I know I will. Looks like the weather is going to be awesome!
Coming tomorrow I've got some in-depth features on John Marks and Pat Bingham dealing with what kind of coaches Komets' fans can expect depending on who gets the job. I'm more convinced than ever that the Komets can't go wrong with. Everybody: fans, management, players, seem to love both of these guys.
Of course in December that won't stop some of you on the blog from complaining about how we didn't get the other one. LOL. I'm going to be out of pocket, so you'll actually have to buy the paper or look around on the site to find them.
Have a good one.
Comments
I have tried to avoid it like the plague, but I actually caught myself watching some of the World Cup this weekend.
Is it just me, or is there more diving, crying, whining, and disputed calls (I don't watch it enough to understand or even really care about what is a foul and what isn't) in soccer than just about any sport?
From the highlights I've seen, there's been as much diving in the World Cup as there is in a typical swim meet ... and everyone thought some hockey players were diving experts.
World cup reminds me of watching the Rockford Icehogs and Steve Martinson... crying, diving, and whining.
Then how come they didn't get tossed out of games like some of the soccer players are getting tossed?
Rock on JM, i second: World cup reminds me of watching the Rockford Icehogs and Steve Martinson... crying, diving, and whining.
Wow. I thought I would be hanging from a tree by now.
Greg....Belfour became expendable when the Raycroft trade was made. They did not want him back anyway because of his salary, age and injuries. They have a stud in the minors by the name of Justin Pogge who just turned 20. He lead Canada to the World Junior Championships gold medal last year. So Raycroft and Aubin are keeping his seat warm
Hit... I know we are talking difference between thousands and millions but in the context of business it is all relative. The salary cap dollar amount in the UHL is X. Chaulk made too much to fit in that cap without hampering the ability of management to sign other quality players.
Try for a second to forget 2002-03 and even for a second forget he is playing on your favorite team. Looking at it that way, can anyone honestly say he has deserved to be the highest paid player in the league the last year or two? Not one of the highest but THE highest? The Frankes have been very generous with him.
It is going to come down to this, will he be a team guy and stick around at a very nice salary or will he go looking for the biggest paycheck he can find. If he chooses the first he will prove what a leader he is. If he chooses the second I guess I can't blame him but it will be best for the organization.
Besides, a new coach coming in might want to name his own captain and how would Chaulk feel if it isn't him?
Whatever is best for the team.......just points to ponder
As for the World cup.....all I can say is.... WHOAAAA MAN!
Tony-Do you think more negativly of Chaulk being that he seems to be looking at going else where to get paid and not wanting to take a pay cut?
Well.... strictly from a dollars vs performance perspective,
I do not think his performance the last 2 seasons warranted him being the highest paid player in the league. That "title" carries with it alot of expectations. Alex Rodriguez better do a bit more than hit 30 homers and drive in 100 runs. Those are very good numbers but not "highest paid in the league" numbers.
Even more than that though, Chaulk knows there is now a cap in place that was not there when he signed that contract. While I understand and respect the fact that he is not making millions and that he needs to make what he can, I also believe he has been overpaid the last 2 years and it would not kill him to return that generousity by sticking around and allowing the Frankes to put pieces in place around him that will allow everyone to achieve success.
I want him to stay, I really do. But not if it means he is going to be on an island. He has a choice in front of him. Stay where he is liked, has had success and a town that lvoes him for a little less money or pack his bags and look for the biggest paycheck he can find. Both options have +/- . He has to do what he feels is best for himself and his career and I applaud the Komets for taking a stand and doing what is best for the team.
What does anyone think of this. Steve Yzerman retires from the Red Wings.
Congrats on an outstanding career Stevie Y!
This guy is a sure-fire HOFer and joins the pantheon of greats to wear the winged wheel.
According to the team website, Yzerman ranks first in assists and only second to Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe in games played, goals and points in the regular season. To top it off, Yzerman served as team captain since 1986 - not bad. Trivia - can anyone name the last captain before Yzerman?
I would be surprised if they named a captain to replace him right away - at least a season or two - out of respect. I'd like to see them have three alternates for awhile instead.
Answer: Danny Gare - earlier had played for Buffalo Sabres.
much like the Devils did in not naming a captain to follow the great Scott Stevens. They had 3 alternates..
Based on what I am hearing on local radio up here, fans want to see Draper or Shanahan take the C for the next few seasons.
Ah the days of Danny Gare and John Ogrodnick going up against Rick Vaive and Bill Derlago......my childhood..... sigh I am getting old :-(
Tony E, how do we know Chaulk is the highest paid player in the league? I've never heard that before.
Blake has posted it more than once. I trust his word. The specific amount has not been posted (as far as I know).
Excuse me, I don't think I've ever posted that. I do believe he was one of the highest paid players in the league, but I don't know if he was the highest.
Tony, please get your statements straight before posting that Chaulk was the highest paid player in the league. I highly doubt that he was, knowing the Danbury and Muskegon situations that were going on. I have my doubts that Chaulk was even the highest paid player on the Komets. Frenchy and Drouin were both highly paid for this level of hockey. Having said all of that, Chaulk DESERVES to be the highest paid Komet this year. If that means a pay cut, so be it. I thought Chaulk played pretty well last year considering all the problems around the team, most of which were not publicized. Same with Frenchy. I will always believe that had Chaulk not been hurt, the Komets would have made a run at the Cup. They were the 1 team who gave the Wings problems and it would have been very interesting to see if they ahd played.
Then again, I have no doubt Chaulk WAS the highest-paid Komet. Komets would not have made a run at the cup because they had too many other flaws, more than any one person could have overcome.
I agree....too many defensive miscues, leading to a larger work load for Frenchy. Plus the special teams were not really good. If they could have scored about 6-7 goals a game....they might have had more of a chance (Not) Too many injuries to key players also did not help....it just wasn't to be this year.
Blake if I misquoted you I do apologize. Since there is no easy way to do a content search on the blog and I don't have the time to go through months worth of posts to find what it was I believe I read and because I believe you if you tell me you didn't say it, I will leave it at that.
That being said, my beliefs that he was overpaid last year stand.
Kometsfan I do not need a lecture from you.
Blake corrected me and I stand corrected. I am as close to factually correct as you can get 99% of the time. Everyone is entitled to a mistake.
As to whether he deserves to be the highest paid player on the team, maybe. It depends on who gets brought in here this year. In minor league sports you cannot pay based on past performance especially when you are dealing with an injured and aging player. He did play "pretty well" but pretty well doesn't usually get to the top of the payroll.
One other thing, as far as highest paid player goes, I was talking "on the books" What Danbury and others might have been doing under the table was not included in my thinking.
Actually I need to apologize to everyone here, not just Blake. I do pride myself in being accurate in my statements. I did read somewhere that he was the highest paid player but it very well might have been on one of the "rumors" boards or here by another blogger. I have also had my own belief that he was one of the top 5 paid players and have always thought that he was overpaid if that was the case.
When folks read my posts I want them to be able to believe that I know what I am talking about even if they don't agree with me.
So all of you have my word that the next time I post a statement of fact, I will have my sources in front of me.
--------------------------------------------
Now,
let me state my opinion with the facts as I know them.
The Frankes have never been accused of being cheap. It is general consensus that Chaulk was ONE OF the highest paid players on the Komets. He signed his contract before the cap was in place.
I believe that even with the pay cut he was asked to take, he would STILL be one of the top paid players on this team. I believe if he cares about the well being of the team he will take the cut so that the Komets have more room under the cap to bring in better players. I believe if he leaves here strictly for a cash grab he would be making a mistake. All that being said, there is very little loyalty in sports anymore and he must do what is best for his families.
So with my tail tucked firmly between my legs, opinions please....?
Komet Fan check your email please.
Have a good night all. I am actually getting away from the computer for a change.
I have serious problems with people saying that Chaulk has not "earned" his salary for the last couple years (whatever the amount is). You cannot base your opinions on just numbers with players like Chaulk in my opinion... Now I totally respect others opinions and I'm kinda shooting from the hip so take that in mind. Chaulk hits, scores, plays incredible defense (3 of 4 defensive players of years awards), power play, penalty kill, is ALWAYS motoring, and I can only recall 1 or 2 games that I left with the feeling that he took the night off... He had 79 pts in 66 games this season and I cant tell you how many times this year I saw him teamed up with guys like Frawley and Rumble due to our former coaches wild line rotation scheme. How many pure scorers has he been lined up with over the years that he was given more than 5 games to gell with??? I know I'm rambling so I'll cut er short. I believe that I have only scratched the surface of how valuable I think Chaulk is to this or any team. I never thought that we would be having this conversation about Chaulk this offseason so I'm still a lil stunned. I'm rambling again...
Oaky, the question then becomes, do the Frankes pay Chaulk what he's asking and then not be able to put the best team on the ice or let him go and try to bring in others?
JR.....you beat me to the punch....I was going to fire off the same exact comment. So Kudos to you. Surprise, Surprise, Surprise...once again I agree with JR!
I will add one thing that was left out...He wins nearly every faceoff he attempts and is one of the best special teams players in the league, too. And a great point was made about the garbage players that have been thrown on his line the last year for sure. Always a Rumble, Frawley, Hunter, etc on his line instead of a Venedam, Bobby Stewart, Goodwin, etc. People overlook the little things that he does on the ice, too. He is a total player out there.
Tony E..even though I really like you, and respect your well thought out opinions...I think that you read the stats way too much when judging the value of a player. No offense, but how many Komet games have you seen in the last 2 years? You made lots of assumptions about a player without actually seeing him perform. Same goes for Mr. Guinn too. It is easy to look at a guys stats and say...well he played every game and had a nice +/- and then say he was the best defensemen the Komets have had. Just take a poll of the bloggers on here and they will tell you that he was piss poor this year. He looked intimidated out there and generally lost most of the time. You can call that stay-at-home if you want. I call it weak. And no offense to him, I think he is a much better player than he showed us this year. Alot of the blame goes to the brilliant coach I think.
Wow...that was long...to summarize....KEEP CHAULK!!!!!!
Without knowing exactly what having a hard cap entails, I dont know how much you give him. I would really like to read the language of the leagues hard cap; but what I do know is that they raised the cap amount and did not add another player. And at least 3 vets are gone from last years team and that equals alot of dollars freed up. I am old fashioned in believing that you honor your contract both as a player and management. I dont think that applies now adays; but it would be nice to see again. I guess we will see; but if they do trade him I pray they get good value for him in return.......
Hit,
I have been to 20-25 games each year the last two years, about half in Fort Wayne and another half when they have been in Flint, Port Huron and Motor City.
My opinions are not just based on the stat sheet. I believe Chaulk, St Pierre and Drouin took up too much of the teams salary last year and it cost the team in terms of depth. That was when the team pretty much just had its own internal budget to "cap" salaries. I believe this new cap is less than what the Komets would spend if they could. Therefore even more cuts need to be made.
Let me ask a broad question. What percentage of the salary cap do you offer Chaulk in order to keep him? That is what every GM has to face in a hard cap league.
Look, I really like Chaulk. There is no doubt in my mind he is one of the best players in this league.
But he can't win alone and the Komets need to have a roster with much better depth next season. I think we can all agree on that. They can't do that if they give Chaulk (or any other one player) a large percentage of the cap.
I hope Chaulk will swallow his pride, take the cut and understand it isn't the Komets being cheap, they are just trying to adjust to the cap. He of course does have the right to seek out employers who will pay him what he wants and I can't begrudge him for that. I just don't want the Komets to overpay him and hurt their chances to fill out the roster with something other than pilons on skates.
The Pistons are having a similar situation with Ben Wallace and are going to let him walk.
Yawn...long day. I learned alot. It is good for me to get my swollen head popped once in awhile. You guys can expect that my I's will be dotted and my T's crossed from now on. Thank you for allowing me to be human and make a mistake without ripping me to shreds.
Goodnight all.
JR I forgot to mention, I agree with you about honoring contracts but the league rules changed. When this happened in the NHL everyone took a cut.
As far as trading him, can they? I am trying to remember if this is a "players option" contract or not. If so, can't he just make himself a free agent?
I dont think you can compare the caps of major league clubs and minor league clubs whatever sport your talking about because the disparigy in dollar amounts are huge. I dont remember what cap rules they eventually incorporated into the NHL's cap; but didnt they players have a certain percentage of roleback on thier contracts????does anyone remember?? Also NHL players have a say in what the cap amount is gonna be, the UHL guys dont. I know alot of teams are facing the same predicament in trying to pay fan favorites while at the same time building a competitive team for next year... Its late and my spelling and sentence structure may stink so I'll sign off for tonight.