Toe Drag

How to get into salary cap trouble

2008-11-19T15:44:00.003-05:00

Here is my analysis on how NHL teams can get into salary cap trouble under the new CBA:

1. Sign a second line center to first line center dollars for long years
2. Sign another second line center to first line center dollars for long years
3. Sign an aged past-his-prime defenseman to elite defenseman dollars for long years
4. Trade for an RFA scoring forward that you won't be able to afford if he produces as desired (and if he doesn't produce, you can afford him, but why sign him?)
5. Rely on that RFA and another RFA second line center as your second line, practically ensuring that both will put up numbers in their RFA season
6. Assume that the economy and the Canadian dollar will keep going up and up and up and up and that you'll be able to sign additional players to big dollars
7. Be forced to make a stupid move to make up for the losses that you brought upon yourself

Habs beat up on Bruins

2008-10-02T12:06:00.002-04:00

Last night's game wasn't televised but from what I read the Bruins couldn't skate with the Canadiens. As a Habs fan this is nothing new. Ever since I could remember, Montreal has always had Boston's number. It's something one just can't explain but, no matter who is playing, they seem to be a team we've have little trouble beating, especially when it counts.

It's got me thinking, what is a team that your club has historically had a lot of success with?

If there are any Devil's followers there's no need to reply. Habs just can't ever seem to be able to figure out Brodeur. It's like he has an aura about him which turns the Habs sticks into pieces of wet cardboard.

Today's lineup for the Rangers

2008-10-01T14:01:00.003-04:00

Naslund/Gomer/Drury
Dawes/Dubie/Zherdev
Callahan/Korp/Prucha
Riss/Betts/Fritsche

Orr, Sjostrom and Voros out for the Rangers. Given that this is their last tune-up for the first games this weekend, I think it is a pretty clear indication that Sjostrom is done and that Orr will be a healthy scratch against skill teams. Given Voros's physical style, they might have just wanted to give him a day off, but I'm not sure. I think this is a last chance for Prucha to prove he can get it done. He's not great defensively, so it doesn't really make sense to keep him if he is not making the top two lines. Maybe they are giving him one last chance to prove he can play both ends in a 3rd line role. Saturday, I think you will see Voros on the 2nd line, Dawes back to the 3rd line and Prucha out. You heard it here first.

PS: Looks like the Rangers are going to be down 2-0 after the first.

Habs lineup

2008-10-01T12:05:00.003-04:00

Here's the Habs line up as I see it that will beat up on the Sabres opening night...

A. Kostityn - Pleckanec - "Sexy" Alexei Kovalev

Tanguay - Koivu - Higgins

Pacioretty - Lang - S. Kostityn

Laraque - Chipchura - Begin

Markov - Komisarek

Hamrlik - Georges

Brisebois - Boullion

O'Byrne

Price

Latendresse might start on the 3rd based solely on his tenure with the club while Lapierre could center the 4th on opening night at the Bell center.

Sabres Lineup

2008-10-01T09:57:00.001-04:00

Following on Ogie's post, here' s my proposed opening day lineup for the playoff bound Buffalo Sabres:

Vanek - Roy - Stafford
Pominville - Hecht - Paille
Afinogenov - Connolly - Kotalik
Kaleta - Mair - Macarthur
Peters - Mancari - (Gaustad is out 4-6 weeks)

Rivet - Lydman
Spacek - Sekera
Numminen - Tallinder
Paetsch

Miller
Lalime

That first line scored 84 goals last year, even though Stafford was limited to 64 games and played hurt in most of the games he actually appeared in. Stafford is the Sabres equivalent to Dubinsky. Young, big, strong, skilled, tough. He was a force down the stretch 2 years ago but just could not stay healthy last year.

The second line scored 68 goals last year, including Paille's 19 in fairly limited time. He is going to be a consistent two-way forward for Buffalo for a long time.

The key for the third line will be staying healthy. All 3 players are in contract years, and will be motivated to play. I've said this before, but in 05-06 Afinogenov, Connolly and Kotalik were all in contract years. They played together as a line and finished 1/3/5 in scoring on an absolutely loaded offensive team with Briere, Drury, Dumont, Vanek, Roy, Pominville, Hecht, Campbell. If all 3 can stay healthy this year, they could each approach a point a game.

The fourth line will be an energy line with some skill. Mair has decent hands and can make plays, and Macarthur is a proven scorer in the minors that has all the tools to score in the NHL. When Gaustad returns from injury, he'll play center and allow them to play a shut down role as well.

IMO, the Sabres have 3 #2 pairings. That can be a good thing and a bad thing. The minutes will be evently distributed (with Numminen getting a little extra rest I'm sure), which will help down the stretch. But there will be no "shut-down" pair.

The biggest wildcard is Sekera, who spent the last few months of last season in Buffalo after starting in Rochester. For about the last 15 games, he was Buffalo's best defenseman - period. Sekera is a smooth skater that can handle the puck, play the PP, and is pretty good in his defensive zone. He is quite similar to Campbell, and actually fit in very nicely in Buffalo after Campbell was sent to San Jose. Like Campbell, he was the defenseman of the year in the OHL. But at 22, he is MUCH further along than Campbell was at that age, and he is ready to be an everyday NHLer.

As for the goalies, who the hell knows what you are going to get out of Miller. The biggest thing Buffalo learned last year was that Miller CANNOT play 75 games. I firmly believe that Buffalo threw the season away by not playing Thibeault more. Granted, his play didn't instill much confidence, but that is to be expected when you get a start every 6 weeks. Lindy Ruff recently announced that Lalime (who had a good year last year) will play between 20 and 30 games. 30 sounds high, but if Lalime can play 20 games of 500 hockey, Miller will have the rest he needs to return to All-Star form.

Opening Night Rangers Roster and Lineup

2008-10-01T08:39:00.003-04:00

So, Renney and Co. have a few decisions to make. Here is the roster and line combos as I see them:

Naslund/Gomer/Drury
Voros/Dubie/Zherdev
Dawes/Korpikoski/Callahan
Riss/Betts/Fritsche
Sjostrom/Orr

Staal/Rozy
Redden/Girardi
Mara/Kalinin

First off, yesterday's game against that Swiss team was a complete waste of time. They are about as good as an average US college team. If I was the GM of an NHL franchise I would put up a big stink about playing a team like that instead of playing another NHL team in the preseason. They've got to revisit that for next year and make sure the competition is better. I'm guessing the Russian team the Rangers play today will be a lot more competitive.

That being said, Drury and Gomer looked awesome together yesterday. Naslund will fit in great with that line. It's too bad they won't be playing on an international ice surface all year. The question for that line will be how they get the puck on their sticks in the first place. Once they do, they'll be fun to watch.

I guess the surprise of my second line is Voros, but I have been very impressed by him so far. He doesn't have good hands, but he plays really hard and goes to the net. He'll create lots of havoc and will give Dubie and Zherdev a lot of space. Watching Zherdev play yesterday was like watching J Dubbs in Men's league. It was a guy trying to make ridiculous pond hockey moves getting stuffed by shitty players and then giving up once he lost the puck. I am so on the fence about how Zherdev is going to shake out this year. He could score 45 goals or get booed every time he touches the puck and put up 15 goals. He is the Rangers' Kovalev of 2008. No wonder why he reminds me of J Dubbs--Not surprisingly, Kovalev was J Dubbs's favorite Ranger.

I am loving the 3rd line of Dawes, Korp, and Callahan. Talk about a young energy line. Dawes and Callahan have speed, grit and a scoring touch. Korp seems to be a step slower but plays a solid game and seems to put himself in a position to score. Moving Voros up to the second line and putting Dawes on the 3rd line not only gives the second line some grit, it also gives the 3rd line a chance to put up some points and be really quick throughout.

With this 4th line of Riss, Betts and Fritsche, we actually have a 4th line that can be put out in defensive situations to shut down the opponent's top line. Renney tried to do this last year, but the combination of Betts, Hollweg and Orr scared me to death every time every time I saw them out there in a critical situation.

So who are the odd men out? Who makes the roster but gets scratched?

I think Sjostrom and Fahey will be cut. Sjostrom has just done nothing to impress this preseason. He can fly but he has no hands. Frosty, Mags, and Swivel, remind you of any 1997 HC hockey grad? Fahey is a serviceable backup, but I think Potter deserves a shot. He has some grit that is pretty absent on the Rangers' blueline. As far as who else makes the roster on a regular basis, I think it will be Orr and Potter. However, in order to avoid getting nothing for Prucha this week by putting him on waivers, I think they will keep Prucha on the roster and send Potter down to the minors. This leaves the Rangers at a slight risk because they will have no extra d-man on the roster for the second game in Prague in the event that one d-man gets hurt in the first game in Prague, but I think that is a risk they are willing to take. I think Orr will be splitting some time with Fritsche, who has been pretty unimpressive this preseason also.

Two weeks into the season, Prucha will not be with the Rangers. All preseason long, he has been given every opportunity to make this team. He has played with the best players on the ice and has had no results. He just cannot finish anymore. Yesterday was just another example of that. He played with Gomer and Drury and should ave had at least 2 goals in the first period alone. I would be more productive with those guys than he is. Hopefully they will get something in return. If not, at least they free up $1.6M in cap space. Maybe he will find his scoring touch with another team. Who knows? It's just not working out in NY. I don't mind the guy. I think he works hard and throws his Peter Kim-esque frame around. It just wasn't meant to be.

So what does everyone else think? Not that it matters because I know I am right...even if Renney and Sather mess up and do something different.

Why the Leafs will never win the cup...

2008-10-01T06:00:00.002-04:00

--Sources tell TSN the Toronto Maple Leafs made a strong pitch to acquire 21-year-old forward Bobby Ryan and 39-year-old defenceman Mathieu Schneider from the Anaheim Ducks.
The Leafs offered a conditional first round draft pick in 2009 along with two prospects.--

Aren't the Leafs supposed to be in rebuilding mode? These type of deals are what got them into the mess they're currently in.

As an aside, watched the Canadiens / Red Wings pre-season game in Montreal. You'd never have guessed it was the regular season. Two fast, great passing teams showed up which led to a fantastic game. Also, both goalies were stellar. My prediction for the Habs, Max Pacioretty and Kyle Chipchura make the team while Dandenault & Latendresse get cut (or put on waivers).

Gonchar Joins Whitney on the Shelf

2008-09-30T14:18:00.002-04:00

I feel bad for anyone who picked Sergei Gonchar in their fantasy league. What was initially described as a short term injury has turned into a 4-6 month stint on the IR.

I don't feel as bad for the Penguins, who are now seeing the down-side to karma after winning the Crosby lottery. Pittsburgh better hope that Fleury and Orpik are ready to live up to their big contracts.

Here's the link to TSN's article on Gonchar's condition.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=251217&lid=sublink05&lpos=headlines_nhl

1st Day of Rangers Camp

2008-09-17T11:12:00.003-04:00

Steve Zipay at Blue Notes has line combinations and defensive pairings for today's practice...

WHITE (which will open in Ottawa, possibly with some tweaking, on Saturday)
G---Valiquette, Wiikman
D---Rozsival/Staal, Potter/Mara, Denisov/Kondratiev, DelZotto/Murray.
F---Dawes-Drury-Prucha, Voros-Nedved-Rissmiller, Sjostrom-Anisimov-Parenteau, Byers-Moore-Jessiman
BLUE (home opener vs. Ottawa Monday and NJ)
G---Lundqvist, Lafleur, Mike BrodeurD---Redden/Girardi, Kalinin/Fahey, Pock/Sanguinetti, Busto.
F---Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev, Fritsche-Dubinsky-Callahan, Korpikoski-Betts-Orr, Dupont-Pyatt-Jamtim

My thoughts: Naslund-Gomer-Zherdev could be nasty. I also like Fritsche-Dubie-Cal as an energy line. Hate Prucha on the second line. Would prefer Shanny there but don’t see him on the list. I think that Riss might wind up with Voros and Sjostrom in the regular season.

They have so many forwards. Time to start making some moves. Maybe (hopefully) they are trying to showcase Prucha. I think Rozy/Staal and Redden/Girardi are probably a lock for the top two d pairs. Schneider anyone?

Thoughts?

Radulov back to NHL?

2008-09-15T11:58:00.001-04:00

So now the rumors are that Radulov wants to leave Russia and come back to play in the NHL. Just when you thought this situation could not get more ridiculous, it does. The link has some crazy Paul Kelly quotes about this circus. I would really have to think hard if I was Poile (Nashville GM) about taking Radulov back.

//sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/NHLPA-director-Radulov-wants-to-leave-KHL-rejo;_ylt=Atpl6f0qhopYghwFuqfrLvd7vLYF?urn=nhl,107077

Lang to Montreal - Gainey's Plan B

2008-09-13T14:28:00.003-04:00

It seems that Gainey had finally finished waiting for Sundin to make up his mind on whether he was "mentally prepared" to play the 2008-09 season and made a move for additional depth with his remaining cap space. I'll have to say that, if anything, Sundin helped to keep my interest in hockey this past off season as I was checking the rumor blogs daily in hopes of learning that he had done the impossible and signed with the Habs.
Mats would certainly have put the up Canadiens over the top and would have solidified their position as a contender for the East as well as for the Cup. Not to take anything away from guys like Koivu and Plekanec, but in watching the Habs over the last few seasons it was very obvious that there was a real need for them to acquire a physically dominant, top line center.
What Montreal has is a fast team that rolls 4 lines pretty much equally and who have one of the most underrated defensive corps in the game. They are a group of guys who demonstrated several times last season that they refuse to give up (you Ranger fans can attest to that...) and towards the end of the season they started to play like a team with a lot of confidence.
So what does Robert Lang bring to the Canadiens? From what I know of him he's a big body and an experienced centerman. When I watched him play it always seemed to me that he was a slick passer who was extremely difficult to knock off the puck. Looking at his stats he seems to have put up decent numbers (8+ consecutive 50+ point seasons) and and has been a + player during that time. If I had to guess at what Carbonneau will do when it comes to the lineups I believe Lang will play on the 3rd line centering Higgins and Sergei Kostityn. Pending a positive rating in the faceoff circle, he should also be able to secure his role on the #1 PP unit.
At 37 this upcoming campaign may be Lang's last season in NHL. Regardless of how he performs I believe this will give Montreal some serious depth at the center position and will create some healthy competition amongst the younger guys like Lapierre and Chipchura, who are still trying to secure their full time spot on the team.
October 10th is the big day. Habs open vs. Buffalo. Seeing as it will be the Canadiens 100th season, I was finally able to convince the wife that we needed to acknowledge this momentous occasion by purchasing a widescreen plasma. Here's hoping that Lang will look good with the Habs in HD.
Go Habs Go!

What kind of NHL player/personality would you be?

2008-09-11T11:22:00.004-04:00

As a former college teammate of the Toe Drag crew joins the Rangers and embarks on the next phase of his NHL career, I've been thinking about this more and more. Our buddy is very low key and claims that he's not planning to be a part of the whole glamorous professional athlete in NYC thing. Whether or not that holds true is a different story. Either way, it got me thinking about what kind of NHL player I'd be. Would I be well-liked by the fans? Would I be vocal in the media? Would I be a presence in the social scene? Then it got me thinking about what type of NHL player the rest of the guys on this blog would be. I'll start it off and let the discussion go from here:

J Dubbs: Sean Avery...without the fashion sense.

Chris Chelios is a God (with a capital G)

2008-09-10T10:19:00.005-04:00

The Red Wings officially announced yesterday afternoon that Chris Chelios will be back for his 25th NHL season. Believe it or not, Chelios was drafted the same year as Dale Hawerchuk, Bobby Carpenter, Ron Francis, Grant Fuhr, Al McInnis, Bruce Driver, Gerard Gallant, and John Vanbiesbrouck (in what was a pretty sick draft). The linked Hockey News article tracks some of the events that have occurred in Chelios's career, and is a pretty cool read.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/17766-Top-Shelf-The-Chris-Chelios-timeline.html

These Girls Really Bul-ow

2008-09-09T16:35:00.004-04:00

Bul-garia's women's team lost to the Slovakian women's team 82-0 in an Olympic qualifying game. 82-0!! The Slovaks outshot them 139-0. Now, I normally have no interest in watching women's hockey (sorry ladies..and Swivel who used to coach chicks as a college coach), but that would be a game I'd consider watching. How did they average 1.37 goals per minute? I'm hoping someone finds a few clips on youtube. I think we finally found a team that Frosty can make at his age.

At least we know they're good at one thing: Sucking!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/more/09/09/bulgaria.hockey.ap/index.html?cnn=yes

32 Days...

2008-09-03T16:05:00.002-04:00

Until the season starts. Starting the get psyched.

What will the Rangers do about Shanny? Are they waiting on Sundin? What are the odds Prucha is on the opening day roster? 5-1 is probably a fair guess.

How many goals will Rissmiller score this season? Anyone think he can put up double digits?

This blog sucks

2008-09-02T19:00:00.001-04:00

Nuff said.

2010 Team Russia

2008-09-02T11:54:00.002-04:00

Continuing the discussion (or lack thereof) from a few weeks ago on the Vancouver Olympics, my Team Russia is below. Once you get past the obvious, this is not an easy team to select because so many of the best Russian players are home and we never get to see them. (Surprising fact of the day - last season, only 28 Russian players (excluding goalies) suited up in the NHL. I was surprised at how few. There were 47 Swedes, 30 Finns, 55 Czechs, and 21 Slovaks. ) These forwards are sick. The D aren't so hot, but they won't need to be.

Ovechkin Malkin Semin
Kovalchuk Datsyuk Kovalev
Radulov Kozlov Morozov
Zaripov Frolov Mozyakin

Volchenkov Zubov
Gonchar Markov
Tyutin [insert Russian league defenseman]

Nabokov
Khabibulin

90-91 Penguins Were AWESOME

2008-08-30T09:31:00.002-04:00

I just caught a bit of the NHL Network Classic Series show on the 91 Devils/Penguins series. It has been a while since I thought about the Penguins teams from the early 90s, and I forgot how awesome they were, especially up front.

Lemieux, Jagr, Stevens, Recchi, Francis, Mullen, Trottier, Errey, Scott Young, Coffey, Murphy, Samuellson, Barasso.

They were loaded.

Vinny to be named captain

2008-08-26T16:07:00.002-04:00

...and he has a hot girlfriend.

Mags threw out the question a few posts as to why Vinny wasn't the captain of the Bolts. Your wish is granted. Well...part of your wish is granted. The other part about you and him being on a deserted island together without clothes has not been granted...yet. Keep the dream alive, Mags.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/17636-THNcom-Blog-Lightning-to-anoint-Vincent-Lecavalier-as-captain.html

Biggest Scumbag in the NHL

2008-08-21T11:16:00.004-04:00

Who comes to mind? I think the guys on this site probably thought of Avery right away. Now, we know that he is a d!ck. But is he really a scumbag? Has he ever done anything so dirty as to injure another player or put a guy's life in jeopardy? No. He is a jackass and a d!ck, but not a total scumbag.

Bertuzzi, on the other hand, is a total scumbag. If there was a white trash hockey player, it would be him. His hit on Moore was one of the worst things I've ever seen anybody do on the ice (along with Simon's two hander across Hollweg's neck and McSorley's swing at Brashear...am I missing anything as bad as these three?). However, those other guys have shown some remorse, whereas Bertuzzi has shown none.

Now he is trying to blame Crawford. Now, all of us who write on this blog and most of you who read this blog (Are there any people in the second group who aren't also in the first group? ha)have played hockey. We all know that coaches may encourage players to seek some retribution on an opposing player after a dirty hit. But no one would ever encourage someone to do what Bertuzzi did. It was a play that would be viewed as totally unacceptable by anyone who has ever played hockey. Anyone. Even Avery. Even Simon. Even McSorley. Anyone.

Now we have an inside source among the NHL players who tells us that Bertuzzi continues to threaten other players on the ice. Inevitably, I'm sure guys who trash talk Bertuzzi on the ice remind him of the horrible thing he did. We know of at least one time where this has happened. Bertuzzi's response? Something to the effect of "You're next." Total scumbag. I hope that Moore gets everything he is asking for and that every penny comes out of Bertuzzi's pocket.

Here's the article that led to my rant:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3543306

Legein Quits Hockey??

2008-08-21T08:25:00.002-04:00

Stefan Legein, a 19 year old Canadian who was the 2007 second round pick by Columbus, has announced that he's quitting hockey. Here's the link to the TSN story.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=246953&lid=headline&lpos=secStory_nhl

I have seen this kid play a handful of times. He is an energy guy that can score and hit. He played on Team Canada at the World Juniors.

I just don't get it.

Inspired by Phelps

2008-08-15T08:37:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we started discussing Team Canada for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. But after seeing the greatest American Olympian ever win his 6th Gold of the Beijing Games (2 more to go) and his 12th Gold overall, I am inspired to talk Team USA for the 2010 Games.

The American team could go any number of ways. They could go with an extremely young lineup to give them experience for future international play. They could go with an older lineup full of experience. Or they might end up somewhere in between. But there are less shoe-ins for the Americans than the Canadians or Russians, so everyone's team will probably look different. Let's see some comments.

Miracle on Ice Part Deux?

2008-08-13T16:28:00.002-04:00

Okay...so being the only smart one who writes for this blog, I came up with the topic for what will be our best debate yet. After staring at girls playing with balls and spreading legs over stuff over the past week, I got to thinking about the next Olympics...and then I got to thinking about hockey. I swear it was in that order.

Anyway, the 2010 Olympics could be the last Olympics in which the NHL participates (if Bettman wants to make the biggest mistake in the history of the NHL). With that in mind, I thought we'd open up a debate about who is going to be on the podium at the end of that hockey tournament. Before we do that, I think we should take a look at each of the teams that has a shot at a medal and see what we think their lineup will look like in a year and a half.

I'll give you a topic. Discuss amongst yourselves. Team Canada.

Move it or Lose It

2008-08-13T13:03:00.002-04:00

Good column posted yesterday on The Hockey News website.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/17526-THNcom-Blog-Time-to-move-it-or-lose-it.html

It highlights 9 teams that have to put up or shut up this year. 6 of those 9 teams need to start getting more support or they are in trouble (the other 3 are not). They are the same 6 teams that I said I would eliminate in my NHL.

I also agree with what they say about Buffalo, Chicago, and Colorado.

Chicagoans like young boys

2008-08-12T12:30:00.003-04:00

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/1102583,CST-SPT-hawk12.article

Chicagoans? Is that what people from Chicago are called? Anyway...The Blackhawks have sold over 500,000 tickets for next year, which is 300 times more tickets than at this point last year...and that doesn't include the outdoor game. Pretty impressive. They must really like young boys.

I, for one, am psyched that hockey is back in a big way in Chicago. Chicago is such a great sports town and it is great for the NHL that hockey is on the radar once again...possibly for the first time since Jeremy Roenick took the hockey video game world by storm in NHL 94.

I think it will be most interesting to see where the Lightning finish this year, but Chicago will also be pretty intriguing to watch. Even if they aren't towards the top of the standings, both teams will be getting lots of time on my CenterIce package.

What does everyone think about the Campbell signing by Chicago?

My NHL

2008-08-11T15:36:00.005-04:00

I think I've discussed this with Maguire before, but what changes would you make to the NHL to improve the product? Here are some of mine, many of which are copied from other sources, and in no particular order.

1. Make penalized players serve the full time of their penalty, regardless of whether a goal is scored. You would get more goals and less clutching, grabbing, and stickwork because penalties would kill you.

2. Reduce league to 24 teams, and bring back the old conference and division names. Adams (Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo, Carolina), Patrick (NYR, NJD, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington, Tampa), Norris (Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Minnesota, Colorado, St. Louis), and Smythe (Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, San Jose, LA, Anaheim). Out are Florida, Atlanta (or maybe Carolina), Nashville, Phoenix, Columbus and NY Islanders (controversial?).

3. Reduce schedule to about 75 games and start playoffs a month earlier.

4. Eliminate instigator rule but make fighting an automatic game misconduct with no suspension.

5. Change on the fly only. This is something that Scotty Bowman has argued for and I think is a pretty interesting idea. It would keep the game moving. It would change strategy, but I think would make for a better TV product. (This would be experimental under the Swivelhead dynasty).

6. For every dollar that a club spends on new youth hockey arena construction, they get a dollar salary cap allowance. This is something that my brother and I have talked about. More rinks will lead to lower costs for youth hockey, and that will lead to more hockey players and more hockey fans and better TV ratings. If the Rangers or Leafs or Habs spend 5 mil per year on new arena construction, then they can go out and sign that extra guy that they wouldn't be able to sign under the cap. They can afford it. It would be complicated to enforce, but they could figure it out.

I know what Maguire is going to add, but any other ideas?

Rangers

2008-08-11T15:21:00.003-04:00

I just read a retarded post from last month that predicted the Rangers finishing 4th in the East and being better overall this year than last year. How the hell are the Rangers better this year than last year? They lost their captain and best player, a pest who can score, and a bunch of proven veteran secondary scoring (re-signing Shanahan could help that). They didn't address the need that all you Ranger fans were saying was most needed (skating defenseman). They brought in a couple of 4th liners, a lazy Russian who alternates between 25 and 10 goals, a terrible Russian defenseman, a former all-star defenseman who is now an average defenseman (but gets paid like an all-star), and an old wimpy Swede who's career is just about over.

I don't think the Rangers are going to be bad, they might end up being as good as last year's team and they will make the playoffs. But I see no logical reason to say they will be better than last year's team, and the only reason they will make the playoffs is because of Lundqvist.

The Real First Toe Drag Post

2008-08-07T23:34:00.002-04:00

In an effort to get back to our roots (debating hockey) I am going to post the ultimate debate post. Here goes

NHL Bests in my opinion

Best Passer: Crosby

Best Hitter: Phanuef (followed by Ovechkin)

Most Intimidating: Chara

Best Skater: Ovechkin for Forwards, Bouwmeester for D (over Lidstrom)

Best at Breakaways: Gagner (over Ovechkin....maybe a stretch). Please no votes for Jokinenns of the world or whatever his name is.

Biggest Douche: Avery

Best Coach: Babcock

Best All Around: Zetterburg

Best Hair: Zetterburg (Fedorov still up there and #2)

Best player that ends in "issmiller": Pat Rissmiller

Best Shot (all around): Ovechkin

I obviously missed some great categories.....what are they? And where am I wrong?

New NHL COO

2008-08-07T18:44:00.002-04:00

I wish we had an in with someone at the NHL. This guy was in charge of NHL Media.....which means he probably had something to do with the whole TV Situation.

NHL has record revenues, attendance and TV ratings since he has been there but how much of that had to do with him?

"A better team than the team I formerly played on"

2008-08-06T22:31:00.008-04:00

Avery is a dick. That's why I loved him on the Rangers. At the same time he says some things some times just to get a rise out of people. I hate when people do that. Other times he might actually mean it. Either way, he is a dick.

I guess I should give some context for my rant. I just got home from work (yeah...awesome), watched the end of the Mets game (which they lost because partially because David Wright is going senile or can't count or both), and jumped on my laptop to check out youporn..er..I mean cnn.com and then decided to see what happened in the world of hockey during the afternoon. So of course I went to espn.com...oh no wait, this isn't 2003 and ESPN doesn't carry hockey anymore so they have only one guy who is a Juliet Alpha (codeword for Jack Ass) by the name of Burnside writing for them during the summer.

So I went to tsn.ca. And I saw a clip of the Stars welcoming Avery to their squad. After showing that annoying mojito commercial (which leaves Mags dancing in his living room), they only showed one or two minutes and of course Avery had some dickhead thing to say. Something to the effect that he is "obviously" coming to a team that is better that the team he used to be on (the Rangers). First of all, Dick, the Rangers and the Stars had the same number of points in the regular season last year. Second of all, you're a dick. (I really had only one point, but I started off with "first of all" because I thought I'd come up with a second. Turns out I couldn't.)

Okay...so are the Stars better than the Rangers? Maybe. Is it "obvious" that is the case? No. That's why Avery is a dick. I loved the guy on the Rangers but I hope he sucks in Dallas, gets into a big fight with Modano, and sleeps with Morrow's wife and Guy Carbonneau's daughter. Now that might sound like a lot for him to do, but Carbonneau's daughter is Morrow's wife, so he can kill two birds with one stone on that one.

PS: Could Guy be any more French Canadian in that tux? Someone get that guy some poutine.

NHL Tournaments?

2008-08-06T21:31:00.000-04:00

So frustrated. Had to write this post three times now because of errors on the site….I better get some comments.

What are people’s thoughts on having NHL tournaments during the season….potentially as the first games of the year? I realize there are some revenue and logistical (# of home games per team, etc) issues but I think those can be worked out. What would be some good tournaments?

Battle for NY/NJ…..Buffalo, NYR, NYI, NJD

Canadian Supremacy…..top 4 Canadian teams based on prior season’s points

Original Six….same concept but with original six teams

Sunshine Bowl……Phoenix, Tampa Bay, Anaheim, San Jose

I think that it would be good for the NHL….just look at what the outdoor games are doing….huge draws. Could generate the buzz the beanpot does in Boston.

Again….look past the logistical issues….what would be some other good tourneys?

4 v 4 - All the time

2008-08-06T13:16:00.001-04:00

The post below is actually decent. A lot of guys recently have left the NHL to play in Europe. Most notably Jagr, but also guys like Yashin, Brylin and Modry etc. etc. None of these guys are in their prime of course and nobody really cares, but it does show that players consider it now. I actually think the NHL it at risk of players leaving for the reasons Olgie explains below. All it would take is one marquee player to leave and then this simple concept posted in a random hocley blog becomes front page headlines. “Crosby leaves for the Russian Super League”. Let’s face it, the NHL isn’t exactly crushing it these days. This is not an unimaginable situation.

Now – the debate the 5 hockey geniuses have had on this topic revolved around going 4 on 4 – full time. “Mags” has been arguing this for year now – the NHL should go 4 on 4 all the time. He has good reasons for this, and I respect all of them and the fact that he sticks to his guns on this argument. For the record, I like 4 on 4 hockey for the same reasons Mags does. Its more open, it showcases the talented players, it weeds out the weaker players. But that said, I have and will continue to argue that taking the NHL to 4 on 4 all the time is an extremely risky proposition and I disagree that it is a good idea. I like 4 on 4 in OT only. In my opinion, making it full time changes the hockey in the NHL entirely. If the NHL is the only hockey league that is 4 on 4, than every kid across the world will grow up playing one game, and then work to get into the NHL which is totally different. Every system you learn (forechecks, dzone coverage, power play etc) is now changed and obsolete to a degree. 4 on 4 is not a minor change at all – its taking 20% of the skaters off the ice. Its like taking the center out of basketball to free up the lane for more dunks; or taking the shortstop & right fielder out of baseball to produce more offense. Take a hypothetical. A player like say Malkin plays his whole life in Russia and learns 5 on 5 hockey, and is good enough to play professionally. Then he is faced with this choice (1) Play the same 5 on 5 game he knows in his home country of Russia (and maybe get more money to do so) or (2) Play an offshoot style of hockey, 4 on 4 in North America (and maybe get less money). Will the NHL still be considered the best league in the world, when it’s a different style of game entirely?

When the NHL is a different game of hockey than every other league in the world (IIHF/Olympics, Euro Pro, Russian Pro, US College/High School, kids hockey everywhere), than it just intensifies the risk of players leaving. I also think that from a fan point of view - for every guy like me and Mags that likes hockey 4 on 4, there is a guy who hates the idea and likes old school hockey.

The risk is huge that both the players and fans don’t love the change to 4 on 4, and the NHL falls apart b/c either they lose players (most likey) or fans (not like they have a ton anyway).

Crosby, котор нужно сыграть в Россия

2008-08-06T08:59:00.008-04:00

What does that title mean, you ask? It means "Crosby to play in Russia" (at least according to on-line translator I used).

Now...that's not a true statement. But what if it was? There is an article on ESPN today (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3520860) stating that LeBron would consider playing in Europe if the price was right...and by right I mean $50M.

The five of us who started this website often argue about this. What if the European leagues become successful in their attempts to snatch up high profile stars from the NHL? With today's salary cap, the max contract a player in the NHL could receive is $11.34M per year.

What if a Russian team offered an NHL star $25M per year? Impossible? Far from it. With the new Russian Super League and Czech teams shelling out big money for washed up players, I think it is closer and closer to becoming a reality. Throw in the weakness of the US dollar and I think it's only a matter of time. What is $25M to us is only €16M to them (feel free to convert to whatever ridiculously-named currency is appropriate).

So what does that mean to the NHL? It could mean big trouble. Fortunately for them, their three biggest stars (Crosby, Ovechkin, and DiPietro) are locked in to contracts through 2013, 2021, and 2022. (Just kidding about DiPietro but had to throw it in there for a laugh...since Garth Snow and the Islanders have given me so many over the years). But what happens in 2013 when (hypothetically) Crosby is on pace to break all of Gretzky's records and he gets an offer for $30M a year for 10 years from Omsk to play side by side with the 84-year old Jaromir Jagr? Crosby...the face of the NHL and the player the NHL has built their "new" NHL around.

What happens then? Does the NHL crumble? Probably not, but it would most likely mark the beginning of the end. What happens next? Does the NHL become desperate and switch to 4 on 4 in an attempt to survive? Mags would wet his pants and petition to become the Commish of the new, new NHL. He'd bring back emails he saved from 2005 stating that the NHL should go 4 on 4 and tell the whole world "I told you so". Stay gold, Mags. Stay gold.

Best NHL Captain

2008-08-05T16:13:00.002-04:00

Great poll. I saw that many people chose Lidstrom as the best captain. Personally, I think its Iginla but I am certainly not going to argue against Lidstrom. But let me ask this.....if Lidstrom and Iginla were on the same team, who you put as the captain.

I would choose Iginla for a number of reasons. Both Iginla and Lidstrom have lots of the same great qualities. They both consistently play hard and are considered league leaders at their respective positions. Both seem like decent guys in that no one ever says a bad thing about them. The reason I choose Iginla is simply his toughness. He is a superstar that is constantly standing up for his teammates....fighting for them if need be. That for me is the tiebreaker.

Lecavlier would be another one I would choose over Lidstrom for the same reasons. I think he is still in "A" in tampa bay....anyone know why?

Get Your Popcorn Ready

2008-08-05T15:05:00.004-04:00

The good folks at OFB (On Frozen Blog) have picked up on a tremendous programming move by the NHL Network: Gretzky Week. Set the DVR (especially for the Top 10 Gretzky moments) and get your popcorn ready.
http://www.onfrozenblog.com/2008/08/05/programming-fit-for-a-king/

Any chance they'll have a special on his daughter? It's okay to look. She is 19:

Proof ESPN doesn't care about hockey

2008-08-05T13:23:00.002-04:00

As noted earlier, the ESPYs had two references to the NHL in the entire broadcast (Nash Best Move & Wings Best Team). It was the only sport that didn’t have a player of the year (even soccer and Nascar did). Well, apparently there was an NHL player of the year. It just didn’t air. ESPN awarded it to Sydney Crosby and it just shows that ESPN doesn’t follow or care about hockey.

Look, Crosby is ridiculously good and I’m not saying that he isn’t the best player in the world. But awarding the player of the year to him in 07-08 just shows that ESPN awarded it to the most marketable and well known player – not the one who performed the best in 07-08. They don’t care about hockey. It was the logical choice for non-hockey fans, but the wrong choice if you care at all.

-He missed 29 games, 35% of the season.
-Ovechkin scored 65 goals (without a doubt, he should have won the ESPY)
-Zetterberg and Datyuk were great in the regular season, and sick in the playoffs (they also should have won it over Crosby)
-Malkin (although terrible in the playoffs) carried the Pens in those 29 games Crosby was out

Stay in bed, Petr...Stay in bed.

2008-08-04T13:08:00.005-04:00

So apparently Petr Nedved has been invited to Rangers' camp: (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/hockey/rangers/2008/07/31/2008-07-31_petr_nedved_gets_ranger_tryout.html)

Not sure why, especially since he has put up only 37 points since the lockout. Is putting up 10-15 points per year worth even getting out of bed? Probably not if your wife looks like this:

51-year old Kelly Klein? Really?

2008-08-04T09:47:00.005-04:00

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08012008/gossip/pagesix/cougar_chaser_122471.htm

Apparently, Sean Avery is really getting into fashion these days. Literally. But is tagging Calvin Klein's wife the best way to do it? Plus, she is 51. I mean, she is pretty hot for a 51-year old, but she is 51. If you're going to go for a 50+ year old, at least go for Christie

(54) . I think she is single. http://www.tmz.com/2008/07/25/brinkley-im-dating-again-no-more-whackjobs/

Hit of the Day

2008-07-31T15:16:00.000-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=322zqTkL0-c&feature=related

Not exactly clean, but still a bit hit worthy of the hit of the day.

More Lowe Blows?

2008-07-31T14:22:00.004-04:00

So Kevin Lowe was moved from GM to President of the Oilers with Steve Tambellini taking over the GM role. Not sure what that says about what Oilers' ownership thinks about Lowe performed in his role as a GM, but I'm sure Brian Burke has an opinion on it. Looking forward to hearing what he has to say. Hopefully, he'll add some fuel to the fire because it seems to be burning out over the past couple of weeks.

Previous quotes by Burke about Lowe:
On Lowe's decision to give Penner an offer sheet without giving Burke a heads up: "I think it's an act of desperation by a general manager who is fighting to keep his job." "I thought that was gutless."

Previous quotes by Lowe about Burke:
"Where do I begin?," started Lowe. "He's a moron, first of all. Secondly, he really believes that any news for the NHL is good news. Thirdly, he loves the limelight and I don't think anyone in hockey will dispute that. Lastly, he's in a pathetic hockey market where they can't get on any page of the newspaper let alone the front page of the sports, so any of this stuff carries on."

Ding. Ding.

Hit of the Day

2008-07-29T20:13:00.003-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MKtA_nJLbc

This is a good one. Guy takes a header. Someone forgot to tell him that this water is frozen.

Hit of the Day

2008-07-29T20:10:00.003-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAFGzsPCFrI

Ouch. Soup takes out Umberger. Best view of the hit is at the 49 second mark. Nasty.

Are the Bruins serious?

2008-07-29T18:26:00.002-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O66oSixrIcs&eurl=http://deadspin.com/index.php?refId=5029718

Please don't tell me that they actually paid this guy to market their "All you can eat ticket special" package on his terribly terrible youtube video blog.

They already have the worst GM in the league but not the rest of their front office is struggling too.

Are the Bruins really struggling so bad to get people in the seats that they have to offer an all you can eat buffet and game ticket for $39.

My tickets in the 300 level at MSG are $52....now that's a REAL organization!!!!!

Hitting a Hinote by Tapping a McCarthy

2008-07-29T15:57:00.014-04:00

So Dan Hinote (picture) of the St. Louis Blues just married Jenny McCarthy's sister, fellow playmate Amy McCarthy (picture). Must be nice to be an NHL player.

Apparently, all invites were supposed to come wearing their favorite 1950's costume. Jim Carrey (Jenny's husband) came dressed as Fidel "Don't call me Mets catcher Ramon" Castro.

Also in attendance were Forsberg, Sakic, Podein, and Liles. I wonder if Forsberg came dressed as someone receiving treatment during an episode of M*A*S*H. It would be fitting.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/27/tying-knot-50s-style/

Hit of the Day

2008-07-29T14:42:00.002-04:00

Glass-shattering hit. Not bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-_AwyH099U

NHL '09

2008-07-28T21:34:00.001-04:00

Have you seen the promo for the new NHL game? Looks pretty sick:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyX23cERTnQ

Hit of the Day

2008-07-28T16:44:00.002-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUkiyBVytRQ&eurl=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/07/28/2008-07-28_video_shows_nypd_cop_assaulting_cyclist.html

Solid hit by NY's "Finest". Hopefully, that is the type of hit you'll see Rissmiller laying on chumps in a few months.

"Guys with Weird Last Names" Signing Day

2008-07-28T15:48:00.001-04:00

Bouwmeester re-signed with Florida. Didn't realize that Bouwmeester played the most minutes per game of any NHL defensemen last year (27 minutes, 28 seconds). Pretty impressive. He has also played in all 82 games for the Panthers for the past 3 years and had 15 goals this past year. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed yet.
Sjostrom re-signed with the Rangers. There was some question as to what the Rangers would do since they have a number of forwards under contract. Apparently, he was willing to discuss taking less than the ~$800k (don't remember the exact number and too lazy to look it up) he was eligible for as a RFA if they offered him a multi-year deal. Word was that they were talking about 2 years at $650k per. Sjo plays with lots of speed, but I liken him to the skinny guy in Nintendo's original hockey game: so fast that he is sometimes out of control. At the same time, I like him at $650k per year for 2 years.

ESPN SUCKS

2008-07-25T14:31:00.005-04:00

So a big tell about someone's personality is to see what they have their home page set to on their personal computer.....

For many people it's CNN (they want to appear worldy yet they never even open a link), for others it's Google, and for some (Fattey) it's http://www.ilovelittleboysinnothingbuthockeygarters.com/

For me...it varies depending on the time of the year. During the hockey season, my home page is set to http://www.tsn.ca/ for obvious reasons. Pure and simply, nobody comes close to covering hockey better than TSN. I even go as far as to get the daily headlines emailed to me every morning. So besides the week of July 1st (free agent deadline), I need to find another home page because I'm not really down with hearing about the Canadian Olympic Track and Field team every day.

By default I choose ESPN. So when I opened up Internet Explorer today, after skipping over the first five links to Brett Fav-ruh, I noticed a picture of Patrick Kane. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised and it got me a little wet seeing the 19 year-old NY-born Blackhawk on the front page of ESPN.com.

Then I started reading Scoot Burnside's article about his power rankings for the upcoming season. After slowly puking in my mouth, I soon realized why ESPN sucks at NHL coverage.

Scott Burnside is sipping the Blackhawk and Flyers Kool-aid....quite frankly, I'm not.

You can't argue with his top 2 in each conference: Pittsburgh-Montreal and Detroit-San Jose but after that it gets a little sketchy for me. He's got the Flyers as 3rd in the East. Did he not realize that they barely snuck in the playoffs last year? Or that they had the worst record in the NHL 2 years ago? Yes, I'm a fan of Mike Richards and he is the leader of this team (Briere pushes poop on his off days) but to expect them to finish 3rd in the conference is crazy.

He also has the Senators 10th!!! Is he serious? Yes they sucked it up down the stretch last year but if they finish in 10th this year, I might give Burnside my first NCAA goal puck (very valuable - Fairfield Stags class of '03) .

And how do you have ANYONE behind Garth Snow's Islanders???

For the West, does he honestly feel that the upstart "pretty pick" of the Blackhawks will finish higher then Calgary? Calgary has proven every year that they are one of the hardest teams to play against in the league. Blackhawks have some amazing young talent and add Soupy to the mix to play next to Duncan Keith on the PP but still....

I also think that Edmonton is nowhere near the 5th best team in the conference and I will be surprised if Wayne-o doesn't have his Coyotes battling for a playoff spot and Peter Mueller making a run at the scoring title.

My rankings:
East
1-Pitt - Dirty Good
2-Mon - Kovalev is G-O-D
3-Wash - OvechKING
4-NYR - they are a very different team this year...but better overall. Patrick Rissmiller's name will look amazing on Lord Stanley
5-Philly - they will be more consistent this year
6-Ott - Spezza and Alfredsson are still there....don't count them out
7-NJD - Marty gets them in the playoffs by himself
8-TB - UNREAL offense.....terrible D and goaltending. Mike Smith? Really?
9-ATL - ILYA
10-BUF - who cares that you can't name 5 guys on the team...they always contend
11-FL - some decent young talent bus losing Olli will hurt
12-BOS - worst GM in the league
13-CAR - Staal can't carry them alone. Ray Whitney is sneaky good though
14-TOR - Oh Mats, oh Mats, where art thou?
15-NYI - Garth motha f'n Snow....nuff said

West
1-Det - Three most underrated players in the world...Pavel, Nik and Henrik
2-SJ - Love the Boyle signing but will letting Rissmiller go be too much to handle?
3-ANA-Nieder is back....just watch him play....it gets me hard
4-DAL - always there
5-CAL- Phaneuf will win Norris
6-PHX-they're sneaky good
7-CHI- I love two crackers with my soup
8-Min- not sure why...but they are always better then I think
9-Nash-best young d-core in the league
10-STL-very good d-men.
11-CLS-Nash keeps them out of the cellar
12-EDM-I just don't think they are good....am I the only one?
13-LAK-Kopitar and his tinted visor....dirty
14-COL-Sakic? Will they bring him back?
15-Van-No Naslund = no leader

Here is the link to Burnside's picks....
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=burnside_scott&id=3504426&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab6pos1

Taking one in the five hole

2008-07-25T14:02:00.002-04:00

So I can't help but feel like I'm being screwed by the New York Rangers' owner, James Dolan (tough visual for a Friday afternoon, I know). For some background, a few of the geniuses from this site starting buying Rangers season tickets the year after the lockout. At the time, everyone had the Rangers picked to finish dead last and our tickets were at a very reasonable rate of $36. The Rangers were obviously a big surprise that year and did well. Attendance numbers were also stronger than expected. They then raised our ticket prices up to $40 the next year. Last year, they went up to $46. This year, they went to $52. Though tough to swallow (44% increase over 4 years), we were expecting an increase in that range. I then took a look at the schedule that came out and noticed that it is quite lopsided. Take a look at the breakdown of home and away games by day:

Home Schedule:
8 Mondays
7 Tuesdays
6 Wednesdays
4 Thursdays
2 Fridays
6 Saturdays
8 Sundays

Away Schedule:
4 Mondays
3 Tuesdays
6 Wednesdays
5 Thursdays
7 Fridays
14 Saturdays
2 Sundays

Who wants to go to games on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays? I enjoy the social aspect of going to games. That means being able to head out to the game and have a few (dozen) beers without having to worry about work the next day, which is a lot easier to do on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Even for the common (non-alcoholic) fans, I would think that being able to get to the games earlier in the week would also be more difficult because of people's work schedules and real-life commitments.

The Rangers home schedule provides only 4 Thursday games, 2 Friday games and 6 Saturday games and a lot of Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday games. 29% of Rangers home games are on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and 71% occur from Sunday-Wednesday. That seems to me to be extremely lopsided. I would think that is the most lopsided of all NHL teams (someone else look it up...my brain hurts). Now the question is: How much influence do the Rangers have on the schedule? It is clearly beneficial for MSG to schedule Ranger games on the less desirable nights. They sell out every game regardless of what day of the week it is. That saves their more desirable nights (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) for other events, which leads to more revenue. It would also make sense for the league and other teams to want it this way. It lets other teams have more games on the more desirable nights and therefore increases their team revenues. It’s a win-win for the league and MSG.

Despite paying some of the highest prices for tickets in the NHL, the Ranger season ticket holders seem to be the ones who get screwed. Poke me in my five hole.

Now that's taking the term "Lord Stanley" a little too literally

2008-07-25T13:42:00.003-04:00

So on Holmstrom's day with the Cup, he let his cousin baptize his daughter in the Stanley Cup. Instead of a Christening, would it be called a Stanleyening?

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray Lord Stanley my goals so sweet; And, if I die before I wake, I pray Lord Stanley the goalie to deke."

Except from tsn.ca:

PITEA, Sweden - Tomas Holmstrom had his day with the Stanley Cup on Friday, and he let his cousin use it as a baptismal font for a christening. Holmstrom suggested the idea to his cousin, Robert Sundstrom, who baptized his seven-week-old daughter Alva Felicia during a private ceremony outside Holmstrom's hometown of Pitea in northern Sweden. "Tomas came up with the idea when we were sitting in his summer cabin kitchen a week ago," Sundstrom said. "Me and my wife thought it would be fun to christen our daughter in such a priceless object."

The Bruins are a joke and the Sabres are boring

2008-07-25T08:56:00.005-04:00

So the Bruins put Murray on waivers...and no on claimed him. Now they have to buy him out on order to get under the cap. Wait...the Bruins are over the cap? With that lineup? How is that possible?
In other news that isn't so interesting, the Sabres re-signed Mathieu Darche. Who is Mathieu Darche, you ask? No idea. Don't really care either. I could basically say the same thing about 95% of the Sabres' roster. What a boring team to root for. Even though they consistently put a decent team on the ice, they are so boring. Not sure how anyone can really be a Sabres fan. It's bad enough that the people in Buffalo have to live in Buffalo. If it wasn't for their the Sabres' superb amateur scout Nik Fattey, their TV access to Hockey Night in Canada and the Ballet being in close proximity, they'd have nothing.

NHL news and notes

2008-07-24T09:31:00.002-04:00

So the Bruins put Glen Murray on waivers. I like Murray (I'm a Boston guy), but he is pretty much washed up. Without Thornton, he is not very effective.
The Bruins also re-signed Dennis Wideman - I like this guy. I think he is a solid puck moving defensemen and the Bs need that. Terms were not disclosed so I can't comment on whether or not I love the signing, but I'm glad to see him back. (Is it just me, or is Dennis not a good hockey name? Neither is Glen for that matter. Maybe that is why the Bruins suck...yet I digress).
Sundin will make the announcement this week I guess. Who cares? I just hope and pray he doesn't become like his fellow Swede - Peter Forsberg. Look, Forsberg is (was) awesome, I'm just get so tired of the constant "I'm retiring, I'm back, I'm hurt now, I'm back, I'm hurt again someplace new, I'm back, No I'm not back, I'm hurt, I'm back, I might play, I won't play, I'm retiring, No I'm back, I'm hurt, I'm OK. It unfortunately tarnishes a stellar career and everyone, especially me, is tired of it. Just make your decision Sundin.
What with the ESPYs giving no love at all the hockey or the NHL? The show was great, I thought Justin T was solid and funny. But only 2 vague references to hockey - Nash's sick goal and the Wings as best team. Neither had a chance to win. And the NHL was the only league to not get on area recognition of player of the year. Come on, in this age with Crosby and Ovechkin - the best duo since Wayne/Mario (yes, first name basis), and the NHL gets no love? Good call breaking with ESPN and moving to VS.....
And speaking of Oveckin - the 5 hockey geniuses who started this blog had a huge debate on "who is the best pure goal scorer of all time". I claimed Ovechkin and got beat down a bit, and supported some. But seriously - you have one guy to put on the ice to score and unassisted goal - who is it? Wayne, Mario, Espo, Rocket Richard, Ovechkin, Bossy, Hull? I would love to hear some other comments - but have no idea how others will see/read this....somebody respond

Sundin

2008-07-24T09:19:00.002-04:00

Why is Mats Sundin being offered $10m/year from Vancouver? How desperate are they? The guy is maybe a 30 goal scorer and 80 pts. He has scored 40 only 3 times in his career and the last time was in 2001.

Its almost as bad as the Bruins signing Michael "Healthy Scratch" Ryder for $4m/year.

Purple Helmets in 2009 - you heard it here first.

Budaj