Running 2008 NHL Offseason Thread

Tim Gleason signs 4-year deal with Whalercanes.

Good move, especially considering they dealt Mike Commodore, Glen Wesley retired and Bret Hedican won't be back. That has left just Nic Wallin, Joe Corvo and Frank Kaberle.

 

true...if i were the Kings, i'd offer Cammalleri, Brown, and the pick and work from there.

 

Love the rip job the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did on the Ottawa Sun on its blog. "Keep your Malkin jersey" ...

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/emptynetters/

 

How's that rebuilding process going on TO? Jamal Mayers for a third round pick. My god. I thought the Leafs were actually going to try to accumulate new and young talent that has potential to make a mark in this league.
Wow. The more things change, the more they stay the same. This trade makes no sense as far as Toronto is concerned. Props for St. Louis for getting something for Mayers.

 

haha...lovely.

 

Eric Duhatschek has a terrific profile of Viktor Tikhonov,the grandson of the famous Soviet coach.

Despite his last name and lineage, Viktor's about as Russian as I am.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080620.NHLDUHA20/TPStory/Sports/columnists

Great story about his grandfather who was a legendary bastard:

Every day, I'd go over to eat with my grandparents and the last day he came with me and said, 'I'm just going to watch you work out and see what you're doing and maybe give you a few pointers.' So I went in, spent half an hour working out and then he stopped me and said: 'Turn the music off. You're not going to do this again. Forget this.'

"Then he took me through a workout that was probably 20 or 30 minutes - the time flew by - little weights, lots of jumping, all legs. I couldn't walk for two days. He said, 'This is 30 or 40 per cent of what you should be doing every day.' I said, 'Oh, my God.' "

 

Cruiks has a great page today on his first-round picks:

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/sports/story.html?id=6c63fc72-2022-49d6-8d05-16b82af59897

Five Yanks, four Euros and the rest Canadian.

 

I know it's blog information but ...

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/news/fla080619.html




TFP's Editor-in-Chief David Pagnotta, who is in Ottawa covering the NHL Entry Draft, reported one rumor making the rounds Wednesday night had the Panthers shipping Jokinen and Jay Bouwmeester to the Senators for Jason Spezza and Andrej Meszaros.

"That's one of the topics being discussed here," Pagnotta said. "While I don't know if he'll end up in Ottawa, I do expect Jokinen to be moved some time in the coming days."

 

A story on one the biggest busts in NHL history

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3451120&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab7pos1

 

The Russians want to make Malkin the highest-paid player in the world. Did they not see him in the Stanley Cup Final? Actually, no, they didn't see him. No one did.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=241220

If the new Russian professional hockey league has its way, the National Hockey League career of Hart Trophy candidate Evgeni Malkin will be pretty short.

According to a report in the Toronto Star, the Russian teams are prepared to offer the Russian-born Malkin a contract that would make him the highest-paid hockey player in the world. The multi-year contract would be worth at least $12.5 million tax free per season, or the equivalent of $15 million per year in the NHL.

"Hey, we can afford to pay more than the NHL right now," a high-ranking executive with the Russian league, called the Continental League, told the Star. "Our economy is commodities-based so we're not going through the same problems that you have in America."

 

Mirtle is reporting that Dave Nonis has signed as a scout with the Ducks.

 

Talk about a cautionary tale. I always felt a little sorry for the guy. Sounds like he has the ideal life in Switzerlan. A little hockey, good food, living in Davos. Hard to beat.

Daigle's famous quote, (paraphrase)"No one remembers who the second pick was". Well, that year it was Pronger.

And a GM once said of Daigle, "Alexander loves hockey. He just doesn't like playing it".