NHL: Free Agency, Trade, Injury, and Rookie News!

Hejduk has surgery, out 4-5 weeks

Sports Ticker

9/20/2005 10:51:48 AM

DENVER (Ticker) - The Colorado Avalanche will be without Milan Hejduk for the start of the 2005-06 season.

The All-Star right wing underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Tuesday and will be sidelined four to five weeks.

"After further examination, the procedure was necessary in order to eliminate the pain he was experiencing in his knee," Avalanche trainer Matt Sokolowski said. "The procedure went really well and a full recovery is expected."

The NHL season begins on October 5 and the Avalanche hope that Hejduk will be able to return by October 16.

"It's early in the preseason and it was the ideal time for Milan to get this taken care of," Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. "He'll be fully recovered in a few weeks and ready to embark on a long regular season."

The Avalanche re-signed Hejduk last month to a five-year contract worth $19.5 million.

Hejduk, 29, has eclipsed the 30-goal plateau four times in his six-year NHL career with Colorado, scoring 36 in 1999-00, 41 in 2000-01, a league-leading 50 in 2002-03 and 35 in 2003-04.

Last season during the NHL lockout, Hejduk played in 48 games with Pardubice HC in the Czech Elite League and recorded 25 goals and 26 assists. He represented the Czech Republic at the Olympics in 1998, when it won the gold medal, and in 2002 as well as the World Cup of Hockey in 2004.

A two-time All-Star, Hejduk shared the plus-minus award with former teammate Peter Forsberg at plus 52 in 2002-03, when he also won the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league's top goal scorer.

In the 2001 playoffs, Hejduk led the team with 16 assists in 23 games as the Avalanche won their second Stanley Cup title.
 

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Holland relieved about Datsyuk return

Canadian Press

9/20/2005 11:40:07 AM

Suddenly the Detroit Red Wings feel a whole lot better about their chances this season after getting star centre Pavel Datsyuk back into the fold.

For GM Ken Holland, it was a tortuous month of negotiations and a roller-coaster of emotions before finally plucking the silky smooth playmaker out of Russia.

"I spoke to Pavel this morning," Holland said Tuesday from Detroit. "It's all confirmed. He's coming back. We certainly feel like we've won the lottery."

Datsyuk, a restricted free agent, agreed to a two-year deal worth a little more than $3.8 million US a season. It ends a bizarre soap opera that had many twists and turns, including two clubs in Russia fighting over his rights and also offering a multi-million dollar contract.

"Until you're walking in a man's shoes, you don't know what factors into his decisions," Holland said. "In the end, looking at this in hindsight, he had a tremendous offer there. He's a great Russian player who was pursued very hard and I'm sure it was a difficult decision for him.

"But in talking to him today, he told me he was very, very happy to be coming back to Detroit."

Credit Holland for doggedly pursuing his man even when it looked nearly impossible to get him back. He stayed in daily contact with agent Gary Greenstin and never gave up. And he may have also caught a break when Russian politics entered the picture.

Datsyuk signed a contract with Avangard Omsk earlier this month, but it was then matched by Moscow Dynamo, the team that Datsyuk played with during the lockout last year. Omsk then fought for Datsyuk's rights and the matter had yet to be heard in arbitration before Datsyuk finally decided enough was enough and he was headed back to the NHL.

"I think it was Sunday, Sept. 4, when I got the news late at night that Pavel had signed with a team in Russia," Holland said. "I stayed in constant communication with his agent in Russia. Gary was upfront throughout all this.

"Early on it looked like Pavel would stay in Russia and over the course of a couple of weeks, because of circumstances over in Russia, I think it became a possibility that Pavel would return to the NHL."

Holland, who expected Datsyuk in Detroit as early as Saturday and as late as Monday, can now breathe a sign of relief - his plan worked out. He chopped down his payroll and released good players in order to make room for the two star restricted free agents he desperately needed back.

"We made a decision to buy out some players, (Darren) McCarty, (Derian) Hatcher and (Ray) Whitney, and also made a decision not to re-sign Mathieu Dandenault - who we made an offer to but could only go so far - so a big part was to free up money in the hopes of being able to re-sign Henrik (Zetterberg) and Pavel," Holland said.

"And thank goodness it's worked out because it certainly wasn't looking very promising 10 days ago."

Zetterberg signed a $10.6-million, four-year deal Sept. 7, a deal worth $2.65 million a season.

In Datsyuk, the Wings solidify their depth at centre along with Steve Yzerman, 40, Kris Draper, 34, and Robert Lang, 34. And they get a more developed Datsyuk.

"When he last played here two seasons ago, he had 30 goals and close to 70 points, and he was 24 years of age," Holland said. "Now he's two years older. He had a great year last season helping Dynamo win the Russian championship and also had a great world championship.

"He's going to face a little more attention from other teams this season but certainly he gives our team a different look."

Datsyuk, who turned 27 in July, had a breakthrough season in 2003-04, his third in the NHL. He tied for the team lead in scoring with 30 goals and 38 assists. He has 154 career points (53-101) in 209 regular-season games - all with Detroit.
 

Btw...

One of the reports I saw on TV today was that the New Jersey Devils must eliminate aroud $1.7 million US from their payroll by October 1st or start forfeiting games. (Don't quote me on that "exact number", however.) They have 10 days! :eek:

Welcome to the New NHL! :p

I wonder who's going to be traded to make room under the cap. Opinions? Remember that Patrik Elias' contract doesn't count because he's on the injured reserve list. Here's the Club Payrolls blurb from the CBA FAQ on the NHL's Website...

CLUB PAYROLLS

What will be the range of Club payrolls?

The payroll range in Year One (2005-06) of the CBA will be $21.5 million (U.S.) at the lower limit and $39 million (U.S.) at the upper limit. A Club's payroll will include all salaries, signing bonuses and performance bonuses paid to players. Except in the case of bona fide long-term injury (injuries that sideline a player for a minimum of 24 days and 10 games) to one or more of a club's players, Club payrolls will never be permitted to be below the minimum or in excess of the maximum. Clubs at or near the upper limit that have players who incur a bona fide long-term injury will be entitled to replace up to the full value of the injured player's NHL salary (even if such salary would result in the club's team salary exceeding the upper limit). The "replacement salary" will not count against the club's upper limit but will count against the League-wide players' share. Upon return of the injured player, the team must come into immediate compliance with the requirements of the payroll range.
Click to expand...

Besides the New Jersey Devils (43.75 M.), the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim ($35.9 M.), Colorado Avalanche ($38.3 M.) Dallas Stars ($36.7 M.), New York Islanders ($38.45 M.), Tampa Bay Lightning ($37.6 M.), Toronto Maple Leafs ($39.7 M.), and Vancouver Canucks ($38.54) are all members of the "Over $35 Million US Salary Club".

The Avs, Isles, Leaf, and 'Nucks are in the most trouble salary wise. And if the Leafs don't get a favorable result in the Owen Nolan contract dispute then they're going to be behind the eight ball, salary wise. (Nolan's contract would cost the Leafs $5,627,000 million US this year.)

BTW, the Washington Capitals ($17.9 M.) aren't even at the league minimum of $21.5 million US. However, 9 of the teams 24 salaries are undisclosed, so they might be fine.

KF72
 
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I'd say they deal Madden and a d-man, and it'll have to be for draft picks or prospects, yikes.

Leafs are over by 700k, too, without Nolan. How can they sign any of those old guys they invited?
 

(Hope I'm not stepping on your toes here, KF72, but this is good news, thought I'd share)

Scoring up slightly with new NHL rules

TSN.ca Staff

9/20/2005 3:43:55 PM

It's early, but it seems that the NHL's rule changes are starting to produce the results the league hoped for - more goals and a faster pace - and most people in hockey circles seem to be happy with the pre-season product.

Through the first 16 pre-season games, there were 101 goals scored - an average of 6.3 per game. That's up from 5.8 goals per game in the first 16 pre-season games in 2003.

The main reason for the increase would seem to be the number of powerplays being awarded. Through the first 16 games, there have been 306 powerplays - just over 19 per game. The average in the 2003-04 regular season was 8.48 man advantages per game.

One glaring example was Friday night, when Phoenix and Minnesota combined for 22 penalties in a 3-2 win for the Coyotes. All five goals were scored with the man advantage.

Other games have featured even more powerplays. Montreal and Atlanta were whistled for 32 penalties on Sunday, a day after Los Angeles and Anaheim totalled 36 fouls.

As you might expect, at least one goaltender wasn't too happy.

"A whole year on the power play? This is what we're going to get?" Ducks goalie Ilya Bryzgalov wondered in the Los Angeles Times. "A goals-against average of 3.5, and that will be the leader."

Officials have been cracking down hard on obstruction, just as the league wants.

"If you put a stick on a guy, you're going to get called," Stars' defenseman Stephane Robidas told the Dallas Morning News. "They're serious about it right now."

Whether the officials keep it up remains to be seen, but Stephen Walkom, the NHL's new director of officiating says the new rules will stick because officials, players, general managers and coaches worked together in designing the new structure.

"This is a new standard of enforcement on existing rules," Walkom told the Detroit News. "The cliché 'obstruction' is no longer anywhere in the rulebook. We're just focusing on what needs to be improved in the game to create more offense and more offensive opportunities in the game.

"Every player is going to have a choice: to commit the foul or not to commit the foul. I'm not going to predict how many penalties there are going to be. All I'm going to predict is that our guys collectively are going to go out there and call the standard as they are directed to do."

That being said, there are reports that some GMs have already been complaining to NHL executive vice president Colin Campbell about the number of pre-season penalties. Unlike in the past, however, Campbell says he won't tolerate these complaints.

"It's going to be like: 'Enough is enough. Shut up,'" Campbell told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "We've been directed to do this by everybody, and a lot of those everybodys are the same people who have complained before when penalties were called too much.

"But this time, because of the lockout, we had the whole year to sink our teeth into it. We discussed it with players, coaches, refs and managers, and this was (the edict) to come down."

With that understood, players are starting to realize that, ultimately, it will be up to them to change their habits and stay out of the penalty box.

"As a defenseman, you have to change everything you were ever taught," Stars defenseman Philippe Boucher told the Dallas News. "You front a player in front of the net and try to check his stick. You play 5-on-5 almost like it's a penalty kill, where you think twice about going to the corner and then hustle back."

Some admitted that old habits will be tough to break.

"Especially in Canada, we've been learning that since we were 5 years old," Kings forward Derek Armstrong told the Times. "It's going to be a big change for a lot of people. But if it betters the game, then the changes will be good."

"You have to be fast now," noted Capitals forward Jeff Halpern to the Washington Times. "You used to be able to get by with hooking and holding. Not now. You can't wrap guys up the way it was in the past."

Minnesota GM Doug Risebrough agreed that the new rules created a faster pace - which some players are struggling to match.

"I'd say we had six penalties Friday, and if those players are still making those same penalties in four or five games, they probably can't play in the league," Risebrough told the Star Tribune.

Detroit goaltender Manny Legace agreed that the pace created by the new rules made for a very different game.

"I don't like some of the things, but it's going to free up a lot of opportunities to score," Legace said to the Detroit Free Press. "A fast-paced game -- I thought it was a really fast-paced game."

How fast is fast?

"This was the fastest exhibition game I've ever seen," Sharks coach Ron Wilson told the Mercury News after a 4-3 win over Los Angeles on Sunday. "It was faster than some regular-season and even some playoff games. That doesn't always translate into goals, but the transition, the up and back, is fun."

Capitals GM George McPhee told the Washington Times he was happy with the new on-ice product.

"Overall, I think all the things that have been done to the game are good for the game," McPhee said. "It just looks better.

"It's nice to see that players who know how to play the game will be able to excel."
 


NHL Transactions for Tuesday, September 20th

New York Rangers - Agreed to terms with defenceman Marc Staal.

St. Louis Blues - Released prospect right winger Jonathan Michel Boutin.

Vancouver Canucks - Re-signed restricted free agent winger Matt Cooke to a three-year contract.
 
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Hockey Hearsay: York off to Europe

Sportsnet.ca

September 21 @ 8:40 AM

Unrestricted free agent Jason York has decided to play in Europe.

According to the Ottawa Sun, the former Senator will play hockey in Switzerland with an out clause in his contract should an NHL team require his services at a later date. He has been skating with the OHL's 67's for the time being.

"I thought it was the best option for me. I enjoyed skating with the 67's, but I have to get back in playing shape. If an NHL team needs a defenceman then I'll be ready to go if they want me," York told the Sun.
 

Former Leaf, Canuck Darby Hendrickson signs with Austrian team

Sportsnet.ca

September 21 @ 10:08, EST

VIENNA (AP) - Center Darby Hendrickson has joined Red Bulls Salzburg of the Austrian hockey league on a two-year contract.

Hendrickson, who played in the NHL for Toronto, Vancouver, Minnesota, Colorado and the Islanders, joined late Tuesday before the close of the transfer window.

The club announced the deal Wednesday.

In 12 NHL seasons, Hendrickson had 65 goals and 64 assists in 518 games. The 33-year-old has also played 46 times for the United States.

"I don't know much about the Austrian league, but I played against some of my future teammates at the '99 worlds," Hendrickson said. "We beat them 5-2, but it was tough."

Hendrickson will fly to Salzburg on Thursday from Latvian capital Riga, where he played for HK Riga 2000 during the NHL lockout.

Salzburg-based energy drink tycoon Dietrich Mateschitz, who also owns a Formula One team and soccer club SV Salzburg, has taken over the local hockey club and promised to make it a top European contender within the next few seasons.

Last year, Salzburg finished at the bottom of Austria's seven-team top league.
 

NHL Notes: Lecavalier considered Habs

Canadian Press

9/21/2005 1:14:37 PM

MONTREAL (CP) - Lightning star centre Vincent Lecavalier admits he briefly thought about joining the Montreal Canadiens.

Lecavalier told the St. Petersburg Times that he had it all worked out one day this summer but then changed his mind. He was going to sign a one-year deal with the Lightning in order to become an unrestricted free agent and then sign with the Habs next July.

"For a day, I really thought about it - what would it be like?," Lecavalier said. "That night I slept and I woke up and I thought: you know what? I want to be in Tampa."

Added Lecavalier: "I like Montreal and it would be very special but my heart is in Tampa."

Lecavalier signed a $27.5-million US, four-year contract with Tampa on Aug. 16.

LOS ANGELES (CP) - Kings veteran Luc Robitaille and his wife Stacia have opened their home to two families who were left homeless by hurricane Katrina.

The families, one from New Orleans and the other from Mississippi, have moved into the Robitaille's second home near Park City, Utah. They will be relocated to an area of their choice with the help of Shelter for Serenity, a hurricane relief project started by the Robitailles.

"This is something I had to do after seeing all the devastation," Robitaille told the Los Angeles Times. "If I was out of hockey and nobody remembered my name, I'd be doing this. If my name can help people in some way now, then that's even better."

WASHINGTON (CP) - Capitals forward Alexander Semin has not reported to Washington despite being under contract and GM George McPhee is not pleased.

McPhee said three weeks ago he had been assured by Semin's representatives that the 21-year-old Russian would arrive in time for training camp, which began Sept. 12. He didn't show up, claiming trouble securing a visa.

Semin has also played a game with Lada Togliatti of the Russian elite league.

"We are frustrated and disappointed by what has transpired," McPhee told the Washington Post. "Through no fault of the (Capitals), we've done all the right things. This is a really talented player who should be here. I'm not sure where it's going to go."

Added McPhee: "At this point, he is in violation of his contract. We are going to be as aggressive as we can to remedy this."

ATLANTA (CP) - Thrashers rookie goalie Kari Lehtonen will not play this week as he continues to recover from a groin injury.

Lehtonen, 21, said he is not worried about being ready to start the season on Oct. 5, even though it's likely he will play one full pre-season game at most.

"I know I'll be ready," he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "We'll see how long it takes now. When I feel ready, I'll play some games."

HAMILTON (CP) - Defenceman Hal Gill is not on the trade block according to Bruins general manager Mike O'Connell.

Reports last week said the Bruins were going to trade Gill in order to make room under the salary cap to re-sign defenceman Nick Boynton.

"There's no truth to that whatsoever," O'Connell told the Boston Globe.

Gill said he heard the rumours but didn't put much stock in them after speaking with O'Connell.

"I talked to him and he said not to worry about it, so I won't worry about it," said Gill. "This is a funny game where if something happens and they can't turn it down, then they're going to deal me. If you can't sign a guy, do you trade someone to make room for him? We don't know how that's all going to pan out."

COLUMBUS, Ohio (CP) - Pascal Leclaire has looked good so far as he battles Martin Prusek for the backup job behind Columbus Blue Jackets starter Marc Denis.

"(Leclaire) is having a great camp," Blue Jackets goaltending coach Rick Wamsley told the Columbus Dispatch.

Leclaire, picked eighth overall in 2001, battled injuries last year in the AHL and that's why the Jackets signed Prusek as insurance this summer.

"I think (Leclaire) wasn't real happy about that, but he's a good kid and didn't say anything," Wamsley said. "He's letting his play do the talking in camp. And I hope it keeps talking."

Said Leclaire: "The bosses make the decisions and all I can do is go out and play well, improve every day and show I'm ready to play."

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CP) - Mikko Koivu appears poised to join his older brother in the NHL.

The 22-year-old Minnesota Wild prospect just doesn't want to be compared with his famous Montreal Canadiens brother Saku.

"I just don't want everybody to think I'm him," Mikko told the (Minneapolis) Star-Tribune. "We both have our own lives, our own careers. He helps me a lot. We're close to each other. We talk about many things other than hockey. But we're different, too."

At 6-3, 205 pounds, Mikko stands five inches taller and weighs 25 pounds more than Saku. Style-wise, Saku is more of a playmaker and has a lot more speed, while Mikko has the ability to use his size to create chances and play a two-way game.

"We both want to win a lot. That's the biggest thing about our game that's similar," Mikko said.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CP) - Minnesota Wild prospect Patrick O'Sullivan is out at least two weeks with a separated right shoulder.

O'Sullivan, the Wild's 2003 second-round pick, was a long shot to make the team. But he was hoping to make a lasting impression in his first professional season.

"I thought I was having a good camp, so it's disappointing for sure," O'Sullivan told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

O'Sullivan was injured at practice Monday when Riley Emmerson fell into him along the boards. O'Sullivan suffered a first-degree separation, the least serious diagnosis.

O'Sullivan is in a sling and will not be ready for the Houston Aeros AHL training camp, which starts Sunday.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CP) - Alexander Mogilny has been reunited on a line with Scott Gomez, a combination that worked well for the New Jersey Devils in years past.

"There's still chemistry there," Mogilny, a free-agent signing, told the New York Post. "And in hockey that's the most important thing."

GLENDALE, Ariz. (CP) - Kings centre Jeremy Roenick got to the rink early Tuesday morning to watch Wayne Gretzky lead the Coyotes through their pre-game skate Tuesday morning.

"It's definitely interesting," Roenick told the Arizona Republic. "He brings that aura and that sense of 'wow' to a rink regardless if there's nobody in it and it's just the team skating. Just his presence is awe-inspiring. And that's something that our league needs right now."

Roenick said Gretzky's legacy would remain intact even if the Coyotes lose all 82 games this season.

"He could have the right system and the right mentality, but if the players don't do it for you there's nothing you can do," Roenick said. "He's going to be known as the ambassador of hockey and the best player to play the game no matter what his coaching record is."
 
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