He isn't a weakness on anyone's team as long as the officials allow him to continually cross-check forwards all over the ice. I won't try to pretend his isn't a great D-man, but that shouldn't give him free reign to be a bitch. Oh well, one more win and Pronger can spend the rest of his summer beating off to his collected pucks and cross checking old woman in the supermarket or whatever he does in his own douchebag-ish free time. Oh yeah, he looks like Denis Leary's retarded brother with a slight pituitary imbalance.
Ive gotten some chatter about this, so I wanted to clarify myself. I got another rep message from a Philly fan saying I should appreciate the awesomeness of Pronger as a player, regardless of my team affiliation. Like I said, I think he is a great D-man. He absolutely keeps the middle clean and when someone like Byfuglien has been having his way, and now he has been neutralized a bit, its a testament to his ability. Its not a coincidence that he has been on multiple great teams. And its no coincidence that Quinneville had to work around him That being said, I think he is a colossal shithead. His cross checking and slashing annoy me, cause he would be just fine without them, but they fit his "personality" which is obnoxious. Would I like him if he was on the Blackhawks? I don't know. I can tell you I wouldn't be a fan of Carcillo no matter what team he was on. I probably wouldn't care about the dirty play but who knows. He is just in Sean Avery territory for me, who I would totally groan about if the Hawks acquired him. Looks like I am the only active Blackhawks fan posting, so here's to another awesome game in Game 6 and a great end to an awesome series.
15 minutes to go in the third. Chicago holds on and that would make it three years in a row the cup is won on visitor ice. Chicago has hands down been the sharper team tonight though. Also, the refs really messed up the great flow the game started with by bringing the whistles out.
Well, I can't edit my post and my prediction skills officially suck. Chicago in OT... ? If not, Friday night got much more interesting.
Beyond happy to see the Hawks finally bring home a Cup. Chicago is insane right now. I just walked down Division St to see a fire engine with sirens and lights going like it was in a damn parade. Cabbies who have no idea what hockey is are laying on their horns. Chaos everywhere. Clark St outside Wrigley is shut off and looks like the fucking French Quarter during Mardi Gras. Its pretty cool to see. All the props in the world to Philly. They had a great run and put up a hell of a fight the entire postseason when they were overmatched and outgunned at times. What a year for young Mr. Toews. Gold Medal, Stanley Cup, and Playoff MVP, damn...
Don't forget the Top Forward at the Olympics Two thoughts on the finals: 1. Playoff mullets > Playoff beards 2. I thought it was a little funny to see Toews pass the cup to Hossa, instead of maybe Kane. A lot of fans, especially in Pittsburgh and Detroit, I'm sure just see him as money-hungry with no loyalty, but apparently he's viewed by media and teammates in a different light.
Looks like it was this year or bust for the Blackhawks. With bonuses from this year added to next year's cap hit, they'll have a cap of about $54.5 million. They already have $57.6 million in salary commitments to 14 players. Definitely worth it in my opinion, anything to win the Stanley Cup. But it sure will be interesting to see what their team looks like next year.
It's not as bad as some people are making it out to be. On the surface it looks horrible. But, as the Hockey News article pointed out to me this afternoon (mobile otherwise i would have linked it), they plan on burying Christobol Huet in the minors (3.5 million or something) and bringing up some young guys (Jack Skille is the only one I can remember) to fill out their third and fourth line holes. The article also suggested trading Dustin Bfygulein, which I don't think is a bad idea. If an offer came through good enough, why not. I don't see this happening though, as he's a fan favorite and going into the prime of his career.
Burying Huet in the minors will actually free up 5.6 million, but will leave them without a goalie. Niemi is an RFA who made under a million last year. He's definitely getting a raise from that. Byfuglien makes $3 million a year. And while he was huge in this year's playoffs, he's never done all that much in the regular season. I don't see any team wanting to take him until maybe the trade deadline. I'd have to think 2 out of Sharp, Versteeg and Bolland, along with maybe even Seabrook are gone next year. That, along with Huet in the minors gives them around 16 million gone. That's 13 million for 2 goalies, 2 defensemen and 5 forwards. It's doable for sure, but I just have a feeling that the Blackhawks the take the ice in the fall are going to be a very different team from the team that won the cup. Still competitive perhaps, just very different.
Bfygulien will probably stay because of his ability to screen goalies and keep them unsettled. Seabrook and Keith are an elite line and to break them up would be idiotic. The problem Stan Bowman has is that expectations will be incredibly high next year and are there minor leaguers who can fill the holes while handling the immense pressure?
One of them will be Jack Skille - a grinder winger whose numbers actually improved coming out of college and into the A. He's been there for 3 seasons and should fit right into a third or fourth line role with the Hawks.
Here's a good debate: Would you trade your top line for Sidney Crosby? Not for one season but if you were GM of your favorite team's franchise. A good debate propped up in the Sedin, Sedin and Burrows versus Crosby argument. What say you?
I thought this was an easy answer, then I started overanalyzing. Would he be better than the Av's or Florida's or first line? An emphatic YES. Minnesota or Calgary? Most likely. Chicago, Washington, Detroit (as much as I hate to admit it) or SJ? Nope. Vancouver is a wash. I hate the Sedins, Burrows is easily replaced, but it's still the matter of 1 man vs. 3. Crosby's proven that he doesn't need superstar wingers to be a success, but is he really the best player in the league, or even his team for that matter? I'd sooner ditch the fetal alcohol twins for Ovy, and Malkin is equally talented, and maybe even more fun to watch. I guess from a GM standpoint I'd take Crosby, if only for the crowds he's guaranteed to draw. That goes for just about any team but Washington, Chicago, SJ, or Detroit.
This is a really interesting question for the Devils. I'm inclined to say no to giving away the Parise, Zajac and Langenbrunner line for Crosby, but... A top line of Kovalchuk-Crosby-Elias might be worth it.
Agreed with Zazz. It really is a case-by-case basis. Would I trade the Sedins and Burrows for Crosby? Absolutely not. Henrik and Crosby were a wash for points and then you have Daniel and a solid 20-30 goal guy who can kill penalties and play big minutes in Burrows. But as a Sabres fan would I want to see Vanek/Roy/Stafford leave town for Crosby? In a millisecond. If anyone moves it's Malkin though. Trade scenarios with him would be fun as well, but the only way a team's trading a top line for any one player is if that team has depth to a fault or just plain sucks.
Arbitrator upholds NHL decision, rejects Kovalchuk/Devils contract. Kovalchuk is once again a free agent. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=535745&navid=DL|NHL|home" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=5357 ... L|NHL|home</a> I have no idea where he goes now. Also interested if/how much the Devils get fined for this.
The only line I'd trade for Crosby would be the OV/Backstrom/Whoever line... and only because that gets me both OV and Backstrom. For every other first line in the league, I'd rather have Crosby. His overall skills are second to no one. His conditioning and strength training are second to no one. His mind is a machine driven to win, little else. He has equal to/better than Jagr/Forsberg skills, with Messier's disposition in an undersized (NHL wise) body. Every other player in the NHL should get on their knees every night and thank God that Crosby isn't 6'4" and 225 lbs.
If he was smart, he would take a much lesser deal (but at the same time a much better chance at a cup) and sign with the LA Kings. Even if he signs with the Devils, they will go no further than the second round of the playoffs once again. Kovalchuk is just so one-dimensional he is flat out over-rated. Also, his years of playing in the southeast have heavily contributed to the sense of worth he commands as a hockey player.