sweetshot

Weren't these the rules when the Knights came in? I heard they were going to be different when Seattle enters the league.

"Building an NHL team via the draft" Chuck Fletcher

Maybe there's room for three.

The Flyers have a ton of goalie prospects. They have lots of prospect depth in general. Kahkonen needs to stay in the minors, zero reason to rush him. I know you didn't say that... You two should go get a room.

That's 60% of the teams in the NHL, maybe the Flyers are one of them. Not that it's all that high, but Dubnyk's current trade value is probably as high as it will ever be. The Flyers are very desperate for goaltending and they(GMCF) might give up something to get him. I realize KK is still pretty raw, and we would possibly be bringing him up sooner than we want to. Easier to do with a goalie than a position player as he would be the backup that we could ease in. If we can get something decent for Dubnyk, why not?

Maybe we can work out a deal with the Flyers--they are desperate for goaltending--Dubnyk is expendable IMO. This team isn't going anywhere in the playoffs with or without Dubnyk. We run the table with Stalock and Kappi.

So you think the move to replace the GM was a means to ensure "mediocrity"? I'm not going to disagree with that. Almost a blueprint of what Liepold(the owner) and Fletcher did with the Wild. I think the last time I called Comcast for technical help I ended up talking to somebody in Bangladesh!

IMO the Flyers are mediocre now--my point was keeping the status quo would to me show complacency. Being content with mediocrity is complacency isn't it? They may or may not have been on their way to rising above mediocrity under Hextall. They may or may not be under Fletcher. I don't see Comcast ownership accepting mediocrity. I don't think that short term gratification and forever chasing rainbows is in any way being content with mediocrity. You may end up where you started, but it's done with the intent of putting a better product on the ice.

How is bringing in a new GM an indication of complacency???

No worries.

OR--from an outsider looking in, I'll ask a question--didn't Holmgren prove that he learned a(some) lessons from his actions as GM in Philly by hiring a guy(Hextall) who had a philosophy much different than he had? It may have been his plan when he decided to hire Hextall--ok we'll actually try to build this team thru the draft--much differently than the way I ran things when I was GM and see how it goes. And it went well up to now. The main reason for firing Hextall was that Holmgren felt it was time to get things going some--maybe impatient--maybe not--and at some point figured out that Hextall wasn't going to alter his philosophy whatsoever and wasn't going to be the guy to "take the next step" which Holmgren thought was necessary to speed up the process(or simply to start the next step of what he thought should be included in the process of building a team). Fletcher is a guy that will make things happen, but not to the point of gutting the franchise, because Holmgren won't let that happen because he realizes the team is in good shape talent and cap-wise and so far they have done the right things. He sees that now is the right time to inject some of his philosophy. Don't know if that makes any sense or not--at any rate I think Holmgren is smart enough to realize he can't run this team into the same position they were in at the end of his time as GM. After all, he is a Minnesotan

BB has a poor playoff record with both Washington and Anahiem. 8 years in with 4 first round exits and 3 second round exits, one conference final exit. Both teams consistently at or near the top of the regular season standings.(I think 2 or 3 seasons winning the Presidents trophy) Both teams had one ingredient that IMO you have to have to win the cup--at least one big-time star player--Ovechkin with Washington and Getzlaff with Anahiem. He hasn't done well here either but to his defense the Wild lacks a big-time star--among other things.

Marchand actually started this fight only because he wanted to "kiss and make up" with Eller afterwards.

Philly's young talent in the minors along with a lot of cap space is Chucks wet dream. He'll be like a kid in the candy store. I'm sure he's chomping at the bit to get started!

Bossy had the advantage of playing at a time when the game was more wide open and creative--the puck carrier was given more space back then to do their thing. Nowadays somebody is constantly up in their face.

Nope, not me. Probably about the same age, though. Bossy had the ability to score from just about anywhere at anytime.

Apparently he realized that sometimes a hockey stick is good for multiple uses. Truthfully though, during his era he was an unbelievably clean player. He had 210 penalty minutes in a 10 year career. Shooting percentage tells the story--doesn't matter how pretty he looked. Besides, I would be willing to bet shooting technique hasn't changed much over the years as its a pretty simple motion--the fundamentals today are the same as they ever were.

A truly good guy and deserves whatever he gets. Mike Bossy had a better shot, though.

I don't agree that the Wild has ignored their younger players--they have been giving the young guys more ice time and responsibilities over the past 4-5 years, and they've paid almost all of them. Nino, Dumba, Zucker, Brodin, Granlund have been paid, Spurgeon will be--tells me they are viewed as part of the core of this team. Ek, Greenway, Seeler have moved into the mix and more is going to be expected of them this year. I know some of the old guard is still around, but that doesn't mean they have forgotten who the future of this team is. Yes I know the 4th line could probably start collecting social security. It does appear to me that Fenton and co are more willing to shuffle some of the younger guys from Iowa into the lineup more often than they have been.

All the more reason to accumulate as many draft picks as you can. Maybe the blind squirrel can find an acorn with enough chances.

I believe I've heard more than a couple of posters on this board say probably the main reason the Wild has had limited playoff success is because they don't have enough players(almost none) willing to get their nose into tough places in order to create scoring chances or to simply score. And I agree with you. Come playoff time, the majority of the scoring chances the Wild get are from the perimeter. You can be pretty successful during the regular season playing this way but we all know the playoffs are a different animal. That's probably the reason Parise has had some success scoring in the playoffs--he's willing to get his nose into those tough areas more than his teammates.

IMO it's fairly common across the Hockey world compared to other sports. And it's sometimes annoying how often it happens here. Maybe some of that is due to the fact there is a fair amount of good Hockey players from Minnesota. I don't think teams necessarily go out of their way to sign the home grown talent, but given an equal choice the home town boy will get the nod. Especially here.

I forgot about Anas. Maybe because he's so small. Size notwithstanding, if he has anywhere near the year he had last year, he should definitely be given an opportunity this season IMO. And if the Wild is that concerned about his size, well, why the hell did they sign him? He can look Spurgeon in the eye.

If he's healthy he'll get a chance. Kunin I mean. If the injury bug hits(likely at some point) or they are playing terribly, they don't really have too many other options available.

You're right, there is a lack of any real thoughts given--seemed like a bunch of canned answers to known questions. IMO the production of the program is really terribly done as well. Very boring. The lighting sucks, sound is bad, the layout is weird, looks like they only had about 5 minutes to put the "set" together.