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[AngmarsKing701]

That one seems really out of place, although I'm having a difficult time thinking of a better team to move there in that scenario. There are plenty of cities much further "Southeast" than Buffalo, but all of them have an established rivalry with other local teams. (Phi/Pit, NYR/NYI/NJ).

However, I think changing to two divisions per league is more likely.

I still think it makes sense to push Nashville into the Southeast. I think there could be a pretty good rivalry between Nashville and Carolina.

If they stuck with the current division format, I think Washington, Tampa, Florida, Carolina, Nashville would make for a competitive one.

 

[Marvie_3]

God dammit, come to Seattle!!!

Get an arena.

 

[CrazedArabMan]

God dammit, come to Seattle!!!

You better not change allegiances on us dang it!!

 

[OnPoint]

I still think it makes sense to push Nashville into the Southeast. I think there could be a pretty good rivalry between Nashville and Carolina.

If they stuck with the current division format, I think Washington, Tampa, Florida, Carolina, Nashville would make for a competitive one.

Especially with Florida putting together something that resembles a hockey team in the last year. Who knows how good they'll be in the next couple seasons if they keep up this way. If Tampa gets a goaltender (Luongo, perhaps?) they'll see an instant jump in quality. That division could be real frightening real soon.

 

[Cake Boss]

Can't wait to see him play.

I'm worried there's been way too much hype on him that he can't possible live up to it (comparing him to Stamkos and Forsberg FFS) but I really doubt they'd put him in the game if they didn't think he could handle it.

I am expecting Backstrom with a better shot, anything less than bust.

 

[Marvie_3]

Figured I should probably post the article I mentioned a bit ago:

Greg Jamison says he's getting closer to Coyotes deal

Greg Jamison says he's picking up more investors and is moving closer to a purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team.

More details involving the bid as well as city of Glendale payments to Jamison's group could be presented to the Glendale City Council next week.

"We are making progress," said Jamison sitting in the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale hotel before the Coyotes playoff game tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The former San Jose Sharks CEO still has several steps to take before a purchase of the team from the National Hockey League.

That includes finding the remaining investors to finance his bid, gaining NHL approval and working out a lease deal and payments from the city of Glendale.

"We're not done yet," said Jamison, who is optimistic he can buy the Coyotes.

The parameters of a Coyotes sale,however, are slowly falling into place.

The NHL has owned the team since buying them for $140 million out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009.

Same vague lawyer-speak we've heard for 3 years.

He said getting a final deal still could take one or two months. Jamison declined to go into too many details about his bid or where his money is coming from and how much more he needs.

"I have money....I just don't know where it's at right now!"

The NHL and Jamison’s group have tried to keep their negotiations with Glendale private to avoid media leaks and public records ending up in the Goldwater Institute’s hands.

Those private efforts, however, also have to make sure any briefings of the four supporting council members abide by Arizona open meetings laws.

Good luck with this one.

 

[Merguson]

Set your expectations for 3rd liner with top six potential in Silfverberg.

I saw way too much hype on David Rundblad. Not that he's a bad player. Just needs to work on his defensive game.

 

[Plinko]

Figured I should probably post the article I mentioned a bit ago:

Greg Jamison says he's getting closer to Coyotes deal


Same vague lawyer-speak we've heard for 3 years.

"I have money....I just don't know where it's at right now!"

Good luck with this one.

Yeah, this has all the makings of a "Oops, it fell apart in June--looks like we'll have to move them." I'll bet the news breaks a week after the Cup is handed out.

 

[Mike Works]

 

[Marvie_3]

Yeah, this has all the makings of a "Oops, it fell apart in June--looks like we'll have to move them." I'll bet the news breaks a week after the Cup is handed out.

Exactly but it'll be right after Phoenix is eliminated.

http://i.imgur.com/KhlqR.jpg?1[IMG][/QUOTE]
I wonder if she's crying about the Canucks losing or the fact that she had to sit next to a guy wearing that jersey.

 

[yankeehater]

Is that guy Tabris?

 

[brucewaynegretzky]

They didn't announce Winnipeg until after the cup was handed out last year right? I think the timetable will probably be the same this year.

 

[ZeroGravity]

So if they didn't (or couldn't) let Winnipeg leave their division last year, could Quebec City conceivably be forced to play in the Pacific?

 

[Marvie_3]

They didn't announce Winnipeg until after the cup was handed out last year right? I think the timetable will probably be the same this year.

No. The move to Winnipeg was announced the day before the Finals began last year.

So if they didn't (or couldn't) let Winnipeg leave their division last year, could Quebec City conceivably be forced to play in the Pacific?

Temporarily, yes.

 

[Plinko]

Exactly but it'll be right after Phoenix is eliminated.

So, 2nd round it is!

I kid, I kid--I actually think Chicago comes back and wins this series.

 

[brucewaynegretzky]

No. The move to Winnipeg was announced the day before the Finals began last year.

aaaahhh. Sounds good. Next week it is then.

 

[Marvie_3]

So, 2nd round it is!

I kid, I kid--I actually think Chicago comes back and wins this series.

 

[ZeroGravity]

Temporarily, yes.

NHL is truly a joke if they let this happen.

 

[Rafa=FedKilla]

I'm gonna be pissed if the force Halifax play in the Pacific next season!

 

[brucewaynegretzky]

NHL is truly a joke if they let this happen.

CBA will take care of it. And that NEEDS to happen so it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Barrage]

Ahh. The Vancouver Canucks Hype Train has once again derailed, this time in an embarassing upset. What a great day to be alive.

The only downside is having to suffer a full summer of trade rumour about who's going to play net for them next year. Ugh. It's April, I know the Canucks are NOT looking to make deals right now, so why am I already hearing whispers about Luongo-for-Lecavlier.

 

[ZeroGravity]

CBA will take care of it. And that NEEDS to happen so it shouldn't be a problem.

The think the problem is the schedule is drafted before the CBA will expire, so they have to know where they're going to play. Unless there's another lockout and the schedule gets scraped. Who knows.

 

[Revenant]

Kesler has had such a memorable postseason for all the wrong reasons.

 

[Marvie_3]

NHL is truly a joke if they let this happen.

The NHL and NHLPA have to agree on any sort of realignment. Combine that with the schedule for the next season needing to be done months in advance and it ends up not being as easy as it should be.

CBA will take care of it. And that NEEDS to happen so it shouldn't be a problem.

Correct. Realignment/expansion will both be topics of debate in the CBA discussions.

The think the problem is the schedule is drafted before the CBA will expire, so they have to know where they're going to play. Unless there's another lockout and the schedule gets scraped. Who knows.

My guess is that the NHL does what it did two years ago and makes two different schedules. When it looked like the Coyotes were Winnipeg bound, they had a schedule made up that had Phoenix and they had one that would be used if the team was in Winnipeg.

 

[Cake Boss]

Set your expectations for 3rd liner with top six potential in Silfverberg.

I saw way too much hype on David Rundblad. Not that he's a bad player. Just needs to work on his defensive game.

I was never hyped about Rundblad, as any other swedish dman he had to get used to NA ice and play some games in the AHL. Even Karlsson had to in his first year. Plus Dman are a bit different than forwards.

Managment begged Silfver to stay this year but he felt he could do more in Sweden. Goes to win the MVP and becomes thw youngest guy to do it since Foppa, takes his team to championship and breaks the all time record in goals in playoffs set by Alfie in lockout year.Silfver does it as a 21 year old.

 

[brucewaynegretzky]

The think the problem is the schedule is drafted before the CBA will expire, so they have to know where they're going to play. Unless there's another lockout and the schedule gets scraped. Who knows.

There won't be a lockout. I'd be willing to bet a large amount of money on that.

 

[yankeehater]

There won't be a lockout. I'd be willing to bet a large amount of money on that.

Lockout or strike Fehr was brought in so that 1 will happen.

 

[Marvie_3]

There won't be a lockout. I'd be willing to bet a large amount of money on that.

I'd take that bet. Won't be an entire season again but it wouldn't surprise me to see it drag into the regular season.

 

[brucewaynegretzky]

Lockout or strike Fehr was brought in so that 1 will happen.

He knows damn well the NHL isn't the MLB. There will be hockey on time next year. There isn't much room for complaint. The players get a pretty good revenue share already, testing isn't very stringent, and there aren't many major rule changes the PA wants. It's not the same situation. Fehr was brought in because the PA was a fucking mess and the players had no clue what it did and he has an encyclopedic knowledge of labor relations law, policy, and administration.

 

[Wingfan19]

Get an arena.

Booo-urns! Gotta get that NBA franchise first.

You better not change allegiances on us dang it!!

Heeeeellz no. Wings fan till the day I die. It'd just be nice to be able to see Detroit play in person a few times a season instead of having to drive up to Vancouver and pay 200 bucks a ticket for last row seats.

 

[yankeehater]

I hope you are right, but I remember him from the MLB strikes and he always seemed like such a prick and he would fight for the last inch for the players even after the owners had given them pretty much everything.

 

[ZeroGravity]

My guess is that the NHL does what it did two years ago and makes two different schedules. When it looked like the Coyotes were Winnipeg bound, they had a schedule made up that had Phoenix and they had one that would be used if the team was in Winnipeg.

Hope that's the case, thanks for clearing it up.

Granted, if the NHL didn't drag this mess on for years despite its obvious failures, I think these issues would have been able to resolve themselves easily.

 

[KernelPanic]

Fehr was brought in because the NHLPA is clueless and they thought they bent over to the owners the last time around.

Remember how the NHLPA said they would never ever accept a salary cap ???

They'll play hardball this time around. I don't expect next season to start on time.

 

[brucewaynegretzky]

Fehr was brought in because the NHLPA is clueless and they thought they bent over to the owners the last time around.

Remember how the NHLPA said they would never ever accept a salary cap ???

They'll play hardball this time around. I don't expect next season to start on time.

Hardball on what? Fehr is on record saying that the cap has been a success in hockey. They get a really good percentage already. Salaries are steadily rising. What do you expect them to argue with?

 

[Solo]

Hardball on what? Fehr is on record saying that the cap has been a success in hockey. They get a really good percentage already. Salaries are steadily rising. What do you expect them to argue with?

% of revenue

 

[brucewaynegretzky]

% of revenue

To what? They already get 57%. Management wants to reduce it, but even if they kept it the same it would likely be a victory for the union. Fehr isn't gonna risk the long term health of the league overall for that considering they had a full lockout so recently. He has negotiated multiple contracts without lockouts....

 

[vatstep]

Kesler has had such a memorable postseason for all the wrong reasons.

Hahaha, man, first laugh I've had today. Thank you.

 

[KernelPanic]

To what? They already get 57%. Management wants to reduce it, but even if they kept it the same it would likely be a victory for the union. Fehr isn't gonna risk the long term health of the league overall for that considering they had a full lockout so recently. He has negotiated multiple contracts without lockouts....

NHL wants to lower the player's revenue % and therefore lower the cap and floor. Fehr will fight it. While the cap has been successful I believe Fehr has made commments suggesting he'd be all for abolishing the cap altogether and improve revenue sharing instead.

I hope they'll compromise since the NHL wants to cease participating in the Olympics whereas the players don't do.

Then there's things like re-alignment, suspensions etc.

 

[yankeehater]

They have to find a way to get tougher on suspensions.

 

[brucewaynegretzky]

NHL wants to lower the player's revenue % and therefore lower the cap and floor. Fehr will fight it. While the cap has been successful I believe Fehr has made commments suggesting he'd be all for abolishing the cap altogether and improve revenue sharing instead.

I hope they'll compromise since the NHL wants to cease participating in the Olympics whereas the players don't do.

Then there's things like re-alignment, suspensions etc.

Compare that to this distance between the NBA last summer and even the NFL and none of that looks very big. Rules stuff isn't likely to be much of an issue.

Fehr will talk about abolishing the cap to keep the current percentage. Owners will accept it because the last lockout was awful and they seriously risk losing credibility. Factor in Snider's (one of the more influential owners) incentive as a Comcast guy with NBCSports as a major new investment and this deal will get done.

 

[Marvie_3]

I hope you are right, but I remember him from the MLB strikes and he always seemed like such a prick and he would fight for the last inch for the players even after the owners had given them pretty much everything.

This. Fehr doesn't fuck around.

To what? They already get 57%. Management wants to reduce it, but even if they kept it the same it would likely be a victory for the union. Fehr isn't gonna risk the long term health of the league overall for that considering they had a full lockout so recently. He has negotiated multiple contracts without lockouts....

This is where my expansion theory comes in. By adding two more teams, the NHL gives the NHLPA 40+ more jobs and ~$120M+ in salaries in exchange for a lower percentage overall. The owners get to pockey more cash and there is more cash for the players.

 

[KernelPanic]

Compare that to this distance between the NBA last summer and even the NFL and none of that looks very big. Rules stuff isn't likely to be much of an issue.

Fehr will talk about abolishing the cap to keep the current percentage. Owners will accept it because the last lockout was awful and they seriously risk losing credibility. Factor in Snider's (one of the more influential owners) incentive as a Comcast guy with NBCSports as a major new investment and this deal will get done.

The current system is unsustainable for the smaller market teams. The cap floor is rising every year. I think TSN reported some owners will sell if something doesn't change because there's no way they can stay solvent.

 

[Marvie_3]

Compare that to this distance between the NBA last summer and even the NFL and none of that looks very big. Rules stuff isn't likely to be much of an issue.

Fehr will talk about abolishing the cap to keep the current percentage. Owners will accept it because the last lockout was awful and they seriously risk losing credibility. Factor in Snider's (one of the more influential owners) incentive as a Comcast guy with NBCSports as a major new investment and this deal will get done.

You were doing so well today too....

The owners will absolutely NOT accept anything that gets rid of the cap.

The current system is unsustainable for the smaller market teams. The floor is rising every year. I think TSN reported some owners will sell if something doesn't change because there's no way they can stay solvent.

Increased revenue sharing is about the only way to fix this.

 

[ZeroGravity]

I really, really don't get how the NHL could even think of expanding with so many struggling franchises. It seems like a short term solution to a long term problem.

 

[yankeehater]

The NHL need to focus on moving struggling teams rather then adding more teams. Coyotes to Quebec, and the Devils to Hamilton and it would be all good.

 

[Marvie_3]

I really, really don't get how the NHL could even think of expanding with so many struggling franchises. It seems like a short term solution to a long term problem.

There have been struggling franchises EVERY time the league has expanded. It's never stopped them before. The expansion fees do help out the other teams in the league though. It is a short term solution but it's almost unavoidable that there are struggling franchises. Pretty much every team goes through rough periods.

The NHL need to focus on moving struggling teams rather then adding more teams. Coyotes to Quebec, and the Devils to Hamilton and it would be all good.

The Devils aren't going anywhere. Sorry to kill your boner.

 

[yankeehater]

The Devils aren't going anywhere. Sorry to kill your boner.

A guy can dream, right?

 

[brucewaynegretzky]

You were doing so well today too....

The owners will absolutely NOT accept anything that gets rid of the cap.

Um I wasn't saying they would. I was saying they'd accept the current level as a "compromise."

 

[ZeroGravity]

There have been struggling franchises EVERY time the league has expanded. It's never stopped them before. The expansion fees do help out the other teams in the league though. It is a short term solution but it's almost unavoidable that there are struggling franchises. Pretty much every team goes through rough periods.

This is true, but I think they're also running out of viable markets, which wasn't the case before. Especially when you're also dealing with potentially moving other franchises down the line...it seems like a bad idea.

 

[Clydefrog]

Ahh. The Vancouver Canucks Hype Train has once again derailed, this time in an embarassing upset. What a great day to be alive.

The only downside is having to suffer a full summer of trade rumour about who's going to play net for them next year. Ugh. It's April, I know the Canucks are NOT looking to make deals right now, so why am I already hearing whispers about Luongo-for-Lecavlier.

Nash for Luongo!