UNOFFICIAL 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs Thread!! (1 Viewer)

[Greg Br]

Scott,

But unlike baseball were a high salary almost gurentees a solid team hockey can be different, ie NY Rangers. Most of Detroits players were home grown or by way of trades of home grown talent(Kozlov for Hasek and Errickson for Chelios). No one even wanted Hull so we said well take him then.

 

[Scott_G]

Congrats to the Wings !!

Great Cup battle ... wish would could have won a few more but we lost to a GREAT team.

 

[Jon_Are]

Scott, Don't hang your head, man! The Wings went through some very tough years - and a close call or two - before they found the success they're enjoying. That is what makes it even sweeter for the veterans who have gone through the growing pains (such as Yzerman & Federov).

The Canes weren't up to the task, but they never gave up the fight; remember, with 20 or so seconds left, and down two goals, they pulled Irbe in a desparate attempt to pop one in. My worrying didn't stop until I saw the confetti streaming from the rafters.

What you have to hope for now is that this was not a fluke (such as the Flyers and the Panthers of recent years). Maurice is a quality coach; I think the Canes have a future.

Jon

 

[Robert_eb]

I think the Caines are a great team but they are in need of a scoring defensemen. I'm sure that they will address that in the offseason. Now, to the Wings. Lets hope Hasek comes back for another year. If he doesn't will have to steal Cujo from the Leafs .

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Most of Detroits players were home grown or by way of trades of home grown talent(Kozlov for Hasek and Errickson for Chelios).

Trading for a player because the other team can no longer afford his salary is no different than buying a free agent. The other team is just trying to get something for the player before he leaves. This was the same argument that Arizona baseball fans used -- "we didn't sign hardly any free agents. All our players were obtained in trades". However, they were obtained in salary dumping trades.

Detroit is not the only culprit here. So are Colorado, St. Louis, Dallas, New York (Rangers), and Philly. I've probably missed one or two.

Carolina fans, don't get your hopes up for the future. Raleigh is a small market area, and the team will have a difficult time competing against the big spending teams.

 

[Dennis Reno]

Did anyone else in SE Michigan see the HUGE banner hung from the new Compuware HQ? It congratulates the Wings and its from Compuware and the Carolina Hurricanes. Very classy touch, very classy.

If I can find a pic I will post it here.

 

[Rob TT]

Most of Detroit's best players were drafted.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Most of Detroit's best players were drafted.

I count at least 11 Wings who were obtained in trades or via free agency -- Hull, Hasek, Chelios, Shanahan, Robitaille, Larionov, Duchesne, Olausson, Devereaux, Krupp, and Slegr. The first 7 or 8 in that list were significant contributors this season.

I count 10 significant contributors who could be considered "home grown" -- Yzerman, Datsyuk, Fedorov, Maltby, Holmstrom, Draper, McCarty, Dandenault, Lidstrom, and Fischer.

If "most" means a small majority, you are correct. However, I would consider their non-drafted players a very significant part of the roster.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Hockey is going the way of baseball. Two sets of teams.

One with big payrolls. One without.

Small market teams don't get your hopes up.

 

[Dennis Reno]

All valid points, but can you name any professional team (not limited to NHL) where the vast majority of players were drafted by and play their entire career with the same team? Nearly impossible. Free agency and trades make "one team" athletes a very rare commodity.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Dennis,

The difference is that in baseball (and now, more and more, the NHL) the teams with the money have an unfair advantage in obtaining players to fill the holes on their rosters. In the NFL, all teams are on a level playing field financially. So, while there is still player movement in the NFL, the determining factor as to which team wins is who can make the right personnel decision, not who can spend the most money. In baseball, if the Yankees overspend on a few players who do not produce, it does not have a long term impact. In the NFL, it can have huge salary cap implications for years.

The only difference between baseball and the NHL is that salaries in hockey are not yet as big as in MLB, so the small market teams still have some chance. As salaries continue to increase, the small market teams will become less competitive. This is what has happened in baseball over the past decade.

 

[aldamon]

Though the Hurricanes are technically a "small-market team" because their arena is located in Raleigh, our state is really NOT a small market and is sports CRAZY. That craziness will escalate even higher now that the Hornets left the area. Talk about a financial vacuum and potential windfall for the 'Canes....

Oh, and our owner is freakin' loaded in case you missed what was holding up that banner in downtown Detroit!

The Hurricanes are not going away any time soon. We practice fiscal responsibility, draft and sign wisely, and are in a division full of lame "small-market" teams whom we will have little trouble beating for a very long time. Seriously, since I'm a fan of both teams, I relate the 'Canes with the Indians of the mid-nineties. They're young, in a crappy division and have no "big-market" beasts to outspend in their division. So expect to see the 'Canes around for a while, scapping and clawing at all of those big-money pre-madonnas in the SCP.

Oh, and BTW, nice job Wings. I went to Game 4 at the ESA and though we sucked that night, I am proud to say I saw Brett Hull, Brendan Shanahan and Igor Larionov score SCF goals. What a treat!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The Hurricanes are not going away any time soon. We practice fiscal responsibility, draft and sign wisely, and are in a division full of lame "small-market" teams whom we will have little trouble beating for a very long time.

However, the 'Canes are also in the same conference as big market, big money teams like the Rangers, New Jersey, Philly, etc.

 

[aldamon]

Scotty, I understood your argument plain and clear about the financial state of the NHL. I agree that the NHL is in the same trouble as MLB. The state of MLB sickens me, but like I said, the Indians have a legitimate shot at the WS every year because of their "weak" division. The same analogy applies to the Canes because of their division. As we saw this year, a playoff SPOT is not prorated by how much your division has spent. The Canes got in when some BIG BIG spenders did not because we won our division. Who's to say we can't do that every year? Who in our division is going to outspend us by a considerable margin?
Also, just because there are a lot of big spenders in our CONFERENCE, that doesn't mean we have to play them ALL in the playoffs, only the ones that make it to each successive round. Sometimes the big spenders won't make the playoffs because the Canes will take the last spot Sometimes big spenders will play big spenders and knock each other off. Sometimes the cheaper teams will pull upsets and play each other. There's no predicting who we will play in the SCF and if their payroll will actually be a deciding factor in a series (was the money wisely spent?). Odds are, the big spenders are NOT always going to run cleanly through the playoffs. That's what makes the SCF great. It's an incredibly long, complex series of rounds where anything can happen.
As long as Carolina MAKEs the playoffs, I like their chances against anyone. It's all about perspective and from my POV, just having a great shot at getting into the playoffs every year is a HUGE step in the right direction.
PS, where is the quote button? I use vBulletin on a board at work and they've changed the formatting on the copy installed here. It's driving me nuts.

 

[Trey Fletcher]

This was the same argument that Arizona baseball fans used -- "we didn't sign hardly any free agents. All our players were obtained in trades". However, they were obtained in salary dumping trades.

Really? I honestly can't think of an instance where this was the case. For the most part, the Dbacks gave up equal value in their trades, the exception being Luis Gonzalez + $500K for Karim Garcia. Though Luis's relatively low salary, and Detroit's inclusion of cash clearly indicate that the Tigers weren't dumping salary to save money.

 

[aldamon]

Well, here's a biggy.....
The Diamondbacks traded Travis Lee, Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, and Vicente Padilla to the Phillies for Curt Schilling at the trade deadline. Something tells me Arizona knew this was a good deal for them

 

[Trey Fletcher]

Aldamon,

Yes, it was a biggy. But the Dbacks gave up a starting first baseman and three pitchers (two of whom are current NL starters) for Schilling. The deal was not a big free agent signing, nor was it a salary dumping trade. In fact the Phillies probably added more salary than they lost.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Trey,

So Seattle was not dumping Randy Johnson's salary when he was traded to Arizona?

 

[Trey Fletcher]

No,

But Seattle may have been dumping his salary when he was traded to Houston. Randy Johnson is the one big free agent (as opposed to a guy like Steve Finley, who was technically a free agent, but not highly sought after) on the team.