Kukla's Korner

Arnason Signs With Rangers

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

07/03/09 at 01:42 PM ET | Comments (0)

via Sportsnet Tracker, Tyler Arnason signs with Rangers, no details yet.

Filed in: NHL Teams, New York Rangers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: tyler+arnason

Hey Vancouver - How About Sundin?

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

07/03/09 at 01:10 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Jim Jamieson of the Vancouver Province,

Based on how Day 1 of free agency unfolded, it shouldn’t be any surprise that Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis is talking seriously about trying to bring 38-year-old Mats Sundin back for another season.

The kind of eye-popping deals being signed over the course of the day, with the dollar figures and terms being thrown around, simply didn’t fit with Gillis’s salary cap management model.

With all the blue-chip forwards — both real and imagined — having been signed on Wednesday, it leaves the Canucks to look at other options. And, that’s where Sundin comes in.

Some in Canucks Nation will be groaning at this prospect, but take a look at it from Gillis’s perspective.

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Vancouver Canucks, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: mats+sundin

Wilson Keeps Talking

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

07/03/09 at 12:57 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province,

For a couple of days now, Internet message boards have been humming with amateur sleuths who have been trying to determine if the Toronto Maple Leafs should be investigated for tampering with the Sedin twins.

Even if most media have ignored this story, they are not alone.

Privately, team execs have been wondering the same thing. Did Leafs coach Ron Wilson breach NHL bylaws on a Toronto radio show when he suggested his team was targeting the Sedin twins a day before the start of free agency?

“I heard what he said and it seems to be a clear-cut case of tampering. He basically tells those two free agents: ‘Hey, we’re coming for you, wait for us,’” one NHL executive said. “There’s not a question in my mind. It could have left the Canucks high and dry. Look at what he said, then look at what (Leafs GM) Brian Burke did. He flew to Sweden.”

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: ron+wilson

Bettman- The Early Years

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

07/03/09 at 12:53 PM ET | Comments (0)

Because it is Friday and I am in relax mode…

from Greg Wyshynski of PuckDaddy,

This is simply one of the most fascinating video artifacts we’ve ever viewed on YouTube: Gary Bettman making his television debut as NHL commissioner, interviewed by the great Marv Albert on NBC during the 1992-93 All-Star Game in Montreal. It plays like an eerie prequel to the 16 years that followed.

continued

Filed in: NHL Talk, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: gary+bettman

Morning Line

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

07/03/09 at 12:07 PM ET | Comments (0)

“Can we win the Cup? Yes, but 20 teams can win the Cup. I believe we have the potential. The only thing I worry about is do we have the energy to get to the Final three straight years? I’m hoping that the energy of kids like Jonathan Ericsson, Ville Leino, Jimmy Howard, and Justin Abdelkader adds excitement to the core of the team that is in its prime.”

-Ken Holland, Wings GM.  More on the Wings from John McGourty of NHL.com.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

In Shero We Trust (but hurry up, m’kay ?)

Blog: The Confluence By Tony

07/03/09 at 12:00 PM ET | Comments (0)

Tough, but not totally unexpected day for the Penguins and their fans on Day Two of the free agency period, losing defensive stalwart Rob Scuderi to Los Angeles.

The tally so far has the Pens losing Scuderi, Hal Gill and Mathieu Garon, while retaining Craig Adams and Bill Guerin and signing Mike Rupp.

The question now becomes, with only ~$4.7M available, how does GM Ray Shero spend it ??

Continue Reading »

Filed in: , | The Confluence | Permalink
  Tags: nhl-hockey, pittsburgh+penguins

Hossa Now The Other Guy

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

07/03/09 at 11:30 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press,

In sports, people want lightning rods. Winning is more fun if you really want the other guy to lose. To Wings fans, Marian Hossa just became the Other Guy.

Professional sports rivalries ebb and flow more than college or high school rivalries. A Michigan State-Michigan football game always will feel special, no matter how good the teams are, but Lions-Packers is only truly huge if one of the teams is trying to go 0-16.

Red Wings-Blackhawks is now the biggest pro sports rivalry for any Detroit team. You have two Original Six teams who just faced each other in the conference finals and should battle for division and conference supremacy for the next five years. They are ancient and modern rivals.

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: marian+hossa

Habs Fans React To Komisarek Signing With Toronto

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

07/03/09 at 11:16 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette,

A few suggested that Habs heavyweight Georges Laraque should be instructed - ordered, even - to pummel Komisarek, that despicable traitor, during the new Leaf’s first shift against his old team.

A few deleted comments indelicately questioned the marital status of Komisarek’s parents upon his birth, or suggested that he engage in an activity that is anatomically impossible.

Loyalty to a hockey club is a nearly extinct species in this world of free-agency, with players often short- or medium-term mercenaries who lace up for the team writing the biggest cheque.

Many Montreal fans seem to believe it’s almost acceptable - almost - to leave the Canadiens and sign with most any other team when their status gives them occasion to freely test the market. Just don’t make that new team Toronto or, perhaps, Boston.

read on

Filed in: NHL Teams, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: mike+komisarek

Some Hockey Players Not Experiencing The Tough Economic Times

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

07/03/09 at 11:07 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Jim Kelley at Sports Illustrated,

Tough times, maybe, but you can’t compare NHL life to an auto worker’s, especially if you’re talking salaries in Detroit. So, haven’t owners and GMs learned anything, especially that there’s a porven fall-off in production and play from players who score big money in the free-agent derby?

In a word: No.

The lure of easy money is certainly attractive to the players, and it seems to be something that owners sign off on as easily as a ticket price hike, but there’s a downside, and it seems to be at the expense of the second-, third- and even fourth-line players, the ones who can help a team win, but don’t share in the glory or wealth of their more expensive brothers.

Take for instance the case of Dominic Moore.

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Rangers In Need Of A Center And Power Play Point Man

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

07/03/09 at 10:58 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,

It’s far better for the Rangers to be patient while surveying an unimposing market that includes comparatively cheap, short-term alternatives such as Brendan Morrison, Robert Lang or Mike Comrie, should it come to that, than rush into a bad contract carrying a long-term commitment to, say, a Saku Koivu.

If Sather isn’t necessarily charged with obtaining a ready-made first-line center before camp commences please, no Mats (Inside Straight) Sundin—the general manager does have an obligation to address the situation at the power play point, also known as the black hole.

For if the Blueshirts are counting on either Michal Rozsival or Wade Redden to be dramatically better than they were last season (and, in Rozsival’s case, the year before last, as well), they are setting themselves up for disappointment and failure.

To that end, Sather is likely to check in on old buddy Sergei Zubov.

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, New York Rangers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

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