I guess ‘weekly’ was a little optimistic! I’m a busy man, cut me some slack!
Ok, so in the considerable time since i last updated you, Mr Sundin has yet to decide on where his future may lie. Recent newspaper reports have suggested that the two teams Sundin would like to join are the Rangers and my Flyers. This is highly surprising news to me, i don’t see the need for the Flyers to go after any more forwards (even if they are as good as Mr Sundin) and even if we want to, we’re in no cap situation to do so. Pretty much the only way he could sign with us is if we do some serious cap dumping somewhere. Oh, hello Florida, you want Knuble and Hatcher? The ever-reliable Eklund has stated recently that Sundin would be willing to play for a cup-contender for as little as $2m though, so there could possibly be legs to this. One thing that this piece could serve to do is eliminate the Canucks from the running, although i find it very hard to believe anyone could turn down $20m for two years work.
In other news, John ‘the baker’ Stevens has signed a 2-year contract extension with the Flyers. He was recently awarded the ‘coach of the year’ award by the Hockey News for his efforts in guiding the Flyers from 30th to the conference finals in only one year. I’m still highly sceptical in his ability, he did very well in the play-offs this year, out-couching both Boudreau of the Ovechkins and Carbonneau of the Canadiens despite missing Gagne for the entire run, but he really ought to have performed better in the league, and he was also the man who ran rule over the side who finished bottom with Forsberg. He’s also over-seen two 10-game losing streaks. The question you need to be asking is, should a side with forward ranks of a high enough depth to be able to put Jeff Carter and RJ Umberger on the third line really be expecting any less than we got? Still, Hitchcock was fired a matter of months after an extension, so you can’t read too much into this.
The Jay Bouwmeester saga runs on. He has signed a one year, $4.85m extension to his current Florida deal, but this will obviously expire next summer and crucially, will make him a UFA at the end of it. Interested teams are touted to be the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and (you’ve guessed it), the Philadelphia Flyers. After losing Sundin, the Leafs desperately need a star and Bouw would meet the bill perfectly. Ottawa are looking to replace Wade Redden, after the left-handed defenseman went to the Rags. The only team who doesn’t really fit is the Flyers. We would like Bouw, but with Coburn and Timonen already there, we don’t really [i]need[/i] another top-pairing defenseman.
Alex Radulov has made some pretty interesting comments to the papers this week regarding the NHL poaching players from the Russian leagues. The most interesting quote is as follows:
“The NHL for 15 years has brought young players from Europe, first and foremost from Russia,” Radulov said, via a translation on Russianprospects.com. “I think that it is time to end this. Simply put: (It’s) time to stop robbing us.”
Wow. People living in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks at greenhouse manufacturers. Nobody was stopping you from taking the 25k per year in the Russian leagues were they Al? How much of the $1m you earned from the Preds last year did you pump into the Russian league to stop this ‘injustice’? Nobody is putting a gun to their head and making them sign in the NHL, it’s personal choice. Eejit.
Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Ryan Whitney is facing 3-5 months on the sidelines. This probably means Goligoski makes the team, which shall be interesting.
Finally, professional clown Sean Avery has come out saying he isn’t impressed with the Rangers spending policy. Whilst he got a good move to Dallas, i sense a little bitterness here Sean.
