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 Ustrello wrote:
There is a moral clause in his contract I believe, it would be voided I think. If that does happen that saad trade will be devastating

It wouldn't be "devastating" but yeah with perfect hindsight perhaps Saad would have got paid in CHI or Sharpie might never have gotten shipped off to Dallas

 Ustrello wrote:
The woman is claiming that she had/has physical assault wounds. Wouldn't wounds like that though give the police enough reason to bring him in? Since that hasn't happened I am thinking she might be crying wolf.

Latest story I read says it is more then just a claim. DA has to press charges/issue a warrant for them to "bring him in". DA isn't going to do that against a high profile sports star unless he feels he's got a solid case. So they are collecting all the evidence they can right now.

I'm not going to make a judgement, but everything i've read has lead me to believe this could be more then just a "cry wolf" scenario.

I don't know about arrests and jail time but the Bruins up until this year had to keep Mark Savards contract on the books against the Salary Cap.

EA Sports has pulled Kane from its NHL 2015 cover.

 djones520 wrote:
EA Sports has pulled Kane from its NHL 2015 cover.

default back to bergeron?

 Ghazkuul wrote:

 djones520 wrote:
EA Sports has pulled Kane from its NHL 2015 cover.

default back to bergeron?

It's just Toews now, though they really should have just Keith on it if they are going for a 'Hawks player
but it's a super unsurprising move from EA anyhow

IF, and at this point its a fairly big IF, Kane is guilty, I hope he gets a lifetime suspension from Hockey and loses basically everything. Hockey is the only sport in the world that doesn't treat its players as if they are above the law and I want it to stay that way.

Agreed, and he most likely will, if proven guilty.

I wouldn't expect anything to come of this prior to the start of the season though. I also wouldn't be surprised if his playing sucks for a good bit. Guilty or not, this has got to be screwing with his head.

i dont know about that, look what happened to that LA D-Man last year

 Ghazkuul wrote:
i dont know about that, look what happened to that LA D-Man last year

Valarmov? IIRC all he was accused of was domestic abuse but the wife wouldn't co-operate (And is Russian so there was a language barrier)

http://www.si.com/nhl/2015/06/25/los-angeles-kings-slava-voynov-suspended

voynov

 Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:

 Ghazkuul wrote:
i dont know about that, look what happened to that LA D-Man last year

Valarmov? IIRC all he was accused of was domestic abuse but the wife wouldn't co-operate (And is Russian so there was a language barrier)

You're thinking of the Colorado Goalie. That was 2 years ago I think.

yeah, I posted a link to the guy I was talking about. He actually missed almost an entire season, and I don't even know if he is allowed to play or what

Penguins have been making some big moves this off season. Looking forward to this season here in western Pennsylvania. Let's go Pens!!!!

The East is going to be a tough conference this year. Toronto, and maybe Philly, may be the only teams that don't have a legitimate play-off chance.

 djones520 wrote:
The East is going to be a tough conference this year. Toronto, and maybe Philly, may be the only teams that don't have a legitimate play-off chance.

i'll definitely give you Toronto, but with Philly? nope they got a shot, Voracek was hot and if Simmons stays healthy and they fix their HUGE problem with defense? they are good.

Buffalo in my opinion is still not close to a playoff team.

 Ghazkuul wrote:

 djones520 wrote:
The East is going to be a tough conference this year. Toronto, and maybe Philly, may be the only teams that don't have a legitimate play-off chance.

i'll definitely give you Toronto, but with Philly? nope they got a shot, Voracek was hot and if Simmons stays healthy and they fix their HUGE problem with defense? they are good.

Buffalo in my opinion is still not close to a playoff team.

I get the feeling Buffalo may surprise this year. They're undoubtedly the most improved team during the off-season.

 djones520 wrote:

 Ghazkuul wrote:

 djones520 wrote:
The East is going to be a tough conference this year. Toronto, and maybe Philly, may be the only teams that don't have a legitimate play-off chance.

i'll definitely give you Toronto, but with Philly? nope they got a shot, Voracek was hot and if Simmons stays healthy and they fix their HUGE problem with defense? they are good.

Buffalo in my opinion is still not close to a playoff team.

I get the feeling Buffalo may surprise this year. They're undoubtedly the most improved team during the off-season.

True, but Oreilly was one of those "big" pieces they needed and last time I checked he was still in deep excrement.

Who did they get to fix their complete lack of goal tending?

 djones520 wrote:
The East is going to be a tough conference this year. Toronto, and maybe Philly, may be the only teams that don't have a legitimate play-off chance.

i really want to see the Panthers make it, just to see Jagr in the playoffs again

Chad Johnson and Anders Lindback look like their two top spots. Both have been mediocre, but both have never really been given the chance to shine either.

 djones520 wrote:
Chad Johnson and Anders Lindback look like their two top spots. Both have been mediocre, but both have never really been given the chance to shine either.

Johson played with the Bruins for a season behind one of the most defensive minded teams in the NHL so use those stats to justify how good he is.

 Ghazkuul wrote:

 djones520 wrote:
Chad Johnson and Anders Lindback look like their two top spots. Both have been mediocre, but both have never really been given the chance to shine either.

Johson played with the Bruins for a season behind one of the most defensive minded teams in the NHL so use those stats to justify how good he is.

His last season with the Bruins, he had good stats. 17 wins, 4 losses, .925 sv% and 2.1 GAA. His next year with the Islanders was anything but hot. We'll see how things go this year.

 djones520 wrote:

 Ghazkuul wrote:

 djones520 wrote:
Chad Johnson and Anders Lindback look like their two top spots. Both have been mediocre, but both have never really been given the chance to shine either.

Johson played with the Bruins for a season behind one of the most defensive minded teams in the NHL so use those stats to justify how good he is.

His last season with the Bruins, he had good stats. 17 wins, 4 losses, .925 sv% and 2.1 GAA. His next year with the Islanders was anything but hot. We'll see how things go this year.

'

thats what i mean though, they used him as a backup against easy teams and they had one of the best defenses in the game.

 Ghazkuul wrote:

 djones520 wrote:
The East is going to be a tough conference this year. Toronto, and maybe Philly, may be the only teams that don't have a legitimate play-off chance.

i'll definitely give you Toronto, but with Philly? nope they got a shot, Voracek was hot and if Simmons stays healthy and they fix their HUGE problem with defense? they are good.

Buffalo in my opinion is still not close to a playoff team.

Actually, with the sheer euphoria in Toronto over landing Babs as coach and then attitude/work ethic changes that coming, plus dumping their biggest problem player in Fatty Kessel, I could actually see the Leafs squeaking into the 2nd wildcard slot this year.

That's easily the biggest thing TO has going for it - the atmosphere the fans create in that building. When they're actually hyped up and behind their team, TO is probably one of the hardest building to play in, next to Montreal.

Experiment 626 wrote:

 Ghazkuul wrote:

 djones520 wrote:
The East is going to be a tough conference this year. Toronto, and maybe Philly, may be the only teams that don't have a legitimate play-off chance.

i'll definitely give you Toronto, but with Philly? nope they got a shot, Voracek was hot and if Simmons stays healthy and they fix their HUGE problem with defense? they are good.

Buffalo in my opinion is still not close to a playoff team.

Actually, with the sheer euphoria in Toronto over landing Babs as coach and then attitude/work ethic changes that coming, plus dumping their biggest problem player in Fatty Kessel, I could actually see the Leafs squeaking into the 2nd wildcard slot this year.

That's easily the biggest thing TO has going for it - the atmosphere the fans create in that building. When they're actually hyped up and behind their team, TO is probably one of the hardest building to play in, next to Montreal.

Babs is amazing, you can not argue that. But as much as Toronto hated Phil Kessel he still led the team in scoring, and now with the talent dump they just did, where is Toronto going to make up for having lost a 30+ goal scorer? No, I would love to see Toronto in the playoffs again but they aren't ready. Furthermore they have a huge hole in their defense its called not having a goal tender. Bernier and Reimer combined = an average to better then average goalie, but you aren't allowed to have 2 in net at the same time

 Ghazkuul wrote:

Experiment 626 wrote:

 Ghazkuul wrote:

 djones520 wrote:
The East is going to be a tough conference this year. Toronto, and maybe Philly, may be the only teams that don't have a legitimate play-off chance.

i'll definitely give you Toronto, but with Philly? nope they got a shot, Voracek was hot and if Simmons stays healthy and they fix their HUGE problem with defense? they are good.

Buffalo in my opinion is still not close to a playoff team.

Actually, with the sheer euphoria in Toronto over landing Babs as coach and then attitude/work ethic changes that coming, plus dumping their biggest problem player in Fatty Kessel, I could actually see the Leafs squeaking into the 2nd wildcard slot this year.

That's easily the biggest thing TO has going for it - the atmosphere the fans create in that building. When they're actually hyped up and behind their team, TO is probably one of the hardest building to play in, next to Montreal.

Babs is amazing, you can not argue that. But as much as Toronto hated Phil Kessel he still led the team in scoring, and now with the talent dump they just did, where is Toronto going to make up for having lost a 30+ goal scorer? No, I would love to see Toronto in the playoffs again but they aren't ready. Furthermore they have a huge hole in their defense its called not having a goal tender. Bernier and Reimer combined = an average to better then average goalie, but you aren't allowed to have 2 in net at the same time

Kessel was a useless, lazy gakker... Sure he'd score 25-30 goals, but he'd typically also end up with a hideous +/- rating. Who cares if he scores 30 goals when he's still a -10? No work ethic beyond getting his 25-30 goals, selfish attitude & lack of leadership, and then when he's put on the spot and questioned about his non-existent effort game-in-game-out, he calls the media a bunch of ***holes...
You don't need a 30 goal scorer to be successful, (look at the Habs!), especially when you've got a solid team mentality & leadership core, alongside a top level coach like Babs. (hell, he took the freaking AHL 'baby Wings' into the play-offs!)

The lack of leadership & give-a-damn-ability was TO's biggest problem last year, and the ringleader of it was Fail Kessel. (remember the "salutegate" boondoggle?!) Toronto has a solid history of going on deep play-off runs with purely average/mediocre teams in the past. What got them there was namely the coaching staff, (RIP Pat Burns), and the leadership core.


Now I'm no Bernier fan either, (the guy is a arrogant sob), but overall he did more or less simply have a bad season last year, compounded by the fact he & Reimer has 0 defense in front of them. Is he #1 material? Personally I don't think he really is - I find Reimer the much more dependable one, though he really needs work on his rebound control... (kinda like Price who was a nightmare to watch early on, especially in the World Juniors!)
Give Reimer a better goaltending coach and time, and I think the Leafs could ideally stick with him, and move Bernier for a young goalie(s) that you can slowly develop fully yourself.

And of course, with Babs cracking the whip, it'll also help big time that their goaltenders shouldn't be facing 35+ shots a night!

Babs isn't so much as a taskmaster, ala Mike Keenan of old...

But he WILL hold you accountable and frankly, that's exactly the leaf needed.

They are pretty happy to get Kessel here in the burgh. We'll see if his plus minus changes since he is with a good team. Hopefully the Pens can beat philly this year. Our cross state games are the thing of legend since both cities hate each other. Nothing worse then loosing to Philly here in western PA. I hate Philly with a passion and enjoy last year that they didn't make the playoffs.

Pittsburgh is a great situation for Kessel. The Pens don't need him to be a team leader, tone setter, defensive stalwart or franchise savior. They just need him to take the ice and score a ton of goals on Crosby's or Malkin's line (Crosby's line is my bet). And he'll do just that, barring injury.

Toronto may have had their issues with him, but I think he was also miscast for what they really needed. Besides, the Toronto media and fans can be a bit...shrill?

You mean Montreal that team that sucked balls and wouldn't have made the playoffs if their Goalie hadn't stood on his head the entire season? .933 Save percentage, Below a 2.00 GAA and 9 Shutouts (2nd in the league) he literally won the vezina with a GARBAGE team.