Rich

Didn't really expect Chevy to sign any of these bigger names. Expect him to make some signing later in free agency.

Staal is 3 years @ 3.5M That cuts his pay in half from last year! Nice pickup for Minny.

Troy Brouwer to Calgary 4 years @ 4.5M

The money isn't too crazy for any of these guys, but they are all getting term.

Okposo to Buffalo 7 years @ 6M

Louie Eriksson to Vancouver 6 years @ 6M per.

Backes is off to Boston 5 years @ 6M per.

Ladd is apparently 7 years @ 5.5M per with Islanders.

Helm just re-sined 5 years @ 3.85 per. Too much for Helm IMO

Who knows how Winnipeg fits in, but Kane isn't coming back to Winnipeg.

If he does get traded, will have to wait to see the return they get, but this trade is tipping more and more into Winnipeg's favour.

I still don't think it is bogus enforcement when the signs clearly indicate the hours the school zone is in effect. If you don't agree with the law, then it is a bogus law. But it isn't the police that make the law. They just decide how to enforce them. And they enforce them in such a way to bring in the most revenue, or where is the most problems. Either way, here is good news for you. Tickets given out in school zones is way down this year, so they will be re-deploying staff elsewhere to make themselves more money. Or, most people now know to slow down in school zones, so our kids our safer. Or it lies somewhere in between those two. http://www.metronews.ca/news/winnipeg/2016/06/24/winnipeggers-speeding-less-in-school-zones.html

My understanding was always that when sign posts a reduced speed limit during specific times, the speed limit during those times is reduced. I’ve never heard of only going slower if there are kids present. You don’t always see the kids, so that is why you slow down pro-actively. Regardless, I agree a lot of the enforcement the city does is to generate revenue. However, if they stop doing this, the alternative is to cut police services or increase taxes. If there is less money going in, something has to give. I have gotten the odd ticket in my years of driving (speeding, red light, school zone), but it is rare for me. Yes it is frustrating when it happens, but at least I have some degree of control on whether or not I have to pay those (I can be diligent in following the traffic laws), as opposed to raising taxes. Call it a stupid tax, because I feel very stupid when I do get a ticket, as it is completely avoidable.

Or maybe this guy just made up ... or "exaggerated" these rumours. Read this article from last October. http://www.stanleycupofchowder.com/2015/10/24/9604514/how-boston-media-is-letting-itself-fans-the-bruins-and-the-nhl-down The article is an interesting read.

So here is the guy that started the Trouba rumour, now backtracking. Wonder how much traffic this rumour generated for his website?

That is the thing with Subban. His NMC clause kicks in July 1st. If they decided they wanted to move him, now is the easiest time to do it.

Can't saddle the franchise with a bad contract for 7 years for optics. Now, Trouba could turn out to be a stud and the contract warranted, but I don't know if the odds of that happening are even 50/50.

I know they’ve said they’d match, but I don’t think you can do it purely as a protection more or to prove you can put up the dollars. You need to consider the longer impact to your club. 7 years is a long time to potentially overpay for an asset just to prove a point. If it was Scheifele who was targeted, I would match without question. However, there are still question marks with Trouba. I have also seen some talk where the poison pill could be that they structure the contract to pay Trouba $10 M in year one and two (90% as signing bonuses), then $5.8M over the last 5 years. That would mean the Jets would have to pony up $18M US in a one year span as the bonuses would be due this summer and next. They certainly have the financial backing to do it, and I don’t think those bonuses would be a large factor in their decision, but I think they have to balance what is better for the club between making a statement of protecting their assets and what that salary commitment will do over the next decade or are the draft picks more value than Trouba.

I really don’t get what Boston is doing here. It is like they have no plan and are flying by the seat of their pants. They trade away Dougie Hamilton who could be their potential #1 D-Man of the future. They trade him away for a 1st rounder and 2 - 2nd rounders. Hamilton signs in Calgary to a 6 year $34.5M contract for an AAV of $5.75M Then they realize they don’t have a #1 D-Man and try to trade for one at the draft. Can’t get one. So they decide they are going to try and sign Trouba away. They have to do it for a minimum of $46M over 7 years for an AAV of $6.7M. And to do this they would have to give up 4 - 1st round draft picks. Trouba’s best season was his rookie season where he had 10G 19A for 29 points. He has been going down since then. Hamilton’s best season was last year where he scored 12G 31A for 43 points, and he scored 42 points in the prior season. Although you do have to give Trouba the advantage in +/-, hits, and blocks. Not sure who is going to be the better D-Man down the road, but if you want a corner stone #1 D-Man, so far it looks like Hamilton will give you the better offensive numbers to do that. Trouba would definitely be more physical. He could also end up producing more once he gets out of the shadow of Byfuglien and Myers, but he really hasn’t shown this yet. So to summarize you traded away your future #1 D-Man for a 1st rounder and 2 - 2nds and he ended up signing for an AAV of $5.75. You want to give up 4 - 1st rounders for Trouba and sign him to an AAV of about $6.7M I’d seriously consider taking the picks, and that would continue the curse that every Jets Jersey I buy, ends up getting traded away (hello Ladd, Bogosian, and Trouba).

For the stats I keep, I count a "new year" from December to November so it coincides with the end of the Grey Cup. From a pure number of posts, we are pretty much exactly where we were last year. The month of June is down, but we also had a busier off season. In fact our busiest period ever was June and July of 2014, which also happens to coincide with the 5 - 1 start we had that year. The rest of that year took a slide as we plummeted back to reality. I can pretty much directly graph how busy this site gets to the Bombers record. The better the record, the more visits and activity we have typically seen. We are way busier after a win than a loss. As to content, I agree with Mr Dee's post. As moderators, we can try to facilitate and promote discussion through how the site is run and rules enforced, but a community like this is really driven by its membership. Always open to suggestions and ideas on how we can make things better, but the site is ultimately a reflection of its Membership. On a personal note, when I visit the site, I've noticed I tend to look at the NHL and General forums before diving into the Bomber forum. I suspect though that would change if the Bombers ever start putting up a winning record.

It would be easier for me if you filled out the poll, then I can pull most of the picks from one place!

I don't think we've officially announced this yet, but the prize for the Lock of the Week will be a 2015 replica helmet signed by Drew Willy.