Marian Hossa. What a Guy.
Nobody saw this one coming. Marian Hossa to Detroit? Maybe. But for one year?
After cutting the deal, Red Wings' GM Ken Holland was beside himself. Cue the violins:
"Success is about sacrifice — sacrificing ice time, sacrificing personal statistics, sacrificing some money," said Holland. "Success doesn't come easily. Marian, obviously, wants to come here because he thinks we give him the best chance to win the Stanley Cup. He's showing incredible sacrifice — and it goes to his determination and character and how important winning is to him, and playing with other good players.Hossa's agent can't get over it either. He spent the day burbling about how "special" Marian is.
So the guy joins the best team in hockey, gets $7.4 million for his troubles, and we're supposed to get all weepy about his sacrifice?
Let's try the contrarian view: Hossa's looking for a short cut to the Stanley Cup, hitching a ride with the big boys because he can't be bothered going through the time and effort required to build a winner with the Penguins.
Nonsense, you say? Sure, but it's just as legit as all that smoke Ken Holland is blowing up Hossa's garter. And they'd believe it in Pittsburgh.
The addition of Hossa will have many predicting a Stanley Cup repeat for the Wings. How can they lose after welcoming such a selfless martyr to the fold?
Not so fast. Let's keep in mind the most reliable rule of free agent season: Spend in July, repent in April.
(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
A Skeptic's Free Agent Notes
Thoughts on a few of the fat deals signed July 1, opening day of the 2008 NHL free agent season.
D Brian Campbell to Chicago:
8 years/$7.1 million per year
A true star? Or just the best defenseman on the lot this summer? For a decent payoff, the 'Hawks need big minutes, big points, and great highlights right away, plus inspiring playoff leadership within two seasons. Campbell will be 37 when this deal expires, probably a one-dimensional power play specialist. I'm not sure Buffalo will regret trading him.
Read more...Free Agent Fun and Amusements
With the market opening at midday (eastern time), the big news in the hours leading up to NHL free agency concerned the players who aren't changing teams.
Corey Perry, Mike Green, Brad Stuart and Bryce Salvador were among those who signed contract extensions in the early hours of July 1.
The most active team before the opening bell was Edmonton. Rather than bid for free agents, the Oilers are remaking the roster via trades.
In the last 24 hours, Edmonton has swapped Joni Pitkanen, Raffe Torres, Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene for Erik Cole, Gilbert Brule and Lubomir Visnovsky.
To follow the trades and signings throughout the day, TSN.ca and Sportsnet.ca are your best bets for breaking news.
If you like your free agent frenzy with a little more personality, there's plenty of live blogging underway. Try James Mirtle or the Slap Shot blog at the New York Times.
Photo: Brian Rolston should be fitted with a new sweater by the end of July 1. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
NHL Free Agents: The Lost Generation
Thanks to the 2005 collective agreement, this year's NHL unrestricted free agents are younger than ever.
But as Eric Duhatschek notes at Globeandmail.com, it's a thin crop:
The idea that granting unrestricted free agency to players at the age of 25, a key concession in the last CBA, would result in a wholesale shuffle of players, all willing to sell themselves to the highest bidder, didn't materialize...
Of the more than 100 players who will test the market beginning Tuesday, the vast majority has some issue or other that might limit their appeal, if the free-agent crop were deeper.
That means stiff competition for the few marquee names, like Brian Campbell and Marian Hossa. But the big winners will be fair-to-middling guys like Brooks Orpik (pictured), who will surely command far more money than they're worth.
Many of this summer's potential prizes - Jarome Iginla, Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton, among others - took a pass on free agency by making long-term commitments to their current teams.
A few younger players, like Mike Richards and Alex Ovechkin, have virtual lifetime contracts, and could end their careers without ever hitting the open market.
But it's hard to see the trend continuing. The long-term contract and the salary cap make for an uneasy alliance.
The Philadelphia Flyers know it. That's why Jeff Carter's new contract is generous, but just three years long.
With Daniel Briere signed for another seven years, and Richards locked up until 2020, a long-term deal for Carter would leave the team with little flexibility at center ice or on the payroll.
A long-term plunge on a few core players will force a team to be more conservative with its next generation of stars. They can't all get six, eight or 12-year contracts.
2008 might be a bit thin on free agent gems. But 2011 or 2013 could be a free-for-all.
(Photo: Brian Winkler/Getty Images)
Harold Ballard's Descendants
The ideal sports owner is a quiet type with way too much money.
He buys the team with cash on the table, hires good people, signs the checks, and watches from the luxury suite.
The NHL attracts too many of the other kind: crackpots, weasels, delusionals, windbags, sociopaths, and crooks. Plenty of crooks.
The crowded hall of shame is ready to welcome a couple more fat cats. The owner of the Anaheim Ducks has been nailed for perjury. The guy who helped save the Nashville Predators is up to his jewels in debts and lawsuits.
It's all egg on the face of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, especially because he was ignorant of the secret loans and back-scratching arrangements that apparently financed the Predators deal.
All very shady. But today's NHL shysters are mere amateurs compared to the great Harold Ballard.
Pal Hal was no ordinary crook. He did it in style and had a great time along the way.
And nobody - nobody - knew how to run a hockey team into the ground like Harold.
Further Reading:
Harold Ballard: The NHL nominee for worst sports owner ever.
Hockey's Greatest Miscreants: Worst boss, worst hockey dad, worst human being, and more.
Who Really Knows Steven Stamkos?
In the last few days, he's been compared to Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic. He's been handed he second-line center job on a team that doesn't even have a coach. At the Sporting News, he's a "surefire NHL star in the making."
On Friday night, a TV host predicted 30 goals and 85 points for Steven Stamkos in his rookie season: "Give him the Calder now!"
And how about this endorsement from Jeff Marek of Hockey Night in Canada Radio:
He has it all, speed (both offensively and defensively), skill and a terrific competitive spirit. A franchise player in every sense of the word.It would be interesting to ask a few of these people how many times they've seen Stamkos play.
Reporters on the NHL beat can't have much time left over to follow junior hockey. Even devotees of the Canadian junior leagues can't track all the prospects: we're talking about a network of 60 teams from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
So much of what passes for analysis on draft day is just hype and hearsay.
The best quote of the 2008 draft came from Red Wings' GM Ken Holland, who admitted to Globeandmail.com that he knows almost nothing about most of his draft picks.
“You know what? You can't watch 10 amateur games and have an impact on the draft. You either live it – or you don't."
(Photo: Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)
Stamkos and the Rest of the Draft
Here are the first round picks in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. As expected, Steven Stamkos was selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It was a good night for the major junior hockey system in Canada: 20 out of 30 first-round picks play in the major junior leagues, including 12 of the top 15.
Photo: Mikkel Boedker of the Kitchener Rangers, selected 8th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes. (Dale MacMillan/Getty Images)
Dizzying Heights of Pre-Draft Hype
The number-one pick at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft will be a formality: The Tampa Bay Lightning are already shilling Steven Stamkos as the new savior.
As a marketing slogan, "Seen Stamkos?" is lame. But it's better than "Tampa Bay Lightning: A Downward Spiral of Self-Destruction Since 2004."
Let's hope, for his sake, that Stamkos (pictured) is as good as advertised.
In the meantime, a Tampa Bay columnist reports that the Lightning are also seeking an NHL-ready player with their third-round pick, further proof that draft week is hockey's true silly season.
As an added bonus, this year's pre-draft hype has provided one of the dumbest trade rumors in hockey history.
And if you can't wait for the real thing, there are plenty of "mock drafts" out there. What exactly is the point of these exercises?
Beyond all the foolishness, the reality of the draft is more mundane. A scout once said it's like walking into a grade nine science class and trying to pick the doctors.
If you're more familiar with the NBA and NFL drafts, keep in mind that the NHL is different.
Young hockey players develop a lot quicker than they used to. But most NHL teams don't go to the draft looking for immediate help. Only three players from last year's first round stepped directly into the big leagues.
For a typical top prospect, any meaningful contribution to an NHL team is 2-5 years away.
Most of the players selected beyond the first round will be on the street by then, looking for real jobs.
(Photo: Dale MacMillan/Getty Images)
All Hail Glenn and Igor
The Hockey Hall of Fame is a nice museum and a highly flawed institution.
There's bound to be controversy when membership is decided in secret by a handful of sportswriters, ex-players and cronies.
But when they keep picking borderline guys like Dick Duff and Clarke Gillies, it makes the Hall look like an insider's club that can't be taken seriously.
So it's nice to report that the cronies got it right this year. On Tuesday, the Hall announced it will induct two new members next fall: the great Glenn Anderson and the even greater Igor Larionov.
They are the only players elected in 2008, which is as it should be. Two per year ought to be the maximum.
The current maximum is four players per year, one reason why the list of honored members is littered with dubious names.
Having said that, the four stars elected in 2007 were truly deserving. So that's two good years in a row for the selection committee.
Now all they need to do is prune the incumbent membership by about 25 percent. Then we'd have a real Hockey Hall of Fame.
Photo: Igor Larionov in 2002 (Ian Tomlinson/Getty Images)
NHL Meat Market, 2008 Edition
A bunch of sweaty teenagers modeling team jerseys is no substitute for hockey. But this weekend, it's the best we can do.
The 2008 NHL Entry Draft takes place Friday and Saturday in Ottawa. Round One begins Friday night at 7:00 EDT. Selection resumes on Saturday morning at 10:00 EDT with Rounds Two through Seven.
How the draft order is set, the draft lottery, eligible players, and more.
Using the 1990s as a sample decade, here's a look at the odds facing players selected at Entry Draft.
Other sources:
Photo: He looks about 12 years old, but Nikita Filatov is the highest ranked European going into the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. (Claus Andersen/Getty Images)