PuckUpdate

Lemaire: 'Trapping Makes Me Happy'

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:04:09 -0500

So apparently Wild coach Jacques Lemaire thought about retiring at the end of last season. The fun had gone out of the game for him, which I think is probably the craziest thing about Lemaire. He really does love that stifling, trapping style. GM Doug Risebrough talked Lemaire into staying. Meanwhile, Marian Gaborik remains unsigned longterm. I'm not sure the two events are unrelated. Although the Wild are stuck in kind of a death spiral. Lemaire needs a conservative game plan because he doesn't have a ton of offensive talent. But he has trouble getting offensive talent because of his team's conservative systems.
Speaking of long-term contracts, the Sabres continued their shocking new system of signing young, talented players before they leave for other teams.
Finally, speaking of Buffalo, former Sabre (and Ranger and Star and Avalanche and Penguin and Lightning and Blackhawk) Matthew Barnaby is expected to soon be named Barry Melrose's replacement on ESPN. Barnaby's a funny guy, so he should be great. I might actually watch SPORTSCENTER for Barnaby. But probably not. Yesterday, I heard someone on ESPN say "He's got 99 problems but that pitch ain't one" and it just destroyed my faith in humanity.

Schneider Clears Waivers and Zubov's Hip Hurt: Coincidence?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:02:49 -0500

Mathieu Schneider cleared waivers and is still a member of the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks say they won't sign forward Teemu Selanne until they have Schneider's salary off of their cap.
Meanwhile, there are four teams believed to be interested in Schneider. Schneider hasn't reported to Duck camp yet, so I'm thinking something will happen soon.
Something to consider, though. Dallas defenseman Sergei Zubov is out 4-8 weeks, recovering from hip surgery. He wasn't horribly healthy last season. I'm not sure how bad Zubov really is, but would Dallas take Schneider as an insurance policy? There are two issues: the Stars can't afford Schneider AND Zubov, so taking Schneider would mean Zubov is gone for the season. Second, would Dallas give Schneider to a division rival? The Ducks don't mind giving him to the Kings, since they're not a threat, but Dallas?

Hartley Goes Undercover

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:00:29 -0500

Not to be KHL-obsessed, which I am, but a coach like Bob Hartley going to Russia means a full NHL coaching indoctrination for just about the entire league. Obviously, for the players Hartley is coaching, but also for the other coaches Hartley will coach against. That will make it that much easier for KHL players to come over to the NHL. They'll be familiar with the NHL culture. And I'm sure Hartley will talk up the league, too. If you look at how American coaches made it that much easier for Japanese players to transition into the American game (especially the average players; the elite players like Ichiro and Hideki Matsui really didn't need any help), you have to wonder if the NHL is turning cartwheels that one of their best coaches is going behind "enemy" lines.
You also have to wonder if Jaromir Jagr, who Hartley would be coaching, really missed an NHL-style coach and asked for his team to give him one.

Schneider Waived; Kings Wave Back

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:05:07 -0500

The Ducks put excess defenseman Mathieu Schneider on waivers.
The Ducks need cap space and they've got a surplus of expense and talent on their blueline.
So why not trade Schneider, who's still a top-two defenseman? Apparently no one will take him without sticking the Ducks with a player the Ducks don't want.
So how about the Kings? They haven't even hit the cap floor yet. Surely they're interested in Schneider. They might be, but Rich Hammond says the team won't take him off waivers. According to Hammond, they'll think about him should he clear waivers.
Damian Cristodero says there's a rumor the Ducks don't want to be total jerks to Schneider and won't let him begin the season without a team. If that's true, I'm not sure what the next step is for Anaheim. Do they go so far as to not sign Teemu Selanne? It's tough to replace a forward with a defenseman.
Everyone pretty much agrees Schneider to the Kings makes the most sense. I'm not sure why the Kings aren't jumping on this, if not via waiver claim than at least via trade.
Obviously, it's pretty sad that a player of Schneider's caliber is being treated this way. There just aren't a lot of teams with cap space. I think we're a few years away from having teams so cap-filled, that it'll be impossible for higher-salary players to be moved. So players will rush to sign as early as possible before teams run out of room for the year.

Frei: 'My Bad'

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 05:55:06 -0500

The other day, Terry Frei had a column about Patrick Roy, the coach. It was interesting enough, but yesterday, on his blog, Frei posted he took a lot of flack for not taking Roy to task for his alleged role in a giant playoff fight, where Roy supposedly sent his son out to fight. The cool thing is, Frei not only admits he was wrong, he presents how he'd handle the article now.
I can't recall seeing a newspaper columnist behave so transparently. And how can you work in Colorado and not have a blind spot for Roy?
Also, I love that Alex Ovechkin is skating at the Caps' rookie camp. That's got to help the self-esteem of the rookies.

Staal Signs Big Contract; Other Staal Might Move to Wing

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 05:50:27 -0500

The Hurricanes gave Eric ~~Cole~~ Staal a huge seven-year contract. It sounds like the franchise was spooked ~~Cole~~ Staal would leave the team and go all Ron Francis on them, winning a Stanley Cup or two with another team.
It's not that ~~Cole~~ Staal doesn't deserve the money or the time, but I'm a little surprised Carolina couldn't get a better deal on a player they were signing longterm and who really wanted to stay with the team. An $8.25 million annual cap hit (the average value of his $57.75 contract) is pretty steep.
Speaking of Staals, Kevin Allen says the Penguins should think about moving Jordan Staal, Eric's brother, out of his third-line center slot and onto the wing on one of the top-two lines. Allen points out the Penguins don't have a lot of wing options.
I'm not crazy about the move. While Staal doesn't put up huge numbers as a checking center, he does a great job keeping opposing teams' top lines under control. They might get more offense out of him on one of the scoring lines, but I wonder if they would give up more goals on defense. It's an interesting idea, though. I'd be curious to see how it turns out.
Apparently the Avs still have a decent amount of cap space. Terry Frei says the team should consider Brendan Shanahan. I would be pretty shocked if Shanahan signed with Colorado. He really wants to re-sign with the Rangers, to the extent that he's skating with the team without a contract. Also, I don't think his Red Wings pedigree would ever let him put on an Avalanche jersey. I think he'd keep forgetting who he played for and would check Avalanche players and shoot at the Avalanche goal.
Note to self: undercover double-agent players might be a neat way to improve offense in the game. Run this by G.B.
Also, a correction/clarification regarding Wednesday's third-jersey Sabres/70s Pirates joke. Apparently the baseball card I linked to was from 1984. I still stand by the joke.
UPDATE: Edited so it's not referring to Staal as Cole. Thanks, Red and Black Hockey!

Crosby Stands in the Place Where He Is; Blackhawks Discover Fans

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 05:52:35 -0500

So Sidney Crosby is still living with Mario Lemieux (and Lemieux's family).
Far be it for me to judge, but isn't he getting a little old to be living with his boss? Another year or two of that and he'll be like Chris Elliott in the wonderful GET A LIFE. Actually, I'd love to see a remake of THE ODD COUPLE with Crosby and Lemieux. I'm assuming one of them is really neat and one of them is really messy.
Chris Kuc has an interesting Blackhawks tidbit: Eight of their home games are already sold out. I'm actually very happy about that. The team did everything on the cheap for so long, basically trying to blackmail fans into coming to games. The franchise has finally entered the modern era of sports and I'm glad to see it working out for them.
St. Louis Blue Paul Kariya bulked up for next season. He struggled the second half of last season and when all you have is finesse, there's not much you can do to change your fortunes. But if you have size, you can at least set-up down low a little more easily and hope for a rebound. It's a smart move.
Finally, Florida Panther Richard Zednik is back from his horrific neck injury and seems to be good as new. George Richards' article has a lot of details on what exactly went down that night in Buffalo after a skate blade caught Zednik's throat. It's pretty harrowing, as you might expect.

Mats Sundin: 'I'm Going to be a New York Yankee!'

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 06:01:28 -0500

Even though I find all of the Mats Sundin talk horribly dull and repetitive, I understand an elite (or once-elite) player wanting to take as much time as he needs to decide if he's returning to his sport. It's a big decision. I get that. What I don't get is why Sundin can't narrow his potential job search down to just a few teams. Is he actually considering the Lightning? Or is he just saying yes to to every team that asks if he's interested? Because by saying yes to everyone, as he seems to be doing, he's just making it harder for unsigned players to get signed. He's like the pretty girl who won't commit to a prom date. Except I'm assuming at the end of all of this Sundin drama, no one will be hooking up in their father's car in the parking lot. I don't really know how NHL contract negotiations go, though. I could be wrong.
Meanwhile, Washington Capital Michael Nylander says he has no plans to leave the team; when he tried to sell his house, he was merely selling his house. How can Nylander sound so confident he's not going anywhere despite rumors to the contrary? Apparently he has a no-movement clause in his contract.
By the way: he said he's probably keeping the house. You've got to love the housing bubble.
I guess it's good things are heating up on the Sean Avery movie. Dallas co-GM Les Jackson had an interesting take on his new acquisition:

Heika: What was it about Avery that put him over the top? Take me through that process.
Jackson: We know we have to overpay to get a free agent, so you have to find a free agent who will fit what you need and who can give you value for the length of his contract. That's what we saw.

Does anyone think Avery would have heard the word overpay or the word value?
Finally, this just in: Hey! Buffalo Sabres! Nice third jersey (maybe)! But the 1970s Pittsburgh Pirates called. They want their uniform back.

Philadelphia Still Loves Spectrum

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:54:39 -0500

The Flyers added a second preseason game to be played at the Spectrum. The Spectrum is due to be knocked down at the end of this season but apparently fans have been grabbing tickets for the Spectrum-held games. Maybe Comcast should knock down the Wachovia Center and keep the Spectrum.
Also, is San Jose's Kyle McLaren on his way to another team due to depth and salary cap issues? McLaren seems prepared for that scenario, even as he hopes to stay on in with the Sharks.
It's not a given he'll go to the Kings as they seem to have finally hit the salary cap floor. But here's an interesting tidbit from Rich Hammond: While the Kings comply with the cap, internally, they follow an annual cash budget. Apparently, that's why they front-loaded Jarret Stoll's contract; to save money for next season.

Tortorella Dishes About Lightning; Gagne Heals (He Hopes)

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:25:23 -0500

I have to admit that I love when fired coaches and traded players dish on what was really going on behind the scenes in the club.
Former Lightning coach John Tortorella is the latest to dish (thanks to Damian Cristodero transcribing an Ottawa radio interview). There's a lot of semi-cheap shots, like Vinny Lecavalier being a fantastic NHL player, unless he's not coached in a certain way (I liked this one best because it's a shot at Lecavalier and at new coach Barry Melrose). Tortorella also wonders aloud if goalie Mike Smith is truly a number one goalie, which isn't a fair question, since Smith has been fine, both in Tampa and in Dallas, his previous stop. But beneath the petty carping, there's a great story about Dan Boyle:

I knew [ownership was going to trade Boyle]...during the trading deadline where myself, Jay Feaster and all the administration of that team were locked in the room with owners that were still in the process of trying to buy the team. It turned ugly in there because of some of the thoughts they had, and they still hadn't even dropped a penny on the club. I sat across from Lennie Barrie and Lennie Barrie started talking to me about Dan Boyle when he played with him seven, eight years ago in Florida, which makes no sense to me because I think after seven or eight years a guy may mature and improve his game. I begged them to sign Danny Boyle.

I'm not a huge Boyle fan, but I did find it strange the Lightning would sign him longterm and then trade him. It seemed like a waste of everyone's time. While I'm sure salary was a factor, it seems the big issue was how the new Tampa ownership remembered Boyle. So apparently my mom was right: first impressions really do count a lot.
Also, over in Philly, Simon Gagne is getting ready to come back to the Flyers, who missed most of last season with concussion symptoms. If Gagne's post concussion symptoms are truly gone, he kind of cured himself. Gagne saw a news report about an old-but-rare headache treatment and wound up contacting the doctor to help with his headaches. And given Philadelphia's track record with concussions, I think it was pretty smart of Gagne to look outside of the organization.

KHL Fever; No Apology for Lindros

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:52:46 -0500

Yesterday's Times had had a KHL preview. True, it was their hockey blog and not the print edition, but you can't help but wonder if all of this interest KHL will eventually lead to some kind of TV package. I would love for the NHL to take a leadership role in this, maybe showing games on the NHL Network. And how great would an NHL/KHL All-Star game be? And for something like that, the NHL wouldn't even care when a talented player left the league, since the player would probably return for the All-Star game, which would have to rate higher than the current All-Star game.
Speaking of NHL All-Stars, Ed Moran says Eric Lindros should be at the Philadelphia Spectrum farewell game (the Spectrum is being demolished). Moran acknowledges Lidros' tortured history with the Flyers but says Lindros needs to be the bigger person. I wish Moran had said that instead of Lindros forgiving the Flyers, the Flyers need to formally or informally apologize to Lindros for basically torturing him during his final years as a Flyer. It's not like he chose to be concussion-prone.
Also, I totally don't remember goalie Ty Conklin signing a one-year, $750,000 deal to be the backup goalie in Detroit, but apparently he did.
Who's his agent? How could he not turn last season's work for Pittsburgh into a better deal?
Of course, last year Detroit's backup goalie, Chris Osgood, wound up winning the starting job and then the Stanley Cup, so maybe Conklin is hoping lightning will strike twice.
Also, Darren McCarty will be back in Detroit next season, on another two-way contract. I don't feel like it's truly a Detroit team unless McCarty is around somewhere.

Modin: 'Ouch!'

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 06:46:20 -0500

I knew Freddy Modin spent a lot of time injured last season, but I had no idea how bad it was: "[Modin] played in only 23 games, never in uniform for more than eight in a row while suffering a back injury, a torn hamstring and groin pulls and a concussion."
I guess it's a source of pride that he still managed to get in more work than Carl Pavano.
Blue Jacket coach Ken Hitchcock says getting back a healthy Modin is like getting a brand new player. Modin is expected to play on the Columbus second line with rookie Derrick Brassard.
Also, if you're looking for a pickup hockey game, someone just emailed me some information about www.pickuphockeyfinder.com. Right now, it seems to only work for Minneapolis/St. Paul, but it sounds like there are plans to expand it. I hear the Wild are going to use it to draft players.

Sakic's White Board; Panthers Maintain Cable Silence

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:54:05 -0500

It probably goes without saying given how long it took him to decide, but Joe Sakic had a hard time figuring out if he wanted to come back for another NHL season. He told Terry Frei the big issue for him was his hernia injury, which kept him out almost half of last season.
I'm not sure if Sakic did a pro/con list or if he brainstormed but however he came to a decision, he might want to share his process with Teemu Selanne, who's been in talks with the Ducks but still hasn't told the team about his plans for next season.
Maybe it's just the time of the year, but I'm kind of ready for team conventions where fans vote on which players they want to re-sign and which players they want to retire. In fact, given that the Democratic National Convention is in Denver, I'm wondering if some kind of shadow delegation voted Sakic back to the Avs.
* * *
There's a very famous Yiddish joke that features people at a wedding complaining about the food and then finishing up with "And the portions? They're too small." With that in mind, FSN and Sun will only show 65 Florida Panther games this season.
Also, it seems the Minnesota Wild are looking for a mascot. Given their team name, I'm guessing it will be some kind of rabid or feral animal. Maybe fans can "shoot" the mascot out of its misery between periods. Kind of like in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

Sakic Re-signs; Sundin Quagmire Continues

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:53:29 -0500

Joe Sakic re-signed with the Avs yesterday. He actually took a tiny pay cut from last season's salary, something which kind of got lost in everyone's shock over Sakic finally deciding what he wanted to do next season.
I guess you can cross Colorado off of Mats Sundin's list of teams to play for, although Colorado is still under the cap.
I'm very curious how Sakic's indecision will be seen in the Colorado locker room. Will they see it as a sign he's not 100% committed to playing in the NHL? Or will they see it as an NHL All-Star making sure he's 100% committed to coming back before signing a contract? The cycle of playing life for a bona fide NHL star like Sakic can be challenging to navigate. It's Great Player --> Amazing Player --> Legend --> Weird Old Guy. I'm guessing Sakic doesn't want to his the end of that cycle, although the last two stops certainly aren't mutually exclusive.
In other Sundin Quagmire news, Michael Russo reports Mark Parrish is waiting for an offer from the Canucks while the Canucks wait for an answer from Sundin.
Kevin Allen has a nice look at other players trapped in the Sundin Quagmire.
Finally, Jean Lefebvre weighed in on the media obligation to always ask Todd Bertuzzi about his brutal attack on Steve Moore. Lefebvre said it can't be ignored at the start of Bertuzzi's Flame residency but can be tabled once the season starts and his on-ice performance is more of an issue. Apparently, some Calgary fans didn't like the media spending so much time on Bertuzzi's past. It's such an odd coincidence that fans only care about Bertuzzi's attack until he puts on their team's sweater. Then, suddenly, it's old news.

Flames: 'We Signed Some New Players. A Few Weeks Ago...'

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:56:25 -0500

I don't know why the Flames waited so long to unveil their free-agent signings. Maybe they wanted to make a big summer splash? Anyway, they unveiled the newest Flames Tuesday. Nothing crazy was announced. Todd Bertuzzi said he's looking forward to getting his career back on track.
Meanwhile, down in Anaheim, Brendan Morrison, Bertuzzi's former Vancouver center, is preparing to come back from ACL surgery. It sounds like the Ducks want Morrison on the top line, which seems like a tall order for a guy coming off of that kind of surgery.
Finally, I'm not sure how big a deal MIKE AND THE MAD DOG were outside of New York City, but here in the city, when Chris Russo left the radio show, it was kind of a big deal. Bill Simmons interviewed Russo about his move to Sirius XM. Russo credited the 1994 Rangers Stanley Cup run (as well as the Knicks run to the finals that same year) with helping to cement their show in the minds of New Yorkers. It was nice to hear hockey get some sports talk radio respect. I'm hoping Russo's new channel will have at least some hockey talk but I'm not holding my breath.