Zubrus to the Devils

Belanger to Wild

both per tfp

7/3/2007 6:49:01 PM

are NHL salaries going back to being way up. I know that there is a salary cap now, but every year that's been going up too. And with scoring going down this year, is the NHL slowly going back to what put them in lockout trouble before?

7/3/2007 9:15:03 PM

It's going to have to stop soon. They underestimated revenues coming out of the lockout and the pleasant surprise of the last two seasons has allowed them to raise it, but it's not going to keep rising at that rate.

I'm still in wait and see mode on the goal scoring. I think things just kind of settled this year as everyone adjusted to the new rules after a full season and they toned down the penalties a bit after going overboard with them the first season. If it drops again this season then I'll start to get worried.

Although personally, I could care less how many goals are scored.

7/3/2007 9:28:14 PM

Sounds like the Oilers are going to sue somebody; probably Michael Nylander. They claim he agreed to sign with them but then turned around and signed with Washington, and they held off on pursuing anyone else because they thought they had him. As long as he didn't sign anything I'm not sure there's anything they can do.

7/4/2007 12:01:12 AM

watching buffalo implode is getting to be a real entertaining part of this summer

[Edited on July 4, 2007 at 10:37 AM. Reason : *]

7/4/2007 10:37:21 AM

Roenick retired.

The Isles signed Fedotenko to a 1yr/$2.9mil deal. GOOD LORD HE'S NOT WORTH THAT!!

7/4/2007 6:38:20 PM

^that is a little rediculous

7/4/2007 11:23:25 PM

The Devils just signed Weekes to a 2-year $1.375 mil contract to back up Brodeur.

7/5/2007 1:42:20 PM

Poor Scott Clemmensen.

7/5/2007 2:01:10 PM

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

What a wonderful offseason!

7/5/2007 2:58:32 PM

Hasek back to the Wings with a one-year contract worth $2 mil in base salary with the chance to earn $2 mil more in bonuses.

Guerin signs a two-year, $9 mil contract with the Isles.

7/6/2007 1:23:37 AM

lol Sabres

Lowe pulled a Rutherford (the Fedorov deal) and signed Vanek to a 7 year $50 million offer sheet and the Sabres have matched it. They'll have a tough time keeping some other players now. Tough time to be a Sabres fan. I couldn't handle that shit

[Edited on July 6, 2007 at 2:02 PM. Reason : .]

7/6/2007 2:02:17 PM

buffalo is going to match the offer

7/6/2007 2:02:59 PM

50 million plus signing bonuses is rediculous for a player who barely got a point a game last season (84). Ray whitney makes 3 time less than that and had the same amount of points

7/6/2007 3:44:24 PM

Quote :

"Poor Scott Clemmensen."

Well at least he has a job for one year with the Leafs. Maybe he'll be able to play more than six games this year.

[Edited on July 6, 2007 at 10:41 PM. Reason : .]

7/6/2007 10:40:44 PM

Crosby extends 5 years, $43.5M

7/10/2007 2:28:58 PM

yeah i was pretty happy to hear that news.

he could have taken more. i wish the contract was longer but i am really happy that it's not a 1-2 year deal. it goes to show that he does want to leave money to resign staal/malkin/etc when the time comes, i am very impressed.

7/10/2007 9:03:03 PM

they wont be able to keep staal and malkin. both of them are going to to get $texas. if they kept them when they are due for new deals, they will be tying up close to half their total cap space on 3 guys. Also, I don't see the cap getting too much bigger anytime soon. This year's hike seemed kind of large, and the way it is going, it looks like it has the potential to get out of hand in the next few years.

7/10/2007 9:23:28 PM

yeah, but of they're worth that much, they'll have trade value.

one of these days the pens are gonna get themselves a good defenseman, maybe it will be in exchange for malkin.

i guess my point is that with that much talent, they'll be okay, whether or not those particular players are on the team.

7/10/2007 9:27:52 PM

Quote :

"tying up close to half their total cap space on 3 guys."

See: Tampa Bay Lightning

Quote :

"one of these days the pens are gonna get themselves a good defenseman"

See: Ryan Whitney

7/10/2007 10:45:51 PM

ha i meant via free agency

whitney, sydor, and (sometimes) gonchar are all good; letang is getting there too

brooks orpik is still a top 6 dman for the pens though :-/

[Edited on July 10, 2007 at 11:01 PM. Reason : ok the main point is that every team should have 6 dmen better then orpik]

7/10/2007 11:00:29 PM

Quote :

"The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings will open the NHL’s 90th anniversary season with a two-game series in London, England, Sept. 29-30."

Quote :

"(WGR 550) - Multiple NHL sources have told WGR that the Sabres are in line for a potential New Year's Day game at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Another source, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the Penguins have agreed to be the visiting team for such a contest, with Buffalo and Detroit as possible homes. It's also reporting that NBC is tentatively calling the event, "The Ice Bowl.""

Also, the all-star game is back on the weekend. Sunday, January 27 in Atlanta.

7/11/2007 2:19:56 PM

Souray to Edmonton

New Sharks logo looks stupid

7/12/2007 5:16:12 PM

fucking awesome ^^

but why the hell is it two CA teams in london?

[Edited on July 12, 2007 at 6:30 PM. Reason : ]

7/12/2007 6:30:13 PM

Just found this, thought some of you would like it. 34 pics of goalie masks on SI.com http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0707/gallery.nhl.goalie.masks/content.1.html

7/12/2007 7:17:09 PM

nice find, pretty cool pics

7/12/2007 7:36:56 PM

luongo's throwback is great

7/12/2007 10:00:33 PM

Thanks, found link on digg.com, I really like Theodore's mask. very artistic.

7/12/2007 10:15:08 PM

New Bolts Logo?



[Edited on July 13, 2007 at 11:25 PM. Reason : :]

7/13/2007 11:24:00 PM

I still love my Sabres. Even though they are probably going to suck just as bad as the Bills this year. I still love them.

I might have to start going to Rodeos- hockey is depressing me.

7/16/2007 5:23:28 PM

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=Ai0ZKLgQwUSPCZKgRxj2bKB7vLYF?slug=ap-islanders-coacharbour&prov=ap&type=lgns

Saucey

7/19/2007 7:58:57 PM

new preds jerseys

7/20/2007 12:48:23 AM

that's cool ^^

7/20/2007 11:10:38 AM

7/24/2007 5:38:10 PM

Found this link on digg.com. Pretty funny. "Why the NHL beats all other Major Sports Leagues" http://xnhl.net/showthread.php?p=4422

Also copied it here:

Quote :

"Why the NHL is better than the MLB 1. There is less steroid use in the NHL. 2. A baseball game has 10 total minutes of action in 3-4 hours. 3. Fighting in baseball leads to suspensions - fighting in hockey is a 5 minute penalty. Why the NHL is better than the NBA 1. Who would you trust with making use of your money, the gangsta stereotype or the Canadian stereotype? 2. Hockey fights usually stay on the playing surface. 3. In the NBA, one extra foot on the floor was given a 1 game suspension. In the NHL, thats a 2 minute penalty. Why the NHL is better than the NFL 1. If you're don't support a Canadian team, odds are you wont need to wait 30 years or even 30 weeks for season tickets... 2. Teams play between 16 to 20 games in the NFL. In the NHL, teams play between 82 to 110 games. 3. The play doesn't stop every 10 seconds. Why the NHL is better than NASCAR 1. In the NHL, skating laps around the ice for seemingly no purpose is a warmup. In NASCAR, thats the event. 2. NASCAR has speed limits, believe it or not. But, its pretty hard to limit shot and skating speed... 3. I've yet to see a NASCAR race on ice... Why the NHL is better than the MLS 1. Most teams have more top-tier players then the entire league. 2. The NHL doesn't have teams named after consumer products (..anymore) 3. For every injury in the NHL, there is 30 faked injuries in any pro soccer league."

7/25/2007 12:28:18 PM

Meh.

7/25/2007 12:49:56 PM

^^poor grammar kinda hurts that. Also, the "arguments" were pretty damn weak.

7/25/2007 9:07:58 PM

Lowe is bending over another team:

Quote :

"The Edmonton Oilers are back at it again, tendering a five year, $21.25 million offer sheet to Anaheim Ducks Group II restricted free agent Dustin Penner. It is the second time that Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe has gone after a restricted free agent this off-season. Lowe signed Buffalo Sabres forward Thomas Vanek to a seven-year, $50 million offer sheet in early July, an offer the Sabres matched to retain Vanek."

If the Ducks match it will put them over the salary cap.

7/26/2007 5:37:10 PM

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article.main&articleId=55770&requestTimeout=900

Quote :

"The NHL and ESPN are in discussions about bringing the league’s games back to ESPN2 as soon as the 2008-09 season. Multiple sources described the conversations as preliminary. The two started talking the week of July 16 when the NHL approached ESPN about NBC’s nine-game regular-season schedule, plus the playoffs. NBC holds the rights to air the coming season as part of a revenue-sharing agreement, and the network holds a one-year option for the 2008-09 season. (SNIPPED) The key to this whole scenario is Versus, which holds cable exclusivity to all of the league’s games through 2011 and is paying the league a rights fee in excess of $70 million annually. Sources close to the Comcast-owned network, however, indicated that Versus would be willing to waive that clause, but only if it gets something in return — either a lower rights fee, a stronger schedule or a deal extension. Sources say the conversations are happening at the highest levels and include NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and ESPN executive vice president of content John Skipper. (SNIPPED) A return to ESPN could boost the league’s profile on the network’s news shows. According to an ESPN study of its 1 a.m. “SportsCenter” program, the show featured 29 fewer minutes of NHL coverage in March 2007 than in March 2004, the last year ESPN aired NHL games. That amounts to a 28 percent decline in hockey’s allotment of airtime, ESPN ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber wrote in May. The move would mark a change at Versus, as well, which is open to giving up its cable exclusivity if it can tap into ESPN’s marketing prowess. Over the past two years, Versus executives have complained privately that ESPN ignored their network. They are hoping for a situation that mirrors the NBA, where ESPN and TNT push viewers to each network’s games. (SNIPPED) Some well-placed cable sources were skeptical that the league would be able to launch a 24-hour U.S. channel by this fall, given that the NHL hasn’t appointed anybody to run the channel yet and the NHL season begins in just three months. Sources close to the league say that will not be a problem because it will rely heavily on an NHL Network that already exists — Canada’s version. The U.S. channel will have a look and feel similar to the Canadian one. The planned channel will have 50 live games in 2007-08. Most of the content will be identical to what appears in Canada, although it will be repackaged with some U.S.-based programming, sources said. "

I really hope this works. A combination of ESPN and Versus would be ideal for the league and fans. Versus has great coverage and the sport is their big show, whereas ESPN would get the league back to the amount of exposure it needs.

7/30/2007 2:15:34 PM

Id like to see ESPN back in the fold... I guess thats just the old in me talking.

Moreover, and centuries later.... I love the new Capitals old uniforms!! I actually, and hit me for it, stopped liking the Caps when they went to that ugly ass teal color. I think the same year that Ciccarelli and Hunter both left. Coincidentally, that might also be the year Craig Laughlin left.. so that was a good thing.

-Cheers

8/1/2007 9:56:36 AM

Jumping off a team's bandwagon because they change their jerseys is perfectly acceptable.

I used to enjoy watching the Coyotes until they got rid of the big moon at center ice and these incredibly jerseys:



I also disavowed ever having been a Blues fan (Gretzky and Hull together is what really got me into the NHL) when they got rid of these:





[YES]



[NO]

8/1/2007 1:47:50 PM

New Florida jerseys have been unveiled

8/1/2007 2:44:27 PM

all these new jerseys... isnt it due to reebok becoming the new jersey sponsor? i like it

8/1/2007 5:52:37 PM

^ wow, you've missed out on a lot

8/1/2007 6:48:23 PM

perhaps? i havent been keeping up with jerseys

players on the other hand... yes

8/1/2007 7:25:43 PM

Yes, they are the new jersey sponsor and they have designed new jerseys using completely different material. It's supposed to make the players 8% faster or some shit like that. Tighter fitting, less water absorbent, and more flexible apparently.

8/1/2007 7:45:00 PM

grandma! what better flexibility you have!

yes! the better to wrap around the net and score on you with

8/2/2007 12:05:25 PM

if I could see Versus in HD all the time, and their damn scoreboard didn't take up the whole screen, even more so in HD, i might be able to live with it

i would prefer ESPN.. a lot.

8/2/2007 1:15:28 PM

Ducks do not match Oilers' offer to Dustin Penner. This means that the Ducks get a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick from Edmonton, and the Oilers are now paying Penner, a guy who scored 29 goals and 16 assists in the regular season and 3 goals and 5 assists in the playoffs, $21.5 million over 5 years.

Quote :

""I have no problem with offer sheets, they are part of the CBA," Burke said on a conference call. "I think it's a tool certainly a team is entitled to use. My issue here is this is the second time this year in my opinion Edmonton have offered a grossly inflated salary for a player, and it impacts on all 30 teams and I think it's an act of desperation by a general manager who is fighting to keep his job.""

8/2/2007 2:52:20 PM

this is going to be a bust for EDM. what a sham

8/2/2007 3:07:44 PM