Tag Archives: Blog

That Damn Hockey Blog

That Damn Hockey Blog: Does This Mean Hockey’s Back?

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It feels a little weird to be honest. This time last year, every hockey fan knew that there wasn’t going to be any hockey, because we knew that there was going to be a lockout, and we knew it was going to last awhile, so a proper season start seems like heaven. I know there’s an Olympic break in the middle and that’ll make things interesting in terms of how one plays in an attempt to make the Olympic rosters, and with a proper pre-season, the start of the season will see the best players at full stride, as opposed to taking the first month of last season to find their rhythm.

So enjoy pre-season action, cheer your team on. Hockey’s back, and that’s always a good thing.

That Damn Hockey Blog

That Damn Hockey Blog: Why Not Sign Me Errrr?

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Free Agency. That period of your career, where if you are good enough, or find a GM dumb enough, you could score yourself a pretty sweet contract. But this comes with a warning, you may not even get a contract at all. In fact, there are players out there right now, who most people thought would have received day one, and yet, still sit un-signed without a team.

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That Damn Hockey Blog

That Damn Hockey Blog: I Want A Contract With The Islanders pt.2

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Alexei Yashin was a stud for the Ottawa Senators on the ice. Off the ice, he would complain about contracts until the cows came home. He refused to play in the 95-96 season until he was made the highest paid player on the team. In 1998, he was to donate a million dollars to the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa, however the NAC learned that a condition of the donation would be to pay Yashin’s parents $425,000, they balked at the idea, and Yashin cancelled the donation.

There would be more contract disputes to come, with Yashin refusing to honor the last year of his contract before the 1999-00 season due to demanding a raise and the Senators declining, he then demanded a trade. Ottawa responded by suspending him for the 99-00 season instead. Yashin, who was meant to be a free agent after the season, was refused free agent status by an NHL Arbitrator, and instead had to play out the final year of his contract in the 2000-01 season. Which lead the Ottawa Senators to trade Yashin at the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, to the New York Islanders. Which brought about one of hockey’s great debates. Which was worse? The contract the Islanders gave Yashin, or the players they traded in order to get Yashin.

New York traded forward Bill Muckalt, defenseman Zdeno Chara, and the second overall pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, which just happened to be Jason Spezza. The Islanders hoped that Yashin would provide the spark they needed, after picking up 94 and 88 points respectively, in the last two years he played.
Muckalt only spent one season in Ottawa, and didnt really come to much. Chara has become one of the most feared defensemen, not just for the Boston Bruins, but in the National Hockey League, and Spezza has become the forward centerpiece in Ottawa and looks to be a future captain.

But what about Yashin? He is the focal point of this blog after all. Well, the Islanders had so much faith in the Russian, that they signed him to a 10 year, 87.5 million dollar contract. Most found that an untradeable contract, but it was clear that in their eyes, Yashin was an Islander for the rest of his career. In his first year, Yashin helped the Islanders make the playoffs, but they never got past the first round during his tenure there, and after the first year, his production declined.

Even after they retooled the roster around Yashin for the 2005-06 season, it didnt help, as the Islanders bought out his contract at the end of the 2006-07 season, leaving them with a cap hit of just over $2.2mil until 2015. Yashin is currently the eighth highest cap hit for forwards on the Islanders roster, even though he reitred from hockey in 2012. Yashin is a prime example of gambling gone horribly, horribly wrong. If the Islanders hadn’t of made the deal, then chances are they would still have Zdeno Chara and Jason Spezza in their lineup, and who knows where they’d be now. Maybe where they expected to be with Yashin.

That Damn Hockey Blog

That Damn Hockey Blog: Free Aaaaaaaaaaagent Frenzy

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How does one describe Daniel Alfredsson’s move to Detroit? Most people call him a traitor for leaving Ottawa after being the Captain and spending his entire career there. Others, like new Boston Bruin Jarome Iginla (I’ll get to that in a minute), say the move is a good thing, stating that the elder statesmen like himself and Alfredsson, want to win Stanley Cups, and that their time is fast running out. However, is Detroit more of a Stanley Cup contender than the Senators? Especially after the Sens traded with the Ducks for Bobby Ryan. Detroit did also sign C Stephen Weiss from Florida, to replace Valtteri Flippula, who signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and possibly lost Damien Brunner and Daniel Cleary. Ottawa also traded away the rights to Sergei Gonchar to the Dallas Stars during the playoffs, meaning they have now lost two very skilled and experienced players from their roster, only adding Clarke MacArthur from Toronto, that isn’t a prospect.

The plan for Ottawa, was to pick up Ryan, and keep Alfredsson. Ryan was never meant to be the replacement. But now Jason Spezza has a new younger right wing beside him, and maybe, just maybe, and surprisingly, losing their captain may be the best thing that could happen to the Ottawa Senators.

Speaking of marquee iconic players at a franchise, Vincent Lecavalier’s contract was bought out by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Vinnie had so much of an impact in Tampa, that there is a children’s hospital that exists, because of the contribution that Lecavalier provided. The veteran will now line up with Claude Giroux for the Flyers.

Boston on the other hand, finally claimed the guy they thought they had at the trade deadline last season. Jarome Iginla. After switching to Pittsburgh at the eleventh hour, and missing out on a Stanley Cup ring, Iginla joins the Eastern Conference Champions, hoping to lead the Bruins to the final step, to which they were beaten to last season by the Chicago Blackhawks. However, they will have to make that step, missing several pieces that got them there. Rich Peverley and Tyler Seguin were traded to the Dallas Stars, Nathan Horton signed with Columbus, backup Goaltender Anton Khudobin, now becomes the backup to Cam Ward in Carolina, Andrew Ference signed with the Edmonton Oilers, and they don’t look like re-signing Jaromir Jagr either. They may have gained Loui Eriksson in the  Seguin/Peverley trade, but is he enough to cover the losses?

In other Free Agency news of significance, St. Louis added substantial depth at center, signing Maxim Lapierre and Derek Roy. Ray Emery became the replacement for Ilva Bryzgalov in Philadelphia, contesting the goaltending with Steve Mason. Dallas traded for Seguin and Peverley as mentioned earlier, but they also traded for more experienced middle ice depth in Shawn Horcoff from the Oilers, and signing solid backup Dan Ellis from Nashville.

Minnesota signed Matt Cooke and Keith Ballard, but lost Pierre-Marc Bouchard to the Islanders, and traded away Devin Setoguchi. Michael Ryder and Ryane Clowe will apply their trades in New Jersey, after the Devils traded in Cory Schneider from the Canucks during the draft. Toronto added David Clarkson, but bought out Mikhail Grabovski, and Phoenix added Mike Ribeiro, and Goaltender Thomas Greiss, who was the backup to Antti Niemi at San Jose.

Don’t think Free Agency is over yet, many good names are still on the board, with Goaltenders Ilya Bryzgalov, the returning Tim Thomas from hiatus, and Forwards Brenden Morrow, Jaromir Jagr and Mikhail Grabovski, leading the list of players still available. Many teams still have plenty of cap available, so you would think it wouldn’t be too long, before theses names find new homes.