Young Guys Taking Over.

So, while I was working today, I was e-mailing one of my friends and I asked him to help me come up with something to write about. His assignment to me seemed simple enough.

Why do you think the young guys are taking over hockey while the veterans are starting to call it quits?

And, no offense to my friend who asked me this...but he has very limited knowledge of hockey, and what it is all about...but I will get to that later. I wanted to keep this just to me...but, I had to enlist the help of some of my lovely HLOG. The lovely CapsChick came up with the easiest answer. She said that well the game has gotten faster. This isn't the same game that it was before. It's not the game they grew up playing. This is a game about speed and skill. It's not a game about who can hit the hardest or who can fight the best (even though our defending Stanley Cup Champs could prove me wrong). Sherry said basically the same thing. She said that they are getting older and it's harder for them to keep up.

Steph seemed to think along the same lines as me.

I don't know....it's kind of sad though, I mean, I love seeing the kids able to step up, but seeing all the guys you grew up watching retiring is sad... And it's funny the way they're adding more pads and cutting down on fighting, you'd think it would make people end up playing longer, but people do seem to be retiring at earlier ages.

Thinking of guys like Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne retiring makes me frustrated. Scott seems to think that the NHL has nothing left to offer him. And, Teemu probably wants to go out on top. But, I think the game needs them. Anyway, that's really off topic...another day perhaps.

I don't know that the game is actually being "taken over" by the young guys...although I suppose you could look at it that way. Veterans play a part in the game just like the young guys do. You need the veteran guys on your team. Look at the Ducks. Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Teemu Selanne, and Brad May, older guys who played an important role in winning the Stanley Cup. Would the Ducks have won the Cup without them? No, they would not. You need veterans to lead, on and off the ice. And, the veterans will always a spot in the game.

So there ya go buddy. I made my midnight deadline...enjoy and I expect a critique...be gentle ;)

A look at the Ducks free-agent adventure...

Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke was said to be quiet heading into this year's free-agent frenzy, with only depth on his radar, after all, what else did he need to do as his team had just won the Stanley Cup...how much better can you get?

But with Conn Smythe winner and team captain Scott Niedermayer still pondering retirement, Burke went all out and picked up former Red Wings defenceman Mathieu Schneider, signing the 38-year old to a 2-year contract worth $11.25 million.

With this signing, speculation fled around the NHL that Niedermayer had indeed decided to retire and that Schneider was his eventual replacement.
Later on, Niedermayer called a press conference, with everyone including my grandma, expecting him to call it a career and hang 'em up.

However, in a surprising twist, he did not announce his retirement and reports indicated that he was unsure of what to do, and that he will have made up mind between now and the start of the 2007-2008 season.

With his salary still counting against the salary cap at a hefty $6.75 million, the Ducks have only $2 million left in wiggle room and that doesn't even include Teemu Selanne, who is technically still an unrestricted free-agent, but it's expected he will either re-sign with Anaheim or retire.
After playing in just a little over one thousand career games, the Finnish-born winger finally won hockey's revered trophy for the first time in his sixteen season career.
Burke also took the liberty of finding a potential replacement for his prized winger, by reuniting himself with an old friend from back in Vancouver, Todd Bertuzzi.
Bertuzzi's signing came as a shock to most people, and his the terms of his deal nearly knocked them out.
$4 million a season over the course of the next two seasons is a lot of money for a guy who hasn't been successful since his days in Vancouver with...what a surprise...Brian Burke.
Burke feels Bertuzzi still has some steam left in the tank, even if he hasn't been entirely healthy or on his game since...what a surprise...his days with Brian Burke up in Vancouver.

I really think that this signing will totally backfire on Burke and the Ducks, Bertuzzi hasn't proven he's worth the money he got, especially after a terrible postseason in Detroit.
It seems to me Burke is forgetting Bertuzzi's past few years, his multiple injuries, his inconsistency and his inability to play a full season.

This is also a strong sign that that Burke's still desperately in love with the player he was in Vancouver, the "old" Bertuzzi, if we can call him that, but this isn't the player Burke's signed on to get.

Come on Brian! Wake up and smell the sunshine, we're not in Vancouver here, this isn't the player you adored, that all Canucks fans adored before he labeled himself a total bonehead by nearly killing Steve Moore on the ice.

The player you'll get is the player you see, I doubt Bertuzzi ever becomes what he used to be again, he's just not that kind of player.
Sure he'll put up a decent point total, but it's nothing compared to what the RESPECTED (emphasis on RESPECTED) and gentlemanly Teemu Selanne brought to the table.
Not only did he bring a dangerous offensive game, but he was also able to play a smart two-way game, on both ends of the ice, he made excellent decisions with the puck and always seemed to score when his team needed it most.

But this all comes to down to Niedermayer.

If he retires, Schneider's signing is validated, a good move, a worthy replacement for a future hall-of-fame defenceman and then there's cap space to bring back Selanne, should he want to return with the club.
However, if he does not retire (which would utterly surprise me, to say the least) then Mathieu Schneider's signing is a waste.
A waste in many ways:
1) Cap-wise, a wasted $5.5 million considering Selanne is still unsigned (this goes for Bertuzzi too)
2) Player-wise, pushing Kent Huskins out of the lineup and into the pressbox and rendering the nicely developped defenceman very unhappy.

Well, you make the call, this can go one way for Burke, or entirely the other way.

He did a fairly good job of attempting to replace those two players he may lose, but, when all's said an done, you can't replace what Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne brought to the team, and you can't do it with a 38-year old pointman coming off a serious injury, and a questionable forward whose ability to be effective and contribute to a hockey team consistently still up in the air.

--BBR

The Ducks Got it Done

Last night had a lot of firsts. My personal favorite thing from the night was seeing Scott Niedermayer get the Conn Smythe. He deserved it...he held his team together and he did it in the classiest manner there is. He never complained, he just lead his team because that's what he is good at. He was the only one on the team who had a Stanley Cup Ring *well he actually has three*
Seeing Scott hand Lord Stanley to Rob also was amazing...

Then there was Teemu who finally got to hold the Cup. Seeing him so overcome with emotion you couldn't help but be happy for him. He deserves this. His wait is over. Congrats to the Anaheim Ducks and to the Anaheim Ducks fans for proving that people in California know their hockey also.

Expect a better post later...but for now this is all I have.

ANAHEIM DUCKS WIN THE STANLEY CUP
FINAL SCORE 6-2
SERIES 4-1