Official NHL 2005-2006 Season Thread

[sandman]

Primeau is retiring. sad day for the flyers, and for the NHL. Preems is everything a hockey player should be.


Primeau is expected to announce retirement
The Flyers center has never fully recovered from a concussion. Peter Forsberg is likely to be the new captain.

By Tim Panaccio
Inquirer Staff Writer

Flyers captain Keith Primeau is expected to announce his retirement before the end of the week.

"I've had those discussions with my wife and I will have something more to say about it either tomorrow or Thursday," Primeau said yesterday. "I have not talked to the club since last week. I had been looking to get myself back into a position to play."

The decision could help explain why the Flyers extended a stunning $1.9 million Group II offer sheet to Vancouver's Ryan Kesler yesterday.

Primeau said the Flyers have not discussed a job with him once he leaves the fold. The captaincy is expected to go to Peter Forsberg, which was the plan in the event Primeau did not begin the season.

Primeau has been unable to recover from post-concussion syndrome. He suffered a concussion Oct. 25 at Montreal when he took a blow to the head from Alexander Perezhogin.

Asked whether retirement at age 34 would be difficult given how much he can offer the Flyers, who sorely lacked for his leadership last season, Primeau responded, "It's very tough to face."

The Flyers have been proceeding as if Primeau will not be at training camp, which opens tomorrow with physicals.

Coach Ken Hitchcock said he had no knowledge of what Primeau's intentions are. But if Primeau announces his retirement, Hitchcock said it would be "very sad for the game of hockey."

Primeau played 51/2 seasons with the Flyers, with 87 goals, 126 assists, and 213 points in 312 games. He assumed the captaincy from Eric Desjardins in 2001.

With the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Kesler, the Flyers would still be overloaded with centers and likely would have to lose players through waivers, send them to the Phantoms and pay them an NHL salary on a one-way contract, or trade.

The Canucks have the option to match the offer to Kesler or take a second-round pick from the Flyers in next year's NHL entry draft. "Obviously, being a Group II free agent gives Vancouver a week to decide whether or not they want to match our offer," general manager Bob Clarke said.

The highly touted but still developing Kesler rejected his qualifying offer with the Canucks, who were reportedly willing to go as high as $850,000 a year on a two-year deal. He would be the third Flyer from Ohio State, having played with R.J. Umberger and Nate Guenin in 2002-03.

Kesler, 22, had 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points and 79 penalty minutes in 82 games last season. He is considered an outstanding skater, but had just one assist at the halfway point of the season despite averaging 14 minutes at center.

A native of Detroit, Kesler was originally drafted by Vancouver in the first round (23d overall) of the 2003 entry draft.

Group II offer sheets are considered taboo by many NHL general managers. "That is precisely how we all ended up in a financial mess before the lockout," one GM told the Sports Network of Canada. "One team trying to stick it to another team. You would have thought we had learned our lessons."

The Canucks are expected to match the Flyers' offer.

The last Group II offer sheet went to Sergei Federov in 1998 from Carolina. Detroit matched it.

Primeau's retirement will free cap space - $3.16 million - to fit Simon Gagne's new deal ($5.25 million) and Kesler, if the Canucks fail to match the Flyers' offer. By subtracting Primeau and adding Gagne's deal plus Kesler, the Flyers would be at $44.2 million. They are still expected to lose some salary before the season starts next month. The salary cap is $44 million.

Loose pucks. There is likely to be a new line at training camp: Kyle Calder at left wing, Mike Richards at center and Jeff Carter at right wing. Carter is making the switch from center. That line played together for Canada at last year's IIHF World Championships in Latvia... . The consensus reaction from most of the players yesterday was disbelief that the Islanders gave goalie Rick DiPietro a 15-year deal worth $67.5 million... . Dennis Tolpeko (hip) and Lars Jonsson (hip flexor) were excused from yesterday's scrimmage.

THE PRIMEAU FILE

Born: Nov. 24, 1971, in Toronto.

Height: 6-foot-5.

Weight: 240 pounds.

Drafted: First-round choice (third overall) in 1990 by the Detroit Red Wings.

Acquired by Flyers: Traded from the Carolina Hurricanes for Rod Brind'Amour on Jan. 23, 2000.

Named Flyers captain: Oct. 23, 2001.

The concussion: Primeau missed the last 73 games of the 2005-06 regular season and six playoff games after suffering a concussion at Montreal on Oct. 25.

Greatest goal: On May 4, 2000, he scored the winning goal in the Flyers' five-overtime playoff game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

[Neemo]

i'm not a fan of his but it is kinda sad...too many concussions

Ovechkin turned down the captains "C" saying he wasn't ready...pretty classy of him, i bet Crosby would take it if the pens offered it

[sandman]

(this thread should be renamed to "Official NHL Thread")


tie domi retired.

source: espn.com


TORONTO -- Former Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer Tie Domi has decided to retire, The Canadian Press reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed source.

The source told the CP that Domi, a Maple Leafs fan favorite -- and favorite target in opposing NHL arenas -- for his aggressive style of play, will officially announce his retirement Tuesday afternoon.

Domi, 36, despite his fan favorite status, was bought out by the Leafs earlier this summer as the new-look NHL empahized offense and fighting declined. He had only five goals and 11 assists in 2005-06 as the Maple Leafs missed the playoffs.

He played 1,020 career games in the league with the Leafs, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets.

[Communist China]

Yea, it was time for Domi to go. Too bad he couldn't have retired as a Leaf though...

[Neemo]

yeah he was done...at least he managed to scam a $3mill contract for his last year...sadly his style of play is no longer needed in the "NEW NHL"

[Mal Brossard]

Good, fuck him.  Domi should have retired 10 years ago before he decided to be a total douche off the ice and pull all the cheap crap he spent his last few years doing.  I love fights, I loved Domi his first 10 years, but he became a total shit both on and off the ice since 2000 or so.

In other news, the Pens have offered the captaincy to..............

No one.  The team will have 3 players wearing the A this year rather than the typical C-A-A format.

[sandman]

i'll miss domi. he was fun to hate. and fun to watch. one of the craziest moments in philly was when he started pummeling a fan. good stuff.


some very minor rule changes this year - 1. increase in the curve of sticks; 2. home team gets choice for shootouts; 3. fines for diving (which i really like).   


The NHL's board of governors approved several minor rule changes Thursday, the most notable one pertaining to the curvature of players' sticks.

Under the new rules, the maximum curve of a player's stick was increased to three-quarters of an inch from half an inch.

The increase in the size of the curve of sticks is expected to give players more zip in their shots.

Players who are caught with a stick that exceeds the maximum curve during regulation time or overtime, but not shootouts, will incur a minor penalty and a $200 US fine for the first offence.

A second offence will result in a minor penalty, plus a fine of $1,000. A third offence would draw a game misconduct penalty and an automatic one-game suspension. The suspension would double in length for any subsequent violation.

During shootouts, a team can request the measurement of an opposing shooter's stick prior to his attempt on net. If he has a legal stick, the complaining team would forfeit its next shootout attempt and incur a fine of $5,000.

If the stick is illegal, the offending player would become ineligible to participate in the shootout and the team would forfeit that shootout attempt. The team would also be fined $5,000 and the player would be fined $1,000.

The board of governors also approved a rule change that will give the home team the choice of shooting first or second in a shootout.

Another new measure deals with players who dive or embellish an offence in order to draw a penalty.

Under the new rules, a player who dives will be sent a written warning from the league. A second infraction draws a $1,000 fine, while a third offence would result in a possible one-game suspension.

The length of the suspension would double for any subsequent violation.

[Neemo]

what's with the $200 fine? and $1000 like fuck it's bullshit, these guys wipe their asses with $1000 always thought the fines were bullshit

[Communist China]

Maybe the refs should start calling dives on the ice. Just a thought...

[sandman]

i like the rule changes.

curves - it's not the $$, it's the one-game suspension after 3 infractions. that's a big penalty.

diving - agreed the refs should call it more. but hopefully the league will review tapes and penalize players even when a diving penalty was not called (since it is difficult to catch). that would be a major deterrant. and again, i like the game suspension.

[GNR estranged]

does anyone here do fantasy hockey?

[sandman]

does anyone here do fantasy hockey?

i've only done it once, and that was 7-8 years ago now that i think about it.

i'm always interested, but the one buddy who runs a league never has any openings.

[Mal Brossard]

Good.  I like these new rules.  As long as the game is more watchable than last year, I'll take it.

I used to do fantasy hockey.  Then I managed to get kicked out of two leagues and said fuck it, I'm not doing it anymore.  Plus I don't have time to check my team every day.  I stick with just football.  I can track my teams there on just one or two days a week.

[Neemo]

i used to run fantasy leagues but haven't been in on in years...I'm game if somebody wants to set one up

[Mama Kin]

I am a part of one looking for some people...drop me a PM me and I'll send you the shit to sign up.

100% free, as well....

[Communist China]

Even with time to review diving is very hard to call. An accused player could argue that he tripped, slipped, or actually did get pulled or knocked down until the cows come home. And we all know how late cows like to stay up.

I think refs should call it more, and not give so-so plays suspensions, just a 2 minute penalty.

[Mama Kin]

It's easy to tell when someone dived. I can't explain it, but if you've played or watched hockey long enough, you just know. Also, the odds of them diving go up about 50% if the player is European....

[Neemo]

well canada and the US have their fair share of matthew barnaby's too

[Communist China]

well canada and the US have their fair share of matthew barnaby's too

...and they're named Derek Roy. 

what I meant was that even if everyone knows, the player can still argue like hell and refute video footage. It's not like football, where you can look at a video and say "knee hits ground at the 34, ball is at the 36". It's an argumentative pursuit.

[Mama Kin]

Yeah, players always argue. I ref some minor hockey, they always argue..no matter what. But, what the ref says goes.....