NHL 2010-11

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Speaking of good starts, Maple Leafs are 4-0-0 . I doubt they'll be a top team throughout the whole season, but it's really nice to see them finally winning. The last time Leafs started with four victories in a row was back in '93-'94.. the good old days with Gilmour, Clark & co.

 

Pfff, Leafs... Don't get me started. I still don<t see them in the playoffs...

As for the Oilers, it's not that big a deal. I'm pretty sure they'll make the playoffs. But in a year or two, I seriously think they'll become cup contenders for a few years.

Woo! With Montréal's win over Ottawa last night, the habs are 3-1-1. Not too bad! I'm happy that Price is playing well. Just hope it lasts!

And in my hockey pool, I have four goalies, but I have to get rid of one. I dunno what to do! I have Niemi (San Jose), Bryzgalov (Phoenix), Varlamov (Washington), Neuvrith (Washington). When Varlamov injured himself, I immedialty took Neuvrith since he would be playing in his stead. Only, he's done such a good job in front of the net that the Caps might do a alternate playing between the two. And whatever goalie I get rid of might be picked up by another person in the pool... ahhhh, decisions decisions...

 

I am gonna bet that the Oilers don't make the playoffs again this year. The organization is just too messed up.

Winnipeg might get a team, I heard!

 

Winnipeg and Québec are on the front lines for getting a team back. Of course, Québec has to build an arena first. But if plans for that are set in stone, the city might get serious consideration for a move.

I think that the Phoenix Coyotes will move to Winnipeg (that would be sweet, since the Jets became the Coyotes) and the Florida Panthers will become the new Nordiques...

Other potential moving teams are the New York Islanders and Dallas.

 

I do remember when the Nordiques and Jets moved - and yes there would be some irony if the Coyotes became Nordiques. If Dallas moves, that will be the second recent move for that franchise as well. I was unaware the the Islanders had any plans of moving - they are already in a major market.

Are any of the owners currently considering selling those teams? Or is the owner remaining the owner and just considering moving the franchise?

 

There's no definite information at all concerning the owner's plans, it's all merely speculation based on the financial status of the NHL teams. It all depends on Phoenix really. The Coyotes are currently owned by the NHL who has the hardest time selling it. Their priority is keeping the team in Glenndale, but after a set date (don't remember what it is, though it's soon I think) they will start listening to any offer, even from those who want to move the team. If it does happen, it will create a precedent for other team who are in deficit (like the Stars, the Panthers, the Lightning (although with a new owner commited to keeping the team in Tampa, we'll forget about this team moving), the Islanders (keep in mind that with the Rangers and the Devils near-by, not counting all the other pro sport teams, the Islander's market isn't that great).

I don't know what the potential owner status of Winnipeg is. They have a rink though, so it might be enough to attract the first move. If the plans for a new arena get resolved in Québec, they'll have an advantage with a major corporation (Québecor) willing to buy the team. Las Vegas and Seattle are other names that have been thrown around in rumors, though I don't know how ready they are to get a team.

 

The Oilers have dropped 5 in a freaking row. I think it's safe to say that they are the colossal failures I supposed they would be. What a disgrace to my home town. They should fire every last person on the team and start from scratch. I'm not a huge hockey nut, but this is a travesty. If a horse was <snipping> up this badly, the nicest thing to do would be to shoot* it. I feel the same about these clowns. They'd probably thank us for it.

*By "shoot" I mean kick them out of hockey forever, not a literal act of American violence.

 

Don't despair, LKD. Actually, I think the Oilers are a year or two away from a winning dynasty. You can't finish in the bottom of the league for a few years without drafting good players...

The future is pretty bright for the Oilers. Once the young guns gain more maturity and experience, they'll have a devasting team. Eberle, Paajarvi, Hall, even Gagner, Cogliano, Smid, Dubnyk will play pivital roles. And look at it this way : if they finish last again this year, it'll add another great prospect to their lineup.

ION, I'm pretty glad with the Canadians. I expected them to fight for the 8th spot in the east. They're really playing to their full potential, that's for sure! Carey Price is almost flawless in front of the net. The defense plays really really well. The only problem is the inconsistency of (most) fowards. At least Plekanec is always there every game!

 

The American draft system is ridiculous.

 

I agree it's not perfect. I would say a step in the good direction would be to put all the teams who didn't make the playoffs in a bin and let chance decide in which position they draft. Then the 16 teams who made the playoffs select in the inverse standings order.

What would you guys suggest to make the draft better?

 

I don't know, I'd have to think about it. I just don't think that mediocrity should be rewarded. It's better to finish bottom, than it is to finish to a few places higher, because then you get the first pick of the next superstar. There's no reward for out-performing another team, unless you're going for the Cup.

The system in football is just as bad, as there's no draft system. Clubs send scouts allover the world to try and find the next wonderkid, which leads to the ridiculous situation whereby kids as young as 7 or 8 are being signed up to clubs, because they show a little potential.

A happy medium of the 2 systems would work best I think. I do understand why they have the draft system in America, as it keeps competitiveness there, but I just don't think a team should be rewarded for being crap.

 

Speaking of crap, Katz, the Oilers owner, is making not so veiled threats that he'll move the team to Quebec if we don't finance his own little personal arena. I hate that guy.

 

That is pretty much the way they do it in the NBA. They do it by lottery. They put the names of all the non-playoff teams on the ping pong balls, and the first three balls that pop up get the first three picks. After that it goes in reverse order of record for the non-playoff teams, and then after that reverse order of record for the playoff teams.

However, it's not a completely random draw. The teams with the worst records do get odds. I don't know the ratio, but the number of balls that get put into the machine with your teams' name on it increases the worse your record is. The best non-playoff team only gets a single ball.

This arguement comes up all the time for a lot of American sports. It's not like European football where if you team is really bad they can get relegated to a lower league. However, to use American football as an example, your contract is not guaranteed. If you suck, the team can cut you. Furthermore, if you're in the last year of a contract your play this year will affect the size of your contract in subsequent years. So there is a financial incentive for athletes to play their best even if their team is bad.

However, from a fan's perspective, your point is entirely relevant. Say you root for the Carolina Panthers. They are horrible this year, and have won just a single game out of the first 11. If you're a fan from that team, would you rather see the Panthers lose the rest of their games, thus ensuring they'd get the top pick in the draft because all the other teams have won at least two games? Especially in a year like this, where a great collegel QB, Andrew Luck, is likely to be available in the draft?

 

Come on Caps!!!

 

Come on TV networks! I cannot believe I have a satellite dish and I cannot pick up a lot of these games. It's not the DirecTV doesn't carry them, it's that they are blacked-out. At least two of the hockey games were blacked-out last night. First, I attempted to see the overtime of the Rangers and Capitals. Blacked-out. Seeing as how I live in Baltimore, and that DC is less than 50 miles away, I can see how I could possibly be in the black-out area. However, the Chicago-Vancouver game was also blacked-out. I live several hundred miles away from Chicago, and a few thousand miles away from Vancouver, where the game was acutally played. Unless the black-out area is the entire North American continent, I cannot see how I could possibly be in that.

 

www.atdhenet.tv
www.myp2p.eu

 

All I know is that Oilers came in dead, DEAD fricking last in the whole GD league this year and the owner wants to government to throw hundreds of milliions of dollars into a new arena for them, but then HE wants to keep the profits -- WTF? For a winning team, or even a contending team, I'd be slightly more wiling to listen, but give me a fricking break.

And all the stuff abnout a new arena stimilating the economy? Bogus. It'll stimulate the economy in the immediate neighbourhood the arena is built in, but if there's no OIlers, people are stikll going to go out and watch sports and stuff at local bars -- the cash will keep flowing, it'll just be more evenly distributed around the city's geography.