Sod16

Bob Brooke, Yale. Ted Donato, Harvard. Guy Herbert, Hamilton.

Interesting, as he was considered the least likely of the Islanders' UFAs to resign. Consistent with other resigns, this contract shows that signing any good 26-29 year old is going to be an expensive long term proposition. Get used to it.

You can debate whether you want Kevin Hayes, but it's not worth talking about 2-3 year deals. There probably isn't a single good 26 year old in the league ready to take a 2-3 year deal. If you aren't ready to give 26-27 year olds long terms deals, then you will have a perpetual roster of developing players, who you lose in their primes. So if you don't want to give a 6 year deal to Hayes, fine, but who do you want to give one to, because not giving them is not an option in the modern NHL.

I would have moaned my way out of Columbus if I was an elite player who had to waste the flower of my youth for seven years there. McDavid is going to look at Nash's experience and start moaning a lot sooner.

Moreover, he's always available for 4th line duty...

Classic game pattern: home team comes out with push and the first half dozen scoring chances only to be thwarted and have the visitors score on their first chance, 15 minutes into the game. Second goal was a back breaker, as it allowed StL to go into a trap against which Boston really never got anything going. As Blues prepare to skate the cup, I'm wondering if the unthinkable had happened and the Rangers had lost game 7 of the '94 finals, would I have endured watching the the Canucks skate the Cup or would I have left the Garden in agony?

I think there is a very limited number of teams for whom Hayes might want to play. Most of those probably have cap issues, so there is a possibility that he can be signed for a reasonable amount (that is, reasonable per the realities of today's market, not per the perception of forum posters). If so, I'd go for him. I am impressed at how his game improved during his time here. If you told me during his first two seasons that he would become a very reliable defensive player who you would go to for big defensive end draws, I would have been shocked. His puck control prowess does all sorts of thing to make opposition go haywire in ways not immediately apparent to casual observers.

Correct. Picks are more the thing at the deadline, when you have a better idea of what the pick will be. Imagine giving up something big for the Islanders' pick last summer and what you would have ended up getting. Trading Kreider if they can't sign him would be quite complicated for a number of reasons. He might end up still on the roster without an extension even if that isn't what either side wants.

They are not allowed to discuss a contract extension with Kreider until July 1. It is highly unlikely that they will trade him before discussing a new contract, and it is even less likely that anyone would trade for him before there have been talks and it is known what he is looking for.

Road team has won 4 of 6 so far. Game 6 was simply about the PP. The Bruin's buried one on a 5 on 3, while the Blues had numerous great PP chances but couldn't score. That doesn't necessary bode poorly for the Blues. They finally were clicking on their PP but didn't score. I can easily see them breaking through on the PP in Game 7. Chara is a great player, but he will be a 42 year old man who hasn't had a solid meal in over a week in Game 7. That said, in a Game 7, who wouldn't prefer having Rask over Biddington as your netminder?

This as been a rather dirty series. As dirty as Marchand has been, the Blues have probably been dirtier.

In a league where expansion teams make the finals and teams with the worst record on January 3 maybe win the cup, I'm not sure why you have to expect to wait through three years of rebuilding just to make the playoffs.

I think we have to come to terms with the fact that the price of players, whether Panarin, Kreider or whoever, is skyrocketing.

That's a penalty. It's a penalty in the first minute of the first preseason game. It's a penalty in OT of the Seventh game of the Finals. If that's not a penalty, the average career in the NHL would last about a third of one season. I'd like to say bad judgment, but honestly it looks like cowardice. This is exactly why I've never bought on to the "put the whistle away" credo for the third period and OT. You may not like PP goals deciding games, but it's better than having games decided by goals scored with the aid of not called penalties.

This is really true. Four Ruskies on '94 team when no previous cup team had even one. People forget how controversial it was, like when Neil Smith's announcement of Kovy as first ever Rusky in First Round was met with a storm or boos in the auditorium. It's great to establish the team as a good place for Ruskies that transcends changes in management over the years. This is also one reason I want to sign Kreider and perhaps give him the C.

Interesting set of stats. Yes, a team that wins at home to go up 3-2 wins the series 80% of the time. But keep in mind, a team that wins at home to go up 1-0 has a 76% chance of winning. Also, a team up 3-2 would have a 75% chance of getting at least one heads on two coin flips. As for Chara injury, if the Bruins can win the Cup with Steve Kampfer and John Moore playing regular shifts on D, we should be very close to contention...

I'm holding out for Callahan for Shattenkirk, Staal and Smith. Nothing less will do.

I'm over 50 and have a bad back and I'm not sure I would take millions to play for Ottawa at this point.

Hayes's comments about having a good experience with the Rangers and how he matured with them would tend to indicate that he would like to play for AV. He may feel pressure to sign with Philly now or risk having their attention turn elsewhere on July 1. As for the Rangers, there is no reason to believe that they will offer him more than they did in February or that he won't get better offers than that. I don't think the 'peg gave Philly permission to talk to him before the trade. If they had done that and it looked like Hayes and Philly might be close to an agreement, the price would have been higher, like the Second we gave up for the rights to Fox.

Giacomin's slow slide began after '71. Tim Horton was still a bad ass and was the team's best D-man in playoffs in '71 but then gone. There was a long list of players one year closer to their primes in '71 than '72. '72 team departed from Cat's defensive emphasis and got a little score happy. Not the best game to play against Bruins. Ratelle hobbled around on PP only in finals. He was essentially out.

The Blues opted for a ridiculously veteran team out of the gates, even bringing 45 year old alcoholic Doug Harvey out of mothballs. The result was an immediate middling NHL team, capable of winning the all expansion West and making it to the finals three years running and getting swept. It got old fast, so they changed it for the following year for the East and West to cross over in the second round. That instantly hurt the Rangers: they had to play the Hawks (who had been moved to the west) while the Canadiens, even though they had fewer points than the Rangers, got to play the North Stars. To add insult to injury, the Hawks were given they home advantage even though they had fewer points than the Rangers. If the Blues had won a few games in the finals, we wouldn't have had those changes, and Rangers would have won the Cup in 1971. Chatting with Larry Brooks some years back, he agreed that was the best year of the 54 for the Rangers to win the Cup. That team was actually a little better than the following year's team.

Several memories from Game 7. Three chants: 1994, 1983 and 1940. The last was the most satisfying. Giant professionally made banner on 7th Ave: "Hey Islanders' Fans: NEW YORK RANGERS STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS. And don't you forget it." Finally, Larry Brooks made the observation that it actually was quieter in final moments before Rangers won a Cup than he always imagined it would be. I had the same thought. Given that I couldn't breath for the last 15 minutes, how could I make any noise?

That's the thing about expansion. The average fan will probably never see his team win a cup with 32 teams. When you consider that many teams will repeat, the average team will go more than 32 years without winning. There will be many 54 plus year droughts. Toronto, St. Louis, Buffalo and Vancouver are already close.

Howd he pose ta know she wud 13. Say she wud 18.

The Ron Francis 90 foot goal lost what would have been a cup. A series of unwise moves by Smith (including promoting Campbell to coach) and a rash of injuries in the 1997 playoffs finished off what should have been a dynasty.