Stars GM Doug Armstrong shares his thoughts about free agency in a Canadian Press article. Nothing earth-shattering, but it gives you an idea of what to expect as far as timing. Here's an excerpt from the article, which I found on The Sporting News web site.
With the salary cap officially jumping up from $44 million to $50.3 million on Friday, it gives NHL GMs even more to spend on the higher-end free agents. The likes of Briere, Drury and Gomez were initially thought to be in the $5 million to $6 million range for most of the season.
Now the gossip has them hitting more than $7 million. The market will bear out the truth come Sunday.
"I think that I have to give agents credit," said Armstrong. "What they do is that they throw out numbers early enough and then they become a reality to some people. I'm only basing it on what I'm reading in the newspapers, but those numbers seem a lot higher than what anybody would have predicted in March.
"But we'll see if they're able to cash in on that."
As for the Stars, Armstrong has a plan _ although he obviously wouldn't get into specifics.
"There's certain players that we have targeted and we want to call and gauge their interest," he said. "I think a lot of it, at least the history that I've seen, that first wave of players will go in the first 48 hours and they'll be probably more expensive than we thought they were going to be maybe eight weeks ago.
"And then there will be that second wave and I think we're going to be a team that would like to get into that secondary wave and I think there's going to be some very good players and hopefully they believe Dallas is a place where not only they can make their money but have a chance to win."
In other words, it doesn't appear Army will be throwing around money on the first couple of days. He'll wait for things to settle down, the dust to clear and then make his move. He's not in the panic mode. So, if he doesn't jump into the fray right off the bat, don't panic.
The Stars have announced their preseason schedule, which will open Tuesday September 18 with a home game against the St. Louis Blues.
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME*
Tuesday, Sept. 18 vs. St. Louis Blues American Airlines Center 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 19 @ Tampa Bay Lightning St. Pete Times Forum 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 20 vs. Colorado Avalanche American Airlines Center 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 22 @ Phoenix Coyotes Jobing.com Arena 9 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 25 @ Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center 8 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 27 vs. Phoenix Coyotes American Airlines Center 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 29 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning American Airlines Center 7 p.m.
The Hockey Hall of Fame just announced the inductees for 2007. The player's inducted are as follows: Mark Messier, Ron Francis, Al MacInnis and Scott Stevens. That's an impressive group of players. More on all this from the HHOF.
It appears Devils goalie Martin Brodeur has had enough of the NHL's competition committee. A report this morning says he is calling it quits. Who is going to take his spot? Another goalie named Marty is a likely candidate, according to this Toronto Star report via the Hamilton Spectator.
It's believed Dallas goaltender Marty Turco will be likely appointed by the NHL Players' Association to take Brodeur's spot.
"I talked to (Turco), and he's got a lot of passion for it, and I told him if he has the energy to go for it," said Brodeur.
The Hockey Forecaster has put together its draft evaluations for all 30 NHL teams. Here's the take on the Dallas Stars:
The Good
Clearly Dallas is in need of offense up front. The problem is, they need it right now. However, so as to ensure they don't have this problem again in the future, the Stars selected center Nico Sacchetti 50th overall and winger Sergei Korostin 64th overall. Both forwards have tremendous potential offensively.
The Bad
The team The team had five picks between 112 and 149 but, other than Colton Sceviour (112th overall), they went a little off the charts with all of them--particularly Austin Smith (128) and Michael Neal (149). Let's hope they pan out.
The Stars have qualifying offers to seven of their eight restricted free agents. Mike Ribeiro, Jussi Jokinen, Antti Miettinen, Joel Lundqvist, Junior Lessard, Marius Holtet and Vadim Khomiski all got them. Center Yared Hagos did not get qualified, making him a unrestricted free agent.
I thought Hagos had some potential, but he was just OK for the most part in Iowa. I guess there's a chance we could see Khomitski back in North America again. You probably remember he started over here last season and then left for Russia due to personal reasons.
Overall, I thought the Stars did OK at the draft Saturday. They got a couple of potential sleepers in Nico Sacchetti and Sergei Korostin. Both guys have some offensive upside and both were highly ranked by the Red Line Report. As I said in an earlier post, once you got past the top group of players, guys were ranked all over the place. The Stars got a couple of guys somebody thought could be first round picks. We'll see. After that, I am not sure. Maybe there's a gem in there. It was nice to see Austin Smith, a Dallas born kid, get selected by the Stars. As always, we'll know more in a couple of years on these guys. The fun part will be watching them develop.
The Stars picked forward Nico Sacchetti with the 50th pick of the draft. He's from Virginia H.S. in Minnesota and a former teammate of Matt Niskanen there. Nico is a gritty forward with some skill. He's got a bulldog mentality according to one of the scouting services. He's a nice pick at No. 50. A very nice pick.
From a Stars perspective, that was a pretty boring round one. Not much you can do when don't have the picks to move up in the draft. Not sure moving a roster player would have been worth it either, especially when you consider that all these guys are probably a few years away from the NHL and that a lot of these guys just might end up being good role players down the road. Time will tell. There will be some good players to come out of this draft. The top three will probably be quality players. The Rangers may have struck it rich by getting Alexei Cherepanov at 17 and the Penguins got a great break with Angelo Esposito falling to 20.
I am not sure the Stars could have gotten to those guys either. That pick they gave up for Ladislav Nagy came back and haunted them. Moving up from 21 and moving up 50 are two entirely different games. We'll see how the Stars do tomorrow. They can probably get guys in the second round who are comparable to some of the guys taken in Friday's first round. It's that kind of draft.
Give San Jose credit. They end up with a first round pick after shipping Vesa Toskala to Toronto and then traded up for another. The Sharks got Logan Couture at No. 9 and Red Line Report was real high on him. Defenseman Nick Petrecki, a big, nasty kid, was projected to go in the middle of the first round, but San Jose got him at No. 29. The Ducks moved down to No. 20 and got a good all-around player with size in Logan MacMillan. Time will tell on how these guys work out, but they look like good picks right now.
TSN is reporting that the Anaheim Ducks have re-signed goalie J-S Giguere. The contract is four years at $24 million. The TSN story is here. Now it's time to wait and see what happens with Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne. Will they be back or not?
The local paper in Mike Smith's hometown of Kingston, Ontario has a nice article on the Stars netminder in today's edition. Smitty has a new mask, is playing his Garth Brooks guitar and apparently playing some golf at a one-hole course called "Smithgusta." You can read the article here.
It's not looking pretty in Nashville right now. GM David Poile doesn't expect to be able to sign any of his top unrestricted free agents. Current owner Craig Leipold is still in charge, doesn't want to lose any more money and isn't about to write checks for player contracts. Sale of the team to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie isn't done yet and Leipold isn't about to take any chances.
Predators fans bid farewell to two of their favorites on Monday.
They may want to keep the handkerchief handy.
In the aftermath of a trade that sent defenseman Kimmo Timonen and forward Scott Hartnell to the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2007 first-round draft pick, Predators general manager David Poile said it will be difficult for Nashville to re-sign any of its top potential unrestricted free agents.
That group includes Paul Kariya, the team's leading scorer last year, as well as Peter Forsberg, Scott Nichol, Jerred Smithson and Vitaly Vishnevski. All will become unrestricted free agents on July 1 if not re-signed, as would have been the case for Timonen and Hartnell.
"Under the circumstances, it's going to be very difficult to sign our free agents because of the market, their demands, the amount of years they want and the amount of dollars they want,'' Poile said. "So in all probability, we're not going to be re-signing our top free agents.''
You have to wonder how hard it is going to be to sell tickets now in Music City.
It looks like Brett Hull is done at NBC after one season as a studio analyst for NHL games. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports Hull is taking on a bigger role in the Stars' front office. I thought Hull was OK. It's not like there was a lot of time to work with in those broadcasts. I believe he was frustrated with that. It was a nice try. It didn't work.
I guess you can look at today's trade between the Flyers and Predators a couple of different ways. One way is that it was a shrewd move by the Flyers. They sent the first round draft pick (23rd overall) they acquired in the Peter Forsberg trade back to Nashville for defenseman Kimmo Timonen and forward Scott Hartnell, who were both set to become unrestricted free agents on July 1, and then signed them to long-term deals. They basically got to bypass the having to compete with anyone else for the two players. At the same time, it's six years, $37.8 million for Timonen and six years, $25.2 million for Hartnell. Timonen is an excellent player, but he's 32 and his cap cost will be $6.3 million a year until he is 38. Hartnell is only 25, a 20-goal scorer but the $4.2 million cap is kind of high. If the two produce and the Flyers climb back to a competitive level and make the playoffs, then those cap costs look more palatable.
Another way to look at it is from the perspective of the Predators, who are a team in some disarray. The whole ownership issue is still out there. And you have to wonder if this is a sign that the Predators are going to be dumping salary or if the Predators just looked at Hartnell and Timonen as two players they weren't going to be able to afford anyway and decided to get at least something decent (a first round pick) in return. Time will tell. Nashville's been a top team the past couple years. If they dump salary it would alter the power structure in the West.
Well, I just wrapped up a fine family vacation to Binghamton, New York, home of the Ottawa Senators' AHL affiliate. Picked up a Binghamton Senators hat and a nice shirt. Binghamton will be home to the AHL All-Star Game next year, but I passed on the hat for that one. Passed on the autographed Chris Neil picture too. Not much on autographs. The only one I ever got was Bobby Orr and that was at a minor league game in Binghamton back in the 1970's.
The local paper in Binghamton does a good job covering hockey. They never printed a boxscore for the NBA Finals games, but they had hockey covered. The B-Sens are looking for a new head coach. The parent team could be looking for a new GM. Word early this morning from the Toronto Sun is that Ottawa GM John Muckler has been fired. While I was out of town the Flames hired Mike Keenan. He and Darryl Sutter make a cheery pair, eh?
They get Versus on the cable up in Binghamton, but that didn't help when it came to watching the NHL awards show since it ended up being tape delayed. I already knew who won, so what was the point of watching at 11 pm or whatever time it came on. The NHL and Versus came off looking stupid on that one.
I didn't have too much of a problem with the awards winners. I would have liked to have seen Pahlsson win the Selke. I would have voted for Therrien in the Adams category, but if someone made me I could make a case for Vigneault.
Back to the vacation. Outside of hanging out with my folks and doing very little (which was the goal), some of the other highlights of the trip included the airline losing one of our bags (delivered the second day of the trip), somebody hitting the rental car at a mall, some yahoo trying to scam us by claiming we hit his dump of a truck in a restaurant parking lot (scam failed) and me picking bags off the luggage carousel with former U.S. Speaker of the House Jim Wright at DFW Airport when we got back in town.
Now, it's time to get back into the swing of things. The draft is coming up this week. The Stars don't have a first round pick, but you can still get good players for the future at between 50 and 70, which is where they got Niklas Grossman and Joel Lundqvist. None of the guys they pick this week will have an immediate impact, but it is still interesting to watch them develop and see if any of them might have an impact down the road.
There's always the possibility of a trade this week too as the Stars look ahead to next season. I have a feeling they will do something, or at least try to do something. I would think moving a defenseman for some offensive punch is a possibility. Adding some offensive punch in on the "to do list" whether it comes via trade or free agency. More on that in the days ahead.
Stu Barnes has been re-signed for one-year at $900,000. No big surprise there and the money is a good price for both sides. If there was one of the unrestricted guys you'd want them to keep it would probably be Barnes, and he comes in at a good price and for just one year.
Stars assistant GM Les Jackson is under consideration for a new job. The Columbus Dispatch reported this morning that the Stars have given the Blue Jackets permission to talk to Jackson. Columbus' first choice for the job, Ducks assistant GM Bob Murray, has decided to stay put. Oilers assistant GM Scott Howson is also going to be interviewed by the Blue Jackets.
Congratulations to the Anaheim Ducks. They were clearly the better team in the Stanley Cup Final. They were among the top teams all season long and ended up being the last one left standing. They are an excellent team. They have size and speed. They defend well. Their goaltending is excellent. They have three lines that can score. When they are forechecking and hitting, they are a formidable bunch.
As far as their past struggles and all the Disney stuff, the joke is over. All the Mickey Mouse nonsense is in the past. This is a franchise that is making some great strides on and off the ice under the new owners (Henry and Susan Samueli) and GM Brian Burke and his staff. A lot people will say Burke had a lot of this handed to him, but he signed Scott Niedermayer. He traded for Chris Pronger. Those are two big reasons this team is where it is. He signed Teemu Selanne, who is a third reason for Anaheim's success. The new ownership seems to be getting the financial house in order. See a few posts below.
Scott Niedermayer gets the Conn Smythe. He wasn't at the top of my list, but I don't have any issues with his choice. He had a very good series against Ottawa. I was starting to lean towards Andy McDonald. J-S Giguere was probably a strong candidate, but his star might have faded when it became apparent just how much better the Ducks were than the Senators. If the playoffs had ended after the Detroit series, Jiggy might have been the guy. Samuel Pahlsson should have received some consideration as well. He was outstanding. The bottom line is a lot of guys were good for the Ducks and valuable. That's why they won. It was no one guy that carried them.
The Senators? Not a good showing for the most part. I liked Mike Fisher's game. I thought he was their best player in the series. Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley were big disappointments. I'll give Daniel Alfredsson some credit for scoring those two goals Wednesday night to make a game of it for a while. I'm sure the long layoff hurt Ottawa. So did the play of the Ducks.
The buyout of Bill Guerin doesn't look so bad now, eh? The Islanders are going to buy out the remainder of Alexei Yashin's contract. The cost will be $17.6 million over eight years. That's $2.2 million per year. His cap cost was $7.4 million per year. You do the math. The cap going up makes this move a lot more palatable I would think.
Stars center Mike Modano offers an explanation on the recent comments of Willa Ford, who had some not so nice things to say about the Stars organization in an interview with ESPN.com last month.
She said the coaches weren't on the same page, taking the captaincy away from him was classless and that the Stars needed to find Modano some wingers.
In today's Dallas Morning News, Modano said he talked with team management about Ford's comments and offered an explanation.
"It's tough, because my personality is that I'll hold a lot inside and then just go vent," said Modano, who will turn 37 on Thursday. "I think it's like anyone. You get it out of your system and then just go back to work."
And Modano said he would try to do a better job of voicing any concerns he has to team management.
"That's just not my personality, to speak out, and that's probably something I need to work on," he said. "But there are situations where I think all of the players could add their opinions, whether that's in what we're doing on the ice or if we're thinking about adding a player in free agency or a trade. I think the players' opinions are important there."
So, basically she was just parroting what he had said. As I said when this stuff first came out, Modano is like anybody else. He goes home and gripes about work. His problem is that the person who heard his gripes got interviewed by ESPN.com and put it out there for all to see. And that forced him to have to explain what it was all about to management and say I'll do a better job of trying to bring my concerns directly to you, which is what he did.
It was another one-goal win for the Ducks and another game where they appeared to be a much better team. Take away the first period, where the Senators got the early push from the Ducks going after going Chris Niel and taking some dumb penalties, and Anaheim was just a superior when these two teams played five-on-five.
No Chris Pronger? No big problem. The Ducks stepped up. Kent Huskins was the guy I noticed the most because he stepped up the most. He was singled out in the postgame stuff and deserved it. You expect Scott Niedermayer and Francois Beauchemin to step up, but they needed others and Huskins was there.
Big game for Andy McDonald too. He showed great patience on that first goal to get the good shot. J-S Giguere was great in the first period. It all added up to a win and a chance to skate the Cup on Wednesday.
The other highlight of the night was Don Cherry with Bill Clement and Brett Hull on NBC. It was entertaining. If you missed it, here's the segment with Cherry via YouTube.
The Ducks have obviously made great strides on the ice, but their financial picture is moving forward nicely as well. There's an interesting article in the Orange County Register today about the Ducks' financial situation.
Here are some of the numbers that were used in a graphic accompanying the story.
14,500
Season ticket sales anticipated next fall, more than double the number (7,000) when the Samuelis bought the team.
33
Number of sellouts this season, counting playoffs. Only 11 games sold out in 2003-04, the last full season before the Samuelis bought the team.
$18-$300
Range for ticket prices this past season; two years ago it was $15 to $190. That reflects a 20 percent increase on the low end and almost a 60 percent increase for the best seats. (Stanley Cup tickets this year cost $110-$903.)
200
Percentage growth in sponsorship revenue. The major sponsor is Honda, which bought naming rights to the building a year ago. Other major sponsors added in the past two years include Miller, Pepsi, Children's Hospital of Orange County and AT&T Corp.
6
Ducks ranking among all pro sports teams in the "Ultimate Standings" produced by ESPN The Magazine. Criteria include fan relations, stadium experience and "bang for the buck."
236
Percentage increase in merchandise sales at the Ducks' team store from a year ago. Biggest-selling items are authentic jerseys ($250) and replica jerseys ($125). Favorite jerseys among buyers: Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer.
27
Employees in marketing and sales. Many are new positions, including four dedicated solely to work with sponsors on promoting their products.
19
Rinks in Southern California where the Ducks have a presence. Officials are exploring sites to build rinks and expand participation in hockey, but gave no time frame. The Kids Club program aims to reach 10,000 members next year.
40
Millions of dollars spent on player payroll this season. Includes the addition of major free agents Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer.
13
Millions of dollars owners spent to upgrade the Honda Center, including for LED video boards, a sound system, a remodeled restaurant and a new outdoor marquee. More money was spent on fan development and community relations.
It's on to Game 4 tonight between the Ducks and Senators. Ottawa should have some confidence and the Ducks will be without Chris Pronger, suspended for one game due to the hit on Dean McAmmond. The argument can be made that the Senators have the momentum going into the game, but I think that ends once the game begins. The battle for momentum starts again once the puck drops. Who knows what will determine it. A couple of great shifts by one team or the other. Some big special teams play. Some big saves. Maybe a lucky bounce or break.
The Ducks responded well when Pronger was out in the Detroit series. We'll see if they can do it again tonight. We'll also see how the Ducks bounce back from Saturday's game, which was far from their best. Ottawa's got some room for improvement too, especially on the defensive side.
Ducks GM Brian Burke was upset Chris Neil didn't get punished for his hit on Andy McDonald in Game 3. Here was Burke's comment on it:
"The most dangerous play in the game last night was not Chris Pronger's hit on Dean McAmmond. It was Neil's hit on Andy McDonald. That's the troubling part for us. We'll take our one game. That's Colin's job and it's a tough one and we'll take it.
But the fact that there was one hearing today is just mind-boggling to me."
Then there was this little exchange in Burke's press conference about his discussion about the Neil hit with Colin Campbell of the NHL:
Q. "What was the reaction, defense Colin gave to you for not suspending or reviewing the Chris Neil hit?"
BRIAN BURKE: "He didn't give me one."
Q. "He brought it up?"
BRIAN BURKE: "I brought it up."
Q. "He didn't say anything back?"
BRIAN BURKE: "He said the player wasn't injured, so mind my own business. Obviously I didn't share that view."
Here's the hit via YouTube. You can decide for yourself.
Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger has been suspended one game for his hit on Dean McAmmond in last night's game.
"A variety of factors were considered in reaching this decision," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell. "Mr. Pronger used his forearm to deliver a forceful hit to the head of his opponent. Also, his actions caused injury to his opponent."
I can live with that. Pronger will be eligible to return for Game 5.
It looks like we have a series. At least we know it will go five games. That was pretty entertaining. Plenty of good stuff. Lead changes. Momentum shifts. Great crowd.
I thought the Senators' checkers stepped up in this game. The third and fourth lines came up big. I thought Ottawa's second line pinning down the Ducks fourth line late in the first with Anaheim up 1-0 really provided some big momentum and Ottawa's third line scored a short time later. The second period was wild and the Senators made fewer mistakes and more big plays. The Ducks lack of discipline hurt them in the third period.
The Alfredsson power play goal in the second was a turning point. I thought it was a good goal. My first thought was that he kicked it it in, but after I saw the replay it was pretty clear he didn't. He directed it in with his skate without using a kicking motion. That's legal. There was a kicking motion but it came after and had nothing to do with the puck going into the net. At least that's how I saw it and I am sticking to it. I think the league got it right.
The Chris Pronger hit on Dean McAmmond? I've been looking at that one on YouTube. You can watch the NBC replay below. I've got to think a suspension is coming on this one, especially since it is high possible that McAmmond might miss some time. I am not sure how Brian Burke will spin this one. His defense of the hit on Tomas Holmstrom, which bordered on "If the helmet doesn't fit, you must acquit," won't work here. It's a good thing McAmmond's helmet did stay on the way his head hit the ice.
We'll find out tonight if we have a series between the Ducks and Senators. The Ducks could be adding a player tonight. Chris Kunitz, who has been out with a broken hand, has been cleared to play.
Ottawa coach Bryan Murray said his team has to play the same way it did against New Jersey, which says the Ducks are playing a very strong defensive game. And everybody thought the Stars were the Devils of the West.
The Orange County Register has the obligatory article on the salary cap in which Ducks GM Brian Burke is quoted as saying, "With the cap system if everybody has the same amount of money to spend, it's going to come down to personnel decisions: scouting, coaching, management."
