It's A Done Deal: NHL, NHLPA come to an agreement

[NozeNuggets]

THe NHL and their player union have agreed to a six-year deal with the dreaded salary cap and rollback on salaries. Discuss.

[Carolina Red]

I would strongly encourage you all to attend an NHL game in your area. All the critics out there are going to think that attendance will be the only statistic that matters simply because they want to know how the public will react, so the best you can do is catch some games at your local arena.

Having a salary cap will really encourage teams to spend, especially if the maximum salary a player can get will be around $8 million a year. But I don't want teams to think that they will have to blow it all on just a few players. Besides, I would think that if Philadelphia won the first overall pick in an evenly weighted draft lottery it would be rather hard to afford both Jeremy Roenick and Sidney Crosby (who i would think would be paid at least $6mil a year by whoever gets him).

Maybe players will be willing to take lower salaries now, since they know what it's like not to get paid big league bucks now.

[Frank Castle]

I'm very happy that everything has ended and I hope attendance is good. Also I hope The Blackhawks take home the cup in '06!:)

[Natey]

YAY though i knew that like 3 hours before you posted that. YES I NEED HOCKEY! i was lonely when it want on last year

~Nate~

[Stewie]

Also I hope The Blackhawks take home the cup in '06!:)The Blackhawks can't win anything. Winning costs money.

[AF$]

The Blackhawks can't win anything. Winning costs money.Yeah sure, that's why the Rangers do so well every year and Ottawa is at the bottom of the standings.
/sarcasm

[Duke]

Well, my roommate will be happy, since he's a huge Flyers fan.

[TimTwoFace]

This is not a done deal.

This is a huge step towards a deal, but you still need the majority of the players (that's about 376) to vote in favour of this deal. Really, it can be a good thing in the long run - but the players are giving up a LOT here. It's more than just lower wages, which everyone had already accepted; they're giving up medical benefits and such, too. In the roughest and most grueling game on the planet, your product - the players - should at least get medical benefits.

I despise Gary Bettman because he and a number of the owners and GMs in horrible markets have caused this problem to arise over the past decade. However, all will be forgotten - not forgiven, but forgotten - if we get the puck drop in October.

I hope everyone in Carolina and Atlanta and Florida are excited!

-Tim

[Stewie]

Yeah sure, that's why the Rangers do so well every year and Ottawa is at the bottom of the standings.
/sarcasmFunny, but you're not taking Bill Wirtz into account.

[Frank Castle]

The Blackhawks can't win anything. Winning costs money. You sound like a Red Wings fan.

[Stewie]

You sound like a Red Wings fan.Blasphemy! I'm a Blackhawks fan.
Well, I'm not really an anything fan, but I'm from Chicago. A team from Detroit? Hold your wicked tongue!

Winning costs money.Since people are accusing me of being a Red Wings fan, and wasting time talking about the Rangers I should explain this.

It's something Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz once said. Years back, he told his GM at the time, "Don't bother trying to win any championships, they're too expensive." That's paraphrased, and he may have referred specifically to Stanley's Cup. I don't know. But the point is, he won't spend a dime on anything. He's so concerned with not losing attendance that Blackhawk games aren't available on TV in Chicago. They're always blacked out. Nevermind that no one goes to games anyway.

[Captain Harlock]

All that's left is the debate on who gets #1 prospect Sidney Crosby. He's being hyped to have Gretzky, Jagr, and Lemuix type skills. The way the draft lottery will work is pretty interesting.

The new lottery formula will reportedly work like this:

* Each team begins with three balls.

* For every playoff appearance in the last three years or No. 1 overall pick over the last four years, a team loses one ball. (Note: No. 1 overall pick is based on the lottery winner, not the team which eventually selected first via trade.)

* Each team will still be guaranteed to have one ball in the lottery.

* The first round will go with teams picking 1 through 30, with the 30th team picking 31st and the draft order "snaking" back and forth in a seven-round draft.


My favorite team, Rangers, is one of the teams with the best chance. But you know if New York landed him, the conspiracy theories would never stop. Anyhow, here's the table.

You can see the chart here: http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/3758906

To see a team like Columbus get this guy would give a great scorer like Rick Nash a player to help him out. Pittsburgh could use him to attract fans, along with the fact that they hold the rights to the best goalie prospect in the minors - M.A. Fleury. Buffalo could use another star player to team up with Satan. The possibilities are endless. I'm psyched about the NHL finally starting up again and hope that the Rangers can pull out of their funk and finally pull together a winning season and playoff run.

[Frank Castle]

Blasphemy! I'm a Blackhawks fan.
Well, I'm not really an anything fan, but I'm from Chicago. A team from Detroit? Hold your wicked tongue!

Since people are accusing me of being a Red Wings fan, and wasting time talking about the Rangers I should explain this.

It's something Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz once said. Years back, he told his GM at the time, "Don't bother trying to win any championships, they're too expensive." That's paraphrased, and he may have referred specifically to Stanley's Cup. I don't know. But the point is, he won't spend a dime on anything. He's so concerned with not losing attendance that Blackhawk games aren't available on TV in Chicago. They're always blacked out. Nevermind that no one goes to games anyway. Miracles can and do happen.:)

[Stewie]

Miracles can and do happen.:)Not in Chicago.

[PaQ]

Now lets just get the players to ratify this puppy and NHL can be back.

All that's left is the debate on who gets #1 prospect Sidney Crosby. He's being hyped to have Gretzky, Jagr, and Lemuix type skills. The way the draft lottery will work is pretty interesting.

You can see the chart here: http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/3758906 Woo! The Kings are in the top half of chances. :D Kings certainly haven't had a big time star since Gretzky, I wonder what Crosby is all about.

[Punisher]

Maybe I'll try to get into hockey now. I was never really a fan of it before, since my sports city didn't have a team(Baltimore) and I've never cared for D.C. sports. Guess I'll pick a team and start watching their games.

[TheEvilClown]

I just have one thing to Say about all this

GO AVS:evil:

[TimTwoFace]

GO AVS:evil:
OK, you threw the gauntlet down. As a Canucks fan, I officially have to despise you. :evil:

I know there's a Bruins' fan on these boards, too; as a member of Hab-land, I have to square off against you, as well. :evil:

-Tim

[ToonamiFanatic]

I just hope this means the Atlanta Thrashers stay. I wanted to watch a game or two but couldnt because of the standoff. Because of this I am going to give hockey a try and watch some games.

[TimTwoFace]

I just hope this means the Atlanta Thrashers stay. I wanted to watch a game or two but couldnt because of the standoff. Because of this I am going to give hockey a try and watch some games.
Even though I'm rather opposed to the idea of so many teams in the southern USA, Atlanta is a team I'd like to see stay. It's a big city, and that team has tremendous potential; they remind me a lot of where Tampa Bay was a couple of years ago.

-Tim

[Frank Castle]

Not in Chicago. Wait and see.

[AF$]

GO AVS:evil:
-TimOK, you threw the gauntlet down. As a Canucks fan, I officially have to despise you. :evil:
-TimAs a Wild fan, I'm pretty much obligated to hate you both.

[Stewie]

Wait and see.Are you not familiar with the stories of our sports franchises that don't have Michael Jordan or the 46 defense? Or is this some sort of sick joke?
Honestly though, I'm a Cubs fan, so in a way I will always believe even though I know it's mathematically/physically impossible.

[Frank Castle]

Are you not familiar with the stories of our sports franchises that don't have Michael Jordan or the 46 defense? Or is this some sort of sick joke?
Honestly though, I'm a Cubs fan, so in a way I will always believe even though I know it's mathematically/physically impossible. One of the greatest joys of being a sports fan is never giving up on a favorite team. Hell, if everyone just went with the winning teams, sports wouldn't be any exciting. Call it false hope if you want, but real sports fans never give up on their teams. It payed off for the Red Sox fans and I'm banking that the White Sox will pull it off this year as well. They don't have the greatest lineup but they're first in the AL and the last time they won a series was early 1900's so obviously, nothing's impossible in the sports world.

[chris3116]

Finally, the Montreal Canadiens will be back. Montreal is nothing without the Canadiens.

GO HABS GO

[Burgundy Ranger]

I am so ready to see the puck drop. I'm ready for no red line, the return of tag-up offsides and no-touch icing. Heck, even the shootout but I don't know if they need that AND the 3-on-3. It's going to be weird to have EVERY game be 2 points for one team and 0 for the other.

The free-agency scramble is going to be exciting to watch. So many teams shopping, so many players looking. It will be most interesting to see how many players 'get it' in that the money they were used to seeing out there just won't be there now.

[NozeNuggets]

"Finally, the Montreal Canadiens will be back. Montreal is nothing without the Canadiens." Well, it was nothing during this past winter, and Les Expos packed up to head south to the District of Columbia. Chris, did anyone care up there about the Expos making like Ben Franklin and bolting?

[TimTwoFace]

Well, it was nothing during this past winter, and Les Expos packed up to head south to the District of Columbia. Chris, did anyone care up there about the Expos making like Ben Franklin and bolting?That was more a case of the MLB inadvertantly screwing over Montreal (thanks to the 1994 strike). That year, the Expos were the best in the league, and could have very easily gone very deep into the playoffs, possibly the World Series. Thanks to the series getting cancelled, that never happened. The fans did come back - kind of - but it was never the same. Baseball could've worked in Montreal - and it did, to an extent - but the fact that all of the best players had to be traded away once they became too expensive, made the Expos a difficult sell in the mid to late 90's - especially when the exchange rate plummeted.

The fact that the Nationals are such a good team this year can be attributed in large part to the excellent staff that worked on the Expos for so long.

Baseball was never #1 in the city, and it was never going to be - but it still deserved to be there.

ANYWAY, back to hockey...go Habs, go! I hope they wind up with Crosby; they are his favourite team, after all, and it's not too far from Rimouski.

-Tim

PS - Regarding the Chicago thing...the Blackhawks situation sucks. It's true, and it's been that way for a while. The team could be decent, yes, but with an owner not willing to spend - or spend smartly - there's no chance for that team. Not exposing the team to the local fans - non-stop home game blackouts - is pathetic. The public relations for that team are abysmal - and that's a damn shame, because as an Original Six market, it should be a hockey hotbed.

Boston is in a similar situation, actually - and is just marginally better.