chippa13

Sorry to hear that. Back when my mom passed she had been declining for a while due to small strokes and dimentia. It was strange when the day actually came because we had basically slowly been grieving the loss of her for a couple of years as her mind was lost long before her body.

Sure, but one always hope that it isn't their team that does it.

I guess Bergeron can retire the gloves with the dual reinforced fingers.

Always interesting to hear the AHL take on teams. Ever since Lowell lost their franchise I've lost touch on what is happening at that level.

So Gretzky also believes Babcock is a good coach. The 8 year deal is Shanahan telling Babcock that he is rebuilding and it will take a few years before he can give him a team to truly be a contender, but in the meantime bring Matthews, Marner and the rest along well until that happens.

When did Babcock become Toronto's director of player development? A good coach but a coach coaches the team he's given by the organization. A coach's view is short-term.

Neal is a bargain compared to JvR.

That is a tall order to find someone like that who is available and if so, it will cost a bit in current and/or future assets. A team either needs to draft well or pluck an untested prospect from someone to get even a Josi or Carlson. Good luck.

I love how suddenly the franchise guy "disappears for long stretches". The second they knew he was going to the FA window and would entertain offers the Isles should have been working on plan B. The positive direction of the arena is still years off and the indecision of how many home games where is a joke. The repairs to the front office and redirecting the ship will take a few seasons to show up on the ice as they need to build the blueline and find goaltending stability. They will score goals but this team is probably better off for Tavares leaving as it takes away the win now pressure of satisfying the star player's desire to go deep and the group can grow together.

The organization failed Tavares. I don't expect Isles fans to believe it right now but take a realistic look at the history of the franchise for Tavares' tenure there and it will be a lot easier to understand the decision he made. It wasn't one he took lightly and I firmly believe that even with all of the Islanders shitshow over the years that a big part of Tavares did not want to leave and was trying very hard to convince himself to stay.

Early? I think it is about a day late with the Leafs winning the Tavares sweepstakes. I'm not thrilled having him in the division. Agreed that the Leafs won't really miss JvR. His production would be nice but the Flyers overpaid, especially when a comparable guy like Neal only got $5.75 AAV for the same term.

Agree to disagree: translation: I have nothing to support my opinion and refuse to accept that.

Not nearly the same thing. Bettman does the owners' bidding and keeps his job by keeping them happy. If the owners wanted to truly avoid any of the lockouts then they could have.

I'm on the fence with Mogilny. He was a part of arguably one of the best WJC lines ever and he had a few great seasons. I think his lack of personal hardware is what hurts his case with just the single Lady Byng to his credit. Yes, he is a member of the triple gold club but with the exception of the WJC he was just another player on those Olympic and World Championships gold winning teams.

Considering the presentations that Tavares is entertaining, I'm not so sure that he is that close to re-signing with the Isles. I would hate to see him leave the Islanders but if he somehow ended up a Bruin I think I could get over it.

It is funny. When I saw the list of inductees I thought it was light on players but then I browsed the list of eligibles not in and I didn't really see any glaring omissions.

A simple thumb up wouldn't do this justice. Great news.

Hamilton, Ferland , and prospect Fox sent to Carolina for Lindholm and Hanafin. I said when he signed his deal that Hamilton wouldn't finish that contract in Calgary.

When someone says they're breaking a lot of blades at the hosel then I start thinking they're pounding a combo with a too stiff shaft down into the ice. If the shaft doesn't bend then the blade takes the brunt of the force and fails in the hosel, most often at the fuse point.

Since he is technically under contract the Caps could keep from working anywhere else for 2 years.

I don't disagree, but considering that his contract had a clause in it should he win the Cup then you would have thought that clause would have taken the increased value into consideration.

To quote Sutton, "Lousy agent". While winning the Cup triggered a 2 year extension sounds like a good thing, one would have expected it would have included a more sizable raise than whatever he is willing to walk away from.

Canadiens and Coyotes swap Domi for Galchenyuk.

You think they will all of the sudden make all curves available at mid-range for one-off buys online? The only way curve options open up below top of the line is for team sales of a manufacturer's "team stick".

Dreger just mentioned the Bruins have interest in Kovalchuk. I really hope that doesn't happen.