30 teams couldn't keep a contender together for long either. They were already working under their self-imposed cap.