SPORT-SCAN

Anaheim Ducks
574616 574617 574618 574619 574620 574621 574622 574623 574626 574627 574624 574625 574628 574629 574630 574631 574632 574633 574634 574635 Good enough for Ducks but not high school

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Philadelphia Flyers
574647 574648 574649 574650 574651 574652 Jagr finds a lot to like in Philadelphia Flyers try to outdo Phils on shakeup Report: Flyers must restructure Talbot contract Flyers to pursue Stamkos after all? Flyers won't comment on Talbot contract report

NHL 7/5/2011

Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo, Pegula are for real Sabres sign Weber to two-year deal What really happened to Brian 'Spinner' Spencer?

Calgary Flames
Flames re-sign defenceman Anton Babchuk Goin' through the Flames' Wahl Time for Flames prospect to cross over Babchuk stays a Flame

Phoenix Coyotes
Coyotes sign goalie Curtis McElhinney and defenseman Tyler Eckford

Pittsburgh Penguins
574653 574654 574655 574656 574657 574658 574659 574660 574661 574662 574663 574664 574665 574666 574670 574671 574672 One more role player at affordable price on shopping list

Carolina Hurricanes
Cole won't forget Canes

San Jose Sharks

Heatley ready to be go-to scorer in Minnesota

Colorado Avalanche
Avalanche's trade for goalie Varlamov was worth the risk

Toronto Maple Leafs

The good, the bad and the different in free agency frenzy Advice for prospects from former NHLers Putting Leafs prospects to the test Kaberle yet to cash in on unrestricted free-agent status Leafs' Biggs sorry he brought it up Leafs goalie from here, there, everywhere Keeping future Leafs on straight and narrow

Columbus Blue Jackets

No, Jackets haven't shaken dreaded 'Jim Day curse' Blue Jackets: Howson waits for right fit on defense

Detroit Red Wings

New defenseman Ian White welcomes stability with Red Wings Ken Holland seeks backup goalie for Red Wings

Vancouver Canucks
General managers turned free agency into a crazy rave Pinizzotto more than just a pest Deadline looms for Jannik Hansen

Edmonton Oilers
Curious fans check out Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at Oilers development camp Matty's Oilers notes Oilers reward Peckham with doubled salary Oilers job competition heating up Welcome mat out for Nugent-Hopkins

Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals sign veteran AHL defenseman Danny Richmond For Caps, a net gain

Florida Panthers
Vokoun says, it wasnt pretty, but everything happens for a reason,

Websites
Sportsnet.ca /Not all bad USA TODAY / Free agent fireworks slow down, but solid players remain YAHOO SPORTS / At career crossroads, Heatley gets a Wild chance

Minnesota Wild
574636 574637 574638 574639 574640 574641 574642 574643 574644 574645 574646 A sniper's fresh start Fletcher finds way to build for now, future The Dany Heatley file In Dany Heatley, Wild believe they've found their next big thing since Marian Gaborik Offensive infusion gives coach Mike Yeo room to play with Wild lineup Minnesota Wild: Dany Heatley wants to 'prove people wrong'

Winnipeg Jets
574667 574668 574669 Winnipeg Jets announce six signings, some with connections to city Jets fans already free agency critics Jets will give it good push

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Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens' Gauthier has filled holes, but work remains

New York Rangers

Signing of Brad Richards puts onus on Marian Gaborik

Ottawa Senators
Scanlan: Sens rebuild from within is for real Borowiecki defying odds in his rapid development for Senators Senators prospects fan-tastic

574616

Anaheim Ducks

"No, not at all," Gibson says now. "That's just my personality. I kind of let things go easily. I'm just a calm person." Having spent much of the past two years away from his family fast-tracked Gibson's growth. As part of the U.S. national program, he lived with a host family in Michigan during the school year. So, when he arrived here last week, Gibson was more open-minded than he was wide-eyed, which is worth mentioning since he never before had been west of Colorado. "It helped my mature, and I learned how to handle myself on my own at a young age," Gibson says of being away from home. "You have to go through that eventually, and it definitely helped me to do it at a young age. "I learned a lot about myself and the way I have to act and present myself to be a successful hockey player and a good person." Sounds like most 17-year-olds, huh? Then again, when asked how he has been spending his time off here, Gibson said he and many of the other Ducks' prospects have been "hanging out at the mall." They're young and talented and have their futures spread out before them like a Zamboni-ed rink shiny, fresh and unmarked. With Baldwin High now behind him, Gibson has been good enough so far. The question to be answered next is just how far. Orange County Register: LOADED: 07.05.2011

Good enough for Ducks but not high school

By JEFF MILLER

ANAHEIM He was good enough to be drafted 39th overall by the Ducks, the highest pick this team has ever used on a goalie. He was good enough to star on the U.S. under-18 national team, going 6-0 en route to winning a world championship in April. He was good enough to accept an offer from the University of Michigan, a program that has been to the Frozen Four only 24 times. John Gibson, however, wasn't good enough to make the team at Baldwin High School? He wasn't good enough to play prep hockey in Pittsburgh? Are we missing something? Is Pittsburgh part of Canada now? Is Pennsylvania just one giant sheet of ice churning out hockey talent like Hershey, Pa., does chocolate bars? "It was a lot of politics and stuff like that," Gibson says. "I'm someone who doesn't get bothered by things. I don't get too high or too low. I kind of let it go and use it for motivation." OK, John, great. You're here now, taking part in the Ducks' annual conditioning camp. You're officially part of an NHL franchise. You are, in fact, going to be a Wolverine in the fall. But, seriously, a high school team just four years ago decided you were more Chump Worsley than Gump Worsley? "It was just one of those things, not a big deal," Gibson says. "One of my goals is to go out and prove people wrong and make the most of the opportunities I'm presented with." That sounds fantastic, just terrific. Taking the high road is always the preferred path, even when wearing ice skates. But we have to know, John. A high school team pulled the goalie pulled you before its season even began? You mentioned "politics." Can you be more specific? "The coach's son," Gibson says finally, "was the other goalie." On the bright side, that sort of situation doesn't happen often in the NHL, a league where winning is such a priority that former Penguins general manager Craig Patrick once fired his brother, Glenn. Gibson, to be sure, is a late-arriver, his rally to the top half of the draft's second round even considered something of a disappointment. He like many observers thought the first round was at least an even-money prospect. "It's just cool to say you got drafted in the first round," Gibson says. "But, at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. I think the main goal for any kid who wants to get drafted is to get into a good organization where you can get to the NHL as soon as possible. I think that Anaheim presents a good opportunity for that." The Ducks, who had traded down early in the draft, were delighted that Gibson was still there when their second pick came around. For a franchise light on promising goaltender stock, selecting Gibson was as obvious as this kid is, well, still a kid. Of the 22 players in this camp, Gibson is the youngest. He's only 17, his next birthday coming later this month. He is almost younger than the Ducks, who played their first game when Gibson was 3 months old. And yet, he acts, talks, carries himself like he could be a Duck right now, like this could be training camp and he's taking over as the new No. 1. And at 6-foot-3, 206 pounds, he certainly fills out the uniform and fills up the crease like a true NHLer. When he was selected in the draft, Gibson's reaction was notably understated, one Ducks representative wondering if the kid was really that unmoved.

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Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo, Pegula are for real Sabres making headlines for all the right reasons this summer

By Bucky Gleason

A few days removed from the Sabres supplying the fireworks in advance of Fourth of July, it still seemed so strange Monday. History taught Buffalo sports fans to be skeptical, to hope for the best but brace for the worst, to be suspicious in triumph with the idea failure was inevitable. Buffalo isn't a city along Lake Erie. It's an attitude, an understanding. People who were born here, raised here and stayed here possess a certain level of pessimism after seeing teams fall short in pursuit of championships. Cynicism can be found in our DNA. You can sense an unmistakable shift in mindset about the Sabres since Terry Pegula took over. It seems only a matter of time before they bring home the first championship in major team sports. It might be next season, it might be later, but -- mark my words -- the Sabres are going to win the Stanley Cup. For once, it was the Sabres being declared the biggest winners in free agency, according to a TSN.ca poll released Monday. It was the Sabres who were listed among the NHL's big spenders after years of being left behind. It was the Sabres making big moves before the market opened, the Sabres making headlines in July for all the right reasons. It's all a little weird, wouldn't you say? Just a guess, but I wasn't the only one discussing their prospects for winning it all while sitting around a campfire over the weekend. And for the first time in years, Buffalo's prospects for a title aren't born from shallow rhetoric and fantasy. Looking back, all of the compliments Pegula's friends and associates paid him when he emerged as a Cup-obsessed prospective owner were off base. They sold the guy short. He's actually better than advertised. He has brought out the best in General Manager Darcy Regier, who so far has stood up to the challenge. Already, the Sabres have enjoyed their best offseason in recent memory. Robyn Regehr, Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino bring the skill, experience, leadership and bang that fans will see in short order. They'll need time to adjust in October, but they will reward the Sabres come April. Keep in mind, the Sabres overpaid Ehrhoff and Leino. Ehrhoff will pocket $18 million in the first two years of the deal and $34 million in the first six. They key was keeping his cap number at $4 million. Fans will adore Leino, but he didn't warrant $4.5 million per season based on past seasons. Such are prices Pegula will pay to get it right. Regier made the right call when he re-signed Cody McCormick and severed ties with Tim Connolly. McCormick had eight goals and 19 points at even strength last season, one more goal and four fewer points than Connolly had in the same situation, only with less ice time and one-ninth his salary. The Sabres would have blown the lid off of this loud, proud and definitely wowed hockey town if the parade to Pegulaville included Brad Richards. Let me say this: Richards is a terrific player who would have made Sabres a true Cup contender, but there's no reason to get worked up over him signing with the Rangers for $60 million. Buffalo should compete for the division title with Cup-winning Boston, which will discover the difficulties of getting back to the top after their season of success and short summer. The Sabres should be no worse than fourth in the conference. If they land another playmaker ... and enough things fall into place ... well, you never know. At least the Sabres are serious about winning. At least superstars will consider the Sabres after Buffalo spent years on the "Anywhere But There" list. They knocked down walls of recruiting, made Buffalo a more attractive destination and restored credibility. And they created a legion of believers, including me ... for now. Buffalo News LOADED: 07.05.2011

574618

Buffalo Sabres

Sabres sign Weber to two-year deal

News Staff Report Published:July 4, 2011, 7:22

Mike Weber's Fourth of July holiday was far from ordinary. The Buffalo Sabres' 6-foot-2, 211-pound restricted free-agent defenseman agreed to a two-year deal worth a total $1.9 million Monday. Weber, a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., is coming off a season in which he played a career-high 58 games although it featured plenty of idle time at the start. He played in just two of the team's first 22 games before finally earning a regular spot in the lineup. He led all Sabres in hits with 158. Weber had four goals, 13 assists and 17 points and also played in all seven playoff games against Philadelphia last spring, recording 17 hits and an assist. Weber was selected in the second round (57th overall) of the 2006 entry draft. He made his NHL debut during the 2007-08 season, appearing in 16 games and recording a plus-12 rating. However, he rarely got a sniff of the NHL during his next two seasons (playing just seven games, all in 200809). He was an American Hockey League all-star in 2009-10. While he rarely put the puck in the net last season, he did just that in the Sabres' Dec. 29 triumph at Edmonton. He scored his first two NHL goals in that 4-2 win -- a victory that ignited the Sabres' closing 29-11-6 stretch that saw them go from also-ran to playoff team. The signing of Weber means the Sabres trimmed the number of their own restricted free agents to six. The others who qualify for a 10 percent raise but can still renegotiate are goaltender Jhonas Enroth, defensemen Andrej Sekera, Marc-Andre Gragnani and Dennis Persson, and forwards Travis Turnbull and Dennis McCauley. Sekera and Gragnani have arbitration rights. Buffalo News LOADED: 07.05.2011

574619

Buffalo Sabres

"He had a little bit of a Jekyll and Hyde in him," Toronto teammate Darryl Sittler said. "At times, did I see where he had this split personality? Yeah. Could he have done it? Sure, he could've. But he was acquitted." For the first time since being compelled by a subpoena, Diane Delena recently answered questions about Spencer, reaffirming to The News her courtroom statements that Spencer did kill Michael Dalfo in 1982. Prosecuting attorney Charles Burton, now a judge in Palm Beach County, told The News in his chambers last month, "If I didn't believe in my heart Brian Spencer was guilty, I wouldn't have prosecuted the case." Others declined to revisit Spencer's life for this story. Larry Willie Johnson, the man convicted of killing Spencer, requested payment for an interview. Most who declined to speak simply wanted to avoid painful memories. "I've been through the Brian Spencer story before," said Dave Keon, his friend from the Maple Leafs. "I don't want to relive it again." Sittler and another of Spencer's main benefactors during his murder trial, former Islanders mate Gerry Hart, were so frustrated by Spencer's unwillingness to clean up his act after the acquittal -- friends offered jobs and homes so he could leave Florida and start fresh -- they stopped reaching out. Canadian author Martin O'Malley wrote a book about Spencer's life through the murder trial. Spencer was killed just before "Gross Misconduct: The Life of Spinner Spencer" was to be released. His death became the epilogue, covering 11 pages out of 310. Files in the Palm Beach Post library reflect similar drop-off. The clips packet from his trial is bloated with stories; the envelope's seams are strained. The envelope pertaining to Spencer's death looks flat and crisp. Five clippings are inside. Expect the unexpected To look at Spencer's stats, you wouldn't think he was anything special on skates. He played 553 NHL games and scored 80 goals with 223 points. He was a willing fighter, but not a brawler. Despite uninspiring numbers, he was valuable. Spencer was a tone-setter, a momentum-shifter. Coaches would send him over the boards to deliver a bone-jarring check, to draw a penalty or to stir things up. Spencer was so frenetic, it was said that when he took the ice, opponents thought he was in both corners at the same time. The Sabres acquired Spencer during the 1973-74 season. The team was coming together as a contender. The French Connection was in place. They'd collected other top contributors such as forwards Don Luce, Rick Dudley, Jim Lorentz and Craig Ramsay and defensemen Jim Schoenfeld, Jerry Korab and Larry Carriere. "I just thought for sure we would win the Stanley Cup when we got him," longtime Sabres equipment manager Rip Simonick said. "He was that piece of the puzzle we needed. You knew when he was on the ice. You better be on your toes because he's going to nail you." The Sabres didn't win the Stanley Cup with Spencer, but they came close. In his first full Sabres season, he helped them get to the finals, where they lost to the Philadelphia Flyers. He posted career-highs with 29 assists and 41 points. Coping mechanisms Brian Spencer became a folk hero through his flamboyant stunts and the yarns he told. Simonick recalled Spencer's uncanny ability to walk on his hands into the shower and turn on the water with his feet. Sabres teammate Rene Robert marveled at how Spencer would jump off a table and land on his curled-under toes. In the days long before tight airline security, Spencer boarded planes with a hunting knife strapped to his calf. Spencer proudly rumbled around in "The Hulk," a behemoth vehicle he conceived and ambitiously assembled in the summer of 1977. He took a 2 1/2-ton Army truck, installed the instrument panel from a DC-3 airplane and equipped the monstrosity with a generator, refrigerator, television, VCR and bed. "He always loved guns," Islanders teammate Terry Crisp said. "He always had pistols and rifles and was so keen to show you the guns he owned. I'd say 'Put those away, will ya?'" Spencer played the eccentric backwoodsman to the hilt.

What really happened to Brian 'Spinner' Spencer?

By Tim Graham

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. -- Helicopters whumped overhead around midnight. Their searchlights darted across the gritty neighborhoods below in pursuit of a gunman. The victim, pulled from the passenger seat of a Ford Ranger pickup truck, lay dead on the ground at a nearby fire station. Riviera Beach sounds wonderful and looks like an appealing destination on a map. It's located on the Atlantic Ocean, a few miles north of West Palm Beach. But there were few legal reasons to roam the streets at night, especially in 1988. "It was a killing zone in the '80s," said George Mamak, the on-call detective that night. "Before crack, you would work nights, and it was all quiet by 2 a.m. After crack, it was like 'Night of the Living Dead' until daybreak." When Mamak arrived at Fire Station 1, he saw the body but didn't recognize anything other than that the man couldn't be helped. Mamak snapped on rubber gloves. He cast his flashlight here and there. The pickup's driver clearly was traumatized by what occurred. Something about a drug deal, robbed, refusal to cooperate, deafening gunshot. His friend was dead. Mamak reached into the victim's pants pocket and fished out a wallet. He read the name. Memories from the Aud materialized in Mamak's head. "I put two and two together, and all heck broke loose," said Mamak, a 1977 Kenmore West graduate. "I remembered Spinner Spencer." Brian "Spinner" Spencer was a reckless, relentless left wing for the Buffalo Sabres. He was a member of their 1975 Stanley Cup finals team. He didn't score many goals, but fans loved the high-energy style that earned his nickname. He was a torquing turbine. But Spencer's life was so fascinatingly tumultuous that his hockey career almost was a sidelight. Even his brutal demise was a whimpering signoff compared with the other points along his sensational timeline. [bullet] Spencer came from the remote town of Fort St. James, British Columbia. He led people to believe he grew up in a four-room shack with no electricity or running water, that he melted snow for baths, that he didn't see a television until he was a teenager, that he aimed his rifle through a window to shoot wildlife for that night's supper. [bullet] Spencer's father died in a shootout with Royal Canadian Mounted Police in December 1970 -- over a missed broadcast of his son's hockey game. [bullet] Despite limited skills, Spencer's ferociousness on the ice kept him in the NHL for 10 years. The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted him 55th overall in 1969. He was an original New York Islander, an alternate captain at 23 years old. He spent three-plus seasons with the Sabres and finished with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1978-79. Then he became a drifter with an alias in South Florida. [bullet] Eight months before he was shot and killed, Spencer himself stood trial for murder. He faced Florida's electric chair on the testimony of Diane Delena, his former roommate and a professional escort. The victim was one of her clients. [bullet] Spencer, who was found not guilty, received death threats amid vague, unconfirmed assertions the victim's family had the wherewithal to put out a contract on Spencer's life. Yet when Spencer was killed, people didn't seem too fazed. The 12 teammates and associates The Buffalo News interviewed recently were unanimous in their lack of surprise over how Spencer died. Their degree of certainty was mixed when it came to whether Spencer could commit a murder. Some flatly denied he could've killed someone, but others looked back nearly a quarter-century and wondered if Spencer was capable.

But the truth was, he didn't grow up a barefoot hillbilly. His father over the years bought up 1,000 acres that became known as Spencer Ridge. Their home, often described in newspaper articles as a dirt-floor hovel, had running water diverted from a nearby creek and a hot water tank. They had generator power. His father maintained an outdoor hockey rink. Perhaps Spencer pushed those backwoods storylines as a defense mechanism. His tales made people interested in him for reasons other than his father's spectacular death. Spencer played a handful of games for Toronto his first pro season in 196970. He began his next season in the minors, but he was called up Dec. 12, in time to appear on "Hockey Night in Canada" against the Chicago Blackhawks. Roy Spencer was thrilled -- until he learned the local CBC affiliate wasn't going to show his son's game. It televised the Vancouver Canucks game instead. Roy Spencer drove 90 miles to the station in Prince George, took hostages at gunpoint and forced it off the air. When Roy Spencer emerged from the building, he shot at Mounties deployed outside. They returned fire, killing him in the parking lot. Brian Spencer, just 21 years old, was informed of his father's death after the game. He insisted on playing the next night in Buffalo. He recorded his first two NHL points and fought twice in a 4-0 Toronto victory. For years, Spencer carried in his wallet the names of the three Mounties involved. Simonick recalled being asked to help Spencer fill out some insurance forms, which required family history information. "One of the scariest moments of my whole career was when I started asking questions," Simonick said. "I asked about his father. He snapped, 'You know what happened to my father. He got killed. You know that, right? Somebody will eventually pay for that.' He was gritting his teeth. His eyes were bugging in his head. "He clicked out. But then he calmed down quickly. He was very erratic in his emotions." Friends until the end Brian Spencer's ashes rest on the mantle at Rick Martin's farmhouse in Newstead. Martin and his wife, Mikey, put their old pal in an antique oil can that reads "Marvel Mystery Oil: Penetrating, lubricating service can," a salute to his proficiency around the garage. When the Sabres traded Spencer in 1977, the Penguins' moving bill was $15,000 just for his tools. "Aw, Spin ..." Mikey Martin said wistfully at the mention of his name last week. Rick Martin joined his teammate and hunting buddy on the mantle in March. On the subject of Spencer, Mikey Martin said she and her husband never disagreed. She recalled him as naive and easily used by those around him. He was poor at reading people's intentions. "He was a teddy bear that people took advantage of, whether it was women, whether it was guys using him as a celebrity," Mikey Martin said. Spencer, twice divorced and with five children he didn't support, drifted to Florida once his hockey career petered out. He worked as a mechanic. He got into barroom scuffles. He drank. A lot. He was arrested for drunken driving five times from 1982 to 1985. He amassed 18 points on his license, two fewer than he scored in his last full season with the Penguins. Police knew him well. The Miami Herald quoted a police report from a November 1984 traffic stop: "Subject was combative, saying if I did not have a uniform on, he would kick my ass. Asked if I get an orgasm for arresting him." Mysterious murder Spencer eventually lost his license. Then, in January 1987, he faced a charge he couldn't sneer away: first-degree murder. He was up against the death penalty for a 5-year-old killing police suspected all along he'd done. The testimony of a former call girl who lived in Spencer's dingy trailer led to his arrest and a sensational trial. Spencer's relationship with Diane Delena would be described today as friends with benefits. She was 10 years younger than he. She was known as "Crystal" at Fantasy Island Escorts. He chased other women with her consent.

While "on assignment" one night in February 1982, Delena feared for her safety upon meeting a cocaine-addled client. She thought he might have followed her home. She told police she and Spencer went back to confront the man, Michael Dalfo. She said they drove Dalfo to a secluded road off PGA Boulevard in West Palm Beach. The next day, Dalfo was discovered there, shot twice in the head with a .25-caliber gun. Delena received partial immunity for her testimony. In the five years after the killing, she left the escort business, got married, had two children and was living comfortably. Delena's husband had no knowledge of her past. "She knew this was going to destroy her marriage," said Burton, the state prosecutor. "I always gave her credit for that. She could have said, 'I don't know nothing. Sorry.' She came clean even though there wasn't much of a win for her. There certainly wasn't anything in it for her, no gain." But Delena's word was the state's only significant evidence. Burton, who became nationally known in 2000 as the "hanging chads" judge in Florida's presidential election ballot recount, admitted the case against Spencer was feeble. Police never recovered the gun. Delena said she ran from the altercation and didn't hear any shots. "I had absolutely nothing to do with it," Delena told The Buffalo News last week. "Brian orchestrated everything involved. Everything." The jury didn't believe Delena. With no other evidence, deliberations took less than an hour. Spencer walked away after a verdict of not guilty. "We never doubted," Mikey Martin said. "We had an idea he might have known who did it. But he did not do it. "To get Spin pissed enough to kill somebody, he would do it with his bare hands, and he certainly would not use this puny-caliber gun." Three decades after Dalfo's death, in her first interview about Spencer, Delena looks back philosophically. She has a much better vantage point on life these days. She did well in real estate, lives in the Nashville area and founded River Run Records, a small label, in 2009. "He had some serious issues that I didn't recognize," Delena said. "I just idolized him as being an athlete. "He was upset he had to grow up the way he did, but he felt that got him to the NHL and made him feel like a champion. People don't realize the mental and physical sacrifices of what they do. He felt the whole NHL did not treat him with the respect that he deserved." On the subject of his death, Delena admitted her immediate reaction was detached -- just like Spencer's old mates. "I expected it," Delena said. "He was just going down that road. Drugs and alcohol played a serious part." When asked for her thoughts on whether Spencer's death was a contract killing, Delena ended the interview. A wasted chance Those closest to Spencer -- his lawyer, investigators, family, friends -warned him to leave South Florida. The courts cleared him of murdering Dalfo, but there was concern Spencer hadn't spun completely off the hook. "During the course of the trial, everybody was very wary of the family of the deceased," said Hart, his former teammate. "There was some discussion in our meetings in the public defender's office. They wanted me to be aware there were unsavory characters that wanted to see Brian get the worst." Hart pitied Spencer. Hart also hailed from a far-flung locale -- Flin Flon, Manitoba -- but he adjusted well to NHL life and quite seamlessly into retirement. He'd done well in real estate on Long Island and in South Florida. Hart stepped in to care for Spencer's second wife, Janet, and their two boys. Janet was dying of ovarian cancer. Hart sent for Spencer so the family could be together and arranged a job for him on Long Island, but the family was too strained to reconcile. "He ended up running away and back to Florida," Hart said. "I was very disappointed in Brian. I felt I'd done everything I could to support him, and when he abandoned his family like that -- for whatever reason, and I was never able to find out -- I washed my hands of Brian." In the end

Avenue E in Riviera Beach was no place to go cruising. The street was populated with hookers, drunks and hoods. Yet that's where Spencer and his friend, Greg Cook, headed after a few hours of bar hopping. Mamak said the pair bought some crack a few blocks away. Cook pulled over, reportedly so Spencer could look for cigarettes that had fallen on the floor. The cabin light was on, revealing two out-of-place, distracted white men. A Buick LeSabre with two thugs inside pinned Cook's pickup truck. A robbery ensued. Cook, facing the barrel of an Arminius .357 revolver, handed over $3. Spencer refused to cooperate and was shot. The bullet ripped through Spencer's upper left arm, through a lung, through his heart and into his liver. Because of Spencer's history, Mamak said, "There was a lot of pressure on this case because of the attention. We had to hurry up and solve this one, but we developed it piece by piece." Assassination theories abounded. Death threats from Spencer's murder trial fueled justifiable speculation. "I assumed it was some sort of contract killing or retribution as a result of this murder he was accused of," Hart said. Cook wasn't considered any kind of accomplice. He rammed the LeSabre to get away and rushed Spencer to the firehouse for aid. Mamak remembered how traumatized Cook was at the scene, a devastation Cook apparently carried with him through life. Within a month, police determined the motive was robbery and nothing more. Two perpetrators were identified. Larry Willie Johnson and Leon "Lump" Daniels accepted plea bargains. Johnson fired the gun and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 40 years but released in 2007 through "gain time," a sinceabolished policy to control inmate populations by paring as much as 20 days off a sentence for every two weeks of good behavior. Mikey Martin still mulls the possibility Johnson and Daniels were hired to kill Spencer. Even as confident as Mamak is with the investigation, he conceded a remote possibility -- less than 10 percent, he ventured -- the murder was arranged. "There was always a question about whether somebody was seeking revenge," Mikey Martin said. "The friend who was with him thought it was random. But you can always make revenge look random. "He was bound to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Even if his death wasn't a hit, the way he went down probably was inevitable. Buffalo News LOADED: 07.05.2011

574620

Calgary Flames

Flames re-sign defenceman Anton Babchuk

By Vicki Hall,

The Calgary Flames will have the booming shot of Anton Babchuk on the point for another two seasons. The Flames and Babchuk finalized a deal Monday that will see the Ukrainian blueliner back in Calgary for $2.5 million a season. We like him, general manager Jay Feaster said on Saturday. We think he's a guy who can do a heck of a job for us on the point on the power play. He's a defenceman we think is capable of scoring 50 points in a season. So we like him a lot. Babchuk registered 35 points last season in Carolina and Calgary. The 27year-old came to the Flames with Tom Kostopoulos in the deal that saw Ian White and Brett Sutter move to the Hurricanes. Babchuk made $1.4 million last season. Calgary Herald: LOADED: 07.05.2011

574621

Calgary Flames

Goin' through the Flames' Wahl

By STEVE MACFARLANE, QMI Agency

CALGARY - Of all the Calgary Flames prospects out on the ice early Monday evening, the biggest smile might have belonged to Mitch Wahl. There were plenty of newcomers lacing up at Don Hartman Northeast Sportsplex with their future teammates for the first time looking a little doeeyed and others joking around with already familiar faces at the teams summer development camp. Wahl, though, is finally just back to doing what he loves after a long layoff. Im 100% healthy, said the 21-year-old centre who missed most of last season his first as a professional with a concussion suffered in lateNovember when Manitoba Moose forward Aaron Volpatti caught him with his head down. Im feeling really good. I feel Im in good shape. I feel confident. I feel healthy. My head feels great. His hands have never been in question. The Seal Beach, Calif., kid has great playmaking ability and hopes to finally prove it at the AHL level this season to make up for the lost time. Concussions are a weird thing. Ive never had one before, and I missed 67 games with it, Wahl said. Its something you dont play around with. Its also something completely unpredictable when it comes to the healing process. Like many suffering a head injury, Wahl would feel close to normal and then symptoms would rush back. Theres days where you feel great. Youll feel good for two, three days in a row. Youre feeling confident youre getting ready to get back on the ice. Then youll run into a day you have a headache, said the former Spokane Chiefs centre. It was depressing, for sure. With our team being gone often on the road, Im stuck in Abbotsford, a place where I dont really know anyone and cant do anything. Carter Bancks, who recently turned his AHL deal into an NHL contract with the Flames, joined him on the sidelines with a concussion, and the pair offered each other company and support. He kept me sane, said Wahl with a laugh. Sometimes I wouldnt even go to our (home) games. They didnt want me in bright lights watching the back-and-forth game. Depending on when it was, really, I slowly, slowly would get better and then Id get worse. It was a long three, four months there for me. Finally, the fog lifted. Towards the end of the year, I was finally getting to that point. I couldnt get there during the season, and it was frustrating. I finally got through it. I was happy with that, Wahl said. You can just feel the change. I felt myself gradually getting better, but it was a long process. It was really hard for me to heal up. Wahl has been in Calgary for a month now training hard with the Flames strength and conditioning coach Rich Hesketh. He looks like hes in great shape. With any luck, his hockey career as a pro will take shape as a result. This is a big summer for me, Wahl added. Im going to be as prepared as I can be. Calgary Sun: LOADED: 07.05.2011

574622

Calgary Flames

Time for Flames prospect to cross over

By RANDY SPORTAK, QMI Agency

CALGARY - It would be far too heavy-handed to call the coming 2011-12 season critical for Joni Ortio. After all, its expected to be just his first in the North American pro ranks. Still, its extremely important for the 20-year-old goaltender from Finland. I see it more as an opportunity to get used to the North American style of play and get adjusted to the size of the rink, said Ortio, who is one of the 37 prospects in town this week for the teams summer development camp. Its a critical year, but Im not thinking of it like that. Im going to do my best to stop the pucks. Ortio, who the Flames selected in the sixth round, 171st overall, in the 2009 draft, will be hitting the ice for the first time Monday at 3:30 p.m. at the Don Hartman Northeast Sportsplex. Ortio is pencilled in to spend the coming season with the AHLs Abbotsford Heat and will likely be paired with Leland Irving, another goalie the team expects will be vying for full-time NHL work in the next couple of years. Im excited. Its a big step to move all the way here, said the netminder, who arrived Saturday evening from his home in Turku. Im sure its going to be a great year. Ortio could use a great year after all the ups and downs of last season. He played for eight different teams last year, including 15 outings for Turku of the SM-liiga Finlands top loop in which he posted a 3.12 goalsagainst average and .911 save percentage. However, he also skated in the junior ranks, the first division for Turku and was loaned to a trio of seconddivision teams. In the middle, he had a very good performance for Finland in the world juniors and finished the season with a one-game showing for the Heat, a 60 loss to the Toronto Marlies in the season finale. We had a tough year, he said of the SM-liiga squad in Turku. We were in a tough position all year. Our coach said in different circumstances I would have gotten in a lot more games, but when I played, in my opinion, I played good. I would have wanted to play more than I did, but Im happy with my season, especially the world juniors in Buffalo. The year before, it didnt go as well as wed like, but I feel I bounced back. Even the lone game for the Heat was a huge benefit, since he spent three weeks with the AHL team practising and learning the ropes before seeing action. It helped a lot to see whats going on and get adjusted to the style of play, he said. That game was the first in a month I played, so, in that way, it was awkward. As the game went on, I got used to it. I felt the third period was pretty good. Although Ortio is a freshman when it comes to playing in North America, he is an old-hand at the teams prospects camp. This is his third trip to Calgary for the summer camp and is in charge of looking after Markus Granlund the teams second-round draft choice from Finland. ICE CHIPS The Flames have signed RW Guillaume Desbiens to a two-way contract worth US$525,000 at the NHL, according to RDS. Desbiens played 12 games for the Vancouver Canucks last season, in which he collected no points and 10 penalty minutes. He posted 11 goals, 16 assists and 104 PIMs in 53 AHL games for the Manitoba Moose. Calgary Sun: LOADED: 07.05.2011

574623

Calgary Flames

Babchuk stays a Flame

By STEVE MACFARLANE, QMI Agency

CALGARY - It may turn out to be a bargain. The way some defencemen have been raking in the cash over the first few days of free agency, the two-year, US$5-million deal the Calgary Flames negotiated with Anton Babchuk doesnt seem so bad. But that will all depend on what the 27-year-old with the booming shot from the blueline does in his first full season with the Flames starting this fall. With veteran rearguard Robyn Regehr being traded to the Buffalo Sabres, the Flames still had a hole on the back end. GM Jay Feaster said Monday at the summer development camp the team would gladly make a deal for a legitimate top-four contender, but if nothing comes to fruition, he likes what hes got in Jay Bouwmeester, Mark Giordano, Cory Sarich, Babchuk, Chris Butler and Brett Carson all signed to one-way deals for next season. Babchuk might have the most upside. He thrived in a bottom-pairing role most of last season after coming over from the Carolina Hurricanes in a trade bringing his big shot to the Flames powerplay. He netted 11 goals and 35 points even though he struggled to contribute down the stretch. Hes still a young guy. I think hes going to get better, Feaster said. Babchuk thinks so, too. Thats why negotiations with the Flames werent completed before July 1 when he hit the open market. He was looking for more money. And term was just as important to the 6foot-5, 212 pounder from Ukraine. It was a struggle (to keep the costs down), Feaster said. And it was one of the reasons we didnt get something done early. I think the reason we were able to get something done and get it done at that number is because Anton really liked it here. That was a big factor that he wanted to be here. Badly enough to ensure he got a no-trade clause for the first year of the contract. That turns into a modified no-trade in his second season, when Babchuk can avoid being traded to 10 teams by submitting a list. He settled for a two-year term at $2.5-million believing he will be worth much more when that contract expires. He believes he is going to be a 50-point guy, and if we were to do a threeyear term, he feels hes gonna be underpaid, said Feaster, who stated on the weekend the team also feels Babchuk is capable of being an elite scoring defenceman. But hes not about to guarantee him a spot in the top four. A lot of that will depend on what hes doing when he gets to camp and what (head coach) Brent (Sutter) is thinking, Feaster said. We think hes capable of moving up and playing in that four slot. If they dont make any other moves, theyll hope Babchuk or newcomer Chris Butler the defenceman who came from the Sabres in the Regehr deal will step into those bigger minutes. If its Babchuk, his new deal will definitely seem like a steal. Calgary Sun: LOADED: 07.05.2011

574624

Columbus Blue Jackets

No, Jackets haven't shaken dreaded 'Jim Day curse'

By Bob Hunter

After the Blue Jackets failed to make the playoffs again last season, Fox Sports Ohio Reds analyst Jim Day told me how some fans continue to talk about the curse they believe he placed on the franchise when he was removed from the team's broadcasts. (Day's offense was that he couldn't make chicken salad out of chicken sh. . . uh, he sometimes he actually said on the air that woeful teams hadn't played well.) "There was actually a thread on a message board about it," he said, in amazement. We had a lot of yuks about that at the time, mystified that all of the franchise's bad decisions and on-the-ice-failures could somehow be attributed to a competent TV announcer who was given an underserved heave-ho by the team. "Like all of their losing is my fault?" he said, laughing. Still, some people have pleaded with him to lift "the curse," apparently intent on covering all of their bases in their eternal quest for respectability. So when I saw him in the press box at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati yesterday I had to ask him if the Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski deals were an indication that he had finally lifted the curse and given the Blue Jackets a chance to have some success. "No, no," Day said, turning very serious. "The curse still stands." Finally, he couldn't suppress a grin.. "Those are paper deals," he said. "That doesn't mean they're going to work out. I'm not going to lift the curse until I'm ready to lift the curse." He laughed again, and I followed his lead, although my laugh might have sounded just a little more nervous than his did. I'm way too smart to believe in curses, of course. But I would like to make it clear that I absolutely love the guy, have always found him to be an exceptional announcer and would give him the Edward R. Murrow Award if I could. The fact that he might have the power to level a mean curse has nothing to do with it. Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 07.05.2011

574625

Columbus Blue Jackets

Blue Jackets: Howson waits for right fit on defense

By Aaron Portzline

After two chaotic days of free agency, the NHL seemed to take a collective nap yesterday, with only one minor signing and two trades. The Blue Jackets are still awake and interested in acquiring one or two players, but they've settled into wait-and-see mode. The priority is for the Blue Jackets to sign another defenseman, ideally one who can play alongside Marc Methot on the second pairing. "We're still analyzing both avenues - signing a free-agent defenseman vs. trading for one," general manager Scott Howson said. "The market has played out to an extent, but there are still players there who would be of interest to us. And that would be our preference right now, to sign a free agent." Howson has said he would like to add some "stiffness" on the back end, meaning a stay-at-home, shut-down type. But more important is landing a player who has the capability to play in the top four. Among the names to consider: Scott Hannan, Brent Sopel, Radek Martinek, Bryan McCabe and Anton Babchuk. There could be others, of course. Babchuk, 27, is the only one among that group who is still in the prime of his career. McCabe is 36 years old, Martinek and Sopel are 34 and Hannan is 32. With so many prospects looming in minor-league Springfield - John Moore, David Savard and Nick Holden, among others - the Jackets' preference would appear to be short-term contracts, one or two years at most. That might rule out Babchuk, and it could be the reason a contract hasn't been signed with any of the others. They might be waiting - hoping - for a two-year deal or longer. Predicting a possible trade partner for a defenseman is far more difficult. Toronto and Washington would appear to have an abundance of blueliners, but Howson said "there are probably three or four teams who would consider moving a defenseman." If the free-agent crop is bearing no fruit by midweek, Howson will likely start calling his peers around the league. When the Blue Jackets embarked on their summer makeover plans, the fourth item on the wish list - behind a No. 1 center, an offensive defenseman and a No. 2 goaltender - was a veteran winger who could stabilize the bottom six. Like so many wish lists, it's looking more likely that this one won't be completed. The market for third-liners has all but evaporated, Howson acknowledged, and the six-year, $33 million contract given to defenseman James Wisniewski might have eaten up the funds for non-essential spending. "We have two forward spots open (coming to training camp in September)," Howson said, "and I'm happy to leave those open. If something comes across our desks that made sense, we'd look at it. But I'm OK with where we're at." Center Sammy Pahlsson and wingers Jared Boll, Derek Dorsett and Matt Calvert would appear to have roster spots nailed down. The competition for the other three forward spots on the roster - including the 13th forward would appear to include rookies Ryan Johansen, Tomas Kubalik and Cam Atkinson and veterans Derek MacKenzie and Maksim Mayorov. Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 07.05.2011

574626

Carolina Hurricanes

During the interview, Cole reminisced about his rookie year, of reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 2002. He reminisced about Eric Staal coming into the NHL as a rookie two seasons later, playing at 18. "We were a veteran team and had enough leaders on the ice," Cole said. "My task was to room with Eric on the road and look after him, eat with him, watch after him. I then was able to grow with him as a player during my career. I will definitely miss playing with him, and I hope he will miss playing with me." Then there was another 18-year-old - Jeff Skinner. The forward broke into the league this past season, shy at first, unsure what to say in the locker room, and Cole again was there to try and help the NHL's youngest player adjust.

Cole won't forget Canes

By CHIP ALEXANDER - Staff writer

Erik Cole may never wear a Carolina Hurricanes sweater again, and, yes, there are some regrets in that. Not about signing a free-agent contract Friday with the Montreal Canadiens. For Cole, the four-year, $18 million offer could not be turned down. It's more, he said, about leaving good friends. About leaving the organization that drafted him. About leaving Raleigh. Regrets also come in thinking about last season, about how it ended for the Canes, one victory short of the Stanley Cup playoffs. "I could have scored 35 goals last year," Cole said Saturday in an interview. "If I do that, we make the playoffs. If we do that, we're not having this conversation and all this isn't happening." That is, Cole, at 32, headed to Montreal. Cole scored 26 goals, and nine proved game-winners this past season. In a contract year, the power forward played all 82 games and was a veteran leader in the locker room and on the ice. All in all, a strong season. For most of the past week, Cole believed he might stay with Carolina. His agent, Steve Bartlett, talked often with Canes general manager Jim Rutherford, and Canes coach Paul Maurice flew in Wednesday for a faceto-face meeting with Cole. "My agent cursed me for having to call Mr. Rutherford so many times," Cole said, chuckling. On Friday, as free agency began, Cole said the Hurricanes and the Canadiens initially offered three-year contracts. "Carolina's was for $11 million and Montreal for $12 million," Cole said. Had the offers stayed roughly the same, Cole said, "I think I'd still be a Hurricane. I said all along I would listen to offers. All things being equal, we were definitely going to stay. I had talked to Paul (Maurice) about that. "Deep down, my wife hoped at the end point Carolina would come through with the same thing and we'd stay. That didn't happen." Montreal upped the ante. As Rutherford put it, "The numbers started to skyrocket." Montreal was willing to add a fourth year and go to $18 million, with a notrade clause. Carolina could not match that. "That was unexpected, to be honest," Cole said. "To add the security of a fourth year, it was hard to say no to. "We're talking about a historic franchise, in a great city, in an arena I've always loved playing in. Their team has had a major facelift the last two years, is a playoff team and can contend for the Cup. I won't say it was an easy decision, but it seemed like the right decision." After playing 600 regular-season and playoff games in nine seasons for the Hurricanes, after putting his name on the Stanley Cup in 2006, Cole is leaving. And it's not like the first time, when Carolina traded him to the Edmonton Oilers in July 2008. "Going to Edmonton wasn't a great opportunity or situation on a personal level, but my family and I were determined to make the most of it," Cole said. "We always hoped we would make our way back to Carolina at some point, and it turned out to be sooner than expected." Traded back to the Canes in March 2009, Cole helped push Carolina into the playoffs, then reach the Eastern Conference finals. "We worked hard then to get a contract done and worked out a two-year deal," he said. "We were hoping for the same thing this time." Although one should never rule out Rutherford bringing back a former player, this move - at Cole's age, at this stage of his career - had a feel of permanence to it. It's likely he will never wear No. 26 for the Canes again.

By season's end, Skinner was the franchise's first Calder Trophy winner as the NHL's rookie of the year. "Mister Jefferson," Cole said, laughing. "That's what I called him. He seemed more like a Mister Jefferson to me than a Jeffrey. "I couldn't be prouder for him. He's a tremendous kid. He's really special in the way he conducts himself, in his competitiveness." Cole laughed again, noting he received a text from Skinner on Saturday. "He said he was a little disappointed I would not come back to see he had grown to 6 foot 1," Cole said. Rutherford and Maurice believe Cole's rugged conditioning work with defenseman Joe Corvo last summer contributed to Cole's staying healthy last season. Cole and Corvo rode to and from practices and games together, roomed and ate together on the road. Their families are close. "One of my best friends," Cole said. "I love a lot of people who work for the Carolina Hurricanes, but it's your teammates who are the toughest to say goodbye to. Joe, in particular, if he asked me to do anything for him, I would. It's those kind of friendships that make it hard to leave." Cole is in Oswego, N.Y., for July 4 and will host his charity golf tournament there later this month. He hopes to play in the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Tournament in Raleigh in August - "If they'll have me" - before leaving for Montreal for good. "It's a hard place and a hard group to walk away from," Cole said. "At the end of the day, I will be wearing a different sweater, but away from the ice I'll still have a special relationship with the guys." News Observer LOADED: 07.05.2011

574627

Colorado Avalanche

Avalanche's trade for goalie Varlamov was worth the risk

By Adrian Dater

Let me make a very tentative purchase of what the Ava- lanche is selling. I'll buy in, however much I may hate myself for doing so later, on the Avs' big trade Friday for 23-year-old goalie Semyon Varlamov. I'll cop to not at all buying in right after the deal that sent a first- and conditional secondround pick to the Washington Capitals for Varlamov. But the more you think about it, the more you start to say, "Yeah, maybe this isn't such a bad deal. Maybe this thing might actually work out." Then again, that sentence may be very much regretted it was ever typed. We'll see. But this is the growing feeling, at least from here: The goalie who seemed to make the most logical sense to bring in 35-year-old free agent Tomas Vokoun probably would have been too much of a stale, mercenary type of pickup. Yeah, he's a good goalie and had many fine save percentages with Nashville and Florida over the years. But there's no ignoring the facts that he's 35, he's been accustomed to losing his whole career and just didn't seem to jazz up fans around here. Does anyone really think Vokoun would have won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in the next couple of years?

By getting Varlamov, the Avs are at least taking a shot at something. They're hitching the wagons to a guy who had the fourth-best save percentage (.924) in the NHL last season. Granted, he didn't play a whole lot. But the point is, with Varlamov there is hope. Vokoun seemed a little too much like day-old bread. Varlamov, who has yet to speak to the Denver-area media because of summertime travels, is a former first-round draft pick who rescued a 2009 first-round playoff series with the Capitals. He got hurt and essentially lost his job late last season to Michal Neuvirth, who went 4-5 in the playoffs. Why have so many pundits implied that Varlamov played his way out of a starting job in Washington? He hurt his knee and had minor surgery in March, a month before the playoffs started. Varlamov made the Russian Olympic team last year at 22, two years younger than any other teammate. Yes, there is an immense amount of pressure on the kid now. Avs general manager Greg Sherman has staked his legacy on this trade, probably even more than the Erik Johnson-Chris Stewart deal this spring. It may fail. But nothing great ever comes without great risk. Denver Post: LOADED: 07.05.2011

574628

Detroit Red Wings

New defenseman Ian White welcomes stability with Red Wings

By HELENE ST. JAMES

The Red Wings' newest acquisition is looking forward to a little stability after a hectic season in which he moved from Calgary to Carolina to San Jose. Defenseman Ian White, signed over the weekend to a two-year deal worth $5.75 million, is currently at his off-season home in northwestern Ontario, near the Manitoba border, with his wife, Tess, and their children, Paxton and Gracelyn. Their daughter was born shortly after White helped his old team, the Sharks, oust the Wings in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinal this May. "My wife went into labor during the afternoon," White said. "But we knew it was a big game for us, and that was our focus. I played, she went to the game, and then we went straight to the hospital afterwards, and had our daughter around 7:15 in the morning." That example of dedication aside, White appealed to the Wings because of his competitiveness, skills and the fact he shoots right-handed, one of just three players on the team to do so. (Defenseman Mike Commodore and forward Patrick Eaves are the others.) The Wings, in turn, appealed to White, especially when they offered two years. "That's probably the toughest thing about our business," he said. "Last year was the first time we moved around like that, and I have a young family. It's nice to get some stability here for at least two years. Hopefully it's the start of a long relationship." At 27, White is entering his prime. A sixth-round pick by Toronto in the 2002 NHL entry draft, White spent almost five seasons with the Maple Leafs before being traded to Calgary. In 401 games with the Leafs, Flames, Hurricanes and Sharks, he has 36 goals and 107 assists, with 228 penalty minutes. In Detroit, he'll push Jonathan Ericsson for a spot in the top four, next to Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart. Stuart and Kronwall had a great pairing going until last season, when Stuart played first with Brian Rafalski (since retired) and then with Lidstrom. White could fit in nicely next to either Lidstrom or Kronwall, or help the third pairing be a 20-minute option. Wherever he ends up, White sees this move as a great opportunity. "There are so many great players there to learn from," he said. "They make everyone else better. Hopefully, I can grow my game and have some fun with one of the best teams over the past few decades." Detroit Free Press LOADED: 07.05.2011

574629

Detroit Red Wings

Ken Holland seeks backup goalie for Red Wings

Ted Kulfan/ The Detroit News

Detroit The Red Wings' defense, which appeared alarmingly thin less than a week ago, has been fortified. Up front, the Red Wings have four solid lines. There are no job vacancies. Goaltending, however, is the one area where the Wings still have work to do. They need a backup for No. 1 Jimmy Howard. Chris Osgood, 38, held the job the last two seasons but has been limited to 34 games, including only 11 last season when he required groin surgery in early January. "The question with Chris Osgood is, can he be healthy?" general manager Ken Holland said. Osgood maintained in the playoffs he was ready to play if needed. He wasn't; Howard played every game. Late in the regular season, Osgood practiced but was unable to get into the lineup because of lingering discomfort in the groin. It's Osgood's lack of action the last two years Howard won the starting job in 2009-10 after Osgood struggled early in the season that has the Wings examining the goaltending market this summer. "We owe it to ourselves to see what is out there," said Holland, who will consider bringing Osgood back. "We have money to spend (under the salary the cap). There are players we remain interested in." Holland said teams continue to call the Wings about possible trades. The Wings contacted the agents for several goalies the first day of free agency Friday. But all of the goaltenders decided on finding other teams, knowing the No. 1 job in Detroit was Howard's. Holland said one of Osgood's strengths is his relationship with Howard. Osgood's calming influence has helped Howard over the last two seasons. One goaltender who continues to linger unsigned is former Red Wing Ty Conklin. Conklin won a career-high 25 games for Detroit during the 2008-09 season (25-11-2, 2.51 GAA, .909 save percentage) before spending the last two seasons with the Blues. Conklin, 35, struggled last season (8-8-2, 3.22, .881). Detroit News LOADED: 07.05.2011

574630

Edmonton Oilers

There's no making the Oilers by acclamation for Nugent-Hopkins, not when they just added veteran Eric Belanger into the mix at centre, where they have Gagner, Shawn Horcoff, Andrew Cogliano and Gilbert Brule, too. Taylor Hall was a given last year because he was a bigger body and dynamic; also, the Oilers weren't as deep. Nugent-Hopkins has a good head on shoulders that are pretty broad - he's been carrying whatever team he's been on throughout his teen years - but the NHL eats a lot of its young. "I'd like to be somewhere between 175 and 180 pounds by the end of the summer," Nugent-Hopkins said. "But my whole life I've been a smaller player, trying to use my assets. I have put nine pounds on after last junior season and if they put me on a program with their people (like Oilers fitness expert Simon Bennett), I'll certainly follow it." Nugent-Hopkins hadn't been on the ice too much since his junior season ended and admitted to being a little rusty Monday, but he wasn't alone. "I'm sure I'll get my hands back in awhile," he said. Nugent-Hopkins will also be at the camp for Canada's world junior team at Rexall Place from Aug. 3-6, then the Oilers' prospects camp in Penticton, B.C., in early September. If he doesn't make the Oilers this year, it won't eat at him. He keeps saying that, but centre John Tavares made it in 2009, Stamkos, Patrick Kane in '07, Rick Nash in 2002, and Vincent Lecavalier in 1998. Nugent-Hopkins will be given every opportunity to be in Edmonton, not 90 minutes down the road in Red Deer. "Obviously, Edmonton is a really young team with a lot of talent up front (Hall, Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi and the older guys like Ryan Smyth, Horcoff and Ales Hemsky). Hopefully, I'll have a long NHL career. I want to make it (now), but if I don't, I'm in no rush," he said. Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 07.05.2011

Curious fans check out Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at Oilers development camp

By Jim Matheson,

EDMONTON - With a tip of the hat to Vanna White, Wes Vannieuwhuizen (17 letters, eight vowels) fills out a name bar as well as Ryan NugentHopkins. But the curious fans three and four deep at the first day of the Edmonton Oilers development camp Monday at Millennium Place were there to see Nugent-Hopkins, who was wearing No. 72. The daily sessions, which start at 9:30 a.m. through Saturday, are for the Oilers' draft picks, walk-ons like Vancouver Giants junior defenceman Vannieuwhuizen, and farmhand Colten Teubert. Nugent-Hopkins will likely be wearing No. 93 for his birth year when the Oilers' main training camp opens in the fall. He's not getting the No. 9 he wore with the Red Deer Rebels in the Western Hockey League because Glenn Anderson's number is retired. But, whatever he wears, it's more how he looks in an Oilers jersey that counts. All eyes were on the 18-year-old Nugent-Hopkins on Monday, and not just the fans'. Coach Tom Renney will be the main marker on the No. 1 draft pick's report card. Nugent-Hopkins is going against young players about the same age at this week's development camp, but his real audition starts in the main training camp. If Renney thinks the rookie can be an NHL centre on one of the top two lines after the exhibition games, and thinks he can handle the combative level against a six-foot-three, 240-pound defenceman like Douglas Murray in San Jose, Nugent-Hopkins will stay for at least the first nine games of the regular season. (If he plays 10 or more games, he eats up a year of eligibility towards unrestricted free agency.) The last forward taken No. 1 overall who didn't play in the NHL right away was Mats Sundin in 1989. Sundin stayed in Sweden. Mike Modano didn't play right away either, returning to the WHL's Prince Albert Raiders for another season, and he turned out just fine as TSN's Ryan Rishaug so astutely pointed out. "I don't want to draw any conclusions until I see him on the ice, in front of my face, and not at a development camp," said Renney. "That said, I know how badly he wants to be an Oiler this year. I know he'll bring everything he can to the table to succeed. But you have to look at the big picture as a coach which isn't always easy to do ... we'll do the right thing with Ryan. "If he can stand the rigours of the physical part and works to his strengths where he creates an advantage for us night after night, then he's got an excellent chance to play this year. If not, after making an informed decision, we'll wait on him." Sam Gagner made the Oilers right out of his No. 6 overall draft hole in 2007 because he was savvy enough to play when he didn't have the puck, too. But there is a vise-like pressure on players taken No. 1. It happened to Steven Stamkos in 2008 and Joe Thornton in 1997. Stamkos had 46 points in Tampa Bay, coming on after a very slow start when his first coach, Barry Melrose, didn't think he was ready. Thornton got a large dose of tough love from the late Pat Burns in Boston and had seven points in 55 games, barely getting off the bench. "Obviously, a player taken first overall is there for a reason. They separate themselves (from other draft-age players) on size or skill or hockey sense. More often than not, the No. 1s have a real good package and that's what Ryan has. The mitigating thing is whether he can establish himself with the men," said Renney, acknowledging that Nugent-Hopkins also has a large off-the-ice learning curve. "That's huge. You have to assimilate the entire experience of being an National Hockey League player. That's living on your own, the proper nutrition, the proper decisions away from the rink. In some cases, kids can't do that without adult help. In the NHL, you're on your own."

574631

Edmonton Oilers

Matty's Oilers notes

- The Oilers have invited six free agents to their development camp - goalie Dustin Butler (University of Calgary Dinosaurs), defenceman Wes Vannieuwenhuizen (Vancouver Giants, WHL) and forwards Colin Smith (Kamloops Blazers, WHL), Conner Jones (Quinnipiac University), Brett Ferguson (Red Deer Rebels) and Kyle Bailey (U of New Brunswick). Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 07.05.2011

By Jim Matheson,

EDMONTON - Right-winger Ryan Keller, 27, who played for the Ottawa Senators' American Hockey League championship team in Binghamton, N.Y., last season, signed a two-way, one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. Keller will get $250,000 to play with the Oklahoma City Barons or $625,000 if he plays in the NHL. Keller, who scored 51 points last season, has never played an NHL game. --The Oilers filled one of two organizational goalie holes by signing Yann Danis, 30, who has played 49 NHL games (2.69 goals-against average, three shutouts) with the New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils and Montreal Canadiens. Danis, who played last season with Khabarovsk Amur in the Kontinental Hockey League, will be the No. 1 netminder in Oklahoma City. The Oilers aren't bringing back Martin Gerber or Jeff Deslauriers, who are both unrestricted free agents. "Martin still hopes to get an NHL job as a No. 2 goalie and Jeff, I think, is looking to play somewhere else," said Tambellini. The Oilers could wait through training camp to see if there's another veteran to pick up on waivers should 2009 draft pick Olivier Roy not be ready for the AHL. --The Oilers front-loaded the three-year, $5.25-million contract for newcomer Eric Belanger, giving the former Phoenix Coyotes centre $2 million in salary each of the next two seasons. Belanger will be the Oilers' No. 3 or No. 4 centre. --Former Oilers farmhand forward Colin McDonald, who had a breakout 41goal performance last season on a line with Alexandre Giroux, has signed a two-way deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He will make $105,000 in the AHL and $525,000 in the NHL. Giroux, who made $500,000 last season regardless of where he played, is getting $325,000 to play on the Columbus farm team next season, but $825,000 should he make the Blue Jackets. --The Oilers have a salary-cap hit of $56.4 million (11th highest in the league) for 22 signed players, which gives them $7.9 million in cap room to sign anybody else. Edmonton has only three Group 2 free agents to sign - centres Andrew Cogliano and Ryan O'Marra plus defenceman Taylor Chorney. Chorney and Jeff Petry are expected to battle for a defence spot. Petry can clear waivers and play again in the minors; Chorney can be picked up by another team if waived. --This 'n' that - Former Oilers assistant coach Charlie Huddy is still waiting to hear if he's getting a job with the Winnipeg Jets to assist head man Claude Noel. - Defenceman Oscar Klefbom, the Oilers' second first-round pick in the recent NHL entry draft, didn't make it to the team's development camp this week at Millennium Place. Klefbom's Swedish club team, Farjestads, is having a camp of its own. - Centre Ryan Martindale, a third-round draft pick in 2010 who had 60 points in 61 games last season with the junior Ottawa 67s, is having his tonsils out.

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Edmonton Oilers

Oilers reward Peckham with doubled salary

By Jim Matheson,

EDMONTON - The abrasive Teddy Peckman is back on the Edmonton Oilers' blue-line for another season, which should please the colourful Donald S. Cherry, an unabashed fan who one day might stop strangling Peckham's real name, Theo. Peckham, who took a giant step last season while playing 18-1/2 minutes a game - often against the other team's big guns for a bargain basement $550,000, got a raise to $1.075 million. "At the end of the day, we hope he evolves into a top-four (shutdown) defenceman," said Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini, who pointed out that Peckham had a high competitive level against "heavy, good players." Tambellini also values Peckham's willingness to rush to the aid of his teammates as the Oilers' snarliest blue-liner. His 198 penalty minutes were the third-highest in the entire league, although he racked up a fair number of misconducts to inflate the total. But with newcomers Ben Eager, Darcy Hordichuk and six-foot-six defenceman Andy Sutton, he'll be in a secondary position next season. "I'm their help now. They'll be leading the way. I'll be in the supporting cast ... those are veteran tough guys," said Peckham, who fought Sutton last year. "He's a big boy." Peckham would like to pattern himself after Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa, even if he's a rival. "I definitely respect the way he plays. On the other hand, he wears a different jersey," said Peckham. "To say you'd like to play like somebody you play against is tough, but that's the style I'd like to play." Right now, Peckham's bounced between a second and third defenceman pairing, but the 23-year-old who should play at 230 pounds this year has the right stuff to be a shutdown guy. He likes the challenge, for one thing, and he likes to rattle cages, which is never a bad thing. Peckham has improved his skating since when he was drafted in Round 3 in 2006. His ice smarts are better, too. Only Ryan Whitney and Tom Gilbert are guaranteed top-four defence spots. Everything is up in the air, with Peckham, Ladislav Smid, Sutton, Jeff Petry and Taylor Chorney also in the mix. It doesn't appear that the Oilers will re-sign Jason Strudwick, while Jim Vandermeer signed with the Sharks in San Jose. "I'm working on making the right decisions (with the puck). I see things out there, but sometimes it's not always in the toolbox. I'd like to complete the plays that you see," said Peckham, who is not only spending the summer working out but diligently working on his nutrition, as well. "It's putting the right things into my body," he said. "I definitely like food." Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Edmonton Oilers

"Kevin (Lowe) and Steve (Tambellini) and the scouting staffs have done an excellent job of putting the coaching staff in a position to put a little more on the ice to get wins." Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 07.05.2011

Oilers job competition heating up

By ROBERT TYCHKOWSKI, QMI Agency

EDMONTON - Nobody is going to make the Edmonton Oilers at a midsummer prospects camp, but everyone at Millennium Place this week - as well as some veterans who might already be doing the math - should know this: October isn't looking so good, either. Not for you, anyway. But from an Oilers perspective the competition for jobs has never looked better. A collection of rookies from last season who already have their skates in the door and a handful of free agent signings on July 1 have jammed this year's depth chart to over-capacity. "There's no question about that," said head coach Tom Renney, watching the latest crop of draft picks run drills Monday morning. "We've put ourselves in a position to make tough decisions now." Up front alone there are 16 or 17 forwards for 12 starting jobs (and two more in the press box). For some veteran players, just making it to training camp without being shipped away in the summer represents a significant hurdle. "In the past we would almost post a job with our hat in our hand," said Renney. "Now we're in the position where we're in the driver's seat. Those who are capable and most competent will and should play." The odds of six rookies walking in like Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi, Linus Omark, Jeff Petry and Teemu Hartikainen did last season are zero. The odds of borderline forwards hanging around with Ryan Smyth, Eric Belanger, Ben Eager and Darcy Hordichuk added to the mix are getting slimmer. And with Andy Sutton and Cam Barker here, and Ryan Whitney healthy, the blueline might no longer be a training ground. "In some cases it will push some kids out or prevent an opportunity right away, and that's a good thing," said Renney. "That means they go back to a level they can dominate in, have success, build confidence and come back and give it another go in a year from now." Even No. 1 overall Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is no gimme. "Edmonton is a young team and they have a lot of talent up front," said the 18-year-old centre. "I want to make the team and I'm going to do everything I can, but if I don't I'm in no rush and I don't think the team is, either." They're not. But if he reports to training camp and does what Hall did prove he's ready to be an impact NHLer they'll make room. "I know how badly he wants to be an Oiler this year and I know that he's going to bring everything that he possibly can to the table in order to succeed at that," said Renney. "With that being said, and recognizing the big picture as a coach, we'll do the right thing with Ryan. "If he can stand the rigours of the physical part of the game and work to his strengths so he creates an advantage for us every night, then he has an excellent chance to play this year. "If not, we'll wait. The mitigating factor will be if he can establish his game with the men." With or without RNH, Renney is loving the way this team is evolving before his eyes. The draft and the free-agent market are providing him with elements the Oilers simply didn't have before. "You can't help but be excited, honestly," he said, adding the Oilers are starting to assemble the pieces that make up a successful club. "As the playoffs weave their way through to the last two teams, you see a certain look your team has to have in order to compete.

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Edmonton Oilers

Welcome mat out for Nugent-Hopkins

By ROBERT TYCHKOWSKI, QMI Agency

EDMONTON - On a rare nice summer day in Edmonton, there aren't many good reasons to be inside a hockey rink. But Ryan Nugent-Hopkins appears to be one of them. Like farmhands peeking into a stall for first glimpse of a newborn thoroughbred colt, hundreds of fans were craning their necks at Millennium Place Monday for a better look at the 18-year-old future star. "Ever since I got to Edmonton it's been great," he said after the first day of the Oilers prospects camp. "The ball game was a lot of fun, throwing the first pitch was pretty cool. Being in Katz's box was awesome. "Coming here with a lot of people watching is a really good time. It feels great. I was doing an autograph session at the ball game and everyone was saying 'Welcome to Edmonton.' That feels really good. I already feel like I'm part of the club." Unlike Taylor Hall, who can dazzle with speed and shot, Nugent-Hopkins is more of a slippery, one-step-ahead-of-the-defender kind of player, so there wasn't much to see. "I don't think I'm the best practice player," he grinned. "I haven't been on the ice too much since the end of the season so I was a little bit rusty. Hopefully if we get into a little more game-like situations I'll be better. "But it was good to get out there and skate with all the guys." LATE HITS: The Oilers signed defeneman Theo Peckham to a one-year $1.075 million contract. Peckham, 23, piled up 198 penalty minutes last year, third highest in the NHL ... They also signed minor-league goalie Yann Danis on a one-year contract. The 30-year-old spent last season in the KHL. Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 07.05.2011

574635

Florida Panthers

Vokoun says, it wasnt pretty, but everything happens for a reason,

by: Harvey Fialkov July 4th, 2011 | 4:35 PM

Former Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun had a conference call Sunday and admitted he turned down offers from the Panthers for two and three years, but that while he was disappointed in the money, hes thrilled to be playing for a contender. Heres excerpts from the call via NHL.com In the last four years Ive played a lot against Washington and I know how good that team is, Vokoun said Sunday in a conference call. I know Im going to have fun and Ive been on winning teams before but nothing like Washington, how the team is put together now. I always think that those guys when theyre walking on their rink, they know theyre gonna win and they know theyre a good team. Vokoun said Sunday that he had been seeking a multi-year offer and actually had turned down both two- and three-year offers from Florida. While he had nothing but good things to say about the Panthers organization, Vokoun felt as though his age and Floridas talent and direction meant it was best for both parties to move in different directions. In addition, with impending free-agent goalies Ilya Bryzgalov and Dwayne Roloson both signed to contracts before the free-agent signing period opened on July 1, Vokoun figured to be the most sought after player at his position. Unfortunately for Vokoun, however, the free-agent goaltending market dried up quicker than he had anticipated, and, in the end, it seemed a one-year $1.5 million pact with Washington offered him the best chance to return to the postseason and chase a Stanley Cup. I found out I didnt have a whole lot of offers. Unfortunately for me the money side is not great, but I think the opportunity is unbelievable, Vokoun said. It was disappointing, no question, but I think whatever the circumstances or reason why it happened I dont know. I think my level of my play was high for a pretty long time and I cant control what happens on the market, I can only control how I play. It wasnt pretty, but everything happens for a reason. Ive never had a chance to play for a team like this. It came to me on a steep price but its not just about the money. The only way we would have done this would be for an elite goaltender like Vokoun, Caps GM George McPhee said. Our scouting staff had him rated as one of the top ten goaltenders in the league. Hes a talented, experienced goaltender whos hungry to win now. He may have been under the radar because he was with a club that hasnt been winning hockey games lately, but it doesnt mean hes not a good goaltender. Hes a very good goaltender. I guess we got lucky because he wanted to go to a team that has a chance to win a Cup. Sun Sentinel LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Minnesota Wild

Heatley declined to waive his no-trade clause to go to Edmonton, putting Ottawa in a tough position. He was eventually dealt to San Jose in a onesided trade. Fletcher endorsed Heatley's character, though, calling him a "quality person." Heatley said much of his reputation is tainted by "being traded a few times in my career, and probably not the smoothest trades in history." "He is misunderstood," Setoguchi said. "As a friend and not even a hockey player, he is one of the most genuine, honest people I've ever met in my entire life. Trust me, he's a good guy and his teammates love him." Young Sharks star Logan Couture tweeted Monday that Heatley was a "great pro and tremendous teammate." Koivu was told the same thing by several of Heatley's former teammates Monday. Sunday night, Heatley and Setoguchi already were talking about how cool it would be to play on the same line in Minnesota. "We were joking, but obviously if there's one person on Minnesota that I would have the most chemistry with right now, it would probably be Dany Heatley," Setoguchi said. Offensive potential for Wild Wild coach Mike Yeo already has begun thinking about combinations. In training camp, he plans to experiment with a Pierre-Marc Bouchard-KoivuHeatley line and a Setoguchi-Koivu-Heatley line. "With any kind of coaching, these guys will be really good," Yeo joked. "I've said I want us to be tough to play against. You can do that in different ways. Obviously, that's defensively and physically, but I think we have guys who are threats offensively now. "Let's face it, San Jose's been a very successful team the past few years and we got two key pieces from their team now. They've played the hard games, gone on the long runs and know what it takes to get there. I think that will push our grup." In fact, if you include recently acquired Philadelphia checker Darroll Powe, Fletcher has added three players with 154 career playoff games in the past 10 days. Heatley admitted he was disappointed with a subpar three-goal postseason. Of course, he was playing despite a broken bone above the wrist and below the thumb -- a k a his trigger finger. But he vowed to come to Minnesota in "great shape" and "prove people wrong." Remember, this was the first time Heatley was traded when he wasn't the one who initiated it. There's motivation now. Setoguchi can't wait to get started with Heatley. "Going into a new team, going into a new atmosphere, you're almost like stepping into foreign ground that you don't know," Setoguchi said. "So to step into it with a player that's so respected around the league and one of my best friends, it's going to make the transition a lot easier for both of us." Star Tribune LOADED: 07.05.2011

A sniper's fresh start

Article by: MICHAEL RUSSO , Star Tribune

Dany Heatley has asked off two teams and dodged a third, so the natural concern after the Wild executed Sunday's late-night Martin Havlat-forHeatley swap was how the veteran sniper was coping with an unexpected trade that will take him from the San Jose sunshine to the Minnesota winter. On Monday, Heatley perhaps calmed the nerves. He sounded like a man motivated to resurrect his career and reputation, like a man hungry to score goals at a star's pace again and, maybe most important, like a man excited to be in Minnesota. "I'm happy to be a Minnesota Wild," Heatley said. "I'm excited to play with those guys, in that room, to play in that city, in front of those fans. It's a great place to play hockey. I'm happy to be there." The 30-year-old added: "Last year wasn't a great year for me personally. I want to get to that [top] level again in Minny. ... As a goal scorer and a player, you want to be that guy." Heatley scored 26 goals and 64 points last season for the Sharks. That's not a down year for most, especially when you consider those numbers would have led the Wild. But this is Dany Heatley -- a two-time 50-goal scorer, a point-a-game player, someone who possesses one of hockey's most toxic shots. General Manager Chuck Fletcher is confident Heatley will fill the net. "His track record speaks for itself," Fletcher said. "He's a proven goal scorer." And the Wild is starved for goals. In his end-of-the-season analysis, Fletcher believed the Wild had too many pass-first players. So on Sunday, he asked one of them -- Havlat -- to waive his no-move clause. "Our lack of goal scoring is well-documented. Our inability or our unwillingness to shoot the puck is well-documented," Fletcher said. "We wanted to change the mindset of our forward group." Last season the Wild ranked 30th in shots on goal and 26th in goals. Since entering the NHL, Heatley's 2,126 shots rank 10th and his 325 goals rank third. So Heatley's a "shooter," as is one of his best friends from the same Sharks team, Devin Setoguchi, whom Fletcher acquired June 24. News travels to Finland Captain Mikko Koivu, who surely will center Heatley, awoke in Turku, Finland, on Monday. He saw how many calls he'd missed and knew "something big had to happen." "Then I saw we got Dany Heatley. I didn't see that coming at all," Koivu said. "Heatley, the numbers he's put up the last nine years, that can't be an accident. You really have to know how to score, and that was our problem." Koivu added with a big laugh, "We know we're going to get some goals, but hopefully even more than we think." Eventful past Heatley does come to Minnesota with baggage. In 2003, he was charged with vehicular homicide after his Thrashers teammate, Dan Snyder, died as a result of a car crash with Heatley at the wheel. Two years later, Heatley pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor charges and was sentenced to three years' probation. Heatley eventually asked for a change of scenery. Traded to Ottawa for Marian Hossa, Heatley played four years there, potting 180 goals and helping lead the Senators to the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals. But in 2009, he'd had enough of coach Cory Clouston and asked to be traded again.

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Minnesota Wild

"We feel we're a better organization in the short term and long term today than we were entering the offseason." Fletcher, in two weeks, has simultaneously made the Wild more exciting and more promising. That's hard to do. Star Tribune LOADED: 07.05.2011

Fletcher finds way to build for now, future

Article by: JIM SOUHAN , Star Tribune

We all want it all. We want succulent food and slim waists, powerful engines and great gas mileage, suntans without skin damage. As an organization attuned to the desires of its remarkably loyal fans, the Wild has tried to have it all, tried to field playoff teams while amassing young talent. Predictably, the new front office, in pursuing those two sometimes mutually exclusive goals, has struggled to balance instant gratification with responsible planning. With the trade of Martin Havlat to San Jose for Dany Heatley, Chuck Fletcher once again has made a move that doesn't help his team rebuild, a move that could be considered a risk because of Heatley's problematic past. In two bold exchanges with the Sharks, though, Fletcher might have accomplished the improbable. He might have improved the Wild's chances of winning this year, while increasing their chances of winning five years from now. Trade analyses are as fraught with risk as trades themselves. The final verdict on them can turn on injury or a team's fortunes, can be subject to locker-room chemistry or coaching ingenuity, or even change from year to year. At this point, Fletcher deserves praise for both of his recent trades, because he addressed his franchise's two biggest needs, scoring and young talent, without sacrificing players who were part of his long-term plan. To acquire Heatley, Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle and Zack Phillips, he dealt Brent Burns and Havlat. Burns was likely to leave in free agency in a year, and Havlat was, like Heatley, a 30-year-old forward with wonderful hands and a problematic past. Havlat helped cost Todd Richards his job and fought with captain Mikko Koivu a day after Havlat's agent complained about his role. The guy was a nagging headache. The Wild didn't "win" either trade. San Jose had good reason for making both deals. The Sharks acquired a defenseman with All-Star ability and a forward whose deft passing should complement his new teammates. The Sharks are built to win now, and they acquired two players who should help them do that. Fletcher faced a more difficult challenge, in serving the win-now mentality of the team's owner and fans while stockpiling young talent for a franchise that was stripped bare by the Risebrough cadre. Even if Heatley proves problematic, he possesses one major advantage over Havlat: He scores goals, at least in the regular season. On a team filled with pass-first players, Heatley is likely to become the Wild's top shooter and top scorer. At worst, the Wild will have traded a sinus headache for a migraine. On a conference call Monday, I asked Heatley if he relishes joining a team where he'll be expected to become the go-to scorer. "I do," he said. "I think as a goal scorer and a player, you want to be that guy." The Wild needs that guy. Setoguchi upgrades the Wild's speed, as well as scoring ability. Coyle is a top prospect. And if it's true that groin and hand injuries limited Heatley's effectiveness last year, he could, if healthy, become the Wild's first true star since Marian Gaborik left. Give him this: Fletcher has guts. He's taken the risky route by hiring two unproven NHL coaches, and he has not been afraid to make big (and by definition risky) trades. "Our inability or unwillingness to shoot the puck was well-documented," Fletcher said. "Our plan was to aggressively add as many young assets as we could and to find a way to improve the offensive capabilities of our club going into next season ...

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Minnesota Wild

The Dany Heatley file

Age: 30 (born Jan. 21, 1981, in Freiburg, West Germany) Height: 6-4. Weight: 220 Position: right wing/ left wing Drafted: Atlanta (second overall, 2000) Highlights: He's one of the NHL's most prolific goal scorers, having twice gotten 50 in a season. Since entering the NHL in 2001, Heatley ranks first in power-play goals (128) and game-winning goals (58), third in goals (325) and fifth in points (689). He's done this in 669 games (1.03 points per game, .49 goals per game). Did you know? The former Wisconsin Badger has dual citizenship to Germany and Canada and has played in two Olympics for Canada, winning gold in 2010. His father, Murray, played for the WHA Minnesota Fighting Saints in 1973-75. Controversy: In 2003, Heatley crashed his Ferrari while speeding down a suburban Atlanta road. He was badly injured, and his Thrashers teammate, Dan Snyder, died days later. Heatley was charged with vehicular homicide and eventually pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor charges, was sentenced to three years' probation and was fined $3,000. Heatley has also requested trades out of Atlanta and Ottawa. MICHAEL RUSSO

Star Tribune LOADED: 07.05.2011

574639

Minnesota Wild

"And he wants to play the game. That's what was fun about coaching him. He never wants to rest; he always wants to be on the ice." After registering 39 goals and 82 points two seasons ago for the Sharks, Heatley demonstrated that dedication by refusing to sit, despite a broken hand this past season. His production dropped dramatically, to 62 points in 80 games, and he followed that with just three goals and six assists in 18 playoff games. Those 62 points still would have led the Wild in scoring, Fletcher pointed out, and Heatley showed he's a gamer by refusing to step out of the lineup during the season or when he suffered a high-ankle sprain during the playoffs. "Last year wasn't a great year for me," Heatley said in a conference call Monday, but he called the move to Minnesota "a fresh start." His playoff production the past two seasons also has become a sore point, he said, and he hopes that helping the Wild return to the playoffs will erase any criticism. His previous playoff numbers of 10 goals and 25 assists in 34 games were decent, he said, but he has heard a few folks knocking his past two postseasons. "I'm excited to get back there and prove people wrong," he said. Heatley also said labeling him a controversial player is unfair. "Anybody I've played with, that I've been in hockey with, will tell you that's not true," he said. "I feel like I've always been a good teammate and somebody that guys want to play with." Heatley had a partial no-move clause in a contract that pays him an average of $7.5 million a season, listing 10 teams he would not accept a trade to, but the Wild were not on that list. Minnesota, he said, "is a great organization, great fans. As a player, that's all you can ask for: playing in front of a packed building every night." Sauer said Heatley, who remained at Wisconsin for a second season even though he was good enough to turn pro, should fit right into the Twin Cities. "He loves to be in a hockey town," Sauer said, "and St. Paul is a good one." Pioneer Press LOADED: 07.05.2011

In Dany Heatley, Wild believe they've found their next big thing since Marian Gaborik

By Bruce Brothers

In the opinion of his former college coach, new Wild forward Dany Heatley is the potential superstar Minnesota fans have longed for since Marian Gaborik hit the highway three years ago. Heatley, in the words of former University of Wisconsin coach and St. Paul native Jeff Sauer, delivers precisely what the Wild need: instant offense. "He's a great goal- scorer," Sauer said. "He's got the disease." The much-traveled Heatley, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2000 draft, is joining his fourth NHL team in 10 seasons and has in the past occasionally come under fire as a headache, especially after he requested a trade from the Ottawa Senators in 2009. "Dany's a quality person," Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher said, "and someone Dany Heatley the right fit? Is Dany Heatley the right fit for the Wild? Yes! They need someone with that fire in the belly. No. He's guilty of a teammate's death, for heaven's sake. I'm not sure. we think will fit well into our room."

Fletcher said he did his homework before shipping Martin Havlat to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday for Heatley, who has 325 goals and 364 assists for 689 points in 669 NHL games for the Atlanta Thrashers, the Senators and the Sharks. Heatley, he noted, should solve a glaring weakness the Wild have shown over the past two seasons, when they ranked at or near the bottom in goals. Asked if he were concerned Heatley might bring a selfish attitude to the team's dressing room, Fletcher just said no. "I think he's the opposite, in fact. I think he's a quality person that's played on good hockey teams a lot and had a lot of success, both from a team standpoint and an individual standpoint, over his career," Fletcher said. Rookie Wild coach Mike Yeo said he does not know Heatley personally, but when the possibility of a trade came up, he worked the phones. "I'm hearing some great things about what kind of person he is," Yeo said Monday. "I don't know what the perception is, but all I can say, from former teammates and people that have coached him - I've heard a lot of good things since yesterday." After producing 41 goals and 89 points for the Thrashers in his second NHL season, Heatley first came under scrutiny when a Ferrari he was driving went out of control and crashed Sept. 29, 2003. Teammate Dan Snyder died from injuries received in the accident, and Heatley, who admitted drinking before the accident but was below the legal limit, suffered several injuries. He pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular homicide and was sentenced to three years' probation and community service and fined $25,000. "He's going to have to live with that the rest of his life," Sauer said. But the former coach said Heatley has overcome that and continues, at age 30, to be one of the most prolific goal-scorers in the sport. "Bottom line," Sauer added, "if I was picking a hockey team right now, he'd be one of the first guys I'd put in the lineup just because of the fact that he can score goals. He's hungry to score goals.

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Minnesota Wild

said he's comfortable with some of the young guys duking it out for those spots, another move or two is possible. "I like our team," he said. "Certainly, we feel we're a team that can go to training camp and be a competitive team and start the process of getting better." Pioneer Press LOADED: 07.05.2011

Offensive infusion gives coach Mike Yeo room to play with Wild lineup

By Bruce Brothers

Mike Yeo headed to his lake cottage in Canada the other day to unwind for the first time in perhaps a year. For the past two days, however, his brain has been juggling potential Wild lineup combinations heading into the 2011-12 season. Yeo, who became coach of the Houston Aeros more than a year ago and was promoted to Wild head coach June 17, has hardly had a moment to himself, as the Aeros made a run deep into the American Hockey League playoffs this spring. A little vacation following the NHL draft June 22-23 seemed in order, but when Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher pulled the trigger on the biggest trade in franchise history Sunday night, Yeo's mind quickly shifted into high gear. "You immediately start thinking of combinations and start thinking about what you're going to do," he said. "It's very exciting." Fletcher has given last season's offensively challenged crew of Minnesota skaters a double shot of help with the addition of winger Dany Heatley on Sunday, just nine days after the addition of Devin Setoguchi. "We feel we've added some goal-scorers," Fletcher said. And Yeo suddenly has a half-dozen guys who should provide an offensive kick this season to a team that finished 26th out of 30 NHL teams in scoring last season. He has Heatley and Setoguchi, who played together for the San Jose Sharks the past two seasons, penciled in on either side of center Mikko Koivu in one possible lineup. Another has Pierre-Marc Bouchard on the opposite wing from Heatley, with Setoguchi and Guillaume Latendresse flanking center Matt Cullen on the No. 2 line. Fletcher said the passing skills of Bouchard might perfectly complement Heatley, who has 325 goals in 669 games, and noted that Koivu also has a penchant for passing. Either way, Yeo said, "I think we're going to have a real threat on our second line, as well." That's because Heatley and Setoguchi, besides having a Sharks background in common, know how to bury the puck. "No. 1, these guys are shooters. They're going to shoot the puck, and they're going to help build that shooting mentality that we want to build with our team," Yeo said. "No. 2, to score that many goals, you have to go to the net. Especially a guy like Dany - one thing when you watch this guy play is how many goals he scores from around the net. "He's got great size, and he's got good hands in tight. He's tough for the other team to defend around the net, and he's got that knack for finding those pucks there. I always believe that teams that go to the net well, teams that get the puck to the net often, are really tough to play against, and that's something we're trying to build here." Heatley said he likes what he sees with the Wild, even though the team has missed the playoffs the past three seasons. "I believe we have a team that can get in the playoffs," he said. "They were a good team last year, and I think we're a better team this year." Heatley said he will play where Yeo sends him but admitted the idea of lining up with Koivu and Bouchard sounds appealing. "If that was the case," he said, "I'd be a happy guy." Fletcher, who was mostly quiet during the NHL's free-agent flurry that began Friday, said the big trade for Heatley does not mean his work is finished. Since the team sent Brent Burns to San Jose in the Setoguchi deal, blue-line jobs are open for possibly two players, and although Fletcher

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Minnesota Wild

Minnesota Wild: Dany Heatley wants to 'prove people wrong'

By Bruce Brothers

New Minnesota Wild forward Dany Heatley admitted today he struggled during the playoffs for the San Jose Sharks last spring, but said that simply motivates him to produce better in future postseason play. "Last year wasn't my greatest playoff," he said during a conference call. "I'm excited to get back there and prove people wrong." But Minnesota has not made the playoffs for three seasons, he was reminded. "They were a good team last year, and I believe they're better this year," he said. Heatley picked up three goals and six assists in 18 playoff games for San Jose in 2011 postseason play, but said he was hampered by injuries he refused to discuss and that he's healthy now. Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher said today that Sunday's trade of winger Martin Havlat for Heatley was a major move in addressing a glaring weakness the Wild have shown over the past two seasons. "We were a team that finished 30th in the league in terms of shots on goal and 26th in terms of offensive output," Fletcher said, adding that Heatley "certainly is one of the better goal scorers in the NHL." Heatley, 30, has 325 goals and 689 points in 669 NHL games for the Atlanta Thrashers, Ottawa Senators and the Sharks. He had a partial no-move clause in a contract that pays him an average of $7.5 million a season, listing 10 teams to which he would not accept a trade, but the Wild were not on that list. Minnesota, he said, "is a great organization, great fans. As a player, that's all you can ask for, playing in front of a packed building every night." The Wild open prospects camp July 11 at the Xcel Energy Center, then begin training camp Sept. 16 at the X. Pioneer Press LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Montreal Canadiens

Canadiens' Gauthier has filled holes, but work remains

By PAT HICKEY,

The initial wave of freeagent signings has ebbed and general manager Pierre Gauthier stuck to his game plan of promoting stability for the Canadiens. Gauthier kept the core of last season's team together and filled one of the team's most pressing needs by signing Erik Cole, a power forward who can play on the right wing. Cole brings size, speed, a nose for the net and some veteran leadership to Montreal. His passion for the team and the market were evident when he spoke with the local media in a 21-minute conference call last week. With 19 players under contract and negotiations pending with defenceman Josh Gorges and forward Ryan White, it would appear Gauthier has finished his offseason chores, but there are still matters that deserve his attention. At a news conference to discuss the Canada Day acquisition of Cole and backup goaltender Peter Budaj, Gauthier was asked whether he intended to pursue another defenceman and he responded by saying: "I think we have a full stable of defencemen." While the expected signing of Gorges and the addition of newcomers Raphael Diaz and Alexei Yemelin give the Canadiens eight warm bodies, it should be remembered that Gauthier offered Roman Hamrlik a one-year deal to stick around and this is a team that likes to cover all bases. Don't be surprised if the Canadiens go shopping for an experienced thirdpair defenceman with some size. Possible candidates include 6-foot, 228-pound Shane O'Brian, who made $1.6 million in Nashville last season, and 6-foot2, 211-pound Steve Eminger, who made $1.5 million with the Rangers. The addition of Cole gives head coach Jacques Martin seven players to juggle on the top two lines, but Gauthier might want to think about adding some grit on the bottom two lines. The Islanders' Zenon Konopka is still available. He's a classic enforcer - 307 penalty minutes and 25 fights last season - but he has enough ability to average 10 minutes a game and win 57.7 per cent of his faceoffs, which is better than anyone on the Montreal roster last season. Free agency also means losing some players. Gauthier tried to keep Hamrlik, but the veteran Czech found the two-year deal he wanted in Washington. Keeping James Wisniewski would have been a luxury, but Gauthier knew someone would overpay for his services and Columbus gave him $33 million for six seasons. The Wiz was a great guy to have in the dressing room and most people are hoping that he's the next Mark Streit and not the next Sheldon Souray or Mike Komisarek, two guys whose careers have been marred by injury and disappointment since leaving Montreal. The Canadiens decided they weren't interested in keeping backup goaltender Alex Auld, centre Jeff Halpern and underachieving winger Benoit Pouliot. Auld's departure was the biggest surprise because he did everything a backup was supposed to do last season. Halpern gave everything he had and was the team's best faceoff man at 56.9 per cent, but he recently turned 35 and the Canadiens want to see more of youngsters David Desharnais and Lars Eller. Montreal Gazette LOADED: 07.05.2011

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New York Rangers

Signing of Brad Richards puts onus on Marian Gaborik

With great power comes great responsibility. Fellow "Spider-Man" geeks surely recognize that mantra as Uncle Ben's pep talk to Peter Parker. But outside the Marvel Universe and in relation to our friendly neighborhood Rangers, it applies to Marian Gaborik. For while the Slovakian right wing is no superhero, there's no denying the great responsibility he bears for the Rangers' fortunes in 2011-12 now that general manager Glen Sather has purchased Brad Richards to pair with him. The Rangers landed the marquee name in this summer's free agent class Saturday when Richards agreed to a nine-year deal worth $60 million. And while Richards surely will deal with the pressure and microscopic scrutiny given his mega-deal believed to be the longest in Rangers history the initial focus will be on his new linemate. Because Richards is a playmaker. Gaborik is a pure scorer. Gaborik, entering the third year of a five-year, $37.5 million deal, slumped to 22 goals and 26 assists in 62 games last, battling a shoulder injury early in the season and, later, a concussion. Ten of his goals came in three games. It's easy and correct to say Gaborik never developed any real chemistry with his rotating linemates last season. But Gaborik tied a career high with 42 goals and set a career high with 86 points in his first season with the Rangers while on a line with Vinny Prospal, a good passer but certainly no Richards, his ex-Lightning teammate. In fact, Gaborik never has been paired with such an elite player, the closest being two seasons with the Wild when Pavol Demitra played on his line. For the most part, Gaborik has spent his career on lines with centers such as Derek Stepan, Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky and Wes Walz, solid players all but not necessarily No. 1 centers, not now, at least for Stepan and Anisimov. Dubinsky is now a left wing. So, barring injuries, there can be no excuses this season for Gaborik. His production simply has to rival his first season with the Rangers. That's his responsibility. ANDREW GROSS Bergen Record LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Ottawa Senators

first camp, but have a legitimate chance to play AHL games or possibly, like Gryba, play NHL games. "It takes patience," Lee says. "A lot of guys aren't good skaters, or have a different development curve. If he's not a good guy and and he doesn't care, then we don't waste our time. But if he does care and he wants to make himself better, then we'll spend the time to make him better." For some of the new Senators, the camp was an eye-opener for what lies ahead, beginning with rookie camp on Sept. 10. Noesen said the camp was a whirlwind after getting drafted in Minnesota, flying home to Plano, Texas, for his gear, then here to these rocking Ottawa sessions. The Senators' first-round, 21st overall pick from the Plymouth Whalers, Noesen did not hesitate when asked what stood out for him about the camp: "How hard everyone competes, no matter where we are," Noesen says. "Even with little games like this (3-on-3), people are going hard, laying the body, high-sticking guys. It's like a real game out here, and you really don't get that at the major junior level. "That's the biggest thing. Everyone's working hard and no one's letting anyone away with anything." Ottawa Citizen LOADED: 07.05.2011

Scanlan: Sens rebuild from within is for real

By Wayne Scanlan

OTTAWA - The Senators' development camp wrapped up on Monday morning, delivering so many picture-perfect goals in the 3-on-3 finale that the large crowd couldn't help but react with "ooohs" and "ahhhs." With the six groups playing on half-sheets of ice, fans had to choose an end and then enjoy some of the organization's top prospects converting time after time (except for the rare shutout). The winning Team Blue, with Ben Blood (one of the most impressive returning players), Ryan Dzingel, Mike Hoffman, Kirill Lyamin, Stefan Noesen and Mark Stone was particularly stellar, moving the puck with grace in a format that rewards vision and skill. Youth will be served - especially in Ottawa in the summer of 2011. You didn't see Senators general manager Bryan Murray wrecking club owner Eugene Melnyk's hockey budget like so many of the July 1 free agent spenders around the league. Restraint and patience are the new buzzwords. This rebuild from within is for real, and young players will get a chance this fall they wouldn't have in previous seasons when Ottawa was dominated by veterans. The new strategy has heightened interest in Senators rookies, including three first-round picks from the June draft, and the club has tapped into that interest by encouraging fans to attend the camp sessions over the past week, which they have in droves. Fans were not disappointed by what they saw, and neither was a Senators management group, ebullient with praise when it was done. Murray thinks that four or five of these development camp players could be in the late stages of the main camp in September, with a real chance to stick around. Twenty-year-old defenceman Jared Cowen, for example, is all but assured of a starting job, barring something unforeseen. "It's made for Jared Cowen, if he comes back to camp and shows what he can do," Murray says. "After playing in Binghamton in the latter part of the year ... his size and strength, his ability to play defence when it comes to game time, indicates to me that he's going to have a strong (training) camp and be a strong candidate." One of the first NHL clubs to develop these summer camps for new draft picks and prospects, the Senators have had a dozen of them, and Randy Lee, director of player development, says he has not seen one with as much as skill. Murray calls it the best camp he has ever witnessed, here or elsewhere. What jumps out at him? "The skill level, the size," Murray says, noting that while some of the smaller players, like Shane Prince and J.G. Pageau, also impressed, "some of the bigger players look like they'll be real candidates." One of those big candidates is Ottawa's top pick from the recent draft, Mika Zibanejad, selected sixth overall. With his 6-2 frame, the right-handed forward contributed a highlight-reel goal - backhand deke, top corner - to round out a pretty decent camp.

Murray wasn't ready to concede Zibanejad a spot in July, but said he could be ready by September. Because this is Lee's program, the 16-year organizational man is always enthused in July, but he is over the moon to a new level this year. "Pure talent," is why Lee gives this particular group the edge over all the others he has witnessed. "Usually you've got some core guys, filler guys and guys looking for free agent positions ... but this year it's all our guys, and we're up to 36 players. A lot of talent, top to bottom." Why? "We've had more picks," he says, "and a lot of the late bloomers we've been more patient with. Guys like (defenceman) Benny Blood. Guys in the past like (defenceman) Eric Gryba, who didn't make an impression in their

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Ottawa Senators

Borowiecki defying odds in his rapid development for Senators

The Senators would love to have Jakob Silfverberg on their roster, but the 20-year-old Swedish winger is sticking to his plan to play one more year in the Swedish Elite League before making the move to North America. Senators GM Bryan Murray won't twist Silfverberg's arm, but will demand his ear in a conversation. "He's the mature guy out there right now," Murray says. "From Day 1 a couple of years ago to now he has shown remarkable improvement, but he does have the opinion that he should go home to play for another year. We're not going to try to convince him (otherwise), but we're going to talk to him." Ottawa Citizen LOADED: 07.05.2011

By Wayne Scanlan,

Fifth-rounders don't fast track their way to the NHL. They grind their way, if they get there at all. In the case of Mark Borowiecki, the local guy who continues to do good, it's less a matter of if he will reach the NHL than when. After all, all those other prospects named the hardest-working Senator at development camp have reached hockey's highest level - "it's a good indication of their character," says Senators player development director Randy Lee. Previous Ottawa players to win the award include Mike Fisher, Jesse Winchester, Colin Greening and Robin Lehner. Last year, Borowiecki was so close to beating Lehner, a franchise favorite, they nearly needed two awards. On Monday, following the 3-on-3 development camp finale at a packed Sensplex rink, Borowiecki stood alone as the hardest-working Senators prospect. "I've never been the flashiest player," Borowiecki said, just before the news was made official. "The way I play my game, hard work has sort of been my MO (modus operandi). It's something I want to keep all the way through my career. I've had a lot of great coaches and people helping me out over the years, and kind of instilled that work ethic in me." Lee was sold on Borowiecki from the moment he started working with him in 2008, advising Senators management they had drafted a good one. "I said, 'You're going to get, hopefully down the road, a competitive guy who works his rear end off - "Yes sir, no sir," whatever it takes.' He's in the weight room every day with Chris Schwarz, he has worked with Marc Power the skating coach, he has probably made the biggest jump of anybody," Lee said. "You could see it in the playoffs in Binghamton, the role he played."

By now you've heard the Borowiecki story about a rugged defenceman so realistic about his NHL future he didn't even attend the 2008 draft, despite the fact it was at Scotiabank Place, just down the street from his Kanata home. Borowiecki was organizing his fishing gear (imagine the draftee hanging out his "Gone Fishing" sign while his name is called), only to get a phone call from the Senators that he'd been selected by the home team, fifth round, 139th overall. Minutes later, Borowiecki was at the arena, conducting interviews. Three years later, even while getting accolades as the consummate pro, Borowiecki remains a little shocked after following his 2010-11 season at Clarkson University by being a part of the Binghamton Senators run to the AHL Calder Cup championship.

"It's definitely a little bit surreal," Borowiecki says. "I remember I was playing major midget in Kanata and I wasn't even sure if I was going to keep playing hockey. I wasn't drafted or anything (by the CJHL or OHL). The way things have worked out for me, I couldn't really ask for more. I' m just trying to make the most of it at this point." Borowiecki says the AHL playoffs were a huge confidence boost. It also helps to have "home-ice advantage" - living so close to the Senators' training facilities. "I've got access to some of the best training in the world, it's a professional sports organization," Borowiecki says. "They take a lot of pride in that - and not only the guys on the big club, all the guys in the system - they've definitely helped me out a lot." SILFVERBERG IN FLIGHT

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Ottawa Senators

Senators prospects fan-tastic

By BRUCE GARRIOCH, QMI Agency

OTTAWA - Frosh week wrapped up Monday at the Bell Sensplex. The Senators got a glimpse of their future by closing out their week-long development camp for 36 prospects with a 3-on-3 tournament in front of a packed house with the summer finally set to officially begin. While most will be back for the rookie camp and tournament in September in Oshawa, some players sent notice that they're going to push for spots when training camp opens Sept. 17 at Scotiabank Place. "There'll be three to five (guys who push for spots)," said Senators GM Bryan Murray. "That's a really good number. I always believe that with young people if you have room and you put them on your team they just get better when the second half comes around. You have to win in the first half as well. "(A spot) isn't going to be available to every one of them. We'll have these guys at training camp and we'll see how they do when they start playing games." Ready to play Murray said Jared Cowen and David Rundblad both look ready to play next year. Top pick Mika Zibanajad will push for a spot, while the club will try to convince forward Jakob Silfverberg, who plans to play in Sweden next year, to come over. "I'm just going to tell him I think he's ready," said Murray. A guy who has really raised his status is Kanata native Mark Borowiecki. The Clarkson graduate, who was drafted No. 139 overall in the fifth round in 2008, was voted the "Hardest Working Player" by the staff. Past winners of the award include Mike Fisher, Chris Neil, Colin Greening, Jesse Winchester and Robin Lehner. All have gone on to dress in an Ottawa uniform. That's good news for Borowiecki, who finished the year in Binghamton. "The playoffs in Binghamton did a lot for (me) as a player and as a person," said Borowiecki. "I felt comfortable out there and, hopefully, management will like what they saw. "That's the way I play my game: Hard work and intensity. That's kind of been my M.O. It's something that I want to keep all the way through my career. I've had a lot of great coaches help me out by instilling that work ethic." Randy Lee, the club's director of player development, couldn't have been happier with the way the prospects performed. "They're all going to try to make the team in September, but realistically I think there's (five or six) guys who are going to push for spots," said Lee. "But, a lot can change. This is July and some guys are going to change over the summer. "You can ask these players - this has been a different camp. There has been a lot of teaching and a lot of information," Lee said. "Some guys run with it and some guys don't. The motivating factor for the young guys is the competition in camp." Keller gone The Senators have lost their Binghamton captain. Ryan Keller, Bingo's leading goal scorer the past two seasons with 34 and 32, has signed a twoway deal with the Edmonton Oilers (Oklahoma City Barons). He'll get $625,000 if he plays with the Oilers, and $225,000 (a $75,000 raise from last season) if he's in the AHL. Ottawa Sun LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Philadelphia Flyers

Jagr said he is still playing thanks to the hard-working guys like Rick Tocchet, Paul Coffey and Kevin Stevens whom he watched as a 20something in Pittsburgh. "If I play bad and people criticize me, that's fine," Jagr said. "If the things were only about myself, I'm not worried about it." Instead, Jagr said he didn't want fans to "criticize the people who brought me to Philadelphia." Jagr doesn't want to "let somebody down" who believed in him. "I have only one goal, and that's making people happy," Jagr said. "To make them happy, to those people who believe I can be good. That's my goal. If I make them happy, I'll be happy." Suffice to say, if Jagr can perform anywhere close to the point-per-game player we saw as recently as last year in Russia, all sides will be happy. Except Pittsburgh. "There's no guarantees," Jagr said. "I could easily stay in Russia, make a lot more money and play 60 games. I wanted to try it. I have the feeling." Talbot's contract The Flyers said yesterday they would not comment on whether newly signed center Maxime Talbot's 5-year, $9 million contract violates the collective bargaining agreement. TSN.ca reported the contract could be in violation because the final 2 years cannot be worth less than half of either of the first 2 years of the deal. The final 2 years are worth $1 million each; the first 2 years are worth $2.5 million and $2.25 million. According to TSN, the Flyers would need to restructure the contract bumping either the fourth of fifth year to $1.125 million. According to the report, the Flyers are unlikely to be penalized. Prospect camp set Center Brayden Schenn, acquired in the Mike Richards trade, and firstround draft pick Sean Couturier are among the top players scheduled to participate in a prospect development camp beginning tomorrow at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, N.J. The camp will include on-ice sessions from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. tomorrow through Sunday and from 9 to 11 a.m. Monday. All on-ice sessions are free and open to the public. Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 07.05.2011

Jagr finds a lot to like in Philadelphia

By FRANK SERAVALLI

Jaromir Jagr's plan behind signing with the Flyers seems to be a wellcalculated one. Jagr liked that the Flyers made a "great move with the goalies." From phone conversations with Chris Pronger, he learned that their defense is solid. He knows that they are "good offensively." Most of all, though, Jagr examined the Flyers roster enough to know that he could play alongside centers Danny Briere and Claude Giroux, who are both righthanded. Jagr wants to be the Flyers' solution to their anemic power play, which finished 19th out of 30 teams last season. Jagr has 181 power-play goals and 345 power-play assists in his storied career, which last left him ninth all-time on the NHL points list with 1,599. He is 42 points behind Joe Sakic for the eighth spot. "I like to play power play on the right side, and I think because they're righthanded, they like to play on the other side," said Jagr, who agreed to a 1-year, $3.3 million deal Friday. "I think it would be a problem if I would play in Pittsburgh with [Sidney] Crosby or [Evgeni] Malkin, lefthanded, and have to play on the other side, when I've played all my life on the right side. I don't think I would be able to play there. Or if I go to Detroit, with [Pavel] Datsyuk and [Henrik] Zetterberg, they're lefthanded and they play on the boards where I used to play at." Jagr didn't seem worried about damaging the relationship he had with Penguins owner and former teammate Mario Lemieux, despite reports that he had promised Lemieux he would play in Pittsburgh. Jagr's agent, former Flyers defenseman Petr Svoboda, even went as far as saying on Friday morning that his client's "heart belonged in Pittsburgh." Both Detroit and Pittsburgh dropped their offers early on Friday when they sensed there was another team in the mix. "I didn't promise anybody anything, that I was going back," Jagr said. "The Penguins seemed like I did something wrong or something bad, and I don't think I did something bad. If they feel like that, I cannot change their minds. I was a free agent, and I had my chance to pick wherever I think is best for me. I have the option to pick. "If I hurt somebody, I apologize, I didn't mean it, but this is my life and I want to make the choice." Loyalty doesn't seem to be an issue. Jagr said his reason for not returning to the NHL during the past three seasons was to honor his 3-year contract with Avangard Omsk of Russia's Kontinental Hockey League. He said NHL teams tried to lure him back every summer. He even apologized in advance, saying he could answer questions better in his native Czech tongue or even Russian, having seldom used English in the last 3 years. "I just made the decision and stayed with it," he said. "That's what I promised them. Three years ago with the free agency, we couldn't make any deals with [Rangers general manager] Glen Sather. So like I promised, I signed with Avangard Omsk. But right after I signed, there were very good offers from the NHL. But I told myself I'm not going to look back, because I already did what I did. It was kind of tough to leave, because then I saw there was more interest from the NHL, but I had already made the promise. "I know for some people it might be just words, but for me, I'm very religious, I know it would bite me a little later. I know that. That's the way the world works." Jagr, 39, answered simply when asked about his goal for next season, in which he specifically asked for a 1-year deal in case he wasn't thrilled with his destination. He isn't concerned about the pressure to perform in Philadelphia. He isn't worried about damaging his own reputation as a star player who played too long.

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Philadelphia Flyers

calls and texts from Pronger, welcoming them to his - ahem, the - team. It sure looks like the irascible veteran defenseman was in the loop as Holmgren gutted a team one year removed from a trip to the Final. It was a stunning shakeup on the roster. But it was a bigger shift in emphasis, as the Flyers finally try to win it all with first-rate goaltending and defense. The Phillies are showing that you can successfully make such a radical shift in approach without taking a step back. Only seven of the Phillies in uniform in Florida were on the 2008 World Series team. That's a huge change in three years. Holmgren doesn't have the affirmation of a recent championship. So yes, it's possible to win after extreme change. In the Flyers' case, they'd certainly better. Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 07.05.2011

Flyers try to outdo Phils on shakeup

By Phil Sheridan

The Flyers raised the questions. The Phillies provided the answers. Well, some of the answers. In the churning wake of the local hockey team's week of roster upheaval, you had to wonder: When was the last time a winning team changed personality so completely? And is it possible to remain successful and even improve while executing such a dramatic conversion? Those were the questions rattling around the cranium over the holiday weekend. Then came the announcement of the all-star rosters for Major League Baseball on Sunday. Pitchers Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee will represent the Phillies, the team with the best record in baseball. Placido Polanco - arguably the fourth or fifth best everyday player in their lineup - was the only position player chosen. Compare that with 2009, the year the Phillies were reigning World Series champions and Charlie Manuel was managing the National League team. The Phillies had four representatives in that game, too: Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino. From four hitters to three pitchers and one position player in just two years. This is not just a hiccup, not merely an aberration caused by injuries or players running hotter or colder (although Utley would likely have won the voting for second basemen if he'd been healthy). The all-star selections reflect the enormous change in the personality of the Phillies, which turned out to be a canny reaction to changes in baseball itself. The Phillies won a World Series and an NL pennant with a slugging lineup and an everchanging pitching staff. Two years later, with the pendulum swinging ever further in the direction of pitching as the key to success, they are winning with a remarkable rotation and an inconsistent lineup. It would be like Andy Reid deciding to win with a power running game, or the Sixers with great players. It may be that general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. got a bit lucky. The best moves available to him at key times led him to acquire Halladay, Lee (twice) and Roy Oswalt. Or maybe Amaro really saw the big picture clearly and this was all a well-designed plan. Certainly he stressed pitching last July, trading for Oswalt when most media and fans were calling for improvement to the lineup. Then Amaro continued his pitching binge by signing Lee over the winter. Flyers GM Paul Holmgren clearly has decided to pursue an entirely different approach after the frustrations of the last few years. A franchise that stressed depth at forward is now focusing on goaltending and defense. The signing of Ilya Bryzgalov is Holmgren's equivalent of getting Halladay and Lee - he only hopes the Russian goalie is nearly as effective. The big difference, of course, is that Holmgren also unloaded the players the team had been built around. Amaro didn't trade Utley, Howard or Jimmy Rollins in order to facilitate his change in emphasis. Indeed, he hoped (and still hopes) that winning core will raise its production in the second half and, most important, in the playoffs. There's a simple explanation here. The Phillies core group has won. The Flyers core of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter did not. The Phillies didn't need a shakeup in chemistry, and Amaro had no salary-cap issues to deal with. He had the luxury to be able to add three elite and expensive starters to a proven team. Holmgren has risked more because he has torn up his own formula and started over with a new one. Richards and Carter were the two-headed cornerstone of the team Holmgren built as GM and, previously, as assistant to Bob Clarke. It was Holmgren who saddled that group with a series of cheaper alternatives in goal for the last five years. Maybe the most telling aspect of the sudden makeover was the role of Chris Pronger. After signing with the Flyers, Jaromir Jagr said he talked with Pronger on the phone before making his decision. Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn, acquired from L.A. in the Richards deal, said they got

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Philadelphia Flyers

Report: Flyers must restructure Talbot contract

The Flyers will apparently have to restructure the five-year, $9 million contract they gave to free-agent forward Max Talbot on Friday. According to TSN, the Flyers violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement by reducing Talbot's salary by more than 50 percent between the third and fourth years - from $2.25 million to $1 million. Barry Hanrahan, the Flyers' assistant general manager, downplayed the matter and said no fine was forthcoming. "We haven't heard from the league," he said in a text message on Monday. "However, if there is an issue, we will amend the contract and refile. It won't be an issue." The length and value of the contract will not be altered, he said. "It's not a big deal," Hanrahan said. "Contracts get rejected and refiled within the league." Talbot, 27, is expected to be a third-line forward - he can play center or wing - and be one of the Flyers' top penalty-killers. - Sam Carchidi Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers to pursue Stamkos after all?

Could Steven Stamkos become a member of the Flyers, after all? Well, it's still highly doubtful, but an NHL source told The Inquirer that the Flyers will put a trade offer together for the Tampa Bay superstar if the Lightning feel they cannot sign him. Stamkos, who has scored a league-best 96 goals over the last two years, still had not signed as of late Monday night. Tampa has reportedly offered Stamkos a five-year deal for $37.5 million, a cap hit of $7.5 million per season. Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said he fully expects Stamkos to resign with the Lightning. That said, the Flyers are prepared to make a trade proposal in the unlikely event he couldn't come to terms. It's likely Tampa would be interested in Brayden Schenn and Sergei Bobrovsky -- among others -- and high draft picks. Get exclusive videos and analysis in our new app for iPhone and Android. Download it here. Posted by Sam Carchidi Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers won't comment on Talbot contract report

The Flyers said today they would not comment on whether newly signed center Maxime Talbots 5-year, $9 million contract violates the collective bargaining agreement. TSN.ca reported the contract could be in violation because the final 2 years can not be worth less than half of either of the first 2 years of the deal. The final 2 years are worth $1 million each; the first two years are worth $2.5 million and $2.25 million. According to TSN, the Flyers would need to restructure the contract by bumping either the fourth of fifth year to $1.125 million. According to the report, the Flyers are unlikely to be penalized. Get exclusive videos and analysis in our new app for iPhone and Android. Download it here. Posted by Daily News staf Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 07.05.2011

574652

Phoenix Coyotes

Coyotes sign goalie Curtis McElhinney and defenseman Tyler Eckford

Republic news sources

The Coyotes signed unrestricted free-agent goaltender Curtis McElhinney and defenseman Tyler Eckford to one-year, two-way contracts, General Manager Don Maloney announced Monday. As per club policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed. In four NHL seasons with the Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames, the 6-foot-2, 197 pound McElhinney appeared in 67 games posting a 18-26-4 record with a 3.13 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage. In 2010-11, the 28-year-old native of London, Ontario played in a careerhigh 28 games with the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks posting a record of 9-13-1 with two shutouts, a 2.99 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage. McElhinney was originally drafted by the Flames in the sixth-round (176th overall) in the 2002 Entry Draft. Eckford, a 6-foot-1, 200 pound defenseman, last season played four games with the New Jersey Devils and 37 games with the Albany Devils (AHL), recording two goals, 10 assists and 12 penalty minutes. In 2009-10, the 25-year-old native of Vancouver, British Columbia set career highs in goals (eight), points (31) and plus/minus (+11) with Lowell (AHL). Eckford was originally drafted by New Jersey in the seventh-round (217th overall) in the 2004 Entry Draft. Arizona Republic LOADED: 07.05.2011

574653

Pittsburgh Penguins

Sterling had three goals and two assists in seven games with the Penguins in 2010-11, as well as 27 goals and 26 assists in 65 games with the Baby Penguins. Post Gazette LOADED: 07.05.2011

One more role player at affordable price on shopping list

By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Penguins are still poking around the fading embers of free agency to see if they can turn up someone worth adding to their depth chart. A capable role player, maybe. Especially one who would come at a modest price. But, even though they allowed enforcer Eric Godard to leave via unrestricted free agency, replacing him with someone whose primary duty is fighting seems highly unlikely, at least in the short term. That includes bringing back Godard, despite general manager Ray Shero's endorsement of the way he handled his duties. "He was a real good signing for us three years ago and did his job well," Shero said Monday. Nonetheless, when Penguins officials had their end-of-year meeting with Godard, they advised him to explore other options, particularly if he could find that a team that, as Shero put it, would give "him more of a chance to play more." Godard averaged a team-low five minutes, 10 seconds of ice time in his 19 appearances with the Penguins in 2010-11. With Godard and Mike Rupp gone, defenseman Deryk Engelland and winger Arron Asham are the early front-runners to handle most of the fights in 2011-12. It's worth noting, though, that 19 Penguins had at least one fight last season, and 15 of those players remain in the organization.

Given their limited salary-cap space (about $2.1 million) and the shortage of openings on their major-league roster, if the Penguins sign a tough guy, it might well be one willing to accept a two-way contract. Defenseman Boris Valabik, a fairly capable fighter, did that Sunday. If a fighter agrees to a two-way deal, he could be summoned from the minor-league team in Wilkes-Barre when circumstances call for it, but likely would spend most of the season in the American Hockey League. Talbot contract in limbo Former Penguins center Max Talbot's five-year, $9 million contract with Philadelphia will have to be tweaked a bit because of a minor violation of the NHL's labor deal. In the five-year agreement he accepted Friday, Talbot was to be paid $2.5 million (plus a $250,000 signing bonus) for 2011-12, and $2.25 million the next season, followed by $2.25 million, $1 million and $1 million. The lowest salary amount over the first two years is $2.25 million; half of that figure is $1,125,000 which, under terms of the NHL's collective bargaining agreement, becomes the greatest salary drop allowed from one year to the next. Because Talbot's salary was to drop from $2.25 million in the third season to $1 million in the fourth -- a decline of $1.25 million -- it violated the CBA, and the deal thus will have to be tweaked to come into compliance. There is no indication the league will punish the Flyers for the error by fining them or taking any other action likely because relatively small errors such as the one involving Talbot seem to happen fairly often. Sterling joins Blues Winger Brett Sterling, who spent most of last season with WilkesBarre/Scranton, accepted a one-year, two-way contract Monday with St. Louis. Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said in a statement that "Brett has been a top goal scorer wherever he's been and gives our organization depth at the forward position."

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San Jose Sharks

Heatley ready to be go-to scorer in Minnesota

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI, AP Sports Writer Monday, July 4, 2011

Dany Heatley says he is ready to be the go-to goal scorer the Minnesota Wild have been seeking. The Wild landed Heatley from San Jose on Sunday night, sending forward Marty Havlat to the Sharks in a swap of two 30-year-old wingers. Wild GM Chuck Fletcher says Heatley is a better fit for the team than Havlat was in two seasons in Minnesota. Havlat tied for the team lead with 62 points, but is more of a playmaker than a pure goal scorer. Heatley has excelled in that area throughout his career. He is coming off a subpar 26-goal season with Sharks, but said nagging injuries played a role. Heatley says he is healthy now and committed to reporting to Minnesota in top shape to regain his scoring touch. San Francisco Chronicle LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Toronto Maple Leafs

changes were needed after playoff failures. Heatley will be interesting in Minnesota: can the Wild, usually a defence-oriented team, tap his proven 50-goal potential? Philadelphia Flyers Players they lost - Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Ville Leino, Kris Versteeg and Brian Boucher - could form a solid core for many teams. Now it's officially Chris Pronger's team (newly-signed Jaromir Jagr spoke to Pronger before deciding on Philly). Most important, GM Paul Holmgren got Ilya Bryzgalov, the clear No. 1 goalie the franchise has needed for way too long. Holmgren shot down rumours the Flyers were going to plant an offer sheet in front of Steven Stamkos. Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon, needing to come up to the salary cap minimum, added over $65 million in commitments over four years to Sean Bergenheim, Kris Versteeg, Tomas Fleischmann, Scottie Upshall, Marcel Goc, Ed Jovanovski, Tomas Kopecky, Brian Campbell and Jose Theodore. The biggest plus is improved special teams. Calgary Flames Traded Regehr and Kotalik to the Sabres and signed a trio of free agents: Ben Walter (Ryan Walter's son and a Hobey Baker finalist), Jon Rheault and Clay Wilson. Flames were serious players for Brad Richards. Toronto Star LOADED: 07.05.2011

The good, the bad and the different in free agency frenzy

Mark Zwolinski

FOR BETTER . . . Los Angeles Kings They lost out on Brad Richards, but rebounded nicely by signing Simon Gagne - two years, $7 million. The Kings' biggest need was offence and they seem to have addressed it. Gagne, a seven-time 20-goal scorer, has been reunited with ex-Flyers Mike Richards and Justin Williams. Gagne and Richards were a huge factor in the Flyers' march to the 2010 Stanley Cup final. Gone are Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, Ryan Smyth, Alex Ponikarovsky and Michal Handzus, but the Kings have improved. Toronto Maple Leafs Tim Connolly improves the top six, and Cody Franson is a top-four D-man. Patience and smarts may be the biggest stories of the off-season. While they may tweak things, the Leafs appear deep enough to roll four lines. Dallas Stars Big hole to fill with Brad Richards gone, but Dallas added useful pieces in Michael Ryder, Vern Fiddler, Adam Pardy, Radek Dvorak and Sheldon Souray, who could be the power-play quarterback they've lacked since Sergei Zubov left. Buffalo Sabres Sabres paid $27 million over six years for Ville Leino and overpaid for Christian Ehrhoff (10 years, $40 million), but you have to like the attitude of new owner Terry Pegula. Throw in the trade with Calgary for Robyn Regehr and Ales Kotalik, and a multi-year deal to keep solid D-man Mike Weber happy, and the Sabres look solid in front of goalie Ryan Miller. Washington Capitals The Caps traded goalie Semyon Varlamov for two high draft picks, then landed the steal of the off-season: Tomas Vokoun for one year at $1.5 million. With Roman Hamrlik, Joel Ward and Jeff Halpern, they're loaded for another strong season and have an abundance of puck-carrying defencemen, which could come in handy at the trade deadline. New York Rangers Got Brad Richards, the No. 1 free agent out there, but also made a nice pickup in Michael Rupp, a top-shelf scrapper who scored 13 goals two years ago. FOR WORSE ... Detroit Red Wings Signed Ian White after Brian Rafalski's retirement, though there's talk of interest in Tomas Kaberle. Still solid, but this team isn't getting any younger and age will catch up with them at some point. Columbus Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson took heat for giving James Wisniewski $33 million over six years, even though every front-line D-man in his age bracket (27) makes that kind of money. The dismal Columbus power play (42 goals in 301 chances) needed help. Wisniewski and his 22 power-play goals seem to fit. How good a fit remains to be seen. Chicago Blackhawks Veterans Sean O'Donnell, Andrew Brunette, Dan Carcillo and Jamal Mayers add presence, but Chicago did its damage as a young squad. Did they do enough to improve? The feeling is no. JUST DIFFERENT . . . Sharks/Wild Brent Burns and Martin Havlat to San Jose, Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi to Minnesota. In San Jose's case, despite solid regular seasons,

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Toronto Maple Leafs

Advice for prospects from former NHLers

Kevin McGran and Mark Zwolinski DALLAS EAKINS The biggest thing for me, you come in to training camp a little intimidated and ... too respectful. It was to the point where when you got on the ice you wanted to stand out, but you didn't want to step over the line and tick any of the veterans off. But I think that's a huge problem. The opportunity lies for the kid to show himself early or he's going to be lost in the shuffle on the third day. I wish I had been not so respectful. DAVE POULIN It is really all about preparation. The best players have strict routines and stick to them. I had great mentors in that sense, guys like Sittler and Clarke and Howe. I studied them and copied them. BOB MCGILL Training and weights workouts and sports-specific workouts. I wish I would have known that when I was much younger because it would have benefited me. It would have made me much more ready for when I came to my first training camp. CLAUDE LOISELLE When I was drafted by Detroit, I wanted to play in the NHL at age 18 and I did. And it was the biggest mistake. You always want to play, but you need the development time, to make sure the building blocks are there. You're better off to finish your junior years, play a year in the American Hockey League, then play in the NHL. DON BIGGS (TYLER'S DAD) Understanding that there's a pecking order. There's unwritten rules and nuances when you come in as a rookie. We carried bags for veteran guys. For young guys coming in, there's a respect factor. You have to learn that right from the beginning and you have to earn respect. LOU FRANCESCHETTI Preparation I guess. As a rookie, you never come in prepared, you don't know what to expect. ERIC LINDROS "I think it's more of an even keel thing. Right out of the gate, you think break hockey down to day to day, but you should look at week to week in your performance because anyone can have a bad game. You're nervous and you want to impress but if you've done your homework (trained and prepared mentally), everything will come together for you. "You don't worry about the business side, you just play. I think one smart thing to do is maybe taking some time and going to an assistant coach and ask what do you want from me, how do I make this team. ... It's tough enough to crack a team, isn't it." Toronto Star LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Toronto Maple Leafs

Putting Leafs prospects to the test

Kevin McGran While the Leafs put 42 top prospects through their paces on the ice, in some ways their off-ice work is more important. A look at the rest of the camp menu: ADDICTIONS Dr. Brian Shaw, the NHL Players' Association expert, spoke to the players on Sunday about illicit drugs, alcohol abuse and sex. "Binging, hard drugs, marijuana, cocaine. It's nightlife, it's driving fast cars. ... We're trying to give these kids the information straight up, long before they get into situations." MEDIA AWARENESS Team PR director Pat Park's Monday seminar focused on the perils of social media. SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY Dr. Dana Sinclair will discuss the power of vizualization and importance of focus on Tuesday. NUTRITION Dr. Ashley James offers healthful tips, also Tuesday. Prospect Jerry D'Amigo said he took last year's lessons to heart: "I've noticed now how it's helped me. ... Working out, I can go much harder." EDUCATION If players want to make sure they finish their education, Sean O'Brien will tell them how on Wednesday. TARGET PRACTICE A Toronto police representative, perhaps Chief Bill Blair, will show players around the police academy on Thursday, including a lesson on firing guns instead of pucks. Toronto Star LOADED: 07.05.2011

574658

Toronto Maple Leafs

Kaberle yet to cash in on unrestricted free-agent status

Kevin McGran

It's a tough time to be a free agent. Tomas Kaberle, Christian Hanson and Darryl Boyce are finding that out as unrestricted free agents. Clarke MacArthur and Tyler Bozak are going to find that out as restricted free agents. Tuesday is the deadline for MacArthur and Bozak to file for arbitration. If it goes that far, arbitration on their cases could go as late as the first week of August. The Leafs have said they'd be prepared to walk away from any arbitration ruling they thought was too steep. Kaberle has not cashed in on his unrestricted free-agent status. He earned $4.25 million last year but his poor performance on the Stanley Cup-winning Boston Bruins has meant the market for the 33-year-old is "limited" said one NHL source. "Not like he wanted." The Red Wings were said to be interested in Kaberle, but settled on another ex-Leaf, Ian White, instead. The Bruins continue to talk to the puckmoving defenceman for whom they gave up Joe Colborne, this year's first round pick (Stuart Percy) and a second-rounder next year. Other teams said to be interested in Kaberle are Nashville and Minnesota. The Leafs, meanwhile, appear to have parted ways with Hanson, the onetime high-profile college free agent who spent more time with the AHL Marlies than with the Leafs in his two seasons. Hanson, 25, is believed to be after a one-way NHL contract. "I would never say we shut the door on anyone," said Marlies coach Dallas Eakins. "That kid (Hanson) did everything right, gave us everything he had. I can't give you a reason why he didn't find his success. Maybe going to another organization, he's going to find it. He's such a good pro." Meanwhile the Leafs want Boyce back, but only on a two-way contract. Boyce, too, is looking for a one-way deal, similar to what Tim Brent landed with Carolina. Toronto Star LOADED: 07.05.2011

574659

Toronto Maple Leafs

Leafs' Biggs sorry he brought it up

By Lance Hornby ,Toronto Sun

The urge to upchuck was a most unusual excuse to cut short a media scrum, but Tyler Biggs was being dead honest. Toronto's fighting forward first-rounder was giving his initial impressions of life at the Leafs' prospect camp, when his answers became shorter and he looked increasingly uncomfortable leaning against a wall of the MasterCard Centre. It seems he hadn't waited long enough to recover from the punishing wingate test on a stationary bike. "You want to do as well as possible and show them what you've got," Biggs said to a bank of TV cameras, before breaking away with "I'm sorry, I'm about to throw up." And he walked right off camera, looking for the nearest garbage can. In the stands was Don Biggs, his father, former minor leaguer and extra in the mid-'80s movie Youngblood. Before he became ill, Biggs added: "It's pretty surreal, just being in the practice rink. (The past nine days) have been an emotional rollercoaster for my family and I and we're taking it all in. The experience in the next year is going to be awesome." Biggs is slated to start at the University of Miami (Ohio) next season. BORN ON JULY 4 Defence prospect Jake Gardiner is used to a much bigger July 4 birthday splash than this. The native of Deephaven, Minn., always shares his big day with Uncle Sam, but his 21st passed quietly at the MasterCard Centre on Monday. "I'm doing the wingate test and that's about it," laughed Gardiner, who was a big part of the Francois Beauchemin deal with Anaheim last winter. "When I was younger, my parents would always have families over on July 4. We live on a lake so there were always lots of fireworks, so it was a cool thing every year. They always told me (July 4) was all for me, until I started getting older." Gardiner will not return to the University of Wisconsin this season, either headed to the Leafs or the AHL Marlies and intending to finish his finance degree in the summer. Toronto Sun LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Toronto Maple Leafs

"Music is more of a hobby now," Owuya said. "Some people go fishing, I like music. I did a lot of music and theatre arts at our school. I went on and did my thing and they let me on for a couple of shows." Asked how much money his recordings have netted, Owuya joked "if I make any, that's a bonus. But it was very fun." Toronto Sun LOADED: 07.05.2011

Leafs goalie from here, there, everywhere 0 Owuya is a Swedish rapper, too

By Lance Hornby ,Toronto Sun

Mark Owuya's journey to pro hockey is already quite the tale, no matter where the road takes him in the Maple Leafs' goaltending plan. Safe to say he'll be the first Ugandan-Russian black with a Stockholm birth certificate and a gift for rap music to ever don a mask. "I actually started playing because of a hockey card," the affable 6-foot-2 Owuya told curious media Monday at the MasterCard Centre. "One of my friends, who also didn't play hockey at the time, had a card of Dominik Hasek and told me 'this is one of the best goalies of the world'. I thought 'wow'. "I realized pretty early that I couldn't play like him (Hasek's unorthodox method), it's really not my style. But I like the way he competes and keeps competing. At the end, he does everything he has to do to stop the puck." Owuya was nine years old before he first tried on the pads in Sweden. His mother attempted to dissuade him from hockey because of the expense, but eventually registered him and another brother. She was born in Russia, where she met Oduya's father, who had emigrated from Uganda to study. "My father moved there for several reasons ... his parents didn't want him to live in Uganda," Owuya said of the often troubled African nation. "He got to study in Russia, but I have no idea how my parents ended up in Sweden. "I speak Swedish, English and I understand Russian. My mom speaks Russian to me, but I always respond in Swedish." Owuya is not too familiar with Swahili or any of Ugandas principal languages, but is often asked if he's related to Stockholm-born defenceman Johnny Oduya. The latter is actually part Kenyan. "It was funny that we have similar names, we're both from Sweden and we're both black," Owuya said. "People might think that it's a Swedish name. Sweden has a lot more diversity than other countries in Europe, but having lived in Toronto for a month, you can't compare it to here at all." Owuya signed a two-year entry level contract as a free agent in the spring. He follows Finn Jusi Rynnas to the Leaf stable from the previous spring, both undrafted Scandinavians who attended Toronto coach Francois Allaire's Stockholm clinics. They wanted to stay close to the teacher. With the perfect dimensions for the butterfly style that Allaire espouses, Owuya had a league-best .927 save percentage for Djurgardens last year. "Francois made me play the way I do today," said Owuya, who attended six or seven of the pricey Allaire camps through his club team's sponsorship. "After this contract, at least I know I will be a better goalie." Owuya already moved up a notch on Toronto's depth chart when JeanSebastien Giguere signed with the Colorado Avalanche on the weekend and the Leafs said they didn't have plans to add a veteran. With James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson projected to start for the Leafs, Ben Scrivens and Rynnas will be the Marlies' tandem and Owuya will be in the ECHL with Reading. Jim Hughes, the Leafs' director of player development, said Owuya impressed the team right away by moving to Toronto on June 1 for five weeks of training at the MCC to prepare for this camp. "He's quite a character kid," Hughes said. "We have four new goalies here (at the prospects camp), but when you think about it, Reimer was one of those guys four years ago. I used to go to the rookie and prospect camps in Kitchener and London and Reims would be there. Who would have thought (he'd be the No. 1 now). That's where the story begins. Some kids just mature and fly." Owuya has a following in Sweden from an appearance on that country's version of American Idol. Billing himself as Mark From Da Park, he was a brief web sensation in the country.

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Toronto Maple Leafs

(succeed), some won't. It will depend on how they take this information and use it, not only this week, but the rest of the summer and all of next year." Toronto Sun LOADED: 07.05.2011

Keeping future Leafs on straight and narrow

By Lance Hornby ,Toronto Sun

TORONTO Before learning the do's of pro hockey, 42 Maple Leafs wannabes must also learn the don'ts of off-ice behaviour. So a chunk of this week's prospect camp at the MasterCard Centre is focused on making them better persons as well as improved players, whether they end up in an NHL jersey, a shirt and tie or overalls. Sunday night's first gathering at a Toronto hotel was conducted by Dr. Brian Shaw, who works with the NHL and the players association to combat substance abuse and sits on the league's drug testing committee. The audience of late teens and early 20s had a lot to digest. "He got into the gamut of things," said Jim Hughes, the Leafs' director of player development. "What alcohol does to your body over two or three days, binge drinking, hard drugs, marijuana and cocaine. It's the night life, driving fast cars, all the ramifications and consequences if you don't pay attention, if you don't have a plan. "We're trying to give them the information straight up, long before they get into certain situations, so they're prepared in terms of saying 'no'. We're trying to stay ahead of the curve." The National Hockey League used to be squeaky clean compared to other pro sports, but higher salaries, changing attitudes and a larger media spotlight have created some problems. Even the Leafs, who had few discipline problems for a big-town team, have seen their players garner some unwanted headlines the past few years. "I think it's society," said Hughes, a father of three pre-teen boys. "These are young kids and even if they're non-atheletes, they're being exposed to a lot of interesting things in this very complicated world. "This is preventative; the way you need to eat, or how many hours of sleep in order to have a good and productive day. We just give them a lot of info and hope that it sticks." Dana Sinclair, the club's sports psychologist, will also be meeting with the players, there will be a crash course on the burgeoning use of Facebook and Twitter for pro athletes and Shaw even touched on some aspects of sexual education in his lecture, in case any of these guys skipped health class in high school for hockey practice. "Dr. Shaw touched upon that and the temptations of being in the big city," Hughes said. "You can't get enough of that. He came in last year and I hope he comes in next year, too. It's good, positive reinforcement." Hughes and a large staff of assistant coaches completed physical testing on Monday morning, then held late-afternoon practices, to set up three scrimmage games this week. This will be the team's first on-ice look at 2011 first rounders Tyler Biggs and Stuart Percy - "this is all pretty surreal," Biggs said Monday - while others have been to the camp a few times. "Some continue to progress, some flat-line and some have some small decreases," Hughes said. "It's our jobs to keep telling the kids the truth, the good, bad and ugly, let them know where they're at in their careers. If they're doing something well, tell them, but if we see some red flags, we're here to say that's not good enough and if you don't change this or that, you're going down a very bad road. "At the end of the day, we don't want them to say: 'No one ever told me I had to work on that'. We want it all out in the open. The muscle of the mind is the most important thing that we keep talking about." More head-to-head competition is a new wrinkle at this camp and the roster was expanded to make up two full teams, with 19 skaters and two goaltenders. "That's where we think we can get our best bang for the buck, drop the puck and let 'em play," Hughes said. "It's letting Tyler be exposed to bigger, stronger players and let us use it as a gauge. It's our job to continue to press those buttons to educate them in different areas. Some will

574662

Vancouver Canucks

General managers turned free agency into a crazy rave

Erik Cole, who wilted the last time he was in a real hockey market, is getting $18 million the next four years because Montreal Canadien GM Pierre Gauthier needed a 32-year-old who averaged 19 goals over the last four years. On and on it goes. Or went.

By Iain MacIntyre

At least give Burke credit for limiting Connolly's deal to two years because term kills more often than salary. Most of the silly money has been spent in the Eastern Conference. Even with the Canucks slipping slightly, the balance of power at the top of the West doesn't appear to have changed, except for the possible rise of the Los Angeles Kings after GM Dean Lombardi's signing of Simon Gagne and trade for Mike Richards. The Detroit Red Wings signed Ian White and Mike Commodore for the bottom of their defence and the San Jose Sharks traded H-bombs with the Minnesota Wild, purging Dany Heatley for what they feel is a lesser disease in Martin Havlat. And the Blackhawks, having seen the Boston Bruins bully the Canucks in the Stanley Cup final, are tougher with Jamal Mayers, Daniel Carcillo, Steve Montador and Sean O'Donnell. Carcillo might have helped the Canucks, and at one year for $775,000 the winger was almost free. Michael Rupp, who went to the Rangers for three years at $1.5, certainly would have helped. Vancouver ended the season with a weak fourth line and now has one fourth liner: Max Lapierre. The toughest thing about the Canucks is their power play, and that could be hurt by Christian Ehrhoff's departure to Buffalo. Everybody is trying to get better. The Canucks will have to do more because the only team they've improved so far is the Chicago Wolves. But a quiet week is better than a bad one in free agency, and a lot of deals signed the last four days will haunt teams beyond next season. Vancouver Sun: LOADED: 07.05.2011

VANCOUVER - It's an oldie, but a goodie. Former Canuck general manager Brian Burke said during free agency in 2001: "I have never been more embarrassed to work in the NHL as I was on July 1 and 2. I'm running my business like a business [but] I'm going head-to-head with people who are crazy as far as I'm concerned. We're going head-to-head with people who are nuts, absolutely out of their minds." A decade later, Burke signed often-injured free-agent centre Tim Connolly, who had 42 points last year and has never scored more than 18 goals in a season, to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million to play - they hope - for the Toronto Maple Leafs. So, you see, the hockey gods aren't crazy. The general managers are. Ninety players have been signed since the National Hockey League freeagent rave began on Canada Day, and the best the Vancouver Canucks have to show for it is Marco Sturm. And even he was a mistake. Sturm, who will be 33 in September, has had major surgery on both knees. He scored five goals last season and his previous move was on waivers. In his career, he has nine goals in 61 playoff games or about one score per seven-game series. The Canucks signed him for one year at $2.25 million. General manager Mike Gillis is insane. Based on the marketplace, Sturm is grossly underpaid. One year? What was Gillis thinking? If he was serious about keeping up with colleagues, Gillis should have thrown money away for the next three or four years. Did Florida Panthers' GM Dale Tallon not have Sturm's phone number? In one weekend, Tallon spent $60 million for Sean Bergenheim, Tomas Fleischmann, Ed Jovanovski and Scottie Upshall - not exactly murderers' row, unless you ask the accountant. Bergenheim has averaged 25 points in his four-year career. No wonder Upshall got $4.5 million a year; his career high is 34 points. That makes Fleischmann a bargain at $4.5M, because his four-year average is 37 points, although he also has three goals in 22 playoff games. And then there's Jovo, who followed the money from Vancouver to Phoenix, and is following it home to Florida. He is 35, coming off a serious injury and 14-point season in which his average ice time of 20:28 continued a five-year downward trend. Four years and $16.5 million? Sounds about right. And this was a week after Tallon traded for Chicago Blackhawk secondpairing defenceman Brian Campbell, a 32-year old with five seasons and $35.7 million left on his contract. At least Blackhawk GM Stan Bowman knows now there really is a God. We don't mean to pick only on Tallon, who did an excellent job as Chicago's previous GM and never got the credit he deserved for the Blackhawks' 2010 Stanley Cup. But toss in has-been goalie Jose Theodore and some guy named Marcel Goc and the Panthers spent over $100 million in about a week. Not many people besides Gary Bettman think the Florida franchise is worth that. New York Ranger GM Glen Sather spent $60 million on one player, Brad Richards, and is being hailed as the free-agent sweepstakes winner. Just like when he signed Wade Redden and Chris Drury and Scott Gomez and Bobby Holik and. . . Richards, who will really be paid $57 million for the next six years as the Rangers circumvent the salary cap, is a fine playmaker. But he is minus-72 in his career and isn't among the top 25 players in hockey even if he'll collect more than anyone next season. Buffalo Sabres' GM Darcy Regier is devoting $27 million over six years to winger Ville Leino, who had six goals two seasons ago. Columbus Blue Jacket manager Scott Howson agreed to pay $33 million over six seasons for defenceman James Wisniewski, who was traded three times in the last year.

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Vancouver Canucks

Pinizzotto more than just a pest

By Jim Jamieson

Steve Pinizzotto says it's fair to compare his style of game to that of Boston rookie Brad Marchand, the pest and agitator who made life miserable for the Sedins in particular and the Canucks in general during the Stanley Cup final. Make no mistake - the Mississauga, Ont., native has been signed to fill that role and match up against opponents of that ilk. Based on the contract they've given him, the Canucks expect him to have an excellent chance to be on their NHL roster in the fall. Although Pinizzotto, 27, has yet to play a regular season NHL game - he's been with the Washington organization the past four seasons - the Canucks made sure they made a strong bid with seven other NHL clubs trying to sign the free agent right winger. He agreed on a one-year deal that pays him $600,000 at the NHL level and $275,000 in the minors. "I watched Vancouver in the playoffs and I feel my style of play is kind of what they need," said Pinizzotto, who had 178 PIMs in 68 games with Hershey of the American Hockey League last season. "I played against (Marchand) in the American League. He's not a fun guy to play against but you can ask anybody in that league and they'll probably say the same thing about me. I feel that helped Boston out a lot, just him doing that, getting the high-end guys off their game. We have very similar styles. But I think I can be a lot more physical than him." At 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, Pinizzotto is a couple of sizes bigger than the 5foot-9, 180-pound Marchand and he doesn't mind initiating. "I'm not going to be a team's heavyweight - that's not what I do - but I definitely like to help the boys out," said Pinizzotto. "I understand I need to fill a void. I like to get the crowd going. I'm not going to go in there and score 30 goals, but I'll be a big energy guy. That's what they want." Canucks assistant GM Lorne Henning said Pinizzotto has been on the Canucks' AHL radar for two or three years. "He's a great skater, takes the body, goes to the net hard, great hands," said Henning. "Every time we go watch him play he always sticks out. He makes things happen and guys don't like playing against him. He's been one of those guys who's been knocking at the door and deserves a chance and he's going to get a chance with us." Pinizzotto said he chose to sign with Vancouver because it was a Canadian city, a strong team and had some open roster spots with the departure of wingers Raffi Torres and Tanner Glass. Pinizzotto is the classic late bloomer, having played five seasons in the Ontario Tier 2 junior league for Oakville before playing two seasons at NCAA Rochester Institute of Technology. After being signed by Washington he worked his way up from East Coast League to the AHL. Last season for Hershey, Pinizzotto scored 17 goals and 42 points. "Two years ago I led the AHL in short-handed goals (seven)," he said. "I was on the first unit penalty kill for two years. I started to get second unit power play time last year. I like to be a guy who can fill roles where needed. That's why I don't just consider myself a pest." Vancouver Province: LOADED: 07.05.2011

574664

Vancouver Canucks

Deadline looms for Jannik Hansen

By Jim Jamieson

A deadline is looming large for Canucks winger Jannik Hansen. The 25-year-old restricted free agent has until Tuesday at 2 p.m. PDT to file for salary arbitration if he has been able to agree to a new contract with the Canucks. Hansen, who was awarded a salary of $825,000 last summer when the team took him to arbitration, is coming off his best NHL season. Based on an excellent regular season and playoffs, he looks to be in line to at least double that salary, but the spending spree that occurred on July 1 when the free agency window opened may complicate the rulings. A fixture on the third line and an excellent penalty killer, Hansen scored a career-high 29 points in 82 games in the regular season. The fleet-footed Dane was also one of the team's most consistent and hard-working players. Arbitration dates will be released later this month. The Canucks begin their prospects camp on Tuesday at Rogers Arena, where 34 of the team's recent draft picks, signings and a few free agents will be tested and introduced to the NHL team's workings. The camp shifts to UBC on the weekend and it wraps up on Monday. Vancouver Province: LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Washington Capitals

Washington Capitals sign veteran AHL defenseman Danny Richmond

By Katie Carrera

Just a couple quick notes on Hershey-related signings for this Fourth of July. --The Capitals have signed veteran American Hockey League defenseman Danny Richmond to a one-year, two-way contract worth $525,000 in the NHL and $125,000 at the AHL level. Richmond, 26, posted 23 points and 121 penalty minutes in 68 games with the Toronto Marlies. He hasnt played in the NHL since the 2007-08 season. --Steve Pinizzotto, 27, who spent the past five years with the Bears, has signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Vancouver Canucks worth $600,000 at the NHL end and $275,000 in the AHL according to Capgeek. --Another Hershey forward is moving on as Andrew Joudrey, 26, signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. In the first year, Joudreys new deal is worth $575,000 at the NHL level and $115,00 at the AHL end while in the second year it jumps to $600,000 and $125,000, respectively. Washington Post LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Washington Capitals

For Caps, a net gain

By: Brian McNally | Examiner Staff Writer Follow him @bmcnally14 | 07/04/11 8:05 PM

You can't accuse the Capitals of sticking with the status quo. Saturday's bombshell that goalie Tomas Vokoun had signed for just $1.5 million completes a roster overhaul that began in May. Out are last season's trade rentals -- defenseman Scott Hannan, center Jason Arnott and winger Marco Sturm -- and mainstay forwards Boyd Gordon and Matt Bradley. In are forwards Jeff Halpern -- the new fourth-line center and former team captain -- and Joel Ward as free agent signings. Troy Brouwer was acquired in a draft-day trade, though as a restricted free agent he still needs to be signed. Mattias Sjogren, a 23-year-old from the Swedish Elite League, suddenly finds himself trying to crack a veteran lineup. But he, too, represents that new way forward -- a two-way presence, yes, but in reality someone who is just hard to play against. Washington needed more speed among its bottom six forwards and an added element of ... let's politely call it feistiness or grit. Not that Gordon or Bradley didn't provide some. But the Caps needed more. If they could do that and still upgrade offensively, then all the better. Vokoun, 35, finished ninth in save percentage last season (.922). No other NHL goalie has a better save percentage (.922) since the lockout. To get a player of that caliber for so little money left even Caps general manager George McPhee stunned. "We thought we were done a couple of days ago," McPhee admitted Sunday. "This was a significant move that we were not anticipating." Washington was prepared to go with young goalies Michal Neuvirth and Braden Holtby. But when the market collapsed, Vokoun's agents called McPhee and asked whether Washington was interested. Not really. Love the player -- Caps pro scouts had him ranked among the game's 10 best -but probably can't afford the asking price. What he didn't count on was that Vokoun told his representatives about his desire to play in Washington. The chance for a legitimate shot at a Stanley Cup was important, too, after a career spent with nonplayoff clubs. With the goalie willing to meet their price -- leaving better offers on the table -- the Caps jumped. Washington Examiner LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg Jets announce six signings, some with connections to city

By: The Canadian Press

WINNIPEG - Randy Jones is going to celebrate becoming a Winnipeg Jet by doing a little shopping. After two seasons spent playing in Tampa Bay and Los Angeles, the defenceman admits he's in need of more appropriate clothing for his new home. "I have to go out searching for some new snow boots," said Jones, who was one of six players signed by Winnipeg on Monday. "I don't see that as any problem. I'm looking forward to it. Hockey's played during the winter time, the freezing cold, and it's going to feel like hockey again." Along with Jones, the Jets added Winnipeg native Derek Meech, winger Tanner Glass, centre Aaron Gagnon as well as former Manitoba Moose forward Rick Rypien and defenceman Mark Flood. Jones signed a US$1.15-million, one-year deal to join his fourth team in as many seasons. The 29-year-old had 13 points (1-12) in 61 games for the Lightning last season and said he was excited to return to a hockey market. "I think it's great," Jones said on a conference call. "Obviously any Canadian city with an NHL team is going to excel. I can tell that the fans are pretty eager to get a team back there and I'm sure they're anxious to get the season kind of going. "It's going to be a great time, it's going to be a great city to play in front of." Meech, also a defenceman, appeared in 126 games for the Detroit Red Wings over the last four years and received a one-year deal that will pay him $700,000 at the NHL level. Glass inked a $750,000, one-year deal while Rypien signed on for one season at $700,000. They most recently played for the Vancouver Canucks. The 27-year-old Rypien appeared in just nine games for the Canucks last season before leaving the team because of personal issues. He returned late in the season and suited up with the AHL's Moose. Gagnon signed a two-year deal the second year is a one-way agreement that pays $525,000 after splitting last season between the Dallas Stars and Texas Stars. Flood spent all of last year with the Moose and is likely bound for the franchise's new affiliate in St. John's, N.L. Winnipeg Free Press LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Winnipeg Jets

Jets fans already free agency critics But club's quiet opening moves aren't end of story

By: Ed Tait

55The euphoria of the NHL's return is still in full roar, but after the big announcement on May 31, the introduction of the hockey department staff, the unveiling of the Jets team name and the excitement surrounding the first names called in the entry draft, comes this: Complaints from some fans about a quiet initial foray into free agency that netted six players, three of whom spent last year in the AHL and none of whom will carry the goal-scoring credentials of an Anders Hedberg, Teemu Selanne, Dale Hawerhcuk or Morris Lukowich. There's even some suggestion that unless they get off their keisters and start spending, the Jets may have trouble meeting the NHL's salary-cap floor of $48.3 million, let alone being a mid-cap team, as previously outlined by the ownership. According to capgeek.com, the Jets are now ranked 28th in team payroll at $39.2 million. Jets management opted not to comment, stating that free agency has just begun and the roster is far from being set for 2011-12. So consider these counter-arguments before dooming the team's spending strategy: -- Three restricted free agents -- captain Andrew Ladd, defenceman Zach Bogosian and winger Blake Wheeler -- are all due raises. The Hockey News recently speculated Ladd would be worth around $4 million to $5 million, Bogosian and Wheeler about $3 million or about a combined $6million jump in salary. Couple that with the other restricted free agents who were made qualifying offers -- defencemen Arturs Kulda and Brett Festerling, right-winger Spencer Machacek and centres Ben Maxwell and Riley Holzapfel -- and those moves alone could bring the team to the salary-cap floor. -- Also, with such a young talent base, it's important to remember that rising stars Evander Kane and Ondrej Pavelec become restricted free agents next year, Alex Burmistrov, Bryan Little and Patrice Cormier the year after that, and all could be in line for big raises. Keeping that core intact is going to cost this summer and beyond. -- There are still some name unrestricted and restricted free agents on the open market that the Jets are believed to be interested in signing. -- Finally, this might be the most important factor in the Jets' approach to free agency: The franchise clearly isn't comfortable with signing players to long-term deals that could handcuff them in the future. Case in point: Of the 17 players signed to four-year or longer deals since July 1 by rival NHL teams, eight -- Brad Richards, Ilya Bryzgalov, Kevin Bieksa, Alex Tanguay, Erik Cole, Jan Hejda, Ed Jovanovski and Joel Ward -- were 30 or older. That's a whole lot of coin tied up in players who, in some cases, will be close to 40 when their deals are finished and for others who would best be described as average NHLers -- even if the cap hit is relatively low at the contract's expiration. Winnipeg Free Press LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Winnipeg Jets

Jets will give it good push Newcomer Jones likes gritty lineup

By PAUL FRIESEN, QMI Agency

WINNIPEG - His playoff resume is relatively thin, but 29-year-old defenceman Randy Jones plans on adding to it in Winnipeg. One of the Jets free-agent signings on the weekend, the former Tampa Bay Lightning blue-liner says he sees no reason why the former Atlanta Thrashers cant be in the Stanley Cup chase next spring. Last year for a good part of the season they were only a point or two behind us and Washington, Jones said on a media conference call from his home in New Brunswick, Monday. They work extremely hard, and thats the main thing you need in this league, is hard work and determination. Thats one thing that stood out, they never give up, they always battled and were always in your face. Were going to give a good push this season. A native of Quispamsis, N.B., Jones (6-foot-2, 210 pounds) played just five playoff games in Tampa Bays run to the Eastern Conference Final. In 31 career post-season games with the Lightning, Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers, hes collected just four assists. Considered a decent offensive player, Jones managed just one goal, 13 points, last season. This year it kind of flip-flopped. It was more a defensive role, he said. I was on the No. 1 penalty-killing unit and played against the top lines. Whatever role the coach has for me Im willing to accept and do it the best I can. Jones would likely compete for the fifth or sixth spots on the defence, behind expected top-four players Dustin Byfuglien, Tobias Enstrom, Zach Bogosian and Ron Hainsey. They have some pretty good players on the back end, he said. Like anyone else, you want to play, and you want to play as much as possible. I havent really looked at the lineup, saying who I can beat out and who I cant beat out. I dont feel I need to go and prove myself to anyone. I just need to do what I do best and what got me here. One thing he knows for sure: itll be a big change from Florida. I went through the closet the other day and made sure all the sandals stayed behind, Jones said. Ill have to go out searching for some new snow boots. Its been probably 10 years since Ive played back in Canada... its going to be a change of pace, but its going to be fun when you realize the intensity and the energy the fans will have. JETS-CETERA: Expect Jets captain Andrew Ladd to file for salary arbitration by Tuesday afternoons deadline, then keep negotiating toward a long-term deal. The restricted free agent earned $2.35 million last season ... A source says former Manitoba Moose assistant coach Keith McCambridge has agreed to become the head coach of the clubs AHL team in St. Johns. N.L. Winnipeg Sun LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Websites

Sportsnet.ca /Not all bad

Actually, I was kind of surprised when the Canucks allowed Torres to walk. He has his limitations, to be sure, but he is one of the better hitters in the league and with 14 goals and 29 points in 80 games last season, he offers decent secondary scoring. The Coyotes got a bargain in Torres at two years for $3.5 million. Mike Brophy

There have been a few good signings in an off-season dominated by overspending. Free agent season, thus far, has been highlighted by teams that are supposedly hurting financially - overspending just to get up to the salary cap floor. We saw some mediocre players as well as some over-the-hill veterans given ridiculous amounts of money to go with silly long term deals that you just know are going to come back to bite the teams that signed them in the butt. However, there were some signings that were very good: Ian White, Defence, Detroit Red Wings The much-traveled White is a solid replacement for the retired Brian Rafalski. Although he is not as good in his own zone as Rafalski, White skates well and can chip in on offence. Playing in Detroit's puck-possession system that features defence-conscience forwards, White may finally have found a home. He played in Calgary, Carolina and San Jose this past season scoring a total of four goals and 26 points in 78 games. His nine points in 17 games with San Jose were quite impressive. At $5.75 million over two years, White could prove to be a bargain. Tomas Vokoun, Goalie, Washington Capitals The best goalie on the market didn't get scooped on the opening day of free agent season. Then he had to settle for a one-year, $1.5 million contract. Strange? You betcha. Maybe now that he is on a contender, we will see once and for all if he really is an elite stopper. Many have suggested he's one of the best goalies in the NHL, but it was hard to tell when he played for Nashville and Florida. Simon Gagne, Left Wing, Los Angeles Kings The Kings gave Gagne $7 million for two years which might seem like a lot of dough for a guy who is often injured. At the same time, when he's healthy, the 31-year-old is one of the most consistent scorers in the league. He had five goals and 12 points (and was plus-6) for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 15 playoff games this past season. Anthony Stewart, Right Wing, Carolina Hurricanes Unable to make it with the Florida Panthers, who chose him in the first round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, the 26-year-old had something of a breakout year with the Atlanta Thrashers last season scoring 14 goals and 39 points in 80 games. That prompted the Hurricanes to sign him for $1.8 million over two years. If he can build on those numbers, and it shouldn't be too much of a stretch for that to happen, he will fit in nicely in Carolina as a replacement for Erik Cole. Mathieu Garon, Goalie, Tampa Bay Lightning Garon is one of those guys who is the perfect backup goalie, but who can also fill in as the No. 1 for long stretches if required. At $2.6 million for two years, he's an ideal fit with the Lightning as the backup to Dwayne Roloson. Don't be surprised if Garon battles hard for the starter's job at various points in the season. Steve Sullivan, Left Wing, Pittsburgh Penguins A gutsy little performer if there ever was one, Sullivan signed a one-year deal for $1.5 million to be a secondary scorer with the Penguins. Injuries limited him to just 44 games with Nashville last season, but he still managed 10 goals and 22 points for a team that played a defence-first style. Assuming Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin return at 100 per cent health next season, Sullivan will be a nice addition to the second or third line as well as the second power play unit. Michael Rupp, Centre/Left Wing, New York Rangers At 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, Rupp is one of those guys who can fight with the best of them, but can also skate a regular shift. The 31-year-old Cleveland, OH, native has actually developed something of a scoring touch the past few seasons with Pittsburgh when he scored 13 in 2009-10 and then nine goals last season. He will earn $4.5 million over three seasons. Raffi Torres, Left Wing, Phoenix Coyotes

Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Websites

USA TODAY / Free agent fireworks slow down, but solid players remain

By Kevin Allen, USA TODAY

Defenseman Anton Babchuk's decision to re-sign with the Calgary Flames for $5 million over two years and backup goalie Curtis McElhinney's signing with the Phoenix Coyotes were the only pieces of news Monday among unrestricted free agents, small happenings considering Friday, Saturday and Sunday featured major events. The Florida Panthers raised their payroll by more than $20 million Friday by signing Ed Jovanovski, Scottie Upshall, Tomas Fleischmann and Sean Bergenheim, among others. Brad Richards signed with the New York Rangers on Saturday, and the runners-up in that pursuit picked up Simon Gagne (Los Angeles Kings) and Tim Connolly (Toronto Maple Leafs). The San Jose Sharks on Sunday traded Dany Heatley to the Minnesota Wild for Martin Havlat. "It's going to be a challenge," Richards said of the pressure of playing in New York. "But if you want to be a great player, it's something you should relish." Of USA TODAY's top 20 potential unrestricted free agents going into last weekend, only Jason Arnott, Chris Drury and Tomas Kaberle remain. Because centers are in short supply, Arnott and Drury will have options. Kaberle will too because puck-moving defensemen are scarce. The other name defenseman with offensive ability is Bryan McCabe, 36. Other interesting forwards include Alex Kovalev, Cory Stillman, Brendan Morrison and Jamie Langenbrunner. There is almost no market for goalies, but Ray Emery, Marty Turco, Ty Conklin and others are still out there. Tomas Vokoun, a proven starter, settled for a one-year, $1.5 million deal from the Washington Capitals. With several teams still under the salary cap, one topic of conversation around the NHL is whether a restricted free agent might receive an offer sheet. Once a player gets one, his current team can match or accept the prescribed draft pick compensation, based on the player's salary. The most talked-about restricted free agents are the Tampa Bay Lightning's Steven Stamkos, the Coyotes' Keith Yandle and the Rangers' Ryan Callahan. But offer sheets don't happen very often, because teams are inclined to match unless they have cash flow or salary cap issues. USA TODAY LOADED: 07.05.2011

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Websites

In Atlanta, Heatley had baggage because of the auto accident that killed his passenger and Thrashers teammate, Dan Snyder. He asked for a trade. In Ottawa, Heatley clashed with coach Cory Clouston. He asked for a trade and then ended up with more baggage when he declined to go to the Edmonton Oilers and forced the Senators to take a less-favorable deal with the Sharks. Probably not the smoothest trades in history, Heatley said. Heatley gained a reputation. An Ottawa reporter asked Minnesota GM Chuck Fletcher if he was concerned Heatley might be poisonous. Fletcher seemed neither surprised nor flustered as he replied: I think hes the opposite, in fact. In San Jose, Heatley was set up for success. He was far away from his past problems. He was a goal-scorer playing with Thornton, a former MVP and one of the best passing centers in the league. He was playing for a contender in a city with a sold-out rink, but he wasnt in a Canadian market with hockey-obsessed media. Still, it didnt work. Heatley has to ask himself why. I think it could be a good shock, Barry said. He has to now just embrace it. Hes a real pro. I know a lot of people dont realize Dany is the kind of guy thats loved in the room. Hes a good old-fashioned hockey player. He wants to achieve. He wants to score. He puts a lot of pressure on himself, so he knows that it didnt get done there, and I think hell just Hes going to a hockey market, and hes going to embrace it and hes going to try to be a top goal-scorer again next year. When the Sharks dropped Heatley to the second line, they replaced him with a faster player: Devin Setoguchi. Then they traded Setoguchi to the Wild at the NHL draft. Instead of turning back to Heatley, San Jose made another trade with the Wild for another faster player Heatley for Martin Havlat. They did so even though Heatley had slightly better statistics last season his down season than Havlat did last year. They did so even though Heatley has had much better statistics in his best years than Havlat ever has. What does that tell you? Havlat has been good in the playoffs, and Heatley better find a way to get faster. This is a good move for the Wild on paper. Heatleys 26 goals and 64 points, his lowest totals ever for a full season, would have led Minnesota last season. The Wild had too many passers and not enough shooters, ranking 30th in shots and 26th in goals last season, and now has picked up a couple of shooters in Heatley and Setoguchi. But this is not a good move for Heatley on paper. As much as the Wild thinks of Mikko Koivu and Pierre-Marc Bouchard as passers, neither is on Thorntons level. Heatley let that opportunity slip away. He let himself slip from a team that is trying to make the Cup final to a team that is trying to make the playoffs in the first place. He cannot afford to let himself slip any further. In a conference call with the media Monday, he mentioned multiple times that he was concentrating on getting healthy and getting in great shape. The bottom line is this: In Atlanta and Ottawa, Heatley wanted out. In San Jose, he was shipped out. I wanted a change in those situations, Heatley said. Obviously this one was different for me, but thats the way it goes. Im happy to be in Minnesota. Its definitely a motivator. YAHOO.COM LOADED: 07.05.2011

YAHOO SPORTS / At career crossroads, Heatley gets a Wild chance

Nicholas J. Cotsonika

For Dany Heatley, this trade should reinforce what he should have known already. Hes at a crossroads in his career. At 30, hes too young to go into decline, but too old to coast on skill. He still has that world-class cannon, but hes got to move to fire it. Before the San Jose Sharks traded him to the Minnesota Wild, it was obvious that he needed to push himself to keep up, let alone excel, in an NHL full of younger, faster players. He had set up a training regimen that included more on-ice drills than in previous summers to work not only on his shot, but his fitness and his skating, according to his agent, J.P. Barry. All players when they turn 30 years old Barry said, his voice trailing off. Sometimes youre gifted and youre in many ways a natural. I would say that Dany is a natural goal-scorer with incredible hockey sense. When you get to this stage, you have to combine all of that with working on your physical skills. He knows that. He has to know it now. Heatley said after exit interviews he had no idea the Sharks might trade him. His agent said it was considered a formality when he had to submit a list of 10 no-way-Jose teams before his blanket no-trade clause became a modified no-trade clause Friday. He said he was caught pretty off-guard Sunday night, sitting outside after dinner in British Columbia, when he received a call from San Jose general manager Doug Wilson and learned he had been dealt. I didnt expect it, obviously, he said. But it couldnt have been that big of a surprise. Both he and his agent realized the contract now allowed for a trade, and the Sharks had lost in the Western Conference final for the second straight season. They had three big-money forwards and one had failed to produce. He was the one. For all the criticism they had received in the past for not producing in the postseason, Joe Thornton ($7 million cap hit) had three goals and 17 points in 18 games. Patrick Marleau ($6.9 million) had seven goals and 13 points. Heatley ($7.5 million) had three goals and nine points and had been bumped to the second line by the end. He had two goals and 13 points in 14 playoff games for the Sharks in 2010. Five goals in 32 playoff games? Too little for someone paid so much to score. Obviously they had a lot of salary tied in to three forwards, and we didnt get the job done those two years, Heatley said. So from that aspect, I knew going in what the situation was and obviously this was a possibility, and it happened. There were mitigating circumstances. Heatley gutted through a groin injury in the playoffs last year. He played with a broken hand this year and also suffered a high ankle sprain during the Western Conference final. Wilson emphasized the injuries when he spoke to reporters after the trade, and it should be noted that Heatley missed only two games in the regular season and one in the playoffs in two seasons with the Sharks. But the circumstances werent mitigating enough, were they? Had the Sharks considered Heatley a warrior, had they felt these were freak things, they wouldnt have traded him. They became part of a pattern part of a larger concern about Heatleys fitness, skating and scoring. Look at Heatleys regular-season goal totals since the 2004-05 lockout: 50, 50, 41, 39, 39 and 26. Were talking about a player who really had his first dip in his entire career last year, OK? Barry said. I mean, total the numbers up, and youll see hes literally top five in the decade in goals, points, power-play goals, gamewinning goals. So he ran into some injuries, and unfortunately there was a lot of pressure in San Jose to win with a lot of big salaries, and they didnt win. Well see if its a dip or part of a decline.