2013-14 NHL Season

Good for Carrick. Can't think of the last time a fifth rounder made the NHL out of camp at 19.

 

Wow 8 mil per is a lot of money for Kessel. Terrific offensive player, but is he someone you want to tie your wagon to with that kind of commitment? At least they shed Phaneuf's huge contract after this season

 

Here's TSN's story on the Kessel signing.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=433171

He will get $10 mil in each of the first two years of the deal, meaning he will be paid more than Malkin (9.5 mil) in those seasons, while Crosby is an $8.7 mil cap hit. What exactly were the comparables the Leafs and Kessel's agents were using? Hell, Stamkos is only a $7.5 mil cap hit. You have Patrick Kane as a $6.3 cap, and Datsyuk as a $7.5 cap. Stop me if I've mentioned a player not named Kane who Kessel should be compared to.

 

I wonder how much of this --- young kids sticking with the big team --- is salary-cap related. I remember an article I read years ago that described how middle-class veterans in the NFL --- guys with around 5-7 years of experience --- were getting cut in favor of rookies because the rookies were cheaper to fill out the roster with. The stars are going to get paid well regardless, but I do suspect it's those guys who are affected the most.

 

The comparisons are unfair. Thos contracts were not signed this year and contracts will always go up. Wait until the cap jumps and see what the players get. If those players were one year from being a UFA now they would have gotten more than they signed for.

What choice did the Leafs have? He's only 26 so I don't mind the term and if he hadn't signed now a team would have spent more on a 26 year old UFA

 

Yeah, the ceremonies are getting longer and more elaborate, but that one was fun to watch.

 

I don't know the particulars on the two guys with the Caps, but you are seeing a lot of teams play some of the junior draft picks the nine games allowed before the full year on the the contract kicks in.

 

Leafs beat the Habs 4-3 in the opener but the win was diminished by Habs George Parros taken off the ice on a stretcher after a fight with Colton Orr. Parros lost his footing and unable to stop himself with his hands, crashed face-first to the ice.

I'm all for intimidating hockey---drive the other team out of the rink by punishing them physically, preferably in the first ten minutes of the game. Make the defense guys scared to actually play the puck and watch them bail. That's hockey.

Fighting is crap in the NHL. Get rid of it.

Here's the Globe story on the game.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/leafs-win-over-habs-overshadowed-as-parros-seriously-injured-during-fight/article14652753/

 

George Parros has been the definition of a hockey goon for as long as I can remember. Ditto for Colton Orr. No real surprise that the two found each other.

Fighting should carry a game misconduct. That will cut down on the number of fights in the first period. If fight comes in the final 10 minutes of a game, you sit the following game.

 

As a Red Wings fan, I've never really assigned a lot of meaning to fighting personally, but it's one of those things that a vocal minority declares is an inexorable sign of "PC-ification" of the sport that causes people to have a conniption fit over. Reminds me of some of the tantrums thrown by old white folks whose alma maters or favorite pro teams have Native American nicknames. No amount of data, logic or consensus will ever convince them.

 

Watching the Winnipeg-Edmonton game and it sounds like the fire alarm is going off in Rexall Place. Even the announcers commented on it.