|
|
Bloggers 
My HockeyBuzz
Cap Central
Fantasy
Forums
Store
Chat
RSS
|
Season Ticket Login Free Registration! |
Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 |
 |
|
St Louis Blues Blogger • 1380 ESPN •
Source tells me deal to re-sign the Sedin twins in Vancouver is not done as of yet. League sources tells me they doubt the deal will exceed 5 years $30 million.
The Florida Panthers are continuing discussions in their attempt to sign D-man Jordan Leopold who the club acquired in the Jay Bouwmeester deal. The Panthers and Leopold have had discussions yesterday and today but remain a little ways away from coming to an agreement. The two sides are interested in getting a deal done which is usually a good start in constructing the framework for a deal.
With the expected announcement today of 30 or so players to be invited to the USA Olympic Orientation camp fans can expect the roster to look very different from the last several years.
USA GM Brian Burke has already made it clear that USA will likely be the youngest team in the tournament next winter in Vancouver.
I do want to give Burke some props for extending personal phone calls to some of the true USA greats whose days representing their country appear to be behind them.
Yesterday Burke made calls to several players including Islanders forward Doug Weight, Penguins forward Billy Guerin, Devils forward Brian Rolston, UFA Mathieu Schneider and Blues forward Keith Tkachuk to personally let them know they would not be included in the August camp in Chicago. Obviously Burke has already reached out to Chris Chelios.
It appears Detroit D-man Brian Rafalski and possibly Stars forward Mike Modano will be the only veteran/international experienced player invited to the American camp.
The calls made by Burke showed pure class in reaching out to some of the best American born players to ever play the game. These guys deserve it and I know it meant a lot to these players who have shared some quality memories playing for their Country.
Although it isn't likely, Burke isn't ruling out the possibility of any of these guys making the roster next winter.
The camp roster is expected today and the Blues could be well represented. David Backes, former 1st overall draft selection Erik Johnson, and T.J. Oshie all have a strong chance of being named.
Speaking of Mathieu Schneider, if the Blues are looking to add a D-man with some offense and the ability to play the PP here's a guy the Blues may want to look at. Schneider was a tremendous help to rookie Zach Bogosian last season in Atlanta before being moved to Montreal. With the Canadians Schneider tallied 17 points in 23 games including 5 pp goals. The Blues had 4 pp goals all last season from their defense. Obviously the return of Erik Johnson should boost that total. Only Dallas and New Jersey scored fewer pp goals from their D-men last season than the Blues.
One obvious omission from the Best Free Agent list on the front page is Chicago sniper Martin Havlat. How many free agents are better than this guy???
Yesterday story...
The Penguins have re-signed veteran forward Bill Guerin to a one year deal.
The Blues have bought out the contract of D-man Jay McKee who had one yr left on a 4 year $16 million dollar deal.
Sources tell me D-man Mike Weaver along with forward Brad Winchester have Signed 1 yr. deals with St. Louis worth $800,000.
The Penguins are expected to reach out to forward Billy Guerin today and should have a deal in place to re-sign the veteran forward shortly.
An extension for Canucks Goalie Roberto Luongo is all but finished. I'm hearing the extension will be in the 5 year range. Expect Luongo to sign the deal on July first.
Chicago is still trying to re-sign goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin . If they don’t there will obviously be several teams interested including Edmonton, Colorado, T.B., and possibly Toronto.
As we stand right now there is a 50/50 chance Mike Komisarek returns to Montreal.
I’m a little confused as to why Canadians GM Bob Gainey has put the organization in this position heading into July first.
Carolina has until 5:00 eastern to submit Qualifying offers to RFA’s Tuomo Ruutuu, Anton Babchuk, and Jussi Jokinen. As of noon eastern they have not sent out QO’s.
Edmonton continues to have negotiations to re-sign RFA Denis Grebeshkov to a multi-year deal.
Colorado has given no indication that they plan on buying out the contract of Darcy Tucker. A rent report out of Toronto suggested otherwise.
Islanders Owner Charles Wang tells me he wants certaintly by the beginning of the season or he will look to re-locate. Wang says if they don't pass the zoning by October he will begins plans to move the hockey team and says Kansas City is a very realistic option.
Several teams are interested in signing UFA Sergei Zubov including the St. Louis Blues. There is obviously a connection between Zubov and Blues future GM Doug Armstrong who used to manage the Stars Stars. John Davidson is very familiar with Zubov as well going back to their days in NewYork.
Meanwhile Zubov continues to rehab his surgically repaired hip and has been skating in New York for much of the off-season. Teams are hoping to get the veteran D-man at a much smaller price than the $5.3 he was paid last season. Some clubs might be willing to go longer than one year but Zubov would likely have to accept less money under this scenario. He has placed his Dallas home on the market.
Will Wild goaltender Josh Harding receive an offer sheet on Wednesday?
I respect Flames GM Darryl Sutter a lot, but please don’t insult our intelligence by saying Brent’s last name did not factor in his decision to hire the former New Jersey Head Coach. This is an obvious case of nepotism here which is fine. Brent is a quality Head Coach in the NHL. Why deny the obvious?
I get a real kick out of being around Toronto GM Brian Burke. He’s the ultimate showman and there is no question this guy loves the attention he’s getting in Toronto. I’m sure the spotlight given to the Maple Leafs organization played a major role in his pursuit of the Toronto job in the first place. He perfectly understands where he sits on the “Most influential people in Toronto” list and is playing it up big time on the big stage. Long gone are the days of being on the back pages and sitting behind USC and UCLA football in terms of level of importance. I think it’s good for the NHL to have some personality even though I’m confused by his use the tough guy, bully approach. Obviously he made attempts to make moves but when you have such a loyal and sometimes delusional fan base they tend to believe everything that is said. If you say you want Tavares then they expect you to go get him. After creating so much anticipation he struck out at his attempt to steal the show in Montreal. Maybe the fact he was mic’d up for TSN has something to do with it.
A perfect headline following the draft in the Toronto Star should’ve read, “Burke the Big Bad Wolf…He’ll Huff and He’ll Puff and Nothing Goes Down”!
Blues Clues!
Look for Erik Johnson, T.J. Oshie and David Backes to be invited to USA’s Olympic camp in August. The official announcement is expected June 3oth.
Jeff Woywitka is not expecting a qualifying offer by today’s deadline.
Look for Dartmouth University forward Kyle Reeds and St. Louis Bandits Captain Tyler Elbrecht to be invited to the Blues prospect camp.
Some believe the Blues got a steal in 2nd round pick Brett Ponich who plays for the Portland Winter Hawks in the WHL. One person who saw him play more than 20 times this past season says he shows tremendous leadership and might end up being a better D-man than veteran Hal Gill.
I thought it was a real class move for Jarmo Kekalainen to recognize both John Davidson and Brett Hull for their recent election in the Hockey Hall of Fame. I would expect the Blues to honor both JD and Hull as some point this season.
I love the tradition of the all the statues outside of he Bell Centre in Montreal. Whatever happened to that idea in St. Louis?
How many years should the Blues sign Roman Polak to? That’s what the Blues are trying to determine.
B.J. Crombeen has countered a two year offer he received from the Blues. The Crombeen camp expects to hear back from the Blues shortly.
He Blues made the trade to acquire a 7th round pick this year to grab Minnesota High School product Max Tardy who was a 2nd team all-state selection. Blues scout Mike Antonovich know Tardy well and pushed hard to grab him.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
The Florida Panthers are continuing discussions in their attempt to sign D-man Jordan Leopold who the club acquired in the Jay Bouwmeester deal. The Panthers and Leopold have had discussions yesterday and today but remain a little ways away from coming to an agreement. The two sides are interested in getting a deal done which is usually a good start in constructing the framework for a deal.
With the expected announcement today of 30 or so players to be invited to the USA Olympic Orientation camp fans can expect the roster to look very different from the last several years.
USA GM Brian Burke has already made it clear that USA will likely be the youngest team in the tournament next winter in Vancouver.
I do want to give Burke some props for extending personal phone calls to some of the true USA greats whose days representing their country appear to be behind them.
Yesterday Burke made calls to several players including Islanders forward Doug Weight, Penguins forward Billy Guerin, Devils forward Brian Rolston, UFA Mathieu Schneider and Blues forward Keith Tkachuk to personally let them know they would not be included in the August camp in Chicago. Obviously Burke has already reached out to Chris Chelios.
It appears Detroit D-man Brian Rafalski and possibly Stars forward Mike Modano will be the only veteran/international experienced player invited to the American camp.
The calls made by Burke showed pure class in reaching out to some of the best American born players to ever play the game. These guys deserve it and I know it meant a lot to these players who have shared some quality memories playing for their Country.
Although it isn't likely, Burke isn't ruling out the possibility of any of these guys making the roster next winter.
The camp roster is expected today and the Blues could be well represented. David Backes, former 1st overall draft selection Erik Johnson, and T.J. Oshie all have a strong chance of being named.
Speaking of Mathieu Schneider, if the Blues are looking to add a D-man with some offense and the ability to play the PP here's a guy the Blues may want to look at. Schneider was a tremendous help to rookie Zach Bogosian last season in Atlanta before being moved to Montreal. With the Canadians Schneider tallied 17 points in 23 games including 5 pp goals. The Blues had 4 pp goals all last season from their defense. Obviously the return of Erik Johnson should boost that total. Only Dallas and New Jersey scored fewer pp goals from their D-men last season than the Blues.
One obvious omission from the Best Free Agent list on the front page is Chicago sniper Martin Havlat. How many free agents are better than this guy???
Yesterday story...
The Penguins have re-signed veteran forward Bill Guerin to a one year deal.
The Blues have bought out the contract of D-man Jay McKee who had one yr left on a 4 year $16 million dollar deal.
Sources tell me D-man Mike Weaver along with forward Brad Winchester have Signed 1 yr. deals with St. Louis worth $800,000.
The Penguins are expected to reach out to forward Billy Guerin today and should have a deal in place to re-sign the veteran forward shortly.
An extension for Canucks Goalie Roberto Luongo is all but finished. I'm hearing the extension will be in the 5 year range. Expect Luongo to sign the deal on July first.
Chicago is still trying to re-sign goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin . If they don’t there will obviously be several teams interested including Edmonton, Colorado, T.B., and possibly Toronto.
As we stand right now there is a 50/50 chance Mike Komisarek returns to Montreal.
I’m a little confused as to why Canadians GM Bob Gainey has put the organization in this position heading into July first.
Carolina has until 5:00 eastern to submit Qualifying offers to RFA’s Tuomo Ruutuu, Anton Babchuk, and Jussi Jokinen. As of noon eastern they have not sent out QO’s.
Edmonton continues to have negotiations to re-sign RFA Denis Grebeshkov to a multi-year deal.
Colorado has given no indication that they plan on buying out the contract of Darcy Tucker. A rent report out of Toronto suggested otherwise.
Islanders Owner Charles Wang tells me he wants certaintly by the beginning of the season or he will look to re-locate. Wang says if they don't pass the zoning by October he will begins plans to move the hockey team and says Kansas City is a very realistic option.
Several teams are interested in signing UFA Sergei Zubov including the St. Louis Blues. There is obviously a connection between Zubov and Blues future GM Doug Armstrong who used to manage the Stars Stars. John Davidson is very familiar with Zubov as well going back to their days in NewYork.
Meanwhile Zubov continues to rehab his surgically repaired hip and has been skating in New York for much of the off-season. Teams are hoping to get the veteran D-man at a much smaller price than the $5.3 he was paid last season. Some clubs might be willing to go longer than one year but Zubov would likely have to accept less money under this scenario. He has placed his Dallas home on the market.
Will Wild goaltender Josh Harding receive an offer sheet on Wednesday?
I respect Flames GM Darryl Sutter a lot, but please don’t insult our intelligence by saying Brent’s last name did not factor in his decision to hire the former New Jersey Head Coach. This is an obvious case of nepotism here which is fine. Brent is a quality Head Coach in the NHL. Why deny the obvious?
I get a real kick out of being around Toronto GM Brian Burke. He’s the ultimate showman and there is no question this guy loves the attention he’s getting in Toronto. I’m sure the spotlight given to the Maple Leafs organization played a major role in his pursuit of the Toronto job in the first place. He perfectly understands where he sits on the “Most influential people in Toronto” list and is playing it up big time on the big stage. Long gone are the days of being on the back pages and sitting behind USC and UCLA football in terms of level of importance. I think it’s good for the NHL to have some personality even though I’m confused by his use the tough guy, bully approach. Obviously he made attempts to make moves but when you have such a loyal and sometimes delusional fan base they tend to believe everything that is said. If you say you want Tavares then they expect you to go get him. After creating so much anticipation he struck out at his attempt to steal the show in Montreal. Maybe the fact he was mic’d up for TSN has something to do with it.
A perfect headline following the draft in the Toronto Star should’ve read, “Burke the Big Bad Wolf…He’ll Huff and He’ll Puff and Nothing Goes Down”!
Blues Clues!
Look for Erik Johnson, T.J. Oshie and David Backes to be invited to USA’s Olympic camp in August. The official announcement is expected June 3oth.
Jeff Woywitka is not expecting a qualifying offer by today’s deadline.
Look for Dartmouth University forward Kyle Reeds and St. Louis Bandits Captain Tyler Elbrecht to be invited to the Blues prospect camp.
Some believe the Blues got a steal in 2nd round pick Brett Ponich who plays for the Portland Winter Hawks in the WHL. One person who saw him play more than 20 times this past season says he shows tremendous leadership and might end up being a better D-man than veteran Hal Gill.
I thought it was a real class move for Jarmo Kekalainen to recognize both John Davidson and Brett Hull for their recent election in the Hockey Hall of Fame. I would expect the Blues to honor both JD and Hull as some point this season.
I love the tradition of the all the statues outside of he Bell Centre in Montreal. Whatever happened to that idea in St. Louis?
How many years should the Blues sign Roman Polak to? That’s what the Blues are trying to determine.
B.J. Crombeen has countered a two year offer he received from the Blues. The Crombeen camp expects to hear back from the Blues shortly.
He Blues made the trade to acquire a 7th round pick this year to grab Minnesota High School product Max Tardy who was a 2nd team all-state selection. Blues scout Mike Antonovich know Tardy well and pushed hard to grab him.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
Join the Discussion:  |
 |