apuszczalowski

Yup, former player coming in to try and save them, on the verge of bankruptcy/moving to Hamilton if Balsillie had his way, etc.Crosby comes in, win some cups and are now pretty much financially stable and bringing in some nice cash as one of the top teams in the league. Pittsburgh is a market that the league did not want to lose

Aside from Probably Miller and Vanek, I would think all of those guys get re-signed

Tell that to the Oilers, or the Islanders, or the Sens who have all picked guys #1 overall who have had players picked later that ended up with much better careers.The Red Wings are a perfect example of what I am talking about, they have not picked below the #20 spot since 1991 and that was in 2005 when they picked 19th. In most years they havent even had a 1st round pick. Thats 22 drafts and they have taken some Hall of Fame guys in those drafts. They have been a playoff team for the majority of that time and have won multiple cups.

But with the right guys in place in the front Office, it shouldn't and won't matter if we are picking 1st or 10th, they will get someone who can play. The only difference is that almost anyone can make the right pick at the top of the draft, but get down a few spots and thats where the good Front Offices earn their money by finding the right skilled players.

It doesn't matter though, they can go on to not win another game this season and still not get the coveted Holy #1 pick this year. Its why the league put in the Draft Lottery, so that teams can't "Suck for Luck" There are 29 other teams in the league that will have to rebuild without the #1 pick, and many of them are doing just fine rebuilding other ways without desperately praying for the #1 pick to save them. I would much rather watch and cheer for a team thats trying to rebuild and win every year, then one thats putting all of its hopes and dreams of rebuilding on getting the #1 pick

I had a note for a few weeks cause i thought I would like the larger size for doing things on it and I have to say I got rid of it quickly for something easier to carry. The larger size is great for videos and streaming the net, but the size is way to big for a cell phone and something you are going to carry with you everywhere like you would a phone. I have a blackberry tablet and its great for a tablet that I can watch videos (used to watch Sabres on Gamecentre with it) and surf the web. They are cheap, but theres a lack of Apps compared to the android and apple products cause its a blackberry. I bought my wife a 1st gen Ipad for her birthday (she wanted an ipad, couldn't afford the new stuff so i found some new, possibly refurbed, older units) and she likes it, but its an older one and can't do everything the newer ones do, but she can surf the web, facebook, watch youtube videos, and have apps to amuse the baby on it.

I'm trying to remember the names, they were 2 of the funny guys that did the Sportscentre morning show, they left to go join the Fox Sports version of the show. They were being promoted as being the funny new hosts Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole

TSN already lost 2 of their guys to Fox Sports in the States I don't think its really that big of a deal, aside from the Trade Deadline and Free Agency coverage all of TSNs NHL games are usually just the coverage of the NBC games (Guess this may change for the Jets, but not the Habs who have regional coverage of their games on TSN). Sportsnet already does about 90% of the Leafs games (except HNIC games and the few shown on the Leafs TV network), and they do the games for all the West coast Canadian teams, and the Sens. Guess its hard to say right now if TSN will continue with their Traded Deadline and Free Agency coverage to the extent they have been without the rights to broadcast games. They could always steal HNIC away fromt eh CBC like they did the HNIC theme song But for those 19 games, the NHL did not make it crystal clear the effects of head injuries he could suffer. Maybe they should all continue this down further and sue everyone down to their parents who at one point put them in Hockey without properly informing them of the risks of a head injury.........

The move with Calgary with Smid was to clear cap space to sign Bryz. Its why the move took a while to announce cause they had to wait for the physicals to finish and the trade to be official to give them room to sign Bryz

As I said, it all depends on your perspective. From my angle on the ice, I'm a Vezina candidate in net, from sitting in the stands watching, if I'm able to keep myself awake, I would probably get beaten routinely by the 8 year olds on the travel team that just got off the ice before me.

I find that most times, when I'm on the ice it can feel like I'm playing at a high level, then I go to watch other games in the league and you realize just how bad the play really is......

I get similar problems, feels like shin splints, usually when I am playing in net, not so much when i play out. I have wanted to try using those new Dr. Scholls inserts on TV to go in my skates to see if it helps

In case you haven't been there in a while, they aren't on Ferry near Clifton Hill. After they re-opened from the Bankruptcy years ago they decided to sell that building and move onto Queen Street (Downtown Niagara Falls)

His agent would agree with youSays he is innocent and that the charges are part of a conspiracy to keep Russia from winning the gold i Socchi http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=435504

But does East management Services have anything to do with the operation of the Sabres, or is it just for the new Harbour Center hockey stuff? If thats the case, then I doubt he has any thoughts on Darcy

The talk from the Islanders on why they were willing to let him go was that they feel that his numbers are only what they are because of Tavares, guess we will see if they are right or wrong (was thinking of slipping in a spelling mistake there)If he proves that it wasn't because of Tavares, then I stand by my comment that this further proves Garth is in way over his head giving up a 1st and 2nd for a small improvement stat wise, unless he is also really dumb and thought Vanek was Miller.........

Outside of Edmonton and maybe Winnepeg, how many Canadian teams are looking for a goalie right now? Montreal has Price, theres an article on TSN talking about the Leafs having the best tandem in the NHL outside of Colorado, The Canucks have Lou, the Sens are good, the Flames don't have a big name but have been doing fine so far with their rebuild this offseason. Edmonton and Winnepeg are probably 2 of the locations on most players No Trade Lists, they are not attractive places to sign in Canada. A 3-way deal could be worked out with Buffalo sending Miller to a team like Philly, and maybe Myers (I hope) or Ehrhoff to Edmonton, and Philly then sending maybe mason to Edmonton, although I'm sure they want someone more established right now and not another "potential" goalie. If you want to start looking at 3-way deals, I would try to work something out with Pittsburgh, with Miller going there, and Fleury being sent to Edmonton.

You hope they can get a 1st for him, its going to depend on If he can show that his numbers weren't inflated by playing with Tavares and that he is as good as his numbers show, something the Islanders believed not to be true. Plus, the closer you get to the deadline, the less they might be able to get because he is a UFA and might just be a short term rental for someone. If he continues to play like he did on monday though, I have no doubt Buffalo could get a 1st for him, and Garth Snow is in way over his head

I would hold off on talking about the instant chemistry they have after a few games, It seems like every player that gets moved always has one of their best games in the first game they play in with their new team. If he continues scoring like he did on Monday, then we can talk about chemistry.

If Vanek was truly part of their rebuilding plans, they wouldn't have traded him so early, the writing is on the wall that they want to go with a full youth movement with picks and prospects. There may have been rumors that they offered him a huge deal, but I don't think those were confirmed by the team? As for the Toronto part, I believe Sick believes that Darcy wouldn't be dumb enough to contact a division rival and offer them one of their best players in a deal without knowing that he would only be a rental to them because he has already made up his mind that he is off to the Wild next season I don't see why the Leafs would do the deal, I think they have more of a need for defence right now and not a scoring forward. I'm sure they would have gladly taken Vanek if the Sabres kept a chunk of salary, and took back some bad contracts for them to get them under the cap, but I don't see why they would given Buffalo anything decent for him when he isn't a need for them.

This deal was really a surprise, didn't even know the Islanders were looking at Vanek. For those that think picks are gold, this deal was a steal for the Sabres. Anyway you look at it, it was confusing on the Islanders part because they gave up Moulson in the deal too. On the ice while looking at the stats, it does not appear they upgraded except if you believe that Moulson is at his peak playing with a talent like Tavares while vanek has not reached his potential because he doesn't have an elite talent to play with in Buffalo. It looks confusing also because the islanders biggest concerns according to the "experts" was on defence and in net, which this does not address (unless something else is being worked on that will eventual send Miller to them in a deal that will look more lopsided in the other direction) its hard to get excited watching Moulson out there because you know that he is purely a rental and won't be here long (If Vanek didn't fit into their re-building plans, how can a guy who is the same age fit in?), and this deal continues to signal to the league that the Sabres are for sale and are going through the motions this season in hopes of getting the #1 pick.

There was a rumor about St. Louis possibly being interested in Miller because they want to make a run at the Cup this year and he could be an upgrade over Halak or Elliott. Otherwise teams that have injured starters (Carolina, Nashville, Minneosota, etc) aren't going to make a run at him unless their starter is out long term. No way they give up assetts to rent Miller while their starter is down unless they feel he is an upgrade over their starter when hes healthy, and can include that starter in a deal. The Islanders need an upgrade over Nabokov, but I feel that if he was an option for them, they would have made the deal now with the vanek trade, can't see them making another huge deal again with the same team later on. Also how many draft picks can the Islanders give up? They would have to be willing to make a deal for a bunch of prospects or some young, good talent. Edmonton needs an upgrade in net too, but it would all depend on if they are on his list, and if he would be willing to waive the clause if he was asked to. Edmonton has picks and prospects they can move for him, they could even ask for someone like Myers, or an upgrade on defence too. Philly is a tough one because they want Mason to be the #1 there, but if they feel the coaching change and their existing talent is enough with an immediate upgrade in net, they could be an option. They have a couple of established young players they could give up, but I'm not sure if they have many picks to give up. I still think with a competent GM this team could turn things around much quicker then going the planned route of building through the next few drafts 1st and 2nd round picks. If they can convince Miller to sign an extension then Dangle Enroth to teams looking to take a chance on a potential #1 goalie, along with re-signing Ott, and make a couple moves dealing some of the picks they have acquired and maybe one of the current young kids too, along with Myers, they could get some talent that can take them back to the playoffs much sooner and have much better odds then playing the draft lotto hoping that years of misery will be enough to get them the #1 overall picks for a few seasons.

What does that have to do with anything?

I was using the comparison to disprove some of the idea that tanking for a pick might only work in some special situations

Its a little bit easier to tank in the NFL when its a guarantee that with the worst record you get the #1 pick and not just the best chance in the lottery. Its also much easier to have to go through 1 season of being the worst to being right back on track the next year. The Colts had been one of the best AFC teams since they acquired Peyton Manning in the draft, he was hurt for one full season and they get Luck. Had they not gotten the #1 pick in the draft, they would have still had Peyton Manning and still went on to be one of the better AFC teams. Thats much easier to swallow then a mediocre fringe playoff team for what, 7 years since Drury/Briere, to continuing to get worse and being a complete embarrassment now. The Colts already had a playoff team in place with a good QB playing, they just had to replace 1 player with another to keep going. The Sabres have to do alot more, and need alot of luck/help to get to a point they haven't really been in almost 10 years. The Colts might be a good comparrison if say next year Crosby goes down and the pens suck to get the #1 pick, and then move Crosby