[Tthip]

Looks like McCabe is going to the Panthers in exchange for Mike Van Ryn.

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[VioletlightHeron]

Looks like McCabe is going to the Panthers in exchange for Mike Van Ryn.

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Wow, it looks like the Leafs were desperate..McCabe and a draft pick for a slightly younger, often injured defenseman?

[Gangrel]

Ya, but it freed up 11 million in cap space according to local sports radio here in Ottawa.

[skippy the wonder dog]

Fletcher's not trying to put together a winning team at the moment, he's just positioning himself for the next step. Step 1, get out from under the bad contracts.

Leafs fans can look forward to a pathetic season this year, I think. It's the short-term pain you have to go through to have a winning team a couple of years down the road.

[tth_fan]

Fletcher's not trying to put together a winning team at the moment, he's just positioning himself for the next step. Step 1, get out from under the bad contracts.

Leafs fans can look forward to a pathetic season this year, I think. It's the short-term pain you have to go through to have a winning team a couple of years down the road.

Leafs fans have had these short-term pains for over 40 years now!!

And here's to 40 more!

[skippy the wonder dog]

I think one of the Leaf problems has been short-term thinking, actually.

[tth_fan]

Looks like the NHL wants to expand to Europe. At least one GM thinks they should look into expanding in Canada before going overseas:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=249235&l...Story_main

The Globe and Mail reports that the National Hockey League is aiming to have teams based in Europe within the next 10 years.

"As time goes on, you'll see us making increasing movement into Europe," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the newspaper. "Certainly, it's a possibility that within 10 years time we will be playing games there."

The league has already experimented with games overseas with exhibition games in Europe in the early 1990s and regular season games in Japan prior to the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano. The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings played in London, England last year, while four more teams - the New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins - will play in Europe next month.

Daly added that while further exposure in Europe was a possibility, there are no guarantees of it happening. "I think it's a long way between here and there," he told the Globe and Mail. "And I think all the pieces have to continue to line up in order for that to happen. So, certainly, we would hope that would be the case. But I can't say with any degree of certainty at this point."

NHL expansion into Europe has been talked about for years and has has been hot debate among the league's executives.

"(European) cities do a good job for international hockey tournaments, but can those cities afford NHL prices for 42 regular-season games plus playoffs?" Carolina Hurricanes general manager Kim Rutherford told the Globe. "I don't know the answer, but if they can, then at some point there will be expansion in Europe. But first we have to expand a couple more teams back into Canada, get back into Winnipeg and put another team in Ontario before we see expansion to Europe."

National Hockey League Players' Association executive director Paul Kelly said he was open to the idea of European expansion, with the proviso that the NHL's North American franchises were stabilized.

"Once we reach that point, I do think we should at least explore the process of perhaps one day having a division of NHL teams based in Europe," he told the Globe.

[Gangrel]

As an Oilers fan (living in Ottawa, so I support the Sens too) I'm jacked for this year.

The Oil have great young talent (Cogliano, Gagner, Nillson, Hemsky) and I think have upgraded a few parts (Erik Coke, Visnosky) that should lead to an exciting, attacking team. As long as the injury bug stays away, and Mathieu Garon keeps up his #1 goalie personality, I will be very excited!!!!

I'm even excited about the Sens this year. Ex-Oiler Jason Smith and Jarko Ruuttu bring toughness that's been missing, and with the "bad apples" gone from the dressing room, I hope the Sens are a better team this year. (or my flex pack of tickets will be another $400 waste!!!)

[Tthip]

Supposedly this is the Sabres new third jersey for this year:

[direwolf74]

As an Oilers fan (living in Ottawa, so I support the Sens too) I'm jacked for this year.

The Oil have great young talent (Cogliano, Gagner, Nillson, Hemsky) and I think have upgraded a few parts (Erik Coke, Visnosky) that should lead to an exciting, attacking team. As long as the injury bug stays away, and Mathieu Garon keeps up his #1 goalie personality, I will be very excited!!!!

I'm even excited about the Sens this year. Ex-Oiler Jason Smith and Jarko Ruuttu bring toughness that's been missing, and with the "bad apples" gone from the dressing room, I hope the Sens are a better team this year. (or my flex pack of tickets will be another $400 waste!!!)

Yup, the Oil scare me this year. They're young, hungry, and fast, and they've got some solid goaltending. If they play like they they did at the end of last season, they're gonna be very dangerous. I predict it'll be a dogfight between Calgary and Edmonton for tops in the Northwest this year. Vancouver, Colorado, and Minny aren't looking too good and seemed to have gotten worse during the offseason, while the Flames and Oilers both improved their lineups. Sutter finally got the hint and injected some more youth and speed into the Flames, and it's about bloody time. This is going to be a fun season.

[Tthip]

For anyone interestedSabres tickets go on sale to the public staurday - but until 9 tonight you can get early access here:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://protected.tickets.com/buy/TicketOnsale?orgid=1585&agency=SABRES">http://protected.tickets.com/buy/Ticket ... ncy=SABRES</a><!-- m -->

Password: sabrestv

[mastodonfarm]

"Potvin sucks!" So do you...

Game 1 of my half season package starts tonight! What are the odds I see Shanny on that 4th line?

The organization sucks, the fans are meh, but thr Rangers rock! Let's go Rangers!

[grimes]

Anybody catch the European games today? Ottawa fans could be in for a long season if Gerber doesn't get his act together in a hurry...some very questionable goals there. Sundin got quite the ovation from the hometown crowd when he came out for the ceremonial faceoff. I wonder if the season starting will help him make up his mind on retirement. My money is on him ending up with the Rangers, but probably not until after Christmas.

[Dark Canuck17]

It doesn't matter where he goes he won't make a difference I am glad the Habs got Lang instead of him....Oh ya and by they way the Habs are going to win the cup :thumb:

GO HABS GO! :jump

[robert goulet]

This NHL thread just isn't the same without the "Stats Guru" CFern around....where is that guy anyway??

It's gonna be a long season for me cheering for my beloved Leafs this year...not sure where we're going to get scoring from. All I know is that Toskala needs to be "All World" this year if we have any minuscule chance of even sniffing Playoff hockey.

The worst part about this is that even if we finish dead last I'm still not sold on Tavares being an NHL star...he's just such a poor skater. I remember watching him when he was 14 and that was the first thing I noticed about him. I cut him some slack given that he was only 14 but his skating skills haven't really improved much over these last 4 years. Time will tell I suppose. Joe Thornton isn't a great skater either and he's consistently in the Top 5 in scoring.