The 2009-10 NHL Regular Season

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Good PR for the NHL with Rangers doing the Top 10 List on Letterman. It was pretty funny.

Madonna was the first guest and the Rangers carried her out on the stage with Hockey Sticks. Once she sat down, Letterman asked her "Have you ever ridden Hockey players before? Too many Messier jokes.........

I'm sure you can find the video on youtube or cbs.com

[FlyingFinn]

No Versus on DirecTV is really killing me... I guess I am going to have to find a local watering hole with cable to watch my Caps tonight.

What really worries me is that DirecTV and Versus won't get this sorted out before the playoffs this spring. If that happens I will be forced to switch to cable/fios.

[baseball66]

well there is a 3 week free preview of ci on expressvu so anyone with that can watch all 4 games tonite in hd.

[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by tyler289

The thing is, as excited as I am for this year's team, I see next year's Caps being much, much better. Theodore will be gone, we'll lose some terrible defensemen, prospects will be playing, tons of cap room...oh the possibilities.

As high as the pundits are on the Capitals this year, I can't help but agree with your thoughts that the Cup would be a more realistic goal for next year. Don't get me wrong, they're a good team and will likely win the division and once the playoffs start, anything can happen. But I see too many questions and "ifs" on the team...

But the points you brought up about young players maturing (prospects and those already in the NHL) and gaining some roster flexibility are huge. It's going to come down to making smart personnel decisions, like signing Mike Knuble. I'm not sold on their D, so even with Alzner & Carlson on the way, they have to address it moving forward. And of course, they need stability and consistency in goal. Maybe Sim-yon can provide it, but it'd be a lot to ask of a 21 or 22 year-old goalie... just ask Marc-Andre Fleury, who certainly had his ups & downs over the past few years.

[tyler289]

Quote: Originally Posted by Qb

As high as the pundits are on the Capitals this year, I can't help but agree with your thoughts that the Cup would be a more realistic goal for next year. Don't get me wrong, they're a good team and will likely win the division and once the playoffs start, anything can happen. But I see too many questions and "ifs" on the team... But the points you brought up about young players maturing (prospects and those already in the NHL) and gaining some roster flexibility are huge. It's going to come down to making smart personnel decisions, like signing Mike Knuble. I'm not sold on their D, so even with Alzner & Carlson on the way, they have to address it moving forward. And of course, they need stability and consistency in goal. Maybe Sim-yon can provide it, but it'd be a lot to ask of a 21 or 22 year-old goalie... just ask Marc-Andre Fleury, who certainly had his ups & downs over the past few years.

Definitely agree. Leonsis, despite the fact that he is a jerk and 100% full of himself, has a point when he says the team will contend for the Cup for years. I want a Cup this year - I mean, we got real close to playing for the chance - but next year is the real "we're gonna be nasty" season, if everything goes to plan.


And speaking of cap room, there are reports that Nylander has been signed in Russia...
It's probably nothing, but the chance to lose his cap hit would be fantastic.

[OSUFan_88]

God, it starts tonight!

Go Leafs/Avs!

[Sandman42]

Devils let go of Brendan Shanahan. Couldn't make the top 3 lines, so he and the Devils agreed on his release.

http://njmg.typepad.com/devilsblog/2...is-season.html

[Qb]

Solid round-up of final camp cuts from NHL.com.

[slickdtc]

It's back! I'll watch a bit of the games tonight, but I can't wait for tomorrow for the Flyers/Hurricanes.

[SPTO]

I predict the Leafs will lose tonight, not because they've played badly but because of Vessa Toskala. I have a feeling that in a couple weeks he'll be the backup while Gustavsson (sp) is the starter.

Toskala has really played poorly in net this preseason and at some point the Leafs can't support him much more.