Seems awfully cheap for Gagne...

Report: NHL on verge of U.S. cable deal



Canadian Press



8/9/2005 2:50:27 AM

PHILADELPHIA (CP) - The NHL is on the verge of signing off with a new U.S. cable TV partner, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Comcast has formally submitted a two-year bid in excess of $100 million US to televise NHL games beginning this fall, sources directly involved in the discussions told the Inquirer in Tuesday's edition.

The deal calls for Comcast to televise two games a week nationally. The cable giant plans to put the games on its on its Outdoor Life Network, which is also available in Canada.

Comcast submitted its bid over the weekend, according to the Inquirer. The NHL could act on it by this weekend. The company is a major owner of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Comcast spokesperson Tim Fitzpatrick declined Monday to comment on the network's interest in the NHL. The NHL also declined when reached by the Inquirer.




If the NHL approves the deal, the contract will be forwarded to ESPN. In April, ESPN opted not to renew its $70-million option to televise the NHL for 2005-06 and 2006-07, but ESPN retains the right to match the new offer, a source told the Inquirer. ESPN has carried NHL games in the United States since 1985.

The NHL also has a national broadcast deal with NBC but needed a new cable partner after ESPN withdrew in April.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=132876

This could work out very badly for me. I don't know if this Outdoor Life Network is available on Direct TV? Anyone?

Their website lists it at channel 608, available on all their packages (Total Choice, Total Choice Plus, Total Choice Premier).

Thanks. Channel 608? Sweet Jaysis! That's high. No wonder I have never seen nor heard of it. I will have to see what it's all about tonight. That said, assuming there is a NHL Center Ice Package this year, I will be getting that.

Andrew Cassels just signed with the Capitals. Nice, their first move this year (other than signing Ovechkin) is signing a 36 year old center. The Caps are going to suck this year. Just be abysmal. They have something like 8 guys signed. And now Brendan Witt wants to be traded... Hmmm, I think Witt would fit in well in Detroit. They desperately need some toughness, especially along the blue line. Though Witt seems to be hurt. A lot.

The only advantage to the Caps being so bad is that there will likely be a plethora of tickets available here. Means ole H_B should be able to catch quite a few live hockey games this year.

yep, we do get it. the only time I've ever watched OLN is the Tour de France.
But, really, as long as Center Ice is available (still not official yet, I think), I don't care what channel they show the rest on.

I really hope Center Ice comes back. Otherwise, I wasted taking October 5th off from work.

You can give us progress reports on what's shaping up to be a terrific calder race. All based in the east: Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin (maybe), Carter, Richards, Lehtonen, Lundqvist.

Neat. I get OLN on our little cable provider here because I remember a friend of mine talking about watching the Tour de France every day and I checked it out and found it to be quite boring as a spectator sport, but that's another story for another day.

SI

Penguins sign Sean Burke to a 2 yr $3 million deal.

Kim Johnsson accepts his $2.2 million offer from the Flyers.

Interesting on the cable deal... I can dig it, as we get OLN on Timewarner (was worried about Comcast doing a Comcast-only hockey channel!).

I wonder if ESPN will match the offer given that they earlier declined a $70 million option to keep the NHL. I know they've gotten better ratings with things like bowling but I read on Eklund that they did miss the ratings they would get for playoff hockey. The Flyers look to be almost done. According to TSN, they have 20 players worth $33 million and 4 of those are undisclosed deals. Esche has yet to agree to his QO.

bad news about ESPN losing hockey? no more Gary Thorne.
the good news? no more Barry Melrose.

I can live with that trade.

Uh, scratch that.

Burke signs with Tampa Bay.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=132952

Avs send Philip Sauve to the Flames for a 7th rounder. hopefully, this means they have a solid backup in place.

Sauve has a lot of skill (was a 2nd round pick) and had been highly touted for a while, but struggled pretty badly with the Avs.

EDIT: unless they think Peter Budaj is ready to play in the NHL, but I don't really know much about him.

Might this not end up like the NBA did, or when football left NBC, where most of the broadcasters ended up switching or getting part-time gigs with the new channels? I know Gary Thorne does a bunch of stuff outside of ESPN, and I'm figuring that even if Melrose doesn't end up on OLN, wouldn't ESPN still have its NHL2Night show?

DirecTV's Sports Package, which is mostly channels in the 600s, is excellent. I used to think it was expendable, but now I kinda enjoy the college sports coverage and my daughter likes watching soccer. I haven't watched much OLN, though.

also just found out that the Avs aren't affiliated with the AHL Hershey Bears anymore, but now are with the Lowell Loch Monsters. Which is cool, because I go to a lot of Manchester Monarchs games, so I'll see more of the Avs prospects...but I'm confused about who to root for. It's hard enough with one rival of the Monarchs being the baby Bruins (wife is a Bruins fan), now the other big Monarch's rival is Colorado's affiliate.

Leafs sign ex-Blues D-man Alexander Khavanov.

Um....w00t?

Turek is probably going to stay in the Czech Republic and Kiprusoff's negotiations are not going well thanks to Chicago's $6.75 million signing of Khabibulin. Many Flames fans are not high on Sauve since they remember the Flames lighting him up for 7 and Edmonton getting 6 past him. Still, he's young, cheap and a Marcoux disciple.

Kiprusoff might get that kind of cash if he could do that for more than half a season.

SI

Interesting on the cable deal, but I REALLY hope ESPN matches the offer. Hockey would be a perfect game on HDTV, and AFAIK, OLN doesn't broadcast in HD.

There are now reports that the NHL has agreed to the Comcast offer. It justs needs approval from the Board of Governors, which they say is a formality. Once approved by the BoG, the NHL will forward the deal to ESPN and see if they match it.

Kuklas posted details from a recent signing, its interesting for those that want to see how an NHL contract breaks down.

Marian Hossa is asking the Sens for Iginla type money. The Sens had reportedly offered him 3 years, $11.5 million.

Pens make another mini-splash....Thibeault from the Hawks for a 4th rounder.

That seems to be a very good deal in terms of only giving up a 4th rounder. Does anyone know what his contract status is? I know the Pens were offering 1.5 MM per year for 2 years to Burke.

He's a RFA.

His QO was in the low 2's. Man, another awesome move by the Pens. They have just had an amazing offseason. The Pens?!?!

SI

I'm just curious... what exactly is it that people have against Barry Melrose? I think he's great!

Mullet envy? ;)

SI

No idea. I've always liked Melrose. I have never been bothered by him. He was the coach of the Adirondak Red Wings when they won the Calder Cup. I liked his run in LA as well.

In fact, I am known as the "Barry Melrose of Strat-o-Matic Hockey" for the fact that during my first season in the league I took the LA Kings all the way to the finals and lost to Montreal. Since then, my success has been limited... I have no mullet though.

didn't see anything on here talking about this...B's have reportedly offered 32.5 to Jumbo Joe for 5 years.

hxxp://bruins.bostonherald.com/bruins/view.bg?articleid=97386

I like Melrose also. Thorne and Buccigross I really like. How can you hate Buccigross' take on the Leafs.

Interesting on the cable deal, particularly from the standpoint of being a media buyer.
Both Comcast Cable & OLN are somewhat notorious for pricing many of their programs far out of the realm of reality (basically asking for the same spot rate that programs with 5x to 20x the viewers can generate).

If this deal goes through, unless the NHL is almost literally giving it to them for free, I suspect the outcome is a revenue loss for Comcast, because the NHL isn't nearly strong enough in the majority of the country to justify over-paying for the commercial time.

Who? Thorton?

Yes.

it's not so much that I hate Melrose.

I just don't see his analysis as having very much substance. Not that that makes him unique, especially at ESPN, but I would like to have someone who's willing to stick his neck out just a LITTLE more than Melrose. For example, Don Cherry is a putz...but at least he voices his opinion, and is able to convey his hockey understanding, even if he makes you cringe from time to time. To Melrose, everyone seems to be a "good hockey player" - if they are doing good, it's because they are good, if they are struggling, well, they'll come around. Gee, thanks.

Buccigross is terrific as long as he's not trying too hard to be cool, and Thorne shines through ESPN's otherwise poor TV production. I like Bill Clement also, although he too tends to toe the middle road too much.

I guess I am spoiled by watching Hockey Night in Canada. Everything about the production is top notch, from the Best.Theme Song. EVER to the stellar Ron MacLean. But the number one thing you get is HONEST criticism, not the watered-down ratings-friendly crap you get on ESPN.

it would surprise me if he took it. I really do think he wants out of Boston.

Saw this on Kuklas,

really DD?? I'm not sure about that. Glen Murray has gone on the record as saying the reports of Joe wanting out of town are 110% false. But I guess you never know until it happens. We'll see. I think if he doesn't take this contract (obviously) he'll be on his way out of town.

and speaking of Turek, he is retiring from the NHL and going back to Czechicantspellitka

Turek to me is like the Czech version of Chris Osgood - a really good goalie that unfairly gets a bad rap.

Report in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette is they signed him for 2 years, terms not disclosed.

11 players filed for arbitration.


Flyers sign Robert Esche to a 2 year deal.
Canucks sign the Sedins to 1 yeal deals and Dan Cloutier accepts his QO of $2.34 million.
Ottawa signs Martin Havlat to a 1 yr $2.6 mil deal and Mike Fisher to a 3 year deal worth $4.5 mil.
Lindros seems to be on his way to the Leafs.
Bruins had Sergei Samsonov and P.J. Axelsson sign their QOs.

An update on the TV deal from Kuklas

C-bus signed Jan Hrdina... I really like that deal, and I LOVE that team (and I feel like I can root for them since I always semi-did the last season or two).

~rpi-fan

Well there is hope then...

Isles snapped up Brad Lukowich from the Lightning... another great, great signing. Isles have had an absolutely fantastic offseason!

~rpi-fan

Saw that the Lightning signed Rob Dimaio. He's a good 3rd-4th line winger who can chip in a timely goal here and there.

sportsnet reports:

Lindros signs one-year, $1.55 million deal ...with the LEAFS

WOOHOO

Thorton signed?

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp...55&hubName=nhl

Dangit, there was a '?' after that 3 year deal. Thorton signs for 3 years, $20 million.

As somebody on HFBoards pointed out:

Nieuwendyk/Roberts - combined salary with Florida: $5 million
Allison/Lindros/O'neill - combined salary with Toronto: $4.55 million

Even with the inherent risk accompanying Allison and Lindros, that's a pretty damn good tradeoff, no matter how you cut it.

an excellent point, and a great set of deals for the Leafs. They really benefited from having 3 guys who really wanted to play in Toronto.

I agree. I like the team Toronto has put together. It seems like a classic Toronto team. There will be some high drama, especially after Allison and Lindros collide during practice...

Semi-related point of note....Jason Allison has never had a concussion.

He missed most of the last two years with "concussion-like symptoms", but they were due to whiplash. NOT a concussion.

Just seems to be a popular misconception. :)

Thoughts on the last couple of days:

~ The deal with Comcast\OLN seems like a good one, and now it seems like they may get some games on ESPN as well. So now they have two cable deals in the US, I think they did pretty well for themselves.

~ Thorton signs deal with the Bruins. Good for the Bruins, although I'm really going to find in interesting to see if he stays in Beantown for the whole deal or what happens after the three years. I'm disapointed because I had hoped he'd sign as a FA with the Leafs next season... but that was a bit of wishfull thinking on my part.

~ Lindros to the Leafs. Finally. I'm glad this happened just so that the talking heads and Leaf fans would F*** off with all the speculation, and saying how it's destiny that he plays in Toronto. But I'm also pissed... I don't like Lindros, I think he's a baby... and I don't like the injury problems he's had, even if it's only for $1.55 Million. If he plays well, great... still doesn't change the fact I don't want him on my team, and I don't want him back after his contract runs out.

----

On another note... the Leafs are around the $30-31 Million mark as it stand now with 17 players under contract. They still have the follwoign RFA's to potentially sign: Nik Antropov, Pierre Hedin, Nathan Perrott, Karel Pilar, Clarke Wilm.

So they'll probably be about $4-6 Million short of the cap... there is talk Carter might sign another less money, hometown deal. I like him as a player, and I'd like him on the Leafs... but we need a LW not a RW. Can he play the left side?

Two of them being big injury question marks as well...

I dont think you can call Allison or Lindros a risk at all....1.5 +1.55 is nothing for these 2.......The rewards are far more then the risks....and i dont believe there isnt a team in the NHL that wouldnt take those 2 for just over 3 mil. It bugs me that Lindros and Allison can be considered risks, while Roberts and Niewy, older, just as likely to get hurt, and more expensive arent....

on a side note....ive been looking at Lindros career, and damn, he has been great!!!!...his only down season came 2 years ago with the Rangers when he had 50 points in 80 games.....If he can at least repeat his worst season as a professional, its a steal

as much as I hate Lindros, I have to yet again agree with Johnny here. Locker room stuff aside, he's going to be a great addition.

Dude...whats going on with this....
;)

I don't know, but I am SO not putting on my Leaf's jersey and getting turning on my webcam, so stop asking! ;)

(Please?)

If the Wings had signed Lindros and Allison to similar deals I would be going nuts. I would have loved it. I've always liked Lindros for some reason. Probably it was just to be contrary to everyone around me at first, but it stuck.

Eklund says that ESPN will not match Comcast's offer.

I loved this line Lindros said during the press conference:

"I've been working on skating with my head up."

w00t!!!! :D

The Flames have sold out season tickets.

Dallas is currently at 23% in renewals. Normally they're around 85%.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/hockey/12366538.htm

Dallas was always full so this is shocking to me. If Dallas is having problems, I can only imagine how other US teams are doing.

Oh, no, I won't be able to spend the equivalent of four or five lower-bowl junior tickets on a nosebleed seat.

The Dallas thing is worrying, though. Aside from empty seats in the early games, I think we'll get our first solid indication of what's happened to revenues when they hit the first escrow recalculation point a couple of months in. If things have gone to hell and the league's estimate was way off, they'll have to start holding back a bigger chunk of the players' salaries. We probably won't get an official announcement, but the complaining from Jagr and Yashin shouldn't be hard to miss.

Well, the Hitmen just don't compare IMO. I've got my name on a list for a game pack so I'm hoping I can squeeze somewhere into the second deck.

Calgary signs:

Kiprusoff - $10 million/3 years
Warrener - $9.4 million/4 years
Hamrlik - $7 million/2 years

Wow... :D

A touch disappointing to lose Hamrlik, but to be totally honest, I think I take the following trade straight-up:

-Aucoin and Hamrlik

for:

-Zhitnik, Sopel, and Lukowich

The city's newspaper and sports station have reported the Hamrlik signing but nothing official from elsewhere, nor have the Flames released a statement. But it would be the first PP QB we've had since MacInnis so everyone's hoping it's true.

And the Devils have still done jack :(.

At today's press conference, Sutter made it quite clear that the Flames want to win the Cup NOW. It makes sense: Iginla, Kiprusoff, Regehr, Langkow... all in their prime. Most of the key pieces are on 3 year contracts. 2008 is going to be nasty in terms of UFAs so they might as well go for it.

Well, the Wings just signed Kent McDonell. Yes. THAT Kent McDonell.

ok, I got nothing...

This will make me sad. I get the OLN channel or whatever the hell it is, but it's crap. No one will watch it. The league will continue to get mocked. Oh well, screw 'em.

Gomez has re-signed a one year deal for $2.2 million.

according to the ny post:

Langenbrunner, at $1.655 million, Gionta at $627,000 and Kozlov at $1.748 million, are believed to have signed the qualifying offers tendered by the Devils to retain their rights as restricted free agents.

Those three signings lift the Devils' payroll to $30 million before the anticipated addition of their unsigned restricteds: Patrik Elias ($4.2 million qualifier), Scott Gomez ($2.2 million), Jeff Friesen ($2.3 million), Paul Martin (650G), David Hale (650G) and Colin White ($1.8 million), with unrestricted Scott Stevens another consideration.

Should all sign their qualifiers, the Devils' payroll would top $41 million, well above the season-opener NHL salary cap.

The Devils announced the signings of their second- and third-round draft picks from 2002. They inked 6-4 forward Barry Tallackson from the University of Minnesota, who played four games for Albany last season, and 6-3 winger Jason Ryznar from the University of Michigan.

They also signed free agents David Clarkson, a forward from Kitchener of the Ontario junior league, and goalie Frank Doyle.

Unless Barry learns to go to the net, he will not be a NHL type player. Not used by me, but, many Gopher fans refer to him as Mary Tallackson.

Sweet. He's a cousin of one of my good friends.

Shanahan gets it. I've been more impressed with his off-ice endeavours than I ever was with what he did on the ice. He has a future with the league if he wants one.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/14/sp...key/14nhl.html

He certainly does get it. Shanahan is awesome. Though don't discredit what he does on the ice. The trade that brought him to Detroit at the start of the '96-97 season was probably the key acquisition that put the Wings over the top.

I remember when Shanahan apologized to the nation when he missed the fifth penalty shot against Hasek in the Nagano Olympics. That impressed the heck out of me.

dola,

A couple articles:

Milbury changes up the team to remove the 'Yashin-bashers' and help out Alexei. It is now Yashin's team and there are no more excuses:
http://www.nynewsday.com/sports/hock...landers-bigpix

After unsuccessful contract negotiations, Iron Mike decides to take the face of the franchise, Luongo, to arbitration. Roberto is hurt and no doubt gone in three years:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/h....column?page=1

Good interview with Shanahan.

Stupid question: when does the season start, anyways?

SI

so, does Mike Keenan get his name on the Cup for that? :confused:

October 5, every team in action that night (possibly my favorite of all the new changes)

nice - you managed to get one post with articles on the 2 worst GMs in hockey!
:D

as for Keenan, certainly none of his antics should be even remotely surprising to anyone. He's been playing this asinine head games from the beginning. But, since the Rangers won that one year, he continues to get opportunities to just completely dismantle franchises at will to stroke his ego.

Milbury is just inept. They did make some decent moves this year...but Alexei Yashin is the 2nd highest paid player in the league. That just isn't right. He's a nice player to have on any team, but are they really going to build around a guy who, in 3 years with your team, has yet to crack the 75 point barrier (or register a positive +/- for that matter)?
And hey, speaking of Luongo...hey Mike, looks like DiPietro is ready to be an impact goalie in the NHL. Must be about time to trade him away and draft another goalie!!!

To call the Isles moves "decent" is unfair... we've had one of the two or three best offseasons in the league, I think.

oh come on now. I'm not knocking the moves they made, but let's be honest. Two teams in your own division had stronger offseasons (Pittsburgh and Philadelphia). And neither of those teams are building around Alexei Yashin. :p

The Flyers have potentially bigger upside on their offseason, but it could also go horribly wrong. The Isles added quality depth up front and on the blueline. The Pens were one of the teams that I'd put ahead of the Isles in terms of offseason success -- aside from that, there aren't many teams who did as well as Milbury.

I agree totally. The Flyers could have gone the wrong way.

As much as it pains me to say it, the Flames have had a pretty good offseason, as too have the Oilers (some homerism there, but I think we're one more quality forward away from being a very, very strong team). Another that could be thrown into the mix because of their moves just prior to the lockout could be Phoenix. They've been pretty quiet since the CBA was signed, mostly because they had really addressed a lot of issues already.

The following 6 teams have all done far better than the Islanders:

Philly
Pittsburgh
Boston
Calgary
Chicago
Edmonton

There are other teams that I feel have done comparably well to the Islanders. Milbury hasn't stunk up the joint (surprisingly), but he hasn't hit a home run either.

Agree to disagree, I guess. We murdered Edmonton in a head-to-head trade, Boston's moves I don't like at all, I have a friend who is a diehard Philly fan who HATES the team's moves. Chicago did alright, but didn't add a lot of spark.

'Burgh I'd rate stronger than us, and Calgary equal.

yeah, i guess i could understand adding the best player in the world as a negative :rolleyes:

im a die hard devils fan, and the flyers terrify me this year. the best move on their part with forsberg? even if he gets horribly injured, its only a 2 year deal, if i recall correctly. he is totally worth the risk of costing a couple mil next year, even if he doesnt play.

I am not sure how anyone could view the Forsberg signing as a negative, unless they are convinced he's too injured to be effective or just too fragile to be worth the coin. I guess an argument could be made there.

The other moves are more questionable. They threw a lot of money at Hatcher and Rathje. This could put the Flyers in a pinch in a few years when they are shelling $4.5 million a year to a 38 year old Derian Hatcher.

As far as this year goes, the Flyers have to be one of the favorites to win the Cup, especially in the east.

Okay, call me naive, but what trade the Isles murdered the Oilers in? I know you can't be referring to Mike York...

Here's the thing with the Flyers...generally, I like what they've done. And I think they'll be one of the better teams in the East this year -- almost certainly better than Toronto, even assuming all injury risks hold up on both sides. Forsberg is tremendous, and Rathje's nice. Hatcher I don't quite get, but I can at least understand the potential upside.

BUT...they also lost Amonte, Roenick, and LeClair who, while admittedly far from their former selves, were *big* parts of that team, at the very least emotionally. For all the hype about what the Flyers added, I'm not sure I'm convinced that it's *that* much better than what they lost. And Robert Esche is still their #1 goalie, and I'm not sure anybody's ready to catapault him into the "elite" category just yet.

1st off...John Leclair has signed with Pittsburgh.....nice signing, hopefully 20 goal potential out of him....

2nd.....the winners this offseason are the small market teams who had very low payrolls coming into the offseason.....if we all though about it before, it wouldnt be so surprising to us now....

3rd...The Isles addditions....Satan and Zhitnik were good on a bad team for years, I dont see how they make the Isles any better.....Mike York for Mike Peca is a downgrade imo.....and Brent Sopel and Brad Lukowich are depth players, and as long as their cheap, are good additions.....overall, nothing special, 7-10th place is my prediction....certainly not a big winner this offseason

LeClair, btw, signs with those freaking Penguins. I would assume this one didn't break the bank, and the Penguins, for all their moves, still seem to have a lot of cap room.

Pittsburgh has about 20 mil to spend with 11 restriced fa's left, and a handful of ufa's left from their orginization

and I don't see to many RFAs on the list who are going to break the bank. Tarnstram is the most notable, I think. Lemieux is unsigned, but I imagine he'll be back :D

although their cap number doesn't include Crosby, Fleury or Malkin, but still it looks like they are in solid shape for all the signings they've made

Free-spending Penguins add LeClair to roster

So I go to ESPN, see this title, and think I'm in bizarro world. Free-spending Penguins?!!?

SI