This is has not been Carey Price's finest moments in his short career as a Montreal Canadien. in the two games he has goaled this week, he has let in 10 goals, worst of all, he has not gotten any support from his teammates, that something that neither Guy Carbonneau or Bob Gainey want to see. It's not mentionned anywhere, if the Gm visited the players locker room, as a reminder to the players, that they have a mandate to fulfill and better get out of vacation mode and fast. The Hall of Fame and former Canadiens captain, is not one to panic, but surely won't sit back and watch his team slide out of the playoffs. I'm surprised that head coach Guy Carbonneau didn't see this coming. It was pretty obvisious to anyone that follows hockey on a regular basis. Legendary and the late Toe Blake use to have fits when he saw his teams lift their foot from the pedal, when they were controlling the game. Blake use to tell his players that they usually start the next game the way they had finished the previous one. Let's go back two weeks, the Canadiens were dominating the Senators in Ottawa, they had total control of the game, they started to slack off , and bang, The Sens come in score two goals and force the game in to overtime and then a shoutout, which the Habs won by the skin of their teeth. Carbonneau seemed happy with the win, but if he had known that his team was on it's way to a four game losing streak, I doubt that he would as happy. Guys like Blake, Bowman and Carbonneau's former coach, Jacques Lemaire, would of been steaming mad.
Carbonneau did have his players on the ice early the next morning after the loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, with skating at the beginning and at the end, but no results. On Thursday, it was the sequel of the horror show in Tampa, but this time the Florida Cats were hungry, and ate up Price and his teammates 5-1. After the game, the young goaltender blew a fuse, and used some choice words, with cameras rolling. According to Marc-Antoine Godin of La Prese news paper, the Canadiens brass warned him about the excess language, espacially with the press around.
Guy Carbonneau has the task of getting this team back on track for the Super Bowl weekend matinees against the Los Angeles Kings and their all-time rivals and Eastern Conference leaders, the Boston Bruins. Both games start at 2pm, you can see them on the CBC and RDS.
The Detroit Red Wings signed all-star and Conn Smyth trophy winner, Henrik Zetterberg to a twelve year 73 million dollar contract this week, which indicate that Marian Hossa could end being the odd man out in the motor city, as Gm ken Holland most likely will concentrate on getting Johan Frenzen signed. Given the state of the US economy, Holland will give priority to the players that have been in Detroit the longest, which is not the case for Hossa. The talented winger can do two things, one, take a hometown discount or two, test the UFA market. Of the two, Hossa will go test the market. One that might be pretty thin dollar wise, as teams will most likely chose to sign their RFA's before offer sheets come pourring in and have to match them. Of course, if he can go on the market as a Stanley cup champion that would be great, but I doubt it will bring his value up more. In my opinion, the UFA market in the next two or three years, could be pretty thin money wise for those hoping to cash in like those in the first four years of the CBA. Should be interesting folks.
This is a good question, as the CBA is a complicated document to understand. The cap accounting is not as difficult as it seems. Of course if you have some knowledge on how accounting works in a major corporation, the cap is kids play to you, but if you don't, then you get lost as many others do. Remember, there is one thing balancing the family budget and that of a multinational corporation.
That being said. Let's look at examples where teams might be seem to be in trouble, and in reality they are not. One thing you must remember, a team can have a player on LTIR, but is not obligated to ask for the exemption right away, as it can be retroactive. You can still bring in a replacement player or more, as long as the salary or salaries do not exceed the one of the player on LTIR.
Now to be eligible for the long term injury exemption, you must prove that a player missed or will miss 10 games or 24 cap days. Now your wondering why the 10 games and the 24 cap days ? It depends on a teams schedule during a certain month. Let's say, and god forbid this would happen, but for argument sake. The Sens Captain, Alfredsson gets injured, he will be out possibly four weeks, which means 28 cap days. The Sens have a light schedule in February, in which they will possibly play at the most 9 games, thru 25 days. Since the 10 game rule does not apply, they can still apply, as he will miss 24 days, and can ask for the exemption right away, or make it retroactive when he gets back, to assure they get the credits at the end of the year and be cap compliant.
So if your a Flyers fan, and look at how much they have in cap space, don't worry, at the end of the year they will be cap compliant and won't penalized for it. Replacement players for those on LTIR, does not affect the cap space. Let's say they had 2 million in cap space before injuries, it does not change. There is many more examples I could give you, but let's stick to the ones I have given you. But it is true, that a team must free up space on the active roster when an injured player comes back, but not necessary cap space. The problem is not always about cap space, it's about the 23 man rule on active roster. Because a player is not in the line-up for a few games, it does not mean he is no longer on the active roster. Unless demoted, or is loaned to an another league, a player's salary continues to count against his teams upper limit.
Enjoy your Weekend of hockey and the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh by ten points.
That being said. Let's look at examples where teams might be seem to be in trouble, and in reality they are not. One thing you must remember, a team can have a player on LTIR, but is not obligated to ask for the exemption right away, as it can be retroactive. You can still bring in a replacement player or more, as long as the salary or salaries do not exceed the one of the player on LTIR.
Now to be eligible for the long term injury exemption, you must prove that a player missed or will miss 10 games or 24 cap days. Now your wondering why the 10 games and the 24 cap days ? It depends on a teams schedule during a certain month. Let's say, and god forbid this would happen, but for argument sake. The Sens Captain, Alfredsson gets injured, he will be out possibly four weeks, which means 28 cap days. The Sens have a light schedule in February, in which they will possibly play at the most 9 games, thru 25 days. Since the 10 game rule does not apply, they can still apply, as he will miss 24 days, and can ask for the exemption right away, or make it retroactive when he gets back, to assure they get the credits at the end of the year and be cap compliant.
So if your a Flyers fan, and look at how much they have in cap space, don't worry, at the end of the year they will be cap compliant and won't penalized for it. Replacement players for those on LTIR, does not affect the cap space. Let's say they had 2 million in cap space before injuries, it does not change. There is many more examples I could give you, but let's stick to the ones I have given you. But it is true, that a team must free up space on the active roster when an injured player comes back, but not necessary cap space. The problem is not always about cap space, it's about the 23 man rule on active roster. Because a player is not in the line-up for a few games, it does not mean he is no longer on the active roster. Unless demoted, or is loaned to an another league, a player's salary continues to count against his teams upper limit.
Enjoy your Weekend of hockey and the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh by ten points.
