the max

at least you can rest easy knowing that kind of attitude will never flow into the Bruins. Players will most likely always take a paycut to get the fuck out Good one? Chara took less money to go to Boston. So did Savard. Ryder just picked the Bruins over five other teams who were going after him hard.

My defense is complete. Nicklas Lidstrom-Brad Park Mark Howe-Ken Morrow Steve Duchesne-Stefan Persson

I'm indifferent to them all.

Was going to take Ramsey but decided to fill out my defense. Good pick.

Sarcasm obv.

Never got a PM from Goblin...let's step it up folkies. After you make your pick, send a PM to the next guy. It's not hard and it might help us get this thing done before October. Anyways, my next pick is astonishingly still available. One of the toughest motherfuckers to ever lace the skates, one of the most feared players along the wall, had a good scoring touch but if you so much as breathed on Bobby Orr or Phil Esposito the wrong way, you'd have him coming after you looking to chat about it. He scored 20+ goals eight times in his career, finishing with 277 on his career to go along with 516 assists. He was a part of one of the greatest lines in Boston Bruins history, Cashman-Hodge-Esposito, which was dominant and helped bring the Bruins two Cups. He was also a member of Team Canada at the 1972 Summit Series. Niskie's probably going to kick my ass, but folks, Wayne Cashman. LW. Next pick, under the radar but a quietly good defenseman. He set the NHL record for assists as a defenseman in his rookie year with 50, was a main cog on the deadly Islanders powerplay. Defensively, he wasn't a bonecrusher but could certainly play his position well. He finished with 369 points from the blueline in only nine seasons. In the playoffs, he was still a good player finishing with 57 points in 102 games. Internationally, before he came to the States he was good for 145 points in 276 games in the Swedish leagues, playing until the age of 35. Ladies and germs, Stefan Persson. D.

Nifty was going to be one of my picks this round.

The more I think about the Ryder signing the more I like it. We saw fucking ridiculous contracts signed yesterday. Simular players to Ryder got simular money. Cory Stillman got a 3/10.3 deal (little over 3.5 million). Radim Vrbata got a 3/9 deal. Ryder has two 30 goal seasons to his name, has played well under Julien at every level (Julien has coached him in the QMJHL, AHL and NHL) and was miserable under Carbonneau. He went from a 2.95 million player to 4 million, which considering that he was on the open market is not that bad of a raise in pay. I'm sure going to the arch rival of his former team will help motivate him as well as trying to shut up the people who thought he was done last year. Plus, he's only signed for three years. I'd rather roll the dice with Ryder for three years then be stuck with Redden's corpse for six, or be overpaying Brian Campbell by about 25 million dollars for the next eight years. Add in that Ryder will get to play with a top five centerman and that he can actually skate and I'm really liking it. Just change the number, Mike. No more 73.

The holdup was for Michael Ryder. Ryder is a Bruin. 3/12.

If what we've seen so far is the going rate on players (especially defensemen) I hope Chiarelli has already gone home. As it is though, he had a conference call set up with various media types that has now been postponed for almost four hours. Either he's kept them all on hold just to see if he could or he has something to announce.

The Islanders sign Streit to 5/20.5 contract. One would assume that they're hoping he can bolster their powerplay, but then one would assume that if that were true, Streit would come with Markov and Kovalev.

Auld is a very good backup though. He had a 2.32/.919 with 2 shutouts with the Bruins.

Redden to the Rags for 6/39.5. AHAHAHAHAHAHA

They'll be regretting that in two years. In related news, Marian Hossa just put the down payment on a rocket car and solid gold house. Campbell somehow fleecing 7.1 million out of Chicago and Rolston being paid 5 million a year until he's 39, Hossa could feasibly take the max (ha ha) contract 11.3 million.

LOL @ Campbell being a 7.1 million dollar player. I think we'll be hearing from Czech a bit more in the regular season.

I just rely on JJ. Once I see him make a pick I know it's my turn. Seriously, we need to get better about the PM stuff. As ridiculous as the 8 hour rule is, it helps move things along. I have a list of players to pick that I'm moving off of.

Hossa would make a great late birthday present. Depending on where you read, Hossa is either very strongly considering Boston or hasn't given them a second thought. Make it happen, Pete.

HBO has been playing the shit out of Order of the Phoenix this weekend. I still really enjoy it.

I still play the first one. One of my favorite video games ever.

Just throw a ball of paper at Lindros. He'll get concussed diving out of the way or if it happens to hit him.

So updates: Everyone is back in the lineup, Krejci leads the NHL in points, Chara was traded to the Blues along with a third rounder for a 75 overall left-winger (my area of weakness), a 1st rounder and a 3rd rounder. With Justin Williams on board, I didn't slip under the salary floor (I'm above the floor by 250,000) and I'll have about 22 million this offseason to play with. As it is, I'm third in the conference, only slipping back two spots without Bergeron, Zherdev and Coburn, which is a big credit to David Krejci. We're through 65 games and he has 101 points and has been completely carrying the team the last few weeks.

It was all my boss's fault. Mr. "I'll be dropping in on you guys at around 10 and we have a lot to talk about" suddenly decides he doesn't want to roll in until 2. If that motherfucker thinks I'm staying late today, he's got another thing coming.

*adds CG to his shit list* That's just fine with me. motherfucking habs fan

Boss isn't here until 2 and I'm home so fuck it. First pick, I'm drafting him as a centerman even though he extended his career by playing defense his last three years. Finished with 575 points, which was good for third all-time when he retired. He lost three years of his prime (ages 24-27) to WW2, returning at 27 to a new league (now with a red line) yet was still productive. He was a four time NHL all-star (three 1st team) and one of the cleanest yet most aggressive players of his time. His #15 is retired by the Boston Bruins who he led to two Cups as a player and shrewdly stole traded for Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield to help the Bruins to another two Cups. Ladies and germs, Milt Schmidt. C. Second pick, drafting another center, but I really don't give a fuck. Decorated NCAA star (Hobey Baker winner in 1981, 142 points in 76 career games), Olympic goal medalist with the 1980 team (my second player from that team), and the first American player to score 100 points in a single season. His offense fell off after 30 but he reinvented himself as a very responsible checking forward (a VERY important thing on The Excitable Boys) He finished with 923 points in 1099 games, 98 points in 135 playoff games, including the GWG for the Devils in 1995. Folks... Neal Broten. C.

Goblin's up and though I know that my silly eight hours will be up sometime this afternoon, I ask for an extension. My boss will be here this afternoon, which means no afternoon posting from me.