I was quite disappointed with the results of the vote in Uniondale. I am a huge admirer of the old Islanders and the 4 cups they won in the eighties. I can imagine that it was hard for Bossy and Nystrom to watch. The Islanders are a once proud franchise. It is a crying shame to see this situation develop.
It is nice to see the Islanders come back to remain loyal to Long Island. The NHL cannot afford to lose this team.
In Calgary there seems to be a feeling that they really did not have a chance at Richards at all; that he had already made up his mind where he was going to play. Several media outlets reported that he was going to New York. What irritated the fans even more was the trading of Regehr to the Sabres. Why would he trade Robyn to make room for Richards? Especially when Richards had no intentions of playing out of New York?
In Nashville, they could not get together with Weber. As a result, they went to arbitration. It cost the Preds $7.5 million. But that was not the real loss; this process really wrecks a lot of relationships. If both parties were saying the right things, it still begs the question: What exactly was the argument used by the Preds? Weber is by far the best dman in the game, and he deserves to be paid. The problem the Preds will have is that next year Weber will have to be qualified again; at you guessed it: $7.5 million.
The other problem the Preds have is two major UFA'S coming up next season. Ryan Sutter and Pekka Rennie could demand major bucks. Especially Ryan, who could demand as much as $6 million a year. It will not be easy to keep all three in Pred sweaters.
Finally, I have to admit I really like the way the Kings are looking. They are really my pick to win the West, as they probably have the best two Centers in Mike Richards and Anze Kopitar. The arbitration could have a dire consequences for the Kings in trying to sign Drew Doughty. I can just see Drew's agent rubbing his hands together over the amount of money that Drew could get.
In New Jersey, the Devils avoided arbitration by signing Zach Parise to a one year contract. They now have the rest of the season to sign a long term deal. They have also avoided the ugly process of arbitration, with all the bickering that goes with it.
Fan Poll question:
How much does Drew Doughty get? And do the Kings actually trade him?
Randy Logged
