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Posts by Clint:
Tampa Bay: Proof That Money Does Not Equal Sense
Written on November 14th, 2008 | 0 CommentsIn the wake of the predictable firing of Barry Melrose, let’s take a stroll down memory lane and evaluate Tampa Bay’s recent string of decisions and moves: Continue reading...
The KHL Comes to an Agreement with the NHL and the NHL Loses First Meaningful Player Anyways
Written on July 10th, 2008 | 1 CommentThis afternoon all parties involved in the Russia/KHL and NHL debate agreed to call a ceasefire and “respect” the contracts given to players by each league. This essentially means that the KHL can’t come and try to steal Evgeni Malkin while the NHL can’t go and take back Jaromir Jagr. Apparently this is the first step towards creating a new transfer agreement where teams would be compensated when they lose a player to a league overseas. Those who fail to follow the rules will be barred from the Olympics, which is even more important to those in Russia than it is to America. However, it’s important to note that this is essentially both sides coming together and saying that they will abide by the rules that they themselves set several weeks ago. It’s basically an agreement to try to figure this thing out later and something is clearly amiss. Continue reading...
Ray Emery Russia Bound
Written on July 9th, 2008 | 1 CommentAfter leading Ottawa to the Stanley Cup finals only a season ago, the enigmatic and somewhat troubled goaltender appears to be done in the NHL, for now. Emery reportedly received very little interest in free agency after being bought out by the Ottawa Senators last month and is on the verge of signing a one-year deal with the newly formed Continental Hockey League in Russia. My how quickly they fall in sports. Continue reading...
Winter Classic Part Deux to be Announced Next Week
Written on July 6th, 2008 | 1 CommentAccording to a few sites the second Winter Classic is set and will be formally announced next week. The game will take place on New Years Day at Wrigley Field between the reinvigorated Chicago Blackhawks and Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. Chicago is hosting a Blackhawk convention next week and the announcement should coincide with the event. If it’s true, and it certainly seems like it is, I’ll be one of the first in line to get tickets. Continue reading...
Pittsburgh Penguins: The Rollercoaster Off-season and Janne Pesonen
Written on July 6th, 2008 | 3 CommentsIt hasn’t been a pleasant off-season for the Penguins in some respects as they are starting to pay the price for all that young talent. They lost, or threw away, hometown hero Ryan Malone who went on to sign a 7-year deal with the very busy and freshly deconstructed Tampa Bay Lightning. They lost Malone for a number of reasons not the least of which was the fact that they spent most of the free agent period focusing exclusively on speedy winger Marian Hossa, whom they’d acquired at the trade deadline. Sidney Crosby had gone on record saying he didn’t want to start this coming season the way he’d started the previous, which is without a true scoring winger. He was essentially looking for the Jaromir Jagr to his Mario Lemieux or the Jari Kurri to his Wayne Gretzky. Continue reading...
Trades Steal the Spotlight at the Draft
Written 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...
Blake Wheeler, The First Free Agent Signing
Written 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...
Is 7 years and $50 million Enough?
Written 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...
The Rest of the UFAs
Written on June 8th, 2008 | 3 CommentsWe’re rapidly approaching the silly season and with little activity on the RFA front I think we could be in for some excitement in the next few weeks. Will Patrick Marleau still be a Shark or will he land in Columbus? Who will move up in the draft? Will anyone pay Alexei Yashin any money? All of these things will be answered soon enough and here are the rest of the UFAs that are worth some attention. Continue reading...
One RFA Down: Canes sign Eaves
Written on June 4th, 2008 | 0 CommentsThe Carolina Hurricanes have announced that they have signed 24 year old right winger Patrick Eaves to a three-year contract. The deal is worth $4.2 million with Eaves earning $1.1 million next season, $1.4 in 2009-10 and $1.7 million in 2010-11. Eaves was acquired, along with Joe Corvo, from Ottawa in the trade that sent Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore to the Senators. Continue reading...
