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NHL Free Agency: Big Hits and Misses Through the Years

Posted: 8th July 2010 by Bryan Thiel in NHL
Everybody's waiting for him to sign. It's assumed that Ilya Kovalchuk could very well become the biggest acquisition ever made by any team in free agency. Then again, we hear that every year. We also see huge shockers and enormous busts around this time of year. Every so often there's also a good contract mixed in as well. So, while Kovalchuk stands to be the biggest price of this year's free agency ...

NHL Free Agency: After Four Days, What NHL Teams Still Need

Posted: 5th July 2010 by Bryan Thiel in NHL
Dan Hamhuis was one of the biggest targets in free agency, as two teams traded for his rights. He signed with neither, instead opting for the Vancouver Canucks, and while Flyers fans are a little miffed at giving up Ryan Parent for him, at least Philly still got a third round pick. All the Pittsburgh Penguins got was Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek. Despite all the trades and signings, however, there's still a ...

Takin’ a T/O With BT: Boston is Where Marc Savard Belongs

Posted: 28th June 2010 by Bryan Thiel in NHL
Now that Tyler Seguin is officially a Boston Bruin, that's it. Someone has to be shipped out of Boston, because there are just two many centres and not enough ice time to go around. There must be another trade coming. It must be for Marc Savard. It had to be to the Toronto Maple Leafs. After all, if one million people believe it, it must be true right? Until July 1, Savard ...
While you can say there's no rest for the wicked, it wasn't the New Jersey Devils making (multiple) waves today. It was the Nashville Predators. Just hours after trading away the rights to defenseman Dan Hamhuis, the Nashville Predators continued to shake things up, trading away their captain Jason Arnott. One might wonder what general manager David Poile is up to; especially the Predators fans describing this afternoon as "stunning", "confusing" and ...
While everyone in Montreal is still wringing their hands over the Jaroslav Halak trade, we must remember that life goes on in the NHL. That is, unless you're a Montreal Canadiens' General Manager who trades a goalie. You'll probably still hear about this twelve years later. And while things didn't get monumentally tougher in the East, the Philadelphia Flyers have strengthened their pedigree as the East's best before the 2010 NHL Entry ...
It's usually the Detroit Red Wings who benefit from this kind of luck, not the other way around. So how could someone believe it when a former-Red Wing struck it big? For the Philadelphia Flyers it doesn't really matter—it's not like they're asking questions right now. Ville Leino was that highly touted spin-off that didn't seem like he was going to get off the ground. The overlooked and under-valued second fiddle to Fabian ...
For all of you coaches out there, take your pick: 1) It takes desperate hockey to win in the playoffs. 2) The best team usually wins. 3) If you're going to go anywhere, you've got to have a little luck on your side. They're all cliches, but only one of them really applied to the Philadelphia Flyers in game four, a must-win. Luck was on their side, because they got a whole lot of it. For ...
Yet again, I'm going up against a fictional character(s) in playoff predictions. Yet again, I'm losing. Somehow, the folks from M*A*S*H picked five first-round series correctly. I only picked four. Maybe you can call it beginner's luck. Maybe they're that darn good. Hawkeye: I have a question: If we win, do we get out of this horrid place? BT: No. I don't have that kind of power. Hawkeye: Can you at least make the food ...
Game Sevens can only go one of two ways. If you're the team that ends up on the winning end, it's the culmination of emotion, effort, and overcoming the trials and tribulations of a team that went the distance. If you're on the losing end of things, it's flat-out heartbreaking. Everything that went into making the playoffs, the struggle to push it to seven, and the heart-on-your-sleeve style of play just went ...
Well, tonight is the night. Do the Edmonton Oilers land the first overall pick and continue the restructuring of their franchise? Could Columbus jump up and find another candidate to centre Rick Nash and get them back into playoff contention? Will the Toronto Maple Leafs... ...become the new best friends of the Boston Bruins? Yea, that's right. This is the day where the Phil Kessel trade will get brought up again and again, and will ...