OT: Chelios Gone
Looks like Detroit and Chris Chelios have parted ways. He will not be back with the team next year.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4279861
I think this is a good thing. It free's up a little cap room and will be an opportunity for more young legs to be inserted into the line-up and gain experience prior to the playoffs.
Your telling me they don't have an player/coach role he can fill or one in the front office?? Cheli needs to hang em up and get into coaching.
He thinks he has "one more year" left in himself. As much as he played this year, he has to be well rested.
He can come be a Babcock assistant any time he wants as far as I'm concerned. The dude knows his hockey.
as Chelios hardly played at all last season. What is he trying to do break Gordie's record for longevity?
My brother actually played with Chelios' son a few years ago and Chris told the team that he planned on playing until he was 50. So, I guess he meant it.
He did say he wants to play until he's 50
I hear Brian Burke wants to give him a role with the Olympic team next year. It hasn't been specified as to what that role is, but I'm happy for him regardless. This move makes sense as the Wings have 7 solid defenseman locked up for next year already.
He can be a benefit to a team with a lot of young defensemen, and LA would be perfect for him. Thanks for the memories, but it was obvious that he could not give Detroit what it needed when they needed another defensemen during this playoffs.
But age has a way of catching up to all of us. It was time for him to move on. I just hope he stays engaged in the community and keep the Cheli's Chili restaurants alive....
I enjoyed having him on our team for the last decade. He got two cups, we got a restaurant. Also, we learned that a guy we hated wasn't so bad after all. Thanks for everything!
everyone seen this coming. He will do great with a young team that he can help mold and teach.
Seen, seriously?
Sean. He's got a 6th sense, a sort of ESP with a personality. He calls it Sean.
Thanks for helping us win a couple of Stanley Cups.
Happy trails.
It doesn't really make much, if any, difference with the cap situation. His hit was $0.75M, which is irrelevant when it comes to a consideration like signing Hossa. If Holland goes that route you can kiss Samuelsson, Leino, Kopecky, and Hudler goodbye. That's something that doesn't change with or without Chelios's cap hit.
The cap hit doesn't do much, but it definitely does not hurt. Thats .75 million more you can throw at a guy like Hossa to make him re-sign. It may not be that significant, but it could be when your fighting the salary cap.
Oh I know what you mean. It's just that I don't see it making the difference in a situation like Hossa's. He was going to have to come in at around a $4M cap hit before the Chelios decision even had been made, and that's assuming that all of those players I mentioned in my previous post were not retained. I know they keep saying that the talks are happening, but I just can't see any logical or realistic way that this happens unless someone with substantial salary is traded. I should have been more clear that what I meant when I said "if any" was in the Hossa context. It makes a much bigger impact if Hossa is out of the picture and it's just about signing Samuelsson, Leino, Kopecky and Hudler.
You're exactly right, thats what I thought. Any way Detroit can pull off a Franzen or Zetterberg esque deal to make it fight within the salary cap?
I hope so at least.
I'm not trying to be pessimistic (quite the contrary, actually), but I really don't think so. Frankly, I think it would be a cap disaster for years to come for Hossa to return. Holland has done a very nice job finding creative ways to make these contracts work, but I have a feeling that if he tries to get creative with Hossa he might actually feel some heat for it. To be able to get into Hossa's right price range the contract would have to be in the $50M+ over 10 years range, which would still make the cap hit $5M+ per year. It'd be a huge problem for next year and then less of a problem after that once Lidstrom's contract is up, assuming he takes less money on his next deal (they won't be able to pull a Franzen type deal with Lidstrom because he's over 35). Given the way that Holland has done such a great job building this team from within I'd be shocked if he decided to let those four players walk just to keep Hossa.
is he retires a Blackhawk.
He's like 47.
He's NOTHING like 47. He IS 47.
Chris Chelios is a Blackhawk. Never got used to him in a Red Wing uniform. Not that I really care because I'm a Devils fan but it did seem weird.
As for Hossa. I think he's out on a ledge somewhere.
Here's an update courtesy of ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4283661