No surprise that Brooks Laich and Shaone Morrisonn have opted for an arbitrator.
And if you were curious, Matt Cooke becomes a Penguin. Since the Pens already lost a agitator they needed to get one in return. Cooke now is the enemy. But with a sweet face.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Fireworks Of A Different Kind
Kevin Lowe finally jabs back. Well not only is it a jab, it's a full on upper cut with a few body blows:
No animosity there. While Lowe has tried to take the high road several times by not engaging, he became Brian Burke's punching bag. The punching bag just punched back. Best line: "He won a Stanley Cup? Great. I've won six..." Ah those crazy GM's. So cute and cuddly.
In other news, Jaromir Jagr is gone (thank goodness). He signed a two year deal somewhere in Russia.
And Southeast Division foes Tampa have done away with Dan Boyle sending him to San Jose in a player swap. Personally, I think this is a mistake on the Lightning's part. Boyle himself didn't take the news to well either. After going on a honeymoon, he just found out himself that he was rumored to be traded when he was returning home.
Is Tampa really doing any good this off season? Or is it shake up for shake up sake?
"Where do I begin?," started Lowe. "He's a moron, first of all. Secondly, he really believes that any news for the NHL is good news. Thirdly, he loves the limelight and I don't think anyone in hockey will dispute that. Lastly, he's in a pathetic hockey market where they can't get on any page of the newspaper let alone the front page of the sports, so any of this stuff carries on."
"I mean, if he wants to debate what our offer sheet did to them or to the salaries, anytime," he explained to Team 1260. "The reality is, Rick Nash's contract a number of years ago, (Patrice) Bergeron's and (Ilya) Kovalchuk's; that sets the standard - that's been going on for decades. I'm sick and tired of it. I know everybody in hockey is. I know our peers are like, 'Well, that's Burkie.' This guy is an absolute media junkie and I guess he's achieving what he wants because he gets his name in the headlines. But the reality is, I hate the fact that my name is linked to his. He's an underachieving wanna-be in terms of success in the NHL. He won a Stanley Cup? Great. I've won six Stanley Cups, you want to count rings? Who cares, it's just a little pathetic that he carries on."
No animosity there. While Lowe has tried to take the high road several times by not engaging, he became Brian Burke's punching bag. The punching bag just punched back. Best line: "He won a Stanley Cup? Great. I've won six..." Ah those crazy GM's. So cute and cuddly.
In other news, Jaromir Jagr is gone (thank goodness). He signed a two year deal somewhere in Russia.
And Southeast Division foes Tampa have done away with Dan Boyle sending him to San Jose in a player swap. Personally, I think this is a mistake on the Lightning's part. Boyle himself didn't take the news to well either. After going on a honeymoon, he just found out himself that he was rumored to be traded when he was returning home.
“I don’t have the nicest things to say about what happened, but I don’t want to dwell on this,” Boyle said in a phone interview from his Ontario cottage. “I was misled and disrespected, and it was really not the right way to do a lot of things. I don’t have anything good to say about how all this went down.”
Is Tampa really doing any good this off season? Or is it shake up for shake up sake?
Friday, July 04, 2008
Happy 4th Of July
Happy Birthday, big ol' USA. Since I doubt the Caps will sign anyone today, being a holiday and all, I am going to take a nice weekend off. Get some BBQ, light some illegal fireworks and just enjoy a nice long weekend.
Just some loose ends to tie up.
Per Tarik, GM George McPhee maybe done signing free agents, now is the time to lock up some of the those RFA's. Sounds like GMGM is pretty confident that Brooks Laich will be back even though his agent has confessed that Laich has been contacted by other teams about possible offers. What ever the market might give him the Caps will match.
Deals are also in the works to get Sergei Fedorov back, but like I surmised, the Caps and Fedorov are going to wait until the dust settles and comtemplate each others' options. Looks like Fedorov might wait until McPhee has the team he wants under contract and then start negotiating. Which makes sense.
Matt Cooke looks like he will move on. While he served his purpose here in DC, it was down to either Matt Bradley or Cooke. Bradley resigned. End of story.
You might have noticed that Capitals' first round draft pick is not on the development roster. Anton Gustafsson will not be here in July due to his nagging injuries. At first the Caps thought they could at least get him in and work a rehab program for him. At least he would be able meet some of the other players in development. But I think doctors put the kabosh on that and told Gus II to stay home. He was going to stay there for next season anyway.
Shaone Morrisonn's status is still in the air, but it's likely he will be resigned. He found some chemistry with Mike Green last season, which is a big reason the Caps would want him to stay. But with so many good defensemen now in the Caps' system, it going to make playing for jobs quite the battle.
Also some good news. The Rangers weren't going to wait around for Jaromir Jagr and signed Markus Naslund instead. I pretty much think that puts the Caps in the free and clear of any contractual monies obligated to the Rangers and Jagr. It truely is Independence Day!
That's all for now. Happy 4th
Just some loose ends to tie up.
Per Tarik, GM George McPhee maybe done signing free agents, now is the time to lock up some of the those RFA's. Sounds like GMGM is pretty confident that Brooks Laich will be back even though his agent has confessed that Laich has been contacted by other teams about possible offers. What ever the market might give him the Caps will match.
Deals are also in the works to get Sergei Fedorov back, but like I surmised, the Caps and Fedorov are going to wait until the dust settles and comtemplate each others' options. Looks like Fedorov might wait until McPhee has the team he wants under contract and then start negotiating. Which makes sense.
Matt Cooke looks like he will move on. While he served his purpose here in DC, it was down to either Matt Bradley or Cooke. Bradley resigned. End of story.
You might have noticed that Capitals' first round draft pick is not on the development roster. Anton Gustafsson will not be here in July due to his nagging injuries. At first the Caps thought they could at least get him in and work a rehab program for him. At least he would be able meet some of the other players in development. But I think doctors put the kabosh on that and told Gus II to stay home. He was going to stay there for next season anyway.
Shaone Morrisonn's status is still in the air, but it's likely he will be resigned. He found some chemistry with Mike Green last season, which is a big reason the Caps would want him to stay. But with so many good defensemen now in the Caps' system, it going to make playing for jobs quite the battle.
Also some good news. The Rangers weren't going to wait around for Jaromir Jagr and signed Markus Naslund instead. I pretty much think that puts the Caps in the free and clear of any contractual monies obligated to the Rangers and Jagr. It truely is Independence Day!
That's all for now. Happy 4th
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Caps Sign Aucoin
The Caps keep their free agent signings up by signing up Keith Aucoin. A centerman that spent last season in limbo with Carolina Hurricanes and Albany River Rats. Aucoin could be a replacement for someone else who is still a long way away from getting to a contract agreement with GMGM, according to Tarik and Corey anyway.
Clearly Aucoin will be a third or fourth line center, if not spending time back and forth with the Caps and Hershey.
Here Keith Aucoin gets suckered punched by Drew Fata, brother of former Cap Rico Fata in the final seconds of a game in February of 07.
Clearly Aucoin will be a third or fourth line center, if not spending time back and forth with the Caps and Hershey.
Here Keith Aucoin gets suckered punched by Drew Fata, brother of former Cap Rico Fata in the final seconds of a game in February of 07.
Olympic Fever
Over the past week or so, NBC has been starting to cover the Olympic trials on their sister channels like USA and Universal HD. Something that brings great joy to my wife who was a high jumper in college. The other night we witnessed one of the most exciting races in the Men's 800 meters.
Now let me preface this by saying my wife could care less about sports in general. When I am watching hockey, she rolls her eyes with every goal I celebrate, and gets peeved when I get upset over a blown call or a stupid penalty. Don't try talking hockey with my wife either, she could care less. When ever I have news or think something is exciting and I share it with her, I usually get a "I really don't care" stare from her.
But the roles were reversed the other night when we watched the track and field Olympic trials. She was on the edge of the couch, getting more and more excited as we watched the decathlon events high jumping and pole vaulting. Then we watched the Men's 800 meter race that feature 3 runners from Oregon, the home boys since the trials are being held in Oregon.
When the race starts the three Oregon runners were near the back for most of the race, until the last turn. Out of nowhere all three put it into overdrive and all three beat the field and will be going to Beijing for the Olympics. You can see the video here on nbcolympics.com. My wife was so excited she was jumping around the living room and screaming about how great a race it was.
I caught myself rolling my eyes. It was a great race, but I was never a huge track and field fan. But thinking about it, I get to see the Caps play every year for near 8 months out of the year. She only gets to watch elite athletes realize their Olympic dreams every 4 years. So I let her jump and scream and grunt with the runners and jumpers. It was fun to see the fan side of her emerge as we watched all of the events. She even gave me a few pointers on how to high jump using our bed as the "pit."
I guess our house has already caught Olympic fever.
Now let me preface this by saying my wife could care less about sports in general. When I am watching hockey, she rolls her eyes with every goal I celebrate, and gets peeved when I get upset over a blown call or a stupid penalty. Don't try talking hockey with my wife either, she could care less. When ever I have news or think something is exciting and I share it with her, I usually get a "I really don't care" stare from her.
But the roles were reversed the other night when we watched the track and field Olympic trials. She was on the edge of the couch, getting more and more excited as we watched the decathlon events high jumping and pole vaulting. Then we watched the Men's 800 meter race that feature 3 runners from Oregon, the home boys since the trials are being held in Oregon.
When the race starts the three Oregon runners were near the back for most of the race, until the last turn. Out of nowhere all three put it into overdrive and all three beat the field and will be going to Beijing for the Olympics. You can see the video here on nbcolympics.com. My wife was so excited she was jumping around the living room and screaming about how great a race it was.
I caught myself rolling my eyes. It was a great race, but I was never a huge track and field fan. But thinking about it, I get to see the Caps play every year for near 8 months out of the year. She only gets to watch elite athletes realize their Olympic dreams every 4 years. So I let her jump and scream and grunt with the runners and jumpers. It was fun to see the fan side of her emerge as we watched all of the events. She even gave me a few pointers on how to high jump using our bed as the "pit."
I guess our house has already caught Olympic fever.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Laughable
Corey Masisak caught up with Olie Kolzig's agent Art Breeze:
Haha, haha, haha, ooh, that Breezy. Whew.
Seriously, if I ever felt down about myself, unsure and feeling depressed, remind me to hire Art Breeze.
Q: What was the interest level like for Olie yesterday?
Breeze: He was one of the most sought-after unrestricted free agent goaltenders yesterday. There were several aggressive suitors. He is a class act, and I think he can still be a dominant goaltender in this league. Tampa’s gain is going to be Washington’s loss.
Q: Was there any communication with Washington yesterday?
Breeze: None whatsoever. And you can put that in big, bold letters.
Haha, haha, haha, ooh, that Breezy. Whew.
Seriously, if I ever felt down about myself, unsure and feeling depressed, remind me to hire Art Breeze.
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