Bleacher Report - Articles by Matt Beierholm

NHL: Who Are the Stanley Cup Favorites in 2009?

Matt Beierholm — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:16:52 -0400

It is time to ask that all important question: Who will win the cup in 2009? Let's start with the Eastern Conference first:

Tampa Bay Lightning:

The new management can possibly turn this team around. Let's take a trip back to last season where they finished in last place, not just in the East but the whole league with 71 points. In the old NHL, those 71 points could have gotten you to ninth or 10th place.

The Lightning have just signed a whole slue of great players and they made the biggest splash in the free agency pool so far. Some of the players are Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts, Radim Vrbata, and Olaf (Ollie the Goalie) Kolzig just to name a few.

New Jersey Devils:

The Devils have flashed back to the year 1995, yes their first cup, with the signings of Bobby Holik, and Brian Rolston. They also re-signed Jay Pandolfo and Bryce Salvador.

The Devils have always been a defense first team and with the signings of Holik and Rolston they will have a little more fire power to them.

New York Rangers:

The Rangers didn't necessarily make a big splash on the first day of free agency, but they sure did the second day.

The Rangers got off to a fast start on Wednesday trading defensemen Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman for two forwards from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nikolai Zherdev and David Fritsche.

They still haven't signed Jaromir Jagr at the time of this article, nor Brendan Shanahan, but he looks to be as good as gone. The only downside about today for the Rangers is they lost agitator Sean Avery to the Dallas Stars.

Let's take a look at the Western Conference.

Detroit Red Wings:

The Wings are going to be the favorite again this year. The defending Stanley Cup champions beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games last season and are going to go after it again and try to defend their title.

After signing all star power forward Marian Hossa to a one year deal worth $7.4 million, they already seem like the obvious choice this year.

Chicago Blackhawks:

Another team that made a huge splash in this year's free agency pool signing Goaltender Cristobal Huet and defenseman Brian Campbell (for a whopping $56.8 million for eight years). They have a chance to be a really great team to go after the cup next year.

The Hawks already have the young team that was good last year and adding Campbell and Huet on the back end will make them better. Signing Huet probably means that Khabibulin is on his way out.

Dallas Stars:

After making the run to the conference finals last year, the Stars are going to be at it again.

The Stars have just signed agitator Sean Avery for four years and $15.5 million. Avery will make that team look better.

The Stars have the leadership in Modano, the star goaltending in Turco, the youth in over half the team, and now the feisty Sean Avery. Look for the Stars to be in contention next season.

Those are my predictions for 2008-2009.

Mats Sundin: Pros and Cons of Him Signing with the New York Rangers

Matt Beierholm — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:32:42 -0400

Could it be possible that the Rangers are going after star Maple Leaf and soon to be free agent Mats Sundin? It might just be true that they are, as the NY Post was reporting. Glen Sather might be going after Sundin to play on the first line with Jagr.

Let's break down the pros and cons of this deal.

Let's start with the pros first.

- Sundin will bring the leadership and the skill on the power play that the Rangers have desperately needed over the past couple of years.

- Signing Sundin will give both players, Jagr and Sundin, someone to feed off of. Jagr will probably score more goals and Sundin can too. I'm not saying that Drury or Dubinsky won't be a factor in this signing. They will have the biggest job of them all: setting up plays.

Those are the pros of this situation; now let's go over the cons.

Like every Ranger fan has been saying, the main con with this deal is that Sundin is too old. He's 37 years old.

Sure he's nearing the end of his career and so is Jagr, but did you see Jagr last year in the playoffs? Sundin is just as good, plus the way the Rangers have been going since the lockout year, Sundin will finally see some playoff action.

I think that if the deal goes through, that it will be a good thing for the team. It will bring the team even more leadership, with Jagr, Shanahan, and now Sundin.

Team In Texas Suspended Indefinetly

Matt Beierholm — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:06:22 -0400

The Austin Ice Bats, a minor league hockey team based out of Austin, Texas, had to shut down the organization for the upcoming 2008-09 season because they couldn't find a new arena in time for the beginning of the season.

The Ice Bats are known for the best slogan in sports: Garanteed Fight Night, that is just awesome! Most of the players were released to free agency, but some of them went home to Canada.

The whole team is from Canada: people who wanted to go down to Texas, where college football is widely known, and let people know that hockey was just like football, in the physicality realm anyway.

I want to wish those players good luck wherever they land, and I hope that this team gets a new arena and starts playing again.

Sean Avery: Where Will He End Up?

Matt Beierholm — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:35:17 -0400

Now that it is unlikely that the New York Rangers will resign him, where will he go?

Sean Avery's attitude in the locker room is known to make teams want to get rid of him. This happened with Los Angeles when he got traded to the Rangers two seasons ago and now the Rangers are probably going to dump him.

So the question is asked, where does Avery go now?

It just seems like, with the trend he is on, he stays with one team for two to three years and then he's dumped.

Avery is known to agitate the opposition's players (including goalies). I always enjoyed when the Rangers and Devils played. It seemed like every game between them, Avery and Brodeur got together.

Avery tried playing in the Western Conference, but it didn't work. He tried the Eastern Conference and that didn't work either.

Do you think that Avery goes back to the Western Conference, or does he stay in the Eastern Conference? If so, what teams do you think he might go to, or does he stay with the Rangers?

Tuomo Ruutu Inks One-Year Extension with Carolina Hurricanes

Matt Beierholm — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:20:06 -0400

Hurricane's forward Tuomo Ruutu looks like he's staying put for one more year after signing a one-year $2.25 million deal on Tuesday.

Ruutu, who came to Carolina from the Blackhawks last season at the trade deadline, tallied 10 goals and 22 assists with Carolina and Chicago combined.

Adam Gravey's Number To Be Retired: Why Is it Such A Big Deal?

Matt Beierholm — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:22:59 -0400

Adam Gravey's number is to be raised to the rafters of the Garden next season, but some people disagree with it. Why?

I ask that question because he might not have been a Gretzky, or a Messier, Lemieux, or a Leetch, or any number of great skating, goal scoring players this league has seen.

But he did have one thing, heart. He cared about the teams he played for.

He might have not been a good player on the ice, which I think he was, but he was a good player off the ice. He retired from the NHL after what, his first season with the Sharks. He is back with the Rangers, not as a player, or a coach, but as a community adviser, someone that strives to give back to the team and it's fans.

So that's why No. 9 is being retired next year, not because of the player he was on the ice, but because of the person he is off the ice.

I am happy for Gravey, because he deserves it.

Sakic hasn't decided whether to return to Avalanche

Matt Beierholm — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:46:53 -0400

See original story here.

Colorado Avalance captain Joe Sakic hasn't decided whether he should return to the team for a 20th season or retire.

Team spokesman Jean Martineu said Saturday that Sakic met with the Avs' general manager Francois Giguere. He said Sakic wasn't ready to make a decision about his future.

Martineu said Giguere told Sakic to take the time he needs and he didn't expect a decision very soon.

Earlier this week, Sakic went to Croatia for Marek Svatos' wedding.

Sakic will turn 39 next month. He's eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Preds' Sign Dan Ellis, Shea Weber

Matt Beierholm — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:34:08 -0400

See original story here.

The Nashville Predators signed goalie Dan Ellis, and defensemen Shea Weber on Monday.

The team announced that Ellis signed a $3.5 million, two-year deal. Weber signed for three years and $13.5 million.

Ellis, who led the league in save percentage with a .924, will likely be teamed up with prospect Pekka Rhine in training camp. The 28-year old goalie was signed as a Free Agent last July and was a key part in Nashville's late season crunch to clinch it's fourth consecutive playoff berth.

In the 2007-08 season, Weber set a career high in average time on ice with 19:29. He also tied a personal best in shots with 152, and in game-winning goals with 2. He missed 28 games due to injury.

In 161 career NHL games, the 23-year old Weber has a amassed 70 points and 161 penalty minutes.

NHL Dismisses Threat of New Russian League

Matt Beierholm — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:15:08 -0400

See original AP story here.

Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin said he has no intention of returning home to play in Russia, and the threat of a newly revamped Russian professional league using lucrative offers to poach talent is being dismissed by NHL officials.

"At this point it's not a major concern" NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the press at the conclusion of the NHL's draft in Ottawa on Saturday. "We understand that there is going to be another league. We will see what impact it has. So far, it hasn't really had a major effect on us.

"We still continue to believe that the best players in the world will continue to want to play in the National Hockey League—the best league in the world."

Daly's comments came after the Toronto Star reported last week that several teams from the Continental Hockey League intended to offer Malkin a multiyear contract worth $12.5 million per season. That's far more than the Penguins or any NHL club could offer under the cap system.

Malkin's agent, J.P. Barry, confirmed that his client recieved a very lucrative "back-channel" offer to play in Russia, but stressed it was deal that Malkin had no intention of accepting.

"That's not what he interested in doing", Barry said. "If this was all about money he would go to Russia, because he could make more in Russia than he could ever make in the NHL. Evgeni's decision is he wants to stay in Pittsburgh."

Even if Malkin was interested, he couldn't jump leagues until after his contract with the Penguins was up. International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel has threatened disciplinary action—including disqualification from Olympic play—against any league signing a player under contract in another league.

Penguins general manager Ray Shero said he's committed to re-signing Malkin to a long-term contract this summer, and is convinced that the player will remain a fixture on a team that also includes star Sidney Crosby.

"He loves playing in Pittsburgh and our mutual goal is to work out a contract, an extension," said Shero. "My only focus is working on something that he's happy with, and we're happy with moving forward."

The CHL was founded last month, after replacing the former Russian Super League, and is expected to feature 24 teams when its scheduled to begin play in September. Two veteran NHL Free Agents, forward Chris Simon, and goaltender John Gramme expressed interest in joining the new league.

Others might follow, but its too early to tell what real impact the new Russian league will have on the NHL talent pool.

"Obviously, if you've got star players, your concerned if you have a chance to lose them, but let see what happens," said Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland, whose team features Russian star Pavel Datsyuk. "I find that talk fuels alot of speculation, and speculation fuels alot of stories, and alot of times things don't turn out the way everybody thinks."

Wayne Gretzky had a different reaction.

"Forget concerns, I wish they were around when I was playing," said Gretzky, coach and managing partner of the Phoenix Coyotes.

"My goodness, its a big decision for Malkin," Gretzky said. "Financially, its incredible, you get a chance to go back to your home country. On the other side of it, you get to play with one of the best players in the NHL Crosby...in some ways its overwhelming, to be honest with you."

The NHL's exposure to Russian encroachment has been lessened over the past few years. NHL teams have shied away from drafting Russian-born players because the lack of a transfer agreement. The lack of an agreement provides NHL teams little leverage in signing Russian prospects still playing in their native land, making it a significant risk to use a high draft pick who may never compete in North America.

Nine Russian-born players were selected in this years draft, two more than last year. That's a big drop-off from the 2000-03 draft classes, when 30 or more Russian players were selected each year.

Washington Capitals GM George McPhee said its important to be certain a Russian player is committed to coming to North America before that player is drafted. Its a commitment the Capitals received before selecting Dmitri Kugryshev in the second round this past weekend.

McPhee noted the presence of star Alex Ovechkin on his roster might provide the Capitals an edge with other Russians.

" There's some risk there. But we feel the risk is less with a player like Ovechkin." McPhee said. "They'd like to come play with him."

Sens' Ray Emery Becomes Free Agent

Matt Beierholm — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:03:47 -0400

See original AP story here.

Ottawa Senators Goalie Ray Emery cleared waivers on Monday and now becomes an unrestricted Free Agent after being bought out by the team.

Emery was owed $6.75 million over the next two seasons.

Senators general manager Bryan Murray put Emery on waivers after he couldn't find a market for the mercurial goalie.

The 25 year old goalie went 12-13-4 last season with a 3.13 GAA, and a .890 save percentage.

These numbers represent a steep decline from 2006-07, when Emery was a big part of Ottawa's run to the Stanley Cup Final. That season he was 33-16-6, with a 2.47 GAA, and a .918 save percentage.

Melrose to Be New Tampa Bay Lightning Coach

Matt Beierholm — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:47:20 -0400

Tampa Bay Lightning owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie are expected to name Barry Melrose the new coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Koules and Barrie are expected to name long time ESPN analyst and former head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, Barry Melrose the new Head Coach of the Lightning after John Tortorella was fired on June 3rd.

The new owners are expected to name Melrose head coach as early as Tuesday.

Calgary Flames Acquire Mike Cammalleri, Ship Alex Tanguay to Habs

Matt Beierholm — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:12:02 -0400

The Calgary Flames were busy at the NHL Draft this past weekend, acquiring center Mike Cammalleri from the Kings, and trading forward Alex Tanguay to the Canadiens.

The Flames sent their first-round pick (17th overall) to Los Angeles for Cammalleri. The Kings then traded the 17th and 28th picks in the first round to Anaheim for the Ducks' pick at Number 12.

The rebuilding Kings also had the second overall pick, which they used to select defenseman Drew Doughty from Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League.

Cammalleri, who just turned 26 last week, will likely play on the same line as Flames captain Jarome Iginla next season. Cammalleri had 19 goals and 28 assists in 63 games with the Kings last season. His best season was 2006-2007, when he had 31 goals and 46 assists in 81 games.

"I am thrilled to be coming to Calgary," Cammalleri told Rogers Sportsnet. "I have always wanted to play in Canada, and now I get to live it".

The Flames dealt Tanguay to the Canadiens along with their fifth-round pick, in this years draft, for Montreal's first-round selection (25th overall) and a second-round pick.

Tanguay, age 28, had a down year for the Flames last season with just 18 goals and 40 assists in 78 games. He has 177 goals and 362 assists in 609 career games with Calgary and Colorado.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Marian Hossa Plans to Test Waters Before Returning

Matt Beierholm — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:35:43 -0400

Marian Hossa told the Pittsburgh Penguins he intends to test the NHL free agent market, and the star foward expects to attract some lucrative offers come July 1.

Penguins General Manager Ray Shero said Hossa decided to seek other options after the Penguins made him a very, very fair offer.

"Hossa said that he was going to go to July 1," said Shero Saturday after the NHL Draft's final round. "He tells us we look to be his first choice, but I believe he is going to go to July 1st just to make sure, and then we will see where that brings both of us."

"I think, from Marians standpoint, he just wants to be 100 percent sure."

Shero wouldn't say what his offer was, but it's not likely he can go much higher for a player who made $7 million last season. Hossa is expected to get even more on the open market.

New York Rangers: NHL Seeks Disciplinary Actions Against Owner James Dolan

Matt Beierholm — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:08:09 -0400

The New York Post reports that the NHL plans to remove Jim Dolan of his ownership duties.

Dolan owns the New York Rangers and Madison Square Garden. He reportedly accused league officials of violating antitrust laws in a federal lawsuit. The league filed papers in a Manhattan court room that included a letter from Bettman proposing disciplinary action against the Blueshirts.

Bettman suggested either a suspension of the team or Dolan's resignation. Madison Square Garden responded by accusing the league of using "bullying tactics."