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Post by grover on Jul 1, 2007 20:13:45 GMT -5
Well, that's not THAT bad. It's not like we signed him for 7 years at age 34. I didn't read any detail on cash, but chances are, it's quite a bit for both.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jul 1, 2007 20:17:45 GMT -5
Flyers are still at it, trading for Edmonton's Joffrey Lupul and Jason Smith for Joni Pitkanin and Geoff Sanderson.
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Post by violenta79 on Jul 1, 2007 21:03:12 GMT -5
LET'S GO RANGERS!!!
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jul 1, 2007 21:10:38 GMT -5
Jason Blake to the Maple Leafs.
I'd be lying if I said his talents would not be missed on the Island, but he was a dick of the highest order, and from what the "insiders" are saying a lot of folks are going to be celebrating his trip out of town. I will reserve judgement on this loss until I see what the Islanders do to compensate. Blake leaving is no surpise.
Oh, and James, too bad for you - so much for your Devil and Islander join the Rangers dreaming.
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Post by grover on Jul 2, 2007 0:16:23 GMT -5
LOL @ Smyth to Colorado. Way to give up a few prospects for nothing.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jul 2, 2007 7:40:44 GMT -5
You would not have done the same? Islanders tried to make a push for the playoffs, you cant fault them for that. They were not going to get Smyth for nothing. And, if you research those "prospects" you would know the Islanders were sour on one, and the other apparently may not amount to much.
Islanders, from all accounts, tried to drown Smyth in money. Cant blame them for him choosing to hit road.
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Post by IronHorse4 on Jul 2, 2007 7:58:37 GMT -5
This two-board shit sucks when it comes to things like this.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jul 2, 2007 8:08:50 GMT -5
Maybe so, but this is where the big boys play.
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Post by grover on Jul 2, 2007 8:41:26 GMT -5
That's a HUGE loss for the Isles, especially since they just told Yashin to take a walk. Wangs going to have to start letting his GMs spend some cash or else they will not be able to lure and keep players.
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Post by IronHorse4 on Jul 2, 2007 8:46:00 GMT -5
Fair enough. I'm not retyping shit. My post, cut-and-pasted from the other thread:
Well...this will be an interesting start to the new season.
Bye bye Gomez. I'm not disappointed at all with this, as I felt he has underachieved (or maybe overachieved in his rookie season, as it were) when he was in New Jersey. I think this will prove to be another in a long line of names for which the Rangers have paid too much. A 7-year contract? lol....yeah, Lou knows better than that.
But the far-greater impact, and the move that will prove to be a crushing blow to the Devils, is the signing of Brian Rafalski by Detroit. That one stings.
But as overrated as Gomez was, who will replace him? The Devils are letting the division pass them by. Drury to New York, Briere to the Flyers, and the Pens being as talented as they are...the Devils are in serious danger of finishing 4th in a division they have owned for a decade or so.
Thankfully, the Islanders are keeping pace with the Devils by letting Ryan Smyth sign with Colorado and Jason Blake sign with Toronto, not to mention the loss of Tom Poti. But it is small consolation.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jul 2, 2007 8:50:43 GMT -5
That's a HUGE loss for the Isles, especially since they just told Yashin to take a walk. Wangs going to have to start letting his GMs spend some cash or else they will not be able to lure and keep players.
Come on, now. I mean, really.
Ooo...Yashin and his 25 goals went elsewhere. So what. Islander fans and pundits could not get him out of town fast enough, and now its a bad thing?
As to your point about money, for your info the Islanders offered Smyth MORE than he got from Colorado. The Islanders spend when they want to spend. Their payroll has never been in question. This is not a money thing, its a "no one wants to play on Long Island in an empty building" thing.
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Post by grover on Jul 2, 2007 8:57:28 GMT -5
Well, then they need to start building some strip clubs and bars around that place. That or have fun with signings like Jon Sim and fielding a team of 4th liners. They have to find a way to fill that building somehow.
I wonder why Smyth didn't go back to a Canadian team, since everyone always went on about how much he loves it there.
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Post by bigtimmy on Jul 2, 2007 9:41:37 GMT -5
Fair enough. I'm not retyping shit. My post, cut-and-pasted from the other thread: Well...this will be an interesting start to the new season. Bye bye Gomez. I'm not disappointed at all with this, as I felt he has underachieved (or maybe overachieved in his rookie season, as it were) when he was in New Jersey. I think this will prove to be another in a long line of names for which the Rangers have paid too much. A 7-year contract? lol....yeah, Lou knows better than that. But the far-greater impact, and the move that will prove to be a crushing blow to the Devils, is the signing of Brian Rafalski by Detroit. That one stings. But as overrated as Gomez was, who will replace him? The Devils are letting the division pass them by. Drury to New York, Briere to the Flyers, and the Pens being as talented as they are...the Devils are in serious danger of finishing 4th in a division they have owned for a decade or so. Thankfully, the Islanders are keeping pace with the Devils by letting Ryan Smyth sign with Colorado and Jason Blake sign with Toronto, not to mention the loss of Tom Poti. But it is small consolation. OK I've had time to come off the ledge. Here's my feeling on this. Rafalski leaving was surprising but I don't have a problem with that. Andy Greene showed the end of last year that he can definitely play and he can be just as good as Rafalski. Plus he's 10 years younger. Gomez was leaving anyway. He didn't want to be here anymore so good riddance. Now it's time to see what Zajac is made of. He had a good rookie campaign and hopefully he and Parise can capture the chemistry Elias and Gomez had. We need another decent center though. Don't throw Forsberg at me. He's hurt all the time and you never know if he's going to come back. Robert Lang is still out there as well as Jason Arnott. Having Arnott and Langenbrunner on a line would be a lot of fun to watch. It's still early but the Devils need to do something to complete this team. The silver lining in this...Martin and Parise will get signed to good long-term deal at a reasonable price.
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Post by IronHorse4 on Jul 2, 2007 9:57:12 GMT -5
I don't know that Jason Arnott will ever be back. He left on pretty bad terms. He was very upset at not being able to be with the Devs on Opening Night in 2000-01 after scoring the Cup-winning goal. But it was an ugly divorce, and I don't know that Lou brings him back. Then again, Lou likes to bring back players he knows.
Andy Greene can be just as good as Rafalski, sure. But they need more than one or two good defensemen. Greene, Martin, and who? They need a veteran back there right now.
And the only rumor out there right now is the Devils getting Michael Nylander.
Oh, by the way...they are trying to trade Elias to Vancouver.
Time to rebuild. It's been fun.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jul 2, 2007 10:01:05 GMT -5
Jason Allison is out there. He would be a start, at not much of a price.
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Post by thecaptain15 on Jul 2, 2007 10:50:03 GMT -5
Justin again we agree...Rafalski moving on hurts much more than Gomez...Looks like it is rebuilding time in Newark..and why not???Newark the city is trying to rebuild so now why not the Devils (their "newest" team") ? I guess you have to rebuild every 15 years or so...
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Post by grover on Jul 2, 2007 10:57:06 GMT -5
I would have taken Nylander and Drury and saved the cash they threw at Gomez for someone else down the line.
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Post by bigtimmy on Jul 2, 2007 12:56:25 GMT -5
I don't know that Jason Arnott will ever be back. He left on pretty bad terms. He was very upset at not being able to be with the Devs on Opening Night in 2000-01 after scoring the Cup-winning goal. But it was an ugly divorce, and I don't know that Lou brings him back. Then again, Lou likes to bring back players he knows. Andy Greene can be just as good as Rafalski, sure. But they need more than one or two good defensemen. Greene, Martin, and who? They need a veteran back there right now. And the only rumor out there right now is the Devils getting Michael Nylander. Oh, by the way...they are trying to trade Elias to Vancouver. Time to rebuild. It's been fun. Arnott was traded in 02 for Langenbrunner and Nieuwendyk. That worked out pretty well for us I'll say. However, I just checked on the behest of a friend and Arnott signed a long-term deal with Nashville last year. My bad. So that leaves Lang and yeah maybe a chance on Allison. Who knows maybe now that his personal problems are behind him he can play better. As far as the defense I'm fine with what they have. I would like 1 more big time D-man. White-Matvichuk, Martin-Lukowich, Greene-Oduya. I'll take that, as long as Luk signs. I would really like them to sign Souray. Although I don't see that happening.
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Post by IronHorse4 on Jul 2, 2007 13:19:34 GMT -5
Of course it did, but do you recall why he was traded? He held out to start the season. Then he came back and was traded late in the season. So there was plenty of bad blood. That said, it is irrevelant now.
Souray would be exactly what the Devils need. He's a former Devil, for one, but more importantly, he could either be the captain or the alternate. If/when Elias is traded, I would be happier with Langenbrunner as C, but Souray is a leader. I don't see why the Devils couldn't get him, unless he re-upped with Montreal in the last 5 minutes. Particularly since the Montreal influence has been so much a part of the Devils' success, and Souray is a homegrown Devil.
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Post by bigtimmy on Jul 2, 2007 13:29:35 GMT -5
Souray being an original Devil should be big. He's also very close with Marty and they are business partners as well. I'd give the C to Madden or White before Langs but that's me. I was reading and apparently Jason Allison wants to come back. He would be very nice to pick up. He hasn't played because of personal problems. He seems to be all cleared up now. Looking at his numbers, I'd take it.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jul 2, 2007 13:33:25 GMT -5
I was reading and apparently Jason Allison wants to come back. He would be very nice to pick up.
I already threw his name in the mix.
I always liked him. Islanders, get on it already.
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Post by IronHorse4 on Jul 2, 2007 13:59:15 GMT -5
Yeah...that's you all right. Madden, yes, but White? Colin White sucks. He is garbage, and I can't understand why some people like him. And regardless of his play, he is no leader. Screw that.
Ok, it's settled then. Madden gets the C, with Langenbrunner and Souray as alternates, and Jason Allison to fill the Gomez hole at centre.
Get it done, Lou.
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Post by bigtimmy on Jul 2, 2007 14:40:38 GMT -5
Yeah I always liked Whitey. Both the player and the race ;D
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Post by 9 on Jul 2, 2007 14:58:52 GMT -5
I wish the Islanders would have let underachieving non-clutch soft prick Yashin "take a walk" about three seasons ago.
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Post by bigtimmy on Jul 3, 2007 14:56:26 GMT -5
From TSN, the Devils signed forward Dainius Zubrus. Also, reports are they also signed Karel Rachunek. To those Ranger fans out there. I havent' seen Rachunek enough times. From what I read he's a good top 4 D-man with a little bit of a scoring touch. I like the Zubrus signing. Pretty much got back the points that Gomez left this team with.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jul 3, 2007 17:44:58 GMT -5
Pretty much got back the points that Gomez left this team with. Wow! All 13 goals and 60 points?
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jul 4, 2007 10:41:30 GMT -5
Making the "hockey'bloggin'" rounds this morning, and here is the take from yet another one of those female Devil fans. As a fan, this always sucks. Always.
We are not idiots — we understand there are a ton of reasons we don’t want to consider that go into choosing to sign with a different team when a player reaches free agency. Obviously there’s the money. We’d be fat-faced liars if we said we’d turn down, say, $6.5 million over 8 years in favor of $4 million over three years. Yes, rationally, even the lesser amount is more than enough money to live quite comfortably, but the bigger contract is, well, that much more comfy. Again, we’re not dumb. Also, there are considerations about the personnel on teams, the geography, familial pressures, future plans, blah blah blah. But all we see, as fans, is that the player who’s signed with someone else has rejected our team. And rejected us. And it sucks. So with that caveat, we present IPB’s take on the Rafalski and Gomez signings.
Brian Rafalski As full-fledged members of PaulieMartinNation, we’ve been counting on Raffie signing elsewhere since the end of the season. With two big RFA’s to ink to long-term deals, we felt it was necessary to avoid paying top-dollar to Raffie, a moderately offensive, moderately speedy d-man/PP-quarterback. But then Raffie, through his agent, said he’d be willing to sign for less to stay with the team. Since there’s a precedence for key players to sign for less to stay with the team (Marty Brodeur, Scott Stevens, Jay Pandolfo, and others), we stupidly believed it was true. It wasn’t. If you’d asked before that article was printed how we felt about Rafalski, we would certainly have said we’d wouldn’t be too upset to see him go. But since that article was printed, we’d be lying if we didn’t say we don’t feel slighted. A lot of players say they’ll sign for less, then don’t. But factor in the history of the Devils, and in light of the money and fame sacrificed by some of the organization’s biggest and most important players, and you’ve got a recipe for some bitter, bitter fans.
Raffie’s a great pick-up for Detriot, and an improvement on Schneider. We think the Wings fans will love him, and we think he’ll be a good player to bridge the gap between the classic Lidstrom and the youngish rest of the d-corps. But as far as we are concerned, we say thanks for the Cups, the memories, and thanks for helping youngsters Martin and Greene hone their games. We wish Raffie good luck in Detroit but will most likely never forgive him the slight of saying he’ll sign and then leaving for more money than he’s worth.
Scott Gomez When we first heard the rumor this morning that Gomer was going to the Rangers, Boomer said, “Doesn’t he realize he has to stand there in that asinine sweater and salute the stupid fans? God, the money’s got to be good if you’re going to do that.” Now, we never honestly expected for the Devils to re-sign him, but we hoped he’d have learned something from Bobby Holik and at least gone somewhere other than New York. This is so staggeringly repulsive, such a blatant “f**k you” to the Devils organization, that Gomer is now more officially “Dead To Us” than any NHLer has ever been.
We realize that we’re approaching this as fans, and we can’t expect the players to feel the same way about rivalries as we do, but this rivalry is so intense our GM and star player both admitted beating the Rangers in the playoffs in 2006 was worth not winning the Cup. And now Gomer’s going to be wearing the Rangers logo. It’s so intensely dispiriting to know that players Gomez has historically had a ton of respect for (Bobby Holik, Marty, Johnny Mac, Stevens, Pando, etc.) don’t have enough influence over him to convince him winning with honor is more important than pocketing some extra change and getting some face time in the corner pictures of the Post’s sports page. And winning with the Rangers after winning 2 Cups with the Devils is not winning with honor. And we can only hope he enjoys playing in a market where the fans and media will actually get on him for his inconsistency, spotty work ethic and defensive weakness, as opposed to playing in Jersey where we all just shrugged and said, “Yeah, that’s Gomer for you.”
Summary
While we’re truly sorry to see two lifetime Devils gave up the chance to retire having only worn one sweater, we’re also thankful that Lou didn’t give into the pressure to sign two players for more than they’re probably worth. We may change our tune depending on what happens with Zach Parise, Paul Martin and, well, the rest of the off-season, but for right now, we’re wallowing in bitter self-pity which is also tinged with a hint of “Well, at least our GM isn’t overspending on second-tier players.”hlog.blogspot.com/
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Post by cactusjames on Jul 5, 2007 11:27:59 GMT -5
TEE HEE HEE.
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Post by bigtimmy on Jul 5, 2007 13:49:37 GMT -5
Devils signed Kevin "Token" Weekes to backup Brodeur. I guess Clemmensen didn't look street enough for the move to Newark. I think it's a great signing. He's a great backup.
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Post by grover on Jul 5, 2007 21:15:36 GMT -5
He is. He'll be solid for those 3 games Marty takes off.
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