I'm Back!

Well just getting back from my 2 weeks of holidays in Idaho were you couldn't find a hockey headline if your life depended on it, I find out that i have missed a few big hockey headlines. I did hear about some of them including the Oilers signing of RW Dustin Penner from a phone message from my mom but not the details of them. My buddy Will12 was still here in Calgary trying to keep the blog updated the best he could till he had trouble signing in while me and a.zimm were wake boarding and sitting on the beach checking out some hot women and enjoying the hot sun rays.

The Penner signing came to a shock to me. I didn't hear the details of the contract till today and the amount of money the Oilers signed him for is ridiculous and the draft picks they had to give up for just to sign him. In my opinion, this is just another dumb move by the Oilers genius GM Kevin Lowe. Penner will not save the Oiler franchise, he is not a 1st line player and is not worth 4+ million a season. Penner will likely play on the 1st line with Ales Hemsky and Shawn Horcoff. Penner and Hemsky could be a lethal duo but like I said COULD BE. Penner did score 29 goals and 45 points last season and has tons of potential but 45 point players aren't worth 4+ million a season. I dont blame Brian Burke and the Ducks organization for not matching the Oilers offer, I would take Penner on my hockey team but not for that amount of money. The Ducks still have prospect RW Bobby Ryan who could very well take the place of Dustin Penner in the future especially since they are similar type players. The Ducks also could take advantage of the three 2008 draft picks they acquired form the Oilers especially the 1st round pick since the signing of Dustin Penner will not make the Oilers anymore competitive this year. This signing just adds to the other questionable signing the Oilers made this offseason including the signing of D Sheldon Souray. I wonder what the Oilers fans and the Oilers organization will do if they do finish last in the league and loose the 1st overall pick to the Ducks, I doubt Kevin Lowe thought about that.

Some other news around the league included the Canadiens signing D Patrice Brisebois to a contract, why they would do this I have no idea. I'm pretty sure Brisebois isn't a good defensemen anymore and the Canadiens should let young guys like Josh Gorges and Mark Streit develop, but the Canadiens have always seemed to make weird decisions including to overpay D Roman Hamrlik earlier this summer.

And finally LW Martin Gelinas, the beloved finisher with the Flames signed with the Nashville Predators. I think this is a good signing for the Preds, he will bring some leadership to a team that still has a lot of talent and still has a very good chance to make the playoffs next year.