Four Flames Inked With a Year

On Friday July 20th 2007, Calgary Flames General Manager Darryl Sutter announced the signings of forwards Eric Godard, Tomi Maki and Eric Nystrom along with goaltender Curtis McElhinney each to one year contracts. The four signings bring depth towards the organization and it is also nice to have someone (Eric Godard) to kick Derek Boogard's ass (as seen in photo, Derek Boogard was injured as a result of the fight). Unfortunately the financial terms of the were not disclosed due to the clubs policy. The remaining three signed players are players whom have previously played for the Calgary Flames farm team, both forwards Maki and Nystrom have played at least one game with the Flames but the London, ON native has yet to make his debut.

NHL Trades & Hirings

Today the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins swapped players. The Sens sent LW Peter Schaefer to the Bruins for RW Shean Donovan. This move frees up some extra cash for the Senators so they are able to sign some of their RFA's including G Ray Emery. Donovan will bring some veteran leadership to the Senators and some 3rd line grit. While Schaefer gives the Bruins a much needed scoring winger. So all in all both teams benefited from this deal.

Also today the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes swapped players. The Rangers traded C Matt Cullen who was with the Hurricanes during their Stanley Cup championship season back to Carolina for D Andrew Hutchinson, F Joe Barnes and a 2008 3rd round draft pick. The Hurricanes desperately needed a 3rd line center after Trevor Letowski and Josef Vasicek failed to fill the spot last season and Cullen couldn't be more to fill that spot, "Certainly after they signed Gomez and Drury I thought there might be a chance of me being moved, and if I was going to be moved I really wanted it to be back to Carolina. So I'm thrilled." said Cullen. While on the Rangers side they get some much needed depth for their blueline with Andrew Hutchinson. All in all I think the Hurricanes got the better part of the deal, simply because Matt Cullen is an ideal 3rd line center in my mind and he will make the Hurricanes better.

The New Jersey Devils have also found a new head coach. On Friday the Devils announced the hiring of former Red Deer Rebel GM and Head Coach Brent Sutter. This will be Sutter's first head coaching job in the NHL, but from world junior championships etc, he was the best rookie coach that any NHL team could hire. Sutter coached the Rebels to the Memorial Cup in 2001 and as everyone knows coached the Canadian World Junior Team to back-to-back gold medals. Sutter has also won two Stanley Cup championships as a player with the New York Islanders. I think this is a great hiring for the Devils and before the hiring of Mike Keenan as the Flames new head coach, I wondered if Brent Sutter would come here and be the head coach with his brother and our genius GM Daryl Sutter. Brent Sutter will do just fine with the Devils in my mind, he is a awesome coach and seems to get the best out of his players. Even with the loss of C Scott Gomez and D Brian Rafalski, this move will help makes up for those losses for the Devils.

It's A Miracle

Yesterday, the Edmonton Oilers announced the signing of former Montreal Canadiens power play specialists but a pylon when it comes to playing defense, Sheldon Souray to a 5 year contract worth 27 million dollars.

Fans in Calgary, Minnesota, Vancouver and Colorado must be loving this signing by the Oilers. On Sportsnet Gene Principe said that now that they used the money that they tried to use for Ryan Smyth and used it on Sheldon Souray that it was like they got Souray for Smyth. Well yea I guess you could say that but it wont be that fun for Oiler fans when Ryan Smyth, the guy who cant deke if his life depended on it, skated down the ice and blew right by Souray and scored a goal. Even better yet is if Mac-T pairs Souray up with their other big defensive acquisition Joni Pitkanen, so they +/- can be totaled to a -53. That would be sweet. It is just so funny the Oilers get a 'big name UFA' and who do they get Sheldon Souray. Another thing that makes the Oilers acquisition of Joni Pitkanen and Sheldon Souray even better is that even their former defensemen, Daniel Tjarnqvist had a better +/- than both of them with a plus 3, yea he played less games but you cant not laugh about that. Montreal Canadiens fans also must be happy with this signing becuase now they dont have to worry about Jason Spezza going around him like he wasn't even there but GM Bob Gainey also hasent helped the Canadians cause he way overpaid Roman Hamrlik, but that is a different story.

All in all, Souray actually wanted to play and live in Edmonton, even better so DID HIS WIFE. Now I really cant wait for the season to start and for Calgary to play Edmonton in their first game. Just another great signing by the genius Kevin Lowe.

Pens ink Sid the Kid

Today, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced the re-signing of Sidney Crosby to a contract extension for 5 years worth 43.5 million dollars. Whoever didn't see this signing coming probably shouldn't be allowed to watch hockey ever again.

I dont have to say much about Crosby, since everyone knows he is a Franchise Player. Crosby was just recently named the Pens new captain so that made the deal even less surprising. Crosby was the main reason the Pens were able to turn it around last season and make the playoffs and was easily one of their best players in the playoffs. Crosby lead the league in scoring last year with 120 points. He won his first of probably many Hart trophy, Art Ross trophy and Lester B.Pearson trophy at the awards ceremony in June.

Crosby is the ultimate player to build a team around. I dont think there is one person who knows hockey who wouldn't take this guy on their team. Too bad for Kevin Lowe because Crosby is now off the list of RFA's for next summer.

Paddock in as New Sens Coach

Today the Ottawa Senators announced the hiring of former assistant coach John Paddock to be their new head coach. Paddock takes over from Brian Murray who is now the Senators GM.

Paddock has been a assistant coach for the Senators for two years, both under Brian Murray. Paddock coached Ottawa's AHL farm team, the Binghamton Senators. Paddock had most of success in Binghamton. 12 years before that Paddock was the head coach for the Winnipeg Jets. He coached there for less than 4 years doing a Coach-GM duel role, he replaced himself as the head coach before then 1994-95 season. Paddocks record during that time was 106-138-37 and lost in the first round of the playoffs in the first two years with the Jets.

So all in all Paddock has some big shoes to fill but it sounds like he was the best pick out of the candidates the Senators picked out.

The Joke continues...

Today the Edmonton Oilers put in a offer sheet to rising star LW Thomas Vanek of the Buffalo Sabres to a 7 year contract worth 50 million dollars. The Buffalo Sabres quickly reacted and scheduled a press conference this afternoon to announce that they had matched the offer made by the Edmonton Oilers.

This is just another hit to the continued down fall of the Oilers organization. It isn't a bad thing that they did that, but did K-Lowe actually think he would get Vanek after the Sabres have lost Briere(Flyers), Drury(Rangers) and Zubrus(Devils). Like lets be serious here, Buffalo isn't going on a fire sale like the Predators are doing and with only 31 million locked up in cap space before the match of the offer sheet, the Sabres have money to spend. A update here, the Sabres GM Darcy Reiger actually told Kevin Lowe on a phone call yesterday not to do it saying that they would match anything the Oilers threw at them, so that makes the move even dumber. It is said that the Oilers will probably go after another RFA likes Zach Parise(Devils), Lee Stempniak(Blues), Mike Cammalleri(Kings) or Dustin Penner(Ducks), but all those teams have money to spend if you really look at it too. The Devils just lost the likes of Gomez(Rangers) and Rafalski(Red Wings) and they only have 35 million locked up in cap space with some guys to re-sign but the most expensive guy to re-sign is probably D Paul Martin and you cant think he will make more than 2 million per year, so Parise is out of the question in my mind. Stempniak is the Blues future and even though the Blues way overpaid Kariya they still have roughly 10 million before they hit the cap with really only Stempniak left to sign, so Stempniak is a lost cause too in my mind. Cammalleri is part of the Kings very, very bright future and the Kings are only at 41 million towards the cap with only Cammalleri to really sign, so again a lost cause for the Oilers. Finally with Dustin Penner, yea the Ducks are at 47 million dollars right now but the likely hood of Niedermayer retiring is very likely so that would free up another 6.75 million dollars which would all of a sudden give Brian Burke some cash to spend and with the possibility of Teemu Selanne also retiring and the question marks around the Ducks recent signing of Todd Bertuzzi, Penner is even more valuable to the Ducks. So once again Penner is out of the question in my mind anyways. So if the Oilers are to get any of these player, they are going to have to over-pay them severely.

The only reason I say this is a joke for the Oilers organization is because K-Lowe really doesn't know what he is doing, just like my buddy Will12 said in the previous post. If Buffalo didn't match the Oilers offer sheet earlier this morning the Oilers would have had to give up 4 1ST ROUND DRAFT PICKS. That is alot to give up in my mind for a organization that is re-building and with the likes of John Tavares coming into the up coming drafts, maybe even next year's and the Oilers going to be bottom dwellers of the NHL, the shot of a franchise player is right there. Even if they didn't get Tavares, 3 of those 4 1st round draft picks have the potential to be top 5, so the Oilers have a shot at some potentially good players. Do I care that they Oilers actually I should say K-Lowe are going throw away their future? No, I am loving every minute of it and it just gives me something to rant about when I am talking to Oiler fans or posting on my blog. So Kevin Lowe, keep doing what you are doing because you dont know what your doing and all your gonna do is evenly ruin your crappy team even more. Keep me laughing PLEASE!!!!

If you want to see complete lists of teams pay-rolls and the rest of the RFA's click here.

That Other Alberta Team

Enough about our beloved hockey team, instead let's rant on about the other Albertan all-star hockey team. It has come to my attention that Kevin Lowe and the Edmonton Oilers organization don't seem to understand the term "free-agent", and i would be happy to explain to Kevin Lowe how it works. When a player's contract is up, the player may be signed by another team, and the player usually accepts the deal when the player is offered more money from another organization, for example; The witty Edmonton Oilers pursued the 6'1", 195-pound former New York Ranger, and the deal had been nearly finalized, when all of a sudden Michael Nylander made a public announcement on July 2nd that he had signed with the Washington Capitals agreeing to a four-year contract worth 19.5 mil. Afterwards the Edmonton Oilers organization were furious that they could not find any luck in bringing some real play making talent to their line up and state they had Nylander before Washington acquired the forward, yet no lawyers from the Oilers organization could provide any kind of contract details. Michael Nylander would have been a great addition to the Oilers organization playing with F Ales Hemsky.

Unfortunately for Edmonton they were unable to grasp the Sweden native, but on July 3rd, Edmonton had some light shine into their city when they acquired G Mathieu Garon, agreeing to a 2-year deal Garon will back up Edmonton's beloved goaltender Dwayne Roloson. In Alberta we can also never forget when the Oilers gave away "Captain Canada" for a bag of lays potato chips, a couple prospects and a draft pick, now all of a sudden the Edmonton Oilers have given away all of their leadership when they traded captain Jason Smith and crafty F Joffrey Lupul, for F Geoff Sanderson and the young quick D Joni Pitkanen. Kevin Lowe and the Oilers just keep dragging themselves away from a shot at winning the Stanley cup by ridding of the clubs top 3 scorers Ryan Smyth (31 goals w/Oilers), Petr Sykora (22 goals) and Joffrey Lupul (16 goals) therefore i can officially ask, where the hell is their offense gonna come from now? Well Lowe's wimpy answer to my question would be something along the lines of "It may have been a mistake to ruin all of the Oiler's fans lives by trading away our franchise for a volley ball, but we'll do just fine with our volley ball". 

In all fairness there is bright side for the Oilers for they are rebuilding their hockey club for a future Stanley cup chance with their young acquisitions of Allan Rourke, Robert Nilsson and Ryan O'Marra, yet unfortunately for the Oilers they just keep losing more and more hockey fans with each stupid thing they do, and I will always be a Calgary Flames fan ranting about our rival joke of a hockey team, just as long as the Flames are guided by Genius Darryl Sutter. Thank God we have no need to worry, unlike the whiners of Alberta's capital.

Eriksson Adds Depth

Today the Calgary Flames announced the signing of former Flames defensemen Andres Eriksson to a 2 year contract. This will add some extra depth for the Flames blueline in case guys like Rhett Warrener and Adrian Aucoin cant stay healthy. We now have Eriksson, Hale, Giordano, Phaneuf, Aucoin, Warrener, Regehr and Sarich on our back end. I'm thinking Eriksson will be our 7th defensemen so that means and hopefully Hale goes to the minors. If they send Giordano down there, I will be pissed.

Eriksson played for the Columbus Blue Jackets last year. He was second in scoring for defensemen with 23 points, all being assists and averaged 20:12 minutes of ice time a game. The biggest stat was that he lead the Blue Jackets in +/- with a +12 rating which is pretty impressive. This shores up the Flames defense and pretty much the only position that needs filled is the back-up goaltender unless Curtis McElhinney takes it.

Captain Iggy Staying Put

Today the Calgary Flames announced the re-signing of captain Jarome Iginla to a 5 year contract extension worth 35 million dollars. "You have to think about free agency a little bit, to be honest. But when I talked to my wife (Kara), we have family that is close to Calgary, the city is great. But one of the biggest things is winning. Here, there is a chance to win and that's what you want. So, in the end, it wasn't even close. We're excited to be staying in Calgary," said Iginla. I cant express how excited and how happy I am about this signing.

Iginla will be entering his 11th season with the Flames. Last season Iginla posted a team high 39 goals and 94 points while playing in only 70 games. As a member of the Flames, Iginla is 2nd in goals (324), 3rd in games played (778) and points (664), and 4th in assists (340) all time.

I think Iginla is a piece of the puzzle that will take us closer to winning the Stanley Cup. He is one of the best captains in the whole NHL and that leadership along with his skill is what make Jarome Iginla so valuable. Even with all the rumors about players not being able to play for our new coach Mike Keenan, Iggy and Regehr have shown that it shouldn't matter who the coach is just go out and play, as the captain and assistant captain hopefully other players will follow and sign contracts and contract extensions with the Calgary Flames. The best thing about Iginla's deal is that he took a pay-cut, he makes the same amount of money but he is not making the highest dollar possible a player can make for each team. That will help the Flames down the road stay completive, Robyn Regehr did the same thing and his deal was simply a deal. Iginla wants to win in Calgary and will do anything to do that. "The excitement about hockey, you don't get that in every city. And, as a player, when you get older, you realize that it doesn't last forever. We want to win now."-Iginla.

Iginla has also won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard trophy twice, the Lester B. Pearson, the Art Ross trophy and the King Clancy trophy. Iginla has also represented Canada, winning a World Junior gold medal, a World Championship, the World Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal. Iginla also won 2 Memorial Championships while with the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL.

I am so glad Iggy will be around with the Flames for the next 5 years. He is the face of the Flames and like I said he is one of the best captains, players and class acts in the NHL. Now hopefully we can now capture what the whole city of Calgary wants, a Stanley Cup.

....Also the Calgary Flames announced the signing of C/W Grant Stevenson to a 1 year contract. Stevenson played for the San Jose Sharks farm team last year, posting 39 points in 59 games. This signing is for depth purposes.

Free Agency continues....

All signings that happen between July 3rd and till the start of the season will be posted here...

- F Byron Ritchie signs with the Vancouver Canucks to a 1 year contract worth 675k
- RW Brad Isbister signs with the Vancouver Canucks to a 1 year contract worth 525k
- G Cory Schneider, C Brad Moran, F Greg Classen and W Jason Jaffray signs with the Vancouver Canucks
- C Jiri Novotny signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 2 year contract
- C Danius Zubrus signs with the New Jersey Devils to a 6 year contract worth 20.4 million dollars
- G Mathieu Garon signs with the Edmonton Oilers to a 2 year contract
- LW Brad May signs with the Anaheim Ducks to 2 year contract worth 1.2 million dollars
- C Eric Belanger signs with the Minnesota Wild to a 3 year contract worth 5.25 million dollars
- G Chris Mason re-signs with the Nashville Predators to a 2 year contract worth 6 million dollars
- G Curtis Sanford signs with the Vancouver Canucks to a 1 year contract worth 600k
- RW Raffi Torres re-signs with the Edmonton Oilers to a 3 year contract worth 6.75 million dollars
- D Brad Lukowich signs with the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3 year contract
- D Brad Stuart signs with the Los Angeles Kings to a 1 year contract worth 3.5 million dollars
- G Jason LaBarbera re-signs with the Los Angeles Kings to a 2 year contract worth 800,850 dollars
- D Karel Rachunek signs with the New Jersey Devils to a 1 year contract worth 1.4 million dollars
- C Wez Walz re-signs with the Minnesota Wild to a 1 year contract worth 900k
- G Nolan Schaefer signs with the Minnesota Wild to a 2 year contract
- D Ville Koistinen signs with the Nashville Predators to a 1 year contract worth 475k
- D Wade Brookbank, D J.D Forrest, D Tim Conboy and LW Ryan Bayda signs with the Carolina Hurricanes to a 1 year contracts
- F David Schneider, LW Mathieu Darche and D Jay Leach signs with the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 1 year contracts
- RW Danny Bois signs with the Ottawa Senators to a 2 year contract
- D Matt Carkner signs with the Ottawa Senators to a 1 year contract
- Phoenix Coyotes buy-out the contract of C Dave Scathard making him a UFA
- LW Tom Kostopoulos signs with the Montreal Canadiens to a 2 year contract worth 1.8 million dollars
- LW Slava Kozlov re-signs with the Atlanta Thrashers to a 3 year contract worth 10.98 million dollars
- LW Ruslan Fedotenko signs with the New York Islanders to a 1 year contract worth 2.9 million dollars
- D Matt Greene re-signs with the Edmonton Oilers to a 2 year contract worth 2.3 million dollars
- G Vesa Toskala signs a 2 year contract extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs worth 8 million dollars
- Tampa Bay Lightning acquire D Bryce Lampman from the New York Rangers for LW Mitch Fritz
- D Teppo Numminen re-signs with the Buffalo Sabres to a 1 year contract worth 2.6 million dollars
- D Maxim Kondratiev re-signs with the Anaheim Ducks to a 1 year contract
- D Jan Hejda signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 2 year contract
- RW Jiri Hudler re-signs with the Detroit Red Wings to a 2 year contract worth 2.02 million dollars
- C Erik Christenson and C Maxim Talbot re-sign with the Pittsburgh Penguins to 2 year contracts
- G Kevin Weekes signs with the New Jersey Devils to a 2 year contract worth 1.375 million dollars
- RW Petr Prucha re-signs with the New York Rangers to a 2 year contract worth 3.2 million dollars
- RW Marek Svatos re-signs with the Colorado Avalanche to a 1 year contract worth 1.2 million dollars
- Edmonton Oilers acquired D Allan Rourke and a 3rd round draft pick from the New York Islanders for a 2nd round draft pick
- C Tomas Plekanec re-signs with the Montreal Canadiens to a 2 year contract
- C Kyle Wilson and D Jamie Pollock signs with the Washington Capitals
- D Jamie Rivers, D Mathieu Biron, F Cory Urquhart and F Marvin Degon signs with the Montreal Canadiens to 1 year contracts
- RW Bill Guerin signs with the New York Islanders to a 2 year contract worth 9 million dollars
- D Shane Hnidy signs with the Anaheim Ducks to a 2 year contract worth 1.515 million dollars
- RW Pierre-Marc Bouchard re-signs with the Minnesota Wild to a 1 year contract worth 2.6 million dollars
- RW Mike Comrie signs with the New York Islanders to a one year contract worth 3.375 million dollars
- G Dominik Hasek re-signs with the Detroit Red Wings to a 1 year deal worth 2 million dollars
- G Jocelyn Thibault signs with the Buffalo Sabres to a 1 year deal
- LW Andrew Peters and RW Micheal Ryan re-signs with the Buffalo Sabres to 2 year deals
- D Sean Hill signs with the Minnesota Wild to a one year contract. Hill still has 19 games to serve from his substance abuse suspension
- F Byron Bitz and D Bobby Allen re-signs with the Boston Bruins
- D Mike Egener and D Dan Jancevski signs with the Tampa Bay Lightning to 1 year contracts
- LW Thomas Vanek re-signs with the Buffalo Sabres to a 7 year contract worth 50 million dollars
- G Scott Clemmensen signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 1 year contract
- LW Brad Winchestor signs with the Dallas Stars to a 1 year contract
- C Toby Peterson and D Trevor Byrne signs with the Dallas Stars to two-way 1 year contracts
- C Mike York signs with the Phoenix Coyotes to a 1 year contract worth 1 million dollars
- LW Dallas Drake signs with the Detroit Red Wings to a 1 year contract worth 550k
- D Kevin Bieksa signs a contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks for 3 years worth 11.25 million dollars
- D Aaron Miller signs with the Vancouver Canucks to a 1 year contract worth 1.5 million dollars
- LW Todd Fedoruk signs with the Dallas Stars to a 1 year contract worth 875k
- LW Josh Gratton, F Jon DiSalvatore and F Joey Tenute signs with the Phoenix Coyotes to 1 year contracts
- F David Ling signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 1 year contract
- F Jeremy Reich and F Matt Hendricks signs with the Boston Bruins
- D Vitaly Vishnevski signs with the New Jersey Devils to a 3 year contract worth 5.4 million dollars
- W Joe Motzko signs with the Washington Capitals to a 2 year contract
- C Sidney Crosby re-signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5 year deal worth 43.5 million dollars
- RW Brendan Shanahan re-signs with the New York Rangers to a 1 year contract worth 2.5 million dollars
- C Andrew Murray, W Joakim Lindstrom, W Steven Goertzen and W Curtis Glencross re-sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets to 1 year contracts
- D Alex Goligoski re-signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins
- D Denis Wideman re-signs with the Boston Bruins
- G Simeon Varlamov signs with the Washington Capitals to a 3 year entry level contract
- G Josh Harding re-signs with the Minnesota Wild to a 2 year contract worth 1.45 million dollars
- G Henrik Lundqvist re-signs with the New York Rangers to a 1 year contract worth 4.25 million dollars
- G Wade Flathery signs with the Chicago Blackhawks to a 1 year contract
- D Lubomir Visnovsky re-signs a contract extension with the Los Angeles Kings for 5 years worth 28.25 million dollars
- LW Eric Boulton re-signs with the Atlanta Thrashers to a 1 year contract worth 525k
- D Dan Smith and C Derek MacKenzie signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets to 1 year contracts
- C Nathan Smith and F Chris Minard signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins to 2 year contracts
- D Aaron Johnson signs with the New York Islanders to a 1 year contract
- RW Colby Armstrong re-signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2 year contract
- D Sheldon Souray signs with the Edmonton Oilers to a 5 year contract worth 27 million dollars
- D Joe Callahan and LW Brandon Segal signs with the Anaheim Ducks to a 1 year and 2 year contract respectively
- C Mike Ribeiro re-signs with the Dallas Stars to a 1 year contract worth 2.8 million dollars
- LW Joel Lundqvist re-signs with the Dallas Stars to a 2 year contract worth 1.45 million dollars
- D Brendan Bell re-signs with the Phoenix Coyotes to a 1 year contract
- C Alexandre Giroux signs with the Atlanta Thrashers
- D Lawrence Nycholat re-signs with the Ottawa Senators
- RW Niko Dimitrakos signs with the Ottawa Senators to a 1 year contract
- D Paul Ranger re-signs with the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3 year contract
- RW Bill Thomas and G David LeNeveu re-signs with the Phoenix Coyotes to 1 year contracts
- LW Tomas Surovy signs with the Phoenix Coyotes to a 1 year contract
- D Chris Campoli re-signs with the New York Islanders to a 3 year contract worth 1.9 million dollars
- D Ron Davison re-signs with the San Jose Sharks to a 1 year contract worth 525k
- RW Matt Foy, RW Joel Ward and D Eric Reitz re-signs with the Minnesota Wild
- RW Junior Lessard and RW Marius Holtet re-signs with the Dallas Stars to 1 year contracts
- D Garrett Stafford, D Brad Ference, C Mark Hartigan, C Mark Cullen, C Carl Corazzini and G Adam Berkhoel signs with the Detroit Red Wings to 1 year contracts
- C Randall Gelech signs with the Detroit Red Wings to a 2 year contract
- LW Matt Ellis re-signs with the Detroit Red Wings to a 2 year contract
- D Aaron Rome re-signs with the Anaheim Ducks to a 1 year contract
- D Matt Jones re-signs with the Phoenix Coyotes to a 1 year contract
- D Garnet Exelby re-signs with the Atlanta Thrashers to a 3 year contract worth 4.098 million dollars
- D Kevin Klein & LW Darcy Hordichuk re-signs with the Nashville Predators to 1 year contracts
- D Greg Zanon re-signs with the Nashville Predators to a 2 year contract worth 1.45 million dollars
- D Steve Eminger, C Brian Sutherby re-signs with the Washington Capitals
- C Jason Morgan signs with the Washington Capitals
- D Josh Gorges, D J-P Cote, D Andrew Archer, G Yann Danis, RW Duncan Milroy & C Corey Locke re-signs with the Montreal Canadiens
- D Matt Kinch signs with the Ottawa Senators to a 1 year contract
- D Kurtis Foster re-signs with the Minnesota Wild to a 1 year contract
- D Jeff Jillson & D Dale Purinton signs with the Colorado Avalanche to 1 year contracts
- LW Mark Rycroft re-signs with the Colorado Avalanche to a 1 year contract
- LW Ryan Flinn, D T-J Kemp & D T-J Reynolds signs with the Edmonton Oilers to 1 year contracts
- RW Colin McDonald signs with the Edmonton Oilers to a 1 year contract

Day 2 Bring Signings and Re-Signings for the Flames

Today the Flames Organization announced the signing of veteran UFA right winger Owen Nolan to a 1 year contract worth 1.75 mill and the re-signing of D Robyn Regehr to a 5 year contract worth 20 mill.

First off with Nolan.
Nolan is a 17 year vet and joining his 5th NHL team with the Calgary Flames. He is 35 years old and coming off a 16 goal, 40 point season with the lonely Phoenix Coyotes. Nolan will bring some leadership to the dressing room as well as some scoring touch since he did post 40 points with the Coyotes last season. Now former coach Wayne Gretzky couldn't express enough to how much good things Nolan brought to the Coyotes last year. Nolan will probably line up on the 2nd line along side Lombo and Tanguay. With the emergence of Lombo at the world championships along with his speed and the playmaking ability of Tanguay, Nolan has the potential to score 20-30 goals. Nolan's signing came to a surprise at first but when sitting down and looking at it, it shouldn't be too shocking since Sutter and Nolan were together with the San Jose Sharks. I'm not quite sure about how I feel about this signing yet because I need to think more about it to make my final verdict.

Robyn Regehr.
Well considering earlier on today Flames former defensemen Roman Hamrlik signed for over 5 million dollars a season with the Canadiens, I think that Regehr's deal is a steal. Regehr is solid on the back end of the Flames blueline and he is what really keeps them together. He isn't that offensive but he knows what he is doing in the Flames own zone and he can bring the physical stuff. In my opinion this is a great deal for the Flames, Regehr is only 27 and he will be a solid defensemen for years to come. Playing alongside newly acquired Cory Sarich, there will be no shortage of physicality on the Flames back end. This also crosses off another name off the UFA list for next year.

Day 2 of Free Agency

The first day was absolutely ridiculous, most of the top end free agents are already gone with a ton of money in their pockets. There are still a few top end guys left but not many. Here are a few more signings from today....

- C Craig MacDonald and F Mathieu Darche signs with the Tampa Bay Lightning to 1 year contracts
- D Sheldon Brookbank signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 1 year contract.
- F Bates Battaglia signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 2 year contract worth 1.3 million dollars
- LW Jed Ortmeyer signs with the Nashville Predators to a 2 year contract worth 1.5 million dollars
- D Lukas Krajicek re-signs with the Vancouver Canucks to a 2 year contract worth 2.2 million dollars
- C Michael Nylander signs with the Washington Capitals to a 4 year contract to a 19.5 million dollars
- D Roman Hamrlik signs with the Montreal Canadiens to a 4 year contract worth 22 million dollars
- C Robert Lang signs with Chicago Blackhawks to 2 year contract
- C Alexander Svitov and D Ole-Kristian Tollefsen re-signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets to 2 year contracts
- D Tom Preissing signs with the Los Angeles Kings to a 4 year contract worth 11 million dollar
- C Radek Bonk and D Greg De Vries with the Nashville Predators to 2 year contracts
- RW Todd Bertuzzi signs with the Anaheim Ducks to a 2 year contract worth 8 million dollars
- C Bryan Smolinski signs with the Montreal Canadiens to a 1 year contract worth 2 million dollars
- D Ken Klee signs with the Atlanta Thrashers to a multi-year contract
- C Michael Handzus signs with the Los Angeles Kings to a 4 year contract worth 16 million dollars
- LW Ladislav Nagy signs with the Los Angeles Kings to a 1 year contract worth 3.75 million dollars
- LW Kyle Calder signs with the Los Angeles Kings to a 2 year deal worth 5.5 million dollars
- F Steve Kelly signs with the Minnesota Wild to a 1 year contract

Sarich Signs on with the Flames

The Flames have signed UFA D Cory Sarich to a 5 year deal worth 18 million dollars. I personally think that could be too much for Sarich but who knows what could come of it, in Sutter I trust.

Sarich formerly with the Lightning has played in 7 full NHL seasons including every game for the Lightning in the past 4 seasons. He is more of a defensive defensemen but does have a half decent shot from the blueline. Sarich will add some size too at 6 foot 3 and 210 pounds. I dont know alot about this guy but on tsn.ca, the scouting report on his assets say "Owns a great point shot, thunderous body-checking ability and defensive poise. Has the potential to dominate a game physically."
His flaws though say "Has a tendency to overhandle the puck from time to time. Can also be a little too aggressive at times." So it sounds like his assets shine over his flaws.

There is a report too that our captain Jarome Iginla is close to reaching a long term contract extension with the Flames that could keep him here till the 2011-12 season or 2012-13 season.

More info on Sarich to come and when the deal with Iggy is made official, I'll make a post for it...

Free Agent Frenzy!

Well July 1st is finally here, so happy Canada Day and happy Free Agent Frenzy day. The day has started really slow but there is no doubt it will pick up. I'll keep you posted on signings through out the day....

- Boston Bruins acquired G Manny Fernandez from the Minnesota Wild for LW Peter Kalus and a 4th round draft pick.
- C Joe Thornton re-signed with the San Jose Sharks for 3 years worth 21.6 million dollars
- C Todd White signed with the Atlanta Thrashers for 4 years worth 9.5 million dollars
- D Barret Jackman re-signed with the St.Louis Blues to a 1 year contract worth 2.2 million dollars
- D Ryan Whitney re-signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6 year contract worth 24 million dollars
- LW Richard Zednik and C/LW Brett McLean sign with the Florida Panthers to a two year contract worth 3.25 million dollars and to a 3 year contract worth 5.1 million dollars respectively
- D Tom Poti signed with the Washington Capitals to a 4 year contract worth 14 million dollars
- D Mathieu Schneider signed with the Anaheim Ducks to a 2 year contract worth 11.25 million dollars
- C Daniel Briere signed with the Philadelphia Flyers to a 8 year contract worth 52 million dollars. Briere will get paid 10 million dollars this season.
- D Dick Tarnstrom and D Denis Grebeshkov signed with the Edmonton Oilers to 1 year contracts
- D Brian Rafalski signs with the Detroit Red Wings to a 5 year contract worth 30 million dollars
- C Yanic Perreault signs with the Chicago Blackhawks to a 1 year contract worth 1.5 million dollars
- RW Shawn Thornton signs with the Boston Bruins to a multi-year contract
- RW Radek Dvorak signs with the Florida Panthers to a multi-year contract
- RW Jeff Hamilton signs with the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2 year contract worth 1.6 million dollars
- RW Michel Ouellet signs with the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 2 year contract worth 2.5 million dollars
- F Eric Perrin signs with the Atlanta Thrashers to a 2 year contract worth 1.5 million dollars
- RW Jason Blake signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4 year contract worth 20 million dollars
- Edmonton Oilers acquired D Joni Pitkanen, LW Geoff Sanderson and a 3rd round draft pick from the Philadelphia Flyers for D Jason Smith and RW Joffrey Lupul
- C Scott Gomez signs with the New York Rangers to a 7 year contract worth 51.5 million dollars
- C Chris Drury signs with the New York Rangers to a 5 year contract worth 35.25 million dollars
- C Viktor Kozlov signs with the Washington Capitals to a 2 year contract worth 5 million dollars
- G Dany Sabourin signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2 year contract worth 1.025 million dollars
- D Scott Hannan signs with the Colorado Avalanche to a 4 year contract worth 18 million dollars
- RW Jon Sim signs with the New York Islanders to a 3 year contract
- LW Ryan Smyth signs with the Colorado Avalanche to a 5 year contract worth 31.25 million dollars
- LW Paul Kariya signs with the St.Louis Blues to a 3 year contract worth 18 million dollars
- D Darryl Sydor signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2 year contract worth 5 million dollars
- LW Petr Sykora signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2 year contract

Wow, what a crazy 1st day. Most of the big names have gone but there is still some quality players left out there. The likes of Sheldon Souray, Bill Guerin, Peter Forsberg, Michael Nylander and Brad Stuart are still available.