The 2007 NHL Playoffs thread

[Chizip]

yikes, the NHL finals got worse ratings on NBC than the worst rated XFL game

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

yikes, the NHL finals got worse ratings on NBC than the worst rated XFL game

It all you americans fault...

 

[ladywithspinninghead]

yikes, the NHL finals got worse ratings on NBC than the worst rated XFL game

Unlike the U.S. and hockey, I don't know of any major Canadian channel that even broadcasts the NBA finals and no conventional Canadian channel broadcasts the World Series of baseball either (although a deal is pending with CBC) so I guess you guys don't like our sports and we like your sports even less.

 

[Chizip]

Unlike the U.S. and hockey, I don't know of any major Canadian channel that even broadcasts the NBA finals and no conventional Canadian channel broadcasts the World Series of baseball either (although a deal is pending with CBC) so I guess you guys don't like our sports and we like your sports even less.

of course there are only a couple canadian MLB and NBA teams. with the majority of the NHL teams in the USA, ratings like that can not be good for the overall health of the league.

 

[ladywithspinninghead]

The league might not be healthy in the U.S. but it's doing just fine up here - there are 6 Canadian teams in the League and they generate 40% of the overall revenue - if Bettman was to give up on the Sunbelt and focus on centres like Winnipeg, Kitchener, Quebec City, this problem might not exist.

But of course the U.S. is where the money is and Bettman has proven repeatedly this is what guides him, grrr...

 

[RavenBlue]

Well I've heard that a Canadian has bought the Predators I think and is considering moving them to Canada. Where in Canada? Hamilton C'mon! That's farking ridiculous. I'd like to see them put a team back in Winnipeg or maybe try a team in Halifax.

 

[angelordevil]

I'd like to see them put a team back in Winnipeg or maybe try a team in Halifax.

My people are telling me Winnipeg is getting closer to becoming a reality.

Actually, it was Bob McKenzie, on TSN

 

[DaveC]

maybe try a team in Halifax.

too bad it would never work. might as well flush your money down the toilet.

 

[BoMac]

I haven't laughed so hard in quite a while as when I read that last paragraph. He honestly can't be serious?

Yashin back with Senators?

Islanders bought out the aging forward after deeming him untradeable

HUGH ADAMI, CanWest News Service
Published: Sunday, June 10, 2007

Here's a good one that should cheer up Ottawa Senators fans - and maybe even the players - after such a terrible week.

Alexei Yashin would like to play for the Senators again and, God willing, help them win a Stanley Cup championship - something they couldn't do when they went up against the Anaheim Ducks in this spring's Cup final. The Ducks won the NHL championship Wednesday night, taking the best-of-seven series 4-1.

Said Mark Gandler, Yashin's New Jersey-based agent, on Friday: "It would be sweet (for him) to come back and help Ottawa (win the Stanley Cup) ... (and) restore relationships he had there.

"It would be a movie-like type of return."

The thought of playing again for the Senators came after the New York Islanders, the team Yashin was traded to by Ottawa in 2001, bought out the final four years of his contract for $17.6 million U.S.

Yashin signed a 10-year deal with the Islanders prior to the 2001-2002 season, worth $87.5 million. But for the most part, the centre and sometimes winger, who was the team's captain for the last two seasons, was seen as an underachiever on Long Island.

The 33-year-old was bought out this week after the club deemed him untradeable because of the more than $26 million that he would still have been owed on his contract.

Yashin played 346 games for the Islanders. He had 119 goals and 171 assists over five seasons, two in which he suffered serious injuries.

His best season with the Isles was his first, when he had 32 goals and 43 assists. He had 18 goals and 32 assists this season, but missed 24 games with a sprained right knee. He was held pointless in the Islanders' five-game quarterfinal playoff loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

Back during his Ottawa days, when Yashin's game was a lot better (i.e. 44 goals and 50 assists in 1998-99, his best NHL season ever), the Russian became embroiled in three contract disputes. The third was the most bitter and divisive, and the one that eventually led to the trade with the Islanders. As in his previous two battles with the Senators, Yashin felt he deserved more money following the 1998-99 season.

There was one year left on his contract, which would have paid him $3.6 million, but he refused to report to training camp that fall. The team ended up suspending him for the 1999-2000 season, but got him back for 2000-01 after an arbitrator ruled that Yashin had to fulfil the final year of his contract. But following 2000-01, Yashin was traded to the Isles, and in return the Senators got defenceman Zdeno Chara, winger Bill Muckalt and a first-round draft pick
that Ottawa used to choose Jason Spezza.

Gandler said he and his client still have to explore which NHL teams would suit him best, but that Yashin told him: "'I would love to be back in Ottawa.'"

There are many reasons for Yashin's desire to return, said Gandler. He loves the city, has many friends there, the Senators are a great team, and his mother and father, who immigrated to Canada from Russia and eventually became Canadian citizens, still live in the home in suburban Kanata he bought them.

Gandler doesn't think there would be any personality conflicts between his client and current members of the team, including veterans such as Daniel Alfredsson, who replaced Yashin as captain when he went AWL.

"Alexei always said Alfie was a great leader and player," Gandler said.

Let alone what the club thinks about the idea (spokesperson Phil Legault said the club had no comment), how does Gandler see Ottawa fans reacting if somehow a deal were reached for Yashin to return?

No problem, said Gandler.

"Fans (in Ottawa) admired Yashin for standing up and never backing down (from his contract demands)."

Sure they did.

 

[ladywithspinninghead]

*waits for comments about Yashin fitting right in because he, like the other Senators, is an underachiever too*

 

[RavenBlue]

too bad it would never work. might as well flush your money down the toilet.

Oh I know I know... but one can still dream!

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

So I haven't been paying too much attention lately...

What's the deal with the "Hamilton" Predators?

Is this some sort of joke? Cus it's pretty funny if you think about it...