Hockey 2009-10

I think anything could've happened even before this. Washington's record was inflated by their division games. No other team made the playoffs from their division.

Predictions:

Pens over Habs in 6
Flyers over Bruins in 7

Wings over Sharks in 6 (I can't tell you how much I hope I'm wrong here)
Hawks over Canucks in 7 (just like last year)
 
Flyers without Carter, Gagne, and Lapperriere? I'm a fan, but I'll admit, that's going to be tough.
 
MVPavelski did it again tonight for my boys. His playoffs thus far have been nothing short of outstanding. Good to see Heatley break out of his scoring slump. Overall a good performance for the sharks, but I see the Wings only getting tougher from here on out.
 
desertgeek said:
Hawks over Canucks in 7 (just like last year)
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Last year it was in 6...and after a meltdown by Luongo...

However, this year is Luongo and Vancouver's year...Olympic hockey gold medal/host city and Stanley Cup championship together!

Hmm...Chicago...didn't they lose out on an Olympic bid recently? Not a good omen, is it?
 
CanadianLoonie said:
Last year it was in 6...and after a meltdown by Luongo...

However, this year is Luongo and Vancouver's year...Olympic hockey gold medal/host city and Stanley Cup championship together!

Hmm...Chicago...didn't they lose out on an Olympic bid recently? Not a good omen, is it?
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Canuck said:
Not to mention 'Nucks stomped all over Chicago 5-1 in the first game...
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:wave:
 
Holy shit Denmark!
 
http://img88.imageshack.**/img88/8718/r2797252907.jpg

Big black guy on skates! Where is your god now, Canada!?! :p
 
Heh, my team would've at least gone to 7 games against the Sharks. But instead, the Red Wings ended up looking old and their goalie looked like a rookie.
 
Yeah...but rumour is your team is soon to become the Winnipeg TBA.

Sorry but I really had to. And I'll get neg-rep from you but frankly Winnipeg deserves a team and Glendale doesn't. Rumour also is that the team was actually sold during the Olympic break but NHLPA and the NHL had an agreement to stay quiet about it to get playoff interest in Arizona. Winnipeg has a fanbase that will show up to games and Arizona doesn't. And showing up for the playoffs or to $10 ticketed games don't count (they exists I have seen ticket stubs). I just feel bad for all the players that will have to live in Winnipeg coming from beautiful Arizona.
 
NAIDANAC A said:
Yeah...but rumour is your team is soon to become the Winnipeg TBA.

Sorry but I really had to. And I'll get neg-rep from you but frankly Winnipeg deserves a team and Glendale doesn't. Rumour also is that the team was actually sold during the Olympic break but NHLPA and the NHL had an agreement to stay quiet about it to get playoff interest in Arizona. Winnipeg has a fanbase that will show up to games and Arizona doesn't. And showing up for the playoffs or to $10 ticketed games don't count (they exists I have seen ticket stubs). I just feel bad for all the players that will have to live in Winnipeg coming from beautiful Arizona.
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And what you read is bullshit. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=5172488

The City of Glendale and the Ice Edge Holdings group have agreed on all points on a new lease agreement that would keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Arizona, sources told ESPN.com Friday evening.

The two sides are expected to sign a letter of exclusivity by early Monday morning, which will formally end the bid of Chicago sports tycoon Jerry Reinsdorf, although sources told ESPN.com that the city has not considered the Reinsdorf bid viable for some time now.

Ice Edge will not, however, agree to have its new memorandum of understanding submitted to the City Council for a vote until Glendale agrees to a number of conditions outlined by the NHL, chief among them that the city will agree to pay any operating losses the Coyotes might incur next season if a deal to sell the team collapses.

Those requirements will be discussed by City Council at its public meeting Tuesday in Glendale.

Although it's possible the city could find itself on the hook for between $20 million and $30 million in operating losses if a deal with Ice Edge or any other potential buyer moving forward collapses, it's believed Glendale will agree to the league's conditions because the NHL will exercise its right to move the team without those assurances.
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Glendale won't give the team up just like that. Winnipeg was used as a pawn in this whole mess, and I feel sorry for them about that. But when I was at Game 7 of the Wings-Coyotes series, the guy next to me was from Winnipeg and he said that the city doesn't deserve the team because the support wasn't there before (which led to the move to begin with) and there's nothing that makes him believe that would change now.

Anyway, I could've told you this would happen. The Reinsdorf deal was deeply flawed and did no favors for anyone but Reinsdorf. The Ice Edge group was the only one making a commitment to stay in Arizona and the only one offering to pay what the NHL paid to own the team for this season.

I expect Ice Edge to close the deal and be approved as owners of the team by the end of June.
 
Just gonna throw my two cents in on the whole Phoenix situation.

Firstly, Winnipeg would be far more able to support a successful NHL franchise than Phoenix. To look at the past as proof that it can't is pointless. There was no salary cap, and no revenue sharing back then. When you combine those with the little recession that hit Winnipeg in the 90's, it's understandable that the Jets went bust. Without revenue sharing and a cap there is no possible way the Coyotes would exist, none at all. Currently Winnipeg is the better option for an NHL franchise than Phoenix. That being said I hate Winnipeg because it's Canada's crusty armpit and would hate to see NHL players forced to move there :D.

The far better option for the Coyotes would have been Balsillies bid. The man offered to buy the Coyotes, pay off all their debts, and build then build a brand spanking new stadium in Hamilton, one of Canada's largest hockey markets. But in order for that do come true Bettman would have to admit he was wrong, and that's not gonna happen.
 
The Jets didn't leave because they didn't have a backing. They left because of a bunch of political reasons behind the owners and the lease for the arenas. The Jets even while losing would get 10k people to every game. And considering the fans raised 13 million from donations to try and keep the team and raise the players salaries I think they deserve a team better than Arizona does.

The reason why the Balsillies bid didn't happen is because he is a man who actually cares about the sport. He would've been the Mark Cuban of hockey and all the other owners would hate that. Considering how much Bettman is in with bed with the other owners its obvious he would turn down the best offer available if he was told to. Not to mention it would kill Buffalo ticket sales from all the Canadians going to Hamilton instead and many Leafs sales from people not paying inflated prices because of all the suits that own all the tickets.

Winnipeg was the smallest city by far that had a team in the NHL, yet they still had as much support as teams with huge cities.
 
Canuck, I think you're thinking short term and not long term here. The Winnipeg metro area has about 695,000 people as of 2006 (8th largest in Canada). Phoenix metro has nearly 4.3 million people as of 2008 and Phoenix itself is the 5th largest city in the US. Does it make good business sense to abandon that large of a market for a market that's 1/6th the size? No, it just isn't.

It's also bad business sense to leave a city after just 14 years just because the conditions change. If the bankruptcy judge had allowed Balsillie to win last summer and move the team, what's stopping any team in any sport in the US from just abandoning a place for any reason. It would destroy the business of sports if that was allowed.

Also, remember that when the Jets left, the Canadian dollar was way behind the US dollar in terms of value. Remember the Ottawa Senators had to file for bankruptcy? Remember the Canadian Assistance Fund that Gary Bettman helped start? If not for that measure, you might have only 3 or 4 teams in Canada instead of 6.

Plus, it's hard to keep fans when you have an entire season lost (just after their arena opened and as they were building a really good fan base), a dysfunctional management, a coach who can't coach and an owner who clearly didn't give a shit about winning. Now, we will have owners who want to win, we have a coach who knows how to win and a management team that has its shit together.

NAD, I do agree with you about Balsillie being like Mark Cuban. But the reason why he was rejected is because he's broken agreements and rules in his effort to bring a team to Hamilton when he tried to buy the Penguins and the Predators. His effort to buy the Coyotes was another way he tried to circumvent the rules and the NHL smacked him down for it. Remember, Bettman works for the owners, not the other way around.

Do I think under the current conditions that Winnipeg, Hamilton, and Quebec city (since they're working on an arena deal there) could support teams? Absolutely. But I think it's more likely you'll see teams move from the East (since the league is so satursated in the east) and/or expansion fill those markets.

But remember, the Canadian and US dollars aren't linked together and those places ability to support teams could change at any time.
 
I'll post a response to your comment later, right now I'm just so glad Vancouver forced game 6! :) Wahoooo!
 
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