redwing77

Is Samuelsson that big of a loss? I also am not sold on Leino either. I'd go for Hudler. As for Abdelkader, he did ok in the playoffs. I say let him have a shot. Nevertheless, back to the Hawks: Uh... what are they going to do in net? Pray Huet doesn't sieve out every game and turn it over to Antii Niemi when he inevitably does? They might not have a choice. The older goaltenders aren't #1 caliber (well... maybe Biron is worth looking at... but he was mediocre) and all the young talent out there are just that: talent. None of them are proven at the NHL level. Well, they do have Hossa wrapped up for 12 years. I'm curious though... how long do they have Huet wrapped up for? He's not tradeable due to his salary, I'm sure (not that anyone would take him). Tallon is still the best GM in Chicago (IMO), but Huet's signing is much more like that of something Hendry would do for the Cubs (take a shot at the dark at a one year wonder and hope for the best) than Tallon has done in the past.

Precisely. He has a skill set that is definitely top 10, but he is in definite need of maturation. THat's hardly a bad thing really as everyone needs to mature. If you want to see what happens to players when they become stars without being allowed to mature, look at many many NBA stars that come out of high school. Not all are immature, but a great deal of them are. Some even go to college and go pro and still aren't mature.

In today's NHL, no one is a lifer. People said up and down that Mats Sundin would be a Maple Leaf for life. Nope. You already mentioned Gretzky. Same thing with Messier.

Precisely. This was a desperation move by the Hawks to get Hossa away from Detroit. All signs pointed to Hossa wanting to stay in Detroit until this came about. Also, I think this means that Havlat isn't staying in Chicago. In fact, I'm sure of it. There are also some RFAs and UFA youth like Brouwer that are probably gone now too. As for Toews and Kane, I think one of them is gone at the end of their contract years simply due to the money. I think Kane will be the one to go based on the potential for him to be a big scorer. In any case, I would have spent money on a goaltender that doesn't suck like Huet. I know that Khabibulin is gone now. Seriously, Huet will not take them to the Finals regardless of how good they are next year.

I don't know about that. I'm more willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. At worst, I think Schroeder was unprepared for the type of questions he was facing (which means he was prepared poorly). He also may have an incorrect idea of what self-confidence is and, therefore, gave off what he thought was a self-confident aire but turned out arrogant instead. In any case, there was something else going on because Kessel apparently interviewed poorly and he still went high in the draft. I don't know about Joyce either. He was both right and hypocritical when he called out Chris Dilks on WCHBlog. I think he's a fence hanger. He sways with the breeze with his opinion (on WCHBlog he said that Leblanc made a mistake not going to the Q but then he didn't make the mistake he was just pointing out that it could be a mistake but Chris was wrong to point it out and Chris would have known that if he had read ALL of Joyce's articles leading up to that one. Maybe so but still.... ) I think Schroeder will be fine. As for a UMN "cake-eater" I'm also willing to let that one go too. After all, the only real competition the Men's Gopher hockey team has as far as winning tradition in the last 10 years is the women's Gopher hockey team. Hard to be humble when you're pretty much more successful than any other high caliber team in the Twin Cities area, including (and perhaps especially) the pro teams. Yeah, I'll root for the Gophers before I root for the Wild. They've done something in the past 10 years. So basically, when you're the only half decent act in town, it's hard to be humble. Yeah, I'm giving excuses to a player I don't particularly care for and for a program I dislike, but face it... success breeds a certain attitude. The Gophers are less mock-worthy than any Minnesota pro team because of that.

The second one seems to be a poster here that comes in and stirs the pot... or at least talks like one.

So what you're going to see is SD fireworks revenues skyrocket. Whatever is the first exit in SD on I29 will have a fireworks stand now. They'll probably be called "Bottle Rocket Emporium" and charge an arm and a leg to ND residents and get it. At least that's what I'd do.

Don't argue with him. He'll gladly pay the price. It is all part of the great government programming. Hmmmm I wonder if living in Nebraska isn't as bad as I thought...

And we're wondering why ND would ban bottle rockets? Minnesota already has. So has Nebraska. I don't know if Iowa or Montana have. Without knowing that for sure, SD will be the only state next year where you can buy bottle rockets. I doubt you'd be allowed to bring fireworks into the US from Canada, but again, I don't know the rules on that.

Since this is a prediction thread: Anyone have a prediction as to whether or not AZ is going to rekindle the between periods trivia contest? Maybe AZ could predict that outcome.

Patterson is an able backup, imo. He didn't exactly do too badly vs. UND. The "problem" is that Lucia is only slightly less rigid in his #1 goaltender system than Red Berenson. If you recall, you REALLY have to suck to lose your #1 position in Red's system. Red would choose a #1 and roll with him pretty much 98% of the time. Lucia is only slightly more flexible. Hakstol gets flamed because he rolls two goaltenders whenever he can. Expect Dell to get game time. I'd also expect Dell to get some lumps as all freshmen do. Eidsness got it (and was partially forgiven), Grieco got it (and was basically campaigned against), even JPL and JPar got it (though very briefly so). I'm thinking Kangas wouldn't have slumped so badly had Lucia been more willing to let Patterson take a few more games in net. I don't think Eidsness will slump as badly as Bachman did last year because of Hakstol's willingness to let Dell take a few games.

I don't know, but they're already banned in Nebraska.

Really? I think Eidsness did darn well for a freshman goaltender. What worries me is if he's going to have a sophomore slump like Bachman did or will he just continue to play well like Manino? Goon- Miami has none. I thought of Miami as the SCSU of the CCHA but now that's not even the case. I still think Miami is soft but they must be respected now.

Neighborhood kids is one of the reasons why they are being banned. The other reason is they are too stupid to know how to use them safely. I've shot off fireworks since I was 8 years old. Until I was 16, I did so under adult supervision. I was taught that everything that goes up, must come down and that everything that comes down must be picked up and thrown away. If I couldn't find it, or it went into a neighbor's yard (our neighbors in our backyard have it all fenced in so I couldn't get into some of the adjacent yards, I'd have to wait until July 5th and then go to each person's home and ask if I could go into their yard to pick up any fireworks I didn't pick up the night before. It's amazing what kind of tolerance that built amongst our neighbors. When we accidentally set off something a little to big for our setting, the neighbors didn't complain. We apologized for the noise anyways though. The point is: Fireworks are fun, but responsibility comes with them. Too many people can't handle the responsibility, so everyone gets punished. For the past 5 years, my friend and I have put on a sort of show for our family and friends in Grandin, ND on the 4th. We do it right. We usually start during the day slowly and finish after sundown. NO ONE goes home until all of the spent fireworks are loaded into the bed of my friend's pickup truck to be sent to the burn pile or dump depending upon the make up of the trash. It's call responsibility. Now I'm going to have to spend a lot more than I want to this week because of people's lack of responsibility. That doesn't make me happy. Goon- I like Memory Fireworks. They're good people. Starr Fireworks' either owner or store manager is a nice guy too, despite they're having the second most expensive set up in town (TNT is just outrageous).

Not likely. Not many diehard Democrats/liberals nor many diehard Conservative Republicans can see or handle the big picture. They're too wrapped up in the extremism of their party's ideology. There is no rationalization with these people. There's no reasoning to be made. They're the same kind of people who say that you are stupid, retarded, racist, anti-American, etc. when you disagree with them. Politically, these people need to be put on a large ship, put out to see, and then blown up. Of course, to have that happen in reality would be a tragedy and I do not wish that upon anyone. HOwever, politically speaking, the thought processes that lead them in that direction must be marginalized.

I predict the third goaltender will be..... Joe manoffthestreet. Open tryouts and the best gets the nod. Then, since inevitably it will be someone from Grand Forks, Grafton, or Fargo, the call will be for that guy to get a shot.

BUt that seems to be all that matters to some. We may not have won the NC, but at least Hak brought in some blue chippers. I'd rather have a team that is dangerous to play against that no one knows their names than a team full of blue chippers that can't get the job done. BSU is a great example. The people calling for blue chippers: Your thoughts on BSU? I'm sure going into last season they just sucked right?

Forney needs to hold a press conference and have the hats of the two schools he's considering. Then he can put the hat on of the school he chooses just like that retarde... I mean awesome thing ESPN has high school football players do. Maybe UND is waiting to see how Dayn does in the USHL camp? I don't know. Something tells me our third stringer is going to be someone we've never heard of.

You onyl partially make your argument. MSU had good players, but not blue chippers. Good as Abdelkader is and was back then, he was no blue chipper. One could make the case that UW didn't have any either. Pavelski turned into a good player but NHL wise was a 7th round draft pick! Skille was supposed to be a force and he was pretty good but not great in college and he's scratching the surface of the NHL. Elliot was not a blue chip recruit. He was an unknown that turned into a gem. He was an 8th round draft pick in one of the last drafts that had an 8th round. DU did have a blue chipper in Carle. Stastny and Manino weren't blue chippers by most standards but were high quality recruits. You're right. Gauthier wasn't a lblue chipper. 1999-2000 Sioux had no first round draft picks on the team at all and we won a title. We're not an NHL team, folks. Hakstol is putting together a team that can compete at a high level. He's not putting together a team of NHL elite prospects. Besides, UW had a bevy of first rounders last year and missed the cut to the NCAAs. It's the team that matters, not where their players are drafted or even how highly regarded their players are by NHL scouts.

I love this article. And it explains my love of my two teams too.

Hi! Would anyone know which place is the cheapest place to buy bottle rockets? So far, TNT weighs in with the most expensive of the least expensive bottle rockets at $3.33 a gross and Starr comes in at $2.10 a gross. Anyone know if any of the others beat that?

But it is the KEY to the EASports NCAA Hockey Video game!

Mattson and Forbort will be big time NHL prospects. O'Donnell and Parks will be ?'s. WHat's O'Donnell doing this next season? Is he going to be able to make a jump into a higher level of competition or is he going to stay in AAA or a weak MJHL? Parks made the U-17 and that speaks highly for him but that doesn't mean he's top 2 round talent. I think he'll end up being a lot like Rodwell. He'll go in the 5th, 6th or 7th round. And I deleted my post about the Cubs. Not relelvant. I am sorry folks.

Wow. I think that statement is game. set. match. Screw the documents this country was made from.... Wow. That just blows my mind.

Two Line Pass got the better response though. THey got Paukovich's "cousin" to comment on the article. Oh well. The article is interesting.