Canucks Sign Henrik and Daniel Sedin to 5-Year Extensions posted by Jeff Ponder

Canuck fans no longer have a reason to panic. 

Vancouver General Manager Mike Gillis announced just before noon on Wednesday that the Canucks and the Sedins finally reached a contract extension.  It is believed to be a five-year extension  that will earn each brother $6.1 million each season. 

The Sedins originally were asking for 12-year contracts from whatever team wanted them, but found the five-year extension to be a fair compromise.  Daniel and Henrik both scored 82 points last season for Vancouver and were a big part of their sweep of St. Louis and 6-game series with Chicago in the playoffs.  The twins amassed 20 points between the two of them in the 10 playoff games.

The twins have been an important part of the Canucks franchise for years.  Vancouver gets a steal with this deal, considering 2/3 of their first line is locked up for 5 years.  Signing them for only $12.2 million a season is not too shabby either.Continue reading "Canucks Sign Henrik and Daniel Sedin ..."

The Red Wings are Beatable posted by Jeff Ponder

The defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings have had a strong playoff year thus far and look to be unbeatable.  There does not seem to be any kinks in the red armor they done on their chests.  The Chicago Blackhawks would not have an argument with that after they lost the opening game of their Western Conference Final series 5-2 on Sunday afternoon.  Detroit seems to be chugging along through the playoffs.  Is there anything that can get in their way to stop them from capturing yet another Stanley Cup?

Chicago has got to be scratching their heads going into Game 2.  The Hawks did a good job shutting down top-liners Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom in Game 1, but they still saw the likes of Johan Franzen, Henrik Zetterberg and Dan Cleary play big roles in the win.  This is the strength of the Detroit Red Wings; production from everyone on the squad.  If Pavel Datsyuk has a bad game, the team looks to the second line to produce, which they usually answer favorably.  Datsyuk has not seen the score sheet in ten games after his team's victory on Sunday, but the rest of his team has compensated in every game.

The Blackhawks must find a way to contain the second line of the Red Wings.  Last game, the Franzen-Zetterberg-Cleary line contributed seven points in the victory, including four of the five goals scored.  How can a team handle the Datsyuk line along with the Franzen line, as well as counter with their own goal scoring throughout one game?

The best defensive pairing must be played against the Franzen line.  Franzen leads the Western Conference in points with 18 in the playoffs this year, and Zetterberg is a close third with 16 points.  Putting Duncan Keith against these three scoring threats is a strong move for Head Coach Joel Quenneville to make.  He did this in Game 1, which means only one thing; Keith has to be better.  Duncan has been claimed throughout the years to be a premier NHL defenseman in the regular season.  He now has to prove that he can be that same stalwart throughout the playoffs.  Every game becomes much more important as the playoff grind continues.
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Goaltender Options for the Flyers - Part 2 posted by Kevin Christmann

Part 2 of this series will include Restricted Free Agent options as well as possible acquisitions via trade.

In Part 1 of this series I covered some of the more realistic Unrestricted Free Agent options for the Flyers in their quest to acquire a starting goaltender. In addition to the Unrestricted Free Agent options, there are several viable Restricted Free Agent options. The benefit of restricted free agents is that they are all young…that is, after all, why they are restricted free agents. They are often times coming off their entry level contracts, and just haven’t played enough seasons to be eligible for unrestricted free agency. The bad part about restricted free agency is that, depending on how much the player is signed for, the team is required to pay some sort of draft pick compensation.

The compensation thresholds are dependent upon the salary cap ceiling for that respective season. Since we don’t know what the salary cap will be set at for next season, the compensation thresholds have not been set either.

Last year’s compensation was as follows:

-at or below $863,812 = no compensation

-$863,813 to $1,307,812 = One 3rd round pick

-$1,307,813 to $2,615,625 = One 2nd round pick

-$2,615,626 to $3,923,437 = One 1st round pick, one 3rd round pick

-$3,923,438 to $5,231,249 = One 1st round pick, one 2nd round pick, one 3rd round pick

-$5,231,250 to $6,539,062 = Two 1st round picks, one 2nd round pick, one 3rd round pick

-$6,539,063 or above = Four 1st round picks

Western Conference Rolls Along! posted by Joshua Tarkoff

I have a confession to make. I love the Canucks. I really have loved them ever since the worst trade in NHL history when my beloved Panthers gave Luongo away for nothing. I know he is great and that team has a ton of fast guys with a lot of talent. For some reason, I really want them to win. What a job they did last night finishing off the Blues. Hey some big time people picked the Blues to win, since they were so hot coming down the stretch. So,no prediction is even needed for Vancouver. All I know is, I do not know of any team that wants to face the Canucks in the 2nd round.

Onto the series that are still going on...Sharks/Ducks. What a series this is. I think this is the best one we have going (no disrespect to NJ/CAR). It is a bit tough in Florida to be able to watch all of this series, but every second that I have seen has been awesome. Huge hits, I mean huge and every goal has been hard fought. I think this series will come down to who makes the least number of mistakes. That was especially true last night. Both teams are solid and the difference is going to be very small. I have to go with SJ here, they did not win President's trophy for nothing. 7 games, but this will take its toll on whoever ends up winning here.

Detroit is quietly doing its championship thing as usual. They really are an amazing organization. For years I know I have thought they were too old, but somehow they keep on doing it. Hossa this year has been a huge add on and he continues to shine in the playoffs. The series with the Bluejackets will not last much longer, although I must give them a hand for making it into the playoffs this year. It is just unfortunate that they ran into Detroit. 

NHL playoff preview and Cards rant posted by Ryan Turner

The Cardinals are off to a great start at 6-3. They had run off five consecutive wins and had a great chance on Tuesday night to make it six in a row, but they squandered a three-run lead, a two-run lead, and a great chance to retake the lead in the top of the ninth. The Cards had the bases loaded with just one out with two runs in, but Tony La Russa opted to pinch hit with Brendan Ryan instead of Ryan Ludwick. Ryan went on to fan at three pitches, only one of which was in the strike zone. Ankiel batted next and looked just as bad striking out. Ludwick never batted and St. Louis went on to lose 7-6 in 10 innings. La Russa's micro-managing has driven me crazy for years, but it's starting to be too much. If it was the sixth inning, I could see saving Ludwick for a critical situation later in the game. But this was the ninth. If Ludwick bats and even just manages a sac fly, the Cards would've taken the lead and been just three outs away from victory. If you have a huge weapon on the bench, you use it at the critical time, right? Well, La Russa doesn't seem to think that's the way to play it. He's always trying to save guys for situations that don't happen because he doesn't get there. He did the same thing in the 2007 All-Star game with the bases juiced and Albert Pujols on the bench. He chose to go with a first timer instead, who went on to make the final out of the game.

The worst part of Tuesday's loss was that Chris Carpenter got injured. It seemed like it would just be a matter of time after the Cardinals' management opted not to sign any starting pitchers as an insurance policy in case Carp or some other starter went down. Brad Penny for $5 million is looking pretty good right now. Even if his injury isn't serious, the Cards still don't have many options in the minors if he has to go on the DL. Carp was scheduled to pitch next on Sunday against the Cubs and they don't have any off days until Monday, so pushing someone back a day that's already in the rotation isn't an option. It's still early in the season, but the Cards can't afford to give the Cubs a head start during the four-game set. If Carpenter misses a lot of a time, this could be another season down the tubes.

Blues-Canucks Series Preview posted by Jeff Ponder

After a 27-11-7 run spanning through the 2009 calendar year, the Blues did the unthinkable and snuck into the NHL playoffs.  They will take on the third-seeded Vancouver Canucks when they open the series in Vancouver on Wednesday.  After a 2-2-0 record against the Canucks this season, how will the Blues fair in this 2003 Quarterfinal rematch?

The last time that these two teams met in the playoffs, St. Louis jumped on a 3-1 series lead, led by veteran defenseman Al MacInnis and Calder Trophy winner Barret Jackman.  But the Blues saw their playoff hopes end in a horrible downward spiral, when they lost three straight to Canucks captain Markus Naslund (who recorded 14 points in 14 playoff games that post-season) and the rest of the Vancouver crew.  The only player that truly showed up for St. Louis was veteran center Doug Weight, who scored thirteen points in the seven game series.  

But six years later, the Blues are hoping for a better end result.  

The Blues’ astonishing end to the season drew a lot of attention their way:  “Nobody wants to play them,” stated Doug Stolhand of PuckPodcast.com during his weekly podcast.  Andy Strickland of HockeyBuzz.com also feels confident about this team: “Offensively this team can score. All four lines can play in the offensive end. They forecheck and apply pressure on the puck.”

The real story in St. Louis has been the play of Chris Mason, who took over the number one job when Manny Legace was sent to Peoria in early February.  Since that time, the Blues have gone an uncanny 20-7-4, all the while with Mason starting every single game.  
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A Sweet-ish Beginning Marks a Not So Sweet-ish End posted by F

Swedish rookie sensation Alexander Edler has recently adopted the nickname “Mini-Ohlie” courtesy of his teammates in Vancouver. They claim that Edler’s play on the ice coupled with his demeanor off it, are indistinguishable to that of Mattias Ohlund, thus the nickname “Mini Ohlie.” But putting aside their uncanny equal height and weight of 6’3” and 220 Ibs, their similar birthplaces in small municipalities of Sweden (Östersund for Edler and Piteå for Ohlund) and their interchangeable Swedish accents which stress the letter “s,” Alexander Edler and Mattias Ohlund are no more alike than Sidney Crosby and Donald Brashear.

Alexander Edler displays maturity far beyond his fresh age of 21, and has a calming effect on not only his teammates, but also the fans whenever he touches the puck. Edler’s composure and excellent ability to read the ice, ala Nicklas Lidstrom, allows him to constantly make the right plays as he seldom finds himself out of position. If Edler keeps up his consistent play from the back end, the Calder Trophy (awarded to the league’s most outstanding rookie) should be a distinct possibility.

Ohlund on the other hand, causes sheer panic in the hearts and minds of Canucks fans whenever he’s on the ice, not only because of his inability to handle the puck, but also because of his apparent lack of mobility in the “New NHL.” Furthermore, Ohlund is following in the footsteps of former Canuck Todd Bertuzzi seeing that he continues to take “stupid penalties” night after night.

It’s fairly clear to anyone who even pays the slightest attention to the Vancouver Canucks that Ohlund’s best days are in the past, so it’s about time that the Canucks cut their losses before the rest of the league takes notice and while Ohlund still has a considerable amount of value. The Canucks have apparently been looking for options to solve their scoring woes; a one for one swap for Justin Williams or Erik Cole from the Carolina Hurricanes doesn’t look too shabby at the moment.
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D Ohlund joins Tampa for 7 years, $24.5M (AP)

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Canucks sign Sedin twins to five-year deals

Daniel and Henrik Sedin have agreed to five-year contract extensions with the Vancouver Canucks less than an hour before the start of free agency.The Canucks gave the twins matching $30.5 million deals, keeping them with the team that drafted them second and third overall in 1999.The Sedins have led the Canucks in scoring for the last three seasons, averaging close to a point a game over that time, including 82 points each last season. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for NHL

Ex-Canucks D Ohlund signs with Lightning (AP)

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Canucks sign Sedin twins to 5-year deals (AP)

Daniel and Henrik Sedin have agreed to five-year contract extensions with the Vancouver Canucks less than an hour before the start of free agency. The Canucks gave the identical twins matching $30.5 million deals, keeping them with the team that drafted them second and third overall in 1999. "We said from Day One we always wanted to stay and that was our main option, but the longer it took we... [read full article]

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Stars hire Marc Crawford as coach (AP)

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