The Chicago Blackhawks placed goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin on waivers today.

Khabibulin appeared to be the goalie on the way out after the Blackhawks made a surprising dip into the free agent pool and signed UFA keeper Cristobal Huet to a 4 year deal worth $22.5 million. Khabibulin was on the final year of a 4 year deal worth $27 million.

The Blackhawks are believed to working on a trade for the Khabibulin but his high salary makes moving him difficult, if not impossible.

The Pittsburgh Penguins got some rough news today (as did NHL Fantasy Managers) when they announced that the club would be without star defenceman Sergei Gonchar for 4-6 months. Gonchar will undergo surgery to repair his left shoulder. Gonchar was injured during the a pre-season game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Penguins also lost defenceman Ryan Whitney till December with a foot injury.

The Anaheim Ducks re-signed forward Teemu Selanne to a two year deal worth $5.25 million this week, just days after clearing cap space by trading defenceman Matthieu Schneider to the Atlanta Thrashers.

Selanne sat out more than half the season last year as he contemplated retirement, but with 26 games remaining chose to return to action.

Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh

Posted by captbosh at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

While it took a week longer than I expected, Anaheim Ducks defenceman Mathieu Schneider finally has a new home.

Last week Schneider was waived by the Anaheim Ducks in an effort to clear much need salary cap space. After clearing waivers, and then again re-entry waivers, Schneider was back with the Ducks, or in limbo rather as he agreed not to report to camp while Ducks GM negotiated a trade for the defenceman.

The Ducks traded Schneider to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for defenceman Ken Klee, and forwards Brad Larsen, and Chad Painchaud. The deal clears a little over $3 million in salary cap space for Burke and the Ducks.

This is the second time this summer Burke has had to deal with salary cap problems. The Ducks bought out the contract of forward Todd Bertuzzi earlier during the off-season.

Pre-Season is in full swing. I'm not sure how it is around the rest of the league, but the New York Rangers have been televising every game, and since Saturday, there has been one a night (which has left the players a little worn out, judging by their play last night), which has been a great teaser for the upcoming season. Nice to see some of the young guns on the Rangers battle for roster spots, as well as watch Tampa's new young stud Steve Stamkos showcase his goods (he showed first hand why he was drafted #1 by cranking a beautiful shot in their first meeting).

Hopefully all of you Fantasy GMs have your rosters fine tuned for the upcoming season!

Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh

Posted by captbosh at 06:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Hey gang! We have a few spots left for anyone else who'd like to join the PlayoffBeard.com Fantasy Hockey League. The draft is this Sunday night, September 21, at 9:15pm EDT. If you are interested here's the league info:

League ID#: 27719
Password: playoffbeard

If you have any trouble signing up, drop me an email at pat@patdavid.com. Hope to see everyone on the ice! Virtually speaking of course.

Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh

Posted by captbosh at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It’s that time of year again - the Florida Panthers kick off the season on October 11th against Atlanta at 7 p.m. We’d love to see a post of this on your site if you’re interested.

To get fans properly pumped up, the Panthers launched the Countdown to Opening Night driven by Hyundai on September 10th. It started off with a surprise guest appearance by head coach Peter DeBoer on Sports Talk 790 The Ticket with Sid Rosenberg.

If you missed that appearance though – don’t worry. The next month is absolutely packed with community, promotional, radio and television appearances leading up to the season opener. It will be highlighted by four exclusive invitation-only season seat owner parties that will take place at Mayors, North America’s leading luxury brand and manufacturer of fine jewelry, where fans will have the chance to meet Panthers players and enter and win prize packages worth over $2,000!

For a FULL list of events, please view the official press release below. This info can also be found at www.floridapanthers.com.

Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh

Posted by captbosh at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Unable to find a suitable trading partner, the Anaheim Ducks waived defenceman Mathieu Schneider yesterday.

Schneider was rumored to be on the trade block for a good part of the summer as a solution to clear cap space for the Ducks so they could re-sign forward Teemu Selanne. The Ducks are loaded with defencemen and Schneider was unfortunately the odd man out. He will likely find a new home by the end of the week.

Your friend on ice,

Captain Bosh

Posted by captbosh at 07:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Montreal Canadiens acquired forward Robert Lang from the Chicago Blackhawks today in exchange for a second round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

The pick up of Robert Lang means that Mats Sundin will unlikely be wearing a Canadiens jersey this year. When asked if the Canadiens had moved on and that Sundin would not be a part of their future plans, General Manager Bob Gainey said yes.

The Rangers have also been rumored to have informed Sundin that he has until next Tuesday to make up his mind, otherwise they also will be moving on.

Back to Lang... in him, the Habs acquired a veteran forward who collected 54 points (21 goals, 33 assists) through 76 games with the Chicago Blackhawks last year. Lang should help bolster a young Canadiens team with both leadership as well as production.... and he's excited to join the Habs.

The Carolina Hurricanes signed their super star forward Eric Staal yesterday to a monster long-term deal worth $57.5 million. The new contract will pay him an average of $8.25 million a year over the next 7 years. Staal is in the final year of his deal and would have been an unrestricted free agent this summer. He recorded 38 goals and 44 assists last season.

Speaking of unrestricted free agents... next summer their will be a few on the market worth looking at... more so for Fantasy Hockey Managers. It's no fluke that players in the final year of their contracts tend to play just a little bit harder in order to cash in over the summer. Those performances allow we the Fantasy GM's to be the beneficiaries. So here's a few worth looking at:

Marian Gaborik. The Minnesota Wild are desperate to re-sign him, but I've heard rumors that he has no desire to play there anymore. Even though his production is solid, I think he feels stifled by Coach Jacques Lemaire's defense first system. Regardless of what style he plays, look for him to play lights out this year, and if he hasn't been extended by February, I wouldn't be surprised to see him traded at the deadline.

Marian Hossa. Hossa went to Detroit to win a Stanley Cup. He took a modest one year deal at $7.5 million (in contrast to the long term deals that were apparently floating around in the $10 million range) in order to come to Detroit and compete for a Cup. Hossa is banking on his skill, and club to not only land him a championship, but a ridiculous contract this summer. Don't be shocked if he is playing for his 4th club in two years by July, and it should be no surprise whatsoever that he is going to post huge numbers this year.

Henrik Zetterberg. I'm sure Detroit will re-sign him, and there's a chance he could be extended prior to the season opener, but what if they don't? What if he's imagining what he would be worth on the open market? Imagine if Zetterberg decides to test free agency come July? All that being said, imagine the season he's going to have. Regardless, signed or not, this guy is awesome.

Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh

Posted by captbosh at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The Toronto Maple Leafs finally traded defenceman Bryan McCabe to the Florida Panthers yesterday following a month of rumors that had the high-priced blueliner destined to be moved there.

The Panthers were reportedly waiting to make the deal official until the 1st of September, after McCabe was payed a bonus of $2 million by the Leafs... money they had no desire to be responsible for.

In exchange for McCabe, the Leafs recieve defenceman Mike Van Ryn and a 4th round pick in 2010.

Moving McCabe is perhaps the final cap on the roster-gutting interim GM Cliff Fletcher was brought in to oversee. The 2008-2009 Toronto Maple Leafs will look very different from the squad that was iced last season.

Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh

Posted by captbosh at 07:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)