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Urban Warfare

NHL Free Agency 2003

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I'm usually against Toronto for getting old washed up players and not developing younger talent, but acquiring Nieuwendyk was a smart move for them. Joe can still play well, and its not like Toronto really needs him to be depended on. A great 3rd liner IMO

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They didn't sign Daigle, they just invited him to training camp.

Hey, cool. If they sign him and send him to the minors I can heckle him down here in Houston...

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Satan prepared to play in Slovakia

 

ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

BUFFALO N.Y. — Offensive forward Miroslav Satan is unhappy with the progress of his contract talks with the Buffalo Sabres and intends to temporarily play in his native Slovakia.

 

Calling it a way to stay in condition for now, the Sabres returning leading scorer would not rule out a long-term holdout, the Buffalo News reported Thursday.

 

"I would like to be in camp, but in my mind we're not that close to saying it will happen any day now," Satan said. ``Definitely my first priority is to agree on a deal with the Sabres. ... But I'm prepared for different options.''

 

Satan, who is representing himself in negotiations, would not say what those options were.

 

He said he will play for HC Slovan Slovnaft Bratislava of the Slovak Republic Extraleague.

 

Satan's comments come as Sabres players are scheduled to report for physicals Thursday, a day before opening training camp in St. Catharines, Ontario.

 

Satan, a seven-time 20-goal scorer, is coming off a solid season in which he scored 26 goals and a career-high 75 points. He is seeking a raise over the $3.55 million he made last year, wanting to become the team's highest paid player.

 

The Sabres have also yet to sign veteran defenseman Jay McKee, who is also a restricted free agent.

 

Opening camp without Satan is not the way the team intended to enter its new era under new owner B. Thomas Golisano.

 

The Sabres filed for bankruptcy last January and spent all of last season in financial limbo before the Rochester billionaire completed his complex purchase of the franchise in April, saving it from either folding or relocating.

 

Calling it a priority that the Sabres make the playoffs this season, Golisano said the team would operate on a $30 million budget, about $5 million more than last year.

 

While Golisano injected new life into a flagging franchise, Satan's status raises memories of contract disputes under the Sabres previous owner John Rigas.

 

Unhappy with the offers he received, former Sabres captain Michael Peca sat out the entire 2000-01 season before being traded to the New York Islanders.

 

The NHL took over operation control of the Sabres in June 2002 after Rigas was forced to step down as CEO of Adelphia Communications, the nation's fifth-largest cable company.

 

Rigas has since been indicted on federal fraud charges.

Let's hope that President Bush doesn't read this article. He might get confused and bomb Slovakia...

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My feelings exactly, Chris.

 

They have Ron Tugnutt in as the starter until Turco signs. Tugnutt has played for 7 teams now, and has a really funny name.

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4 million a year. Turco is worth it. Its a cautious move by Dallas Managment, and obviously took consideration of the Theodore situation, and hoping that he isn't a one season stand out.

 

Satan to play in slovakia...makes it easier for my Habs to win more games

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4 million a year. Turco is worth it. Its a cautious move by Dallas Managment, and obviously took consideration of the Theodore situation, and hoping that he isn't a one season stand out.

4 million, I can see. Any more than that, and I ask...where are your Vezina trophies? Your Harts? Your Conn Smythes? If he thinks he can get anywhere near Curtis Joseph money, he's sadly mistaken, I think.

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Sadly, 2 or 3 years ago he would have gotten that much. The owners were throwing money around like it was monopoly money. (hello, Marty Lapointe). Now that the CBA's expiration is imminent the owners are being a little more frugal. And that means no more marginal-to-good playes getting paid like great ones. Turco should ask for one year, and about $3 million.

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4 million, I can see. Any more than that, and I ask...where are your Vezina trophies? Your Harts? Your Conn Smythes? If he thinks he can get anywhere near Curtis Joseph money, he's sadly mistaken, I think.

^^^ Exactly.

 

Someone should inform Marty that this is one year of starting play, and he didn't lead them very far in the postseason, when he's supposed to hop on his horse and ride them at least close to the SCF.

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http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins..._strike_a_deal/

 

The Bruins finally signed Sergei Samsonov ... just in time for camp, too. At least they're not paying him the Thornton-level money that he was looking for (hey, Serg, try staying healthy for a full year and THEN ask for Thornton money). Plus, Knuble scored more goals in his year with Thornton/Murray than Samsonov scored with either Allison/Guerin or Thornton/Guerin.

 

If the Bruins can just find a way to get Berard & Boynton in camp soon, they have a chance of being decent again this year. Still some holes (second line center) but otherwise should be better than they were last year.

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Dallas will eventually give in unless Turco wants absurd money. There's a reason Tugnutt has been with 7 teams and it's not because he's a #1 goalie. They only played about .500 hockey with him in there while Turco was hurt last year and he didn't look particularly good a lot of those nights.

 

I thought the Bruins let Berard leave as a free agent? Or are they hoping to bring him back cheaper than the arbitration award?

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I thought the Bruins let Berard leave as a free agent? Or are they hoping to bring him back cheaper than the arbitration award?

As long as Berard gets an offer that's equal to, or less than, 80% of his arbitration figure, the Bruins have the right to match. His arbitration figure was about $2.5 million, so as long as he's offered a deal that's either about $2 million or less, the team can match it. I'm guessing that he signs with the Bruins in the $1.75 - $2 million range.

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I thought the Bruins let Berard leave as a free agent? Or are they hoping to bring him back cheaper than the arbitration award?

As long as Berard gets an offer that's equal to, or less than, 80% of his arbitration figure, the Bruins have the right to match. His arbitration figure was about $2.5 million, so as long as he's offered a deal that's either about $2 million or less, the team can match it. I'm guessing that he signs with the Bruins in the $1.75 - $2 million range.

From what I read, the 80% figure is $2.08 million, and I'm convinced that the Bruins will only sign him if he's offered less than $2 million.

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I'm pretty confident that Berard won't get offered a deal worth more than $2.08 million ... he's good, but not great. And it's pretty late in the offseason for a team to throw that much money at a player. Of course, if someone from a Cup contender gets hurt early in camp, I could see that team scrambling to replace him with Berard.

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I'm pretty confident that Berard won't get offered a deal worth more than $2.08 million ... he's good, but not great. And it's pretty late in the offseason for a team to throw that much money at a player. Of course, if someone from a Cup contender gets hurt early in camp, I could see that team scrambling to replace him with Berard.

That's pretty much the Leafs. I mean, Wade Belak is probably their number 4 D-man. Number 3, if McCabe is out for any significant length of time.

 

Then again, if Belak is the number 3 defenceman, are the Leafs even PLAYOFF contenders? Man, it'd be like the Ian Turnbull era all over again, but with better forwards...

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Then again, if Belak is the number 3 defenceman, are the Leafs even PLAYOFF contenders? Man, it'd be like the Ian Turnbull era all over again, but with better forwards...

If they WERE in that era, I'd agree with you. But the East is so watered down that it shouldn't be that hard to get a 5 or 6 seed.

 

My playoff teams from the East:

 

1. Ottawa (Northeast champ)

2. New Jersey (Atlantic champ)

3. Tampa Bay (Southeast champ)

4. Philadelphia

5. Toronto

6. Boston

7. Washington

8. Atlanta

 

The East is so watered down that the 11th team out west could probably get a playoff spot in this conference.

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The rankings that CDNChris predicted look pretty accurate, and show how fucked up the "give the three division winners the top 3 seeds" approach is. Does anyone seriously think that Tampa will have a better team than Philly? If the Khabibulin and Grahame don't stand on their heads, the Lightning will be lucky to break 75 points. Yet, if they win their weak-ass division, they're the #3 seed. It's stupid.

 

The league should go to the top 16 teams, regardless of which conference/division they're in, and rank them in order. Yes, it'll be wicked Western-centric this year but the tide will change back and forth. And it's not like all East or all West Cup would garner so much less interest than an East-West one would.

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I agree with you up until your inclusion of Atlanta, Chris

 

Florida is going to make the playoffs. They have a young core of defensemen, forwards, and one of the best young goaltenders in the game. They added a good penalty killer in LW/D Eric Messier from Colorado, they resigned Kristian Huselius, Ivan Novoseltsev, Olli Jokinen, and Viktor Kozlov, who comprise their main forwards. They got veterans in Lyle Odelein and Todd Gill, and to top it off, they have one of the more underrated coaches in this era (Mike Keenan).

 

Don't really be shocked if they win the Southeast Division.

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Does anyone seriously think that Tampa will have a better team than Philly?

 

In the regular season, Philly is better. Though, considering the likelihood of Philly choking in the playoffs, I'd rather a team like Tampa have the higher seed. At least there is a chance they might show up in the playoffs.

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Does anyone seriously think that Tampa will have a better team than Philly?

 

In the regular season, Philly is better. Though, considering the likelihood of Philly choking in the playoffs, I'd rather a team like Tampa have the higher seed. At least there is a chance they might show up in the playoffs.

Don't get me wrong, I hate Philly as much as I hate any team in the NHL. Donald Brashear is almost equal to a Claude Lemieux/Ulfie Samuelsson level of hatred in my eyes. But they're a deeper, more talented team than TB. Plus, if Hackett can play well, they might get a round further in the playoffs before they do their annual choke. (Nothing feels better than being a Bruins fan commenting on other team's chokes)

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My list looks a bit different

 

It'll be

 

1.) Ottawa

2.) Philidelphia

3.) Carolina*

4.) New Jersey

5.) Toronto

6.) Tampa Bay*

7.) New York Islanders*

8.) Montreal Canadiens*

 

*=means that they aren't guaranteed, as other teams could easily take their sports.

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I've got to disagree with you, RedBaron. No way that Carolina wins the SouthEast. And even less of a way that the Habs sneak into the playoffs. They'd nead Theodore to do the ultimate of carries in order for that to happen.

 

My picks:

1 - Ottawa

2 - New Jersey

3 - Tampa / Atlanta (depends on if Dafoe plays better than Khabibulin and Grahame, so it's most likely Atlanta)

4 - Philly

5 - Toronto

6 - Boston

7 - NYI

8 - Atlanta / Tampa (see #3 above)

 

And I could see the Isles falling down, and the Caps taking their place in the playoffs. Washington has too much talent to stay down for long.

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Am I missing something with all of this Atlanta love?

 

I mean, they have two of the best young players in the game, but their only real acquisitions this post season has been resigning Slava Kozlov and getting journeyman Randy Robataille. Byron Dafoe is not the man to lead them into the postseason. He is a good backup guy, but not someone who I would hinge my franchise on.

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Mike Comrie won't be playing for the Edmonton Oilers anytime soon, said General Manager Kevin Lowe as his club opened training camp Friday. Lowe said the Edmonton-born first-line centre has been locked out of camp after failing to negotiate a new deal with his team and he wasn't expecting the situation to change in the near future.

 

TSN.ca

 

Looks like the Rangers have a new player.

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Carolina should dominate that southern division, last year they got hurt so badly that they were very inconsistant.

 

Montreal is up there because...hey I have high hopes on my team to be in the playoffs. To guarntee playoff sport, get rid of Patrice Briesbois

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