mouse

Eh, Elias isn't spiteful, but he's never been one to pull punches. If he was asked about the contract, he was going to speak his mind. And he didn't say anything that wasn't true. He didn't even say Clarkie was a bad player, just not one worth the money he got.

But signing Clarkson, Parise, or Kovalcuk at the rate they were/are paid is like buying a place in Trump Towers, only to be broke with a toothbrush in 5 or 10 years when you could suck it up and get a place on a safe block in Harlem. Sure, it's not as good. Less parking, less public transportation, smaller place, but in 10 years, you'll at least still have that, and if you're lucky and smart, you might even have a nice place in the Village because you were able to save a little money.

That mentality sunk the Habs for years. Rags too. Big contracts are crippling. Especially when the players start to decline. The Crosy and Malkin contracts are reasonable. The Kovalchuk and Parise ones were/are not. And I felt that way (and communicated it) long before we lost both guys.

When he's dead? Maybe?

He's boring in all the right ways.

It's not anti-Russian bias to acknowledge that a player from Russia, whose style of play may be better suited for the KHL, and who has proved difficult to coach, might want to go back to Russia when his contract expires in the very near future. No one here said they wouldn't take Datsyuk. I think all of us would take Datsyuk in a heartbeat. There are real instances of anti-Russian bias: any time someone claims a Russian is soft, even though Kovalchuk and Ovechkin are both physical players who take long shifts; someone who would actually turn down Datsyuk (Ovechkin different story, as I'm not sure he's a great fit for the system); concern about giving the C to a Russian (or other European for that matter). Acknowledging that a Russian player, especially one who is picking up a reputation as a malcontent, might want to go back to Russia, and not wanting to make a deal for him, especially as the franchise is in rebuilding mode to some degree, at least at forward, because the guy who was supposed to be the cornerstone left the country is not bias. It's having a grip on reality.

Lemaire turned Kovalchuk into the league's best PKer, while DeBo has struggled with guys who don't fit the system. Also, Kovalchuk, despite all of his flaws, wanted to be coached. If Yakupov is clashing with coaches over system, it's not going to be as easy to fix him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO1oUY6HS90

Cam needs to make sure he wins. End that fvcks season next time we play Philly.

Watch him man up like nobody else! He's gonna man up all over himself!

Or negotiating contracts mid-season is a distraction that Lou would rather avoid, and not doing so has never cost us a player, so why would he start now?

He isn't as good as Kovalchuk, imo, and he's not worth the money Minny offered him, but they don't make the finals if they trade him. I don't get how that's tough to understand. And all being a GM is a series of leaps of faith. Sometimes you get your way, sometimes you don't. More often than not, Lou has gotten his way, partially because his way works.

Yeah, but there's also a cap now, which allows Lou to offer reasonable deals to guys and actually get them. If also means a guy like Jagr is around mid summer, and Brunner makes it to training camp. The league has changed, but throughout the Devils' history, they have not been particularly in demand. Lou has done a good job managing the team despite that. What more do you want?

Again, do you want to give up the finals run in 2012? Because if Lou did what you're saying, especially since we were far from an elite team at the deadline that year, he would have traded Parise. If you think you have a shot at the cup, you're not a seller. At the deadline last year, the Devils were not that much worse than they were in 2012, at least as far as the standings went. It's not unreasonable to assume that, if Kovy stayed healthy, if Marty stood on his head, and Larsson continued to play well, they could have had a nice little run. None of those things happened, but that's life. You can't blame Lou for holding out hope that the team would get better.

There is a good reason. Talking contact is distracting. I understand that impending free agency is distracting as well, but considering how few players actually sign extensions mid-season, the chances are, you're distracting one of your guys more, for no gain. Maybe some GMs are willing to do that. Lou isn't. More often than not, Lou being Lou has worked in our favor. Lately, it hasn't, except I don't think Lou changing would have changed the result.

Legit, but at the time he was fired, he was a good GM who hadn't won anything yet. Also, he was demoted to head of scouting, not technically fired. He deserved better, as IMO he was a much better GM than Watson or Cashman, but he also wasn't a legend at the time.

Point, and I admit it may just be that I like stouts better than brown ales, but they're both somewhat sweet, high alcohol beers, and I noticed more complexity, and better flavors in the Oskar Blues. Either way, I wanted more out of Palo Santo. I can't really articulate what, but it felt, I dunno, close but not there yet? I admit this may be a personal thing, but I've felt that way about Dogfish before, and I say this as a Dogfish fan.

Revisiting Dogfish (because I tried Palo Santo this weekend, and it reminded me why I love and hate Dogfish at the same time), they're great about being creative, but they really need to think things through more (there's a great article about them, the founder likes to try new stuff, his head brewer tries to temper him, sometimes he gets his way, sometimes he doesn't), or perfect them. It seems like, while Dogfish has some inspired beers (I loved Sahtea, even though it's really weird), they also have some beers that aren't as good as they should be. To me, Palo Santo fell into that category, especially because I'd tried Oskar Blues' Ten Fidy a week or 2 earlier, and that beer was damn near perfect, and a similar style. If Dogfish paid more attention to nailing their beers, rather than constantly pushing the envelope, but manages to keep the inspiration and creativity, that would be awesome.

I don't know if they do the same recipe every year, but I loved Sly Fox Christmas last time I had it.

Great player. Congrats on a great run, and enjoy your retirement.

So do you give up the Finals run? If the Devils were less than optimistic about Parise and chose to trade him, that run never happens. IMO Lou followed the same logic last year with Clarkson. It worked once, it didn't work the second time. This isn't evidence of some colossal issue with Lou's style. Also, with the possible exception of Toronto, who don't have many assets (maybe draft picks, but doubt even they'd give a first or second rounder), no one was giving up that much for a Clarkson rental. It's not like Lou cost himself much by letting Clarkson try free agency. I wish he hadn't replaced Clarkson with Clowe, especially for the contract he gave, but I have no problem with the way the Clarkson situation was handled, or the Parise situation before that.

Goligoski fooled me. I thought Pittsburgh made out worse when the deal was made. Boy was I wrong.

IMO Lou SHOULD never feel the pressure. He's been too good for too long, and even now, he's done some very good stuff (Brunner, Ryder, Jagr, Schneider). That said, his lack of consistency is bothering me. His unwillingness to budge on a player's perceived value based on the market cost us Clarkson, and maybe Parise (though going home clearly contributed there as well). I'd be okay with that, but IMO he overpaid Clowe because Clowe's value was inflated. I'd rather be short a man, but not have a bad contract, or keep our guys, contracts be damned. We seem stuck in a weird middle ground. Of course, if Kovalchuk was still here, we'd be having a much different conversation, and IMO that whole thing fvcked up any long term planning we might have otherwise been able to do.

I'm selfish, so I'm hoping to ruin his retirement for 1 more year.

What Devil, who fits that description, was deprived of a letter by it going to Jagr, who is one of the hardest workers in the league, a respected leader for multiple franchises, and the Devils best player for the first month of the season? The only issue anyone can have with Jagr is he hasn't been here long. IMO that doesn't matter, and Stevens is just one of many players who have quickly been rewarded for having a positive impact on their respective franchises. In that locker room, Jagr is a leader, and based on what we, as fans, are able to see, we should be glad of that. Also, he wears the number 68 in honor of his grandfather, who died in 1968 as a political prisoner. Some things are bigger than hockey.