I don't think anyone wants to leave Chicago right now, be it Saad or someone else.  But a couple of all-stars and 21 million tied up in two players under a $71 million salary cap says guys are going to have to move, like it or not.  Saad is an RFA, the Hawks don't have to pay him THAT much really.  But if they don't, he's likely to walk once he reaches UFA, winning team or not. 

Loyalty is a dead concept.  The "home town discount" is going to amount to far less than $1 million/year difference.  Rest assured if he gets a bridge deal at $2.5 or so, it'll be harder to sign him after that two beyond his two remaining RFA years.  Every team in the league wants Saad.  While I don't think anyone will offer sheet him with a ridiculous offer because of the compensation associated with high end deals, it still might happen.  But an unsatisfactory deal, economic reality be damned, isn't going to sit well if the Leafs come calling two years down the road offering $6/7 million per.  Chicago just can't afford that. 

Toews+Kane+Hossa+Shaw+Seabrook+Keith+Hjalmarsson+Crawford = nearly $50 million dollars in salary next year.  It's going to be hard to move Bickell, but easy to move Sharp.  But even discounting those two if they're moved, you've got 8 guys on a 23 man roster making $50 million.  Teravainen is a bargain, but if you don't get much for Bickell or Sharp or Oduya (well you won't get anything here because he's UFA but it'll leave a big hole) or Versteeg in return, it won't be quite as pretty.  As it currently shows, Chicago has $7 million in cap space and 10 guys unsigned.  Eep!

Again, great organization right now.  Really run well, some absolute top end talent spread throughout the positions.  Don't think you could find a guy that wouldn't want to go there.  Oh, oh.  Salary Cap. 

Quote from: Jeff on March 17, 2015, 10:59 PM

I'm afraid this thread is just going to devolve into the "Jeff tries to keep his expectations in check" thread these next three weeks...

#mnwild #dubnyk4vezina #dubnyk4hart #suter4norris #brodin4ladybyng #koivu4selke #parise4messier

Ok, now you've become delusional.  Dubnyk is playing very, very well.  But the wheels may fall off sooner than you'd like.  It may not be until next year, but the Vezina and Hart trophies are year long trophies, not last third of the season stuff.  Even still, I'd say Price is ahead in both. 

How about that.  Plus the Ted Lindsay.  And the Jennings. 

What I said I said not because Dubnyk wasn't stellar, I said it as much because Price was having a better season for a longer period of time plus I think the Wild overall are a better hockey team than the Canadiens.  Better balance front to back, better mix of age and youth, probably better management at the moment and less headache-y players too.  So I think Price had less to work with maybe. 

I'm old enough to more remember Lee from the Hammer movies though he was fantastic as Dooku (as could be, given the circumstances) and Saruman.  Sad to see him go but that's how you live a full life.  Well done Christopher, well done. 

Because I can't help myself. .....

And the greatest trophy in the world once again stays in the only country that can support it's sport.

How funny would it be if Tampa Bay had two cups since the last time Canada had won?

You might want to look at where the revenue keeping many of teams afloat in "the only country that can support it's sport" is coming from before uttering jackass nonsense like that.   

Of course this is from a country who's elite military was so bright back in the 1990s and so bitter about a Canadian franchise being in the World Series, let alone winning it that they flew the Canadian flag upside down. 

See?  It's easy to be an ass****.  Stay classy 'Merika.   

Yeah, I hope they win too, just to prevent a sweep if nothing else.  I'll be at the game tonight too.  Loving these 8:30 starts.     I know it's about TV but gee, I wonder if the late starts favor the Ducks to any extent.  Nah. 

No, you can't.  You should know we Americans invented the sport and everything in the world. 

But, to be honest, I'm relatively new to being a hockey fan.  I lived in MN for years, watched the Wild and wasn't very impressed.  Go to NY and see the Rangers play and it felt like a pro team (than the collegiate feel the Wild had at the time).  So, I'm still learning rules.

I sure hope Kerry Fraser didn't ref the last Cup Finals.  Man, there were some bad calls (or no-calls) that shifted momentum in a couple games that might have changed the results.  Goalie interference is one penalty that seems rarely consistent in games I've watched.

Anyway, you guys can educate me, and I appreciate it.

Traveling in the NBA: do they even call that anymore?  I gave up watching basketball years ago when it became an individual sport with 4 other guys on the court.

Kerry Fraser has been retired for a couple of years, so nope on last year.

And thanks for the civility, it spared me posting the last NHL power rankings by TSN that had Minnesota first and the Rangers second.  Providing that would have been painful. 

Either way, kind of overwhelmingly surprised and very, very happy today for some strange reason.   

How about that "Slashing" call that robbed the Blues a goal.  Seriously?  Guy just can't hold onto his stick.

Sigh. 

Rule 61.1 reads, in part:

... Any forceful or powerful chop with the stick on an opponent’s body, the opponent’s stick, or on or near the opponent’s hands that, in the judgment of the Referee, is not an attempt to play the puck, shall be penalized as slashing

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/en/v3/ext/rules/2014-2015-rulebook.pdf


Note the bolded part.  He played the stick, not the puck.  Jets have been called a ton on it this year.  Defensive player is reaching for the puck, offensive player hacks his stick downward in an attempt to knock the stick down.  It's a penalty, each and every time.  Sorry you and the rest of the Blues fans are unaware of the rules.   

And if you think it's just me, Kerry Fraser agrees.  http://www.tsn.ca/c-mon-ref-disallowing-stastny-s-goal-was-correct-call-1.251083