WordsOfWisdom

Is there any point in me posting here any more? Even when I'm on point, and I present an important topic of interest, I get almost zero support from the members here. The people who reply to my post just to sh_t on it are the ones receiving all the likes. Look at the first three posts in this thread: Ask yourself the question (be honest): If this thread had been started by TropicalFruitGirl, Podein, Pilldoc, or basically anyone else but me, that first post gets a respectable reply and probably has 20 likes by now doesn't it? I think I get the message. Nobody wants me here, so I will say goodbye.

I still can't believe the team the Ottawa Senators had back in 2006..... and how they pissed it all away with a series of bizarre moves. The Senators had Heatley, Spezza, Alfredsson, Chara, and Hasek.

Apparently. Whenever I get bored I watch the live feed for a few minutes. I think the NHL's first "make a statement" moment will come at the 2022 entry draft. It'll be interesting to see what happens. I give it a 25% probability that public outcry forces the NHL to remove Russian players from the upcoming NHL draft. I give it a 50% probability that Putin bans players from leaving the country, making the above point moot. I give it a 25% probability that life goes on as normal with no change to the status quo.

Fun Fact: Vitali Klitschko is the mayor of Kyiv in Ukraine. This Vitali Klitschko:

True, but prior to 1990 they weren't allowed to come over at all. My sense is that Russian players will be in the same situation again very shortly (if things don't improve). Plus, even if it doesn't happen, what will the environment be like for Russian players in North America going forward? Will we have situations where American-Ukrainian hockey fans are throwing rocks at the Russian players? Will it become a safety issue for the Russian players to play in hostile territory (or will the NHL be a safe-space where fans don't care)? Will the public put pressure on the NHL to ban them? We know how powerful the public is. *IF* *IF* *IF* *IF* *IF* *IF* (can't stress that word enough) the public threatened to boycott the NHL unless Russian players were banned, we all know the Russians would be banned overnight, purely in the name of PR, no matter what their contract says. The public wields ultimate power over the NHL and its decisions. It could (THEORETICALLY) change just that quickly. I'm NOT saying that it will and I'm NOT saying that it should.

2022 Draft Prospect Rankings EUROPEAN SKATERS Midterm Rank ↑ Player Height Weight Position Last Amateur Club League 1 KEMELL, JOAKIM 5' 11" 171 RIGHT WING JYP FINLAND 2 SLAFKOVSKY, JURAJ 6' 4" 218 LEFT WING TPS FINLAND 3 YUROV, DANILA 6' 1" 178 RIGHT WING MAGNITOGORSK RUSSIA 4 JIRICEK, DAVID 6' 3" 189 DEFENSEMAN PLZEN CZREP 5 LAMBERT, BRAD 6' 0" 175 CENTER PELICANS FINLAND 6 NEMEC, SIMON 6' 0" 190 DEFENSEMAN NITRA SLOVAKIA 7 KASPER, MARCO 6' 1" 183 CENTER ROGLE SWEDEN 8 MIROSHNICHENKO, IVAN 6' 1" 185 LEFT WING OMSK KRYLIA RUSSIA-2 9 LEKKERIMAKI, JONATHAN 5' 10" 165 RIGHT WING DJURGARDEN JR. SWEDEN-JR. 10 PEREVALOV, ALEXANDER 6' 0" 191 LEFT WING YAROSLAVL 2 RUSSIA-JR. 11 OHGREN, LIAM 6' 0" 187 LEFT WING DJURGARDEN SWEDEN 12 TRIKOZOV, GLEB 6' 1" 185 LEFT WING OMSK 2 RUSSIA-JR. 13 ODELIUS, CALLE 5' 11" 185 DEFENSEMAN DJURGARDEN JR. SWEDEN-JR. 14 BICHSEL, LIAN 6' 5" 216 DEFENSEMAN LEKSAND SWEDEN 15 MESAR, FILIP 5' 10" 167 RIGHT WING POPRAD SLOVAKIA 16 BYSTEDT, FILIP 6' 2" 187 CENTER LINKOPING JR. SWEDEN-JR. 17 DOLZHENKOV, KIRILL 6' 6" 234 RIGHT WING CSKA 2 RUSSIA-JR. 18 SALIN, OTTO 5' 11" 187 DEFENSEMAN HIFK JR. FINLAND-JR. 19 NYMAN, JANI 6' 3" 212 RIGHT WING KOOVEE FINLAND-2 20 KASKIMAKI, ALEKSANTERI 6' 0" 181 CENTER HIFK JR. FINLAND-JR. 21 SALOMONSSON, ELIAS 6' 0" 172 DEFENSEMAN SKELLEFTEA JR. SWEDEN-JR. 22 KULICH, JIRI 6' 0" 172 CENTER KARLOVY VARY CZREP 23 DUDA, ARTEM 6' 1" 187 DEFENSEMAN CSKA 2 RUSSIA-JR. 24 SUZDALEV, ALEXANDER 6' 2" 172 LEFT WING HV 71 JR. SWEDEN-JR. 25 OSTLUND, NOAH 5' 11" 163 CENTER DJURGARDEN JR. SWEDEN-JR. 26 WAGNER, FABIAN 5' 11" 170 CENTER LINKOPING JR. SWEDEN-JR. 27 NEUCHEV, VIKTOR 6' 2" 165 LEFT WING YEKATERINBURG 2 RUSSIA-JR. 28 KULONUMMI, KASPER 6' 0" 178 DEFENSEMAN JOKERIT JR. FINLAND-JR. 29 RONNI, TOPI 6' 2" 179 CENTER TAPPARA JR. FINLAND-JR. 30 JANSSON, LUDVIG 6' 0" 176 DEFENSEMAN SODERTALJE SWEDEN-2 31 KOROMYSLOV, ARSENI 6' 3" 180 DEFENSEMAN SKA ST. PETERSBURG 2 RUSSIA-JR. 32 ORLOV, DANIIL 6' 2" 180 DEFENSEMAN YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK 2 RUSSIA-JR. 33 LUTZ, JULIAN 6' 2" 185 LEFT WING MUNCHEN GERMANY 34 MUROMTSEV, ALEXANDR 6' 3" 176 CENTER BELARUS U18 BELARUS-2 35 MORAVEC, DAVID 6' 1" 189 DEFENSEMAN ML. BOLESLAV CZREP 36 SYKORA, ADAM 5' 10" 172 LEFT WING NITRA SLOVAKIA 37 FORSMARK, SIMON 6' 2" 191 DEFENSEMAN OREBRO JR. SWEDEN-JR. 38 SAVIKOV, YEGOR 5' 10" 170 DEFENSEMAN SPARTAK RUSSIA 39 MATIKKA, MIKO 6' 3" 187 RIGHT WING JOKERIT JR. FINLAND-JR. 40 GRUDININ, VLADIMIR 5' 10" 158 DEFENSEMAN CSKA 2 RUSSIA-JR. 41 SOTEK, ALEX 6' 0" 176 RIGHT WING BRATISLAVA SLOVAKIA 42 HAMARA, TOMAS 6' 0" 185 DEFENSEMAN TAPPARA JR. FINLAND-JR. 43 HAVELID, MATTIAS 5' 9" 165 DEFENSEMAN LINKOPING JR. SWEDEN-JR. 44 PERSSON, LUDWIG 6' 0" 178 LEFT WING FROLUNDA JR. SWEDEN-JR. 45 KHVOROV, NIKOLAI 6' 0" 168 RIGHT WING OMSK 2 RUSSIA-JR. 46 BLEDNOV, NIKITA 5' 11" 165 RIGHT WING GORNYAK UCHALY RUSSIA-2 47 BUCHELNIKOV, DMITRI 5' 10" 163 LEFT WING SKA ST. PETERSBURG 2 RUSSIA-JR. 48 SYCHOV, VLADIMIR 5' 11" 156 LEFT WING SKA ST. PETERSBURG 2 RUSSIA-JR. 49 HAUF, LUCA 5' 11" 180 CENTER KREFELD GERMANY 50 PINKAS, MATEJ 6' 2" 190 DEFENSEMAN HR. KRALOVE JR. CZREP-JR. EUROPEAN GOALIES Midterm Rank ↑ Player Height Weight Position Last Amateur Club League 1 LEINONEN, TOPIAS 6' 4" 214 GOALIE JYP JR. FINLAND-JR. 2 BLOMQUIST, IAN 6' 2" 183 GOALIE VASTERAS JR. SWEDEN-JR. 3 SPUNAR, JAN 6' 3" 185 GOALIE OLOMOUC JR. CZREP-JR. 4 AREFYEV, MAXIM 6' 4" 183 GOALIE YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK 2 RUSSIA-JR. 5 MEZSARGS, KARLIS 6' 2" 185 GOALIE RIGA 2 RUSSIA-JR. 6 GUSKOV, YEGOR 5' 11" 200 GOALIE YAROSLAVL 2 RUSSIA-JR. 7 SCHNATTINGER, MICHAEL 6' 0" 176 GOALIE BRNO JR. CZREP-JR. 8 KOKKO, NIKLAS 6' 3" 184 GOALIE KARPAT JR. FINLAND-JR. 9 HAVELID, HUGO 5' 10" 170 GOALIE LINKOPING JR. SWEDEN-JR. 10 SWEDIN, LUKAS 5' 6" 143 GOALIE HV 71 JR. SWEDEN-JR. These are the kinds of players who face an uphill battle if they ever want to play in the NHL. I think NHL teams will shy away from drafting Russian players to avoid the risk of political interference denying them of a draft pick.

If that's true then @flyercanuck will be pleased to know that there's finally something I DON'T like about Ovechkin. In any event, I don't think it will ever come down to an NHL-level decision. Given the choice, the NHL sees only $$$. If a Russian player kills 100 Ukrainian civilians and collects their heads in his basement, the NHL and its agents will welcome him with open arms into the league and try to draft him if he's the next Mogilny/Ovechkin level player. Most likely, the ban will come from Russia, just like it did before. That would be Putin's way of punishing hockey fans in North America. Sort of like retaliatory "sanctions".

Correct. I'm merely discussing what it means for the NHL if it happens. We are rapidly returning to a world that is much like it was in the 1980's when Russian people were barred from leaving the country. Attempting to leave Russia (USSR) back then meant you were declared a traitor and would be killed. There's an entire documentary on the extraordinary lengths that NHL agents had to go to in order to smuggle Alexander Mogilny out of Russia (USSR) so he could play in the NHL. Players like Mogilny, Bure, and others would routinely receive death threats from Russia for defecting, even years after the fact. I'm guessing players like Ovechkin became US citizens years ago, so would be unaffected by this. The effect is going to be hardest felt on rookie players coming from Russia. (They will likely be barred from leaving.) Plus it will affect any sort of agreement between NHL and KHL, movement of players back and forth from those leagues, international competitions of any sort, and of course Russian players won't be able to send money home to Russia. They will have their bank accounts frozen and the transactions monitored.

When I said banned, I'm referring to them either not being allowed to leave Russia OR them being banned from North America altogether. (As in, passport revoked.) It's not ME banning anyone and it's not what *I* want. I'm just dealing facts. This is very likely going to happen. I'm just the first one to post about it. Do you really think Russian players are going to be able to come here and earn millions of dollars when their leader and their nation is enemy #1 on the world stage right now? Thus, let's discuss what the NHL would look like without any Russian players in it. ie: How many are there, which teams are most affected, who stands to lose the most by not playing, etc..... Russian players who converted to being US citizens are obviously not affected, although their bank accounts will be (if they try to send any of that money home).

I realize this would have been an unthinkable topic oh about a week ago, but times have changed. The Iron Curtain is back. Putin is reforming the USSR, and that means Russian born players will no longer be allowed to play in the NHL, the same as it was before prior to ~1989. For those who need a quick history lesson: Players like Alexander Mogilny were the first to defect from the Soviet Union. There wouldn't be an Alex Ovechkin today if it weren't for players like that in the past. Side note: This is not a thread about politics. It's about hockey. This thread is about the implications on the NHL in what will quite likely be a league without Russian players any more. Perhaps for decades. Whether they get banned by the Canadian government, the American government, or the Russian government. Any one of those three could block their ability to play in the NHL with the swipe of a pen. Economic sanctions include preventing Russians from getting wealthy off of our dollars. Russian made Vodka was recently banned in Ontario (as in today). All Russian companies have been banned from operating here. Believe me when I say this is very likely to happen. It's not fantasy.

I figured a thread on "Popular Canadian Travel Destinations" would have been fun too. But I am doing my best to keep it to hockey. Honest!

Sssh! We can't talk about it.

Can we just acknowledge that it has been a rare thing (until very recently) and smash that LIKE button?

I'm convinced that closing the NHL arenas to fans once again has spawned the Freedom Convoy. Never underestimate how angry Canadian hockey fans can get with no hockey.

Well without fans being allowed into the arena it's comparable to the hockey market in Carolina or Phoenix. Two years is not what I call "temporary". We went through an entire season of no fans in the building. Prior to that we went through the playoffs without fans. Now, at the midway point of year 3, we've gone a month without fans allowed in the building again... with no end in sight. The NHL has tried to stall for time by having the Cdn teams play all their road games now, but the teams are still behind in the schedule, have a ton of games to make up, and there's no indication that our stupid government is going to allow fans into the building again. At some point the players will leave, and ultimately the teams will leave. I'm sure the ultimatum letter from MLSE to the government is being typed up right now: "Dear (Government Official Name), we can no longer operate a profitable business here in Canada due to the restrictions your government has imposed on our customers. Therefore, we regret to inform you that if the restrictions are not lifted by (insert date) then we will have no other alternative but to relocate our operations to the United States."

Not sure who the first player will be, but the breaking point is surely getting close. Case in point: Auston Matthews just enjoyed a hatless hat-trick. A "home" game in Toronto... in front of an empty building per the usual covid restrictions. Sooner or later, a star player is going to protest these mandates by demanding a trade to a team with no crowd restrictions. I'm just wondering who is going to be first. Fans in Canada are missing out on seeing the two best goal scorers to play for Canadian teams since... Wayne Gretzky and Guy Lafleur?

I was being humorous with my original comment, but there is truth to it. If Saint John's got an NHL team they would probably close down all other public services (police, schools, hospital, etc.) to pay for it and people would be okay with it. Fans would take out a second mortgage on their house to pay the $2400 ticket prices.

I'm curious why more American teams don't relocate to Canada. It's a lot less stressful to run an NHL team when you know that win or lose, the arena will be full. Hamilton Flyers anyone? You could go 0-82-0 and the city will build you a 20,000 seat arena (fully paid for by taxpayers) and it'll be full from now until the end of time. Even after all the ice melts and the human race has gone extinct, that arena in Hamilton will be sitting there underwater filled with 20,000 human skeletons sitting in the seats anxiously waiting to cheer for their 0-82-0 team.

My thoughts on the Flyers are that you guys are hurt by your own success. You win just enough (and recently enough) that the GM can't blow things up. You're going through that "9th place" phase that the Leafs went through about 15 years ago where they were just competitive enough to give false hope and prevent the team from rebuilding.

Taking a run at the Penguins/Sabres record? Make it happen! Is this why the forum has been so quiet lately? If you can't have this you can always do this If it makes you feel any better, the Leafs have a great team that hardly ever plays and that nobody in Toronto is allowed to watch. So long story short, it doesn't matter whether your team wins or loses.... if you can't watch the @$&% games due to covid.

The best part about the NHL not going to the Olympics is that now I can watch hockey during what would have been the Olympic break, instead of being forced to watch the Olympics on TV. It's perfect. I'm boycotting the Olympics (by not watching them) because of where they're located, so having the NHL running a crap ton of games during that time slot is perfect.

I love how this thread just totally died after my China post. Then it says "4 weeks later..." before the next post. rofl

Yes, that's my mic!

LIES! ALL LIES!!! (Sorry, Austin Powers movie reference lol.) I specifically went with the city only and not the surrounding area for every city I listed for simplicity sake! (Otherwise Hamilton gets to count the entire GTA as well and that cancels your 8.5M real quick.) Just SMASH that LIKE button! They sent the Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix to become the biggest and longest standing flop in NHL history. Imagine if the NHL had: Left the Jets in Winnipeg Left the Nordiques in Quebec Left the North Stars in Minnesota Left the Whalers in Hartford Expanded into Colorado instead of putting a second team in Florida (Panthers) Expanded into Seattle instead of putting a team in Phoenix Expanded into Hamilton instead of putting a team in Nashville Expanded into Markham instead of putting a team in Carolina Now.... you tell me which NHL you would rather have. That would be a powerhouse, revenue-generating monster of an NHL. Ontario would be a battleground of teams (Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Markham). The battle of Quebec would be alive and well. You still get your expansion into places like Colorado, Columbus, but all the teams are mostly kept northward in a hockey climate where hockey culture is a thing.