NewUserName

they void them and take away draft picks and fine you and stuff. Are there set criteria or is it subjective? during the last CBA they included an agreement to limit contracts to seven years (8 if player stays with current team) and does something about the year-to-to structure. No clue about the specifics. My understanding is that average annual salary of the whole contract counts against the cap even if the player retires unless they get Prongered. I am pretty sure this is the case. Wings fans are very nervous about Franzen and Zetterberg for this reason.

Cardinal fans really seem to hate Hamilton for some reason

I think Molina is a rather obvious PED user...or at least that is what I often tell Cardinal fans

Is it still AAV for cap or can you structure so the hit is later in the deal? AAV

I have noticed that some PR issues with Sharp have come up in the last couple of days. Seems like standard McDonough work, before a popular player can be moved, he needs to be demonized. what were these issues? I've been calling Sharp the best trade bait for a few years now. fight with teammate and something else. It's mostly internet stuff. Here is a link at the Committed Indian that speculates on some of the issues http://thecommittedindian.com/exit-interviews-patrick-sharp/ I would love for the Wings to acquire Sharp, but do not think we have the pieces the Hawks would want to get him. Though we do have several cheap centers who have played in the NHL and could possibly play 2nd line, my guess is the Hawks would want more. And I would be hesitant to give up too much

I have noticed that some PR issues with Sharp have come up in the last couple of days. Seems like standard McDonough work, before a popular player can be moved, he needs to be demonized.

I think just because he had the Penguins and the Hawks on his list last fall does not mean they are the only teams that he will accept a trade to now. I think the Canucks could easily say 'stay or accept a trade to Philly or NY'. So I am not sure the Hawks would have as much leverage as originally thought. Also, they will probably have to trade Sharp or Seabrook just to be able to re-sign Toews and Kane. So to add Kesler they would have to figure out a way to get him under for the 15-16 season. I guess it is doable, but at what cost?

Brad Richards getting bought out yesterday is more good news for the Hawks in my opinion. I know there is a lot of buzz about Kessel saying he wants to play for the Hawks, but the reality is that the cap situation makes that very unlikely or untenable. I am not suggesting the Hawks sign Richards, but it is another center on the market. The price tag to get a quality center who can play the 2nd line probably is coming down some.

He's gotta be pushing late 30s now right? Is he even any good any more? Haven't heard his name since he left Chicago. He just turned 35, and played a full 82 game season with 37 points and nearly 27m/g. Part of the reason you never hear about him is nobody hears about Florida. Obviously he's not a good candidate for the Blackhawks unless they get some crazy good deal. He is still a quality dman. 7 million is going to keep almost everyone away unless the Panthers would be willing to take a real bad contract back

And that makes the Blackhawks loss even more devastating. I think any of the following five teams in the west would have beaten the Rangers. Kings,Hawks,Ducks,Blues,Sharks. Maybe even Minnesota . Add Colorado and Dallas to your list. Maybe Phoenix and Vancouver

I think like most sports though, sometimes you make your own breaks. Officials tend to make calls that favor teams who are playing with a lot of confidence. Lucky bounces happen because you usually have players in the right spots. So on and So on. And I have always thought that winning the cup does take a certain amount of random luck

I have long felt they should just do away with the 7th inning stretch, but I agree, yesterdays was enjoyable. I think if they found cool guys like that and kept it as a Saturday or Sunday only thing, I could get behind that.

3 straight games they fell down 2-0 and win in OT. Has to be a playoff first

I think overall sports Boston has the worst fans in all of sports. I think if you are just going baseball it is hard to not get behind any fanbase that calls themselves the smartest and best fans on a regular basis and means it. If you don't believe Cardinal fans believe that you must come to central Illinois to see for yourself. Cardinal fans are the worst. edit: I am mad at myself for even reading a thread that John Feinstein is part of the title. And I think we should have a Media/ESPN thread in rants.

No. This isn't a case of Steve Trout in the mid-20s becoming the best player in the draft several years later. Both of the last two Astros picks involved prospects who were better in ways that either were obvious at the time (Very few people seriously thought Correa was the best pick in that draft) or should have been seen (Kris Bryant has been mashing since he set foot in pro ball in way that says he probably should have been realized to be the No. 1 overall 11 months ago). YO IS THIS DUDE SERIOUS Must of been a real weak draft class Don't be ridiculous. There was never any draft until the early 40s. And back then, the only signing bonuses were a haircut, a rifle, and an eye exam. Think you may be confusing Steve for Dizzy. Steve was drafted in the 1st round in 76, and it was a real weak first round. Unless I am missing you sarcasm:)...if so green font for the old and naive.

No. This isn't a case of Steve Trout in the mid-20s becoming the best player in the draft several years later. Both of the last two Astros picks involved prospects who were better in ways that either were obvious at the time (Very few people seriously thought Correa was the best pick in that draft) or should have been seen (Kris Bryant has been mashing since he set foot in pro ball in way that says he probably should have been realized to be the No. 1 overall 11 months ago). YO IS THIS DUDE SERIOUS Must of been a real weak draft class

I am not sure what a dynasty is anymore, but I would think if the Hawks could even win 4 cups in 8-10 yrs that would be pretty great with the current NHL rules and cap. I think they are in great position to compete for the Cup for several more years Yeah I don't think 3 titles in 5 years is anywhere close to a dynasty. But I have high standards for what a dynasty is. Anyways the remark about lost chance because of inferior east team waiting doesn't mean much to me as I think the East representative has been inferior pretty much the last decade or so except maybe Boston. Anyways like I said last night, we've been down in a series at least 3 games in 4 of our last 7 playoff series and we won the first 3. Doesn't mean we will win this one. Just means this team has an amazing ability to show new life when the chips are down. I thought we looked like absolute [expletive] in game 3 against Boston and we didn't lose another game all season. Hawks are good enough to win this series so hopefully they find that extra gear and shut up the doubters once again. I dont think a Montreal, NY Islanders, Edmonton Oiler thing that happened mid 70s through late 80s will ever happen again. The Hawks are clearly going to be in the running for a late 90s early 00s mini-dynasty like the Wings, Avs and Devils had. The Hawks are still ok, obviously they would rather be 2-1. They are still a more talented team. However, I would be worried that they seem to going in the hole on a regular basis and at some point you would have to figure they will lose one.

I am not sure what a dynasty is anymore, but I would think if the Hawks could even win 4 cups in 8-10 yrs that would be pretty great with the current NHL rules and cap. I think they are in great position to compete for the Cup for several more years

not good enough...sorry

Before last week, I only knew one Duck fan. Now a dozen or so have popped out. Damn bandwagoners. Same could be said about Kings fans a few years ago. or the Hawks 6 yrs ago...or the Wings 20 or so yrs ago, and on their way to being irrelevant again

I'm actually a fair bit concerned now. Yes, we've got home ice and I expected the Hawks to lose a game up there. But I didn't expect to see them get plastered on shots, and then see the Wild's goaltending somehow look competent as a result. I don't like seeing them sleepwalk through perfectly good playoff games, and I don't like them giving a downtrodden goalie confidence. Hawks just did both of those things. In the past I think the Hawks have won games in the playoffs where they were not that great, but their high level of skill scored some goals, Crawford was great and they ended up winning. There was probably a couple of games in the Blues series like that. Not that they were dominated, just not great. That has not happened in this series yet.

Hawks fans still do Chelsea Dagger....hard to complain about other teams fans too much ;)

NFL draft is the independent variable there, not winning or losing. I am not an NFL guy, so I may be missing something...but why do people love to watch the draft? We were able to watch the game and switch over between innings and catch all that was actually happening. Cannot imagine listening to Boomer, Lewis, Gruden and Kiper blather could be that insightful.

your post is pretty [expletive] stupid to me I wonder if it is Kaplan or Rosner?

exactly. For all the rebuild talk they are getting very good numbers from players who were already there. I am not arguing with their off-season moves, but it is not like those moves are the main reason the Sox are around .500