Tasty Brownie! Kings ink young phenom to 6-year extension among others

The future is now for the Kings

There have been a few contract extensions handed out in the NHL recently, topping the list are the Los Angeles Kings, who signed forward Dustin Brown to a 6-year contract extension today.

The former 13th overall pick from the 2003 draft has 4 goals and 4 assists so far in 11 games with the Kings and has been a star on the rise ever since his definitive entry to the NHL in 2005-2006, putting up 14 and 17 goal seasons since then.
His points total have been on a uprise as well...from 28 to 46, and if his current pace continues, he will finish the season in the 70-point area.

Brown is poised to become a 30-40 goal scorer with huge upside, and he's a mainstay in Los Angeles for at least 6 more years.
All this at such a young age, the 22-year old Ithaca, New York native will turn 23 on November 4th.

Kings GM Dean Lombardi on "Brownie":

Dustin is an integral part of what we are building here with the Kings.
We like how he competes; we like his toughness; and we are very pleased with how his overall game has developed.

"An integral part" is not far off with guys like Mike Cammalleri (10 G, 3 A), sophomore sensation Anze Kopitar (4 G, 8 A) and star Alex Frolov (3 G, 7 A) all destined for superstardom (or at least come close to it).

On defence? They're well equiped with former Hurricanes prospect Jack Johnson (1 G, 1 A), veteran goldie Rob Blake (1 G, 4 A), the dangerous Lubomir Visnovsky (1 G, 7 A) to go along with new faces Brad Stuart (1 G, 2 A), Tom Preissing (0 G, 2 A) and another guy who's been around a while, Jaroslav Modry (0 G, 1 A).

On paper? They're awesome...but the defence has had its own problems this year totally a paltry -14 rating with Modry being the only blueliner in the plus column (+4).

Kings fans are calling for Rob Blake's head because of his shoddy defensive work and inconsistent performance on the attack...Stuart and Preissing are off to slow starts...Johnson is still adapting with Visnovsky and Modry leading the way.

The future is definitely bright in sunny LA, but can the Kings finally pull out of their misery with the younglings and big names picked up this offseason?

Their current 5-6 start could be better, but if you look at last year, it could be worse.

They have the talent, time to fully exploit it...look for the Kings to be serious contenders now or possibly in the near future

Draper stays in Detroit:
The Red Wings have retained former Selke winner Kris Draper, signing the 36-year old to a new 3-year contract that will pay him $1.6 million per season.

Kenny Holland calls Draper an essential part of the team's core:
Kris has been such an important part of this organization's success.
We are fortunate to have secured a player with his leadership qualities and work ethic for the next three seasons.

He has 5 assists to start the season and has put up double digits in goals for the past 4 campaigns.

Minnesota locks up Burns:
Brent Burns is only 22 but already a force on Minnesota's blueline.
The Wild locked him up to a 4-year contract worth about $14.2 million or an average payout of $3.55 million per season.
Minnesota's former 1st round pick is +6 this season and hopes to repeat the +16 rating he put up last year.

I like Doug Risebrough's reasoning when it comes to these big long deals being thrown around:
Long-term contracts are about projection now.
Not about what they'll make, but their ability to earn it and make things happen during the length of the contract.

Panthers sign Cullimore:
The Florida Panthers have reportedly signed defenceman Jassen Cullimore to a 1-year contract including a 2-week conditioning stint in the minors, likely to replace the injured Noah Welch as the team's 7-8 defenceman.

Markov to Russia:
The Danny Markov free-agent saga is officially over...the veteran signed a contract to play in Russia with Dynamo for the upcoming season and TSN reports that his deal includes an out clause that would allow him to come to North America and sign with another team next summer.
Markov was rumoured to be seeking between $2.5 and $3.5 million, but teams like the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders backed out because of salary cap constraints.

-BBeR

NEW Flyers jersey information leak?

Reader John D. sends in the following (who will as well become a contributor for the Flyers on this blog, you interested? Shoot me an email over at bbrblog@gmail.com, now back to the topic!)

Thanks John for sending this in, really appreciated.

But folks, take it for what it's worth, John didn't get this from the team directly, so it's hardly a done deal, just a rumour.

Thought I'd let the hockey world know some inside information about the
Flyers new jerseys that will be out next year. I was at the Flyers main
practice facility today (in Vorhees, NJ) and will be for the rest of the
week. On my way out, I was talking to the staff, and we were discussing
the new jerseys coming out in the fall.

Apparently, there will be a complete overhaul of the Flyers jerseys and
it will be released on September 14th. No one, even the staff, even
knows what it will exactly look like except for this clue (thanks to the
skate shop staff): "You know what the Buffalo Sabres wore last
year...Yeah, it's like that."

Next year, the Flyers will be sporting 2 new jerseys - a black and a
white model. There will be NO THIRD JERSEY next year. When there is
one though, it will be an orange one. It is most likely going to be
released after this upcoming season or the season after that.

I hope I helped! I know it's not much information, but thats all there
is right now. I'll give regular updates when I get them.

John will also be given updates once he joins in officially on this blog!

-The Detroit Red Wings signed former Blues captain Dallas Drake to a 1-year contract worth just above league minimum at $550 K.
Drake is still effective, even at his current status, and for that price, he may just turn out to be a bargain, much like Yannic Perreault was last season with the 'Yotes.

-Speaking of em 'Yotes, Phoenix has signed former Flyers forward, Mike York to a 1-year deal.
York will net $1 millon over the course of next season before being eligible to hit the UFA market once again.
York's career has slown down big time after a few succesful seasons with the Islanders, he was dealt mid-season to the Flyers, along with defenceman Alexei Zhitnik (later passed on to Atlanta) for centre Randy Robitaille and poitman Freddy Meyer,

How slow, you ask?

I think a downfall from 53 points with the Isles in 2005-2006 to just 21 points in two-half campaigns with New York and Philadelphia is more than enough cause for concern.

-Among other news, the Stars picked up tough-guy Todd Fedoruk today, signing the enforcer to a 1-year/$850 K contract likely to drop the gloves on more than a few occasions next year.
The Canucks agreed to terms with defenceman Aaron Miller on a 1-year contract, the terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

--BBR

Wings should part ways with Dominik Hasek...

I have nothing against Dominik Hasek.

He is a terrific goalie...but, I think this crusade of his has gone too far.

How much longer will his body take this? He's 42 years old and still playing 50+ games a year!

But the Red Wings seriously have to think long and hard about this, Hasek was great yet again last season, no doubt, but, look at it this way:

JS Giguere or Dominik Hasek?

Besides Hasek, the Wings don't have a great goalie system, in terms of depth, in their organisation.

They've got the young Jimmy Howard down in Grand Rapids, but I just don't feel he's quite ready for the Show yet, they've also got the likes of Chris Osgood backing up the 42-year old Hasek.

And how old is Osgood, you ask?

Chris Osgood is 34 years old.

When, I ask, when will the Wings finally break out of this "love", out of this "amore" they have for golden oldies?

We saw that with Brendan Shanahan, whom they grudgingly let walk to the Rangers via free-agency last season, with Brett Hull, who went on to play for the Coyotes and realized that it was over for him!

They should, instead of giving Hasek a contract worth around $2-3 million, invest in a goalie like Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who's an impending free-agent and will likely bid adieu to Brian Burke come July 1st.

''Me and my family have to make the decision,'' the six-time Vezina Trophy winner and two-time NHL MVP said shortly after Detroit's season ended.

Oh, and they forgot 1-time Stanley Cup Champion, back in 2001-2002, when the Wings took the Hurricanes out in 5.

Hasek also needs to consider retirement, he earned $1,75 million last season (incentives included) and don't you really think he has enough money, don't you think he can go home to the Czech Republic, with his family, his money and his pride still intact?
He finished the season with a spotty 38-11-6 record, a 2.05 goals-against average, and a .913 save percentage.

Exactly, what clause in his contract or in his mentality guarantees that he will be that good ever again?

And don't you think, Dom, that 15 years in the NHL, a Stanley Cup, a plethora of awards, a 362 career wins, 63 playoff win and a goals-against average hovering under 2.20, and a terrific potential final great season good enough to leave behind?

Or will he return, put up paltry numbers, and leave without his pride and get a tribute like this one?

The Wings need to get younger, otherwise, they'll just emphasize the fact that they're the image of the old old NHL, and Dominik Hasek needs to think about his life more than anything else.
He can still play, and the Red Wings are seriously willing to pay, but do they really have to?

JS Giguere is expected to hit the open market, then tell me Ken Holland, would you have regretted signing Hasek sometime next week, rather than having waited and saved money to hunt down Giguere?

It all comes down to Hasek, he's supposed to make a decision by the end of the week, and I'm hoping he makes the right one.

Here's to hoping doesn't get ugly or get me burned too bad :)

--BBR

Wings and Ducks headed to OT!

This is thrilling, 1-1 in the 1st OT and the loser will be hanging on his heels next game.

Catch the game on TSN if you can!

If history repeats itself, no Stanley for Senators...

Yep, it's sad for us bandwagoning Canadians, but it's the obvious truth.

No team from north of the border, has won hockey revered prize since mes Canadiens did it back in 1993 against the Los Angeles Kings.

Not saying that this is going to happen, I said IF history repeats itself.

Now you ask, what is this history?

2003-2004: Tampa Bay Lightning defeat Calgary Flames in 7 games
2005-2006: Carolina Hurricanes defeat Edmonton Oilers in 7 games
2006-2007: ------------------- defeat Ottawa Senators in 7 games ?

For the past 2 finals, Lord Stanley's Cup has been lost twice by two Canadian teams, the Edmonton Oilers last season to the Carolina Hurricanes, and the last pre-lockout season when the Calgary Flames came up a game short against the then-powerful Tampa Bay Lightning.

The history would scare any Sens fan away, but, here's another interesting tidbit that completely debunks my outrageous claims above:

The modern-era Ottawa Senators have never made it to the Stanley Cup Finals

so, we can never know how they'll perform?

Will they suck?
Will they be awesome?

God only knows.

Until yesterday at around 6:30-7:00 PM EST, that idea was still in play.

No more though.

I wish you Sens fans all the best, it must be great having a dominating team heading into the Cup Finals for the first time, while we Canadiens, Leafs, Oilers, Flames and Canucks fans can all but sit and watch on our Plasmas, LCD's or some crappy 90's box.

Now the question of the post: Who do you prefer? Detroit? or Anaheim?

--BBR

P.S. The Ghost may come out of his tavern and post a little something on those defeated and depleted Sabres later.

Pronger says he was just ''finishing hit''...

As many people probably expected, the Anaheim Ducks were not enthusiastic about talking to the media that bowled over mountains just to interview them, get a quote worthy of a front page story, anything.

Besides the Detroit Red Wings shelling the Anaheim Ducks 5-0 at the Honda Centre last night, reporters had other things they wanted to talk about, more precisely, Ducks' defenceman Chris Pronger hit-from-behind on Wings pest Tomas Holmstrom along the right wing boards in the 2nd period.

Pronger and Rob Nierdemayer both went into Holmstrom, probably because they wanted to give him a piece of his own medecine, what it feels like when some guy sticks his rear end in front of your goalie.

Pronger's hit was by far more violent, he lifted both his arms with his stick parallel to ice and just smashed, just made mashed potatoes out of Tomas Holmstrom, who really, had nowhere to go.

Actually, it was probably more out of frustration that they both hit Holmstrom, after all, he had already gotten his name onto the scoresheet.

Holmstrom finished the night with 2 goals and 1 assist, and must've felt good about himself, especially after he left the game, got 13 stitches to the head, and came back to score some more.

"I had two guys on me and fell into the boards," the veteran Swede said about the hit. "I never saw the guys come from behind."

Pronger on hitting Holmstrom:
"I was just trying to finish my hit, it was good to see him back."

The referee completely missed out on the call, and sent Rob Nierdemayer to the dressing room, while the real culprit, Chris Pronger, remained on the ice.

The NHL now had a choice to make: do you suspend Pronger or not?

At first, I would say yes, you suspend Pronger for hitting from behind to the head, but, Holmstrom came back to play in the 3rd, so that may soften the severity of Pronger's actions, in certain people's eyes, Holmstrom was not injured as bad as first thought.

But, it was still there, the intention was there to injure, come on, it's bull that Pronger wanted to only finish hitting Holmstrom, he wanted to hurt him, to dump a valuable asset off of Detroit's roster.

Tell me, if referees penalize hooking for the intention and not the result, shouldn't the NHL do the same when it comes to these kind of situations?

TSN: Andrei Markov will be examined by Habs doctors after being the subject of a knee-on-knee hit at the Worlds, Saku Koivu also had succesful eye surgery.

--BBR

NHL Playoffs Schedule for Conference Finals

2007 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL
#1 Buffalo vs. #4 Ottawa
Thursday, May 10, 7:00 p.m. at Buffalo
Saturday, May 12, 8:00 p.m. at Buffalo
Monday, May 14, 7:00 p.m. at Ottawa
Wednesday, May 16, 7:00 p.m. at Ottawa*
Saturday, May 19, 2:00 p.m. at Buffalo*
Monday, May 21, 7:00 p.m. at Ottawa*
Wednesday, May 23, 7:00 p.m. at Buffalo

2007 WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL
#1 Detroit vs. #2 Anaheim
Friday, May 11, 7:30 p.m. at Detroit
Sunday, May 13, 7:30 p.m. at Detroit
Tuesday, May 15, 9:00 p.m. at Anaheim
Thursday, May 17, 9:00 p.m. at Anaheim*
Sunday, May 20, 3:00 p.m. at Detroit*
Tuesday, May 22, 9:00 p.m. at Anaheim*
Thursday, May 24, 7:30 p.m. at Detroit

These should be really interesting series, sadly (for me and my playoff pool hopes), there was no Cinderella team this year for fans to bandwagon on.
I chose the Wild to be that team, others chose the Islanders, or the Flames.

Detroit-Anaheim interests me a little more, since we don't always get to see #1 vs #2 in a playoff series.
They're both killer teams and it'll be very difficult to predict who a winner will be...well actually, now that Mathieu Schneider is out for the rest of the playoffs, Detroit has a glaring hole on its blue line, its #2 defenceman out!
So, Anaheim has the slight edge and I can see this going down to the wire, and may we please get a damn Game 7, which seems to be so difficult to get to this year!

Even though I like that series more, I probably will get to watch every single Sabres-Senators game, since up to this point, I have watched EVERY signle Sabres and Senators games on TSN and CBC.
I just don't feel like staying up till one in the morning to watch the Ducks play at home.

What will you be watching?

Why the Sharks Won't Win

There is a big no-no in NHL playoff hockey. You cannot blow two-goal leads. The Sharks have now broken that cardinal rule twice in the same playoff series.

For all the praise that has come about the Sharks for their play this post-season, they're in a dog fight with a team they should have already sent home. Looking at recent history, this should not be of any surprise under the current regime.

After losing 1-0 in Game 7 to Colorado in 2002, and missing the playoffs in 2003, the Sharks finally overcame the Avalanche hurdle. After being up 3-0 in the 2nd round, the Sharks put the Avs away in Game 6. They then lost to Calgary in the Western Conference Finals, after winning twice in Calgary to even the series. What really stung the Sharks now Flames Superstar goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, started the season with the Sharks.

Fast forward to last season, the Sharks, now with Joe Thornton, beat the Predators as a 5-seed and found themselves as the top seed remaining in the West. They drew the Edmonton Oilers, whom they beat in the first two games. The Oilers than took 4 in a row after winning Game 3 in Triple Overtime, and the Sharks fell apart.

Now it is happening again. After an impressive 2-0 shutout in Game 1, the Sharks had their foot on the collective throat of the Red Wings, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in Game 2. Instead of going to the jugular, the Red Wings get back into the game, and win with less than two minutes to play. In Game 3, the Sharks pulled one out, dominated the 2nd half of the game and won going away. Even as Tomas Holmstrom returned from injury in Game 4, the Sharks looked in control of the series witha 2-0 lead in Game 4. Holmstrom then scores with 4 seconds left in the 2nd, and Robert Lang, a perennial whipping boy for the Red Wings ties the game before Mathieu Schnieder wins the game in overtime.

Enter Game 5. The Sharks should have swept the Red Wings, but still have a great chance. It was Game 5 where the real color of the Sharks showed up. After scoring the first goal, the Sharks played like a team that simply cannot win the big games. They got whitewashed in the last two periods, even though Schnieder broke his wrist and lost 4-1. Nabokov gave up a bad goal to Pavel Datsyuk, and the Sharks couldn't kill penalties.

Some are very surprised the Red Wings are up in this series, going to game 6. I am not. As the Sharks have proven over the years, they're a team that knows how to lose. For all the talk this team gets of being a contender every year, I simply don't get it. The Sharks want to be a team that gets the respect that teams like the Avalanche did and especially the Red Wings do. Winning commands respect, and the Sharks simply cannot do that.

7 Years...

7 Years!

7 Years is a long time.

I was 15 years old when I had my second International Tournament (Soccer) in Denmark.
We went by bus (plane was too expensive), it was a 15 hour drive from Holland, where I live, to Denmark.

So what do you do?

You watch movies!
The bus driver decided to show “7 years in Tibet”.
For the people who don’t know the movie: “Brad Pitt goes to Tibet for 7 Years!”.

I’ll be honest with you, I don’t remember much about the movie, but I do remember one thing; it was a loooooong movie.
Sitting in the bus I had the feeling that I just saw a movie that lasted 7 years. T

The point I am trying to make - Pavel Datsyuk just signed a 7-year deal worth $46.9-million, that pretty much guarantees he will finish his NHL career with the Red Wings.

According to Datsyuk, he signed with the Wings rather than explore unrestricted free agency because, "it's a good hockey town, good tradition (and a) good organization. They help me a lot. I'm very appreciative to play in Detroit."
It’s the biggest an longest contract the Detroit Red Wings organization ever gave to a player in their history.
I don’t think I have to explain that Detroit had some great, great players over the past 15 years.
Still, they have never given such huge contract to a player (not even the “Captain”).

So I asked myself the question: Why him?

Pavel Datyuk (Павел Дацюк, Pavel Dacjuk)!
Born on July 20th, 1978 in Sverdlovsk, USSR (now Yekaterinburg, Russia). Datsyuk grew up in Yekaterinburg and was never considered an elite player because of his size.
He was 5 ft 8 in (173 m), 145 lb (66 kg) at the time.
He stayed with local teams throughout his youth, and was passed over in the 1996 and 1997 NHL Entry Drafts. He was finally picked in 1998 NHL Entry Draft, in the sixth round as 171st overall, by the Detroit Red Wings.
He was the Wings' 8th choice in that draft and while they liked his skills, they were not certain he would ever grow enough and become strong enough to play in the NHL.
As it turns out, he did grow and gain the necessary strength and the Wings decided to bring him to North America.

He arrived in Detroit for the 2001-2002 NHL season.

Datsyuk can amaze people with his 1on1 moves and his ability to make goalies look silly.
He now has back to back 87 points seasons but hasn’t produced in the playoffs. A lot of people were not “high” on Pavel because of his playoff history.

A case can be made here:

Datsyuk only has 3 goals in 42 playoff games, that’s not what you are looking for if you are Detroit.
You don’t have to be an expert to notice that, that isn’t much.
The Red Wings are taking a big gamble with this seven year deal.
However, the Red Wings organization didn’t see it like that, ‘specially Steve Yzerman.

Yzerman (Dutch for Iron Man - ironic isn’t it) was the biggest reason that Detroit signed Datsyuk to a seven year deal. Ilitch said Yzerman repeatedly said “we’ve got to sign him, we’ve got to sign him.”
“Steve has taken a special interest in Pavel,” Ilitch said, “and that made me feel good.” Yzerman, who played with Datsyuk for four seasons, explained why he felt it was important to secure Datsyuk.

He said: “if he leaves this summer, we’re going to try and replace him, we’re going to have to go out on the market and we’re probably going to spend more on a player that we don’t like as much as Pave.

With these UFA agents coming at younger age, you really have to be certain and really know your player and if you believe in him, tie him up! We believe in Pavel.” It’s great to hear that Steve believes in Pavel but before I see him do something in the postseason, I don’t!

Things have changed in Hockeytown. Yzerman and Shanahan aren’t here anymore. Now the kids have to take over. Well, they’re not kids anymore, are they! Datsyuk 28, Henrik Zetterberg 26 and Nicklas Kronwall 26 are the future of the organization. Kronwall signed a five year deal (worth 15 million) and Zetterberg is UFA after 2 seasons and will ask for the same kind of money as Datsyuk. This season Datsyuk stepped up after Zetterberg went down with a back injury late in the season, leading the Red Wings offensively AND defensively. He showed everyone after a slow start of the season (Zetterberg also had a slow start) that he can be a #1 center for the Red Wings.
He needs to be a #1 center for the kind of money he is going to get!
Red Wings fans are spoiled fans. We are used to watching Sergei Federov flying all over the ice. Sergei is the benchmark for Pavel and maybe that’s not fair.

The good news is that Detroit has a #1 center for the next seven years. Did I say that he had signed for seven years? Yeah, I believe I did! He showed that he can be the ‘go to’ guy during the regular season. Now he has to prove it during the playoffs (of course he needs some help other than Zetterberg!).

Do I believe in the little guy?
Yes I do!
And hopefully Wings fans are going believe too. Very soon!


Alex Meulenbroeks

Jamie McLennan an "imbecile"....

UPDATE (3:25 PM EST): I was right! McLennan got 5 games from the NHL, just as Jordin Tootoo got when he punched Stephane Robidas in the face a few weeks ago.

Jamie McLennan entered Game 5 with about 3 minutes remaining in which the Calgary Flames were losing 5-1.of

His ice-time was short-lived, he played only 18 seconds until he got kicked out for a cheapshot on Johan Franzen.

McLennan replaced Kipprusoff, who had allowed 5 goals and looked shaky.

Just as the Flames backup went into the game, the starter came back in.

He was at the edge of his crease and was constantly jabbing at a Wings player (turned out to be Franzen, his eventual victim) screening him, the puck went wide and McLennan went out to play it and just as he skated back into his crease, jabbed Johan Franzen around in the chest area.

Franzen went down to the ice and McLennan savagely fended off a few of the officials that escorted him out of the game and into the Flames dressing room.

Everyone expects a suspension to be announced by the NHL sometime today, and if it should mean anything at all to the Calgary Flames, it'll likely be around 5 games.

Wings fans are going crazy on YouTube: "The Calgary Flames are a bunch of goons."
"McLennan and Calgary Flames go crazy."

And to top it off, Pierre McGuire and Gord Miller both exclaimed on the air "OH MY GOD!" "THAT IS PURE IMBECILITY"

But...what people fail to understand is that it's not important...I mean, McLennan getting suspended is not important, it won't help the Wings at all, Kipprusoff figures to play every single game...
What matters is that Johan Franzen is out...but is he?
Many suggest that Franzen was acting on the play and he dove.

Here is an interesting piece from HockeyNutz

7. Noodles should be suspended!

• Flames fan: For what? He hardly hit Franzen and Franzen dove. Noodles should have gotten 2 for the original slash, 2 more for the next one and that is it. Why doesn't Franzen get 2 for high sticking on the play. Yes he was battling with Hamrlik, but the standard is you have to be in control of your stick at all times. He should get high sticking and diving!
• Wings fan: Playfair should get suspended for sending Noodles out to goon the Wings. Noodles should get suspended for his Simonlike Swing!
  
• HockeyNutz: I agree the ref overreacted. My first reaction was it was a major, but watching the replay the second slash was not as serious as Franzen made it out to be. I think this was a brilliant play by Noodles. Send a message to the Wings. Who cares if he gets suspended? He is not seeing real game action unless Kipper goes down...and if Kipper goes down the Flames are done regardless of who backs them up. This was Noodles being the ultimate team guy.
  

I wonder how the NHL will see it?
Probably the Wings' fan's way.

I also wonder how biased Don Cherry can be?
Maybe Franzen was acting, but it was an intentional hit from McLennan.
How can you call it "a little tap" Don?

But look at it this way too...if Kipper goes down...who will Calgary turn to?
Brett Khran?

And McLennan is apparently the best backup in the entire NHL, I once saw a feature about him in Florida, on how he loved being a backup and helping out Roberto Luongo, and how Luongo needed him.

Ah! Here it is:

Atmosphere in Hockeytown is pathetic...

While watching today's uneventful 3-1 Calgary Flames loss to the Detroit Red Wings that will put Calgary down 2 games to none, it really struck me at how bad the atmosphere in the old Joe Louis Arena is.

You wanna know how bad it is?

If you watched CBC's broadcast of the game at 1:00 PM today, you can tell from the start the crowd wasn't into it.

After Pavel Datsyuk scored yet again barely over a minute into the game, the crowd exalted a kind of tired cheer, as if they were exhausted of watching this happen.
The siren, the siren in the so-called "Hockeytown" rink, was also kind of silent, what was supposed to follow a blaring deafening horn was a shriek of happiness from the crowd.

But no.

I swear, I've never seen anything so dull in my life.

There was nothing, the crowd gave nothing to the Red Wings, they gave them no support whatsoever and were "calm" on missed calls by the officials.

Maybe I'm just used to the out-of-this-world atmosphere at my local sold-out Bell Centre, where the croud is LOUD.

Where you feel like you're in the game, where you feel the passion that the fans are showing their team, that the team feels and gets pumped up by.

It makes me wonder sometimes how the Detroit Red Wings can be such a dominating team without any energy shown by their fans, it's like, the fans don't even try to "inspire" the Wings to per say come back from a 2 goal deficit, or try to re-energize them by showing them they have confidence in them.

Whatever, it's sad to see such a great team have such a pathetic crowd.

The arena is not filling up very much either, and that also makes me wonder if they feel more pumped on the road; the Red Wings draw the most fans on the road in the whole NHL and they are louder in a place like Minnesota or Nashville, than at home in Detroit.

I also hear that, surprisingly, the Saddledome isn't as great as it looks.
Man, that place looked awesome back when the Flames made it all the way to the Cup Final...

I'm sure going to Joe Louis Arena is nice because of the history, but, I don't know if I'd feel like going every night if it was empty or dull.

-Sherry has a nice array of Price pictures from his pro debut.
It's really worth checking out as you won't find this many Price pictures in Hamilton on the web for probably another year and a half.

Time to watch the Sens and Pens, and then hit the books again...

Not too many things make Mr. Hockey cry...

The sculpture by Omri Amrany of Highland Park, Ill., depicts Howe in the act of shooting and recreates the motion using four different full-length sticks, the shaft of another, the puck flying off one of the sticks and flying ice chips.
It is 6 feet, 4 inches from the base to the top of Howe's head. The base, which is inscribed with statistical and biographical information on Howe on each of the four sides, weighs 3,000 pounds.

-ESPN

But this did...

The Detroit Red Wings honoured Gordie Howe yesterday, by unveiling a new 1 500 pound gold statue of Howe inside the West entrance of the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

Gordie Howe was touched.

"Not too may things choke me up," said the 79-year old Howe," ... so I guess that's the way of expressing the feeling that I have."

The Hall of Famer spent 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and his tenure is one that will never be forgotten.

He holds the record for seasons played (26), and he second all time with 801 goals (behind we all know who) and third all-time with 1850 points.

Mr. Hockey won 4 Cups, 6 Art Ross trophies, 6 Hart trophies and was an NHL All-Star an impressive 20 times.

This is a classy move by Mike Illitch, the Wings' owner and the entire Detroit organisation.

At least now, there is something in Detroit that will forever portray the image Gordie Howe showed the hockey world on the ice.

I wonder if Howe gets free season tickets to the Joe Louis Arena like Jean Beliveau does at the Bell Centre?

Datsyuk signs 7-year pact with Detroit...

Pavel Datsyuk will be a Red Wing for a long time.
How long you ask?

Oh, just seven years.

According to TSN, At 1:00 PM today, Red Wings GM Ken Holland announced the deal, which will pay the young Russian star $6-7 million anually, for a total of $46.9 million in that span.

He's making $3.9 million this season and it's paying off; the 28-year old forward has 27 goals and 60 assists to lead the Wings this season and is poised for greatness in the years to come.

He would have been a highly-sought player on the free-agent market, but instead, he decided to remain in Hockeytown for the next 7 seasons.

"Pavel really wanted to commit here for his career,"general manager Ken Holland said of the longest contract extension in team history."In the end we felt very comfortable with a long-term commitment to Pavel."

"Everyone in the organization wanted him to stay with us," said team owner Mike Ilitch.

I hope for the sake of Ken Holland, that he'll live up to this money.
If anything, he's certainly going to come close to living up to that.

Nevertheless, the 2006 Lady Byng Memorial recipient is happy.

"This contract was extremely important to me," Datsyuk said. "Especially since I have been a Red Wing since 2001."

Chelios does it "for the young players"

"I'd be lying if I said there weren't bad days," Chelios said yesterday. "I lost sleep and was stonewalled. It hasn't been easy. . . . But being the oldest guy in the league, I was there for Alan Eagleson, for Bob Goodenow and Ted Saskin. I've got nothing to gain from this, aside from doing something good for the young players coming up and because I care about the game. " -Globe Sports

I've also been wondering why it's taken this long for him to say something like this.
It's obvious Chelios isn't happy with this mess, heck, I like that he's thinking about the future more than himself.

Good going Chris, and I can't imagine what you've had to endure under Eagleson, Goodnow and now Saskin. Simple three boneheads...

Bertuzzi practices with Wings minor league team

Todd Bertuzzi made it through his first practice with the Griffins this
morning with no problems. He said his back feels fine and he hopes to make his
Red Wings debut next week, perhaps against Columbus on Thursday.

Full story

It'll be interesting to see how he progresses.

The Cherry on the Puck Bag...

I hope you all enjoyed my 6 hour live online coverage, I sure had fun and I hope you enjoyed reading.

Now here's what I have to say about certain things:

Ryan Smyth an Islander: This hit me from Planet Mars, wow, boy was I surprised; Smyth is a great guy and in this situation, I disagree with Pierre McGuire, Lowe should have pushed harder to sign Smyth. They dealt Pronger at the beginning of the season and you'd think with the cap space they freed up that they'd be able to re-sign their key player. Guess not!
The Oilers got some nice young talent back in Nilsson and O'Marra to go along with a first-round pick, but none of that compensates for this costly loss of "the Oiler".
This is huge, it seemed like there would be no surprises this year and we got one 32 minutes after the 3 PM Trade Deadline.
It remains however to be seen if the Islanders can re-sign him and if this move is the end of Jason Blake in Garth Snow's camp?

Sharks look meaner with Guerin:
Bill Guerin's name was officially off the trade market
around noon today with the San Jose Sharks winning out on the jewel of this trade deadline, Bill Guerin.

He came cheaper to San Jose than Tkachuk to Atlanta, the Blues got a 1st round pick, checker Ville Niemienen and a minor-league prospect.

That's all! And Guerin has more points than Tkachuk. Tkachuk went for a 1st, 3rd, 2nd and a much better player in Glen Metropolit than Ville Niemienen.

The Sharks seem set for the playoffs now, they got Craig Rivet from the Canadiens, he should be a great pickup;

Billy Guerin will probably play with Patrick Marleau and with Vesa Toskala nursing a groing injury, the Sharks still have an excellent goalie in Evgeni Nabokov.

Bertuzzi looks to make impact in Detroit...for Panthers' sake:
Todd Bertuzzi played only 7 games as a Panther and was traded today to the Detroit Red Wings who beat out the Nashville Predators and the Anaheim Ducks for his services.
Holland acquires the controversial winger in hope he excels on a Cup hungry Red Wing team.
Bertuzzi says his back is not yet at 100 % but nonetheless, he should still end up playing for them.
It may take some time for him to adgust but, all and all, he'll probably make an impact down the stretch and during the playoffs.
Now, the Red Wings sent a conditional pick to Jacques Martins' Panthers; if Bertuzzi excels with his new team, the Panthers could get a second round pick; if he takes them to the Cup Final, Florida gets a 1st round pick.
Ingenious move by Kenny Holland, who structured this move perfectly, so his team doesn't suffer if Bertuzzi stumbles. And if he does, the Panthers, at best, will get a 4th or 3rd round pick.
And this is,

Bleu, Blanc et Rouge

Canadiens cling on to beat Leafs and move up to 7th as the playoff race in the East tightens...

Yep, remember that article on Sheldon Souray and how tonight's game was of immense importance to the Canadiens and Leafs? Well, the CH prevails once more, hanging on for a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Canadiens hand the Leafs a devastating loss as they now lose more ground in the playoff hunt with the Habs and Thrasher both winning tonight.

Andrew Raycroft allowed 5 goals on 16 shots and was replaced mid-way through the 2nd period by J.S. Aubin. The 5 that Montreal put past Raycroft includes 3 power play goals, a blast from Sheldon Souray, a great shot by Michael Ryder in the high slot and a nifty little move by Saku Koivu all alone in front of Andrew Raycroft.

The Leafs would not give up however, putting 2 quickies and softies past David Aebischer in a situation in which Pierre McGuire described David Aebsicher's performance as "terrible".

With under 2 minutes remaining, Canadiens checking forward Garth Murray clearly high sticks Mats Sundin along the boards, however, the reffing crew completely blew the call and missed it entirely. Sundin, furious, spits blood on the ice and continues jawing away at the official and for good reason as the Leafs ended up losing and a blown call cost them a powerplay with enough time to mount a comeback.

Always exciting, though a fight would have been nice.

Some TSN tidbits, thanks to Spector:

- Penguins might make a pitch for Bill Guerin if they don't land Gary Roberts.
- Three or four Western teams may have interest in Phoenix's Owen Nolan. Yanic Perreault hopes to re-sign with the Coyotes. The Pens could still make a pitch for Georges Laraque.
- The NY Rangers, Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings and possibly the NY Islanders may have interest in Florida's Todd Bertuzzi.
- The Washington Capitals could move Dainius Zubrus by tomorrow's deadline.

Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.

Red Wings gamble on underachieving Calder

Just minutes after a deal that sent Brent Sopel to Vancouver, the Red Wings have taken off another potential player to be traded the night before Deadline Day, I hope there's something left for tomorrow.


The Chicago Blackhawks traded defenceman Lasse Kukkonen to Philadelphia for struggling forward Kyle Calder who sports a league worst -31 with the Flyers this season and has struggled offensively, netting just 9 goals, which began coming after Christmas and earned 12 points for a measly total of 21.

The Hawks then dealt Calder to the Detroit Red Wings, who have hopes of resurrecting this player from the dead, in exchange for surprising young forward Jason Williams who has put up some impressive numbers this season with

This is just a gamble by the Red Wings in hopes of adding a potential scorer (who hasn't scored this season). They did give up Williams to get him, but seriously, why the hell would Detroit do this? No logic behind this move at all, unless they expect Calder to become the player he was which, at this point, there's no telling what he'll do.

Williams has floundered this season and has not lived up to his $1.6 million salary, Red Wings fans will be happy to see him go.

Kukkonen is a solid young defenceman and the Flyers will likely play him if an injury occurs (very likely.)

I nearly lost all respect for Ken Holland...until a reader notified me of Williams' salary.
Calder could be a make-or-break player for Detroit.

We'll just have to wait and see...

Bleu, Blanc et Rouge

The Bill Guerin Watch.

Paul, over at Kukla's Korner cited: "Bob McKenzie was just on NHL Live and mentioned Detroit, Atlanta, Ottawa along with the Sharks being in the running for Bill Guerin. He would not be surprised if a deal was done today"

Aww, the GM's have gotta stop trading away, or else, there will be nothing left for Trade Deadline Day!

Anyway, McKenzie was just on the Team 990 here in Montreal and he mentioned some of this. However, it is very interesting to see the Thrashers name be in that list of teams (there are probably more too).

First they acquire Tkachuk for a huge price (Metropolit, 1st round, 3rd round and 2008 2nd round). Since St. Louis is asking for a prospect and a bunch of picks (per RDS), I'm wondering what they have left to give up for Guerin? Next year's first rounder? 2009's first rounder? The Zamboni and the women's bathroom?

If Waddell swings a deal that will send more picks to Saint-Louis, he should damn well be fired.
If he does do what I suggested (next year's pick) -although that probably won't happen- he would be throwing the Thrashers future away just so he can get two players who are in their late 30's and on top of it, would attract a lot of attention on the free-agent market.

Guerin ain't going to Atlanta, I guarantee it.

The Red Wings could use Guerin since Dan Cleary's been kinda "cold" for the last, say 2 months?
The Sharks, well, we know about 'em, but, they gave up their first rounder to Montreal last night, and it could be difficult for them to land him without sacrificing young players such as Joe Pavelski, Matt Carle or Marc-Antoine Vlasic...

The Senators have been on the up since Christmas and now are in posession solidly of a playoff spot, but, as we know, the East is known to be kinda tight and thin on the edges this season. After all, only 3 points seperate the 10th and 6th spot. Guerin might be a good fit here and he would definitely give John Muckler the presence of a playoff experienced vet amongst some young Senators.
He brings experience, strength, leadership and scoring ability (see 2006-2007 season stats...) to the table along with a sharp defensive side.

RDS, the french sister of TSN of Quebec, recently said the Canadiens also could be involved in negotiations with the St. Louis Blues; although this is likely less reliable (no pun intended), Hockeybuzz.com recently mentioned Montreal being in the race for Guerin.

Take these last two with a grain of salt, as RDS only suggested the Canadiens are involved and Eklund is a Habs fan and his trade rumours are usually biased.

And to top this off and to add more spark to the fire...Jeff Gordon reported out of St. Louis on his blog, that the Blues may sign Guerin to a 2-year contract extension.

And this is for your latest hockey news...

Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.