Vanflyer

He forgot to add the fact that we would not have to watch Breezy and ONE more year would be off his books (making a buyout quite reasonable to the Flyers- depending on the new CBA).

I get all the arguments. What I am torn about is does Detroits departure from the West "water" down the talent there? While Detroit has an enormous hockey heritage, during my lifetime they have had two chapters (since I began watching hockey): Late 70's / 80's: Detroit was mediocre most of the time. Note, the 80's saw Iltch purchase the team, but turnaround was 'a slow train coming'. 90's: The russian 5 under Yzermans more tenured helm. Add a bowman here and a lidstrom there. Wala. I think that the management and scouting has shown enormous resiliency over the last 2 decades to allow them to remain an elite team. While as a Flyer fan, it would worry me, as a hockey fan, I would enjoy seeing Detroit play the Bostons, Pitts, NYR and Flyers of the world much more frequently. I lived in Van for 7 years and the Van-Detroit games were always good. Before Vancouver, I moved to Colorado the same year the No-dicks exiled from Quebec to Toronto. Those Colorado-Detroit battles were some of the fiercest I saw in the 90's.

Bryz is the easy choice for me: 1) His contract monetary amount 2) The length 3) His erratic play his first year. I see no sense in buying out Pronger. There is not a doctor in the world that can prove he is not occurring concussion symptoms that prohibit him from playing. There is the contract #'s thing, but that is not compelling enough for me to want to buy him out. I also see no reason to buy out Briere. He has a couple of years left and though many will cite his high dollar, of the three centers available that year (the other two signed for MORE money), Briere has been the best.

Yup. Good point about the Bowman team and so much for my theory that a more veteran-esque team would have greater odds. I would have to go look at the Detroit team, but NJ did have Brodeur in his prime. Trap (though I believe detroit also deployed the left-wing lock at the same time), Niedermeyer, Stevens etc.

Interesting fact there.

Way to derail a thread! Reported- ha On the Detroit being in the East, they have a point, but no more than a point than Columbus. They are nearly identical in longitude positioning. Of course Detroit has the tremendous hockey history. With both teams, it is not so much the division as the conference. As an original 6 team, I get Detroits lament. They envy the significant lower travel of 4 of the other original 5 (NYR, Boston, Montreal and Toronto). But truthfully, Columbus is slightly better positioned (about 30 minutes by plane) on latitudinal positioning. There would be a couple of considerations for me: 1) Columbus- Being financially constrained, their travel expense would be considerably diminished. However, teams like Detroit, upcoming St. Louis, Chicago and Nashville are nothing to be sneezed at as rivalries within one our flight of your home city. 2) Detroit- Being financially rich, the travel does not matter and the teams competiveness would likely increase due to less weariness. You would have to put them in the Northeast: Boston, Toronto, Buffalo, Ottawa and that other team that Habsguy likes. In the end, I would probably let Columbus slide over because of their financial difficulties and they could save some money.

Gotta say that I completely disagree. I tried to read most of your blog (or whomevers blog it was), but it was tough. Marketing is marketing. Even the elite teams do the same thing. Their job is to create buzz for the oppossing team that is coming to town. They should concurrently to that create buzz for the home team (otherwise, there would be no buzz). An organizations marketing teams goal is to sell as many tickets as possible. It comes down to a couple of angles: 1) Favorite angle (is the home team the favorite)- If so, you have to create interest in the lessor team- else people will adopt a "ho hum, it will be a cake walk, why bother going attitude". 2) Underdog angle (is the home team the underdog)- If so, you still have to create interest in the greater team- else people will adopt a "ho hum, we will lose, lets not go attitude". 3) Geographic / Divisional 4) etc. etc. I could go on and on. Right now, Columbus does not really have a "Face" with the departure of Nash. It is much harder to promote the new players- as the fans do not have much familiarity with them. That will change as the year goes on. If I was in marketing, I would put Dubinsky, Bobrovsky, Wiesnewski and Johnson as my four cournerstones of the team from the home team standpoint. I would brand it as a "tough" team to play against. I would show Dubinsky's goals and two-way play and hitting. I would show Johnson and Wiesnewski's hitting and compatible styles and then I would show Brobrovky's great athleticism. I would run that as my home team ad campaign and then promo the other teams stars coming to town.

I am too lazy to do it (actually more too busy with my family and life outside of the NHL to care), but it would be VERY interesting to see the differences in finances over a lockout year, vs. the current NHLPA demands and NHL refusal. I generally know the Forbes annual numbers of some teams pretty well. It would also be interesting to see what clauses are in the TV contracts if there is a lockout- as certainly those contracts are based on an expected viewer % and ad revenue. If I am a betting man, I am going to guess that a lockout year would lose a greater amount of money (revenue, expenses, profits etc), than the money being fought over.

It becomes and asterik cup- which, while all teams compete for the same thing, it is deminished by the marathon that is the NHL season and the NHL playoffs. The playoff games would presumably be the same, but the attrition that occurs during the season would be different- yet equal playing ground for all team. I tend to think that an older veteran team with balance and good goaltending would become a higher favorite than a younger team with good goaltending.

Wondering why it would be limited to just two people? I understand the first go around as it was an up and coming site, but with some other teams members here, it could be fun to get more than just a Flyers / Habs slant (as informed as those may be).

Is that a beer belly I see? I thought they were drinking Bush LIGHT???

Do you think that is Busch he is drinking out of Lord Stanley's cup??

Hextall did not need to be Barasso or ..... He only needed to be himself. It was all about money.

Dushene, Recci, Rechi, Brind'Amour, Foresberg (in his young prime), Hextall (better than what Pitts had to win0). Rechi goes for Leclaire and Desjardin. We would contend.

Agreed. Pinochio. pFFT.

The Rangers or Nord / Avs?? The Pens had the studs, but you put all the players that the Flyers traded PLUS draft picks, the Flyers have at least on cup.

I think in the later 90's, as injuries started piling up, Lindros learned how to conserve energy. The thing is that it is much more noticeable with a player like like him- particularly given his early years, because you come to expect him to lead the charge EVERY game. If Lindros had Giroux's parents, we would be talking about how nice to see him play out his swan song season with 2-3 cups (as an Av of course). We (as Flyers fans), would also be talking about- do you remember how great those 90's Flyers teams were with Ricci, Forsberg and Brind'Amour as our monster centers and winning the cup with Hextall in net.

He wasn't as streaky as you think. In the later 90's, I remember him taking nights off and coasting. But from 93-97, he was a monster. You also have to remember for much of that time, the team was a one line team. Even if Lindros did not show up on the score sheet, he provided space and time for LeClair and Renberg. Lemieux was in a league of his own when it came to size, strength and finesse. Yet, you would never confuse Lindros size and strength and hitting for Lemieux. That was the dimension that Lindros had that Lemieux did not- or choose not to invoke. On the speed thing, see my games off comment above. They did not call him the E-train just because he would plow you over. It was also because he did not have the best 1-2 step, but when he hit step three and then over drive, he could pull away from nearly anyone in the league.

I really like Cam as well. What he did in the early nineties- on the bum hip, was nothing short of miraculous. Cam was the quentissential PF, yet Lindros was the beast. Cam played the balanced game and knew what to do when. Lindros, when mad, was a runaway and would just take over the game. He looked like a man playing with boys- when he wanted to.

Amazing that he was so docile off the ice / locker room. You are right. He was an animal. All the family / contract bs aside, when on the ice, in the 90's, there was not a better power forward. His strenght was unmeasured. I remember watching a physical endurance gym test with him at the beginning of training camp in 94 or 95. He benched pressed 225lbs for 35 reps- non stop. No BS.

Maybe even 5 lbs. I agree with the skating. And truthfully, I would want 5 lbs of those in his legs and the other 5 upper body. He is a rail. Maybe 8 lbs would be enough (split). I don't want a Brashear, but the way he plays, a bit more muscle / strength would propel him to greater endurance. His tenacity is already there. His foot speed is pretty good, but it is his reaction timing that impresses me.

While tall in stature, he is a bit light, but plays larger than his pounds. If anyone could get him 10 lbs of muscle heavier, he could be a really nice power forward to compliment Jakub.

That was my point too. Stevens played excellent 70 - 90 foot hockey, but the last time I checked an NHL rink is 200 feet long. His +/- is attributed to the fact that the majority of his points were scored on the PP. Lemieux was his center for Stevens prime years and posted a +88 during the same 4 years. It tells you everything you need to know about Stevens.

Line 1 / 2 + allot of money.

Did you ever see what Johnny did with his stick to make those in-close shots? How he could even pass the puck with that stick, let alone make a monster slap shot is beyond me!