I just don't see it happening. it's not like you saw a lot of RFA movement before, and the draft is going to be even more important now to provide these teams with depth (similar to the NFL). Yes, you might see some savvy GMs pluck a couple of decent players from a team in cap trouble, but to get an RFA you'll probably need to overpay the guy (to get him to sign and to keep the other team from matching) and you'll need to give away some valuable picks - the two specific things you DON'T want to do in a salary cap environment.

I can't say the NHL Network is anything that impressed me. But I suppose we get superior hockey coverage with TSN/Sportsnet/CBC that the NHL Network is going to have a tough time. Case in point: their brutal 2nd round draft coverage this year.

It may actually do better in the US. That said, Center Ice is definitely the way to go for hockey fans.

The NHL network being discussed is not the one that is (apparently) on in Canada, but one that will be started by Comcast. I imagine it will be modeled on the NFL betwork.

Good!

dola,

This one is for HB.

Team Canada is having an orientation camp in Kelowna. There was an intersquad scrimmage. Brewer coughs up the puck from behind the net and who's blocking the shot.... 40 year old Steve Yzerman.

It's nice to see Yzerman back on the ice and relatively able to do what he was able to a few years ago. The fire is definitely alive in him right now, I really hope he's able to make it through this season without any injuries or setbacks.

I'm just shocked to hear that it isn't on in the US. They devote so much time to the Rangers (every second day, they're replaying Game Seven of the '94 finals, and every Top Ten is guaranteed to focus on New York). I just assumed it was smart marketing to pander to the US fan base.

Thanks, Karim! Stuff like this warms the cockles of my heart... :D

The AJC says the Thrashers are awaiting a decision from Peter Bondra, who is trying to decide between staying in Washington or coming to Atlanta.

doesn't sound like a hard decision to me.

A summary of how teams did this off-season by one of the best writers in the business:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...Sports/Hockey/

An interesting article indicating Buffalo can't recruit free agents because of negative comments from former players:
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial...21/1047009.asp

on eklunds page......Howard Berger gives his predictions on the upcoming season.....I think everyone who knows how Mr. Berger likes to report on the leafs will be surprised at how high up in the standings he has the Leafs :p

"Howard Berger
Fan 590 Toronto


As yours truly wraps up a wonderful five-week summer hiatus here in Los Angeles, and returns to Toronto to prepare for training camp, I’ve been asked by several e-mailers to go way out on a limb and predict how the coming season will unfold, from beginning to end. It’s a perilous undertaking, let me tell you, and it won’t be possible to keep the masses content. “Leaf Fan”, for example, (and there is no comparable creature anywhere on earth) will lunge for the Prozac, wondering how in the Lord’s name the losses of wingers Gary Roberts, Joe Nieuwendyk, Alexander Mogilny and Owen Nolan, and defenseman Brian Leetch, could remove the Beloveds from 100-point territory. Blasphemous is a suggestion that Toronto will not accumulate 90 points, and a prediction of less than 80 (like this one) is worthy of the electric chair.

Prepare the voltage, I say! Permit me one last conversation with my children, and lavish me with a voluminous Chinese spread (“Sea-Hi” or “Lichee Garden” in Toronto…or “Yang Chow” in Los Angeles will do). Then, put me face-to-face with… “Leaf Fan”.

The crystal ball (dusty as it may be) says here that Toronto, Colorado, St. Louis and San Jose will experience the biggest point decreases from the 2003-04 season, and that Pittsburgh, Anaheim and Chicago will rise majestically. The Penguins, in fact, will go from a 58-point season to deep into the Conference semifinals. As a testament to the new salary-cap universe, two of the four teams standing in the Conference finals will hail from north of the border. And, Vancouver will become the first Canuck… oops, Canadian squad to cop the Holy Grail since Montreal, in 1993.

Here, then, is the whole shootin’ match, from top to bottom. If business takes you to Fiji for the winter; if your home is not equipped to receive the Outdoor Life Network; should the CBC strike give you arena P.A. announcers all season, or if your Internet service craps out as frequently as mine does… have no fear. Simply print out a copy of the following summation, and attend to other matters. Your 2005-06 NHL season is safely in my hands.

Predictions include: Points For This Season/Points From 2003-04.



EASTERN CONFERENCE WESTERN CONFERENCE

1. Philadelphia 108/101 1. Vancouver 112/101

2. Tampa Bay 104/106 2. Detroit 104/109

3. Ottawa 102/102 3. Anaheim 94/76

4. New Jersey 100/100 4. Calgary 102/94

5. Pittsburgh 96/58 5. Edmonton 98/89

6. Boston 94/104 6. Nashville 90/91

7. N.Y. Islanders 92/91 7. Chicago 88/59

8. Montreal 88/93 8. San Jose 84/104

9. Florida 82/75 9. Dallas 82/97

10. Toronto 76/103 10. Los Angeles 80/81

11. Atlanta 74/78 11. Columbus 74/62

12. Carolina 72/76 12. Colorado 72/100

13. N.Y. Rangers 68/69 13. Minnesota 70/83

14. Washington 62/59 14. Phoenix 66/68

15. Buffalo 60/85 15. St. Louis 64/91



PLAYOFFS—CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS

PHILADELPHIA vs. Montreal (Flyers in 5) VANCOUVER vs. San Jose (Canucks in 5)

TAMPA BAY vs. N.Y. Islanders (Lightning in 7) DETROIT vs. Chicago (Red Wings in 7)

OTTAWA vs. Boston (Senators in 5) ANAHEIM vs. Nashville (Mighty Ducks in 6)

NEW JERSEY vs. Pittsburgh (Penguins in 6) CALGARY vs. Edmonton (Flames in 7)



PLAYOFFS—CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

PHILADELPHIA vs. Pittsburgh (Flyers in 6) VANCOUVER vs. Calgary (Canucks in 6)

TAMPA BAY vs. Ottawa (Senators in 7) DETROIT vs. Anaheim (Red Wings in 7)



PLAYOFFS—CONFERENCE FINALS

PHILADELPHIA vs. Ottawa (Flyers in 6) VANCOUVER vs. Detroit (Canucks in 7)



STANLEY CUP FINAL—

VANCOUVER vs. Philadelphia (Canucks in 7)"

Flames in 7 over the Oilers? This guy is on crack ;)

I don't really agree with much of this. I actually think Toronto improved this offseason. and yes (fanboy alert) the Avs lost Forsberg and Foote...but they've proven in the past they can win without Forsberg. They are no longer a lock for first in their division...but they shouldn't nosedive (plus, their most significant move hasn't been seen on the ice yet...upgrading from Granato to Quenneville). They will really miss Derek Morris, though. and San Jose just lost Mike Rathje. St Louis? yes, they are a mess.

most improved? well, Pittsburgh, yes, although a lot will depend on guys like Leclair rebounding to form, the youngsters developing quickly, and, most of all, whether the defense can keep the scoring down enough. Chicago? yeah, they added Khabibulin and Aucoin...but it's not like these guys are joining a team that is close to contending. They are going to need a lot more depth. ditto to Anaheim.

I think, purely from a points perspective, you will see the biggest drops from New Jersey, Carolina, St Louis, Detroit and Dallas (granted, I think the Devils and Wings are still playoff teams, just not 100+ point teams).

Biggest improvements to Columbus, Pittsburgh, Edmonton, Phoenix, and Atlanta.

Sorry, Howard. I stopped reading as soon as you said that Dan Cloutier was going to lead a team to a Stanley Cup.

The 2005 Canucks are *not* the 1997-98 Red Wings, which is about the level of talent you need to overcome having an average Osgood-like goalie.

Pointless Predictions:

Eastern Conference

Ottawa
Tampa Bay
Philadelphia
New Jersey
Boston
Atlanta
Pittsburgh
Florida
------------
Montreal
Toronto
NY Islanders
Buffalo
NY Rangers
Carolina
Washington

Western Conference

Vancouver
Detroit
San Jose
Calgary
Edmonton
Colorado
Nashville
Anaheim
-------
Chicago
Dallas
Columbus
Minnesota
St. Louis
Los Angeles
Phoenix

This statement is 100% true.

more like 210%

(PS Hi Rich)

Poor Chris Osgood. :(

The Ducks have signed Selanne...
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp...49&hubName=nhl

I would take Chris Osgood any day over Dan Cloutier

Id pass on both, and go with Ken Wregget :D

Mike Palmateer

The Blackhawks sign defenseman Todd Simpson to a 1 year, $600,000 deal. Not a bad signing. They then trade Steve McCarthy to Vancouver for a 3rd round pick.

McCarthy is a defenseman, former first rounder. Supposed to be a good skating, offensive guy. I watched him in a prospect tournament a few years back and was not impressed. He hasn't done much to prove me wrong, but you never know, he's still young.

Teemu Selanne...or, as we Avs fans call him..."The Finnish Flash in the Pan"

[murder]


But seriously, for the price, who would you get that's better?

McCarthy just never panned out. At some point you just have to cut bait and run, I guess.

SI

:)

Osgood and Joseph would certainly jump to mind.

Doubtful either comes to Vancouver for the price they went to Detroit or Phoenix imo. Osgood was going home so to speak and my guess is Cujo went to Phoenix in part because of the allure of playing for Gretzky.

Besides, who doesn't love to see little Danny go nuts and kick the shit out of someone occasionally?

ok, ok, agreed on all counts. also, it's fun to see the following:

I recall a similar pic of Roys epic meltdown vs Detroit a few years back....

:D

Also, why would Bondra be choosing whether to stay in Washington? The last time he laced them up in the NHL he played for Ottawa didn't he?

Dola, sss and all, Cloutier did well against the Flames in '04 before twisting his ankle

RK PLAYER TEAM GP W L T SA GA GAA SV SV% SO G A PIM TOI
1 DAN CLOUTIER VAN 3 1 1 0 64 5 2.17 59 .922 0 0 0 2 137:38

Selanne for $1 million is a great deal for Anaheim.

I was saying the same thing about Kariya last year...

I thought 3 mil was a good deal for Robert Riechel:D

any more leaf bashing?

in all fairness, with the money the leafs had, they could have paid bobby 10 million, and still easily afford it, so it didnt really hurt the team at all...and he wasnt as bad as the meida and fans made it out.......fits into the Larry Murphy category

Maybe Devils' fans can confirm this:

Re-signings:
Patrik Elias $4,100,000
Jeff Friesen $2,280,000
Colin White $1,710,000
Paul Martin $502,000

That seems to put the Devils at $44 million. What's the status of Elias? If he can't play, does his salary count against the cap?

Malakhov's $3.5 million looks really bad now if they have to dump guys to get under.

If Elias is placed on injured reserve, his salary doesn't count during that time. If he misses half the season and plays half, his salary becomes 2.05 million.

is that really true?

if so, philly just had the best free agent signing possibly in any sport ever. damn i hate that forsberg signing.

Hossa + Phillips for Dany Heatley?

well, if Forsberg misses half the season, it's not like there'll be another $5 M player of his caliber to step in on a temporary basis...

id pay forsberg 2.5m a year for him to play half the year. definitely worth the risk, especially if he doesnt hurt the cap once he gets hurt.

actually, it's not really true.
his salary will count full against the cap no matter what. if he is hurt long term (24 days/ 10 games) they can replace him with a player who's salary can be as much as Forsberg, even if this puts them over the cap.

and then, once Forsberg comes back, they have to immediately get back under the cap. so yeah, it's not really going to be very useful to any team to have him injured.

With or withou Forsberg, the Flyers will do the same thing they do every year.....play well in the regular season, win a round or 2, then lose in the playoffs....ofcourse, theres 22 teams in the NHL that wish they could do that

Heatley needs to be re-signed as well. It may be a savings but not by too much...

I've heard Hossa for Heatley straight up... but details are sketchy at the moment. But that makes sense if they're clearing room to sign Redden or Chara.

Why didn't they dump Smolinksi?

Thrashers' trade Dany Heatley
He asked to be traded so that he could have a fresh start

By JOHN MANASSO
Published on: 08/23/05

The Thrashers are in the process of finalizing a trade that would send star right wing Dany Heatley to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for right wing Marian Hossa, 26, and a defenseman whose identity is still be haggled out, either Greg de Vries or Chris Phillips, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations.

It appears that Heatley, 24, the former NHL rookie of the year, who received three years probation in February for pleading guilty to misdemanor vehicular homicide in the death of teammate Dan Snyder, had asked to be traded so that he could have a fresh start somewhere new.

Who would of thought we'd see star-for-star deals like this? Much better than dumping overpaid star for three unproven kids and a bag of pucks.

that really seems like a GREAT trade for both of those teams.