HOCKEY IS BACK!!!

Seems like they may have promote someone since they are still hanging heads against that cap.

Checking tsn.ca, I see that the Devils are still over the cap. They 20 players signed for $41 million. Expect another trade soon.

Didn't The Devs just dump Freisen to the Caps? (they need anything they can get)

Ed Dalder wrote: Didn't The Devs just dump Freisen to the Caps? (they need anything they can get)

They did, but they are STILL over the cap and need to get rid of another forward.

It's only two more days...

i think the devils are okay with the cap now that Friesen is gone, i think the deadline was October 1? Steve thomas did not make the maple leafs! so i guess he will be retiring.

frank smarra wrote: Steve thomas did not make the maple leafs! so i guess he will be retiring.

Really? I think that's likely, but there's always a chance someone will sign him to a tiny contract a few months into the season or something. I think he might still have a little something to offer a team short on forward depth or in need of a little veteran leadership.

Happy birthday Frank.

tsn.ca is still listing the Devils as being over, even without Friesen. But I think Elias won't count until he comes back in December so I guess they are okay for now.

THANKS!

yeah you are right i forgot about Elias and they have until he comes back to get under the cap.

Church of the KLF wrote:

frank smarra wrote: Steve thomas did not make the maple leafs! so i guess he will be retiring.

Really? I think that's likely, but there's always a chance someone will sign him to a tiny contract a few months into the season or something. I think he might still have a little something to offer a team short on forward depth or in need of a little veteran leadership.

Thomas was offered a contract with the red wings but opted to go to the leafs camp W/O a contract because he doesnt want to move his family away from Toronto. maybe he will change his mind, but he is 42 and this is the New NHL I think a lot of young skilled players will be given more of a chance to play on the 4th line and those gooney/grinders (not that thomas is either one)are out of work, but its hard to tell we will know more about how teams plan to operate by the all star break

frank smarra wrote:

Church of the KLF wrote:

frank smarra wrote: Steve thomas did not make the maple leafs! so i guess he will be retiring.

Really? I think that's likely, but there's always a chance someone will sign him to a tiny contract a few months into the season or something. I think he might still have a little something to offer a team short on forward depth or in need of a little veteran leadership.

Thomas was offered a contract with the red wings but opted to go to the leafs camp W/O a contract because he doesnt want to move his family away from Toronto. maybe he will change his mind, but he is 42 and this is the New NHL I think a lot of young skilled players will be given more of a chance to play on the 4th line and those gooney/grinders (not that thomas is either one)are out of work, but its hard to tell we will know more about how teams plan to operate by the all star break

I see! I didn't realize that the Wings had offered him a contract. That would have been a nice addition for the season. But if he turned that an offer from a city so close based largely on geography, I bet he will retire. Thanks for explaining this.

And happy birthday, Frank! :\party:

THANKS!

no better present than the return of NHL Hockey(well in 2 days anyway)

It's only one more day.

Anyone have any predictions for this year?

Here are a bunch of boring, conservative predictions:

The Flyers will not win the Stanley Cup.

Crosby will have a good year, and maybe even win the Calder, but he won't score 60 goals and 150 points or anything like that (which a lot of people seem to expect him to do).

Gretzky will have a great year as a coach, but the Coyotes will stay quite a ways away from the Cup. CuJo will have a mediocre year. I still have a bit of a hunch that they will make the playoffs, though.

The only team in the Atlantic division that won't make the playoffs will be the Rangers.

One of the former big three of the Western Conference - Detroit, Colorado and Dallas - will not make the playoffs.

Playoff teams from each conference (in no particular order):

EASTERN

NYI Pittsburgh New Jersey Philadelphia Ottawa Montreal Tampa Bay Atlanta

WESTERN

Detroit Nashville Calgary Vancouver San Jose Anaheim Colorado Phoenix

Of course, who the heck knows. I think picking playoff teams right now is like trying to predict who the pope will be in 2080.

Also, I think Nick Lidstrom is going to have a heck of a year.

What do you guys think?

frank smarra wrote: THANKS!

no better present than the return of NHL Hockey(well in 2 days anyway)

No problem! Yeah, it will be a nice early birthday gift for me, as well. I cannot wait. Unfortunately, here in Denmark, I won't be able to watch anything. I'll have to check and see if any bars will be showing any games late at night. I can't wait to get back to the States in late December, if only for hockey-viewing reasons. :D

some small news, Curtis Lescyshin of Ottawa Retired and the New Rangers Captain is Darius Kasparaitis(After Jagr Refused, in not joking). the Islanders Sent Down Sean Bergenheim, wixh is Dissapointing because i think he was great during Preseason.

and i found this for Islanders Fans

Islanders Country

Finally, Oct. 5th is here!

Okay here are some lame predictions.

In the East...

Pittsburgh doesn't make the playoffs and Sid the Kid has a good season but not quite what everyone is hoping for. Also injuries abound.

Playoff teams:

Philly Ottawa Tampa Bay New Jersey Boston Isles Montreal Atlanta

In the West...

Finally some change as Calgary and Vancouver emerge as the best teams instead of Detroit and Colorado.

Playoff teams:

Calgary Vancouver Nashville San Jose Edmonton Minnesota Detroit Colorado

I heard that Sidney Crosy's Nickname is... Darryl! ??? he explained to the Media that his nickname comes from a night when he scored 8 Points in Jr. Hockey and they compared it to Toronto's Darryl Sittler's 10 Point game and his teamates called him darryl from then on, he even has it printed on his gloves! so for get, sid the kid, the next next one, just Call him Darryl!

here is the story Darryl!?!

The Wings are dominating the Blues, 4-1 in the second period, and I couldn't be happier. Datsyuk had a quick goal and then an assist to open the scoring. I'm pleased that newcomers Mikael Samuelsson and Brett Lebda have goals and Dan Cleary has an assist. Lebda's +2, as well. Hopefully this is a sign of his play to come, what with Kronvall's very unfortunate injury. It sounds like Cleary is playing a good game, as well. Let's hope this is a sign of things to come.

Sabres up 3-2 after two against the Isles - let's hope Yashin & Friends can put together a big final frame.

And how about those Kings, up 3-0 on the Stars? I noticed the Devils are beating the Pens 3-0, as well. It looks like Brodeur's made 25 saves already. That'd be a shame if the Pens opened up the season by being shut out! :(

God, I'm glad that hockey is back. :D

Correction: FIVE to one, Wings. :D

3-2my beloved Capitals win

OK it is the Blue Jackets-but Alexander Ovechkin scored two goals-sweet

ummm that kid is pretty good

Ed Dalder wrote: 3-2my beloved Capitals win

OK it is the Blue Jackets-but Alexander Ovechkin scored two goals-sweet

ummm that kid is pretty good

I know! I think he's definitely the real deal, as they say. He had a hell of an opening night.

Ovechkin was Awesome!, crosby looked good too but martin brodeur looked even better! i watched the leafs Senators too and daniel Alfredsson had 2 goals, and he had one in the shootout to help the sens win it. despite a fluke goal from the center ice Redline from Alexi Zhitnik the isles got Pummled by the Sabres. they were out hustled and their power play was terrible, sayan and zhitnik were booed all night. and how about all those comebacks? the rangers? the Stars ,i guess its the new NHL at work

frank smarra wrote: Ovechkin was Awesome!, crosby looked good too but martin brodeur looked even better! i watched the leafs Senators too and daniel Alfredsson had 2 goals, and he had one in the shootout to help the sens win it. despite a fluke goal from the center ice Redline from Alexi Zhitnik the isles got Pummled by the Sabres. they were out hustled and their power play was terrible, sayan and zhitnik were booed all night. and how about all those comebacks? the rangers? the Stars ,i guess its the new NHL at work

I was actually happy to see the Rangers come back against the Flyers. The games were all very exciting. 8 teams scored five or more goals last night!!! How great is that? I'm so excited for this season.

I Agree, despite my Dissapointment that theIslanders came out flat, most of the games i saw were great! and almost all the tems picked as favorites lost! Flyers, Flames, Penguins. Minnesota!!! scoring goals in bunches! where did jaques lemaire come up with that!, and on the flipside Roberto Luongo With the Shutout in Florida! Nasville/San Jose was a Fun Game too, Preds came back to win the game 3-2, tonight its the Habs/Rangers, have to wait till Saturday for the Isles/canes

also did anyone see the lightnings Stanley Cup banner? it was Friggin; HUGE! lightning looked pretty good too i know its early but lookout Sidney!

i dont follow hockey, but im curious to know how the Sabres look this yr.?

The Sabres beat the Islanders last night 6-4, they looked really good, they skate hard, finish their checks and can score goals. they are well coached too. they have some really good young players like Briere, Afinigenov, Vanek , and its good to see tim connolly back after the concussion Problems he had, he looked pretty good last night

That'd be interesting if the Sabres had a good season. They definitely do have a lot of good, young talent that can surprise you, as Spotnick pointed to a few weeks ago.

What do you guys think of the Bruins? Are tey to be taken really seriously? The Fourth Period just ranked them as the number 7 team in the league, which I personally just have a hard time agreeing with. In fact, what do you all think of this power ranking, generally?

The Fourth Period Power Rankings

(note Ottawa ranked as number 1)

I gotta say, I am extremely impressed by the Wings' young guys. Lebda has an assist after his first NHL goal ever last night, Samuelsson has yet another goal, and Jason Williams has two assists tonight. And all this is without Yzerman. Dan Cleary had a great night last night too - we'll see what he does tonight. What I'm wondering is what they'll do when Stevie Y comes back! I don't really want anyone to be taken out of the lineup. Lilja is apparently doing really well, too - they've paired him with Lidstrom.

Maybe the Wings have a lot more depth than people have been giving them credit for? Of course, we'll see if they all can keep up their production, and it's only the SECOND game of the season, but so far, so good!

How about that Michael Ryder? Two goals against the Rangers tonight, including the game winner in OT, after getting a goal against the Bruins on Wednesday.

Jason Williams is up to 3 assists for the night in the Wings game. 4-1 after 2. :D