Takes and trash talk from both ALL sides of the NHL's most obscure PATHETIC* rivalry

* Thanks, Kevin Lowe!

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Welcome Back Scotter!


Let's cover the key points about the press conference, though I'm not going to add too much just yet.
  • The announcement was strictly that Scott would play for the Ducks this year, but the timing is still up in the air. One of the main complications comes from a CBA thing called 'tagging'--I'm not going to do the proper research here, so here's Bob McKenzie's description:

    With Niedermayer potentially returning, and with another year left on his contract after this season, the Ducks could not add him to the roster now without freeing up cap room for next season. In the new CBA, it's called 'tagging' room and the Ducks don't have enough of it next season to allow Niedermayer back on the roster this season – unless they move a player who is under contract for next season.

    Basically, Scott cannot play a game for the Ducks until a roster player is moved--one who is paid well enough next year. Again, I don't really know the dollars required, but I'd guess the eligible list probably looks as follows: Schneider, Bertuzzi, McDonald, Beauchemin, O'Donnell, and Marchant. I'm excluding Pronger and Pahlsson because of their on-ice value, Giguere because of his no-trade clause, and Rob Niedermayer because of nepotism.


  • Despite acknowledging the need to move a player, Burke was adamant that he was determined to shake up his roster after the 20-game mark (9-8-3). Burke says he went and talked to the team about the trade that is yet to happen. He offered them this classic Burkish wake-up-call:

    If anyone wants to blame this on Scott's return, feel free. Fact of the matter is that we've looked at making changes based on the performance of the team since the 20-game mark.


  • In terms of timeframe, Burke said that as an NHL player, Scott "owes" the Ducks 21 days of training camp, though the team is free to put Scott in the lineup at its own discretion during that time. Up until Scott is activated, he still is in suspended status, even though he'll practice with the team. Burke says his guess is that given Scott's conditioning, he could make his debut in 7 - 10 days.

    Why's that significant? Because I'm going to a game against the Wild. In SEVEN FUCKING DAYS. Get it going, Scott.
Man oh man. It should be an interesting end to the year for these crazy Ducks, who haven't even strayed into Teemu territory yet--stay tuned!

p.s. Anybody interested in starting a campaign to write Scott Niedermayer into the All Star game?

11 comments:

Kirsten said...

YAY Wild game! You'll have to be sure and let me know what you think of the game since I'll be cramming for a calc final that night.

Earl Sleek said...

Oh yeah, and I forgot a big part. Pronger retains the captaincy.

Patty (in Dallas) said...

Pronger retains the captaincy.

What? Scott doesn't get that back? But he's Scott Niedermayer!

If anyone wants to blame this on Scott's return, feel free. Fact of the matter is that we've looked at making changes based on the performance of the team since the 20-game mark.

Could they blame the performance of the team since the 20-game mark on Scott's failure to return?

bri-bot said...

funny how mcdonald, schneider, and bertie scored tonight eh?

i hope they don't trade schneider away, i really want to be able to see schneidermeyer on d and say that too! :D (ok, im just weird)

Daniel said...

Todd Marchant might be the guy to go, I believe he was a healthy scratch on Sunday and he makes decent change. Not that the team can afford to give up a pretty good "any situation" forward, but you have to sacrifice to resurrect Jesus Christ himself. I wish Hnidy would would be the guy to go though, he should be a healthy scratch in Portland.

I bet O'Donnell is the man without a chair when the music stops though, he is still marketable for a lot of teams who need a dependable defensive defensemen.

PS: SEVEN FUCKING DAYS - More cursing please! Absolutely hilarious and perfect for the situation.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, and Nieder's been suspended longer than Pronger, too! (by the NHL, I mean. I think?)

But I think he said awhile ago, actually, that he wasn't going to take the C back if he returned.

Earl Sleek said...

sweet great win...i got to watch it after all earl!!...

Haha, Spade. Throughout the game I was thinking of you, "Damn, for the first time this year the Ducks play like they did last year, and Spade is missing it!" Glad you were able to catch it, though.

ive never seen a GM in any sport be so up front with the fans....how fuckin refreshing is that...

That is absolutely true. Every time Burke has a press conference I think my respect for the guy grows.

Anonymous said...

I love Burkie. The guy couldn't sugar coat a candy cane dipped in honey. His honesty is really amusing and refreshing.

Anonymous said...

Fow what it's worth, Forth period.com is reporting the amount of cap space needed is only 1 million. Teemue is UFA, so his salary this season (if he comes back) as I understand it, does not affect next season's "tagging room"

So, unless I missed something, we only need to move 1 million in salary to add Scott, notrhing to add Teemue after that.

Not so bad.

Earl Sleek said...

Yeah, L.A. Times cited the same figure.

I think the list of tradeable players I put up there is still pretty accurate. I guess maybe Travis Moen might fit in--he's in the $900k range.

Or maybe it's a combination of players. Huskins, May, Parros, Hnidy, and (maybe) Dipenta I think are all signed through next year on pretty small-ish deals.

What it also means is that there is no way Corey Perry is getting extended before next summer.

Earl Sleek said...

In SEVEN FUCKING DAYS.

In retrospect, what's funniest about this line is that for some reason I can't read a calendar. That Wild game will be nine days from Scott's announcement.

Make that NINE FUCKING DAYS.