Bullwinkle III

Carolina may have picked up MAGS before making a trade. But that doesn't mean MAGS would be traded. Perhaps they wanted to replace the Dman they are planning to trade before pulling the trigger. But I really don't expect them to make a trade at all. Regarding Darcy's pickups, I am certain they have knowledge of the extras put into any deal. e.g. I'm sure they knew who Sulzer was and had a good idea of what he could do. Perhaps they even considered his nationality and thought of an Ehrhoff pairing, maybe not. Of course no one knows how a player will turn out until he lands here (Leino is a good example of that). But Darcy's initial intelligence about most players is pretty good. Sure you have your Bob Corkums - but he was just a cheap playoff hire...Boyes - they hoped he would flourish in a different environment...Briere - ditto, and it worked!...Zubrus - I thought he played well and have no idea why they didn't keep him, turns out he was good enough to play with the Devils. Missed opportunity. So all-in-all, Darcy's done a very good job IMO.

That's what I took from it too. A saddening drop in moral standards that won't be recovered until the menace is over. It will be interesting when the reach the huge facility right next to where they are now. New characters...new plots....etc.

It appears that Doan is only interested in the Western Conference so that he can stay close to his family. That's what I'm hearing. LA seems to be an ideal spot - and they want him.

Plus he sucks in the playoffs.

Bring back Sundae!

I felt the same way. How could they kill off Dale? The only character who truly cared.

You and I think alike.

David Pagnotta twitters that Mtl and Wpg don't have a chance at Doan, despite the fact that Price is his cousin. It seems that Doan is a fussy customer. I know Buffalo is not on his list of teams to go to, so TP and Co. had better get the jet warmed up soon. They're going to have to sell him and unlike Regier, but this time there are lots of other suitors. It will be a big feather in their cap if they can pull this off. P.S. Superhero avatar is OK, but I still prefer chz's. - and I'm not saying that for points.

Maybe he went overseas, I don't know. However the point I was making is that he was promised a crack at making the team...an opportunity I don't believe he ever had. I'd be astounded if this happened. Anaheim has its hands full with Ryan. He won't be playing there next year. I can't see them dealing Ryan AND Getzlaf. Too much change for most teams to handle at one time. Philly did it last year but they had a lot of depth, which Anaheim does not.

Mason Raymond??? And exactly why would we want this guy except to feed the Amerks?

Neither is getting Kotalik in a trade, promising him that he will get a shot at making the team, and then immediately dumping him into the AHL. So I think there's some limits as to how "heavenly" it is here. You have persuaded me to support your stance on this. Centers are ridiculous to trade for - everyone knows that. Next year Getzlaf will become a UFA and he will probably be signed for a king's ransom. He's making over 5 million now, I'll bet it goes to at least 7.5. Therefore you have to "grow" your own talent. Darcy did a great job of obtaining the seeds for future power centers in the last draft (enough of the plant analogy). Meanwhile wingers are the only avenue open to improve our scoring...so how are we standing on the Nash and Ryan fronts? ...oh...well, there's always Mueller!?!

Very nice. I wonder what Sundae is doing these days?

If money were that available under Golisano, we probably wouldn't have lost them in the first place! I place the blame on Quinn & Golisano, not Regier.

This isn't fair to Darcy. Hindsight is always 20/20 but at the time the team management was being burnt in effigy for losing Briere & Drury. They couldn't sustain another hit like losing Vanek, which meant the fans would have to literally wait years before having a contending team (see the Edmonton Oilers).

I saw the tweet and it had Darren Pang's name on it. I'll admit I don't know much about facebook & tweeting, but I didn't see anyone else's name on that message.

You are most likely right. However I think Vanek has overstayed his welcome here, similar to Roy. He is very inconsistent, prone to injuries, is always too hard on himself, and is not a leader on the ice. At the same time, again possibly like Roy, a change of scenery could do wonders for his career. Certainly other teams see this and I think we can get a reasonable return for him. Arnott may be a guy to fill out the center role until the kids are ready. And I still think they should take a flyer on Mueller - if the price is right. I just have one question: What in God's Green Acre would Edmonton want with Vanek? They don't need forwards, they need D.

Darren Pang tweeted "Flying to Buffalo early tomorrow morning. Happy 4th everyone." Not Kevin Porter.

Yeah, it really breaks your heart, doesn't it? Some poster on another site kept harping every day about how the Pens would get Parise. I finally told him to shut up because it isn't going to happen. I feel bad for Philly too.

I wouldn't do this. And I don't think Darcy will either. McNabb is a cornerstone and Ennis isn't far behind.

This would be a great move for the Sabres - and I think highly of Sekera. We have too many D and we need to give quality for quality. IMO only Myers, Ehrhoff and McNabb are off limits on D. I'm sure Buffalo isn't on Nash's list. But it may not be because of the team, but because of the city. I think we all know that the city has a bad rep around the country. If he needs persuading, TP will have to convince him about the quality of the city more than the quality of the team. Don't know if he's married with kids, but that would help.

And that's worth a roster spot? Like someone said before, all the players ought to be looking out for each other without hiring a "specialist".

This will result in Scott being penalized for every little thing he does. He'll get the penalty if the guy next to him falls down on his own. He will soon become a liability, not an asset. Remember Kaletta's reduced effectiveness in this regard - and he's more of a hockey player than Scott is.

I think I know why Darcy signed this guy. If he can't find the players needed to entertain the fans by winning games, he'll find another way to entertain them. After that, I'm out of reasons.

Like I said, it may be easier getting him from Columbus in a year than it would ever have been getting him from Ottawa - that is, if they want him.

My thoughts exactly. I have no idea why we signed him.