2009 NHL off-season trades, rumours, draft thread

It's the same thing the Oilers may be forced to deal with over the last year or two of Khabibulin's deal. I've gotten the feeling though that the Flyers are an act first, figure it out second, kind of team when it comes to contracts. Pronger -- although he's been relatively healthy, could be like Hatcher the last couple years of his contract where he was there, just rarely on the ice due to injury.

 

Kotalik is a Ranger. This will help their pp.

 

Jay McKee to Pittsburgh, 1 year $800,000

 

Holy shit. Ray Shero = Mastermind.

 

Habs pick up Mara & Moen. These will add much needed toughness. Anyone surprised that Betts is still unsigned?

 

Lightning picked up Antero Niittymaki, who will give me fits in spell-checking his name all season, to back up Mike Smith.

 

RIP Reggie Fleming, who died on Saturday at age 73. One of the first "policemen," as they were called then, of the 1960s.......bringing him to the pros paved the way for John Ferguson and led directly to the arms race that eventually gave us goon hockey starting in the late '60s.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/664780

I wonder how many guys are left who can say they won a Stanley Cup while playing for Chicago? It's probably a pretty elite club by now. Not that it wasn't a short list back in 1961, given that Chicago hadn't won it for 23 years prior to that, but you know what I mean.

 

That's in dispute now.

NHL filed a notice with the International Ice Hockey Federation (or whatever its called) that they believe Hudler is contractually obligated to the Red Wings. Reason being is that since he had filed for arbitration before signing the KHL deal, he had already starting put the wheels in motion for a one-year deal in arbitration.

And since the IIHF sanctions international and olympic play, the NHL has asked them not to allow Hudler to play for Czech Republic if he plays in the KHL.

 

and the Devils instantly become the most boring team in hockey. Great coach but awful for the game.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=284629

 

Well, the trap, the way it was when Lemaire truly instituted it, isn't effective anymore. A team would be killing penalties all game if it was employed as it was back then.

The Devils' problem now is that they have a defensive-minded coach leading a team that probably is best off in a free-flowing game. Plus, a defensive mindset isn't going to be as effective with the crop of defensemen the Devils now boast. Lemaire won't have Stevens and Niedermayer and Daneyko and Rafalski and the like to do the dirty work.

Lemaire is a good coach and the team won't be horrible, but I just have a feeling that this is NOT the direction that franchise needs to take.

 

did you see the Minnesota Wild play? He didn't have any of those defenceman there either.

 

Here's a great tribute by Stu Hackel over at Slap Shot including a video of a bench clearing brawl in a Toronto/Hawks game back in '63. I hate to say that I remember that game. The play by play guy is NOT Foster Hewitt but his son Bill.


http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/the-morning-skate-remembering-reggie-fleming/#more-16033

Hackel makes a good point: back then players who fought could also play and it wasn't until fighting became part of the Flyers strategy that teams hired specialists.

There's also a series of interviews by Fleming's son. Touching stuff

So nice to see Dick Duff pound away at Fleming.