Category — NHL

Guerin

In the immediate aftermath of the Matt Cooke hit on Marc Savard, I was highly critical of the other players in the NHL, in particular Cooke’s teammates, who never seem to speak out about predatory hits unless it happens to them or someone on their teams.

Well, a couple veteran players have finally decided they’ve seen enough of their colleagues go down because of blatant attempts to injury by other players. In Edmonton, defenseman Sheldon Souray had some great points in a piece by Mark Spector at Sportsnet.ca. Cooke’s teammate Bill Guerin also spoke out to urge an all-out ban on hits to the head.

It’s about time some guys realized that the next time, they could be on the wrong end of a hit to the head and it’d be better to legislate those plays out first.

Campbell

Some might look at NHL discipline czar Colin Campbell’s inconsistent and incoherent decisions when it comes to suspensions and fines and think he’s mad as a hatter. But now we know for sure he’s more like another character from “Alice in Wonderland.”

By saying that there was no way to punish Pittsburgh forward Matt Cooke for his concussion-causing blow to Bruins center Marc Savard last Sunday, Campbell was in effect declaring: “Off with their heads!”

Now, physical resemblances between Campbell and The Red Queen (shown here as played by Helena Bonham Carter) aside, here’s what Campbell told TSN about his decision to let Cooke get away with the hit unscathed even though he suspended twice in the last year for similar hits.

The Red Queen

“I know Matt Cooke is a repeat offender, he’s been suspended twice in the last year,” Campbell said. “I can’t suspend Matt Cooke for being a repeat offender, I have to find a reason. Right now our rules say that shoulders to head are legal. Matt Cooke did not jump, and did not do anything that we found illegal in his actions even though again you don’t like what happened. [Read more →]

The NHL today released its complete schedule for the 2009 preseason. The Boston Bruins open their exhibition schedule Tuesday, Sept. 15 at the New York Rangers.

Here is the complete schedule: [Read more →]

A couple days ago, I asked you to vote for which regular season home Boston Bruins game — other than the 2010 Winter Classic — you were looking forward to the most. By an overwhelming amount, you picked the Nov. 5 date with Montreal, proving that old habits die hard.

To me, the Oct. 3 game against Carolina brings with it the most anticipation, and not just because of the anger that was stoked last spring with Scott Walker’s sucker-punch of Aaron Ward. That will definitely be the lead story in that contest, a plot that undoubtedly end with Bruins winger Shawn Thornton, who made some remarks about payback during the playoffs, taking on Walker (who will oblige because he, by all accounts, is a pretty honest player) much to the delight of the crowd. And then bygones will be bygones. [Read more →]

Versteeg

Former Boston Bruins draft pick Kris Versteeg, who was a restricted free agent, signed a three-year, $9 million deal with the Chicago Blackhawks yesterday. Some are figuring Versteeg is a solid comparable to Bruins restricted free agent winger Phil Kessel. So let’s take a look at the career numbers for both.

Kris Versteeg
Year   GP  G-A-Pts.   +/-
07-08 13   2-2-4          -1
08-09 78   22-31-53   +15

Phil Kessel
Year    GP  G-A-Pts.    +/-
06-07 70 11-18-29     -12
07-08  82 19-18=37   -6
08-09  70 36-24-60   +23 [Read more →]

It has been a lazy weekend for NHL GMs.

The Fourth of July weekend here in the U.S. brought very little hockey news here and in Canada.

Of the list of unrestricted free agents I posted Friday, only Ruslan Fedotenko put his name on a new contract (he decided to stay with Pittsburgh). So here’s a look at that list again, keeping in mind that the Boston Bruins still need to finish deals with restricted free agents Phil Kessel and Matt Hunwick. Hunwick could file for arbitration by 5 p.m. tonight. [Read more →]

Leopold

For those who missed it, Nik Antropov (Atlanta) and Jordan Leopold (Fla.) were among the unrestricted free agents to put their names on the bottom line yesterday.

So here’s an updated look at the list of available UFAs, with a * for players the Bruins might be interested in and a # for ones they would want if they cleared some cap space.

Remember the Bruins have about $4.5 million of cap space left and still have to come to terms with restricted free agents Phil Kessel and Matt Hunwick. [Read more →]

The line forms now for day-after signings.

The first day of free agency is behind us and most of the biggest names have gotten their deals done. But just like the day after Christmas, there are still toys to be had. Here is a look at some of the best names still remaining as far as unrestricted free agents. Players with a * are guys the Boston Bruins might be interested in as of now, whille guys with  # are ones that would be interesting if the Bruins cleared cap space via trade first.

Defensemen
Dmitri Kalinin
Jordan Leopold*
Francois Beauchemin#
Sergei Zubov
Denis Seidenberg*
Paul Mara
Derek Morris* [Read more →]

Just a quick note about the deal that Toronto and Atlanta swung today, with the major players being Pavel Kubina to Atlanta and Garnet Exelby going to the Maple Leafs. Also headed for Toronto is forward Colin Stuart, the brother of Boston Bruins defenseman Mark Stuart.

Colin has been back and forth between the AHL and the NHL the last two seasons. But if he sticks with Toronto, there’s a chance six battles of the brothers Stuart in the 2009-10 season. Those battles have been the only reason to watch many of the Bruins-Thrashers games the last two seasons. Mark Stuart, a defensive defenseman, even scored two goals in one game in one of the matchups against his brother’s club.

Cole

It looks like the Carolina Hurricanes, who ousted the Boston Bruins in last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals in seven games, are going to look similar to their 2008-09 edition when they return for the upcoming campaign.

Today they re-signed veteran winger Erik Cole to a two-year deal worth a reported $5.8 million. The veteran had decided to test the waters as an unrestricted free agent but didn’t wait all that long after noon today to figure out what we all already — he belongs with the ‘Canes. Although he was a ghost in the playoffs, Cole’s only success has come with Carolina, more specifically with Eric Staal centering his line. Depending on what they do with fellow UFA Chad LaRose, the ‘Canes could be back with the same forward corps the next time they cross paths with the Bruins.

Here are a couple more of my quick-hit thoughts on the day so far: [Read more →]

Knuble

The Washington Capitals, who like the Boston Bruins fell in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs after an outstanding regular season, figure to be a threat in the East for years to come. Today they bolstered their front line by signing Mike Knuble away from Philadelphia to a two-year deal worth a reported $5.6 million.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Knuble, a former Bruins winger, could’ve fit the bill for the Bruins, who are always looking to get bigger up front. Boston’s hope is that Byron Bitz continues to develop into the type of player the soon-to-be-37 Knuble has been for a number of years.

So far Boston has been silent in the free-agent market.

The Florida Panthers today re-signed left-winger David Booth to a six-year deal worth a reported total of $25.5 million. Booth, 25, has three seasons of NHL experience and last season posted career-high totals in goals (31), assists (29) and points (60).

To me, Booth is a solid comparable for Boston Bruins RFA winger Phil Kessel, who reportedly is looking for $5 million per season. Booth has been a little less productive and is four years older than Kessel. So you have to figure the Bruins would have to match the term of the Booth deal or greatly surpass his compensation total in order to retain Kessel. The shorter the deal, the more money per season it should be worth. The Bruins seem less apt to hand out deals that long, so the $5 million rumor doesn’t seem so out of whack after all.

UPDATE: The Hossa deal is official and TSN reports it’s $62.4 million over 12 years. This is from Kevin Allen of USA Today’s Twitter page: “With TSN saying Hossa signed with Chicago for 12 years, I have ‘Hawks at $34 mill for eight players in 2010-11 witn no Kane, Toews, Keith.” All I can say is, wow.

TSN is reporting at this hour that the Chicago Blackhawks have secured the services of free-agent winger Marian Hossa. And they’re reporting that he has signed a 12-year, $62 million deal. I’ll update as this becomes official.

Earlier today, Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe reported that the Boston Bruins were in pursuit of Hossa. But if the term TSN is reporting is correct, Hossa obviously left the Bruins’ stratosphere somewhere around year five.

The Sedins are staying in VAN.

So I’m going to drag my attention away from this Andy Roddick-Lleyton Hewitt Wimbledon match to pass on some of my wisdom about the early moves today.

It seems that even though everybody loves twins, The Twins love Vancouver a little more. So Henrik and Daniel Sedin are going to stay in Vancouver with matching five-year, $30.5 million deals that include no-movement clauses. The fan in me is disappointed that they didn’t try to move to Toronto or Montreal to face the Boston Bruins six times a year, but obviously from a competitive standpoint the Sedins’ decision makes life a little easier in the Northeast Divison for the Bruins. [Read more →]

It's almost time for teams to go to market.

The July 1 free agency period is almost 24 hours away. Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli will speak with the media about his team’s plans a little later today.

To whet your appetite, here are some links:

The great Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail ranks the top 11 unrestricted free agents.

•Over at Sportsnet.ca, Mark Spector is hearing about a Dany Heatley-Dion Phaneuf swap and a Sheldon Souray move to Los Angeles. Honestly, I don’t know why there hasn’t been more talk about Boston getting in on one of the Oilers’ available defensemen.

•And, finally, Bruce Garrioch of Sun Media is always good for some tidbits at this time of year. You’ll notice he mentions the Bruins’ cap problems but then still lists them as a possible landing spot for some of the bigger names. I’m not sure how that would work.