Opinion Piece: Should NHL teams stop the affiliation with AHL teams?

5 years ago, when teams wanted to place a player in to the minors, only one team was to get them, the one they have a minor league affiliation with. However, nowadays, even though there are still contracts with affiliates, it seems like it doesn't matter anymore. Just the other day, the San Jose sent goalie Alex Stalock to Peoria, even though the Sharks are affiliated with Worchester Sharks. Does it even matter now? I feel that if NHL teams can freely assign players to any AHL would be largely beneficial to the development of players. Teams will assign their players to weaker teams so their players will get more playing time. There will be a parity amongst teams. It makes every game that much more competitive. Isn't that what the league, teams, players, and agents want? The best for the players. Just scrap the affiliation, let any teams assign anywhere.

Carlyle Adds an Assistant Coach to Toronto

Newly appointed head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs Randy Carlyle has finished remodelling his new bench.

On Sunday, the Toronto Maple Leafs officially announced the signing of Dave Farrish. He was part of the coaching team with Anaheim that won the Stanley Cup in 2007. The other assistant coaches that Carlyle wanted and got were Scott Gordon and Greg Cronin.

Farrish spent 7 seasons with Carlyle in Anaheim before they cleaned house and fired him in December. The 55 year old former defenceman brings more than 21 seasons of coaching in various leagues such as the AHL, IHL (International Hockey League), and ECHL.

BREAKING: RON WILSON FIRED.

MULTIPLE MAINSTREAM MEDIA OUTLETS ARE NOW SAYING RON WILSON HAS BEEN FIRED. I REPEAT RON WILSON HAS BEEN FIRED. RUMORS OUT THERE ARE SAYING EAKINS AND MAYBE RANDY CARLYLE MAY BE HIS REPLACEMENT. NO ONE NAMED RIGHT NOW.

UPDATES:
8:37 Bob McKenzie of TSN is reporting that Randy Carlyle will be Wilson's replacement, and if there are any troubles, Marlies coach Dallas Eakins is next in line.
8:43 Damien Cox of the Globe & Mail says that Carlyle will be behind the bench for tomorrow's game.
8:47 Darren Millard reports that when GM Brian Burke was asked by reporters whether Coach Wilson has been fired, he has said, "Will Not Deny."
8:48 McKenzie reports that it will probably be a permanent replacement if it is in fact Eakins or Carlyle.
8:50 Players meeting called for 10PM today. Will most likely be called for introduction of new coach.
8:56 "Ron Wilson" and "Randy Carlyle" are trending worldwide on twitter.
9:28 Mike Brophy is reporting it's the fastest he's seen players move past media.
9:30 Players are starting to go to the Team Meeting.
9:38 IT'S OFFICIAL. WILSON OUT. CARLYLE IN.
10:01 Brian Burke just tweeted, Ron has been a loyal and dedicated head coach for the Maple Leafs for last four seasons. I want to thank Ron for his years of service and the contributions to our club. I wish him the very best.
10:08 David Alter is reporting that all the assistants will stay.

Day 2
9:57 Ron Wilson has left Montreal this morning.

Who do you think his replacement will be? Comment Below!
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Top 3 Goaltender Tandems

Goalies are what stand between you and the cup. They have to have the clutch to close out game and can bounce back from bad goals. But your backup goalie has to be just as good. when your starter gets injured, you're thrust into the spotlight and you have to play well or you'll get it from the fans (Toronto....). Here's my top three goalie tandems in the NHL right now.

3. Tim Thomas and Tuuku Rask.

    These guys are the main reasons why the Bruins have become such a competitive team for the past few years. There both acrobatic goalies who rely on their reflexes and its helping out their team (2ND in conference) and the sports highlighters. Their combined GAA is 2.14 and their S% is 0.929. They compliment each other because every time one of them has a bad year, the other guy steps up and plays wonderfully. 

2. Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliot

    Out of nowhere, these two goalies have proven themselves to be top NHLers after not having their best year previously. They use to be rivals back when they were in the NorthEast division and now they are leading the league in least goals against. Brian Elliot was just a quick backup pickup and now the two share time, playing with similar statistics. Sucks to be in the St Louis goalie system because not much of a chance yoou'll be playing in the big team in St. Louis. (Ben Bishop's gone, Benjamin Conz still there, jake Allen)

1. Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Biron

     there's no competition that these two are the main reason why the rangers sit at the top of the table in the east. Martin Biron is a reliable back up after many years as a starter and showing that he's making his last run as he nears the end of his career. They've only lost 15 times the entire season and they sit near the top of every statistic group. henrik Lundqvist has the Vezina wrapped in his hand and possibly the hart if he continues to play that well. 

Think that there was a goalie tandem missing. Comment Below!

Kris Letang Out with Another Concussion

Sidney Crosby may have another new friend in the press box.

Kris Letang, a powerful two-way defenceman for the Penguins, has concussion-like symptoms after Pittsburgh's 4-3 shootout win over Dallas.

Dan Bylsma, the head coach of the Penguins, released a statement saying that Letang had the symptoms and that he would not play against Colorado on Saturday.

“He did have symptoms today,” Bylsma said Thursday in Denver.

This could be Letang's second concussion this season, the first one happening from Nov. 26 to Jan. 11, and that would be a huge blow to Pittsburgh's offence and overall game play.

The hit happened during the first period, where Letang was hit in the head by the right arm of Eric Nystrom. He immediately fell to the ice, where everybody could see that he was in pain.

Nystrom was given a minor penalty for roughing, but there will be no disciplinary action towards him.

Letang has nine goals and 22 assists, good for 31 points in 40 games.


Do you think the absence of Letang will affect the Penguins' record? COMMENT BELOW!

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The End of the Senators?

The Ottawa Senators may have to declare bankruptcy if the province of Ontario scraps the tax exemption that allows businesses to write off sports tickets, declared Cyril Leeder, the Ottawa Senators team president.

Leeder also said that the decision announced yesterday by Ontario's minority Liberal government was not thought out and favours Toronto's sports teams.

The big name franchises in Toronto (Raptors, Leafs, and Jays) would most likely survive the tax scrap while the smaller name franchises (Senators) would not.

The province of Ontario allows businesses to write off 50% of all ticket and luxury suites for all events at the venue (sports, theatres, etc.) and all entertainment costs are deductible.

This tax deduction is a very strong incentive for Senator ticket sales.

All of the luxury boxes at the Scotiabank place are leased to corporations and roughly 50% of season ticket holders use the deduction as well.

Dalton McGuinty, the Premier of Ontario and the Finance Minister Dwight Duncan want to scrap the subsidy because it costs the province $15 million annually.

McGuinty stated that his government has been warned to organize it's fiscal house. The government is stuck in a $16 billion deficit and cannot afford to subsidize corporate entertainment.

When Duncan talked to the reporters about the issue, he said the move was made to make Leafs games more affordable for families (The Leafs have the highest average ticket price at $123.77).

Leeder said Duncan “should remember that there’s more than one team in Ontario.”

“I think that’s the most disturbing thing here,” he said. “We weren’t consulted at all. We didn’t get a phone call until five minutes before there was something released to the public. If you’re really trying to find solutions, you would think you would talk to your constituents about where the solutions are.”

“We pay a lot of taxes here in this province. A lot. And we’re happy to do that, but we just want to be treated fairly. And if we’re not, we can’t stay.”

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Is Ron Wilson going to be fired soon?

There have been talks around Toronto that Ron Wilson should be fired. After yesterday's humiliating loss, there are lots of talks that Wilson should be fired. In fact, a Trending Topic for Toronto two days ago was Fire Wilson. We all know that GM Brian Burke  and coach Ron Wilson are rather close friends and the chances that he gets fired isn't that high, but do YOU think he should be fired? If you think he should, who do you think should be his replacement? Dallas Eakins? Scott Gordon? Greg Cronin? Or someone else?

COMMENT BELOW!

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