The Sultan of Swank

I'm not going to sugar coat my feelings about the guy just because he's retiring. There was an article in the Sun today, that was talking about how for the amount of hate he has taken in his career and will take in his retiring, he had to have been doing something right. I would agree.

I'm so fucking happy he's finally done in the league. Definitely one of my top 5 disliked players.

My game with the Germans, I'm around the year 1550 right now. I'm playing continents with 10 civs, and I started on my island with the Romans, Americans, Siam and the Aztec all competing for space. I really aggressively went after the Romans early on, then the Americans started backtalking me so I took them down. I cleaned up the rest of my island and was thrilled to be the lone power amongst a bunch of city states. I sent out some ships to look for new land and ran into the Russians and French, both of whom immediately refer to me as the bloodthirsty one and are very untrusting

I like Ron Wilson laying out what it takes to make the Leafs this year, as if it's anything more than being able to skate and or goon.

Board Name: The Sultan of Swank (Basha) Team Name: Screaming Scorgasms NHL Team: Habs.

Got it last night. Amazing. I'm currently the Germans and I just dispatched of the Romans in a very easy campaign and then the Americans in a much longer fashion. I still haven't left my continent as I need to consolidate my holdings here as 2 more civs are still on the island.

Still though, I mean, he's no Mike Milbury destroyer of teams, but he consistantly makes bad decisions. Gionta named 28th Captain of the Canadiens. 2nd American, 2nd free agent signing to become captain and 3rd 5'7" captain after Henri Richard and Yvon Cournoyer.

I think it was Red Fisher who said that the pre season doesn't mean a thing, but there is never a game at the Bell Centre that doesn't mean anything. Sometimes I think about some of the moves Pierre Gauthier makes, or that Brian Burke makes and wonder, why they've been entrusted with the well being of their respective franchises... then I remember that Glen Sather remarkably is quite gainfully employed.

It took exactly 1 shot in the pre-season for the Bell Centre crowd to rain down mercilessly with boos upon price. 90 min and 10 goals later... I can't blame them. He plays the whole game tonight again, hopefully things go well. I really want to chalk it up to just being the pre-season, but I really feel like he's shattered his confidence by y'know... not performing in the most volatile market in the NHL.

Damshow, I was gonna say the same thing. Looks like a Vag. Gionta to be named captian of the Habs, says TSN through La Presse.

Definitely picking it up when I get paid friday. Be-A-GM with the Habs, naturally. Very curious about this ultimate Team online.

Washington Philly Boston New Jersey Pittsburgh Buffalo Montreal Ottawa ---- Tampa Rangers Carolina Toronto Islanders Forida Atlanta Washington has nothing to prevent them from repeating Philly only finished 7th because they were decimated with injuries Boston can thank Toronto. Jersey should have a decent year... they might be a little high it depends on how well Brodeur holds up... Pittsburgh and Buffalo should have great years Montreal depends on injuries really. Price is a very good goaltender, point to his record last year, but of his 25 losses, 22 or 23 came on him giving up 2 goals or less. He had a decent GAA and a very respectable SV % .912. I'm hoping Cammy continues his riduculous form. If he scores like he did in the playoffs, 40 shouldn't be an issue and 50 could be doable... but it's a long year so lets not get too ahead of ourselves (that goes for you aswell Leafs fans who believe in Kessel). Ottawa don't see them doing much. Tampa I see being amongst the most improved teams Rangers just dont see a huge improvement in their line up Carolina... meh... Toronto, they're going to be better, but too many other teams in the East got way better in the off season. They have a good D core, even if it isn't too quick. Their main issue is that their D won't put up much in points, and they have Kessel, Versteeg and Bozak up front. As with every year since the lock out, the Leafs players put up a chunk of their points in the back end of the season once they're long done... Let's see if they can do it when the season counts. They'll be better than last year, but I don't see them competing for the playoffs this year, more time needed. Islanders and Panthers are perennial losers Atlanta is fucked.

I really do wonder what Burke was expecting to get for Kaberle. No team was going to give up top prospects, or young phenoms... And a lot of teams are close to the cap... It doesn't hurt Toronto not to trade him. He's still one of the better puck moving defensemen in the East. And sometimes a trade not made, is the best trade.

So I've been taking summer courses, and one of them is about Hockey. Our prof put it to us today, that Stanley Cup successes and failures aside the Toronto Maple Leafs have the worst history of the Original 6 teams and while the fans of the Leafs will cheer for anything, they don't have a rich history like the other 5 teams. I don't agree with the statement, and keep in mind I'm taking this course in St. Catharines, Ontario and not in Montreal. He was suggesting that this is because Toronto has never had the best player in the game on their team, and that they've never been able to keep their star players from start to finish in their careers. He used Sittler, Sundin, Clarke and Gilmour as examples. I thought that regarless of their huge drought, you could easily argue for either Toronto or Montreal as the best team of the pre-expansion era, as both teams essentially owned a decade or more of hockey, so there's a ton of history in those teams, but he was talking more about how like... Detroit has legendary players, and stories about Howe, Lindsey, Sawchuk and Yzerman, Boston has Esposito, Orr and Bourque(even if he bolted in his last year) Chicago has Hull and Mikita, New York has Richter and Lester Patrick, Montreal has Richard, Beliveau, Vezina etc... Agree or disagree with the statement? Do you feel Toronto had the single best player in the league at any point? Who would you say is the best Leaf for Life of all time?

Not sure how I feel about a Habs/Flames heritage classic game. I know the last 2 All Canada finals were these two teams (Calgary is actually the only visiting team to win the Stanley Cup at the Forum). Montreal already had one of these games, and it was pretty incredible if only for the conditions. I would have preferred Edm/Cgy or if Montreal were to be in one again than Montreal/Toronto at Molson Stadium(I understand that the league wouldnt ever allow an outdoor game to be played in front of only 25000 people, but if you've ever been to the stadium, it's one of the most gorgeous views). Also, to steal a like from Dave Stubbs from the Montreal Gazette. The Calgary jerseys for the game look like they're playing for Ronald McDonald.

I actually like the Lebda signing. It's not too much money. He's a bit of an under rated guy, he'll probably be in the 3rd pairing and if/when Kaberle goes, he provides fairly solid D. If they want to whine about too much money they can whine about Versteeg at 3 Million per year. I mean, he's a good player, he contributes a solid 20 goals and close to 50 points a year so he'll fit in as the 5th or 6th forward on some teams or as a solid shut down player on most others. The issue I have though is the price. Toronto already has a goalie that makes too much money and I'd say that most of their D are wildly overpayed. It just sets a precedent on the team, and that's why a guy like Kulemin can get 2.3 per year. Not that other teams don't have this problem as well... I mean Montreal has 6 players who combined make almost 35 million, but I would say that their salaries are mostly justified except for that albatross around our neck Scott Gomez and the severely aging Roman Hamrlik.

Ouf so Halak gone, our fairly talented but small top 4 forwards are locked up for infinity, so it seems that Gauthier has learned not from the playoffs. At least Sergei is gone. He's one of those players who you know is talented, but just has such a bad attitude. It was the same story with Grabovski, and I'm sure that once Toronto finds more than 3 or 4 NHL quality players on their team and he gets bumped down to the 3rd line he'll throw a fit again haha. Maybe there's something in the water in Belarus.

I was hoping someone who understands these things more than me could help me out here. With the whole issue about the NFL being a monopoly and the US supreme court ruling that they are in fact 30(32?) seperate entities, what implications will this have for the NHL, especially when it comes time to negociate over the next CBA.

I just think it's kind of childish, especially coming from a guy who's been in the league so long and has had so much success...

Man, Pronger's acting like a bit of a kid. I was wondering though today, imagine if he winds up in Chicago next season (stranger things have happened)... what do you say haha

Well that was no fun. After the first goal, I thought Montreal played the rest of the first(about 15) min really well. Then the wheels came off. The stifling D and opportunistic forwards were nowhere to be seen, and Halak had his one game to show that he's human(he did that in Washington and Pittsburgh also... let's hope it's just a one game trend). So... which Habs show up tomorrow? It could decide the series... Love how dumb some people can be... Marc-Antoine Godin of La Presse Tweets: "2 PHI fans yelled at TV guy 'go back home, you f@#$#& French-Canadian!' One had Briere jersey, the other a Gagné" Also, the Montreal Gazette beat writers had their plates stolen and tires slashed because of their Quebec plates, it happened to 2 TV trucks with Quebec plates also... Looks like every city has got a few morons...

I think Chicago/Montreal would be the best final, but I'm obviously wildly biased, but I do want an original 6 final. But Chicago would run show on the Habs. I think that Philly is just a fast team as Montreal, but much more aggressive which will be bad for Montreal. The only saving grace is that Philly lacks the kind of goaltending that Halak is capable of providing/

Plubby... I'm using what many papers, TSN, Sportsnet, RDS, Bloggers etc have used to describe the Habs. A team seemingly controlled by destiny... every major sports network hasn't dubbed them this team, but has made the "destiny" connection what with the upsets and incredible goaltending. Get off your high horse, just because you don't like me or the Habs doesn't make it me being a homer, sorry that I refered to the Habs, using a term that has been beaten to the ground about this team since game 5 of the Washington series.

Unbelievable.... It's going to be the unstoppable momentum of Philly vs a team riding what many want to call destiny in Montreal. Philly in 6.

I think Philly would just smash us out of the series... Boston we've beaten 5 of 6 times this year.