Posts Tagged NHL News
Anders Eriksson Acquired by New York Rangers
Posted by Derek in NHL News, NHL Opinion, NHL Trades on March 3rd, 2010
“New York Rangers have acquired defenseman Anders Eriksson from the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for goaltender Miika Wiikman and a seventh round selection in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
The 35-year old Eriksson will report to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League. He has three assists in 12 games with the Coyotes this season.” (Source:TSN)
This is a move that should push the Rangers deep into the playoffs…? In my opinion, they’d be better off with the 7th round pick.
Ottawa Senators Acquire Andy Sutton
Posted by Derek in NHL News, NHL Opinion, NHL Trades on March 2nd, 2010
“The Ottawa Senators have acquired defenceman Andy Sutton from the New York Islanders for a second-round draft pick.
The pick is San Jose’s that Ottawa acquired in the Dany Heatley trade.
“It’s an unbelievable opportunity,” Sutton told the Canadian Press. “Being an older player and getting a chance to play on such a great team and have a chance to win the Stanley Cup is a dream come true.” (Source:TSN)
At 6 foot 6 inches tall and 245 lbs, Andy Sutton is a big body and is currently second in the league with 153 blocked shots. He’ll bring some extra toughness to the Senators blueline, and with the playoffs looming, toughness is a commodity that the ‘Sens could definitely use.
Rangers Claim Alex Auld on Re-entry Waivers
Posted by Derek in NHL News, NHL Opinion, NHL Rumors on February 27th, 2010
“The New York Rangers have claimed Alex Auld on re-entry waivers from the Dallas Stars.
Auld, 29, is 9-6-3 with a 3.00 goals against average and .894 save percentage in 21 appearances this season.
A free agent at season’s end, Auld is making $1-million this season, though the Rangers will only be responsible for half of his remaining salary this season, with the Stars picking up the other half. “(Source:TSN)
This move makes sense for the new York Rangers, Lundqvist can’t play every game.
Dominic Moore Traded To Montreal
Posted by Derek in NHL News, NHL Opinion, NHL Trades on February 11th, 2010
“The Florida Panthers have traded forward Dominic Moore to the Montreal Canadiens for a second-round pick in the 2011 draft.
The trade call to confirm the deal is currently being placed with the NHL.
Moore, 29, has eight goals and nine assists in 48 games for Florida. He is earning $1.1 million this season and becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.” (Source:TSN)
I’d hate to say “I told you so” but Moore had a decent chance last season with Toronto but wanted more money then he was realistically worth. It was common opinion at the time that he should’ve taken the roughly $1.5 mil (I can’t remember exactly what he was being offered in Toronto, but it was fair market value..) per season he was being offered and tried to build momentum towards his next deal. Instead, he opted to force the issue and was traded to the Buffalo Sabers, and his career has been sliding downward ever since…
He was getting first line ice time in Toronto and felt he was deserving of money to reflect the production he was achieving, but let’s face it, his numbers with the Leafs reflected the fact he was getting first line ice time and power play time, luxuries I doubt he’ll enjoy with the Habs. It’s too bad but greed motivated his decision.
Kari Lehtonen Traded To The Dallas Stars
Posted by Derek in NHL News, NHL Opinion, NHL Trades on February 9th, 2010
“The Atlanta Thrashers have traded goalie Kari Lehtonen to the Dallas Stars for defenceman Ivan Vishnevskiy and a fourth-round draft pick.
Lehtonen, 26, was recalled by Atlanta on Tuesday after completing a conditioning assignment with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. The Finnish backstop has not played this season after undergoing back surgery on Sept. 16.
Over four seasons with the Thrashers, Lehtonen compiled a record of 94-83-17 with 14 shutouts. He led Atlanta to the franchise’s only playoff appearance in 2006-07.” (Source:TSN)
This doesn’t look good for Marty Turco. There have been a lot of rumors surrounding Turco in recent weeks and it appears the writing’s on the wall in big D…
Centre Nazem Kadri Will Make NHL Debut Tonight For Leafs
Posted by Derek in NHL News, NHL Opinion, NHL Rumors on February 8th, 2010
“Centre Nazem Kadri will make his NHL debut for the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight.
The 19-year-old was called up on an emergency basis as Christian Hanson and Fredrik Sjostrom will both be sitting out with the flu.
Kadri has 26 goals and 40 assists in 42 games with the OHL’s London Knights this season.
The London, Ontario native was drafted seventh overall by the Maple Leafs in the first round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.” (Source:TSN)
It’s been an interesting week for the Toronto Maple Leafs and with Nazem Kadri making his NHL debut tonight, it’s going to get even more interesting with many in Leafs Nation holding their collective breath…
Kadri is the prized prospect in the Leafs system and as much as fans are anxious to see him with the big club, there’s a danger in putting 167 pound, 19 year old rookie on the ice with the big boys.
Kadri was pretty ordinary at the World Junior Championships and the impression many had was that he seemed dis-interested and somewhat undisciplined. That kind of play won’t be tolerated at the pro level, but it’s safe to say that his interest should be focused tonight.
I’m not suggesting that 1 game will set the tone for his entire career but there is comfort in ignorance regarding a players potential, and the days of romancing about the future of Nazem Kadri is coming to an abrupt end in Leaf land…
Hockey Night In Canada’s “Hotstove” video
Posted by Derek in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Opinion, NHL Trades, NHL Videos on February 7th, 2010
Every week during the second intermission of the CBC’s Hockey Night In Canada broadcast, they regularly have their “Hotstove” (Source:CBC.ca) segment, where trades and trade rumors are discussed. In last night’s edition they analyzed the Ilya Kovalchuk trade by Don Waddell of the Atlanta Thrashers to the New Jersey Devils.
The discussion was between host Ron MacLean, Pierre LeBrun, and Elliotte Friedman in studio with Mike Milbury via satellite from Washington.
The very fact that the CBC uses the opinion’s of Mike Milbury as an “expert” voice based on his previous role as GM of the New York Islanders is a joke in my eyes.
Here’s a quick summary of “Mad Mike Milbury” and his handy work with Ilses.. (Source: Wikipedia.com)
“He is a well-known figure in the National Hockey League for his controversial (and often quotable) style, as well as for his penchant for blockbuster trades.
During several of the years that Milbury served as Islanders GM, the team’s ownership mandated that he operate the team on an austere budget. In 1999 he was forced to trade star scorer Zigmund Palffy because team owners no longer wanted to pay his multi-million dollar contract.
However, Milbury has also been criticized for the many decisions he made in which payroll or orders for upper management were not factors. Many young players and prospects that Milbury traded away went on to have distinguished careers, often eclipsing those of the players he received in return. He has traded away defensemen Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden, Bryan Berard, Eric Brewer, Darius Kasparaitis, and Bryan McCabe; goalies Roberto Luongo and Tommy Salo, as well as forwards Olli Jokinen, Todd Bertuzzi, Tim Connolly, and Raffi Torres. Milbury has also come under fire for his draft day decisions such as choosing Rick DiPietro first overall in 2000 over Dany Heatley and Marian Gaborik; as well as his decision to include the 2001 second overall draft pick (Jason Spezza) as part of the Alexei Yashin trade.
In June 2006, Milbury stepped down as Islanders GM to accept a position as Senior Vice President of Charles Wang’s sports holdings. In an appearance on Mike and the Mad Dog, Wang did not challenge a suggestion from the hosts that he “fired” Milbury. Milbury resigned from his Senior VP job in May 2007. He said that he missed making hockey-related decisions and would be open to a hockey operations job in another organization.”
You have to realize that this is television after all, and Mike does have a loud opinion. It’s no accident that he usually goes first with his out-spoken opinions, only to be slammed down by the rest of the panel. You can see for yourself around the 2:10 mark when LeBrun says “my opinion probably doesn’t matter, I wasn’t a GM like you Mike…” and you can see Friedman snickering at the sarcasm, just like the rest of us were snickering at home at the back-handed insult.
It really doesn’t matter what point Milbury’s trying to make or how legit it might be, I always find myself opposed to his opinion, like somehow I’ll find myself guilty of trading away all that youth in the Isle by association.
That said, I think he was trying to say that Waddel waited to long, essentially limiting Kovalchuk to being a rental player to prospective trade partners. I’m not sure what difference it would’ve made if he made the deal in August vs February, being as EVERYONE KNOWS that regardless of where Ilya Kovalchuk is playing come July 1st, HE WILL test free agency to try and maximize his profits, making him a rental player no matter what Don Waddell did or didn’t do.
Personally, I found it surprising that Lou Lamoriello of the New Jersey Devils would make a deal for a rental player, it’s not really his style, but he really didn’t give up much considering the potential impact a guy like Kovalchuk could provide for the Devils. On the other hand, if you take a look at Kovalchuk’s playoff record (which is limited of course) he has played in 4 games, all loses, with 1 goal and 2 points total.
I think we’ll have to wait and see if Ilya Kovalchuk can produce for the Devils in the playoffs before we can really say who got the better of this deal or what mistakes were made, Milbury’s opinion not withstanding.
A Tribute To “Jiggy” From The Anaheim Ducks
Posted by Derek in NHL News, NHL Opinion, NHL Rumors on February 1st, 2010
“We would like to sincerely thank Jean-Sebastien Giguere for the class, dignity and professionalism he showed on and off the ice during nine memorable seasons with the Ducks.
Among those countless memories are a Conn Smythe Trophy in 2003, a Stanley Cup championship in 2007 and a number of franchise goaltending records.
Best of luck in Toronto, Jiggy.
Sincerely,
The Anaheim Ducks “ (Source: NHL.com/Ducks)
This statement is a show of class from the Anahiem Ducks to JS Giguere posted on NHL.com. In the wake of trading him to the Toronto Maple leafs on Sunday for Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake, the Ducks reached out to show to Giguere to show their appreciation and respect for the goaltender who brought the Stanley Cup to California.
There has been mixed emotions from the people I’ve talked to about this trade but I think this is a move that will help the Leafs, and more pointedly Jonas Gustavsson, in the future.
”The Monster” has shown some potential to be a NHL #1 goaltender but he needs a mentor he can respect to show him the ropes, and at 32 Giguere still has some quality years left to help achieve this end.
Brian Burke has certainly rolled the dice on this one but if “Jiggy” can return to even 85% of his former abilities it will be a deal worth doing. The plan going into this season was for Toskala to return to form after off-season surgery, and be traded at the deadline. At that point, the plan was for Gustavsson to take over as the future of the franchise. The problem is that Toskala ha struggled mightily all season and Gustavsson clearly isn’t ready for the work load.
It is true that Giguere will eat up a lot of cap space ($6.5 mil cap hit) but in getting the Ducks to take Jason Blake’s contract ($4 mil cap hit), the loss is negligable really. If you view it as a $2.5 mil loss next year and Gustavsson developes into a true #1 starter under Giguere’s guidance, it a mearly a monetary loss, and it’s common knowledge that the Leafs have plenty of that.
Audio of Players Reactions in the Aftermath of Huge Trade
Posted by Derek in NHL News, NHL Opinion, NHL Rumors, NHL Trades on January 31st, 2010
Feb. 3rd: Flames Coach, Brent Sutter, and GM, Darryl Sutter on FAN960 with Rob Kerr
Feb. 1: Damien Cox of the Toronto Star talks with Gord Stellick and Don Landry Monday morning about the acquisitions of Dion Phaneuf and JS Giguere.
Peter Maher, the Voice of the Calgary Flames talks about the trade.
Not Audio, but numerous comments made via media conference calls from the JS Giguere/Vesa Toskala/Jason Blake trade. Worth a read. Also, a nice touch by the Ducks thanking Jiggy.
Jan. 31st: Here’s a link to The Fan590 Toronto Sports Radio website where you can listen to audio of the player reactions to the huge deal today between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Calgary Flames. (For those unaware of the trade, the details are listed below.)
You can also listen to Leafs GM Brian Burke discuss both deals made today (another trade took place between the Leafs and the Anaheim Ducks, details of which are also available below), and audio of Maple Leaf coach Ron Wilson discussing the the development from the coaching point of view.
Audio of Sutter’s Press conference at Flames.NHL.com.
Is Ron Wilson Serious?
Posted by Derek in NHL News, NHL Opinion, NHL Trades on January 28th, 2010
Ok, Garnet Exelby has joined Jamal Mayers in expressing his desire to be moved out of Toronto. This really doesn’t come as a big surprise considering neither player has really had much playing time this season.
The Maple Leafs are deep in defencemen making more money then Exelby, with $21.925 million tied up in Mike Komisarek ($4.5 mil), Tomas Kaberle ($4.25 mil), Francois Beauchemin ($3.8 mil), Jeff Finger ($3.5 mil), Luke Schenn ($2.975 mil), and Mike Van Ryn ($2.9 mil) all against the salary cap. This pretty much put Exelby in the press box. The consistently good play of Ian White at $850 000 didn’t help Exelby’s chances either.
All that said, the really amazing part was how Ron Wilson was doing his thing with the media again. He more or less blames all of the problems in Leaf-land on the media, in one way or another, and chalked all the hype to “negative reporting” on our part… What? Should we not cover this situation? Do Leaf fans not want to hear about potential movement of players on a team that desperately needs change? Like it or not Ron, you coach in Toronto and people care about what’s going on with the Leafs. It’s not the media’s fault that there really isn’t anything “positive” to talk about. Instead of worrying about what the media is saying you should be worried about how long until it’s all been said, and no one is saying anything anymore.
The opposite of love isn’t hate, Mr. Wilson, it’s apathy.
Exelby was speaking candidly about his time in Toronto, and was really pretty politically correct in stating his wishes, as was Mayers…
“”It’s funny how things change and never quite work out the way you hope they might,” said Exelby on Wednesday. “I understand we have a team that’s deep in defencemen and it’s tough for me to get in the lineup and stay in the lineup. It’s been that way all year.”
A seldom-used defenceman who was acquired in an off-season deal that saw Pavel Kubina sent to the Atlanta Thrashers, Exelby added that he just wants a chance to play somewhere and doesn’t feel that will happen in Toronto.
“If there’s not much use for me here then I’ll be happy to go somewhere if it helps the team and do something that’s right for the organization,” he said.
Much like Exelby, Mayers says he is not pleased with his lack of playing time and thinks his rambunctious style could be put to better use on another team. But he vows his unhappiness will not manifest itself in a lack of effort on the ice with the blue and white.
“The reality is that I am a Leaf and I’m going to continue to work hard. That won’t change and hopefully people notice that,” said Mayers, who was acquired from the St. Louis Blues in 2008 for a third round pick.”" (Source: TSN)
As far as Exelby and Mayers are concerned, Wilson said that their numbers speak for themselves. It’s true, their numbers were weak. I was of the impression they were acquired to add toughness but I’ll entertain Wilson’s spin of the situation.
If it is fair to measure the players performance’s based on their numbers then the same rule should apply to evaluate Mr. Wilson himself. His numbers in Toronto are less then impressive to say the least. In 136 games coached in the last season and a half in Toronto, Wilsons record is 51 wins against 85 losses (including OT losses). This season their penelty kill is ranked 30th at 69.4% under Wison’s direction, a team system widely viewed as a coachable skill. The powerplay is clicking along at 16.5%, good for 25th overall.
How can that be spun to blame the media? Then again, maybe I’m just being negative.
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