biittner77

They have a lot of cap issues. These playoffs have shown that life after Stamkos won't be a disaster. They have a little bit of leverage since there aren't a lot of good destinations that can pay him the type of contract that he likely wants - similar to Toews/ Kane. For example, A team like Winnipeg could afford him but would he really want to sign there?

The Hawks are "hopeful" that they can sign Kempny http://www.secondcityhockey.com/2016/5/15/11678100/michal-kempny-blackhawks-free-agency-rumors-nhl-khl-2016

It feels like he's been around forever. Most people probably think he's 30.

ok Sha arks. Win this series or at least take it to 7 games. Thanks

The Basic bat flip looks like it could land on your head if you're not careful.

So, now they're signing non Swedes? There are highlights of these guys on youtube but they're pretty much just them scoring goals. Not super useful for seeing what a defenseman can do. It seems like Kempny has been pretty highly sought after. I get a sense that he might make the team too depending on how things shake out.

It would be great if he did make the team. There's a clause in his contract that he can be loaned back to his team in Sweden if he doesn't make the team out of camp. I may be getting my Swedes mixed up- there will be at least 5 in camp this year- but his game is likened to Nick Leddy.

I agree. The Stamkosless Lightning may also be the weakest team the Pens have played so far in the playoffs. The Lightning have been pretty good even without Stamkos. I think they get Stralman back for this series. The Pens have been very good but Tampa has the speed to keep up with them the way other teams haven't. I don't trust the Pens blue line and they relied pretty heavily on Murray to beat the Caps. It should be a fun series. I'm happy for Kessel too.

I almost feel bad for the Caps fans. Almost. Can't wait to see the Lightning dismantle the Pens. That would make my bracket in the East perfect which nicely balances out the train wreck I had in the West.

I think they really wanted to win for the fans. I'll be more impressed if they play that way against Chelsea in the finale.

I imagine that this brings great joy to those that hate fun.

Maybe. The rule is something to the effect that the goalie has to have the chance to play his position. So if someone else knocks in the puck, the refs could rule that Rinne was interfered with on the play. I've heard people say that if Pavelski had just let the puck go in on its own the goal would have counted.

It's a good question because it actually happens a lot and, near as I can tell, the rule is that you shouldn't be in a position to get shoved into the opposing goalie. Goalie interference is a rule that really does need to be modified and better defined. There are dirty cheating cheaters like Jonathon Quick that will try to knock opposing players off their skates into them to get that call. Then you have guys like Elliott who claim interference every time someone is within 10 feet of them.

It looks that way, I think the Blues will end up playing for the Cup. San Jose or Nashville? Nah Given the Blues' desire to take stupid penalties, The Sha arks power play could destroy them.

If we're just looking at it odds-wise, it would be a 15 or 16 seed winning the NCAA tournament. Those teams were all at least 2000-1 this year. Even that's no good because winning the NCAA tourney only requires playing well for a few weeks.

Has Dallas' complete lack of any defense finally caught up to them? I hope not.

I was watching around the horn yesterday and they commented on whether Leicester winning was the best sports story of all time. Since none of the panel had ever heard of Leicester before last week, they struggled to make a comparison in US sports. Renowned idiot Bill Plaschke compared it to the Toledo Mudhens being promoted to the MLB then winning the world series. This got me thinking, if there was a playoff, would Leicester win? Lets say the top 4 make this fictional playoff and are seeded 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3. How does it play out? I'm not asking this to hate on Leicester. It is a great story and they have a lot of likeable players. It's like a real life version of the movie Dodgeball.

Do hockey players golf the same way that they shoot? Not all LH shots are actually LH for anything else. I wonder because my daughter is left handed but field hockey everyone plays right handed so I'm thinking that it might be easier for her to hit a golf ball right handed since it's a similar motion to hitting a hockey ball.

Chicago has more Poles than Warsaw. He's going to eat Kielbasa in the dugout and endear himself to fans.

The Hawks losing also saved a lot of jobs in St. Louis. Hopefully they'll give Backes like $10 mill for 10 years. Hitchcock is terrible that the hockey coaching thing.

Or a kicker but that never happens.

This about sums up the anti-RB argument and is just meaningless. Sure, you can find it in a 3rd - 4th round guy. You can find a Hall of Fame QB in the 6th and HOF defensive end in the 8th if it still existed. You can find pro bowl qbs in grocery store aisles as well. It's not about whether or not you can theoretically get the same production later. Your list is an argument against taking multiple RBs in the first round every year. It's not an argument against a RB being worthy of the 11th pick of the draft. I can't find it, but there was a recent article finding that RBs aren't that much different than every other position in that the elite are typically found in the first round and there's not a lot of value in RBs taken in the middle rounds (although there's value in the 6/7 round and UDFA). Teams should never be afraid to take the best player available regardless of position.

Hossa has never even hinted at the possibility of retiring. Hossa is still a productive player though it doesn't show as much on the score sheet as it does in actual games. The out for the Hawks- if it comes to that- is if Hossa were to get injured and went on long term IR. That's what the Flyers did with Chris Pronger who had a similar contract. I'm not sure about the consequences of Hossa going to play in Europe. I doubt he'd do that but I've heard what the ramifications would be. As for other moves: It's hard to see a scenario where Ladd is back unless there's no interest in him and he's willing to sign for $2 million/ 1 year deal. This was a guy that wanted $7 mil from The Jets. Shaw is gone. The question is where and for what? He's still a fairly inexpensive player so the market should be better than the one for Sharp last year. I think they'll re sign Panik. Roszy will retire. Fleischman and Weisse are gone unless they sign for cheap. As for the pipeline, The most interesting guy is Tyler Motte though it's hard to say if he'll be ready next year. He'll certainly get a long look in camp. From the defensive side of things Pokka gets his chance. We'll see if any of the Swedes that they've signed work out. Hartman or McNeil replaces Shaw. Then there's Tuevo. Do the Hawks see him as a 3rd scoring line center or a first line RW? Would the Hawks dare assemble the "Citizen Kane" line with Panarin- Tuevo- Kane and put Anisimov between Hossa and (?) to create a more traditional checking line? Or would they rather go with something like this: Panik (among current players) Toews Tuevo Panarin Anisimov Kane Desjardins Kruger Hossa cast of thousands including Rasmussen, Hartman, Motte, Hinostroza, Kero, McNeil, Ross, plus any cheap FAs they might bring in

that's not a real middle ground. The east coast isn't going to be able to adjust to 6:30 start times. People barely make it to 7:05 starts on time. The bottom line is you do not need to fear having more than one game on at the same time. Start the east coast games at a normal time and then central follows an hour later, like they do with everything else. Theoretically, 6:30 starts shouldn't matter since the consideration is viewership, not east coast attendance having to adjust to an earlier puck drop. They still want viewers in the Midwest to tune in for east coast games. Nobody in the CST is going to run home to watch hockey. The simple answer is stated above in bold.

Pat is right, and Milbury is as an idiot as usual. The NHL wants to grow the game, then don't have 8:42pm starts on weeknights in local areas. It happens in the NBA too. The Warriors-Rockets game was at 8:30 last night, even though Houston's in the central time zone. It just comes with being in the Western Conference -- I don't think it's that big of a deal. As much as I'd like to rag on the NHL for being stupid about something, I don't think they are in this case. Maybe the Hawks should petition to move to the East if they don't like the late start times? I'm guessing you don't live in the EST. Nobody out here is watching a game that starts at 9:40 EST unless they are a fan of that team. It's one thing for Kings/ Sha arks to be on late since they're both California teams. With the number of playoff games that can potentially go into OT it makes no sense to try to wait out the final of the east coast game before starting one in the central. If we can figure out how to show NCAA basketball games at the same time there's no reason to not be able to show hockey games at the same time.