O Canada! > Canadian > Canadian Chat > [Hockey] Official~ NHL thread...........scores and highlites

Toronto at #6? That must be the "early season syndrome"! If the simulation is any good we should see a total collapse in a month or two!

Worse is the perception that only three people control all the power and information when it comes to the future of the NHL, that a new deal hinges solely on Bettman, Bob Batterman (lead counsel for the NHL) and Jeremy Jacobs (Boston Bruins owner and chairman of the NHL board). Everyone else is on the outside looking in when it comes to power in the league.

Ask many NHL owners outside of this small circle and if they answer truthfully they'll tell you they know as much of what's going on as you or me. Some teams will also tell you a two- to three-year slope toward 50/50 split works just fine, and to potentially burn the whole village down in an effort to keep fighting for teams like Phoenix and Florida is just plain wrong. Like McCabe and Walker in 2004, many owners' frustration lies in not having their voice heard when it matters most.

As the Red Wings and Jimmy Devellano found out the hard way, it's okay to be seen, just don't be heard. Even if an owner like Detroit's Mike Ilitch wanted to sit in on negotiations with the PA he wouldn't be allowed. That's a tough pill to swallow considering the financial stake he and all owners have in a $3.3 billion operation.

From here on in the biggest question may not be the resolve of the players -- as it was in 2004 -- but rather how many owners will continue to sit on the sidelines when they already know they now have a deal on the table they can accept.

I'm not a fan of Kypreos, but his article makes a couple of interesting, and somewhat preturbing, points (full story):

Okay, to be fair, that's how it's correctly pronounced. Plenty of people say it with the 'a' rather than the 'o' sound. It's like Nguyen, which I understand to be correctly pronounced Gwen, but is often butchered (and not surprisingly so). Anyways... I digress.

No professional league would tolerate a smarmy incompetent like Bettman.

why don't you like Kipper?

Nguyen is pronounced "New-Yen".

Racist chants rained down on Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds on Sunday. Simmonds, playing for Liberec of the Czech Extraliga, was in Chomutov on Sunday to take on the Pirates. A small fight broke out during the game, and afterwards as officials were breaking things up, the crowd chanted "Opice!" at Simmonds, which translates to "Monkey!" in English. Chumotov hockey officials apologized for the incident.

Oprah had a good timing in the marathon 4 hours, 29 minutes and 20 seconds.