yourdomain.com

[David R Gold]

Modano to stay with Stars? Looks that way. Zubov stays. Hatcher rejoins Hitch in Philly. AP

Stars await Modano's decision, sign Skoula


Associated Press

DALLAS - While waiting to hear whether Mike Modano would remain in Dallas, the Stars announced Wednesday that they signed defenseman Martin Skoula to a two-year contract.

After negotiating with several clubs, Modano talked to the Stars for several hours late Tuesday. He skated at the team's practice facility Wednesday morning without immediately revealing his decision. Modano has been with the club for 15 seasons and is the franchise leader in all major offensive categories.

Skoula spent the lockout playing in his native Czech Republic. The 25-year-old defenseman played for Colorado and Anaheim in 2003-04, scoring four goals and 21 assists.

The 6-foot-2, 194-pound Skoula was a first-round choice by Colorado in 1998 and played in every playoff game in 2001 when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup.

Dallas also has re-signed defenseman Sergei Zubov. The Stars won't be bringing back longtime defensive stalwart Derian Hatcher as he signed Tuesday with Philadelphia, reuniting with Ken Hitchcock, who coached him in Dallas.

[nagash]

Heard on the news that Modano did not sign with the Stars. I know the Bruins would like to get him but they already lost the Stanley Cup, they just don't know it yet.
And to think the Bruins fans thought Jacob would've learned something over the last year. Clearly he has no intention of ever letting the Bruins win the Stanley Cup.
_________________
As I am, so shall ye be.

[David R Gold]

Nagash
Modano did get an offer from both the Bruins and Black Hawks. Acyually, for more money than he will get in Dallas. Wanted to finish his career here.
SOURCE
This is getting very interesting. ESPN.

NHL free agency a reversal of fortune
By Scott Burnside
Special to ESPN.com

In Edmonton, Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe got a little choked up when he swung the deal for elite defenseman Chris Pronger.

In Toronto, the media has used the term "choke" in a much less complimentary fashion when assessing the work of Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson during the free-agent blizzard of the last week.

Welcome to the new world order, NHL style.

As frantic and topsy-turvy as many expected this first free-agency period under the new collective bargaining agreement to be, few imagined it would unfold as dramatically and quickly as it has.

Imagine that Robin Hood took a vacation from Sherwood Forest and wandered into the NHL, plucking the league's best players from the greedy, big-market teams and dispersing them to the poor and needy.

Bobby Holik in Atlanta.
Adam Foote in Columbus.
Pronger in Edmonton.
Tony Amonte in Calgary.
Scott Niedermayer in Anaheim.
Sergei Gonchar in Pittsburgh.
Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts in Florida.
Alex Kovalev in Montreal.

Whew.

If these guys weren't still pulling down a king's ransom in salaries, one might have expected to find a special appendix to the new collective bargaining agreement titled Bettman's Socialist Manifesto.

"Already, three days into the new system, you see a much more competitive balance emerging," said Columbus GM Doug MacLean, who lured one of the top defenders in the free-agent crop, Foote, to Columbus by challenging him to help mold a winner as he did in Colorado.

MacLean then added offensive rearguard Bryan Berard and competent backup netminder Martin Prusek to complement an explosive forward contingent that includes Rick Nash and Nikolai Zherdev.

"There's no doubt that it's generated excitement [in Columbus]. No doubt at all. And there should be excitement," MacLean said.

The excitement hasn't been limited to nontraditional hockey markets such as Columbus and South Florida, where the Panthers have established themselves as a playoff contender with the addition of Roberts, Nieuwendyk and playoff scoring machine Martin Gelinas. It extends north and west to hockey nerve centers in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

Lowe was especially excited about being on the receiving end of a one-sided trade for a change. After years of selling off prime talent like Doug Weight and Bill Guerin for a clutch of prospects he had little hope of keeping in the long term, Lowe brought in former MVP and Norris Trophy winner Pronger and signed him to a long-term deal. The whole scenario would have been pure fantasy just two years ago, and Lowe acknowledged that Oilers fans had, under the old CBA, become "wrapped up in the inevitability of their own fate."

"We're turning a page and heading into a new part of Oiler history and maybe the NHL's future, too," said Lowe, who also added more salary with the acquisition of Islanders captain Michael Peca.

There was similar enthusiasm in Calgary. The Flames added Amonte and Darren McCarty, both bought out by their former big-spending teams, Philadelphia and Detroit, then locked up captain Jarome Iginla with a three-year, $21 million deal.

Vancouver captain Markus Naslund, one of the most gifted offensive free agents on the market, also opted to return, and he expects to finish his career in Vancouver after signing a three-year deal worth $18 million. In the past, neither the Flames nor the Canucks would have been able to retain those players' services.

"When we bought, it was on the assumption that there would be a new system and it was on the assumption the new system would enable us to compete to get and retain topflight players," said Bruce Levenson, a member of the Thrashers' new ownership group. "That was always a mantra for Gary Bettman, and I think what's happening now is really a testament to just how right he was."

The NHL marketplace has always acted like a physics experiment: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and the same holds true in this new laboratory.

Under the old system, only a handful of teams -- the Rangers, Toronto, Colorado, Philadelphia, Detroit and Dallas -- could compete on the open market for free agents such as Holik, who earned a four-year, $45 million salary when he hopped across the river from New Jersey to the Rangers back in 2002. Those teams regularly swallowed up the best players on the market, either buying them outright as free agents or trading for them in the months before they became free agents, often giving up little in return to their poorer, small-market cousins.

The fact that those big-market teams didn't always win is moot. The fact was they kept the talent from being dispersed equally, forcing teams like Edmonton and Calgary to remain in a perpetual rebuilding phase.

Atlanta, Columbus and Florida continue to stock up on talented veteran players (the Thrashers are rumored to be after perennial point producer Peter Bondra), while Colorado and Toronto are hamstrung by their own history.

Colorado essentially traded Peter Forsberg and Foote for Pierre Turgeon and Patrice Brisebois, a huge step back for a team that has made the playoffs 10 straight years but now figures to have dropped to the middle or lower part of a suddenly ultracompetitive Western Conference.

Toronto added Jeff O'Neill at the draft, but that was an anomaly, a deal motivated by O'Neill's desire to be closer to home in the aftermath of his older brother's death. The Leafs were outbid for the services of childhood buddies Nieuwendyk and Roberts (Toronto-area natives who had little interest in leaving) and every other free agent in whom they've shown interest.

Ferguson has been flayed in the Toronto media recently for being ill-prepared for this new landscape. Unless the GM can pull a rabbit out of a hat in the form of a reborn Eric Lindros, Jason Allison or Paul Kariya, the Leafs will enter the season as a postseason long shot, this after qualifying for the playoffs for six straight seasons.

Before we get all misty-eyed at the misfortunes of the Avalanche, Leafs or even the Blues -- who had to unload Pronger or face the prospect of playing the entire season with about 11 players because of cap problems -- remember that the recent movement of players isn't a one-time event. Fluidity will be the norm going forward for all 30 teams, and many of the teams that locked in players for three, four and five years this week might rue those decisions when younger, more-talented free agents enter the market next summer and the summer after.

"This is not a reset the table and we're all going to play from here," one agent said.

Thrashers GM Don Waddell said that for the first few years of the team's existence, the only way to attract a free agent of any kind to Atlanta was to grossly overpay. Now, players like Foote and Holik are surveying the landscape, seeing that the old order is gone and making decisions based on criteria beyond the bottom line.

Adrian Aucoin talked about the sales pitch delivered by Chicago GM Dale Tallon before he signed a four-year, $16 million deal with the normally backward Blackhawks. Scott Niedermayer turned his back on more money to stay in New Jersey for a chance to play with his brother Rob in Anaheim, and Holik was enticed by the youthful Thrashers and the style of play endorsed by coach Bob Hartley even though the Devils reportedly also offered more money.

"We had a lot of interest," said Holik, a two-time Cup winner in Jersey who signed for three years in Atlanta. "But I knew what I wanted, and as soon as this came up it was like, forget about the rest, just tell them we are all set."

And forget about the old NHL order, too. It's been shattered.

[David R Gold]

Gretsky to coach Coyotes.
Ap

Gretzky expected to be named Coyotes coach Monday
ESPN.com news services

PHOENIX -- Wayne Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading scorer, will be the new coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, The Arizona Republic reported on its Web site and ESPN confirmed Sunday.

Gretzky, the team's managing partner, is expected to be introduced as coach Monday.

There had been speculation for several months that Gretzky would move from the Coyotes' front office to their bench. But the nine-time MVP had said he would wait until a new collective bargaining agreement was in place before deciding whether to coach.

ESPN also confirmed former Detroit assistant coach Barry Smith will be one of Gretzky's assistants along with former Coyotes player Rick Tocchet and interim head coach Rick Bowness.

Gretzky, who is in the final year of a five-year contract with the club, is a longtime friend of Coyotes general manager Mike Barnett. Barnett said the day after the new NHL collective bargaining agreement was reached last month that Gretzky was very interested in the position.

Barnett, Gretzky's former agent, said the decision would rest with the hockey great and his family, who currently live in Los Angeles.

Gretzky retired in 1999 after 20 seasons in the NHL. "The Great One" helped the Edmonton Oilers win four Stanley Cups, and is the NHL's all-time leading goal, assist and point producer in the regular season and playoffs.

Gretzky has already committed to serve as executive director for Team Canada at the Winter Olympics in Turin in February.

The Coyotes have a new $220 million arena, which they have yet to play a full season in. They moved to the Glendale Arena in December 2003, but they didn't get the opportunity to open a season there before the lockout began.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[David R Gold]

Hey Nagash
I think the Bruins have done very well. Once they sign Thornton they will put a nice tam on the ice. Zhamnov is very good. Playing with Samsanov that will be a potent line. Defense has always been good.

I am really getting excited to see this on the ice. Fascinating watching teams set their lineups in a hurry.

Best teams in hockey are not the usual suspects any longer. Philly,IMHO has done the best job in putting together a contender. However, both Calgary and Edmonton will be good. Columbus has done very well. Florida is much better. I can't believe the improvement in Pittsburgh. Atlanta is stout. Southeast could be the class of the league. Fascinating.

[Drew]

David, I am with you on that one, the two teams I am really interested in seeing are Boston and Pittsburgh.

[nagash]

The Herald did a nice piece on the possibilities of the Bruins earlyer this week (based on who is signed and who could be signed). There is potential there, but compared to the team we had before the lock-out, I'm still not impressed.
_________________
As I am, so shall ye be.

[David R Gold]

Where are the Pens coming up with this cash? Sign John LeClair. They are officially contenders. AP

The Penguins continue to beef up their roster with the addition of Philly fixture John LeClair. The big forward is the fifth major import in just over two weeks as the Pens draw their fans back to the ticket booths

[David R Gold]

Another must sign for The Stars. AP

Morrow to add two years to tenure with Stars
Associated Press

FRISCO, Texas -- Brenden Morrow will spend at least the next two seasons with the only NHL team he has known.

The Dallas Stars have re-signed the left wing to a two-year contract, the team announced Friday.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but Morrow made $1.4 million during the 2003-04 season.

The 26-year-old Morrow, who has spent all five of his NHL seasons with the Stars, set career highs with 25 goals and 49 points in the 2003-04 campaign. He also led the team with a career-best nine power-play goals, was second in goals and fourth in points.

"We're pleased to have reached an agreement with Brenden for the next two seasons," Stars general manager Doug Armstrong said. "He's a valuable part of this club's future and we expect he will continue to anchor our young core of players. We're very excited to have him in the fold."

Morrow has collected 97 goals and 107 assists in 370 games, and has five goals and 13 assists in 48 playoff games. During last season's lockout, he had eight tallies and 14 assists in 19 games for the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League.

Earlier Friday, the Stars re-signed defenseman John Erskine to a one-year contract and right wing Janos Vas to a three-year deal, and announced goaltender Dan Ellis had accepted his one-year qualifying offer.

[Drew]

I am glad Hicks and Armstrong FINALLY did something smart!!! Most local fans agree, Morrow is the future for the Stars. Modano may or may not finish out his 5 year contract, Guerin will most likely move on when his contract is over. Not much left in young vested talent in the organization. Morrow and possibly Ott are two that could likely be long term franchise staples in the Stars organization.

[David R Gold]

Drew
Geez
Pens sign Crosby,Palffy, Gonchar,LeClair, Thibault. Contenders. Bigtime.
Predators team to beat in Midwest?

This is wild.

[Drew]

David, This Pens team could put the Lemieux-Yagr team of the early 90's to shame. They are definitely looking like the team to beat.

Predators have indeed made some strong acquisitions and will be a force to be reckoned with.

What I want to see, is what not many people are talking about, and that is Gretzky coaching Hull and the lineup that is in Phoenix...

With the new changes it looks like it is going to be a wild ride in the NHL this year. Lets just hope that Modano can snap out of the funk that has plagued him for the last few seasons and lead the Stars to the post season with a vengance.

[David R Gold]

Sports Illustrated
SOURCE
Playing the game
Six winners from the new-look NHL's offseason frenzy
Posted: Monday August 22, 2005 12:45PM; Updated: Monday August 22, 2005 3:24PM

Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
Old and new: Pittsburgh is taking a chance on John LeClair staying healthy to help out rookie phenom Sidney Crosby.
John LeClair


After the unrestricted free-agent free-for-all that took place during the first three weeks of the relaunched NHL, the league -- on paper at least -- is starting to take shape. Teams are consolidating their projected rosters as general managers focus on signing their restricted free agents. So, who are the early winners as the league hurtles toward training camp?

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

The Penguins certainly changed the most over the past three weeks. They netted Sidney Crosby with the No. 1 pick in the draft, and GM Craig Patrick started spending the cash generated by Crosby-mania -- Pittsburgh sold more than 180,000 tickets in the first five days after it won the lottery -- by acquiring All-Star defenseman Sergei Gonchar and the electrifying Ziggy Palffy up front.

The Pens gambled on John LeClair and his wonky back and bolstered their goaltending by trading for veteran workhorse Jocelyn Thibault from the Blackhawks. Before the lockout, the Penguins already had inked Mark Recchi -- who's making a second stop in the Steel City -- harkening back to when the Pens trotted out a star-studded lineup. Oh, and that famous owner of theirs still plays, too.

All of which means Pittsburgh has come full circle after paring its roster to the bare essentials the past two seasons. Coach Eddie Olcyzk acknowledged that while his approach won't outwardly change, perception and expectations certainly will. And that's a good thing for the team that finished with the second-fewest points in 2003-04.

BOSTON BRUINS

The Bruins had a well-conceived plan for free agency. With only five players under contract heading into the summer, GM Mike O'Connell gambled that the open market would prove the way to go. He was right, quickly adding veterans Shawn McEachern and Brian Leetch -- both with strong New England ties -- as well as signing centermen Alex Zhamnov and Dave Scatchard. O'Connell then was able to lock up restricted free-agent captain Joe Thornton for three years and bring back unrestricted incumbent winger Glen Murray.

Boston owner Jeremy Jacobs was integral to the NHL's negotiating committee, so the Bruins plan was certainly born of conviction -- if not a little inside insight as to what the new economic system would look like. No matter. The Bruins -- with their mix of size, speed, youth and experience -- appear to be the model moving forward. They should be one of the NHL's top teams this season.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

The Flyers won by shedding Jeremy Roenick and his act while adding Peter Forsberg -- perhaps the most sought after player on the open market. GM Bob Clarke did a nice job of ridding his roster of old veterans -- LeClair and Recchi, to name a couple -- while preparing exciting prospects Jeff Carter and Mike Richards to step in. The Flyers should challenge the Bruins for elite status in the East.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

The 'Hawks revamped their roster in a similar fashion to the Penguins'. Prior to the lockout, Chicago seemed content to try to compete with kids and castoffs. But after the signings of Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, stalwart blueliner Adrian Aucoin and veteran forward Martin Lapointe, the Blackhawks are looking at doing much more than competing. Chicago should be good in 2005-06, with its young players now surrounded by proven veterans -- all of which is great news for the long-suffering fans in the Windy City.

CALGARY FLAMES, EDMONTON OILERS

Other winners out west included the two teams in Alberta, where bold moves to bolster the respective rosters in Calgary and Edmonton took place. The Oilers acquired Chris Pronger and Michael Peca, while the Flames landed defenseman Roman Hamrlik and forwards Tony Amonte and Darren McCarty. The deals demonstrate the possibilities under the new CBA. Both teams feel they have the wherewithal to compete economically under the new system. Instead of perennially losing maturing talent, the Oilers and Flames added proven veterans to their core of developing youngsters.

And that's how this is all supposed to work ... on paper anyway.

[David R Gold]

Blockbuster trade. Very interesting possibilities. Heatly goes to Ottawa. he's got the greatest upside. However, has yet to prove he's got it for the long haul. Hossa a proven stud. Advantage by a large margin-Thrashers. Another contender. ESPN.

Heatley leaving behind city that stood behind him
By Scott Burnside
ESPN.com

ATLANTA -- This first blockbuster deal of the new NHL universe is less hockey trade than morality play.

Dany Heatley, seen here in a 2004 photo, asked for and was granted a trade.

Dany Heatley goes to the Ottawa Senators for Marian Hossa and Greg de Vries.

Run the numbers. Discuss among yourselves. Declare a winner.

Were it that simple for Heatley, the gap-toothed former rookie of the year who drags behind him far too much baggage for a 25-year-old.

No discussion of Heatley can ever be just about salary or point production or skating and shooting, regardless of what jersey he wears. It is not so today and it won't be so in five years' time or even 10.

Instead, Heatley's story will forever be told against the backdrop of misfortune and tragedy and the struggle to make things right.

So far that struggle has been marked by missteps and stumbles culminating with Heatley's formal request some 10 days ago that he wanted to be traded from Atlanta, the team that drafted him with the second overall pick in the 2000 draft, the team which has shown him unwavering support through the bleakest of times.

"Did I ever think we were ever going to trade Dany Heatley? I didn't think this day would ever come," Atlanta GM Don Waddell said Tuesday evening after Heatley had signed a three-year deal in Ottawa worth $13.5 million.

"It was a sad day. It was a sad day for me because of everything that's happened in this organization," Waddell said of Heatley's demand to be traded. "It was sad to see that he wanted to leave us. But after I had some time to think about it, reflect on it, I understood what his reasons were and certainly I respect him for that."

Heatley told Waddell that he'd sold his home in Atlanta and that he thought it would be difficult to return to the city where two years ago during training camp he was involved in a car accident that cost the life of teammate and close friend Dan Snyder.

"Just driving around the city and being with his teammates here he felt that it was going to be tough for him," Waddell said. "He just really felt that the emotional side of him said a change would beneficial for him, not only personally, but for his career."

In a brief statement issued through the Thrashers, Heatley said that "requesting a change of environment was an extremely difficult decision. After a tremendous amount of reflection and numerous conversations with my family, it made the most sense to seek a change."

"I appreciate the support the organization has given me over the years and I'd like to thank them for honoring my request," he added. "My teammates, the fans and community will always hold a special place in my heart."

Such sentiment, if in fact it is the basis for Heatley's request, certainly runs contrary to old-fashioned values of paying back a debt that is owed.

And if there was ever a young man who owed a debt to a franchise, a city, that man is Heatley.

From the moment Heatley crashed his black Ferrari into a brick gatepost and iron fence on the evening of Sept. 29, 2003, a crash that virtually split the car in two and left Snyder in a coma from which he would never emerge, Heatley was enveloped in a cocoon of support that ran unflinchingly from ownership through the training staff.

Teammates, many of whom were close friends of Snyder, balanced their grief with unequivocal support for Heatley when he returned from injuries sustained in the crash late in that season. Members of the Snyder family of Elmira, Ontario, west of Toronto, were constant visitors to Atlanta in the months after the accident, sometimes staying with Heatley. The Atlanta community has likewise shown a remarkable capacity for forgiveness and acceptance of one of the area's brightest and most recognizable sporting stars.

Given that, one might have imagined that as an unrestricted free agent, Heatley would have been anxious to sign a deal with the Thrashers as quickly as possible and devote himself to the task of restoring his game, his reputation. One might have imagined that regardless of whatever painful memories exist here he would accept them as part of the price of repaying the goodwill shown to him by so many.

But Heatley has long worked at distancing himself from the city, the team even, spending little time here since the end of the 2003-04 season.

After starting the 2004-05 lockout season playing in Switzerland, Heatley returned to Atlanta briefly last February when he pleaded guilty to second degree vehicular manslaughter and other traffic violations in connection to the accident. He then surprised many by immediately leaving to play out the balance of the season in Russia instead of staying and starting in on his community service work, which calls for 150 speeches on the dangers of speeding over a three-year period. It's unknown exactly how his trade will affect the outstanding community service work.

After the Russian league playoffs ended, Heatley took part in the World Championships, a tournament he had dominated in 2004, earning MVP honors. But Heatley played poorly in Austria and a number of independent sources have told ESPN.com that Heatley was involved in disputes with teammates and members of the coaching staff on and off the ice at the tournament.

Combined with a desultory performance during last August's World Cup of Hockey, hockey officials, scouts and GMs have quietly wondered if Heatley might ever return to the form that saw him finish ninth in league scoring with 89 points in 2002-2003. A year earlier he was named rookie of the year.

Ottawa Senators general manager John Muckler said Tuesday team doctors thoroughly examined Heatley who also suffered a broken orbital bone during his time in the Swiss elite league last season. As for the off-ice problems, Muckler said those too were investigated by the team and "there's absolutely no problem there."

Muckler also insisted he wasn't put off by Heatley's demand to be traded. Instead Muckler praised Waddell for granting Heatley's wishes.

"Not every organization would do that," Muckler said.

In some ways Heatley's demand to be traded lets Waddell off the hook on a number of fronts.

If Heatley cannot regain his form either physically or mentally, it would undoubtedly have led to more difficult decisions down the road for Waddell and an Atlanta team that has all the makings a contender.

Now, at Heatley's bidding, Waddell takes a great unknown out of his lineup and adds a player who many consider MVP material in Hossa, who signed a three-year deal worth and average of $6 million with the Senators on Tuesday morning. Only two players, Milan Hejduk and Markus Naslund, have scored more than Hossa's 81 goals over the past two NHL seasons.

"When I told Bob [head coach Bob Hartley] that Dany had come in and was looking for an alternative, we were disappointed. But I can remember the day I called Bob and said but Bob, we might be able to get Marian Hossa, Bob was pretty excited. Not that we were looking to get rid of Dany Heatley," Waddell said. "The GMs that called me today, I think a lot of people are very surprised that we were able to make this deal."

"I wasn't sure how it was going work out but at the end of the day the way it worked out I couldn't be any happier," Waddell added.

Down the road one can only hope that Dany Heatley finds enough peace of mind to be able to say the same thing.

Scott Burnside is a freelance writer based in Atlanta and is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com.

[Drew]

David, Did you see that Phoenix picked up Leclerc. Good move on their part.

The thrashers... That is big for them. The possibility of a Hossa and Kovalchuk line with Stefan or Holik as Center... would be huge.

Gets more interesting every day.