Forward Rick Nash and the only club he's ever known, the Columbus Blue Jackets agreed to terms on a new long-term contract.
The Jackets signed Nash to an extension that will pay him $62.4 million over the next 8 years. Nash collected 79 points (40 goals, 39 assists) in 78 games last season and helped the Blue Jackets to the post season for the first time in their franchises' young history.
Personally, this is the feel good story of the summer. It's nice to see Nash take the Steve Yzerman route and stay with the club he began with and hopefully finish what he started. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see him in a Rangers jersey, but overall, Nash staying Columbus is good for that community, and if he can help make that club consistently competitive, it will be good for hockey overall.
The Colorado Avalanche dealt winger Ryan Smyth to the Los Angeles Kings today for defencemen Kyle Quincey, Tom Preissing, and 5th round pick.
Great pick-up for LA. Smyth scored 26 goals and 33 assists last year on an Avalanche team that fell off the radar last year and is apparently excited about the possibilities of lining up with a young, up and coming roster of Kings players.
The Kings were onced rumored to be interested in Heatley, but were either turned off by GM Brian Murray's asking price, or the selfishness exhibited by the player over the past month. In any case, I think they made an outstanding move. Smyth is hard working player who produces, and will provide some much needed veteran leadership. The Kings are going to be a good looking club next season.
The Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 last night by way of shootout to clinch their first playoff berth in their club's history. Rick Nash deposited his 39th tally of the year late in the match to tie the game 3-3, and blueliner Fedor Tyutin scored the only goal in the shootout to defeat the Hawks.
The Blue Jackets currently sit 6th in the Western Conference. Congratulations to everyone in Columbus... now put your razors away!
If the Columbus Blue Jacket want to make their franchise's first ever playoff appearance this year, they will need efforts like last night's win over the Dallas Stars.
The Blue Jackets twice gave up the lead to Dallas, including a two goal advantage which the Stars quickly erased in the final moments of the third. Rather than rollover, the Blue Jackets continued to battle and Nash deposited the game winner with 20 seconds left in the extra period.
Recent free agent acquisitions to the Blue Jackets made early contributions to their new club as well. Forward Kristian Huselius scored for Columbus and defenceman Mike Commodore welcomed Sean Avery back to the Western Conference by leveling him during the game.
Quick Shave: How many of you in Washington are cringing after goaltender Jose Theodore performance last night? Theodore was chased during the Atlanta Thrashers 7-4 drubbing of the Washington Capitals. Theodore allowed 4 goals on 17 shots and backup Brent Johnson surrendered three more to complete the route. Caps defenceman Mike Green picked up right where he left off last season depositing a pair of power play goals, but Alexander Ovechkin was held off the scoresheet. Former Caps goaltender Cristobal Huet who left to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks didn't do much better as he allowed 4 goals. The New York Rangers defeated the Blackhawks in their home opener 4-2. Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky scored a goal and added two assists, and free agent defenceman acquisition Wade Redden potted his second goal in two games for the Blueshirts. Goaltender Martin Brodeur got one win closer to Patrick Roy's record (which he will eclipse easliy this season barring injury) as he made 25 saves and helped lift the New Jersey Devils to a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders. Keith Tkachuk deposited a pair of goals to help the the St. Louis Blues easily defeat the Nashville Predators 5-2 in their home opener last night.
Ottawa Senators forward Daniel Alfredsson underwent arthroscopic surgery yesterday to remove bone chips in his right knee. Alftreddson was apparently injured during the second game against the Pittsburgh Penguins and he is expected to miss a few weeks of action.
Game of the Night: NY Rangers at Philadelphia 7:00 PM
There are a ton of great games going on tonight... I'm so glad to have Saturday night hockey back! I'm going homer on this one mostly because I'm curious to see how the Rangers fare against the Eastern Conference semi finalist Philadelphia Flyers this evening... and I'm only interested in the game... not the political nonsense that has everyone and the mother in an uproar! I will definitely be looking at the Red Wings and Senators game, where I expect Detroit to bounce back hard after their home opening loss to the Leafs and I'm curious to see how the retooled Phoenix Coyotes will do this evening against the Blue Jackets.
It's hard to ignore what's going on in Toronto right now. The Toronto Maple Leafs have had an up and down season, somewhat more down than up, and following a year where they missed the playoffs by a single point, every fan, broadcaster, and writer are demanding action.
Unfortunately, for Leafs GM John Ferguson, the finger is being pointed directly at him. Ownership has made no secret they are interviewing candidates to become his replacement. Earlier this week they asked the Phoenix Coyotes for permission to speak with former Leafs GM (1991-1997) Cliff Fletcher about his interest in returning to his post. Clearly, Ferguson is on his way out, it's a matter of when not if. Coach Paul Maurice's position may also be in jeopardy, and his fate could be the same as Ferguson's. Guaging the news in Toronto it really sounds like no one is safe.
The big question is what happens to Mats Sundin. The Leafs captain is having a great season, scoring 51 points (20 goals, 31 assists) and is a +10 in 47 games this season. He is also an unrestricted free-agent at season's end. Will the Leaf's deal him? Sundin will clearly fetch a huge price as a playoff rental if he is dangled before the league prior to the deadline. The Leafs could also re-sign him in the off-season if he chose to return. The hang up with all of this? Sundin has a no-trade clause. Would he be willing to waive it?
Let's say he does. Where will he go? I have to imagine the Leafs would prefer to send him West, to avoid having to face him as an opponent. Sundin would look pretty good centering his countrymen the Sedin twins in Vancouver. He also might be the scoring player Brett Hull is looking for to compliment Mike Modano (if one of them felt like playing wing) in Dallas. As a Red Wing, centering Zetterberg and Datsyuk? The possibilities are endless. February could be a very busy month for the Leafs and the NHL.
Quick Shave:
Anyone see what Rick Nash did last night against the Phoenix Coyotes? He took a bad penalty which allowed the Coyotes to tie the game 3-3 late in the third. Nash however had the opportunity to redeem himself, and scored the game winner (his second of the game) with less than half a minute to go, to give the Columbus Blue Jackets the 4-3 win. The goal itself, well have a look for yourself. Brilliant!
The Carolina Hurricanes have acquired the winger from the Columbus Blue Jackest for a fifth round draft pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. In 53 games with the Blue Jackets, Carter has scored 10 goals and 17 assists.
While Carter isn't having the year he would have liked following his productive 2004-2005 campaign riding alongside the Sedin twins in Vancouver, he is still a decent pickup for the Canes, and especially at that price. His price tag is considerably lower than what St. Louis will be asking for if they trade Bill Guerin and Keith Tkachuk. The Hurricanes were probably looking to plug the hole left by recently injured Erik Cole.
Game of the Night:
Edmonton at Detroit 7:30 PM
Boston at Tampa Bay 8:00 PM
Anaheim at Dallas 8:30 PM
Light night in the NHL, but as we wind things down in the regular season, more and more of these games will become very important....thus Games of the Night...in my opinion. The most important one, is probably the Boston vs. Tampa game. A loss or win, could determine whether the Bruins clean house or stay put prior to Tuesday's trade deadline. Enjoy the games!
The Calgary Flames welcomed back their star forward Jarome Iginla last night and were rewarded. Iginla had missed the Flames last 11 matches due to a knee injury returned last night to face off against the Columbus Blue Jackets and scored a goal and two assists.
The Flames hammered the Blue Jackets 6-2 last night handing them their second loss in a row following a confidence building 4 game winning streak. Craig Conroy recently acquired from the Los Angeles Kings, was reunited with his old linemate and setup Iginla's score in the first period. This is most certainly a taste of things to come as these two are likely to rediscover the chemisty that helped them to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004. If Conroy is available in your leagues, you may want to consider picking him up, as he is certainly going to be picking up quite a few assists riding shotgun with Iginla. I've already seen him snatched up in two of my leagues.
Quick Shave:
The only other game on the night (and game of the night) saw the Detroit Red Wings defeat the St. Louis Blues 5-3. Henrik Zetterberg had a fantasy owner's dream evening scoring a goal and three assists, as did Niklas Lidstrom who had three helpers. Dominik Hasek made 24 saves on the night for the win. Rumors are abound in St. Louis, and it appears the Keith Tkachuk may be on the New York Rangers wish list. There are quite a few players in St. Louis who could be wearing the 'rent-a-player' tag if the Blues don't inch closer to the playoffs by the trade deadline at the end of February. Don't be surprised to see Bill Guerin and Martin Rucinsky added to playoff bound rosters.
Game of the Night:
Buffalo at New Jersey 7:30 PM
I'm curious to see how the Devils will defend a team as well balanced as the Buffalo Sabres. They seem to always have the answer for one line teams (like the Rangers), but how will they play against the best team in the East? Tune in to find out! Enjoy the games!
The Ducks had a healthy 3 goal lead, and backup goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov was roughly 10 minutes away from a shutout victory......and then the wheels came off big time.
Columbus Blue Jackets Rostislav Klesla broke open the scoring midway through the final frame of the game, and then deposited another past Bryzgalov with less than 4 minutes to play. Fredrik Modin tied the score 3-3 less than a minute later, and Manny Malhotra scored the game winner a little over a minute after that! This had to be the most unreal game I've seen this season. The Ducks Teemu Selanne who was honored in a pre-game ceremony for scoring his 500th career goal, and playing his 1000th career game earlier this season was awarded a penalty shot because the Jackets Svitov covered the puck with his hand in the crease with 21 seconds left in the game. It seemed a storybook setup for Selanne, but he was stoned on the opportunity by Columbus goalie Fredrik Norrena. The Jackets stole this one from the Ducks (or the Ducks handed it to them, depending on your point of view) 4-3.
Anaheim has now lost 4 in a row, and the loss of Pronger and Giguere seem to be very apparent. J.S. Giguere has apparently begun skating is planning to return to the lineup next week, which means after tonight's performance, Ilya Bryzgalov will once again become Carlyle's whipping boy.
Quick Shave:
Just up North, the Vancouver Canucks were enjoying a collapse of their own. Petr Sykora tied the game 2-2 from a feed by Petr Nedved on the newly formed Edmonton Oiler's Czech line (Hemsky complete's the trio I believe), and forced overtime. The Canucks however recovered the game and the win on the overtime winner by Matt Cooke, who recorded his second of the game and lifted them to a 3-2 win. Petr Nedved who was plucked from waivers by the Oilers has 2 points in his 2 games with the club. The Pittsburgh Penguins were equal to the task (Doc Emmerick's favorite line) and skated to a 4-2 win over the East's best Buffalo Sabres. Pens goalie Marc Andre Fleury made 31 saves for the win. We made a lot of jokes earlier this season about the Phoenix Coyotes, but maybe we were all a little too early to judge. The Coyotes won their 5th game in a row with a huge come from behind victory over the Atlanta Thrashers 5-4 last night. The Yotes forced overtime and late free agent pickup Yanic Perreault picked up the game winner. Perreault has been huge for the Coyotes this season (and my fantasy team), one wonders if this may get some teams inquiring about Jason Allison who has been working out all season in the hopes of signing with a team. Calgary Flames Jarome Iginla will be out for at least a week after suffering a sprained knee in the loss to the Panthers Thursday night. The Nashville Predators continued Thursday's Goal-fest theme by lighting up the Chicago Blackhawks for 8 goals. Everyone on the Predators scored last night. Chris Mason made 35 saves for the Predators.....Boucher and Khabibulin didn't make any for the Blackhawks.
The Dragons
Huge win for the boys last night as they faced off against their rivals the Scraphawks. Like the Anaheim Ducks the Scraphawks carried a 3-0 lead into the third till Mike Feeney opened the scoring. Jerry Quirk and Mark Giordano tied the game 3-3 (Boshy assisted on Giordano's goal by the way) and forced the shootout. Dragons goaltender and slacks model Jose Alicea stopped all 9 shooters he faced (and battled through a groin pull....and not wearing his dress pants), and Mark Giordano potted the game winner. Nice work fellas!
Game of the Night:
Rangers at Montreal 3:00 PM
New Jersey at Ottawa 3:00 PM
Dallas at Calgary 10:00 PM
A beautiful day for afternoon, early evening and late night hockey. This time of year is great. I believe NBC's coverage begin's this weekend so we should start seeing some early Saturday games, hopefully in high definition (much like my abs....or ab rather). We kick it off with the tri-state teams heading north to do battle with Canada's best and end our buzz with Dallas heading to Calgary. Enjoy the games!
The Columbus Blue Jackets may have stole a win in Columbus the other night over the Red Wings. The Red Wings made sure that wouldn't happen again.
Year in and year out, the Red Wings always manage to ice a competitive team, and this season is no different. Bouncing back from a Monday night 4-3 loss against the same Blue Jackets the Red Wings thundered home a victory. Dominik Hasek who was yanked in Monday's loss, responded with 27 saves for the 73rd shutout of the season.....just kidding, of his career. Dan Cleary scored two early goals for the Wings in the first and that was all they would need to take the victory. However Lidstrom (who also had an assist), Maltby, and Williams also scored to take the 5-0 win, from a much improved Columbus Blue Jackets club. By the way, when did the Blue Jackets pick up Ty Conklin?
Quick Shave: Nashville Predators forward Paul Kariya scored both goals for his team last and backup goalie Chris Mason made 28 saves to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 last night. Martin Havlat recorded the lone tally for the Hawks. Predators forward Jason Arnott is back in the lineup again, so you fantasy owners can take him off IR. He has 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists) and is a +5 in 21 games this season. The Dallas Stars appear to have themselves a case of Devil-itis. They can't score goals anymore. In fairness however, not many teams are scoring against Jean Sebastien Giguere and the Anaheim Ducks this season (except for those Panthers!). Anaheim forward Corey Perry scored a pair, and the Ducks chased Dallas goalie Marty Turco for the 4-1 win last night. The Ottawa Senators are apparently fighting amongst themselves. Literally. Sens forwards Chris Neil and Antoin Vermette had themselves a scrap yesterday during practice. Ottawa has dropped their last five games. Was I right in saying it was too early to get excited about them? Perhaps. The Philadelphia Flyers, have traded center Randy Robitaille to the New York Islanders for Mike York. Pretty good move for the Flyers, and horrible Christmas present for Mike York, who goes from one of the best teams in the East, to quite possibly the worst in the NHL.
Game of the Night:
Buffalo at Nashville 8:00 PM
Even without Tomas Vokoun, the Nashville Predators are still winning. Backup Chris Mason, and the rest of the Preds have done a nice job. Is this the best team in the league that no one talks about or what? The Predators are in 2nd place in the Western Conference, and have a 5 point cushion over the 2nd place Red Wings in the Central. These guys are awesome and no one talks about them. Except for Bosh. Let's give them some love as they face the Eastern Conference best Buffalo Sabres tonight. I'll do you one better. Predators rookie Alexander Radulov will join the HTC and put three past Miller tonight. Done and Done! Enjoy the games!
Add some motivation, a little goal scoring, some netminding, and Ken Hitchcock, and what do you get? Wins! Wins in bunches! Is this a completely different Columbus Blue Jacket team or what?
The Jackets win streak reached the magic number of 5 last night as they defeated Hitch's former team the Dallas Stars 3-1. The victory was their first in Dallas after being owned by the Stars in their home arena the first 10 times they met.
The Blue Jackets once again got solid goaltending from their rookie Fredrik Norrena (I can't bring myself to call him the backup anymore as he may have won himself the starting job from Pascal Leclaire, who was injured during the last game against Ottawa), who made 25 saves on the evening. Forward Anson Carter who signed on with Columbus as a UFA from Vancouver where he was riding the wing with the Sedin twins, had two assists on the evening setting up Dan Fritsche and Jason Chimera.
Columbus still has a way to go before they climb back into the playoff picture but they are slowly approaching the .500 mark and they have now toppled a few formidable teams during their win streak. More than likely, they won't be an opponent that is taken for granted any longer.
Quick Shave:
Hey Hey! The Toronto Maple Leafs won a game! This time it was the Leafs who rebounded from a two goal bankruptcy on a pair of scores by Chad Kilger, to take a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Ottawa Senators barely ended their slide last night by scoring three quick goals (two by Sens forward Jason Spezza) during the second period to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2. Montreal Canadiens former doghouse resident (we'll see about that one) Sergei Samsonov woke up last night after 19 games without a score and delivered two goals against to defeat his former team the Boston Bruins 4-3. The Buffalo Sabres are still the class of the league, and when their opponents commit an error against them, they more often than not capitalize on said mistakes. Last night the New Jersey Devils handed multiple turnovers giftwrapped to Daniel Briere who assisted on all three Sabres scores. The Devils mounted a late third period comeback, but lost the game 3-2. Calgary Flames forward Jarome Iginla is looking like an MVP right now. Iginla had a 4 point evening (2 goals, 2 assists) to help lift the Flames over the Minnesota Wild 5-2 last night. The New York Rangers defeated the bottom dwelling Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 last night to extend their winning streak to four games. The Rangers pulled into a tie with the Devils for first place in the Atlantic Division. Rangers rookie Jarkko Immonen scored a goal and an assist on the evening. The Vancouver Canucks hammered the Phoenix Coyotes 5-1 last night, and spoiled the return of defenceman Ed Jovanovski to his former home arena. Stache's Fantasy Boy (I mean that in the best way possible...no seriously) Joe Pavelski potted two more goals last night for the San Jose Sharks as they defeated their rivals the Los Angeles Kings 3-1.
I'd like to send my best wishes to Phil Kessel and his entire family. Kessel underwent cancer related surgery yesterday. Get well soon Phil!
Game of the Night:
Anaheim at Atlanta 7:00 PM
The Anaheim Ducks continue their so far very successful road trip out East as they visit the Atlanta Thrashers tonight. Atlanta has a commanding lead on the Southeast division and are second only to the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference.
I've decided to begin a little contest here at Playoff Beard. It's pretty simple. Pick the player on the evening to score three goals, and join the NHL Hat Trick Club, and you will recieve a drawing of that player, or a player of your choice, drawn by yours truly. That being said...look for Sidney Crosby to join the HTC against Philadelphia tonight! Enjoy the games my friends.....and put your mother on speaker.
"When a coach gets fired and the slate's clean, it's really on the players. I said before I took the job I thought there was a good spirit. We needed to gain some confidence by getting a couple of wins."
That's what Ken Hitchcock said two days ago....I wonder what he's saying today? Hitchcock who was fired by the Philadelphia Flyers early in the season after they tripped out of the gate, was quickly scooped up by the Columbus Blue Jackets just a few weeks later. The Blue Jackets were a team many thought (including the Bosher) would finally break the post season bubble, but ended up playing way below expectations and losing 15 of their first 20. Ken Hitchcock has found a way to motivate the potential-ladened team and got them believing they can win. And win they have.
Hitchcock obviously painted his face half-blue, charged into the Jackets locker room on horse back, and delivered his best William Wallace speech....the result has been a four game winning streak.
The players thus far credit the new system that Coach Hitchcock has installed, but they have been executing. Especially the goaltenders, specifically Fredrik Norrena. In the recent 4 game winning streak, the Blue Jackets have surrendered only 3 goals, and put 18 past their opponents.
Last night's match against the Ottawa Senators was perhaps their biggest test so far, and the Blue Jackets answered the bell. The Senators offered up 11 power play opportunities and the Blue Jackets cashed in on 5 of them. Jackets star forward Rick Nash potted the opening two goals, and Dan Fritshe added two more as they went on to defeat the Sens 6-2.
Pascal Leclaire who had been riding the bench in favor of upstart Norrena for the past three games, had a solid two periods, turning aside 19 shots before leaving late in the second period with a leg injury. Norrena went on to complete the win. Columbus' next big test comes appropriately against Ken Hitchcock's other former team, the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night, where I'm sure many eyes will be focused. If they keep riding this wave of confidence, there is little doubt this team will climb back into the playoff hunt, and achieve that elusive first post season berth.
Quick Shave: The Chicago Blackhawks got a couple of early Christmas presents. Last night injured forward Martin Havlat returned to lineup this week, and last night scored a goal and assisted on another to help the Hawks to a 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Since returning, in the two games he's played so far, Havlat has 3 goals and 2 assists. The Blackhawks' good news didn't stop there, as they signed unrestricted free agent forward Peter Bondra. Bondra could be in the lineup for Tuesday nights game agains the St. Louis Blues, and sits 2 goals shy of joining the 500 club. The New York Rangers have their first three game winning streak of the season, after shutting down the Florida Panthers 2-1. Kevin Weekes was in net for the blue shirts and made 23 saves on the night. Martin Straka set up both Ranger goals and extended his point scoring streak to 10 games, a career best.
Game of the Night:
Pittsburgh at Washington 7:00 PM
Crosby! Ovechkin! Malkin! Oh my! Tonights game features when rookies clash, and I'm sure will be the premiere game on In the Tent with Clement ! It will be great to see how these two sophmores, and potential rookie of the year match up! Enjoy the games!
Has anyone else noticed that the goaltenders have been putting on a clinic this week? The number of shutouts has been impressive, if not stunning. The new rules instituted a year ago were supposed to produce more offence, but these titans of the crease have had other plans this year. The NHL should considering nominating only goaltenders as the Stars of the Week. Below are a list of the possible candidates.
Just last night, the New Jersey DevilsMartin Brodeur shut down the Philadelphia Flyers, making 28 saves for the 2-0 victory. The shutout was Brodeur's fourth of the season, and the 84th of his career. The win, also tied him with Glen Hall for third place overall on the shutout list.
Edmonton Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson stopped all 22 shots the Dallas Stars fired at him last night, for the 2-0 shutout victory, and the second straight win by way of shutout this week. The shutout was the 21st of his career.
Dallas Stars keeper Marty Turco, also had a pair of shutouts this week. Turco made 25 saves against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night for to lift his team to the 1-0 win, then two nights later blanked the Phoenix Coyotes for the 3-0 shutout win.
The Anaheim Ducks goaltender Jean Sebastien Giguere stopped all 21 Nashville Predator shots he faced on Wednesday night to secure the 4-0 shutout victory for his team. The win was his fourth this season by way of shutout.
The Columbus Blue Jackets backup goalie (although maybe not for much longer), Fredrik Norrena made an amazing 42 saves against the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday night, and helped the Blue Jackets to a 3-0 shutout win. What's more amazing, is that he was coming off of a 21 save, 4-0 shutout performance against the Edmonton Oilers Saturday night.
The Calgary Flames man between the pipes Miikka Kiprusoff made 23 saves against the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes for the 3-0 shutout win. Kiprusoff is tied with Broduer, Giguere, Lehtonen, and Hasek with 4 shutout wins.
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Marc Denis rebounded behind an offensive explosion that his teammates provided, by stopping all 21 shots the Atlanta Thrashers tossed at him, to seal the 8-0 shutout win. The victory had to be a moral one for Denis who has all but lost his job to backup Johan Holmqvist.
Game of the Night:
NY Rangers at Ottawa 3:00 PM
Buffalo at Montreal 7:00 PM
Vancouver at Calgary 10:00 PM
I give you an appetizer, the main course, and some desert. We get ourselves a great early game in the afternoon matchup between the Rangers and Sens, followed by the rematch of a week ago between the Habs and Sabres, where both goaltenders put on a show, but Huet proved to be the winner, and finally a matchup between a Vancouver team that looks like they discovered their offence last night, and a Calgary team that also shutdown the champs a few nights ago. Grab your brew Ha Has and the remote, it's Hockey Night in Canada! May the beard be with you!
Big News! The Columbus Blue Jackets have re-signed right winger Nikolai Zherdev to a three year contract worth $7.5 million. The deal will pay Zherdev $1.75 million the first year, $2.5 million the second, and $3.25 million in the final year.
Zherdev had been threatening, or posturing rather, that if he wasn't signed he would play in Russia for the entirety of the 2006-2007 season. Zherdev's threats did not fall on deaf ears as GM Doug MacLean signed unrestricted forward Anson Carter to a one year deal, in case a deal with Zherdev could not be made. However, in signing the Russian forward, the Blue Jackets now boast one of the strongest first and second lines in the NHL, which includes the likes of Rick Nash, Sergei Federov, Fredrik Modin, Anson Carter and David Vyborny.
It looks like the boys from Columbus won't be shaving in April! Can Rick Nash grow a playoff beard?
Well....close enough. Anson Carter has finally landed! The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed the unrestricted free agent forward to a one year deal worth $2.5 million. The Blue Jackets appear to be resigned to the fact that Nikolai Zherdev will be playing in Russia this season, so they went out and found a suitable replacement. I think Carter is actually and upgrade to Zherdev and should see some solid minutes on a second line with Modin and Brule.
Anson Carter had a career year playing with Vancouver's Sedin twins, and scoring 33 goals. He's been waiting for what he felt was a fair market value price for his services. Although I think he was looking for a multi-year contract, perhaps Carter didn't want to miss any training camp time, which I can only consider a very intelligent move. If he duplicates last season's tallies with the Blue Jackets, and proves it wasn't a fluke, I would expect Carter's multi year deal hopes to be realized.
As Evgeni Malkin has struggled and battled to make his way not only to the United States, but to the NHL and his team the Penguins....Nikolai Zherdev is currently doing quite the opposite.
Zherdev is a restricted free agent who is unsatisfied with the current contract offer he has received from the Columbus Blue Jackets and is bargaining with the threat of playing the entire upcoming season in Russia with Khimik Voskresenk (I believe he was a Klingon Commander of some note). The Blue Jackets have offered Zherdev a 2 year deal worth $3.8 million. Not exactly chump change. Zherdev finished the season with 27 goals and 27 assists. If Zherdev is not signed before the season begins on October 6th he will be lost to Columbus for the year. Lack of talks over the last few weeks are perhaps foreshadowing that is exactly what will happen. It's a shame, because alongside a healthy Rick Nash, this guy could put up some serious numbers. Hell my mother could put up serious numbers playing alongside Nash.
Lightning strike! Trade Modin to Columbus for Denis!
As one great goalie leaves Florida, a few days later another great one takes his place. Marc Denis of the Columbus Blue Jackets has been traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for forward Fredrik Modin and goalie Fredrik Norrena (could we get another Frederik on this away team?).
Marc Denis who shared time with goalie Pascal LeClaire last season, was in a similiar situation to Luongo. Good goalie on a sub-par team. His numbers may not be as good as Luongo's but I think this guy is a terrific pickup for the Lightning. My only wish is that the Blue Jackets had dealt him at the trade deadline last year and helped by Fantasy goaltending numbers.
In Columbus, the Pascal LeClaire era has obviously begun, and the return for Denis in Frederik Modin is an excellent two way forward with some finishing skills (31 goals last year) and an awesome slap shot that could end up complementing Rick Nash. Great deal for both teams.
The San Jose Sharks have acquired forward Ville Niemene from the New York Rangers for a third round pick in the 2006 NHL Draft.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired defenseman Luke Richardson from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a fifth round pick and conditional fourth round pick.
The Los Angeles Kings have acquired forward Mark Parrish and defenceman Brent Sopel from the New York Islanders for defenceman Denis Grebeshkov, and forward Jeff Tambellini and a conditional third round pick.
BREAKING NEWS
Just heard on MSG, that the Colorado Avalanche have traded David Aebischerr to Montreal for Jose Theodore!. More to come on this.
The Capitals are not dressing Brendan Witt this evening. This is almost a certainty that he will be dealt in the coming hours.
Derrick Morris has signed a contract extension with the Phoenix Coyotes.
Forward Rick Nash and the only club he's ever known, the Columbus Blue Jackets agreed to terms on a new long-term contract.
The Colorado Avalanche dealt winger Ryan Smyth to the Los Angeles Kings today for defencemen Kyle Quincey, Tom Preissing, and 5th round pick.
How many of you in Washington are cringing after goaltender Jose Theodore performance last night? Theodore was chased during the Atlanta Thrashers 7-4 drubbing of the Washington Capitals. Theodore allowed 4 goals on 17 shots and backup Brent Johnson surrendered three more to complete the route. Caps defenceman Mike Green picked up right where he left off last season depositing a pair of power play goals, but Alexander Ovechkin was held off the scoresheet. Former Caps goaltender Cristobal Huet who left to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks didn't do much better as he allowed 4 goals. The New York Rangers defeated the Blackhawks in their home opener 4-2. Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky scored a goal and added two assists, and free agent defenceman acquisition Wade Redden potted his second goal in two games for the Blueshirts. Goaltender Martin Brodeur got one win closer to Patrick Roy's record (which he will eclipse easliy this season barring injury) as he made 25 saves and helped lift the New Jersey Devils to a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders. Keith Tkachuk deposited a pair of goals to help the the St. Louis Blues easily defeat the Nashville Predators 5-2 in their home opener last night. 
It's hard to ignore what's going on in Toronto right now. The Toronto Maple Leafs have had an up and down season, somewhat more down than up, and following a year where they missed the playoffs by a single point, every fan, broadcaster, and writer are demanding action.
Anson Carter is changing zip codes once again!
The Calgary Flames welcomed back their star forward Jarome Iginla last night and were rewarded. Iginla had missed the Flames last 11 matches due to a knee injury returned last night to face off against the Columbus Blue Jackets and scored a goal and two assists.
The Ducks had a healthy 3 goal lead, and backup goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov was roughly 10 minutes away from a shutout victory......and then the wheels came off big time.
The Columbus Blue Jackets may have stole a win in Columbus the other night over the Red Wings. The Red Wings made sure that wouldn't happen again. 
Nashville Predators forward Paul Kariya scored both goals for his team last and backup goalie Chris Mason made 28 saves to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 last night. Martin Havlat recorded the lone tally for the Hawks. Predators forward Jason Arnott is back in the lineup again, so you fantasy owners can take him off IR. He has 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists) and is a +5 in 21 games this season. The Dallas Stars appear to have themselves a case of Devil-itis. They can't score goals anymore. In fairness however, not many teams are scoring against Jean Sebastien Giguere and the Anaheim Ducks this season (except for those Panthers!). Anaheim forward Corey Perry scored a pair, and the Ducks chased Dallas goalie Marty Turco for the 4-1 win last night. The Ottawa Senators are apparently fighting amongst themselves. Literally. Sens forwards Chris Neil and Antoin Vermette had themselves a scrap yesterday during practice. Ottawa has dropped their last five games. Was I right in saying it was too early to get excited about them? Perhaps. The Philadelphia Flyers, have traded center Randy Robitaille to the New York Islanders for Mike York. Pretty good move for the Flyers, and horrible Christmas present for Mike York, who goes from one of the best teams in the East, to quite possibly the worst in the NHL.
Quick Shave:
The Chicago Blackhawks got a couple of early Christmas presents. Last night injured forward Martin Havlat returned to lineup this week, and last night scored a goal and assisted on another to help the Hawks to a 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Since returning, in the two games he's played so far, Havlat has 3 goals and 2 assists. The Blackhawks' good news didn't stop there, as they signed unrestricted free agent forward Peter Bondra. Bondra could be in the lineup for Tuesday nights game agains the St. Louis Blues, and sits 2 goals shy of joining the 500 club. The New York Rangers have their first three game winning streak of the season, after shutting down the Florida Panthers 2-1. Kevin Weekes was in net for the blue shirts and made 23 saves on the night. Martin Straka set up both Ranger goals and extended his point scoring streak to 10 games, a career best.
Has anyone else noticed that the goaltenders have been putting on a clinic this week? The number of shutouts has been impressive, if not stunning. The new rules instituted a year ago were supposed to produce more offence, but these titans of the crease have had other plans this year. The NHL should considering nominating only goaltenders as the Stars of the Week. Below are a list of the possible candidates.
Dallas Stars keeper Marty Turco, also had a pair of shutouts this week. Turco made 25 saves against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night for to lift his team to the 1-0 win, then two nights later blanked the Phoenix Coyotes for the 3-0 shutout win.
The Calgary Flames man between the pipes Miikka Kiprusoff made 23 saves against the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes for the 3-0 shutout win. Kiprusoff is tied with Broduer, Giguere, Lehtonen, and Hasek with 4 shutout wins.
