Well folks, we are a week away from the opening of the 2006-07 NHL season. Three and half months have gone by since we saw the Carolina Hurricanes win Lord Stanley's prize.
The excitement is not the same as last year of course, because then we had gone a full season with no hockey as we got closer to opening night in 2005-06. The excitement should get bigger, because we know that after a year with the rule changes, hockey this season should even be better.
All the teams have had a year to adjust to the rule changes and hopefully we will see the game get better as the season progresses.
Living in the Ottawa area, i will get to see the two first games of the battle of Ontario, between the Senators and the Maple Leafs. Friday, my team the Montreal Canadiens will begin their season on the road, against the Buffalo Sabres and the following night, they will be in Toronto to play the leafs. This on top of following the baseball playoffs that should be starting next week, and the NFL on Sunday. It's a long weekend here Canada, so all works out great. Beer, turkey, chips and plenty of sports to watch , what else could a guy ask for ?
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Habs to Honour 2 greats and ...
The Most storied franchise in NHL history, The Montreal Canadiens, are to honour two hockey greats in a sweater retiring ceremonies to take place during the season.
Serge Savard, long time defenceman and member of the famous Big Three of the Habs in the 1970's, will see his number 18 lifted to the rafters of the Bell Center on Saturday Nov 18th. Savard also played in the famous 1972 Soviet-Canada series. He also was the GM of the last two Stanley Cups won by the Habs.
Legendary goaltender, Ken Dryden, will also see his famous number 29 lifted to glory on January 29th, in a ceremony before the game between his former team and the Ottawa Senators. Dryden, since retiring from the game in 1979, was elected to the hockey Hall of Fame in 1983, has written two books on hockey, one called the Game. He also wrote on the education system in Ontario. Dryden is presently an MP in Ottawa and is running for the leadership for the Liberal party.
Well, with training camps opening last week and teams playing pre-season games, we can tell hockey season has started. Still with all of this, alot of players are looking for teams to play for next season. Gentleman, welcome to the new reality of the NHL in the salary cap world. Under the old CBA, we rarely saw this happen, but look for this happen more and more during the life of the new CBA. Unless teams have major long term injuries that they need to replace, the chances that free agents find work next season are slim to none.
I hope Colombus Blue Jackets' GM, Doug Maclean stands his ground with his young Russian superstar. Restricted free agents must have a signed contract in hand by December 1st 5pm eastern time, or else they become ineligible to play the remainder of the season. Something to think about Mr.Zerdhev.
That's all for now folks !
See you Sunday !
Serge Savard, long time defenceman and member of the famous Big Three of the Habs in the 1970's, will see his number 18 lifted to the rafters of the Bell Center on Saturday Nov 18th. Savard also played in the famous 1972 Soviet-Canada series. He also was the GM of the last two Stanley Cups won by the Habs.
Legendary goaltender, Ken Dryden, will also see his famous number 29 lifted to glory on January 29th, in a ceremony before the game between his former team and the Ottawa Senators. Dryden, since retiring from the game in 1979, was elected to the hockey Hall of Fame in 1983, has written two books on hockey, one called the Game. He also wrote on the education system in Ontario. Dryden is presently an MP in Ottawa and is running for the leadership for the Liberal party.
Well, with training camps opening last week and teams playing pre-season games, we can tell hockey season has started. Still with all of this, alot of players are looking for teams to play for next season. Gentleman, welcome to the new reality of the NHL in the salary cap world. Under the old CBA, we rarely saw this happen, but look for this happen more and more during the life of the new CBA. Unless teams have major long term injuries that they need to replace, the chances that free agents find work next season are slim to none.
I hope Colombus Blue Jackets' GM, Doug Maclean stands his ground with his young Russian superstar. Restricted free agents must have a signed contract in hand by December 1st 5pm eastern time, or else they become ineligible to play the remainder of the season. Something to think about Mr.Zerdhev.
That's all for now folks !
See you Sunday !
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
What was Charles Wang thinking ? And...
I'm sure all of you are wondering like the rest of the hockey world, what was Charles Wang thinking ? I guess, only Charles Wang can answer that, well at least we think he can. I'm sure alot of you, myself included think the Islanders owner has gone insane, but that is for the State of New-York to determine.
According to an Eastern conference GM " There's nothing in the constitution that says you can't sign a player for 15 years'' and there was nothing NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman could of done to stop it.
Deputy commissionner, Bill Daly had this to say ''Clubs are free to make their own decisions within the confines laid out in the collective bargaining agreement and other applicable league rules,'' and added on saying ''Some decisions turn out well, others not so well.''
Also pointed out in the TSN article i quoted, is the fact that the present CBA expires in six years, and nobody knows what the next one will be like, that is the danger, i have to agree. As Bobby Clarke mentions '' If he becomes the goalie they expect him to become, it's a hell of a deal.'' If not, what happens then ? Don't forget that contracts are guaranteed, so the Islanders are stuck with it for as long as DiPietro's career will last or even longer.
The Wang circus continues on the Island.
Lou Lamariello's cap problems are keeping him busy these days, but he says he is not worried as he has until the end of training camp to resolve them. Very true, teams can go over the cap by 10% (48.4m) from June 30th to the end of training camp, then all teams must be cap compliant, of course there is the long term injury factor that comes into play also, but there is a mechanism in place in the CBA for that reason.
It's called the long term injury exemption. What it does, it allows clubs such as the Devils that are close to the Upper Limit (the cap max) to replace an injured player that qualified for the exemption, to go over the cap for the period that the player is out injured, but they cannot go over for the full amount of the unfit player's salary. Exemple: Player x on club B, has a cap hit of 4m and that club is at 42 of the 44 million upper limit, only two million of that salary can go over the limit. Once the unfit player is ready to comeback, you must clear the salary and become cap compliant or the player cannot return until that is done.
For CBA faq's please visit this site to get a better idea.
Note: Now that training camps will be opening across the league, i will be updating on a weekly basis, more if a major trade or event happens between my postings. I will see you all back here on Sunday.
According to an Eastern conference GM " There's nothing in the constitution that says you can't sign a player for 15 years'' and there was nothing NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman could of done to stop it.
Deputy commissionner, Bill Daly had this to say ''Clubs are free to make their own decisions within the confines laid out in the collective bargaining agreement and other applicable league rules,'' and added on saying ''Some decisions turn out well, others not so well.''
Also pointed out in the TSN article i quoted, is the fact that the present CBA expires in six years, and nobody knows what the next one will be like, that is the danger, i have to agree. As Bobby Clarke mentions '' If he becomes the goalie they expect him to become, it's a hell of a deal.'' If not, what happens then ? Don't forget that contracts are guaranteed, so the Islanders are stuck with it for as long as DiPietro's career will last or even longer.
The Wang circus continues on the Island.
Lou Lamariello's cap problems are keeping him busy these days, but he says he is not worried as he has until the end of training camp to resolve them. Very true, teams can go over the cap by 10% (48.4m) from June 30th to the end of training camp, then all teams must be cap compliant, of course there is the long term injury factor that comes into play also, but there is a mechanism in place in the CBA for that reason.
It's called the long term injury exemption. What it does, it allows clubs such as the Devils that are close to the Upper Limit (the cap max) to replace an injured player that qualified for the exemption, to go over the cap for the period that the player is out injured, but they cannot go over for the full amount of the unfit player's salary. Exemple: Player x on club B, has a cap hit of 4m and that club is at 42 of the 44 million upper limit, only two million of that salary can go over the limit. Once the unfit player is ready to comeback, you must clear the salary and become cap compliant or the player cannot return until that is done.
For CBA faq's please visit this site to get a better idea.
Note: Now that training camps will be opening across the league, i will be updating on a weekly basis, more if a major trade or event happens between my postings. I will see you all back here on Sunday.
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