With the loss of Wheeler, the Coyotes will get a compensatory pick in the second round. They will gain the 35th overall pick in the draft.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wheeler to Hit Open Market
With the loss of Wheeler, the Coyotes will get a compensatory pick in the second round. They will gain the 35th overall pick in the draft.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Luc Bourdon: 1987-2008
A tragic end to a promising kid.
Panthers Add More Youth
Frolik comes with a lot of offensive upside, something that the team is in dire need of to compete with the other big boys in the Eastern Conference. With the likes of Shawn Matthias, Michal Repik and Keaton Ellerby also signed on and getting ready for the coming year, the Panthers should have some reasonable expectations or at least will be a fun team to watch. The youth of the team may not be as highly regarded as the like of Chicago or Pittsburgh may be, but they should have plenty to prove when it comes to the Southeast Division.
Going Back to the Outdoors
The success of the game in Buffalo was certainly good motivation to keep pushing an outdoor game, as it brings a large crowd out to a hockey game and it did provide an alright television product, which could very well be improved.
The two locations speculated to being used would either Soldier Field, where the NFL Bears play or Wrigley Field, where the MLB Cubs play. I suppose the logical choice would be Wrigley Field, in case the Bears are still playing football in January. At Wrigley Field, the ice crew could have more preparation time to make sure the ice is good & smooth for the participants, fans in the stands and the television outlets.
Of course, there would be attendance discrepancies between the two parks, as Soldier Field can hold 63,000 people, where Wrigley Field can hold over 41,000.
Fortunately for the league, the two teams matched up would be good for everyone watching. The Red Wings, possible Stanley Cup Champions, would be playing the new breed of superstars, the Blackhawks. The match-ups pretty much write their own billboards. Zetterberg versus Toews. Datsyuk versus Kane. Lidstrom versus the rest of the Blackhawks (ha ha). A very exciting prospect.
Home Ice Makes Difference in Game 3
Of course... the game I can't watch, the Penguins make a game of it and eventually won, 3-2, to bring the Penguins back into the Stanley Cup Finals. The highlights were something else. The Penguins really came out with a lot of energy and made sure there was nothing left on the ice, as they hit more, skated faster and eventually scored their first goals of these Finals.
Even with five goals in Game 3, the pool really didn't benefit and nothing really changed in the standings.
For the Red Wings, Nicklas Lidstrom (Box 8) and Niklas Kronwall (Box 10) had assists in game and were the only Detroit players to make a difference to the top six of the standings.
Game 4 will go on Saturday night, broadcast on CBC with a puck drop at 6:10pm MT.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Dallas Gets Daley for Three
Daley, 24, had played all 82 games for the Stars this past season, scoring 5 goals and 19 assists in the process. His coming out suggests that he could be a bigger part of the offense, depending on how the blueline shapes up for ice-time for him.
His signing does make for six regular defensemen already signed on for next season, which will lessen the load for the off-season agenda.
Forwards | Defense | Goaltenders |
Mike Ribeiro | Sergei Zubov | Marty Turco |
Brendan Morrow | Stephane Robidas | |
Brad Richards | Matt Niskanen | |
Mike Modano | Trevor Daley | |
Jere Lehtinen | Phillipe Boucher | |
Steve Ott | Niklas Grossman | |
Joel Lundqvist |
Quiet Day... Look Ahead
Well, it's a pretty quiet morning on the hockey front. Game 3 of the Cup Finals (or lack thereof) goes tonight with little to no anticipation from a lot of sides. I think a lot of my Red Wing fan friends are waiting for the clinching game to really get excited now. Whoever thought winning could be so boring when you had the two best teams from either conference showing up? Maybe the pool favourite from the Eastern Conference, Montreal, would have had a better shot at winning... at least they have some veteran talent to rally around.
Personally, looking forward has been much more fun than analyzing these playoffs. Sure, the emergence of Johan Franzen was a pleasant surprise and well, Chris Osgood taking the crease away from Dominik Hasek wasn't quite a surprise, but whatever. Both Franzen and Osgood will be front and centre come the pools next season, I can guarantee that. Nobody likes to see points being left behind. Both of them will likely figure in well come draft day as well. Something tells me that Franzen won't be scoring at his torrid pace for 82 games next season, but someone could be gambling on something close.
For the Penguins, looking ahead, they will have a much more experienced group of kids, who will likely take this experience and manufacture an even more spectacular season for 2009. It could almost be an all-Pittsburgh first round of a pool draft, if one (or more) were to not be so careful. Between Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury... you could have a 1, 2, 3 scenario in your pool draft. It could happen! Just think... what if they pick up Marian Hossa for next season as well?!?
Once the Finals are over, both teams will get their Prospective Looks and you'll get to see how the team will shape up going into the Draft. As a bit of a spoiler, both teams are not looking so bad.
Also coming after the Finals, the Opiated Sherpa's mock entry draft will also be published. The first round of the draft is quite hyped this year and it should be another interesting draft class. Last summer, the Sherpa outpicked TSN, Sportsnet and ESPN in their mock drafts, so it'll all be compared again this time around as well.
Once the NHL calendar has been released, the Opiated Sherpa draft should have a date within a couple weeks of the announcement of the start of the season. There is still a chance that a keeper draft will be implemented this season for those who may be interested. Details are being drawn up on how that will work, so stay tuned for that. The annual draft will likely be a couple weeks before the season starts and an e-mail will be sent out for that. As for the Sheet, it will get another appearance through the regular season, likely with another online selection sheet. It sure worked out well for the playoffs, except for those who don't know how to read the rules, but the rules aren't quite as strict, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with it this time around.
Once the Finals are over, both teams will get their Prospective Looks and you'll get to see how the team will shape up going into the Draft. As a bit of a spoiler, both teams are not looking so bad.
Also coming after the Finals, the Opiated Sherpa's mock entry draft will also be published. The first round of the draft is quite hyped this year and it should be another interesting draft class. Last summer, the Sherpa outpicked TSN, Sportsnet and ESPN in their mock drafts, so it'll all be compared again this time around as well.
Once the NHL calendar has been released, the Opiated Sherpa draft should have a date within a couple weeks of the announcement of the start of the season. There is still a chance that a keeper draft will be implemented this season for those who may be interested. Details are being drawn up on how that will work, so stay tuned for that. The annual draft will likely be a couple weeks before the season starts and an e-mail will be sent out for that. As for the Sheet, it will get another appearance through the regular season, likely with another online selection sheet. It sure worked out well for the playoffs, except for those who don't know how to read the rules, but the rules aren't quite as strict, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with it this time around.
Bruins & Jackets Make a Swap
On Tuesday, we saw one of our first trades of the summer. The Boston Bruins sent prospect defenseman Jonathan Sigalet to the Columbus Blue Jackets for unsigned prospect forward Matt Marquardt. Sure, on the surface, this is a minor-league deal, but if we dig a little deeper, we might find it to be something of note.
Sigalet, a 4th round pick in 2005, has played a couple of seasons now with the Bruins' minor-league system, not being able to crack the big team in Boston. He does bring some decent size and is known to be an alright defender. Moving him into a good defensive system with Ken Hitchcock could prove beneficial to his career. The Blue Jackets defense does have a couple holes to fill in camp and Sigalet should get a look. Of course, for pool value, he'll have to bring some pool talent from out of nowhere to be considered, but that would more likely make him a mid-season pick-up.
For Boston, they get negotiation rights to Marquardt, a QMJHL prospect out of Baie-Comeau and Moncton, where he had a very productive year scoring 69 points in 68 games. Marquardt obviously didn't enjoy the idea of going to Columbus, a team that has yet to make the playoffs in their franchise history. So, Boston gets a crack at signing the breakout prospect, who was drafted in the 7th round in 2005.
To Columbus | Age | Games/MIN | Points | Contract (July 1st) |
Jonathan Sigalet, D | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 year, $822,000 |
To Boston | ||||
Matt Marquardt, F | 20 | 0 | 0 | Unsigned |
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
A Few More Potential Free Agents
Capitals Save One from Free Agent Market
Other than the number of years, the salary cap hit or salary was not disclosed, but the Capitals have a good system of budgeting, while the team has plenty of space to work with when you are working in depth players.
Forwards | Defense | Goaltenders |
Alexander Ovechkin | Tom Poti | Brent Johnson |
Nicklas Backstrom | Jeff Schultz | |
Viktor Kozlov | Brian Pothier | |
Alexander Semin | John Erskine | |
Michael Nylander | Milan Jurcina | |
Tomas Fleischmann | ||
Matt Bradley | ||
David Steckel | ||
Chris Clark | ||
Donald Brashear |
Desert Dogs Sign Young Keeper
Game 2 a Cinch
It looks as though that the Red Wings are just that good. The Penguins were shut down and shutout yet again in Game 2, 3-0. This should be one of the better playoff series we're ever going to see, but like many of the fans in the crowd, this one could be a snoozer by the end of it. I don't want to be too quick to say that the Penguins are playing poorly, because there is a certain level of coaching going on that makes the Detroit Red Wings that much better of a team.
You could argue, however, that the youth of the Penguins is getting a harsh lesson in fatigue and four rounds of playoff hockey. That also seems to be a legitimate question. It also doesn't help that their veteran leader, Gary Roberts, inserted into the line-up for Game 2 for energy, was banging and crashing all game, but found the penalty box on a few occasions as well.
In this go around, I won't say that it's going to be a different story in Pittsburgh and that we'll see a different Penguins team at home. What we may see is Detroit taking their foot off the pedal, if anything, as the Penguins sure did skate a bit better in Game 2, rather than Game 1. Maybe at home, the Penguins will have a few more bounces land on friendly sticks in front of the net as well.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Even More Potential Free Agents
Detroit Adds Pair of Prospects
Axelsson, 21, a Swedish forward, taken in the 2nd round, had a productive season in the Swedish Elite League. Some added seasoning in the Swedish Elite League may boost his chances to giving the Wings a good young winger to balance the books a little bit more.
Pyett, 20, a Canadian defenseman, was a late round pick and we all know how well the Red Wings do with those. Pyett played for Team Canada at the World Juniors and has now finished his junior hockey career in Regina. He may need some AHL seasoning, but this kid has plenty of upside and the Red Wings could just as easily work him into the big line-up nice & slowly.
Experience Wins Game 1
Well, we were all waiting for last night's match-up and we were treated to a doozy of a start, before the Red Wings flexed their experience and skill to really hold the Penguins down to a 4-0 win. The Red Wings held the Penguins to only 7 shots in the last two periods of the game... in total. Keeping that sort of offense down takes a lot of coaching and a lot of hard work. Don't expect that sort of game on Monday, however. Although, you really can't count it out either, I guess.
Also picking up points for the pool were Henrik Zetterberg (Box 1) and Dan Cleary (Box 5) picking up goals, while Tomas Holmstrom (Box 3) and Nicklas Lidstrom (Box 8) managed a pair of assists. Benson, Mike E., and Derek B. all scored a pair of points out of the game and gained one on Angela, who only managed a point from the Zetterberg goal.
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