Monday, August 18, 2008
Free agent frenzy awaits the final pieces of the puzzle
Free agent frenzy awaits the final pieces of the puzzle- Sundin-Sakic-Shanahan
July 1 did not disappoint in terms of signings with more than 400 million dollars committed to a variety of players. To date ( August 17 ) more than 200 players have signed or resigned with the 30 NHL parent clubs, many of them on two-way deals, some of them, hello Jeff Finger and Mike Commodore, on inexplicable deals of a life time. In an informal chat with Ottawa GM Bryan Murray a week ago we both mused at the value of an escalating salary cap and what if anything the NHL learned from a 301 day-full season work stoppage just four short seasons ago.
In my view as ridiculous as the two aforementioned contracts are the most atrocious act was reserved for Marian Hossa who now I am declaring is a hockey prostitute. This deal will be the death knell for the Red Wings as they attempt to match their franchises good fortunes from a decade ago and repeat as Cup champs. Not likely. Hossa turned down three offers from the Penguins to sign a one year deal with Detroit at seven million and change. Thanks for coming. No question he played his best hockey of the playoffs in that final heart stopping game which ended with a potentially game tying goal just sliding wayward off of his stick as the final seconds ticked down. And throughout the playoffs his play although very, very spotty was good enough to record 26 points in the twenty games played. One behind Sid the Kid yet had he been able to convert Crosby’s seeing eye passes he would have had double that twelve goal total. Hossa signed a one year deal with who he believes will give him the best chance to win the Cup. Then with his one ring in place he can sign the long term big ticket deal that will take him to retirement. It says here- by me – that Detroit will not make the finals next year. Hossa will still get a big ticket somewhere. The cap will continue to go up and inside of five years we will have another work stoppage. Along the way though, the hockey will be good. Incidentally, of the 92 players who signed with other teams as free agents in 2007 only six improved their point totals from the season previous by ten or more points. Four of those, Scott Gomez with the Rangers, Petr Sykora with the Penguins, Viktor Kozlov with the Islanders and Robert Lang with the Blackhawks were in a group of eighteen who in 2006-07 recorded more than fifty points. As you can see, as it is in most years, free agents typically don’t do as good once they sign that big deal.
The hockey world now waits for a trio of Hall-of-Fame players, Mats Sundin, Brendan Shanahan and Joe Sakic, to make up their minds or act on existing offers. Sundin’s case remains the most compelling given that he did not waive his no-trade in Toronto, was subsequently courted by Montreal and has a twenty million dollar two year offer on the table from Vancouver and now word emerges about potentially the New York Rangers in the mix. This is a very confused man in my opinion. I’ve felt for some time that retirement was the direction he was headed even though he clearly can still play. But New York?? Bizarre. We’ll see.
The Hall of Fame has announced their newest inductions and the Glenn Anderson snub has been rectified. Anderson will join Igor Larionov in the players’ category. Anderson’s induction is long overdue. Larionov’s a head scratcher for me at least. 644 points in 921 NHL games. I’m sorry, I can’t get all gushy about his play in the Russian league or internationally when that hockey is so watered down by comparison to the NHL and its incredible grinding season. The Hall of Fame selection committee, filled with legends of the game both from the ice and off it, continues to astound me with their induction principals. I’m quite certain we will see a woman inducted within two years and more Europeans while bonafide NHL stars are overlooked. You have to face the facts, when you put in a Bernie Federko, when you put in a Cam Neely then guys like Doug Gilmour, Steve Larmer, Dino Ciccarelli even Eric Lindros should very seriously be considered.
Liam Maguire
July 1 did not disappoint in terms of signings with more than 400 million dollars committed to a variety of players. To date ( August 17 ) more than 200 players have signed or resigned with the 30 NHL parent clubs, many of them on two-way deals, some of them, hello Jeff Finger and Mike Commodore, on inexplicable deals of a life time. In an informal chat with Ottawa GM Bryan Murray a week ago we both mused at the value of an escalating salary cap and what if anything the NHL learned from a 301 day-full season work stoppage just four short seasons ago.
In my view as ridiculous as the two aforementioned contracts are the most atrocious act was reserved for Marian Hossa who now I am declaring is a hockey prostitute. This deal will be the death knell for the Red Wings as they attempt to match their franchises good fortunes from a decade ago and repeat as Cup champs. Not likely. Hossa turned down three offers from the Penguins to sign a one year deal with Detroit at seven million and change. Thanks for coming. No question he played his best hockey of the playoffs in that final heart stopping game which ended with a potentially game tying goal just sliding wayward off of his stick as the final seconds ticked down. And throughout the playoffs his play although very, very spotty was good enough to record 26 points in the twenty games played. One behind Sid the Kid yet had he been able to convert Crosby’s seeing eye passes he would have had double that twelve goal total. Hossa signed a one year deal with who he believes will give him the best chance to win the Cup. Then with his one ring in place he can sign the long term big ticket deal that will take him to retirement. It says here- by me – that Detroit will not make the finals next year. Hossa will still get a big ticket somewhere. The cap will continue to go up and inside of five years we will have another work stoppage. Along the way though, the hockey will be good. Incidentally, of the 92 players who signed with other teams as free agents in 2007 only six improved their point totals from the season previous by ten or more points. Four of those, Scott Gomez with the Rangers, Petr Sykora with the Penguins, Viktor Kozlov with the Islanders and Robert Lang with the Blackhawks were in a group of eighteen who in 2006-07 recorded more than fifty points. As you can see, as it is in most years, free agents typically don’t do as good once they sign that big deal.
The hockey world now waits for a trio of Hall-of-Fame players, Mats Sundin, Brendan Shanahan and Joe Sakic, to make up their minds or act on existing offers. Sundin’s case remains the most compelling given that he did not waive his no-trade in Toronto, was subsequently courted by Montreal and has a twenty million dollar two year offer on the table from Vancouver and now word emerges about potentially the New York Rangers in the mix. This is a very confused man in my opinion. I’ve felt for some time that retirement was the direction he was headed even though he clearly can still play. But New York?? Bizarre. We’ll see.
The Hall of Fame has announced their newest inductions and the Glenn Anderson snub has been rectified. Anderson will join Igor Larionov in the players’ category. Anderson’s induction is long overdue. Larionov’s a head scratcher for me at least. 644 points in 921 NHL games. I’m sorry, I can’t get all gushy about his play in the Russian league or internationally when that hockey is so watered down by comparison to the NHL and its incredible grinding season. The Hall of Fame selection committee, filled with legends of the game both from the ice and off it, continues to astound me with their induction principals. I’m quite certain we will see a woman inducted within two years and more Europeans while bonafide NHL stars are overlooked. You have to face the facts, when you put in a Bernie Federko, when you put in a Cam Neely then guys like Doug Gilmour, Steve Larmer, Dino Ciccarelli even Eric Lindros should very seriously be considered.
Liam Maguire
# posted by Liam Maguire @ 6:54 AM
