NHL Unrestricted Free Agents - Eenie Meenie Miney Moe!
Written by Bill on June 28th, 2008 | 1 CommentToday we are going to peek under the hood of the Unrestricted free agents (UFAs) bus … UFA’s are players without a team. They have either been released from their club or their contract could have expired without a renewal. These players, are free to entertain offers from all other teams and then they get to decide which new contract to sign. Continue reading...
Restricted Free Agents - Its Hunting Season!
Written by Bill on June 27th, 2008 | 1 CommentEach summer I get excited about the Restricted Free Agents (RFA) and the Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA) kicking off July 1st. This has to be one of the more anticipated times of the year. Now is when the players we have come to admire create a “market value” that we either agree with or do not … and when we do not, everyone knows! This year there has been a whirl wind of activity leading up to the NHL Draft last week, with the trades and all I have no doubt come July 1st we will see some pretty interesting moves. Below I will try to describe how the whole RFA landscape looks and I will follow up soon with an overview of the UFA’s. I also ran across a great breakdown of the RFA’s in the spotlight … Scott Cullen over at TSN.ca has done a great job explaining it, I have used most of his story here (Pretty sure he is not an AP writer) and I have also listed the link to the story below. Continue reading...
NHL Goes For Fourth Straight Hat ‘Trick’
Written by Alan on June 27th, 2008 | 0 CommentsI read an interesting fact a few hours ago (8:30 MST) that the NHL has decided to once again, for the 4th straight season, raise the salary cap. Now at first I had my doubts and issues with this fact, and I’m glad I didn’t post a rant right off the bat like I was going to after reading about it. Now the way I see it there is a definite pro and con respectively to this new cap raise. First of all the cap was raised 6.4 million dollars from last season, which is now currently at 56.7 million dollars. This brings the lower amount to 40.7 million dollars a team can spend on player salaries. After the 04-05 lockout the cap was a mere 39 million, which since has rose 17.7 million, averaging 4.4 million a year. Given those facts here’s what I believe are the biggest pros and cons. Continue reading...
Trades Steal the Spotlight at the Draft
Written by clint on June 23rd, 2008 | 2 CommentsThe draft featured few surprises in the way of actual picks but it happened to be one of the more exciting first rounds in recent memory. This was due to the number of major trades that went down, some of which drastically changed the outlook for a few teams. Below is a summary of the major deals: Continue reading...
San Jose Sharks 2008 Draft Picks
Written by Bill on June 22nd, 2008 | 1 CommentMy heart sank the first time I noticed San Jose sitting at pick #117 in the NHL Draft. I figured they were going to grab whoever they could and focus on McLellan’s skills to sharpen the great team they already have. Plus, with the rumors of the Columbus Blue Jackets kicking Patrick Marleau’s tires, there is a good chance the Sharks can use that equity to A) keep Brian Campbell, B) get rid of Marleau and C) attract a stronger, more consistent player. Well – Doug Wilson worked his magic this past weekend and was able to wiggle the Sharks from 117th pick (overall) up to 62nd pick (overall). Here are the players the Sharks picked up during the draft this year … Continue reading...
Blake Wheeler, The First Free Agent Signing
Written by clint on June 17th, 2008 | 0 CommentsWe’re still two weeks from the start of the free agent period and yet there’s already been a signing. While it can’t be official until July 1st, it appears that Blake Wheeler has signed, or intends to sign, a two-year deal with the Boston Bruins. The Bruins weren’t even mentioned as a potential suitor so it’s quite a surprise and a potentially tremendous signing for the Bruins. It’s apparently a two-year deal worth a maximum of $875,000 per season with the potential to make over a million more per season off of performance bonuses. The Bruins will also get Patrice Bergeron back so with the experience gained through a surprising performance in the first round last year, the 16th overall pick in Friday’s draft and a host of blooming youngsters this could be a team headed for great success. They also have money to spend, so they aren’t done yet and are still pursuing Marian Hossa should the Penguins fail to sign him. Continue reading...
The Russian Is Coming … And His Name Is Alexander Ovechkin
Written by Bill on June 15th, 2008 | 0 CommentsI am going to post this straight from tsn.com … You can read the article HERE! So … what I find interesting is the media hype around this kid. Either he has one kick ass agent … or he has one of those “friends of a friend” who has insane hook ups! So far … his team barely made it into the playoffs … lasted a couple rounds … He wins the MVP (Hart), Pearson, Rocket Richard and the Ross! Yea … that’s in the story too! He launches a new clothing line, and is given the Steven Tyler reception (serious Rock Star status!). I am a HUGE fan of Alexander the Great and I can not wait to take a trip to DC next season to watch him play … but DAMN does this kid have the Midas touch!!! Here is the story … Continue reading...
Is 7 years and $50 million Enough?
Written by clint on June 15th, 2008 | 0 CommentsThe Pittsburgh Penguins have reportedly offered free agent-to-be Marian Hossa a 7 year deal worth $50 million. While I’m guessing the deal doesn’t pay Hossa the exact same amount of money each year, I’d be willing to bet it’s front loaded, that averages out to a little over $7 million per season. Hossa has claimed that he’d like to stay in Pittsburgh and that he’ll take a discount to play for a winning team, but will he take a $1.5 million discount? That’s about what he’d fetch on the open market so it’ll be interesting to see what the Hossa camp does with this offer. Crosby has flat out stated that he does not want to start the next season the way he started this one, which is without a true winger with which to play. It looks like the Penguins are going to pull off what everyone, including myself, believed to be impossible and get some kind of deal done in the next week. Continue reading...
Hockey 101 - Icing (Rule 81)
Written by Bill on June 15th, 2008 | 4 CommentsSo – today we are talking about Icing. It has taken me 3 years and many, many, many, many games to teach my wife when to recognize an icing call and why. I am hoping this explanation will help you all grasp the concept of icing and why it is a penalty. There is currently a great debate going on regarding the rule of icing in and among the NHL purists … and I will explain that later on in the post (in other words … Keep Reading!). I will first give you a “literal” definition of the penalty, then I will show you an example (in picture form) and then I will fill you all in on the great debate. With that said … the definition (this is not taken out of the NHL Rule book) … Continue reading...
Todd McLellan - San Jose’s Sharks New Bench Boss
Written by Bill on June 14th, 2008 | 0 CommentsIf you were hoping for a strong figure behind the bench in San Jose next season I think we might have found him. Todd McLellan has led teams for the past 14 seasons and has yet to miss the playoffs. It only took McLellan eight days to find a new gig after he and the coaching staff (along with the Detroit Red Wings) won the Stanley Cup. Todd has been with Detroit for 3 seasons assisting their special teams and molding the power play unit which finished third in the NHL last season at 20.7% (they were first in the NHL in 2005-06 @ 22.1%). During his three seasons with Detroit the team hit the “50-wins in a season” mark … three years in a row! Then topped it off with a Stanley Cup, Todd makes this stuff look easy! Continue reading...
