...who?

Oh, and you wonder who’s more important to the Colorado blogging community? You can slag the Beatles as much as you like (and I never got the Smiths, either), but you ignore Peter the Great at your own peril.

I thought major league hockey was dead after last year.

The NHL is dead. Long live King Peter!

No, really. I never liked hockey before moving here, but I immediately fell in love with Joe and Peter and Ray. It helped that they won a cup only months after I moved.

Excuse my language but goddammit The Flyers??? Of all the freakin’ teams he had to go to he went to the Flyers. I hate the freakin’ Flyers.

Go Devils.

It’s going to be painful watching him play in that uniform…

At least he’s not a Red Wing.

Matt hits the nail on the head. It saddens me almost to the point of tears to see Forsberg leave Colorado, but the only thing that makes it bearable is that he isn’t going to Detroit.

Since Foote went to the Jackets I can see him play whenever I want, so that’s a consolation. Philly is just too far away to drive, however. Damn!

The only worse thing, for me, was watching Patrick Roy retire. But at least he wasn’t leaving the Avs, he was leaving the game.

Anyway, this would be the reason I was selfishly dreading the idea of a salary cap (while fully believing it was needed for the health of the league): the Avs have always been an aggressive team with deep talent. This shedding of salaries is painful to watch.

Do you think the league will ever contract? I mean does Phoenix really need a team?

Z: I said something very similar to my coworkers this morning. I was very vocal in my support for a salary cap so I can’t complain if the Avs have to dump some key players. That’s part of the deal. Disappointing certainly, but nothing that I can bitch about.

Trench: I think that the next few seasons will be very important to the future of the NHL. Theoretically, the cap will make the league more competitive which in turn, theoretically, will help the existing franchises become more profitable. If the league doesn’t see significant growth in revenue by the end of the decade then I think that contraction will probably become necessary.

I’ll miss watching him skate--his strength, speed, eyes, and puck handling made him one of the most exciting players on the ice.

... the cheap shots, the sly illegal stickwork ... one of the dirtiest players on the ice. Now he’s going to Philly with Hatcher of all folks. Ken Hitchcock is going to have one helluva team next year.

As to the other, I think the NHL NEEDS to contract (columbus? carolina AND atlanta?), but that doesn’t mean the brain-dead suits running the league will do the right thing and actually contract. Nobody contracts. It’s seen as a sign of weakness or something.

Before the strike Columbus and Carolina were selling out on a regular basis. But I’ll give you Atlanta.