Bruins acquire Manny Fernandez

TSN is reporting that Boston has indeed finally landed Manny Fernandez in exchange for forward Peter Kalus and a future 4th round pick. What a fomidable duo in net for the B's, with Fernandez and Tim Thomas. With the coaching change is Boston and Fernandez in net, I already foresee good things in Boston next season.

So who the heck is Peter Kalus
The 20-year-old Kalus was born in Ostrava, Czech Republic who was drafted 39th overall in the 2005 Entry Draft. The winger has been described as "electric goal scorer with a world of speed and skill." He is projected as a top 6 winger, but does have a few knocks on his size (6'1", 186 pounds). (TSN)

Kalus must have a lot of potential in order for the Wild to trade away a #1 goalie in Manny Fernandez for him. Last season, in 9 games for the Bruins, Kalus scored 4 goals and 1 assist.
Fernandez is being paid $3,750,000 per season. The Wild needed some cap space.

More on Kalus at Hockey's Future.
Manny Fernandez career stats.

Fernandez was squeezed out of the Wild's roster by the emergence of Niklas Backstrom and suprising 23 year-old Josh Harding.
The Wild were not going to renew Fernandez's contract with those 2 great goaltenders and speculation has been on going for weeks now as to where Backstrom would end up playing in 2007-08. Boston was rumored all along.

T Tags: Wild+trade+Manny Fernandez Bruins Peter Kalus

Heard around the NHL

Daniel Briere said from California: “I wish things would have gotten done earlier with Buffalo, but they didn’t.”
Remind you of Ryan Smyth just a tad?

Regarding becoming an unrestricted free agent, Briere said:
“It’s exciting. I’ve never been through it before. If it gets there, I just want to be around where it’s going to happen and where my agent’s going to be so we can deal with it directly and not over the phone, relaying messages. I want to be there when the offers come in.”
The Buffalo News

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"The reason for the cap is so that they could have an immediate redistribution of talent around the league. Now they will raise the salary cap so that teams can once again overpay for talent to keep them in town." - Joe Puckster, a Wings fan commenting on this article (Detroit Free Press)about the Wings having about $16 million to spend this summer.
I don't fully agree with Joe...yet. The talent is still being evenly distributed. It's just that teams that culture a young talent to superstardom eventually pay the price of losing the player because his salary inflates and he leaves town. That is a raw deal.

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The Oilers have come to terms with European exile Dick Tarnstrom. With the increase in the max of cap spending, how hard are the Oilers going to pursue Ryan Smyth? Or is that a burned bridge?

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"In Marty's (Gelinas) case, it's not a money issue, it's more of a situation with his family," Jacques Martin said.
So where is Gelinas' family, Alberta?

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"There's been all this speculation because I've been out there very publicly saying I want to bring a team to Kansas City, either through relocation or expansion,'' William Del Biaggio said Thursday. "(But) it's also public that Nashville is not easy to get out of there."
Del Biaggio seems to be the new front-runner to buy the Predators franchise.

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From Newsday.com:

Earlier, the Islanders were said by TSN in Canada to be shopping the rights to negotiate with Smyth. The Isles denied the report on their Web site, and Snow turned down a request from Toronto to talk to Smyth.

Oh yeah, the Leafs are at it again.

The Islanders have no intention of trading Smyth's rights before the July 1 opening of the free agent market because they believe they are in the running to sign him. By the same token, they are open to offers to negotiate with free agent Jason Blake. Blake's agent, Neil Sheehy, said the Isles' leading scorer turned down a new three-year offer from Snow that is believed to be worth $10 million.

Blake will get $4-5 million elsewhere, no doubt.

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Damien Cox writes this in the Toronto Sun:

Last week's deal, which came on top of trading away 2005 first-round selection Tuukka Rask and first-round picks in both the 2003 and 2004 drafts (Raycroft deal), cemented the concept that Ferguson intends to challenge for not only a playoff spot next season, but the Stanley Cup itself in the next two seasons.
Why else would a team move its top pick after making similar moves in other years if not to compete for a championship? The risks of moving first-round picks in the salary cap era include not having enough young players making $1 million per season or less to compete at the highest level (see the Anaheim Ducks) so the Leafs' management team must believe it already has such players in the organization.

Justifications, justifications. The Leafs have thought they were contenders for several years now...and the cycle goes on and on and on...
Sure, the prospects are there...but for how long? Cox is just another eastern Canadian Leafs fan with his head stuck in his arss.
However, Ferguson's time is running out to win. So he is going to pull out all the stops.

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54% of Lightning fans that voted on a poll at Tampa Bay.com think that Marc Denis should be traded. If Denis doesn't step up, Johan Holmqvist will take over as #1, if he hasn't already.

T Tags: NHL News Daniel+Briere Ryan+Smyth Marc+Denis Free+Agency

Jason Allison is still alive?

The 32-year old Allison has made it clear Friday that is is mentally and physically ready to play in the NHL.

"I'm physically and mentally as healthy as I've been in five years," Allison told The Canadian Press in an interview on Friday. "I'm excited and ready to go." "I had a lot of personal stuff to deal with last year - just getting my life re-organized and dealing with family issues," said Allison, who went through a divorce.
It's been a good year for me, even though I didn't play hockey and people were wondering where I was or what I was doing . . .

It was important for me to just get feeling good about life."

In regards to taking ALL of last season off, Allison said:

"I was planning on playing and then to be honest, I was kind of hoping to go to a few certain teams to be close to my (two) kids and that didn't work out. So I kind of just decided to take the year off and get my stuff organized and get my head in the right place."

Oh great, a REALLY slow skater with baggage. Hey, who wants to sign up?

Allison had 60 points in 66 games in his last season, with Toronto 2 seasons ago.
His sluggishness was overly apparent, but his ability to work the power play was terrific. 39 of his 60 points were on the PP.
But don't bank on anyone taking him this summer unless they really have to.

Career stats.

T Tags: Jason+Allison NHL Ready

Nonis and the Salary Cap increase

As a Canucks fan, you almost have to drooling at the options that Nonis now has with the $6 million tagged onto the Cap maximum. Hell, Nonis probably needs an underwear change already.
Perhaps, we could see Nonis pick up some higher priced UFA's in the following weeks. UFA's that aren't Jan Bulis, Marc Chouinard-types. Even though, bless his heart for signing the free agents that he did last summer.
Does this put the Canucks in the running for a Gomez or Briere? Maybe. But I hope not. I think he's better off to spread the wealth out a little bit and stay a couple of million below the $50 million cap.
Perhaps now Nonis can take a stab at a few guys like:
-Dainus Zubrus (please NO!)
-Mike Peca
-Jeff O'Neil
-Ruslan Fedotenko
-Michal Handzus
-Petr Sykora (hell no!)
-Bill Guerin
-Eric Lindros (wahahaha!)
-Alyn McAuley
-Richard Zednik

Maybe he could try to get 2 guys like:
-Peter Forsberg
-Robert Lang
-Michael Nylander
-Jason Blake
-Mike Comrie

Or he can make a blockbuster signing with 1 of the following:
-Scott Gomez
-Daniel Briere
-Chris Drury
-Brendan Shanahan (who doesn't want to leave NY)
-Alexei Yashin (bite me)
-Ryan Smyth
-Slava Kozlov
-Paul Kariya

Don't bank on a blockbuster happening. But Naslund does need a decent center.
I'm not sure exactly where the Canucks are with salary commitments, but once they shed themselves of Smolinski and Bulis (perhaps) they should be in the $40-43 million range.
Hang on to your butts, Sunday is almost here!!

T Tags: Canucks Free+Agent+Signing

Chris Benoit saga update

Speculation is running wild now as authorities, fans, and family try to piece together what really went wrong mentally with Chris Benoit in order for him to asphyxiate his mentally handicapped 7 year-old son, strangle his wife, and then hang himself in his weight room on Monday afternoon.

Benoit's father, Michael is thinking that some form of drug caused the problem, and is awaiting toxology tests.

"We have no understanding of why it happened," he said. "We need some time to gather our thoughts and wait and see. There's still more information that's going to come out from toxicology tests that will give us some understanding of why this happened."

The DEA and Sheriff's officials raided Benoit's doctor's office today to search for records and other items. Computers were confiscated apparently.

Anabolic steroids were found in Benoit's home, leading officials to wonder whether the drugs played a role in the killings, which took place last weekend. Some experts believe steroids cause paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as "roid rage."

To give you a bit of a clue as to how powerful Wikipedia can be:

At 12:01 a.m. Monday, about 14 hours before authorities said the bodies were found, someone updated Benoit's page on the Wikipedia site stating that the reason he missed a match Saturday night was "stemming from the death of his wife Nancy."

VIDEO: Vince McMahon is interviewed on the Today Show. He does his best damage control, avoids steroids as a cause, and even refers to Benoit as a "monster". The video is seen below.

For a Benoit update for July 5, see here.

For a page of updated (hopefully) links to Chris Benoit news, see here.


T Tags: Chris+Benoit update Authorities+Raid+Doctor's+Office Steroids WWE
Vince McMahon+on+Today+Show Chris+Benoit

Salary Cap Increase Reported

TSN's sources are saying that the NHL Salary Cap has been increased to a maximum of $50.3 million, a $6 million increase from the previous $44 million.
Geez, now almost anybody can bid on guys like Gomez and Briere.

T Tags: NHL Salary+Cap+Increased

Chouinard, Briere and Kariya

The Canucks are intending to buy out Marc Chouinard's contract, which is a way of saying: "We want nothing to do with you. Not on our club and not on the Moose either. That would mean that Nonis will be forced to pay $366,663 to bid adieu to Chouinard.
Rand Simon, Chouinard's agent had this to say:

"We wish things had worked out better in Vancouver and it's unfortunate they didn't. Marc was very excited to go to Vancouver when he signed there last summer and the Canucks were very excited to have him. But, for whatever reason, it didn't work out.

I like how he puts it: "For whatever reason." Does the guy even watch hockey? Chouinard was not a fit in Vancouver. He lacked a scoring touch that was needed. He looked slow and out of place.

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Danny Briere has rejected a rumored 5-year $25 million offer from the Sabres and will test the free agent market. That offer basically matches what he was awarded in arbitration last summer. Strangely enough, he was averaging 1.21 points per game 2 seasons ago (1.05 in the playoffs). This past season he averaged 1.17 points per game(.94 in the playoffs). Just throwing stats at you. Some team is going to pay the guy $6-7 million after July 1st. The question is, WHO???
If George McPhee would stop being such a Dutchman and open his wallet a little, I'd love to see Briere center Ovechkin. Maybe for once the Thrashers are going to get a star forward to center Kovalchuk and Hossa. The Blue Jackets could use a #1 center that isn't Sergei Fedorov. The Oilers, Hawks, Panthers, Kings, Flyers, Flames and Coyotes especially all have plenty of room to absorb a $6-7 million salary.
So come Sunday, let the bidding war begin, as Briere gets richer and richer in the process.
Chris Drury's chances of staying in Buffalo just got a lot bigger though.

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With the fire sale going on in Nashville Paul Kariya has decided to hit the Unrestricted Free Agent market as well.

"He just decided it's best for him to look at alternative options," Preds' GM David Poile said.

T Tags: Canucks +buyout+Chouinard Briere Free+Agent Sabres

Cowan the Brabarian is staying!

Bra power is not finished in Vancouver! The Canucks have signed Jeff Cowan to a 2-year at a reported $1.4 million in total. In the 42 games he played with Vancouver last season he scored 7 goals and 3 assists along with 93 penalty minutes.
This is a good signing for the Nucks. Cowan is a character guy who chips in once in a while, and is not afraid to drop the gloves.

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The Panthers have resigned Jozef Stumpel to a 2-year $4.5 million deal today, preventing him from entering the UFA market.

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The Flames signed Wayne Primeau to a 3-year deal and D-man David Hale to a 1-year deal. Dang! I was hoping Primeau would come to Vancouver....

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Mark Messier, Ron Francis, Al MacInnis and Scott Stevens will all be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame NHL Executive Jim Gregory will be inducted in the 'builder' category. The induction ceremony will be held on November 12.

T Tags: Jeff+Cowan+signs Canucks Jozef+Stumpel+signs Panthers Hall+of +Fame

Toronto is Laughland (Beer-infested rant)

Ah yes. The ideas never stop coming in Toronto or from any pathetic Leafs fan.
While James, a WFS reader mentioned the idea of the Leafs moving Bryan McCabe to Long Island to make room for Ryan Smyth, I can entertain the thought of the Buds ridding themselves of McCabe. Oh, that would be a blessing. But that is beside the point. The point is, that every fucking year in Leafland the fans demand that John Ferguson Jr signs a major player after July 1st, because the Leafs always need SOMETHING better.
Now the talks are that Sundin needs a speedy winger on his line. Enter the wishlist for Paul Kariya. Yeah, wouldn't he be a perfect fit. Wouldn't a lot of players?
The IQ of this team and it's fans continues to baffle me and push me further away from even cheering for a team that I have backed since I was 7 years old.
It's always about buying their way to a Cup. And it never changes. That type of mentality landed them with Pavel Kubina ($5 million), Hal Gill ($2.1 million), and Mark Bell ($2.6 million). There is almost $10 million right there. And it's a damned shame. They are also famous for cleaning out their supply of draft picks, especially at the trade deadline. It's a reverse pcychology from the days that Harold Ballard wouldn't ever spend a dime on the team, and let them rot.
Sundin needs a speedy winger? I forget where Darcy Tucker and Kyle Wellwood were good enough linemates for the Captain.
This guy even thinks that the Leafs will/should rid themselves of Raycroft, McCabe and/or Kubina to make way for guys like Jason Blake, Bertuzzi, Cujo, and Peca. Yeesh.
Peca is done in Toronto.
Kubina and McCabe are going nowhere.
Raycroft will back up Toskala, or they will share duties. A great 1-2 tandem.
The Leafs don't need an overhaul. They just need a change in mentality. They need to play cohesively and learn some team defence.
The overhaul of the team comes when there are several idiots on the team that refuse to perform (See Vancouver in the summer of 2006). Bringing in a bunch of new guys is only rolling the dice on team chemistry and/or ruining it. And it sure as hell doesn't work very often. That is a big reason why the Leafs are a joke, and why they are not going to get within a sniffing distance of the Cup anytime soon.
If the Leafs would just be a little more patient, build a good core of youth and give them a fair chance, and maybe risk missing the playoffs for a bit until that happens, then so be it. Look at how long Kyle Wellwood was held back until last season. How about the Laffs trading Alyn McCauley, Brad Boyes, and a 1st rounder to get Owen Nolan. How about the picks they pissed away to get Toskala and Bell? The blunders go on and on.
But oh no. You can't miss the playoffs in Toronto. You always have to WIN NOW! And you have to acquire the big-named, over-priced idiots to get the job done. The fans demand it. And really, I am sick and fucking tired of it. It's a cycle that never ends.
Ah crap, the beer is wearing off. I'm going to bed.

T Tags: Maple+Leafs Joke Idiots Morons

Adiose, Marc Chouinard / Brodeur says "F**k it!"

The Canucks have placed Chouinard on waivers today, according to RDS. While Chouinard was good on the penalty kill....well.... that was about all he was good at.

The Coyotes have placed Kevyn Adams and Nick Boynton on waivers as well.

The Canadiens' Tony Salmaleinen (acquired in the Samsonov deal) and Jason Culllimore have cleared waivers as they were not claimed by anyone.

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In other news, Marty Brodeur has quit the NHL Competition Committee because, well, it doesn't matter what he says, there is nothing more getting done about protecting goaltenders during games.

"I didn't feel I was making a difference, and I hate wasting my time when it doesn't seem to matter," he told the newspaper. "I brought up a lot of different points, suggested different ideas like a bigger crease, but nothing's changed. The protection of goaltenders has just become ridiculous."

Marty Turco is supposed to replace him on the Committee, but I was thinking Roberto Luongo should be a better candidate. The only problem with that is that Louie may not be able to schedule that around his diving lessons....zing!


T Tags: Canucks Marc+Chouinard Waivers Martin+Brodeur+quits+Competition+Committee

Is Nonis going to pull off a blockbuster?

Speculation. Rumor-mongering. I love this time of year. Curiosity levels are at an all-time high. And players are rumored to be going everywhere.
Like Scott Gomez coming to Vancouver. Like Dave Nonis making room for Gomez to be signed by dumping Morrison and/or Ohlund's salaries through trades.
Hey, everyone wants to see a big deal happen in Vancouver....
But do we really need another $6 million player on the Canucks? Not at the expense of ruining the depth lower in the roster. I am not getting too hyped about Nonis signing a Briere or Gomez. Not until Naslund's contract is up and we take his $6 million contract off our hands.
To put my own speculation out there, I think an Ohlund and /or Morrison trade is possible sometime this season or even off-season as their contracts expire after next summer. I could see it being Ohlund first, as the Nucks have so much defensive depth. Alex Edler is making Ohlund expendible, IMO. But the $3.5 million saved by trading Ohlund probably won't go towards a marquee player. Rather, Nonis will do the same thing he did last summer, which was go to the Salvation Army and find some cheaper talent that will hopefully improve in Vancouver or over-achieve. Guys that will replace the soon-to-be departed Smolinski, who really didn't work out here, and perhaps Josh Green, Jan Bulis, and maybe even Trevor Linden. Yeah, he'll need a few $1.5 million types, and then stay under the cap a bit. That would be the SMART thing to do, wouldn't it?
Next summer, if Naslund retires, THEN we'll have a new ball game. Then at least the desire for a blockbuster deal will be justified. Just don't expect that this season, yet. If I'm wrong, I'll burn my Sundin jersey and post it.

By the way, you know which cheaper talents I'd like to see come here?
1. Jeff Hamilton. 18 goals and 39 points in 70 games in break-out season. He has good hands.
2. Todd White. Good play-maker. 31 assists and 44 points in 77 games last season.
3. Wes Walz. Speedy and gritty role player.
4. Mark Smith.
5. Erik Rasmussen. Big and strong. Defensively resposible.
6. Adam Mair
7. Bates Battaglia. Watched him all year. A tough gritty winger who scored 12 goals and 31 points in 80 games with limited icetime.
8. Martin Gelinas (oh yeah!)14 goals and 44 points in 82 games. Who wouldn't want Gelinas back? His grit and experience with fit in so well.
9. Anson Carter. Yeah yeah, controversial. But Carter may have to take a huge decrease in salary to continue his NHL career. After searching all or most of last season for a constant 3rd man for the Sedins, unfortunately the right guy for the job was an asshole that left for greener pastures the previous summer. I wouldn't mind seeing him return at a $1.5 million salary, just to make the #rs Dein search go away. And no, Pyatt is not necessarily the right guy for the job.

Anyone else have opinions here? How about Radek Dvorak?

(Thanks Hodge, I stole your Photoshop image!)

T Tags: Nonis Canucks Trades Scott+Gomez Rumors

NHL News for Tuesday (I'm sure there will be a LOT)

11:00 PM
Dave Nonis has been working pretty hard recently to re-sign Cowan the Bra-barian. Cowan, who earned $532,000 last season, is probably seeking a minor raise, but is more-so trying to get a 2-year deal done.
As the Vancouver Sun also reports:

the Vancouver Canucks have tendered qualifying offers to new centre Ryan Shannon and returning defenceman Lukas Krajicek. Shannon, 24, received the mandatory 10 per cent raise on his 2006-07 salary of $477,500 US, the offer arriving shortly after the Canucks obtained the 5-9 speedster from Anaheim for Jason King and a conditional draft pick.

Krajicek also received a 10 per cent hike on his $625,000 US wage of last season.



7:00 PM
The Montreal Canadiens have extended qualifying offers to winger Michael Ryder, centre Tomas Plekanec and defenceman Josh Georges.

4:00 PM
No suprise here. The Blues have acquired the rights to Keith Tkachuk along with a conditional 4th round pick in 2008 from the Thrashers in exchange for a 1st Round pick in 2008. The Thrashers only had Tkachuk as a rental player, much like what happened with Doug Weight and Mark Recchi with the Hurricanes 2 seasons ago.

9:00 AM
The Penguins have not tendered an offer to Michel Ouellet, making the talented forward an unrestricted free agent. Ouellet is going to get a raise and the Pens were unwilling to go the arbitration route with him. It may be a bit of the Anson Carter-syndrome situation going on there, as Ouellet had playing time with Crosby.

The Rangers did not make an offer to D-man Karel Rachunek.

Also reported ny TSN, other players who did not receive qualifying offers from their respective teams were: ALEX AULD (oh boy), Adam Hall (Minnesota), goalie Curtis Sanford (Blues), Alexei Semenov and Juraj Kolnik (Panthers).

In regards to the Auld situation, Jacques Martin said:

"Last year when (Craig Anderson) was up he showed a tremendous attitude, worked hard and when called upon did a good job," Panthers general manager Jacques Martin told the Palm Beach Post. "And his salary was a good fit for the goaltending situation."

Yup, and Auld's $1.475 million salary was NOT a good fit obviously. Wow, the Luongo deal being an absolute disgrace is now even more of a truth. The Panthers traded Luongo and Kracijek to Vancouver for Bryan Allen. Hey Bryan, you better score 100 points this season and win the Norris!! haha

T Tags: NHL Offers Alex+Auld Unrestricted+Free+Agents

Who the heck is Simon Gamache?

The Leafs have signed Simon Gamache to a 2 year deal on Monday. Gamache, a native of Thetford Mines, Quebec, had a spectacular 2000-2001 season with Val-d'Or of the QMJHL, winning the Jean Beliveau Trophy as leading regular season scorer, the Michel Briere Trophy as Most Valuable Player and the Guy Lafleur Trophy as Playoff MVP. Gamache had 74 goals, 110 assists for 184 points in the regular season and added a QMJHL record 57 playoff points, beating the previous record held by Mario Lemieux.
And since then he was touted as someone with major potential. Except he had a couple of problems.
At 5'9" 185 pounds he has always been knocked for being too small. He was drafted 290th overall in 2000 by the Thrashers because of his size, despite his masssive scoring ability in the QMJHL.
To make matters worse, there were knocks on his skating ability: that he wasn't fast enough or strong enough on his feet.
These are major reasons why his stints in the NHL so far with Atlanta, Nashville and St. Louis have been so short. The 26 year-old has only played in 37 NHL games, scoring 4 goals and 9 points.
How much time is he going to get playing with the Leafs? Bank on only a little, even though he did lead the Swiss League in scoring last year with 66 points in 44 games.
He'll probably spend most or all of his time with the Marlies.
If he does get a shot with the Leafs, he can get his jersey cheap here.

T Tags: Leafs+sign+Simon+Gamache

he was just too slow and small and weak.

Gamache will have to continue to work on his strength and skating to be an NHL regular

Pro wrestler Chris Benoit and his family found dead /UPDATE: A double homicide-Suicide

UPDATES
Tuesday, June 26/07
It's official. Reports from fox news say that Benoit smothered his son, strangled his wife and then hung himself in his weight room. A travesty in every word. And perhaps another call for wrestlers to get more time off, even though the 'Roid Rage' issue is being brought up. A black eye on wrestling once again that could cause some serious problems for Mr. Vincent Kennedy McMahon, CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment.
Tuesday June 26
-A day after the incident and I still find this surreal. Autopsies are being performed on the bodies today, but they will only tell more disturbing news on top of what we can already nearly assume: that Benoit murdered his wife and son before taking his own life in his weight room.
It's truly amazing how you can perceive how someone is by watching them on TV, yet you really don't know what a person is truly like. Outward appearances and expressions mask what is on the inside. I had watched Benoit wrestle since about 1999 and really admired his in-ring skills. He was near-flawless in the ring. He reminded me of the Dynamite kid and Brett Hart assembled into one person. Benoit literally cried when he won the world title at Wrestlemania 20. But don't be suprised if he was carrying around a lot of stress with: the wrestling schedule he was on, which is on the road a LOT, and perhaps troubled by all of the deaths of his friends in recent years, namely Eddie Guerrero in 2005. Like a lot of the roster said, he kept to himself a lot. Perhaps not a healthy thing. But hey, this is all speculation on my part at this point. I'm just angry at him for the bad choice he has now made, but I respect what he did for wrestling.
10:50 PM
From WWE.com: Several curious text messages sent by Benoit early Sunday morning prompted concerned friends to alert Richard Hering, VP of Government Relations for WWE, Inc. Hering, in turn, spoke with Fayette County sheriffs Monday, and requested that they respond to the Benoit residence to check on him and his family.

8:45 PM
WWE.com has just confirmed that it was a double homicide-suicide within the home.
Jeezus. This is a god damned shame and a complete tarnishing of his legacy.
Here is some news video footage.

When the news first broke out earlier today

I can't imagine what the hell happened here, but Benoit, 40, his wife Nancy, and their 7-year old son were found dead at their home in Atlanta. Condolences to their families.
You know, Benoit was trained by Stu Hart, and the deaths of the wrestlers who were in that Hart circle is very concerning and almost eerie. Benoit was very close to Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart, who passed away in recent years. His best friend Eddie Guerrero had died in November 2005.
The reasoning for this tragedy is probably going to be hard to swallow. There can only be mass speculation at this point. According to City News.ca, Benoit missed a house show Saturday night and a Sunday night pay-per-view event. He had travelled home to Georgia for family reasons, but didn't elaborate on what they may have been.
More in the following days. I'm sure Raw will come to a grinding halt tonight to honor a true legend of sports entertainment...the Canadian Crippler.
This is too surreal...
and I have a bad feeling it was a murder-suicide, if you'll excuse my bluntness.

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RAW
-Dean Malenko, one of Benoit's best friends then went on camera live. He said they used to call him Chris Houdini because he would disappear. He was quiet and private. Malenko has now lost 2 of his closest friends in Benoit and Guerrero in a short span. Called themselves the 3 Amigos.
Malenko told Benoit to use the Crippler Crossface as a finishing move way back.
Malenko said he'd miss Benoit's 'quietness'.
-Chavo Guerrero said that Benoit was part of the Guerrero family. When Chavo had found Eddie Guerrero's body, the first person he called was Chris Benoit.
-

Quotes about Benoit from his co-wrestling peers
-lived for the business.
-tough
-raised his children to be respectful
-helped the younger guys out, showed them the ropes and how to hone their skills.
-a machine
-a quiet, private person
-consummate pro
-a role model.
-respected, he demanded it and received it.
-passionate
-quiet yet extremely emotional




T Tags: Chris+Benoit Family Dead

Canucks sign Jaffray to a 2-year deal / Krajicek

The kids at the Canucks.com forum are saying that Team 1040 just reported that the Canucks have signed leading Manitoba Moose scorer Jason Jaffray to a 2-year, 2-way contract. Jaffray scored 35 goals and 81 points in 77 games for the Moose last season, 6th overall in the AHL. 16 of those goals were on the power play. He scored 13 points in 13 playoff games. The 6'1" 204 pound, 26-year-old will get a chance to stick with the big club this season. Hopefully we'll see a Jordan Staal-type situation with Jaffray early next season.

The Canucks also gave Lukas Krajicek a qualifying offer today, Team 1040 reported.

T Tags: Canucks+sign+Jason Jaffray Lukas Krajicek+Qualifying+offer

Seen /heard around the League Monday

"We've got something going on right now," Hurricanes' GM Jim Rutherford said. "It's kind of a time-frame thing whether it's going to happen or not. We're working on maybe changing up the mix of our defense. That might be a possibility." (News & Observer)

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Bob Hunter, a sports writer for the Columbus Dispatch, talks about how aggressive the arena workers were after the Entry Draft was over to get the writers and reporters out of the building.

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Wings GM is confident he will re-sign Dom Hasek. He is fairly confident that Bertuzzi will sign for less than his $5.3 million because of nagging back injuries. However, I'm sure he is a lot less sure of Matthieu Schneider returning, as back-to-back 50-plus point seasons will drive his current $3.3 million contract skyward...and no doubt with another team. (Detroit Free Press)

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If there was ever a GM on the hot seat, it's Kevin Lowe. Fans demand a blockbuster deal, and are even less thrilled about his draft choices.(Edmonton Sun)

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When a team that is in the same division (and state) as you, and has been around a lot less longer than you have, and wins the Cup when you haven't in 40 years...naturally, fans are going to be pissed off. (L.A. Times) But don't worry, Kings fans. I think Dean Lombardi has your team heading in the right direction.

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I love angry articles. And Dave Stubbs writes a beauty piece today about how Hab fans should get their heads out of their francophone asses (putting it crudely in my own words)). Here is an excerpt:

By not stocking his club this weekend with Quebecers, some believe that Gainey has thumbed his nose at the club's history and the fervent wishes of its faithful.
Credit for this goes to media voices who incite impressionable fans, both parties building walls around Quebec for so long that they don't realize their barriers also keep themselves inside.

Nice! I will say though. I wouldn't mind seeing more francophones on Montreal like they used to in the past, as they were much more successful ack then.
But I'd also like to see more BC boys play for the Canucks.

---

A ticket drive/rally has been set for July 19 in Nashville at the Sommet Center.(The Tennesseean) Nobody show up so the team can come to the country that it belongs in.

---

What in the red, white and blue hell is the meaning of the pic below with Alexei Cherepanov?



T Tags: NHL News Hurricanes Blue+Jackets Red+Wings Oilers Kings Canadiens Predators Rangers

Crunch time for Linden's future in the NHL

Today, Iain McIntyre wrote an honest piece about the Canucks' treatment of Trevor Linden and the sensitive issue of Trevor's possible reitirement. To quote a piece of it:

Linden deserves much better than he received after the season when head coach Alain Vigneault evaded the issue of the player's unclear standing with the team whose very identity is bound to the winger.

Vigneault

.."uncharacteristically refused to answer the media's questions about Linden after Vancouver was eliminated from the playoffs by the Anaheim Ducks." Linden would be forgiven for interpreting Vigneault's position as: "You're a nuisance and we wish you'd do the noble thing and retire because, God knows, I'm not getting myself lynched in Yaletown by telling Trevor freakin' Linden he can't play for the Canucks anymore, which would be like the Vatican ditching the Pope."

Yikes. A very emotional piece by McIntyre. But I somewhat disagree. I don't blame Vigneault for being tight-lipped about it, especially after a heartbreaking loss to the Ducks. That was not the time or place to say anything about Linden's future. And really, the media always wants to create a shit storm over these types of matters, especially when it comes to a local icon.
Viggy could have just did the usual lip service and said the cliche's like "we really want Linden back in Vancouver next season." He may have been lying then. But maybe he's just not that kind of guy. And really, we don't know what Linden, his agent and Nonis and Vigneault are talking about in secret.
Personally, I think Linden has another year left in him in a somewhat decreased role. He had his good and bad stretches last season. He also scored 12 goals and 25 points while averaging 12:10 of icetime per game, as McIntyre mentioned. That's pretty damned decent.
It's no secret that the Canucks could still use his leadership.
It's also fair to say that the Canucks are 1 or 2 moves away from challenging for the Stanley Cup, and it would be a great feel-good story to see Linden a part of that. But, we don't make the decisions. And, it's none of our business right now what Nonis and Vigneault have planned for Linden. We should find out this week before Linden becomes an unrestricted free agent on Sunday. I'm guessing he plays one more year. I think it really is up to Linden himself if he WANTS TO.
And all this media speculation and whining about treatment of a local hero be damned. To me, that's all it is: speculation and digging for dirt.

T Tags: Canucks Vigneault Nonis Trevor+Linden+future

Nigerian-born Akim Aliu is one tough customer

The Black Hawks drafted Akim Aliu in the second round last week. Akim "The Dream" was born in Nigeria, raised in the Ukraine, and moved to Canada when he was 11. What a story. His father was Nigerian and his mother was Ukrainian.
Aliu is a tough guy with great hands. He scored 20 goals and 42 points in 53 games with the Sudbury Wolves last season. He also accumulated 104 penalty minutes.
Aliu is probably more known for his controversial side to this point. In 2005, he refused to be a part of an initiation ritual with a few teammates with the Windsor Spitfires. The ritual was to "cram his naked body into a hot, smelly toilet along with several other fellow Windsor Spitfires rookies." His refusal to do so may have angered Spitfire teammate and Flyer's prospect Steve Downie and they met head to head in practice (video).
Aliu is a brave dude. Check out the following clip of him challenging a much bigger opponent (Justin Wallingford) in a tangle.


Ouch. Not a good result, but a hell of a fight, huh?
He could become the second Nigerian-born player to play in the NHL, apparently. Who was the first?

T Tags: Akim+Aliu BlackHawks Draft+Pick Fight

Bob Cole, Harry Neale and the Leafs to be demoted on CBC

Thanks to Matt for pointing this out. This story was broke by William Houston at Globe and Mail Sports a couple of days ago.
It appears that there will be some changes to CBC's play-by-play department and their televised games.
Jim Hughson and Greg Millen will take over as the top play-by-play team, replacing the long-standing Bob Cole and Harry Neale tandem, who will have a reduced role. Hughson and Millen are younger and more fresh and deserve the promotion, as Cole and Neale have sounded a lot less enthusiastic and more prone to Alzheimer's in recent years.
All the years of hearing Bob Cole countdown until the final buzzer of a Cup-winning game and Harry Neale quoting Shakespeare and the like away are officially over. It's been over 20 years.

To the joy of many, the Leafs will get less exposure on national Hockey Night in Canada than ever before. Teams like Ottawa and Montreal will get more national exposure. William Houston put in this controversial way:

Another issue for Hockey Night is the quality of the Leafs' team. Insiders suggest there's a concern about the limited success the team is likely to achieve in the next several years. Most hockey experts rank the Leafs as the weakest among the six Canadian NHL teams. The probability of the Leafs making the playoffs any time soon is questionable at best. Hockey Night will seek to showcase Canadian teams with a better chance of advancing to the postseason.

He also mentioned that perhaps a big cause for the lack of viewers watching the Sens in the playoffs was because they were not given enough airtime nationally during the season. That is debatable.

T Tags:Bob+Cole Harry+Neale Leafs Demoted Hockey+Night+In+Canada

Canucks acquire Shannon and Sharrow

Dave Nonis made a couple of moves today by acquiring Ryan Shannon from the Ducks in exchange for Jason King. He also traded Jesse Schultz to the Thrashers in exchange for Jim Sharrow.
Jason King didn't want to play in Vancouver anyways, as he didn't like the money being offered to him last September, and bailed to play for Skelleftea in Europe. He scored 15 goals and 19 points in 55 games there. Jesse Schultz showed decreased production with the Moose last season, scoring 39 points in 67 games. The previous season he had 67 points in 80 games.

Who are the guys we got in return?

The 24-year-old Ryan Shannon is a short spitfire. He is 5'9" and weighs 178 pounds. He has only played 53 NHL games with the Ducks scoring 2 goals and 11 points I'm sure on the 3rd or 4th line. The initial scouting report on him was:

He is a excellent playmaker with superb passing skills. He is particularly great in power play situations. While he may be small, Shannon is durable, tenacious and works hard. He is smart and possesses great on-ice vision. He is an excellent skater with very good speed who moves well through traffic.

Check out his move on Turco in the shootout on my right sidebar.

Who the frick is Jim Sharrow?
Sharrow is a 22 year-old, 6'2" 198 pound defenceman who played for the Chicago Wolves last season. He scored 14 points in 42 games. He played 3 seasons in the QMJHL with the Halifax Mooseheads from 2002-2005, scoring 101 points in 191 games. Sharrow struggled with Halifax until the second half of the 2004-05 season. The reports on him at Hockey's Future were: He boasts respectable size, and has finally begun to use it, playing an increased physical game. He has great quickness and mobility in his own end, though he will occasionally lose his defensive assignments. His defensive zone coverage was much better last season than it was in years past.
Sharrow’s greatest strength is his offensive awareness. Boasting great foot speed and agility, as well as creative techniques with the puck, Sharrow is the kind of offensive defenseman that teams look for. He has a quick, hard wrist shot, and is a shoot-first, pass-later type of player. He is very confident with the puck, even deep in the offensive zone.

Defensive consistency, and offensive decision making have been problems with Sharrow in the past, though he finished his junior career with flying colors, putting some of those concerns to rest, at least for the time being. He is also prone to taking stupid penalties at inopportune times, and will have to improve his discipline if he is to make the next step to the professional game.
So, basically a younger Brent Sopel!!

While Sharrow will be spending time in the minors, as the Nucks are deep on D, it will be interesting to see how Shannon fits in on the Canucks' roster, as he will probably get a shot at the big team, providing he impresses at training camp.

T Tags:Canucks trade Schultz King acquire Shannon Sharrow

Draft Rant

Ok, so I've had a few spiced rum and cokes tonight, and it has intesified my anger somewhat...
But there are a couple things about the Draft that really cheesed me off.

1. Cherepanov was picked 17th overall by the Rangers and Jagr probably had something to do with it. Cherepanov made it no secret that Jagr is his favorite player. Glenn Sather must have wet his pants when the Russian was still available that late and he got his hands on him. Cherepanov should have gone in the top 5 in my opinion. The GM's go on record on camera saying that they pick the best player available but that means that some of the 12 GM's lied.
Is Russia's refusal to sign the transfer agreement a real achille's heel in this year's draft? Was Malkin's situation a deterrence for Russian players to be selected at early stages? Probably. But GM's covered it up by saying that Cherepanov's play was inconsistent. Hey, I'm sure that could be said a lot about the previous 16 picks. It's bullshit.

2. Using the Ducks' Cup-winning team as a template for drafting is stupid. Sure, I have nothing against having a strong amount of North American talent on a roster. But the size issue? Size was a big factor in Round 1 of the Entry Draft and it is no secret that GM's are looking at Anaheim's size as a big reason for their Cup-winning success and letting that influence their decision. But I am not agreeing with that concept. The Ducks' size played a role in their success. But it really isn't the be all end all of how to build a team. Were the Hurricanes bigger than the Oilers in 2006? NO!
Were the Lightning bigger than the Flames in 2004? Fuck no!
The theory of size for Cup success has huge holes in it. It is not consistent in history. The Sens did not lose to the Ducks because they were smaller. They lost because they lacked the desire as a team to win it.
And if I hear one more dickhead mention the Ducks' being the bigger team, I am going to put my foot through my fucking television!
God dammit, pick the BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE and stop being stupid. I swear some of these GM's work on a popularity contest sometimes.
Bless Sather's heart. The jackass got a steal for his 17th pick and believe me: when Cherepanov plays in the NHL for the New York Rangers, nobody is going to be talking about size anymore. They are going to be praising Sather for stealing such a talented player THAT LATE IN THE DRAFT.
Alright, I'm going to bed.

T Tags: NHL Draft Size Fuckheads Stupid+GM's

New Capitals jerseys

THE NEW

















What's on the shoulder (thanks, Japer)














THE OLD

























The Stupid

T Tags: New +Washington+Capitals+jersey

Semi-live blog of the NHL Entry Draft

This is the first #1 overall pick ever for the Hawks?? Wow.

ROUND 1


1. HAWKS: Patrick Kane-goal scorer
2. FLYERS: James VanRiemsdyk: power forward. He's Dutch, so he's got to be good!
3. COYOTES: (Gretzky gets his usual major ovation!): Kyle Turris: smaller sized scorer.
4. KINGS: Thomas Hickey. Offensive defenceman. A suprise pick. Hickey was ranked 26th with North American players.
5. CAPITALS: A new Caps uniform! Not a bad throwback! Karl Alzner. A large, solid defenceman.

6. OILERS: Sam Gagner. Playmaker.
7. BLUE JACKETS: Jakub Voracek. Playmaker
8. BRUINS: Cam Neeley makes the pick! Zach Hamill. No relation to Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker). Playmaking forward. The colors on that new Bruins jersey don't quite add up (the logo with the rest of the jersey, IMO.
-----Blues trade 9th to SJ in exchange for 13th, 44th pick, and a 3rd rounder in 2008. Completes the Toskala deal somehow. Long story.-------
9. SHARKS: Logan Couture. All-round forward.
10. PANTHERS: Keaton Ellerby. Big, mean, physical defenceman.
11. HURRICANES: Brandon Sutter. The 9th Sutter to be drafted. An opportunistic, versatile forward.

---Alexei Cherapanov keeps waiting and waiting to get picked. It seems that GM's are avoiding them because of all the Malkin complications last year, and Russia's refusal to sign the transfer deal.---

12. CANADIENS: Ryan McDonagh. Offensive defenceman.
13. BLUES: Lars Eller. A playmaking forward.
14. AVALANCHE: Kevin Shattenkirk. Offensive defenceman.
15. OILERS (from the Smyth trade): I say Lowe takes Sherepanov... He takes: Alex Plante. Big and powerful defenceman.

---Apparently Dave Nonis was trying hard through Phoenix and Philly to draft top 3 and get perhaps Kyle Turris.---

---Ducks trade #16 pick to Wild for picks #19 and #42.----

16. WILD: Colton Gillies. Son of Clark Gillies. Fast, physical power forward with limited offensive ability.
17. RANGERS: Alexei Cherepanov...finally. His fave player is Jagr. Now they are saying teams were not picking Cherepanov because of his work ethic...sure.

---Flames trade #18 pick to Blues for the #24 and #70 pick.----

18. BLUES: Ian Cole. Big, solid, steady defenceman.
19. DUCKS: Logan MacMillan. A skilled defensive forward.
20. PENGUINS: Angelo Esposito...finally as well. A skilled center. He slid in this draft so much because for one his work ethic was questioned and secondly because his offensive numbers dropped last season.
Esposito was actually expecting to be picked by Montreal, but is happy to be a part of the Pens, playing with Crosby and Malkin. Like Espo said, he will now take it upon himself to prove the naysayers wrong.

---The Coyotes trade the 21st pick to the Oilers for #30 and #36.-----

21. OILERS (their 3rd pick in the first 21 selections): Riley Nash. Another BC guy. Skilled, but not flashy center that is good at both ends of the ice.
22. CANADIENS: Max Pacioretty. Power forward.

That's 6 American players picked in the first 22. Are GM's stupid? I kid.

23. PREDATORS: John Blum. Yankee defenceman. Offensive, mobile.
24. FLAMES: Mikael Backlund. Solid 2-way center.
25. CANUCKS: Please, Nonis, no Europeans! He takes: Patrick White. American. A strong center who will be playing in the NCAA with Minnesota.
Nonis likes his vision and ability to protect the puck.
26. BLUES:
David Perron. A hard-working skilled winger. Fave player is Kovalev though. So he could be a bum!
27. RED WINGS: Yzerman makes the call: Brendan Smith. A smooth skating and smart defenceman.

---another trade happened (swapping picks but I missed it. ---

28. SHARKS: Nick Petrecki. A mean, physical defenceman.
29. SENATORS: James O'Brien. Defenceman....or forward? Can play both well.
30. COYOTES (from Nagy trade): Nick Ross. A huge, hard-hitting defenceman.

It's drinking time for me! I'm out!!! Hope you enjoy the info!

T Tags: 2007 NHL Entry Draft

Penguins re-sign Roberts and Recchi / Updates

Amidst all of the Leafs shananigans today, the Penguins have their re-signed 2 core veterans:

Gary Roberts, to a 1-year $2.5 million contract. Damn, I hoped he'd go back to Toronto.
Mark Recchi, to a 1-year $2 million contract.

As the young Pens get better this coming season, they will still have the great leadership that Roberts and Recchi provide. It just means that the Penguins are going to be even better in 07-08.

---

The Panthers have acquired goalie Tomas Vokoun from Nashville in exchange for a 1st round pick in 2008 and 2nd round picks in 2007 and 2008. Wow. More unloading in Nashville. That will fuel more speculation for the team moving. This also means that Ed Belfour's days in Florida are over. Also, Alex Auld will be a backup from now on...still.
Chris Mason has emerged as the Predator's #1 goalie anyway, and Pekka Rinne is ready to play at an NHL level as backup, said Pred's GM David Poile.

"In addition, this trade will help restock our organizational assets and affords our team more payroll flexibility. We now have two first-round picks in 2008, which is projected to be a strong entry draft."

Are Ed Belfour's NHL days over? That is almost certain. At least he'll have more time to get drunk!

---

The Senators have re-signed Dean McAmmond to a multi-year contract. Terms were not disclosed yet. McAmmond is a beauty and really showed his worth in the playoffs scoring 5 goals and 8 points in 18 playoff games. Not bad for a role player, huh? I was hoping he'd sign with Vancouver after July 1st....damn!

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The Avalanche have signed Tyler Arnason to a 2-year deal. As ESPN reports: Arnason, 28, had 16 goals and 33 assists last year, ranking sixth on the team with 49 points. He was third on the team in shots with 211, fifth in assists and sixth in goals. The UFA list is getting smaller and smaller, folks. It's taking the fun right out of the post-July 1st free agent period somewhat.

---

Apparently, fans in Toronto think the Leafs are now going to win the Stanley Cup in 2008 (e5)

---

It's official: Craig Rivet has signed a 4-year, $14 million contract with the Sharks. Phew. All that speculation days ago was true. I didn't want to be found guilty of spreading lies.

T Tags: Penguins sign Gary+Roberts Mark+Recchi

Leafs piss away their future again

What the fuck? The Leafs have acquired Vesa Toskala and Mark Bell from the Sharks in exchange for a conditional first round pick, a second-round pick in 2007 and a 2009 fourth-round pick. As TSN puts it:

The first round pick is set for 2007, but if the player the Sharks want isn't available, San Jose has the option to move the pick to 2008 with a top 10 protection covering the Leafs.
That means if Toronto's 2008 pick is a top 10 pick then it will slide to 2009.

Options....
This does give the Leafs a 1-2 punch in goal with Raycroft and Toskala, which isn't a bad thing. But Mark Bell? He had a dismal 21 points in San Jose, didn't click with Thornton, and is making $2 million per season. He may rebound in his home province.
The Sharks once again secure their future with draft picks and the Leafs try to buy a championship team to win "NOW", once again. It doesn't leave a good taste in my mouth. Is this deal going to make the Leafs better? In my opinion, only a little. The Raycroft-Toskala combo is good no doubt. But the Leafs' problems lie in their defensive play, and obviously Raycroft took too much heat for his teammates' lackluster play. Let's see what other Leaf fans are saying.

this shows why the leafs have absolutely no depth in their minors. good move!?! maybe but goaltending wasn't the leafs problem last season imo. - rockyfoxhammer

Amen!

So now the leafs have 2 number 2 goalies!! Overpaid defencemen, no forward capable, outside of Mats, attaining more the 50 pts!!! Appears like another lost season!! Oh when will it stop?? - chrisman1

Hey, become a Canucks fan. It's better here!

Good move by JFJ, considering how weak this years draft is he didn't give up much. If Bell doesn't pan out offensively, we still have his size and grit. - thundermuffin

I know, TSN was calling anything beyond the 1st round 'weak.' So this guy may have a point. Until some of the guys past round 1 become superstars. Anything can happen. It's still pissing away picks.

Thank goodness!! Just about anyone else with goalie pads is a step up from Raycroft. Ferguson tells you he is happy with the goaltending situation, but at the first chance he went out and got another one. How about that! drJustinChan

I think JFJ likes Raycroft but wants the same set up that the Sharks and Ducks have had all along with 2 goalies. Or, he really doesn't trust Raycroft at all. Toskala will push for the #1 spot.

By the way, head over to the Battle of Ontario. There is mass reactions there if you are interested. Most commenters are happy with the move.

T Tags: Leafs Vesa+Toskala Mark+Bell trade

Aucoin will be traded to Calgary on Friday

TSN is saying that it's sources are proclaiming that defenceman Adrian Aucoin has waived his no-trade clause and will be traded to the Flames tomorrow. The 6'3" 215-pounder had his best season in 1998-99 with the Canucks, under new Flames coach Mike Keenan, where he scored 23 goals and added 11 assists.
So you have to wonder how much Iron Mike and Darryl Sutter are putting their heads together now to assemble a winning team.
But the 34 year-old Aucoin has had a hard time putting together full seasons due to multiple injuries, and his average production has gone down. He has only played 92 games in his last 2 seasons and scored 5 goals and 17 points. His icetime per game has dropped in his last 3 seasons. Aucoin is a risk, at $4 million per season on top of it.
Last season Calgary used 10 defencemen. They scored a total of 46 goals and 165 points.
They stand to lose either Brad Stuart ($2.15 million) or Roman Hamrlik ($3.5 million) or both to free agency in a couple of weeks. Maybe one of those 2 are involved in the deal.
Another bigger-name defenceman signing may yet be in the works.

T Tags: Adrian+Aucoin Calgary+Flames

Nonis would like to move up in the Draft

''Yeah, Dave (Nonis) asked me: `Would you guys consider moving down?' And I said, `Yes we would,''' Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren, with the No. 2 overall pick, said Thursday. ''But I've had five or six calls like that.''

To this, Nonis replied:

''I wouldn't be doing my job if I wasn't inquiring what it would take to move up not just to No. 2, but No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 as well,'' Nonis said.

Nonis also mentioned that 'nothing serious' is in the works, according to TSN.


T Tags: Canucks Draft Higher Pick Nonis

Ducks sign Giguere

J.S. Giguere is not going anywhere after all. The Ducks have signed Giguere to a 4-year $24 million deal today.

"I'm very excited to be staying with the Ducks," said Giguere in a statement. "Orange County has been a great place for my family over the last six years, and we are grateful to the entire organization for the opportunity to stay here."

The Ducks continue to have a two-tier system in goal with 2 great goaltenders in Giguere and Ilya Bryzgalov. Bryzgalov still has 1 year remaining in his contract, at $1,181,250 per season. This now means that it is 'Breezie' that is expendible. When will he be moved? Perhaps as early as this summer.

T Tags: Jean-Sebastien+Giguere signed Ducks

New Bruins Logo

I see people are searching this site for new Bruins jerseys, but all I've noticed is that they recently changed their logo.
Below is the old logo:














Here is the new logo:




Not much of a difference, really. The old is still better, so why f**k with it?
At least the bear isn't returning.



T Tags: New+Bruins+Logo

Always got time for Nathan Horton

The Panthers have signed Nathan Horton to a 6-year $24 million deal today. The final 3 years of his contract contain a no-trade clause. The 22-year-old center had a career year last season, scoring 31 goals and 62 points in 82 games. That is also the most games he has played in a season in his short career. He had been injury prone in the previous 2 seasons.
I'm liking this deal if Horton stays healthy and continually improves. The $4 million per season could turn out to be a bargain down the road.
He sure is streaky though....

T Tags: Nathan+Horton signs six+years Panthers

Premature E-speculation

These kinds of Photoshops get made when I've had too much to drink. But it is inspired by:
1. Popping a cork off a champagne bottle and accidentally hitting my friend Alicia in the face with it, and spraying her with champagne. (Hence the p.e. jokes)
2. This story. I won't cover or comment much on the Preds possibly moving to Hamilton until it actually is in the final stage of happening. Bettman really has a way of downplaying the whole thing doesn't he?

T Tags: Speculation Predators+to+Hamilton

Sharks sign Rivet long term

It is being reported from a french newspaper (RDS) that the Sharks have signed Craig Rivet to a 4-year 14 million deal. Rivet is a decent offensive forward, but the Sharks still need someone better than Rivet on the point.

Tweaked rules after Board of Governors meeting in New York

A player may now be awarded a penalty shot if he is fouled on a clear breakaway anywhere in the neutral or attacking zones. Previously, a penalty shot was awarded only when a player on a clear breakaway was fouled on the attacking side of the centre line.

For more on the tweakings, see TSN.

I don't mind the above rule as much. But I would really like to see the general obstruction calls lessened. There are too many penalties now! I hate watching powerplay after powerplay. If the players would stop all the obstruction then fine. But is that ever going to happen to a degree where we don't see 6 obstruction calls per team during most games? That's already 24 minutes of power play time in one game without the trips, roughing, etc included. Half of the minutes in games are special teams. Bullshit! How about only making the call if the obstruction actually impedes the puck handler's progress?

T Tags: NHL rules changes