Iron Crotch

I like the move by the NHL. The objective should always be winning and no team should ever go into a season trying to minimize wins in order to maximize draft lottery balls. People on this site have been talking about losing on purpose for well over a year... that is exactly what the NHL is trying to discourage. From what I'm reading, if we're dead last again in 2014-2015, the odds favor us ending up with the #2 pick. That is no different than this past season.

:D http://youtu.be/xSRcXRkQGOI

I love exclamation points too!!!!

Perhaps, but I don't buy what is "leaked" to the press these days. Teams have no incentive to tell the truth.

I think Ryan Miller will end up in San Jose. He'd be a good fit for the Sharks and the Bay area puts him much closer to his actress wife.

Moulson is popular in the room too. All around likeable guy.

One of the offers has to be from the Oilers.

Yeah, I'm tired of 95 pages of speculation. Ready for the actual event. I really don't have any idea which of the 3 forwards we're going to take at #2, but I trust that our scouting staff knows more than any of us on here!

They won a Cup with him and he led the league in playoff goal scoring. Hard to argue with this move from either side.

It could be that Murray wants to add speed to the forward group. If so, then Bennett is our guy. If he wants a big, strong, physical type of player then it'll be Draisaitl. I think the reason they talk about "hockey smarts" re: Reinhart is he isn't terribly fast nor terribly big. Physically he doesn't stand out... so "hockey smarts" is a nice way to talk about what he brings to the table. All 3 can score, so I'm sure any of the three are instant upgrades over our current craptastic forwards.

I heard Suarez likes to eat Italian.

This probably hasn't been talked about enough on this board. There is such thing as having too many draft picks. We can't sign them all! And, on that end, whereas a lot of folks want the Sabres to resign marginal players like Conacher, Hackett, McBain and D'Agostini, doing so takes a pro spot away from a younger, potentially more promising player.

I'm pretty sure there is a salary cap for entry level contracts of just under $1 million and signing bonuses can't be more than 10% of the total compensation. So we're not paying our new draftee $4 million.

Even Strength Points per 60... 1 Sam Bennett OHL 3.5 2 Robby Fabbri OHL 3.4 3 Andrew Mangiapane OHL 3.4 4 Spencer Watson OHL 3.4 5 Nikolaj Ehlers QMJHL 3.2 6 Kris Schmidli WHL 3.2 7 Jayce Hawryluk WHL 3.2 8 Josh Ho-Sang OHL 3 9 Leon Draisaitl WHL 2.9 10 Nikita Scherbak WHL 2.8 11 Chase De Leo WHL 2.8 12 Lane Bauer WHL 2.8 13 Nicolas Aubé-Kubel QMJHL 2.8 14 Sam Reinhart WHL 2.8

Thought this was interesting... Points per 60 minutes (i.e. adjusted for ice time) for draft eligible guys: 1. Robby Fabbri OHL 4.2 2. Sam Bennett OHL 4.1 3. Leon Draisaitl WHL 4.0 4. Nikolaj Ehlers QMJHL 3.8 5. Sam Reinhart WHL 3.7 BTW - Connor McDavid is ahead of all of the draft eligible guys above as a 16 year old.

The Flyers had a great young team in 2011.... then for some reason they decided to get rid of everyone: Carter, Richards, JVR, Hartnell... not sure why the keep dumping their scoring forwards. Must be something going on behind the scenes with Hartnell?

Not a great game for Cameron or Bradley, but the end result isn't terrible in the grand scheme of things. We get in under a lot of different scenarios if we at least keep it close against Germany and the other game isn't a blowout. BTW - if USA and Germany are tied late in the match, both teams have a clear incentive to play defensively and go for the tie.

Saw some tweets that the Flyers want Ott. I could see that happening. Under the radar possibility: Paul Statsny to the Predators. The USA hockey connection is there with David Poille and Peter Laviolette. And, Poille just came back from a trip to Denver.

But.... they already are a playoff team. :) I think we will get Matt Moulson back. Proximity to family (he is from nearby Mississauga) is what I'm banking on. And, for some reason I think local boy Lee Stempniak to Buffalo sounds good. We'll get a marginally talented veteran defenseman too... just not sure which one. Free agency aside, I predict a big trade that brings us an expensive forward who another team needs to get rid of to clear salary.

Messi in extra time. Wow. That's why he is the best player in the world.

I think Leon will eventually play at 220/225 lbs. If the two or three guys at the top of the draft are relatively equal, my own preference is for the bigger, more physical player. I have a feeling that's the direction Murray wants to take this team (bigger and more physical). BTW - the draft is only televised on the NHL network in the U.S.?

Apparently one of my dogs loves World Cup soccer. She stares at the television non-stop. I've never seen her watch TV so contently before.

He is a center and has always played there. But, for some reason many on this board thinks he plays the wing.

I think Ho-Sang will be the steal of the draft.

In qualifying it was clear that Costa Rica and the U.S. were at about the same level as the two best CONCACAF teams. Costa Rica can play. They deserved the win!