Ohhh, Danny boy...

Daniel Briere has turned down a $25 mil, 5 year contract from Buffalo. I guess the Sabres were hoping for a loyalty induced discount, and that if they matched it with a longer term deal, they could sign Briere. Not so, as Danny seems to think he is worth more. Interestingly, Briere proposed this same package last year and the Sabres turned him down. I have to think that top players are going to expect 6-7 mil a year. Here is what players have been commanding so far this offseason:

JS Giguere, Anaheim: $24 mil/4 years

Kimmo Timonen, Philly: $37.8 mil/6 years

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit: $46.9 mil/7 years

Scott Hartnell, Philly: $25.2 mil/6 years

Craig Rivet, San Jose: $14 mil/4 years

And here is what a miffed sounding Danny had to say:

Multiple reports say it was a five-year, $25 million deal, the same pact Briere wanted last offseason. The Sabres said no and Briere was awarded a one-year, $5M arbitration award.

Briere told the Buffalo News he was headed to California to meet up with co-captain Chris Drury to discuss their futures.

[...]

"I wish things would have gotten done earlier with Buffalo, but they didn't," Briere said. "There's always a little fear that nobody's going to call and nobody's going to want you, but the point of going through this is you want to feel wanted, and you wonder how they're going to show it."

Here is the latest from the NHL rumor mill:

Could Avs bring back Drury, Forsberg?

Jun 29 - The Colorado Avalanche could have about $10 million to throw at free agents this offseason. If they do, depending on where the cap is set, some speculate they could be active in the market.

The Denver Post reported that the Avs could reach out to former Colorado stars Chris Drury and Peter Forsberg, both set to become unrestricted free agents Sunday.

[...]

The Avs are also interested in forward Ryan Smyth, who is also set to hit the market Sunday.

Agent: Two teams interested in Emery

Jun 29 - Ray Emery is a restricted free agent, but that hasn't stopped a few clubs from contacting his agent.

J.P. Barry told Sun Media that he's talked to two teams willing to make an offer for the Senators goalie.

"He is an elite goalie, so I'm not surprised by the fact some teams would consider making an offer for his services," Barry said.

Boston, St. Louis and Los Angeles are rumored to be interested because of their need for help in net. But Sun Media reported the Bruins are the most interested.

There is a connection there, too. Boston GM Peter Chiarelli used to work in the Sens' front office. According to the report, the GM might be working up an offer between $3.5 million-$4.7 million for Emery. If that's the case, Boston would have to give up a first-, second- and third-round pick in 2008 to Ottawa.

Wings try to lock up deals

Jun 29 - The Red Wings met with the agents for goaltender Dominik Hasek, forward Todd Bertuzzi and defensemen Mathieu Schneider and Danny Markov at the draft and now GM Ken Holland is rounding them up again to try to finalize deals before Sunday's start to free agency.

All four are set to become free agents July 1.

Holland said he believes all four want to return, but "they've certainly got a salary expectation."

offseason silliness

My fellow HLOG'er Jordi suggested I make this bit of fun into a full post and I just had to oblige her. Because, making fun of celebrities is always a good time. Adding hockey to it? Double the fun. Then there is the fact that the most searched for items on my blog seem to be "Mike Fisher's girlfriend" or "Jordin Tootoo is hot". Get your mind out of the gutter people! This is a klassy blog.

So, this is pretty much a hockey version of matchmaker, but you need to give at least one valid (ok, it doesnt need to be
valid. In fact, it can be a completely made up) reason why the celebrity and the NHL'er should date. For example:

"Rod Brind'Amour should date Carol Alt since they both love working out, and she can teach him some fashion sense so he never wears an outfit like that to the NHL awards again. Plus, that means she can dump Yashin, hopefully emotionally scarring him enough that he doesnt attempt to play hockey ever again"

Gimme some of your own in the comments.

1) Mike Fisher and Britney Spears. He can show her the way to salvation, and she can show him her...well, I guess anyone can see that on PerezHilton.com. Maybe he can just buy her some underwear?

2) Mike Comrie and Dina Lohan. Both sleazy. And I just have this feeling that Comrie looooves older women. I can just see him in a white silk shirt and a gold chain, taking shots of Malibu with the Orange Oprah.

3) Mike Modano and ANYONE but Willa Ford. I would rather have Mike Modano marry a gorilla. At least they could have an intelligent conversation. Ca-ching! Folks, I'm here all week.

4) Ray Emery and Fergie. It would be flossy. I have to admit, the main reason I made this one up was to be able to say that I used the term "flossy" in a sentence.

5) Dion Phaneuf and Lindsay Lohan. Because I can completely see her in one of those little red t-shirts, flashing the TV and screaming "Let me lick your stick Dion!" at the camera while promoting her newest movie that is targeted at 6-10 year olds.

6) Ed Belfour and Tara Reid. An excerpt of the conversation between them:

Ed: Tara, have you seen my Cialis?
Tara: Oops, I thought they were my Valtrex and I took them.

7) Sean Avery and Star Jones. Can you imagine it? Seriously though, can you? Cause every time I think about it I start to feel like my brain might explode.

8) Mike Keenan and Dr. Ruth. Two words: anger management.

9) Evgeni Malkin and Paris Hilton. It wont be a problem that Malkin doesnt speak English since I sincerely doubt that dating Paris Hilton includes a lot of deep conversation.
NOTE: the author has admirably restrained herself from making any " her mouth would be full anyway" jokes here.

10) And my favorite: Sidney Crosby and Pamela Anderson. They could be nice to pets together and go to PETA meetings (you know Sid has got to have some pet bunnies named Flora and Fauna at home) and Pam could teach Sid about girls. Yes Sid, girls. And no, Uncle Mario never has to know.

Note: apparently I am not the only one getting lots of queries for "naked hockey player" on my blog. Is it wrong that I feel less special?

Thats Karl with a K

I saw this video over at Peerless of the Caps 5th overall pick in last week's draft, Karl Alzner.

Alzner is great. He's funny, humble, and looks really comfortable in front of the camera. The video is definitely worth watching to get to know the newest Capital (or Hershey Bear for the next few seasons).

Karl Alzner Press Conference, 2007 NHL Entry Draft

QA fun!

Tarik has the list of players who were made qualifying offers by the Caps :

Steve Eminger
John Erskine
Tomas Fleischmann
Jamie Hunt
Milan Jurcina
Jakub Klepis
Brooks Laich
Brian Sutherby
Dave Steckel

Guys who make $660,000 or less get a 10-percent raise (salary maxes out at $1million). Guys who make more than $660,000 get a 5-percent raise.

Here are the guys who didn't get qualifying offers, and thus are being cut loose:

Kris Beech (no surprise)
Jiri Novotny (no surprise)
Matt Stefanishion
Joey Tenute
Jonas Johansson
Louis Robitaille
Maxime Daigneault

I am fine with cutting Kris Beech and Jiri Novotny loose. Beech hasnt proven himself at this level, despite plenty of opportunity to do so while playing on a line with Alex Semin. Novotny was one of those young guys that we took during a trade. Sometimes GMGM gets the steal they were looking for (Jurcina) and sometimes they dont. Novotny just didnt look like he was playing for a roster spot.

But Joey Tenute? Boy makes me squee. He punctured a lung during Hershey's playoffs, and was back a month later in the lineup. Every team needs a couple gritty players who put the team first and Tenute is one of them.

As for the Caps we kept, I am really glad to see Eminger on that list. I know he can be a hot mess sometimes, but he is really young and definitely in development. The Caps did a disservice to their young D-men last season when many of them were not paired consistently with vets. The Caps didnt have much of a choice in that decision, but I think Eminger deserves a chance to prove himself. I know, I know -- if he sucks, then his value as trade bait goes down. But, I am hoping to see him out there in September.

John Erskine? He is awesome. Dude scares small children, but still manages to look like he has a chihuahua named CoCo Chanel at home.

It was terrific to see Tomas Fleischmann on the list of Caps who got QAs. Flash is going to be a solid, maybe even exceptional player for an NHL team. He's got moves, he can skate, and he's got curly red hair to match his jersey. Boy needs to gain a few pounds, but he can work on that.

Milan Jurcina is one of those gems that GMGM found and made the right trade for. We got him for a 4th round pick in 2008, and the Bruins can keep kicking themselves in the ass for that one. He eats minutes, lays crushing hits on guys, and you know he gives Shaone Morrisonn one of these on Valentines Day.

Jakub Klepis: glad we kept him, now he has got to show us what he has got...consistently. He kicked ass when we sent him back to Hershey, and we need him to show his skillz up here too.

Dave Steckel: He got a little bit of time with the Caps this season and from what I saw of him, he looked like he was fighting for a spot on the roster. Having seen him in Hershey, it seems like he is a big fish in a small pond down there and the reverse would be true in DC. I think he has definitely got potential, but isnt he a checking line forward with the Caps? And dont we have a glut of those? That said, I really like him and we'll see how it plays out at training camp.

We are all pretty familiar with Laich and Sutherby, so I am not going to bite into that one.

Now, lets see who gets traded, what free agents get signed, and how many times GMGM can make us squee this summer.

Jersey unveiling and draft roundup

I knew several weeks ago that I wouldnt be able to attend the Caps Draft Day party, but I wasnt too worried about it as the Caps have a lot of terrific bloggers, who in turn wrote a lot of terrific posts that I can link to.

Jerseys /Draft Party/Draft picks

DC Sports Chick

CapsChick

Bleatings from a Caps Nut

WaPo on tattoos of the new logo that fans got

Tarik on Karl Alzer as the fifth overall pick by the Caps


Oh, fog machines. Dearest fog machines. You bring back such fond memories of my sixth grade dance.

Draft Day!

Columbus has never looked prettier.

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More from the draft

and the awesome Bethany. This is the crowd waiting for Yellowcard to start playing.

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