Dein erstes Forum » o. "Those are my babies, man. I cant love on

Scott Cullen has some post-Olympic notes on Martin St. Louis trade rumours, Team Canada in 2018 as well as NHL Olympic participation in Pyeongchang, South Korea (and beyond). 1. The Internet was abuzz, following the Olympics, about the possibility of the Tampa Bay Lightning dealing leading scorer Martin St. Louis to New York for Rangers captain Ryan Callahan. This was my initital reaction. That isnt to say that the Lightning might not deal St. Louis because, if hes really unhappy after the whole Olympic team selection fiasco, then that might be the impetus for movement. However, the Lightning are in third place in the Eastern Conference, which means they arent just going to give him away, and there are several issues at play with regards to St. Louis future with the team. First, since St. Louis has a no-movement clause, the Lightning are at his mercy should they decide to trade him. If St. Louis says that his preferred destination is the Rangers, because he lives in nearby Connecticut, then you can expect the Rangers to avoid paying fair market value, instead paying closer to monopolistic value, not unlike the Pittsburgh Penguins offered to the Calgary Flames for Jarome Iginla last season. Additionally, if the Lightning are going to shop St. Louis, wouldnt it make much more sense to do it in the offseason, when they might be able to get a better quality return, or perhaps open the trade talks to more than one team (its not like Manhattan is the only NHL location relatively close to Connecticut)? Whatever the deal ends up being, there is little reason for the Lightning to deal St. Louis, straight-up, for an inferior winger with an expiring contract. Maybe Callahan plus works, but it would definitely depend on the plus. The reigning scoring champion cant just be peddled out of town at a cut-rate price if a franchise is going to be seen as legitimate. Considering how torn Lightning GM Steve Yzerman must have been throughout this process, its no wonder that hes had enough as Team Canada GM after back-to-back Olympic gold medals. 2. The 2014 Olympics were barely finished before Mike Johnson was tasked with projecting Team Canada for 2018. Obviously, this requires a lot of projection, going four years ahead of time, but here are some 2014 players that are likely due to be replaced because of age: Roberto Luongo, Mike Smith, Chris Kunitz, Patrick Sharp, Martin St. Louis, Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Hamhuis, Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash and Jeff Carter, all of whom are 29 or older this season. There could easily be more turnover, but filling those 8-10 spots seems a reasonable starting point. In net, I would add Jonathan Bernier (who I would have taken in 2014) to Carey Price. As the number three goaltender, I lean to a younger player like Braden Holtby, even if hes going through some tough times this season. On the blueline, with the right side staying the same -- Drew Doughty, Shea Weber, Alex Pietrangelo, P.K. Subban, along with Duncan Keith and Marc-Edouard Vlasic on the left -- that leaves room for a couple of new faces. Today, Ill go with Ryan Murray and Travis Hamonic ahead of Morgan Rielly and Brenden Dillon. Up front, after bringing back Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, John Tavares, Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene and Patrice Bergeron, I add Steven Stamkos, Tyler Seguin, Taylor Hall, Claude Giroux, Logan Couture and Nathan MacKinnon to get to 14 forwards. It pains me to pass over Blue Jackets C Ryan Johansen, but hes one that I find intriguing. The debate will surely rage, but maybe we can put it aside for at least three years before getting caught up in it too much. 3. One other twist, as it pertains to participation in the Olympics, and was mentioned by Gord Miller, is that the NHL could go with the under-23 model that soccer uses in the Summer Olympics. The sticking point, to me, in this plan is that teams arent going to want to continue playing their schedule without some of these top-calibre players. Here are some of the best 22-and-under players in the NHL this season. Can we really expect a team to go forward and play games for a couple of weeks without players of that calibre? Imagine the Colorado Avalanche without Ryan OReilly, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, or the Winnipeg Jets minus Evander Kane, Mark Scheifele and Jacob Trouba. Those would be devastating to those particular teams. The other tweak to the option is that NHL teams could decide which players can go which, given previous experience with the World Junior tournament, would pretty much eliminate the participation of NHL players, which begs the question: why impose an age limit at all if NHLers wont be participating? By most accounts, the players always seem in favour of the experience. Those that are playing enjoy it and those that dont enjoy getting some time off during the season. As it stands now, NHL owners and executives have taken the position that they arent so interested in participating in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea and that could be their legitimate stance, especially after some teams had players suffer injuries while playing in Sochi. At the same time, its also the kind of position that a negotiator would take if they wanted to extract more favourable compensation from the International Olympic Committee. Theres no leverage if you state that youre unequivocally in love with the current relationship. Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, who has hardly been regarded as being tight with the players, told the New York Times, "I know the importance of competing in the Olympics to many of our players — they are our partners and if it is important to them it should be important to us." That doesnt sound like the door on NHL Olympic participation has been shut altogether. At least not yet. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Colton Sceviour Jersey . Authorities in Medina, Minn., released the details one day after Cunningham was jailed for another alleged incident with the woman he had been living with for the previous eight months. Cunningham had already been charged with felony domestic assault for allegedly choking the woman last week. Mike Hoffman Panthers Jersey . -- The Detroit Lions made it crystal clear to Golden Tate that he was their top target in free agency. http://www.hockeypanthersofficialonline.com/mackenzie-weegar-hockey-jersey/ . At times during a solid but not spectacular season, they looked all three. Still the defending AFC champions persevered, riding their top-ranked defence and key contributions from younger players to a 12-4 record and their eighth playoff appearance since 2000, remarkable consistency in a league where change is the only constant. Mark Pysyk Jersey . The Flames are in the midst of a six-game slide (0-5-1), their longest losing streak since an 0-6-3 skid from Jan. 11-28, 2010. They havent won since Nov. 3 in Chicago and most recently went winless on a three-game homestand. Keith Yandle Jersey . Chile applied pressure in midfield right from the beginning, challenging aggressively and continually surging forward. Eduardo Vargas beat the offside trap and fired home a stinging shot for Chiles opening goal in the fifth minute.Gilmore Junio has decided to take one for the team, giving up his spot in Wednesdays 1000-metre speed skating final for Canadian teammate Denny Morrison. The three-time Olympian Morrison failed to qualify at the 1,000 distance at the Olympic trials in Calgary last month, falling just 50 metres short of the finish. But Junio, who finished 11th on Monday in his Olympic debut in the mens 500, said Tuesday its the right thing to do. “How Denny is skating now, I believe its in the best interest of the team if he races,” Junio said in a statement released by Speed Skating Canada. “To represent Canada at the Olympics is a huge honour and privilege but I believe that as Canadians, were not just here to compete; we are here to win. Denny has proven to be a consistent medal threat in the distance.” Its true Morrison is a contender at 1,000. Hes currently sixth in the World Cup standings at the distance, with a pair of fourth place finishes. In the past, hes won two silver medals at the world championships in the 1,000. The 28-year-old Fort St. John, B.C., native will try to win his first individual Olympic medal. Hes won gold and silver the last two Olympics as part of Canadas team pursuit. “This is an amazing gesture and Im ready to make the most of this opportunity,” Morrison said. Shani Davis of the United States will be gunning for another groundbreaking achievement in Wednesdays 1,000 metre race. Davis, 31, can become the first man ever to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in speed skating, and the first American to do three straight in any Winter Gamees sport.dddddddddddd The Chicago native, who trained extensively at the Calgary Oval earlier this century, became the first African American to win Olympic gold in an individual Winter Games sport in 2006. Since then, hes set the world record at 1,000 and holds the top 10 sea level times at the distance. Given that Davis has twice won Olympic gold at 1,000 but has settled for silver twice in the 1,500, you might expect him to be more desirous of grabbing gold at the longer distance. Not so. "Those are my babies, man. I cant love one more than the other," he told The Associated Press last week. "Ive got two hands for two medals." Davis has shown signs of mortality in recent weeks. After winning the first three World Cup races at 1,000 this season, he finished third in December in Berlin to 2010 Olympic silver medallist Tae-Bum Mo of South Korea and Michel Mulder of the Netherlands. Last month, he split two races at the world sprint championships in January with Denis Kuzin of Kazakhstan. Other medal contenders include Dutch competitor Kjled Nuis and Brian Hansen, like Davis from the Chicago area. Three other Canadians join Morrison in Wednesdays race. William Dutton of Humboldt, Sask., and Muncef Ouardi each skated in the 500 metres on Monday. Dutton impressed at the sprint worlds Japan last month with a fourth place showing, although some of the worlds best elected not to travel to Japan. Vincent De Haître of Cumberland, Ont., will make his Olympic debut. The 19-year-old surprised many at the Olympic trials by posting the fastest time at 1,000. ' ' '