NHL Free Agent Frenzy

By Scott Antoszewski

The NHL’s free agent signing period opened at noon on July 1. Free agency in the NHL is handled a bit differently than the other major sports.

Baseball and football players tend to take a slow, methodical approach to where they will sign and for how much. Hockey players on the other hand, sign very quickly starting almost exactly at noon.

I’m writing this at about noon on Friday July 2, we are less than 24 hours into the signing period, and as of now 39 players have signed new contracts, totaling over $270 Million in contract value. I won’t list them, since most of the players aren’t household names, in fact only one notable player is amongst the players who have signed. He is Sergei Gonchar who left Pittsburgh and signed with Ottawa. The terms are 3 years at $5.5 million per year.

Goalies have been the most active with at least five goaltenders changing teams, but the biggest fish left in the free agent pool is Ilya Kovalchuk. Rumors have him connected to the L.A. Kings, but there are also rumors that he will go home and play in the Russian Kontinental Hockey League. I’m interested to see what he chooses. The money he will get from a KHL contract will be much higher than here in North America, but he won’t be playing at the highest level. Does he want the money, or the Stanley Cup? It will be interesting to find out.

The other thing that is fun to keep track of during free agency is how many general managers sign players to deals that are way too big and make that player unmovable. It seems to happen to at least two or three teams every year. Once the player signings slow down, I’ll review the list and put a post together that deals with that issue. Free agency is the last big event of the hockey year, so I don’t expect there to be a lot of news until we get closer to training camp in September.

How to grow facial hair quickly

So, this was brought to my attention by a writer here, Scott Antoszewski, and it is too funny to not share with you.

During the Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh game the other night, an advertisement with a person's beard seems to grow throughout the game.

http://www.hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=766456

Enjoy...

Crazy round one

By Scott Antoszewski

We’ve seen our first casualty of the 2010 NHL Playoffs. The New Jersey Devils have been eliminated in five games by the Philadelphia Flyers. The fact that the Devils were a two seed makes this a fairly large upset. I didn’t get to see a lot of the games in this series, but I did see the one last night. Marty Brodeur looked very “ordinary”, and the Devils just looked like they weren’t really all that interested. Let the Kovalchuk free agent speculation begin!

I thought I was going to get to see a second elimination when the Penguins rallied to take a 3-2 lead on Ottawa in the third period, but to the Sens credit they fought back. The game kept me up way past my bedtime, but it was worth it to see Ottawa get a 4-3 win in triple overtime. Game 6 is back in Ottawa on Saturday night. (Pens win, advance)

The Capitals get their first chance to knock out the Canadiens tonight in DC. Washington has dominated this series ever since getting down 4-1 in the second period of game two. The Habs are going back to Halak in goal tonight to try and extend their season. The Buffalo Sabres are down three games to one to the Boston Bruins, which is a major surprise. (Caps lose 2-1, Sabres win 4-1)

Out west, the Canucks lead the Kings three games to two in their series. I haven’t seen many of these games, but the highlights are proving that they are playing some very entertaining games. The Red Wings took game five from Phoenix, also leading to a three games to two series lead. The Sharks have weathered an “own goal” in OT against the Avalanche and are now up three games to two. The Sharks need to close out this series as quickly as possible. They can’t let Colorado hang around and push it to a game seven, even though it would be played in San Jose. (Sharks won game six) Lastly, the Blackhawks and Predators are tied at two games a piece heading back to Chicago for game five. (OT win by Hawks, lead 3-2)

Round two will get going toward the end of next week. Overall the games have been very entertaining, I’m happy with the level of play and the officiating. Game five between Pittsburgh/Ottawa was the first real “epic” overtime game of the playoffs. I’m looking forward to at least one more three or four overtime marathon before the end of the playoffs.

Enjoy the games!

NHL playoffs underway

By Dan Rodgers

The first games of the first round of the NHL playoffs have been rather interesting:

• (8) Montreal stunned (1) Washington in OT to take a 1-0 series lead against the best team in the NHL
• (7) Philadelphia beat Marty Brodeur and the (2) New Jersey Devils to switch the home ice advantage
• (1) San Jose continues to struggle in the playoffs, dropping the opener to (8) Colorado
• (5) Ottawa upset the defending champion (4) Penguins in game one

Hopefully, the rest of round one games will be as interesting as these. Nothing better than the underdogs coming through. Both one seeds going down would be extremely interesting. Best of luck to everyone...

Rodgers That