NHL 2012-2013: Tentative deal early Sunday January 6

NHL realignment has been finalized:

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The Leafs are now in a 7-team division with Florida and Tampa Bay. Kind of weird, but I suppose probably increases our playoff chances on the whole. I like that playoffs now will be within the division for the first couple rounds, meaning more series between rivals, but I can already hear the complaints from teams in strong divisions who are locked out of the playoffs while weaker division teams are getting in.

Despite it not making geographic sense, I see Tampa/Florida in our conference for two reasons:

1) Tampa/Florida get a lot more traction out of MTL games, and probably to a lesser extent Ottawa and TO games, due to all the snowbirds down there. That's why the Habs go down there for Christmas every year, to get huge ticket sales from everyone visiting their families in FLA. They don't really have established rivalries with anyone in CONF.D, so why not.

2) CONF. D is all pretty much composed of good regional rivals, and it makes sense for those teams to all be together, so no big deal lumping Tampa/FLA in CONF C.

Tampa and Florida are counting on the snowbird ticket sales. Boston, Toronto and Montreal are all known for filling the Florida and Tampa arenas with their fans. I know when Toronto plays in Florida especially, it's not weird to hear "Go Leafs Go" chants in the crowd. It's fun, because the Florida fans sometimes try to shout them down with their own cheers - it improves the atmosphere. Kind of like when the Leafs play in Buffalo and Ottawa.

Hurray, I hated having to stay up later so much for divisional games.

iaintgotnopants wrote:

Hurray, I hated having to stay up later so much for divisional games.

That's where we'll end up. Over half the new conference looks like it's on PST, which means lots of games that run late into the night. Ah well, not like I get to watch hockey anymore, anyway.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
iaintgotnopants wrote:

Hurray, I hated having to stay up later so much for divisional games.

That's where we'll end up. Over half the new conference looks like it's on PST, which means lots of games that run late into the night. Ah well, not like I get to watch hockey anymore, anyway.

Most Ducks games are at 7pm local time. Sunday Ducks games are at 6pm local time. All Vancouver games are at 7pm too. That leaves Kings and Sharks with 7:30 start times.

Add an hour to all of those for me. Those are some late-running games, or else I'm just old.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Add an hour to all of those for me. Those are some late-running games, or else I'm just old.

Kings games end around 10pm. You can't stay up until 11pm a few times a year? Sometimes I do that if I am out and record the games and start watching the game late. No problem if it is a good game.

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The NY Times finished its three-part retrospective of Derek Boogaard's life and death this past weekend, following Boston University's findings of an extreme case of CTE in Boogaard's brain.

If you don't have time to read all three parts, I'd suggest at least the last one:

Derek Boogaard: A Boy Learns to Brawl

Derek Boogaard: Blood on the Ice

Derek Boogaard: A Brain Going Bad

What a horrible story.

MLSE has been sold to Rogers and Bell. Suck.

There was a rumour going around earlier that Rogers was going to buy the Leafs, but apparently the price tag was too high. So I guess Rogers' telecom rival Bell came to the rescue? $1.32 billion purchase.

This purchase is clearly Rogers positioning Sportsnet and Bell positioning TSN against the CBC. I think it's pretty clear they're going to use this purchase to negotiate a good deal for their own sports networks. This is a heavy blow against HNIC because (despite the complaints you always hear) showing the Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada is easily CBC's best source of ratings and you know that the price tag for showing Leafs games on CBC just went way up. I wouldn't be surprised to see CBC have to cut back their Leafs broadcasts severely. Sportsnet's hockey broadcast is the worst of the three, too. Barely better than Leafs TV. TSN is okay, but if this means I have to listen to more Pierre McGuire...

Ugh.. I really dislike those two companies, and now they own my favourite team. And I actually really like HNIC.

I'm probably not even seeing the worst side of this. I'm sure there'll be Leafs tie-ins for phones on Rogers and Bell networks, other stuff like that...

Holy crap, we just dumped Kaberle on the Habs. Sorry, Montreal.

Banging my head against my desk as we speak. Hey, let's trade for Wade Redden, too!

Well, hey, at least my team isn't now owned by the two most evil companies in Canada.

Bell and Rogers now co-own a major entertainment and sports company with MAJOR implications on their respective businesses. But they would never collude on internet/wireless pricing or practices, nooooo........

Bastards.

I actually like the concept of the trade (Spacek has had trouble staying healthy, the powerplay is woeful, contracts haven't been difficult to move if you aren't looking for a return in the off-season). It also terrifies me because Kaberle's even-strength metrics are woeful and have been unimpressive for the 2 seasons previous.

If Montreal can use him along the lines of what MA Bergeron, Erhoff and Leino got last season (a tonne of offensive zone faceoffs) it could work out well. If Kaberle is asked to play the toughest matchups alongside Subban it's going to look bad even if Kaberle improves. Very risky trade.

Re: BCE/Rogers purchase of the Leafs. BCE was (is?) a minority owner in the Habs. I wonder if the NHL required them to sell or they decided to continue with the old-boys club minority and do nothing about it.

Roke wrote:

I actually like the concept of the trade (Spacek has had trouble staying healthy, the powerplay is woeful, contracts haven't been difficult to move if you aren't looking for a return in the off-season). It also terrifies me because Kaberle's even-strength metrics are woeful and have been unimpressive for the 2 seasons previous.

Contracts haven't been difficult to move? Maybe not...if you're making a trade WITH Montreal. Seriously, Kaberle for 4.5 million until 2014? This has Scott Gomez part 2 written all over it.
It's to the point where I'm almost ready to shelve the Habs until 2015 when we've gotten rid of these contracts, and hopefully this coach and GM too.

Sportsnet does do better Vancouver broadcasts, IMO. In that the commentators can actually pronounce our players' names.

Dysplastic wrote:
Roke wrote:

I actually like the concept of the trade (Spacek has had trouble staying healthy, the powerplay is woeful, contracts haven't been difficult to move if you aren't looking for a return in the off-season). It also terrifies me because Kaberle's even-strength metrics are woeful and have been unimpressive for the 2 seasons previous.

Contracts haven't been difficult to move? Maybe not...if you're making a trade WITH Montreal. Seriously, Kaberle for 4.5 million until 2014? This has Scott Gomez part 2 written all over it.
It's to the point where I'm almost ready to shelve the Habs until 2015 when we've gotten rid of these contracts, and hopefully this coach and GM too.

Brian Rolston, Brian Campbell, Daymond Langkow, Michal Rosival, and Andrej Meszaros are some other recent ones that come to mind.

Unless he has a resurgence to pre-Wilson Toronto form I don't see Kaberle with the Habs beyond this season. Teams are always looking for defensemen, especially ones that can put up points.

Overall I'm probably not a fan of the trade but at least they didn't do something like give up actual assets for a guy like Jack Johnson. At the worst they gave up Jaroslav Spacek or a Spacek-calibre player who isn't broken down (and more effective on the powerplay) and some contract risk.

As for Gomez, unless the Habs can't acquire players in the off-season this will be his last season as a Hab even though the Habs have seen a drop-off the two times he's been injured this year.

Roke wrote:

Brian Rolston, Brian Campbell, Daymond Langkow, Michal Rosival, and Andrej Meszaros are some other recent ones that come to mind.

I'm not going to break these down individually, but I'll just say that I disagree with you about the similarities between the situation of these players and that of Kaberle.

Unless he has a resurgence to pre-Wilson Toronto form I don't see Kaberle with the Habs beyond this season. Teams are always looking for defensemen, especially ones that can put up points.

Kaberle used to put up points. All he's shown with Boston and Carolina is that he can't do that anymore, and is a minus player to boot. Assuming he doesn't have a resurgence, just what team do you think will take him? If teams are looking for defencemen that can put up points, and Kaberle doesn't put up points with Montreal, (A very likely scenario) we're stuck with him!

Overall I'm probably not a fan of the trade but at least they didn't do something like give up actual assets for a guy like Jack Johnson. At the worst they gave up Jaroslav Spacek or a Spacek-calibre player who isn't broken down (and more effective on the powerplay) and some contract risk.

It's not SOME contract risk. It's a LOT of contract risk, especially when you have Gomez on the books, and have to re-sign Price, Subban, and Pacioretty.

As for Gomez, unless the Habs can't acquire players in the off-season this will be his last season as a Hab even though the Habs have seen a drop-off the two times he's been injured this year.

Gomez is signed through 2014, with a cap hit of 7.35 million. How exactly will this be his last season as a Hab?

Also, Pierre McGuire isn't on TSN unless it's for the Juniors or World Cup. He's got a no-compete contract with ESPN.

Vector wrote:

Also, Pierre McGuire isn't on TSN unless it's for the Juniors or World Cup. He's got a no-compete contract with ESPN.

Some halfway good news.

Kaberle - ah, Kaberle. I'm not missing him much now, with Liles stepping into his role so well. Kaberle had some excellent qualities in Toronto that let him put up decent numbers with some pretty bad teams. I don't think he's a complete write-off today, though granted I didn't see much of him in Carolina. Perhaps going back to a pressure-cooker Canadian atmosphere in Montreal will be good for him. He has enough talent that I think he's worth the risk. Giving up Spacek isn't so bad.

I think Roke is predicting that Gomez will be put on waivers and buried in the AHL. He doesn't have a NMC, right? You can get him off the cap at least.

Oh Pierre Mcguire. I don't miss him, but I can't think of a decent hockey colour commentator. Dick Irvin wasn't bad if you didn't mind the Hab-ness and only cared about score, penalty updates, and historical tidbits. I think broadcasters would do well to have colour commentators speak a lot less, such as only when the play-by-play guy misses something that's happening.

nihilo wrote:

I think Roke is predicting that Gomez will be put on waivers and buried in the AHL. He doesn't have a NMC, right? You can get him off the cap at least.

Gomez has a 3-team No-trade clause and his salary for the next two seasons drops $2 million and then $3 million below his cap hit. The worst thing that happens is you bury him in the AHL but with general scarcity at centre and the free cap dollars his contract might be appetizing for a penny-pinching owner or a team in bankruptcy (though Dallas should be out of bankruptcy and with a new owner sucker by then). The CBA could dramatically change by then though but at the end of the season Gomez is expendable, as he was this past off-season if you can improve the team or his salary finally becomes a millstone.

I'm not too concerned about the Habs' cap situation though. The only team that got rid of players of the calibre and age of Subban and Pacioretty because of their cap situation was Philadelphia with Richards and Carter. They did that for perceived character issues that had little effect on-ice and giving a league-average goaltender an insane contract.. I don't see Price, Subban, and Gorges getting more than $14 million combined this summer and I think that's at the high end.

2 assists out of good ol'Kaberle today. Good first impression, I'd say.

nihilo wrote:

2 assists out of good ol'Kaberle today. Good first impression, I'd say.

His last few games with the 'Canes were halfway decent, albeit maybe not $4 million decent... But the 20-something games before it? Not so much. I just hope this trade works out for both sides.

He was also on the ice for the NJ goal, with a weak play on the shooter in the slot. But yes, he definitely brought some life to the PP, which is what he's there to do. Time will tell if he can do it consistently over the next three years, without being a defensive liability, and earn his 4.5 mill.

I remember this making the rounds on the net a while back, but it was recently re-tweeted by one of the Hurricanes players:

Not just a cool video, but beautifully shot. Neat stuff.

Guess Crosby is going to be out some more games. Seeing him answer those interview questions was tough. He's in the prime of his life and can't do what he's grown up dreaming and worked for.

It is official, the Kings fire Terry Murray. John Stevens as interim. Management catch up to fan sentiment.

The Kings have been playing boring hockey almost all season. They are underachievers compared to their talent. The slowest starters in all the NHL. They may play 20 minutes of good intense hockey a game and sometimes not even that.

I haven't had a chance to follow the NHL this year. I was shocked when I saw where LA was at. Richards, Johnson, Doughty, Kopitar, Williams, Penner, Gagne, Brown, and Stoll. That's a deep and intimidating line-up (although they are a bit too slow for my liking). Should be battling for the Confetence title.

The Jets are f*cking dirty.

That win against Carolina last night was badly needed. Cam Ward was excellent in net, but the Leafs really dominated play for pretty much the whole game. If Ward had stole that one for the Canes, it would have really sucked. To the Leafs credit, they stuck to their game even after 50 minutes of getting stoned by Ward and didn't try to force the issue. At the start of the third it really felt like eventually something would have to go in, and it was a big relief to finally see it happen. Always dangerous to let a weaker team stick around like that though.

A little win streak this week would go a long way to making me feel more comfortable with the Leafs at this point in the season. The league is extremely tight, and there are 5 teams ready to climb over the Leafs in the standings if Toronto lets their game slip.