possible christmas come early present!!!

[brickwall30]

according to tsn chicago may have filed the paperwork for their RFA offer sheets incorectly and as a result a whole slew of great young blackhawks may soon be UFA's! imagine all this hate for Lou gives him the opportunity to sign Cam Barker and Chris Versteeg haha. that would make the vast majority of poster look reeeeeeal stupid, and would make my week!

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283634

['7']

Even if this is true there is no chance Lou would take advantage of this as none of the players mentioned are washed up ex Devils.

[Triumph]

Even if this is true there is no chance Lou would take advantage of this as none of the players mentioned are washed up ex Devils.

oh what a tremendous wag

[Colin226]

doubtful..

[DevilNurn]

Haha how nice would it be to pick up Versteeg or Barker just because of some paperwork problems. Pretty dick move if it happened.

[Devils731]

Eh, the intent is obvious from the Blackhawks side. The NHLPA would have to use up a lot of cache if they choose to push this.

[NJDevs4978]

Like 25 other teams aren't going to be in on the bidding for Barker and Versteeg if it comes to it? It might be a Christmas present for someone but it ain't going to be us.

Ironically Lou got screwed by a clerical error on Madden and Rafalski and it cost him millions, if the Blackhawks really didn't do the right thing they should be punished too.

[RowdyFan42]

that would make the vast majority of poster look reeeeeeal stupid, and would make my week!

Wow, what an ass.

[metallidevils]

that would make the vast majority of poster look reeeeeeal stupid, and would make my week!

Yeah, we shouldn't have been mad at Lou all along for the past 5 years for the disastrous signings. We should've known that Lou knew all along that chicago *might* have made a mistake and that we *might* be able to sign one of their players

Lou could've signed Ovechkin for 2 million a year for 10 years today and it still doesn't make us look foolish for being unhappy with what he's done the past 5 years.

Edited July 4, 2009 by metallidevils

[Prucenterrules]

I doubt Lou would give them the money they'd want.

[Pepperkorn]

metalli --- how many times do you need people to tell you: You sound stupid! You sound like you dont understand hockey and worse yet do not respect Devils hockey. just please -- quit while you're ... while you're just so sooo far behind... just stop even. It's past laughable now and getting sad.

If it's that bad for you - find another team, another system, another organization because this one works for the majority here -- most have been venting only -- you're on a whole --- just really vacuous level here and - honestly -- you just dont seem - well, for now you just seem to have ZERO hockey sense. Dare I say - you're posting like a Ranger fan.

Edited July 4, 2009 by Pepperkorn

[Deke]

I'd like to know just how long some of our biggest doom and gloom types have been fans of this team, how many of recognized the existence of the team before spring of 1995.

[aylbert]

But I thought I posted like a rag fan... /cry

[metallidevils]

metalli --- how many times do you need people to tell you: You sound stupid! You sound like you dont understand hockey and worse yet do not respect Devils hockey. just please -- quit while you're ... while you're just so sooo far behind... just stop even. It's past laughable now and getting sad.

If it's that bad for you - find another team, another system, another organization because this one works for the majority here -- most have been venting only -- you're on a whole --- just really vacuous level here and - honestly -- you just dont seem - well, for now you just seem to have ZERO hockey sense. Dare I say - you're posting like a Ranger fan.

kindly explain to me, if lou makes a good deal now, that was totally unforeseeable and not part of any 'plan', how that unjustifies any feeling of anger/resentment towards the moves that he's made over the past 5 seasons.

It may not seem like it, but I WANT lou to come out of every offseason looking like a genius. It hasn't happened in 4,5,6 years, and for that reason I am unhappy. I still go to games, I still support the players, but I do not support the management, at any level. Lou's deals have been baffling, PR is an absolute joke, and I haven't liked many of the coaches lately either. I'm a fan of the players, and that's it. I take the bad with the good, although lately it's been quite a hard pill to swallow, and I'm sorry if I don't have the complex where I'm afraid to look like a 'spoiled hockey fan'.

Answer this - if Lou retired after 2003, and a no-name GM was hired by the Devils and made the exact same moves Lou did, would you be happy? Obviously we are not memoryless and respect and are greatly appreciative of what Lou has accomplished for the Devils, but the past doesn't justify the present, either.

I don't know what the pre-1995 Devils have to do with anything. Mets fans are absolutely miserable right now, and I don't have to have been alive to see the 1962 Mets to cringe during games, and they're in second place with half the team hurt! Both the Devils and Mets are in rough times - not their roughest, but still rough! And I have no intention of abandoning either team. I'm venting just the same as anyone else, except I don't have the time, energy, or willpower to look up moves that 'should' have been made instead, because that's, to me, moot (as is this argument, as is any other argument, really).

And out of all the posts you could've called me out for, the one you chose doesn't make any sense, because me calling someone out for saying that the Lou bashers would eat their words if he (finally) made a good deal after the fact, is justified IMO.

I'm sorry if I come off as having 'zero hockey sense'. I don't spend time pouring over free agent lists, memorizing stats, rosters, salaries, etc. If I think a $20 million Rolston contract sucks, it's sufficient to me to just say it as that, because it seems obvious. Saying 'oh we should have signed player x and player y' instead isn't necessary for me. So yeah, it's easier for me to find fault than other people if I just 'assume' alternatives are there, but in some cases, I'm fairly confident (rolston, malakhov, mogilney, rachunek) that these choices weren't popular to begin with, most of them were 'panic' type deals because lou already let the better players get signed, and by that point it doesn't matter who else he could've signed. Besides, when a 'great deal' is made, people aren't like 'oh wow, this is a great deal because this player is better than x and this salary is less than what z is making', it's just a positive 'hey, this is good!' and accepted.

During the season I just spend most of my time in off-topic, enjoying/laughing at posts, instead of aimlessly arguing over X's and O's, because it's not like we have any effect on the game anyway. In that sense I am a hypocrite, because here I am now. But I find venting more helpful for me than pointless 'well lets do this instead' because it won't be happening anyway. I'll try to spend the majority of my time here in the off topic forums.

Edited July 4, 2009 by metallidevils

[LucifersDog]

Have at it both of you and when you are done we will respect your opinions.

[Weekes Head]

gosh, i'm lovin' njdevs right now.

[metallidevils]

Have at it both of you and when you are done we will respect your opinions.

I get that the way that I present my opinions may make it harder to respect them, so I will make an effort to throw a little more 'analysis' into my somewhat bold claims (not to say that I'll actually be changing my opinions). and for the record, at least I don't throw out personal insults, unlike other boarders...saying 'you sound stupid/don't understand hockey/don't know how to drive' is no less shallow than saying 'rolston's contract sucks!'

Edited July 4, 2009 by metallidevils

[IceThief]

according to tsn chicago may have filed the paperwork for their RFA offer sheets incorectly and as a result a whole slew of great young blackhawks may soon be UFA's! imagine all this hate for Lou gives him the opportunity to sign Cam Barker and Chris Versteeg haha. that would make the vast majority of poster look reeeeeeal stupid, and would make my week!

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283634

If all of Chitown's RFAs become UFAs because of Tallon's blunder, I'd have his head on a freaking pike. He(double hockey sticks), I'd burn him at the stake.

They'd have to pay them what they'd get on the market as UFAs just to keep them from being picked up by everyone else. You know that the rest of the league would swoop in like vultures to snap these kids up.

Chitown is about to be screwed and Tallon is going to be dead man walking.

[DevilinLA]

I'm sorry if I come off as having 'zero hockey sense'. I don't spend time pouring over free agent lists, memorizing stats, rosters, salaries, etc. If I think a $20 million Rolston contract sucks, it's sufficient to me to just say it as that, because it seems obvious. Saying 'oh we should have signed player x and player y' instead isn't necessary for me. So yeah, it's easier for me to find fault than other people if I just 'assume' alternatives are there, but in some cases, I'm fairly confident (rolston, malakhov, mogilney, rachunek) that these choices weren't popular to begin with, most of them were 'panic' type deals because lou already let the better players get signed, and by that point it doesn't matter who else he could've signed. Besides, when a 'great deal' is made, people aren't like 'oh wow, this is a great deal because this player is better than x and this salary is less than what z is making', it's just a positive 'hey, this is good!' and accepted.

During the season I just spend most of my time in off-topic, enjoying/laughing at posts, instead of aimlessly arguing over X's and O's, because it's not like we have any effect on the game anyway. In that sense I am a hypocrite, because here I am now. But I find venting more helpful for me than pointless 'well lets do this instead' because it won't be happening anyway. I'll try to spend the majority of my time here in the off topic forums.

Enough already, you show up every off season to do this, and I'm sick of reading it.

I suffered through your Rafalski tirade in 2007 for months. If Lou would have signed THAT big 'ol deal we would undoutably be looking for compomising pictures of Parise, Zajac, and Martin to blackmail them into signing a contract as opposed to walking for their true worth.

I have no problem with the criticism of Lou, or your actual opinion, but if you don't have the sense to actually do the homework that guys like Lou and his staff HAVE to do (and that many intelligent posters here go through time and effort to illustrate), than just stop.....your argument ends there in terms of depth. No reasonably detailed alternatives have been offered.

It's like walking into a courtroom and saying: "thats the way it is because I feel this way, and I don't have the time to come up with any proof to support it".

With all the time you spend bitching here in the last few days you could have easily put 10minutes into checking facts and figures, especially if you're going to insist on repeatedly pissing this bitch-fest mantra down all our throats, on a daily basis.

If you had simply given your opinion and went your own way, most here wouldn't be half as upset, but if you're going to repeatedly shove your head into every thread to bitch and moan, they you should expect that people want to see that you've intelligent thought through your reasoning with facts equal to the apparent passion you have about the issue.

Edited July 4, 2009 by DevilinLA

[Revan]

Hahaha, I'd laugh my ass off if these guys became UFAs. And there would be no excuses for Lou this time for not being in pursuit after a guy like Barker. I'd be willing to even sacrifice Martin next year if that was necessary to bring Cam in.

Of course, one can only dream. I don't expect it to happen, though there's always a little chance.

[Devils Pride 26]

There is a team in more cap trouble than the Hawks in the western conference. It would shape up better for us too. Look at SJ, we should be trying to get Marleau right about now. No cap hit for 2011 either.

[metallidevils]

Enough already, you show up every off season to do this, and I'm sick of reading it.

I suffered through your Rafalski tirade in 2007 for months. If Lou would have signed THAT big 'ol deal we would undoutably be looking for compomising pictures of Parise, Zajac, and Martin to blackmail them into signing a contract as opposed to walking for their true worth.

I have no problem with the criticism of Lou, or your actual opinion, but if you don't have the sense to actually do the homework that guys like Lou and his staff HAVE to do (and that many intelligent posters here go through time and effort to illustrate), than just stop.....your argument ends there in terms of depth. No reasonably detailed alternatives have been offered.

It's like walking into a courtroom and saying: "thats the way it is because I feel this way, and I don't have the time to come up with any proof to support it".

With all the time you spend bitching here in the last few days you could have easily put 10minutes into checking facts and figures, especially if you're going to insist on repeatedly pissing this bitch-fest mantra down all our throats, on a daily basis.

If you had simply given your opinion and went your own way, most here wouldn't be half as upset, but if you're going to repeatedly shove your head into every thread to bitch and moan, they you should expect that people want to see that you've intelligent thought through your reasoning with facts equal to the apparent passion you have about the issue.

If we signed Rafalski, and didn't sign, say, Rolston, we'd be stuck with one less forward, but I'd imagine would still able to sign Parise next year (difference between Rolston and Rafalski is what, 3 million? So we'd have 5 million + whatever Parise is making now + presumably some extra money to sign Parise. Would you really not sacrifice Zajac for Rafalski?

[Pepperkorn]

kindly explain to me, if lou makes a good deal now, that was totally unforeseeable and not part of any 'plan', how that unjustifies any feeling of anger/resentment towards the moves that he's made over the past 5 seasons.

Because Lou "making a good deal now" Is EXACTLY what he's been doing since the lockout!!! Any move you wished he had made he couldn't make -- the players didn't want to come here OR they made NO SENSE with the team as it stood chemistry-wise skill wise... You're suggestions are ... just - like not even thought out!!!! Fro example you'll name a player not even AVAILABLE and when someone says you're nuts you'll say "well there were players LIKE THAT." I can't even take it!!!!!!!

Answer this - if Lou retired after 2003, and a no-name GM was hired by the Devils and made the exact same moves Lou did, would you be happy?

YES - I'd see evidence the new GM understood the ineffable system and heave a sigh of cautious relief

And out of all the posts you could've called me out for, the one you chose doesn't make any sense, because me calling someone out for saying that the Lou bashers would eat their words if he (finally) made a good deal after the fact, is justified IMO.

YOU are the Lou basher --- when he makes the deal you're praying for him to make and it's a bust (which is WILL BE you have to understand if you have any concept of the chemistry aspect of the system) you will bash him further!

I'm sorry if I come off as having 'zero hockey sense'. I don't spend time pouring over free agent lists, memorizing stats, rosters, salaries, etc.

Neither do I!!! THAT is the point -- I'm a middle aged dame with a crush on a retired player who doesn't even follow this stuff that closely and EVEN I GET IT!!!!

but I do like you as a person and I enjoy your posts it's just you have thoughts that you share and --- just if you were facing the proper direction you'd have a lot to contribute!

[Pepperkorn]

If we signed Rafalski, and didn't sign, say, Rolston, we'd be stuck with one less forward, but I'd imagine would still able to sign Parise next year (difference between Rolston and Rafalski is what, 3 million? So we'd have 5 million + whatever Parise is making now + presumably some extra money to sign Parise. Would you really not sacrifice Zajac for Rafalski?

DID YOU SEE WHAT RAF SIGNED FOR????

DID YOU SEE HOW HE WAS PLAYING WHEN PUT IN THE LEADERSHIP ROLE????

DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND HOW UNHAPPY HE WAS WITH HIS OWN PLAY HERE AND IT WAS TAKING A MAJOR TOLL ON HIS MINDSET WHICH IN TURN AS A LEADER WILL TAKE A HUGE TOLL ON THE TEAM????????

Rafalski is just werer he should be. He's fantastic on the Wings because he's PERFECT in that role... back up. If you tell him he's secodn banana the pressure is off and his mind is quiet and he can see what needs to be done.

How can you not get this? Raf great teamed with Stevens... Stevens retires - he gets a little hmeh when asked to pretty much lead the second line - injured too right? Then when he becomes the go to guy when Nieds leaves he just can't do it. Didn't you watch him even? He'd be yelling on ice and losing focus and he was just so bummed out and mad at himself and frustrated....

You dont watch, you dont pay attention - that's why your posts are so frustrating.

[DaneykoIsGod]

If we signed Rafalski, and didn't sign, say, Rolston, we'd be stuck with one less forward, but I'd imagine would still able to sign Parise next year (difference between Rolston and Rafalski is what, 3 million? So we'd have 5 million + whatever Parise is making now + presumably some extra money to sign Parise. Would you really not sacrifice Zajac for Rafalski?

This statement just made my head explode.