Never knew Brent Sopel was gay.. Then again, I have no idea who in the NHL is gay, besides Jarkko Ruutu :lol Not that it matters...

He brought the cup to the gay pride parade in Chicago.. is that a first?

EDIT nevermind, he's not gay, he was with his wife. So why the fuck was he in the gay pride parade?

EDIT 2: Oh, it was in honour of Brian Burke's gay dead son. What?

It was because Chicago has some gay hockey league or somthing and they publically invited thr hawks to attend the parade so it would have looked bad if someone didn't I guess lol
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Thing is, Sopel wasn't even a Blackhawk anymore :lol

ya, was thinking of applying, but pay is kinda on the low side










@sportsnetmurph: Canuck have given Shane OBrien a qualifying offer of 1.6 million for one year.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=325975

Nice about sob, we need to get him signed!!!!
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Yes it was a nice guesture by Sopel given their history together in Vancouver. I believe the Chicago Cubs or Whitesox also attended the pride parade.

As for the NHL being exposed to the gay community, as a straight man I think getting them interested in the sport, especially where it struggles for fans in the US, is a great move. This group often has high levels of disposible income so they are more likely to afford to go to games, purchase merchandise, etc. They also have shown they can exercise their buying power in solidarity, supporting companies and products friendly to their people while promoting mass boycotts of those who aren't.

Another factor to consider is the incredible influx of the gay lifestyle into mainstream media. Despite being a minority group in the world its to the point where I see another new tv show or movie and say "oh what a surprise, another family with a gay son":rolleyes: What I am suggesting is that if they nhl can somehow latch onto their mainstream success the NHL could go hand in hand with it - maybe seeing gay characters wearing nhl jerseys or going to nhl games more or even shows depicting gay hockey players.

Now the negative is that some potential fans of the sport might say "Hockey is gay" but considering most ignorant sports fans in the US believe hockey to be too violent and full of fighting as well as bettman's efforts to turn it into soccer, I don't believe that it would have too much of an image issue in that reguard. There a number of gay men who are fans of the UFC, and there is much more opportunity to enjoy that sport in that way with the half naked men, the rolling around, etc and yet the UFC still has a reputation as being too violent to allow matches to be held in some states and provinces.

^ dude. I think you're reading wayyyyy too much into that.

I doubt it was anything related to a marketing ploy than it is just an indication of progressing times of acceptance and tolerance.

http://www.team1040.ca/shared/podcas...y=bmac_rintoul

Go here and click Hour3 if you missed the interview and want to hear what he said

fast foward to 7:50

Sopel is in the gay pride parade because he had a poster in his locker or something that said "Chris Pronger is gay!" during the series, which set off the gay rights brigade. It's damage control.

I wasn't suggesting that this one act would transform the gay community into hockey fans or that this was any sort of marketing ploy. What I am suggesting is that it would be a good move image wise and business wise to make similar efforts and calculated moves to welcome that community to the sport. I was also trying to explain to SkinnyPup why Sopel and why the NHL would not object to attending a pride parade and that having a connection to that community can be beneficial.

@TSNBobMcKenzie Coyotes officially announce Wolski deal. As reported last week, two years, $3.8M per year.

ha really? the media I had read on the subject painted that much rosier picture about Sople and Burke. I still applaud the effort, its a huge step for a major sport to make an appearance in something like this and would like to see more of it for the reasons I've explained and not just as a measure of damage control. But if true, it does show the power of the gay community and supports my arguments.

anyone got background information on the concierge valet positions?

The Vancouver Canucks won't be letting Shane O'Brien hit the free market.

The club made the veteran defenceman a $1.6 million qualifying offer on Monday, keeping him as a restricted free agent for July 1.

Mason Raymond, Tanner Glass and Jannik Hansen are also expected to get qualifying offers by the end of the day.

O'Brien, 26, tallied eight points and 79 penalty minutes with a plus-15 in Vancouver last season

Sweet raymond is getting signed hopefully :D
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^ Raymond has to get signed after we moved Grabner.

oh shit the leafs could be deadly if they aquire savard and sign kovalchuk

savard kovy - atl 05/06?
savard kessel - bos 08/09

Isn't today the last day to qualify RFAs? Why do they do it last minute.. I don't want some dale tallon shit to happen

For those who thought Dale Tallon got ripped off building the hawks, he will get his name on the stanley cup and a ring


Did ladd accept chicagos offer?

Haven't heard anything about it but I'm pretty sure he's not going to accept the 1.65m qualifying offer though. I would think he's probably looking for something in the 3-4 year range worth about 2-2.5 per year.

andrew ladd LW and colby armstrong RW would be perfect fit for our empty 3rd line right now

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/players/Andrew_Ladd

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/p...olby_Armstrong

Does this mean leafs trade their 1st 2010 + 2011 + 2nd 2010 for kessel and savard?

Guessing that SOB and Bieksa are in play. We can't afford to keep them with Ballard here, especially with an empty 3rd line.

Sign Ryan Johnson for $1.3m please.

they have the cap room to get kovy without moving kaberle. At first I was against the idea of savard as a leaf because of his age, recent injuries, and long contract but it seems his contract is front loaded so his cap hit won't be so bad in the later years and the asking price for him is way down and wouldn't require kaberle. boston needs to reduce their cap so they might not get much in return for savard especially since savard has only named 2 teams he would want to go to - the sens and the leafs. after july 1st it grows to 5 teams - the leafs, sens, flyers, hawks, and sabres. The sens can't get him unless they move spezza, the flyers and hawks can't take on his salary with the cap, and the bruins would be less inclined to help out a stronger division rival in the sabres. This means the leafs have best chance to get him. Like the sabres, the bruins wouldn't want to help the leafs considering they hold their 1st round pick in next years draft but they are likely content they got the 2nd overall pick this year and are willing to let this other 1st round selection slide a bit.

Cap hit remains the same.

It just means the team pays the player more during his early years as opposed to the later years.

savard seemed to have recovered nicely with his performance in the playoffs but who knows over an 82 game season. If the deal was simply for next to nothing BB and Chiarelli would have pulled the trigger by now