NHL Off-Season 2007

[ebod39]

Darcy Regier is on his way over to my house now to kick my dog

[philly97flyer]

EDMONTON, Alberta --

The Edmonton Oilers acquired defenseman Joni Pitkanen and forward Geoff Sanderson from the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday for defenseman Jason Smith and forward Joffrey Lupul.

Maybe some of you Flyer fans can tell me why they wanted to get rid of Pitkanen so much. He had over 40 points the last two years and seems like a great puck moving d man and pretty similar to Kimmo Timmonen.

Ok lets see where to start, um, oh yea, hes brain dead. He is constantly out of position. Has one speed. May be one of the most unaware players i have ever seen. Hmmm what else....oh yea his minus was in the 20's....good riddance Joni. Oiler fans, enjoy....

[KevinMcD]

Darcy Regier is on his way over to my house now to kick my dog

I don't think it is that bad, both Drury and Danny were way overpaid for their worth.

If we re-sign Zubrus, Vanek, and Roy, and sign a D-man or two we will easily make the playoffs next year and compete for the cup.

[ebod39]

Darcy Regier is on his way over to my house now to kick my dog

I don't think it is that bad, both Drury and Danny were way overpaid for their worth.

If we re-sign Zubrus, Vanek, and Roy, and sign a D-man or two we will easily make the playoffs next year and compete for the cup.

I would liked to at least kept Drury for faceoffs, clutch goals, locker room presence and

a bonafide captain.

Danny's always been a weasel to me, so I'm not suprised.

I remain optomistic that the front office has some plan to pick up some help and

keep feeding the engine coal so the keep the train keeps chugging along.

[spyboy1]

Todd White signs with the Atlanta Thrashers. 4 years at $9.5 million

Alright Wild fans, give me the real story on this guy.

Don't sugarcoat it....

At the end of the game, you'll think back and say "Huh. That's funny. I don't remember seeing Todd White out there."

[KevinMcD]

Darcy Regier is on his way over to my house now to kick my dog

I don't think it is that bad, both Drury and Danny were way overpaid for their worth.

If we re-sign Zubrus, Vanek, and Roy, and sign a D-man or two we will easily make the playoffs next year and compete for the cup.

I would liked to at least kept Drury for faceoffs, clutch goals, locker room presence and

a bonafide captain.

Danny's always been a weasel to me, so I'm not suprised.

I remain optomistic that the front office has some plan to pick up some help and

keep feeding the engine coal so the keep the train keeps chugging along.

Agreed that I would much rather have Drury over Briere, but not for 5yr/35mil. I would go for 5yr/30mil at most. Also I don't believe Drury wanted to stay with Buffalo, he wanted to move to his "hometown" team in the Rangers.

[Corvus]

Geez, Kariya gets $18 mill over three years. I didn't think he'd command that kind of cash anymore, but this market is crazy.

Edit: Sydor and Sykora to the Penguins. Cornering the market on players whose last name start with sy?

[zer0dotcom]

The Rangers look like a scary team next year, as long as these guys don't pull a vanishing act on this one.

I'm surprized that JFJ did something relitively compitant this year, signing Blake was a good move, he's the kind of guy that could really help the team

[FiddySicks]

And, once again according to TSN, Kariya to the Blues. Three years, but I didn't see a money figure listed.

Why in the world would Kariya do that? Im starting to think he has absolutely no desire to win a Stanley Cup and somewhat enjoys sitting in the basement. Maybe its just my desire to see him in teal thats speaking though.

[STL FANATIC]

And, once again according to TSN, Kariya to the Blues. Three years, but I didn't see a money figure listed.

Why in the world would Kariya do that? Im starting to think he has absolutely no desire to win a Stanley Cup and somewhat enjoys sitting in the basement. Maybe its just my desire to see him in teal thats speaking though.

The Blues might have overpaid a bit (3 years / 18 million), in part because of the market, and in part because sometimes a rebuilding franchise has to pick one guy they want and be willing to offer money since they can't gurantee victories. Last year it was McKee (who was hurt--doesn't make it a bust), this year it's Kariya.

But this makes a ton of sense for the Blues. He'll help tremendously on the ice, and on his namesake alone he'll help our ticket sales get back up. And they will be on their way back up.

The last time I remember St. Louis being this excited about hockey was entering the playoffs in 2000 (prez trophy, first round choke job) and during the playoffs in 2001 (western conference final appearance). This is great!

And I'm sorry, but your statement is a bit ignorant bucsfan. The Blues are not a basement team. They weren't last year, they won't be this year. They had an awful, awful start under Mike Kitchen. But as soon as Andy Murray took over this team took off despite a mounting injury list. Couldn't quite pull off the playoffs, but we gave it a run. But it seems that because we didn't pull of the playoffs no other hockey fans took notice of the run we went on.

Playing a full season under Andy Murray, healthy, and with a better roster with additions like Paul Kariya and #1 draft pick Erik Johnson is going to put the Blues as a very good team.

I'm not here to say we'll win the Cup next year or should be considered in the short list of "Cup Contenders/Favorites", but the expectation should be that the Blues make the playoffs (and I think in St. Louis that will be the expectation). And once your in the playoffs, you never know.

Plus, being a three year deal, in the second or third year of the contract, he might just be playing on a very legitimate Cup contending team.

Sorry for the lengthy response. If you hadn't used the term "basement", I might not have said anything.

But I'm getting tired of hockey fans acting like the Blues finished dead last again last year and not realizing how well they really played under Andy Murray. I guess we'll just have to surprise people this year.

[leedsunited]

And, once again according to TSN, Kariya to the Blues. Three years, but I didn't see a money figure listed.

Why in the world would Kariya do that? Im starting to think he has absolutely no desire to win a Stanley Cup and somewhat enjoys sitting in the basement. Maybe its just my desire to see him in teal thats speaking though.

Did the Sharks even try to sign Kariya? I don't know if any effort was really made...

[Brass]

Just some minor signings to start off today:

-Toronto signs Bates Battaglia to a 2 year deal worth $650,000 per season.

-Nashville signs Jed Ortmeyer to a 2 year deal worth $1.5 million

[BroadwayBlueshirt]

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooo

[FiddySicks]

And, once again according to TSN, Kariya to the Blues. Three years, but I didn't see a money figure listed.

Why in the world would Kariya do that? Im starting to think he has absolutely no desire to win a Stanley Cup and somewhat enjoys sitting in the basement. Maybe its just my desire to see him in teal thats speaking though.

The Blues might have overpaid a bit (3 years / 18 million), in part because of the market, and in part because sometimes a rebuilding franchise has to pick one guy they want and be willing to offer money since they can't gurantee victories. Last year it was McKee (who was hurt--doesn't make it a bust), this year it's Kariya.

But this makes a ton of sense for the Blues. He'll help tremendously on the ice, and on his namesake alone he'll help our ticket sales get back up. And they will be on their way back up.

The last time I remember St. Louis being this excited about hockey was entering the playoffs in 2000 (prez trophy, first round choke job) and during the playoffs in 2001 (western conference final appearance). This is great!

And I'm sorry, but your statement is a bit ignorant bucsfan. The Blues are not a basement team. They weren't last year, they won't be this year. They had an awful, awful start under Mike Kitchen. But as soon as Andy Murray took over this team took off despite a mounting injury list. Couldn't quite pull off the playoffs, but we gave it a run. But it seems that because we didn't pull of the playoffs no other hockey fans took notice of the run we went on.

Playing a full season under Andy Murray, healthy, and with a better roster with additions like Paul Kariya and #1 draft pick Erik Johnson is going to put the Blues as a very good team.

I'm not here to say we'll win the Cup next year or should be considered in the short list of "Cup Contenders/Favorites", but the expectation should be that the Blues make the playoffs (and I think in St. Louis that will be the expectation). And once your in the playoffs, you never know.

Plus, being a three year deal, in the second or third year of the contract, he might just be playing on a very legitimate Cup contending team.

Sorry for the lengthy response. If you hadn't used the term "basement", I might not have said anything.

But I'm getting tired of hockey fans acting like the Blues finished dead last again last year and not realizing how well they really played under Andy Murray. I guess we'll just have to surprise people this year.

My mistake then. But 10th in the conference and a game under .500 isn't exactly an ideal situation. Hell, maybe Kariya is the type of player who will put the Blues over the top, but in that division it's gonna take a helluva lot more than signing a burning playmaker whos on the decline. And I seriously doubt that SJ even looked into Kariya this time around, but they seemed to be the frontrunner before he suprised me by signing with Nashville. It just seems to me that over the last few seasons Kariya has made a lot of suprising decisions with the teams he signs with. I just don't see why he wouldn't want to go to a proven winner and try to snag himself a title before it's too late. But he suprised me by helping to turn around Nashville, maybe he can turn around St. Louis.

But i'd still love to see him skate out of the giant shark's mouth at the pavilion. But that's more of a personal thing.

[IronChefShark]

But i'd still love to see him skate out of the giant shark's mouth at the pavilion. But that's more of a personal thing.

and this, people, is what Lake Tahoe area smoke inhilation does to one's brain

[STL FANATIC]

All fair points bucsfan.

It's more that I've read crap from other fans on other boards about how the Blues will still be a terrible team (when in actuality, one, they weren't even terrible last year, and two, they ought to at least make the playoffs next year), and I read what you typed and just had to get it out.

It's all good.

[Corvus]

Really, the Blues probably have a decent shot at a playoff spot with Nashville bound to fall back to the pack quite a bit.

More UFA moves:

Nylander to Caps, Preissing to LA, Hamrlik to Montreal, Lang to Chicago.

[FiddySicks]

All fair points bucsfan.

It's more that I've read crap from other fans on other boards about how the Blues will still be a terrible team (when in actuality, one, they weren't even terrible last year, and two, they ought to at least make the playoffs next year), and I read what you typed and just had to get it out.

It's all good.

No it's cool. The Blues have been a wonderfully successful team as long as i've been watching hockey, but have run into a tough stretch as of late. It's bound to happen eventually, every team goes through it. Unfortunately for the Blues their down time is now. Truth be told though, I had no idea the Blues dug themselves out of that enormous hole they got into at the beginning of the season (thats what happens when hockey moves to VS ) and assumed they continued that freefall. That's my bad, I should have done a bit more research before posting that. BUT, I still have to wonder why Kariya would rather take a contract with a team that needs a lot of help to win it big rather than take a smaller, yet still large contract with teams like Anaheim, San Jose, Vancouver, or..... gulp...... Detroit. He's got a boatload of cash as it is, all he needs now is a ring to cap off his already stellar career.

But if he does lead the Blues to a cup within the next three years it'll prove just how awesome Kariya is, and will make me look like a total fool.

[CMUBrent]

Todd Bertuzzi signs with Anaheim

[Shane Does Art]

NAgy and Handzus to L.A.

Smolinski to the Habs

Bonk and De Vries to the Preds

Klee heads down to A town...