NHL Gone Wild!

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Free agency opened a couple of days ago, and all hell has been breaking loose (in a good way):

Derian Hatcher (Detroit) goes to Philadelphia
Mike Rathje (San Jose) goes to Philadelphia
Pavol Demeitra (St. Louis) goes to Los Angeles
Mike Modono (Dallas) re-signs in Dallas
Sergei Zubov (Dallas) re-signs in Dallas
Martin Straka (Los Angeles) goes to NY Rangers
Cory Stillman (Tampa Bay) goes to Carolina
Alexei Zhitnik (Buffalo) goes to NY Islanders
Martin Gelinas (Calgary) goes to Florida
Joe Nieuwendyk (Toronto) goes to Florida
Gary Roberts (Toronto) goes to Florida
Bobby Holik (NY Rangers) goes to Atlanta
Steve Yzerman (Detroit) re-signs in Detroit
Adam Foote (Colorado) goes to Columbus
Sandis Ozolinsh (Anaheim) re-signs in Anaheim
Miroslav Satan (Buffalo) released
Darren McCarty (Detroit) goes to Calgary
Tony Amonte (Philadelphia) goes to Calgary
Brian Boucher (Phoenix) re-signs in Phoenix
Brad Isbister (Edmonton) traded to Boston for draft pick
Danny Markov (Philadelphia) traded to Nashville for a draft pick
Shawn McEachern (Atlanta) goes to Boston
Bob Goodenow (NHLPA) released

Montreal, Chicago, and LA are supposedly in a bidding war for Satan.
Pittsburgh's chasing Neidermayer.
Boston and NY Rangers are chasing Forsberg.

League observers indicate that parity and a more even talent distribution is happening right before us.

As a Kings fan, I'm awfully happy with getting Demeitra. Apparently it's also hoped to create good things in the negotiations with Ziggy Palffy, who's buddies with Demeitra. Would be nice to get Ziggy back. And if they can win the Satan bidding too, and retain Frolov... lots of scoring in LA!

Martin Straka (Los Angeles) goes to NY Rangers

I... er... well...

Eric Lindros isn't playing anymore. Right? Right?

Joe Nieuwendyk (Toronto) goes to Florida
Gary Roberts (Toronto) goes to Florida

Too cold for you ladies?

They are after all the carribean, central, and south american hotties we have down here.

Eric Lindros isn't playing anymore. Right? Right?

Yup, he's officially a free agent and has been for over a year.

It's pretty neat to watch this happen. As a Canuck fan I'm worried about Naslund but rumour has it that Neidermayer wants to play on the west coast. Hopefully they can get Naslund and Neidermayer.

Oh yeah, Marek Malik(Vancouver) and Fred Brathwaite(Columbus) have signed with the Rangers as well. With Malik gone the canucks have freed up an extra 3 million.

They are after all the carribean, central, and south american hotties we have down here.

Obviously you've never had a Toronto skank. Once you get one you won't ever be having anything else.

Obviously you've never had a Toronto skank. Once you get one you won't ever be having anything else.

So are we talking kitchen knife here or what?

Steak Knife in the kidneys, i'd assumed. That's proper Canadian Stabbing Procedure for Hoes in Toronto. In Detroit, for instance, it's a slash across the eyes and three in the chest.

Blues trade Chris Pronger to the Edmonton Oilers for Eric Brewer, Doug Lynch and Jeff Woywitka, in what is essentially a salary dump (TSN.ca indicates Pronger, Keith Tkachuk and Doug Weight's contracts totaled a hair shy of $20 million, and with a $39 million cap, one of the three had to go).

I'm glad to see Philly beefing up their D (they re-signed Chris Terian, too). But did they have to lose Danny Markov to do it? Man that guy was awesome. Took a slap shot to the balls during a penalty kill and kept on going!

I'd gladly slap up Satan for my Hurricanes. Yes, yes I would.

And Toronto is quiet as usual.

Wouldn't want to et excited or anything.

Unforseen_Power wrote:

And Toronto is quiet as usual.

Wouldn't want to et excited or anything.

I think Jeff O'Neill is heading to Toronto. Just be careful you don't get in his way in the parking lot after a game. That sumFemale Doggo'll run you right over and keep dialing his cellphone.

Well, at least the Bruins are doing something.

I was worried they had just dissolved the team, what with the lack of any news aboot them.

Vector wrote:
They are after all the carribean, central, and south american hotties we have down here.

Obviously you've never had a Toronto skank. Once you get one you won't ever be having anything else.

yes, once you get through all the clothing.. in the south all you have to take off is the G-string

So when the dust settles, how are they going to sell tickets again?

Mayfield wrote:

So when the dust settles, how are they going to sell tickets again?

Especially now that there's no fighting in the last 5 minutes of the game. Total BS. They claim every year they're going to be tougher on penalties and never are, so the cheap shots and dirtiness are just going to get worse at the end of the game.

I'm from the school that they should get rid of the fighting in the NHL. Let the plays speak for themselves. Everything under the NHL though, fight on, nothing like watching a minor league game that's lopsided so the losing team just starts punching.

It continues!

Brian Leetch (Toronto) goes to Boston
Martin Skoula (Anaheim) goes to Dallas
Alexei Kovalev (Montreal) re-signs
Mathieu Dandenault (Detroit) goes to Montreal
Miroslav Satan (Buffalo) goes to NY Islanders
Mike York (Edmonton) traded to NY Islanders
Michael Peca (NY Islanders) traded to Edmonton
Sergei Gonchar (Boston) goes to Pittsburgh
Markus Naslund (Vancouver) re-signs
Bryan Berard (Chicago) goes to Columbus
Nobody (good) goes to Los Angeles yet today

Mike Modono rejects Dallas's offer, looking elsewhere
Ziggy Palffy rumored to Detroit, NYI, or LA

*Legion* wrote:

It continues!

Brian Leetch (Toronto) goes to Boston

AIIIIIIIIIIIGH. AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH. AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH.

EDIT: AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH.

I think Jeff O'Neill is heading to Toronto.

He got traded there on draft day. O'Neil is a Maple Leaf.

Markus Naslund (Vancouver) re-signs

Best news of the day.

The biggest news is that Forsberg is in fricken' Philly. He's back to the team that drafted him. This seems so surreal because I have a card with Forsberg in a Flyer jersey.

Pronger is now in Edmonton and Brewer is in St.Louis.

Eklund's is claiming Roenick to Los Angeles, "confirmed by two sources who spoke to people at the Flyers", but nobody else is reporting anything there yet.

Also, apparently Matt Jones's 40 time impressed people in other sports, as Phoenix has signed "Matt Jones" to a 2-year deal.

I'm happy with the Rangers thus far. The new salary structure will hopefully prevent Glen "I'm A FREAKING MORON" Sather from screwing up the team more than usual. Rucinsky should be good for 25 goals or so, and getting Kevin Weekes just makes me smile for various reasons.

EDIT: Getting to see them play however, will be more tough. Seats outside of the Nosebleed area are $40 to start, which is a bit steep for me. Mayhap in 2006.

EDIT EDIT: What's this BS about me not being able to buy a jersey with a Retired player's name on it? How in the hell am I going to get a Mike Richter jersey then? Bastards.

TSN confirms trade talks between Philly & LA for Roenick. Eklund suggests it may become a 3-team trade, as the teams are having a hard time lining players up to deal.

Oh, and someone ask me how happy I am Forsberg is outta Colorado and the Pacific Division. G'head, ask me.

Oh, and someone ask me how happy I am Forsberg is outta Colorado and the Pacific Division. G'head, ask me.

I would but I know the answer is the same as mine :D.

Edit: And JR in LA? That is going to be hilarious.

LA fans don't get all butt sore about the kind of things Roenick says to the media. Some people are still crying about his somewhat out-of-context remark about certain fans that should "stay home". LA will hardly bat an eye at that sort of thing.

I was hoping more about him taking advantage of the greater amount of media available. LA isn't a hockey city so it's not like going to a Canadian city or the larger market American cities where the media is obsessed with hockey. LA has the stigma of being an area of larger than life personalities and JR is the biggest character in the NHL.

JR Quote: "I don't think anyone, with the possible exception of me, is going out there to hurt anyone."

Flyers are loading up to make a serious cup run... with the Vets and some promising youngsters on the Calder Cup Champs Phantoms coming up to play with the Flyers next year Philly could finally end its 20+ year championship drought.

I love Forsberg! Can't wait to see him play in my town. I don't want to lose JR for it tho. I love his personality and the crazy stuff he does. But Forsberg definitely puts Philly over the cap so they're going to have to move some bodies. The flyers always put a cup team on the ice, that's what makes them such a great team to root for.

I have played adult men's league hockey for 2 years now and I can definitely say that there is a place for fighting in almost any level of hockey. There will always be players who will use dirty moves and tricks anytime the refs aren't looking and they need to be punished. There will always be big guys who will put extra pain and suffering into their hits on star players and they need to be punished. If you take away all fighting, it will only get worse. In a game that is so fast your entire body becomes a weapon, not to mention the 4 ft spear you're carrying, there has to be repercussions for being a jerk and history has shown that the refs just aren't good enough at it. They claim every year they will crack down, and they don't. And even when they do get better about calling the official penalties, the dirty sneaky stuff just gets worse. I like the way that, in general, the fighting has become an almost ritualized affair. Two guys drop and go at it, the rest of the teams stay out, the refs wait til one guy falls and pull them away. You act like a jerk, you get hit in the face.

My favorite JR quote: "I may be cocky and arrogant, but that doesn't mean I'm not a nice guy!"

*Legion* wrote:

Miroslav Satan (Buffalo) goes to NY Islanders
Mike York (Edmonton) traded to NY Islanders
Michael Peca (NY Islanders) traded to Edmonton

I see it takes a deal with Satan for my Isles to have a chance of winning this year. And of course they continue with their ex-Buffalo Sabre revolving door policy. Why they never could get Hasek is beyond me.

Sergei Gonchar (Boston) goes to Pittsburgh

So. Happy! Just what the Pens needed. Add a veteran goalie to teach Fleury how to deal with the NHL, and the Pens could be well set up for years to come.

As for fighting, I think taking fighting out of the game would be basically useless. It would just morph into some other form of retaliation, like the stick work in college hockey. That said, and having played the game for 15 years or so, I do think fighting is dumb. I think the best way to deal with this stuff is have the refs consistently call fouls. I don't see how that's so hard, and I've never understood why it hasn't happened. It would kill this whole, "Guess our team needs to take matters into our own hands" attitude. As for the whole "We're losing game one in the playoffs-- let's hit people!" thing, I'd throw 'em out. That's just dumb.

I like a good fight in hockey. They are always entertaining and it's almost always between two willing combatants. It's fun to watch and I don't think it takes anything away from the sport.

I made a list of free agents that are damn good players (in some capacity) but aren't superstars and will probably fall under the radar of most fans.

Updated

East
Randy Robitaille
Travis Green
Rob Zamuner
Donald Audette
Eric Messier
Yanic Perreault
Marius Czerkawski
Cliff Ronning
Boris Mironov
Ron Francis
Bryan Marchment
Alexander Mogilny
Kip Miller
Michal Grosek
Bates Battaglia
Marty Murray
Curtis Leschyshyn
Shaun Van Allen
Claude Lapointe
John Leclair
Glen Wesley
Marcus Ragnarsson
Radovan Somik
Peter Bondra
Sandy McCarthy
Roman Hamrlik
Scott Stevens

West
Jason Krog
Vincent Damphousse
Andrei Nikolishin
Peter Worrell
Scott Lachance
Brian Holzinger
Shayne Corson
Stephane Quintal
Anson Carter
Adam Deadmarsh
Josef Stumpel
Andreas Johansson
Vladimir Orszagh
Murray Baron
Teemu Selanne
Anders Erikkson
Daniel Cleary
Brian Savage
Al MacInnis
Dave Andreychuk
Lyle Odelein
Scott Young
Don Sweeney
Duvie Westcott
Jason Woolley

Lots of goalies available too:
Byron Dafoe
Felix Potvin
Steve Shields
Corey Schwab
Mike Dunham
Jeff Hackett
Jamie Storr
Trevor Kidd
Sebastien Charpentier
Steve Passmore
Arturs Irbe
Fred Brathwaite
Ron Tugnutt
Curtis Joseph
Tyler Moss
Roman Cechmanek

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