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Wild's promised free agency "splash" equates to less than a ripple

By Theresa Ferries | July 2, 2009 | The State of Hockey News

Today has been a busy day of sorts, well at least I've been busy. Now that summer is well upon us (although the temperatures have been rather pleasant as of late), it is time for the preparations for vacations. All day today, I've been busy making lists, doing laundry, packing suitcases, crossing things off those lists, and it goes on and on. You see, I am about to go on a week and a half vacation in Canada. Eventually we'll make our way back home. Of course much of this depends on our "friends", otherwise known as the Canadian border patrol. Now I'm not trying to make you jealous over my discussion of vacation, but all of this is valid. Watching the complete lack of signings by the Minnesota Wild today, I feel like I'm watching that classic Chevy Chase movie, National Lampoon's Vacation. Most of us have experienced those...

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On the eve of 'Free Agency Frenzy' the Wild tender qualifying offers to six of its restricted free agents

By Derek Felska | June 30, 2009 | The State of Hockey News

I have little doubt in a week or two that new Minnesota Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher could use a vacation. After a whirlwind negotiation towards the end of the 2008-09 season that brought him to the franchise as the team's new GM, his former gig, as an assistant general manager with the Pittsburgh Penguins were on their way to win a Stanley Cup. This has meant Fletcher has found himself sort of torn between his former team and his current one, all the while trying to take the time to get used to his new surroundings and evaluating the organization's strengths and weaknesses for himself. Complicating matters he had to try to find a coach for his new team and he did so in signing Crystal, Minnesota-native Todd Richards to be the Wild's new bench boss. Pittsburgh wins the cup and Fletcher has little time to prepare himself for...

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Goaltenders and Shattuck-St. Mary's products mark Day Two of the 2009 Entry draft for the Minnesota Wild

By Derek Felska | June 27, 2009 | The State of Hockey News

Day 2 started off with a blockbuster trade, at least in terms of acquiring player's rights as Jay Bouwmeester's rights go to the Calgary Flames and in return the rights to former University of Minnesota star Jordan Leopold and a 3rd round pick. With a team in the Northwest Division already making a big splash will the Wild follow up with one of their own? Especially since their elephant in the room (cough) Marian Gaborik's rights still held by the team. The second day of the draft does not nearly have the same level of glitz and glamor as those made last evening during the first round. Teams do not even bother to go up to the podium to make their picks but instead simply make the pick from a microphone posted at their draft table. It might sound lazy but in most cases the players are not in attendance...

Read more | 2 Comments | Tags: Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, NHL, NHL Outsider, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues

2009 NHL ENTRY DRAFT

By Colin Jeffrey | June 27, 2009 | Colin Jeffrey's 301

Howdy from Ottawa....draft night! No surprises through the top 3 picks. Can't believe Philly gave up Lupul, Sbisa, two 1st rounder's and a conditional 3rd to Anaheim for Pronger who has all but 1-yr left on his contract. The rumour now is Flyers F Daniel Briere is going to be moved (Montreal?) to make cap room for Pronger. The Ducks on the other hand save $1 mil. on the deal, get two roster players and two real high picks in a deep draft. Also with Scott Nidermayer returning, I can only assume the Ducks will save another $1 million plus as Scott...

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2009 Wild Draft: the first round has local flavor with selection of reigning 'Mr. Hockey' Nick Leddy

By Derek Felska | June 26, 2009 | The State of Hockey News

The anticipation is tremendous, it gives you an exciting feeling inside all day long as your mind races thinking about all the possibilities of who your team may pick. Unlike the last few drafts, this level of anxiety and nervous excitement extends to every team making a 1st round selection today. The past few seasons the 1st overall selection was anti-climactic. You knew who it was going to be weeks ahead of time. Last year, the Tampa Bay Lightning made no bones about who they were going to select and with a very NFL-like move they signed Steve Stamkos early and made him apart of a huge pre-draft marketing campaign. In 2005, coming out of the lockout the league held a draft lottery which was more or less considered to be the lottery for Sidney Crosby and it was no shock that when the Pittsburgh Penguins won they announced they...

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Dino Ciccarelli dissed yet again by Hockey Hall of Fame; NHL Awards assessment

By Derek Felska | June 24, 2009 | The State of Hockey News

After the awarding of another Stanley Cup, this time to the Pittsburgh Penguins it is a time to hand out other trophies and honors as well. In fact it was just last week Wednesday when the league had its 'awards night' in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Palms Casino. It was a pleasant evening marred by the curious choice to have Chaka Khan perform as its headline music act. Was this a veiled attempt to appeal to a different demographic? Amongst NHL fans, the vast majority listen to heavy metal or at the very least hard rock music. An NHL fan faux pas with Chaka Khan, probably, yet I will move on. Here is a quick snap shot of the NHL award winners along with a few comments, and from there I will chime on the main portion of this entry. Lester Pearson, Hart Trophy and Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy...

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NHL Rumor Mill - The GM Shuffle

By Grant Beery | April 28, 2009 | MVN Outsider

There are always going to be those 14 teams that don't make it into the postseason. What can you expect from at least a few of these teams? Roster changes, staff changes, and just a general mess of rumors and speculation during the summer. The two big stories are the general manager firings in Minnesota and Colorado. Not surprisingly, the Avalanche are trying to put the brakes on a pretty brisk skid to obscurity after finishing 29th this season. Pierre Lacroix, President and former GM of the club, has fired Francois Giguere and retaken the helm until a replacement is found. The Wild showed Doug Risebrough the door soon after the conclusion of the regular season, and whoever his replacement is will have the hefty task of replacing the team's only coach. Jacques Lemaire resigned after the team finished just out of reach of that last playoff spot in the...Read more

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A Week of NHL Playoffs Has Taught Us...

By Alan Smodic | April 22, 2009 | MVN Outsider

A week into the NHL Playoffs and only one series has been decided as of today -- a sweep of the St. Louis Blues by the Vancouver Canucks. I didn't think the Canucks would sweep, but I did believe they'd win.With their series win in mind from last night, we'll begin there.Vancouver wins 4-0 against St. Louis - Hockey fans knew at the beginning of this series that Roberto Luongo was good. The sweep just cements that fact. Luongo is a beast between the pipes and it's not out of the question to think that he could carry the Canucks to another series win. It's too early to tell what team Vancouver would play in the second round, but don't be surprised if it's able to advance.Detroit up 3-0 against Columbus - This series is over. If it doesn't end in a sweep Thursday night, I'll be surprised. I picked...Read more

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Quest for the Cup, Who's Your Pick?

By Alan Smodic | April 14, 2009 | MVN Outsider

In keeping tradition with the bracketology craze of college basketball, Faceoff-Factor and The Pensblog joined forces with an idea to create "Rinkotology" in an effort to raise money for the Mario Lemieux Foundation.As the name suggests, it works just the same as your NCAA March Madness pool... simply go to Rinkotology and fill out a bracket. But please donate at least $5 -- the foundation is a very worthy cause.With the introduction out of the way, let me break down my Rinkotology picks and see where I think this NHL Playoff season may be headed. Keep in mind that I've never once won a pool like this and my picks will probably not even happen. And as a Pens fan, I hope they don't happen, because I'd like to see them win it all. But I digress...Western Conference:The West is always Detroit's to lose. Just because San Jose finished the...Read more

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Top 10 Nice Guys of the NHL

By Grant Beery | March 14, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Last week, I brought you the black sheep of the NHL. This week, to give both sides a fair shake, I'm going to show you the nicest fellas ever to play the game.10. Alexander OvechkinOvechkin is probably the one player that enjoys playing the most. With every goal he scores he shows sheer excitement in his celebration. At the most recent All-Star Game, Ovechkin took the opportunity to have fun and put on a show for the crowd. While some have criticized Alex's casual attitude as showboating, it's really just a player enjoying his time in the NHL.9. Mark MessierPlaying 25 years in the NHL and the last active WHA player, Messier exemplified an older style of hockey. One of the most accomplished players in the league as well, Messier won 6 Stanley Cups and is the only professional athlete to be the captain of two different championship teams.Off the...Read more

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NHL Rumor Mill - What Exactly is a Staged Fight?

By Grant Beery | March 10, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Right now the 30 general managers of the NHL are meeting in Naples, FL to discuss a multitude of topics, but fighting will be at the forefront. The GMs would like to get rid of staged fights during games, which are predetermined bouts between two players that aren't in retaliation for anything; they just fight because that's what they're paid to do.At least that's what I think it is. I asked some fellow hockey fans on Twitter to give me their take on what they think a staged fight is."A boxing match""Wrestling"Okay, so apparently the people I follow on Twitter are just a bunch of smart asses. Moving on...Number CrunchersHere's some data the league put together on fighting in the NHL:21.6% - Number of fights this season have happened immediately following a faceoff, which is a 30 percent increase since 2000.23.6% - Number of fights started in defense of...Read more

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Deadline Passes Without Blockbuster Deal

By Alan Smodic | March 4, 2009 | MVN Outsider

The 2009 NHL trade deadline passed about three hours ago. The top story this year? ... well, take your pick. It pretty much depends on what team you follow.This time last year, the Pittsburgh Penguins made the splash of the day, acquiring Marian Hossa from the Thrashers for a slew of players. A "sexy" deal, as one radio personality put it. An equivalent to that one was not pulled today.But that doesn't mean that some playoff-bound, or playoff-dreaming teams didn't improve their rosters. Some notables today:The Calgary Flames made arguably the biggest move, adding F Olli Jokinen and D Jordan Leopold. The Pittsburgh Penguins were back at it again. GM Ray Shero already added Chris Kunitz in the Ryan Whitney trade last week. Today, amid some other small moves, he added veteran winger Bill Guerin in exchange for a conditional draft pick.Eastern Conference leading Boston Bruins added some veteran presence...Read more

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The NHL Trade Deadline Edition of the Power Poll

By Bryan Thiel | February 26, 2009 | MVN Outsider

With the Trade Deadline just around the corner in the NHL season, you can imagine what this week's theme is.This week we took a look at who each team might be trading (which is for a majority of clubs because they either feature a tradeable player or are on the fringe of decided whether they're buying or selling) or in a few cases, what the team needs. We also tossed in a few speculations just for fun.30. New York Islanders--(-19 points, Last week: -20 points): The New York Islanders could've been making a few moves at the deadline, but after getting ravaged by the injury bug, it's hard to finger who might be moved.Both Doug Weight and Mike Sillinger had potential (being free agents this offseason) but a season-ending injury for Sillinger and a sprained MCL for Weight means the probability for a deal is low (for Sillinger there's nothing,...Read more

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NHL Power Poll: First Year Wonders and Flounders

By Bryan Thiel | February 20, 2009 | MVN Outsider

This week we're looking at rookies: Surprising and depressing performances from the league's first-year players on every single team.All stats are as of Thursday afternoon, before any games were played.30. New York Islanders--(-20 points, Last week: -17 points): Right now the New York Islanders are eyeing up the best odds at the first overall draft pick this June. The question is, do they take John Tavares and pair him up with this year's rookies Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo (Who've combined for 36 points in 77 games), or do they take Victor Hedman and stock up on the back end.Basically it depends on the day: The Isles have scored the fewest goals in the league and allowed the third-most goals in the league.29. Tampa Bay Lightning--2 points (Last week, 4 points): Over the past few weeks, the Tampa Bay Lightning have begun implementing a "plan" for Steven Stamkos' development.Looks like...Read more

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