Rich

Stafford is an interesting discussion point. Jets perspective is probably yes because we got to re-sign him. Buffalo is probably no because he was going to be gone anyway. From a Buffalo stand point they would probably have to consider the futures (pick + prospect) they could of got if Stafford wasn't included in the deal, and they still could have traded him. And that is really hard to measure.

It isn't lack of production or points that concerns me. It is lack of break away speed to get away from the pack. He can get caught from behind That has nothing to do with the rest of the team. BTW, He scored a really nice OT goal at the game I was at last weekend.

I actually have concerns with Petan after watching a couple of Moose games. There is no doubt the guy has incredible puck skills, but he really lacks high end speed. I would have hoped / expected that at the AHL level a small guy like that would have noticeable speed compared to the rest of the competition. But he doesn't. He looks average out there. Someone of his size typically needs something to make up for his lack of size in the NHL, and for the smaller guys who make it, it is usually speed to avoid checks, to skate away from the competition. He doesn't seem to have it. Jury is still out for sure. I'm not writing him off completely, but it is concerning.

Or because he is from Toronto and has always wanted to play for the Leafs.

I believe he played 2 more yeas in Finland after breaking his leg. The NHL was also a much different landscape back then, especially the development of European players. Teams weren't as hands on with them after the draft as they are now. A few tidbits from Wikipedia:

Finnish players tend to come to the NHL late because of mandatory military service in Finland, not because Finnish genes have a propensity to develop their young males later. That was also why Teemu was an older rookie. From 2012: http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=44857

Yuck.

It has been said by Lawless that one year when he came in really out of shape and put on all the weight was the year his father passed away which hit him hard and affected his off ice workouts. I think there are valid concerns with any body of his size that may deteriorate with age, especially the knees / joints / back. But his off ice conditioning hasn't been a problem at all since that one year.

I thought of that. I checked a few of the salary sites and they listed no bonuses. I've also heard the data on those sites isn't as accurate since capgeek went away, so it is a possibility.

Interesting. His salary is $5.25M. 20 games is about 24% of the season. Even if you take into account 16% escrow that they don't get up front the math doesn't work. Wonder what the rules are for calculating what they forfeit.

I think that works out to be about $1.28M

Dollars and sense wise, this would pretty much be a wash for the Jets for the rest of the season. Pavelec makes $4.25M this season and $4.75M next season ($3.9M cap hit). Hiller makes $4.5M It would be nice to get Pavelec off the books for next year. No way Calgary trades their 1st for Pavelec, especially with where they are sitting in the standings. Could you get a 2nd or 3rd? Could you then flip Hiller to a playoff team who might need a decent backup, especially if you retain some salary?

I don't think I've ever seen Bettman give warm and fuzzies!

http://www.todaysslapshot.com/from-the-ice/friedman-jets-decisions-impact-the-market-the-most/

I'm pretty sure he would have been happy to keep salaries low so the owners could pocket more money. He grew revenues, which is the job of any CEO (or commissioner) which in turn made the NHLPA ask for a bigger piece of the pie. Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver (half the Canadian teams) have always been among the highest paid salaries in the league. It isn't his fault they don't use their cap money wisely. In fact it was Bettman who brought the salary cap in which made it feasible for the Jets to return and levelled the playing field for all teams . If they spend the same as everyone else, it is the GMs fault they don't win, not Bettmans

One has nothing to do with the other. Canadian teams make up 2 of the top 10 spenders and 3 of the top 15. Thats 20%. Canadian teams make up 23% of the teams. Seems about right to me. They seem to compete on dollars spent. It isn't his fault the Canadian teams haven't managed themselves well. Also Vancouver made the finals once as did Calgary. Bad luck they didn't win the cup. But the numbers don't seem that far out of whack. There are just way more American teams than Canadian.

It will be very interesting to see what kind of interest Lirim gets from other teams.

Another interesting article from a guy who both played and reffed the game with experiences on both sides. http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Paul-Stewart/No-Sympathy----But-Some-Empathy----for-Wideman/196/74359 He never expands on this tidbit, but I'd love to hear the story about when he was punched by fans in Winnipeg. As much as I've been mad enough off at refs, that is a ridiculous thing to do.

Interesting breakdown on the Wideman cross check from Kerry Fraser. www.tsn.ca/c-mon-ref-a-former-nhl-official-s-take-on-the-wideman-incident-1.429965

I can't find a video of it but they were talking about this on the morning show. Apparently the video angle from the other direction shows he didn't see the ref until the very last second. It was almost as if he was mad about being checked or whatever right before and didn't even realize that was the ref there. The other interesting point is that there was no penalty or game misconduct called on the ice which would typically happen and force a review.

Biggest difference in their careers is The Rock has been the star of a good portion of his movies. Jesse was always supporting cast.

Harris is still under contract with BC and will probably continue to be until free agency officially opens.