[Rednamalas1]

It's that time of the year again, and trade rumors are heating up nicely before the deadline. Any speculations on possible trades?

As for the season, Sharks and wings are tearing it up on the West, while Bruins have been a force on the east.

It might be too early to count out teams from playoffs, but it looks like Thrashers, Isles, Blues should be looking forward to NHL draft in June.

JayBo, Kovalchuk, Lecavalier, Antropov, Kaberle, Toskala, Fernandez, Khabi, Schnider, Higgins, Gaborik, Spezza, Beauchamin are some of big names discussed in trade rumors - your opinions?

And as with all sport discussions, lets keep it civil guys

 

[ecclesand]

The Avalanche suck hard this year. Absolutely nothing to look forward to. Bad goal tending, bad defense, bad power play, bad coaching. I miss the "old" NHL.

 

[azncookiecutter]

Leafs are worse. At least now we got Burke to deal with this mess of a team.

 

[Rednamalas1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecclesand /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Avalanche suck hard this year. Absolutely nothing to look forward to. Bad goal tending, bad defense, bad power play, bad coaching. I miss the "old" NHL.

Canucks are doing almost as bad...7 losses in a row.

All at home! At least Avs can blame injuries (Sakic, Statsny). Canucks have full lineup and everyone is sucking hard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by azncookiecutter /img/forum/go_quote.gif Leafs are worse. At least now we got Burke to deal with this mess of a team.

Yup, I see rebuilding at least until next year.

Blake, Kubina, Finger has to go. Kaberle should not be traded, nor Toskala.
At least you know ottawa's not doing any better.

 

[azncookiecutter]

Very true on the part of Ottawa. Blake's gonna be near unmovable, because of his contract. As much as like Kaberle, the package he can bring back in a trade is great, therefore I wouldn't mind seeing him go. Toskala's gonna be around till Pogge's ready to take over, which would probably be 2010 the earliest.

 

[Rednamalas1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by azncookiecutter /img/forum/go_quote.gif Very true on the part of Ottawa. Blake's gonna be near unmovable, because of his contract. As much as like Kaberle, the package he can bring back in a trade is great, therefore I wouldn't mind seeing him go. Toskala's gonna be around till Pogge's ready to take over, which would probably be 2010 the earliest.

I don't think Blake has NTC (not 100% sure though), and 4 mil cap hit per year is around 1.8mil cap hit for this year for the team that's receiving him. I'm sure Burke can find a playoff-bound team for him at lets say...1st and a prospect?

I mean, if Kaberle can fetch few good, young prospects, he should be traded. But Toronto needs a good defensive corp after he leaves though.

 

[NacMacFeegle]

Yay! Hockey talk.....
Well I had to dump the Sabres this year as they dumped us first (Rochester Amerks) and bolted over to Portland. We were sharing with the Panthers anyway so the split (from my point of view) wasn't too painful in the end. And lo and behold the boys from Florida are playing really well of late, taking it to the Habs last night...And if we win our games in hand look at who we jump over in the Conference standings

Sweet.
However the local TV stations have not been as quick on the uptake so we still get all Sabres games, so I have to watch them at least once a week.
Now we just need to settle Bouwmeester's situation and I'll be a happy wee blue man!

 

[Rednamalas1]

and buffalo also has to worry about next year's cap room as well: they have Afinogenov, Connoly, Kotalik, Stafford, Spacek as UFA next year.

However, NY Rangers are REALLY in trouble with 9 (!!) players signed for 40+ million. :S ouch!

As for Jbo, I don't think he's going anywhere, given that Panthers are still very much in playoff hunt.

 

[john_jcb]

Blackhawks are on TV and playing pretty well for a change. Tonight we will see how far they have really come when they play San Jose.

 

[Rednamalas1]

To define Death Spiral (NHL): Vancouver Canucks 2009.

2-5-5 in January, and zero win in last 9 games played at home. BRUTAL!

 

[budman90]

yeah, as an avid sabres fan, im pretty worried about the cap situation next year

although, i do hope we resign connolly, as long as he can stay healthy

btw NacMacFeegle, it was in the sabres benefit to dump the amerks as there farm team. it was in there best interest to be using there own farm team, instead of sharing one with the craptastic panthers.

idk why you would dump them as your team just because they're not associated with the amerks. i believe they are a much more exciting team to watch compared to the panthers, with a much larger and more dedicated fan base.

 

[john_jcb]

Well I stayed up and watched the Hawks beat San Jose last night. It is amazing that at this point in the season it is only the second home loss for the Sharks. They out shot the Hawks but our goalie saved the day. Watching them play San Jose and Detroit I think the Hawks are getting close to being a contender; half a season left to work on a few things. Despite the depth they have it is still critical that the key players do not get hurt down the stretch. It was really a blow when Scott Keith missed a string a games after he absorbed a great open ice hit. Their youth gets to them at times as well. I think they underestimated LA the other night and never really were able to turn it around.

 

[NacMacFeegle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by budman90 /img/forum/go_quote.gif yeah, as an avid sabres fan, im pretty worried about the cap situation next year although, i do hope we resign connolly, as long as he can stay healthy btw NacMacFeegle, it was in the sabres benefit to dump the amerks as there farm team. it was in there best interest to be using there own farm team, instead of sharing one with the craptastic panthers. idk why you would dump them as your team just because they're not associated with the amerks. i believe they are a much more exciting team to watch compared to the panthers, with a much larger and more dedicated fan base.

True, but the Amerks are the local team, and the Sabres had plenty of great seasons with them as the sole AHL team. Then they started with the pleading poverty nonsense and so they wheeled in the Panthers and split the team....Funnily enough as soon as they move to Portland they can afford to place all their new guys...Suspicious, moi? Too right I am. For whatever reason they wanted out of here, so as far as I'm concerned they can go....off! True they have a little bit more swagger than the Panthers at the moment, but what does their fanbase have to do with anything? I'll watch the local team any day, and they USED to be it..not anymore. Now that they are out of town I'll just watch them the same as any other team...nothing specialto me anymore.

 

[NacMacFeegle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by john_jcb /img/forum/go_quote.gif Blackhawks are on TV and playing pretty well for a change. Tonight we will see how far they have really come when they play San Jose.

Hi John,
did you get to the New Years day game at Wriggly? That would've been neat I imagine..

 

[john_jcb]

No I did not go. After seeing the sight lines from the stands I am glad I didn't. It was a spectacle but not really the venue to watch hockey. I prefer the seat I get at the stadium when I go with a friend of mine who has had season tickets for over 40 years. The seats are 13 rows from the glass on the blue line and we see the Hawks coming our way twice. I still like the old stadium that they tore down to make way for the United Center.