The NHL Minute - 7 Dec

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News

• Sagging Economy hot topic at Board of Governors meeting
  The sagging economy will be front and centre as the NHL’s board of governors convenes for meetings this week.  Team owners and executives will be addressed by leading economists from both sides of the border on the longer-term effects the economy is expected to have on the league’s business. (The Full Story on TSN)
• Leafs Hire Former GM Nonis to Front Office
  The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Saturday that Dave Nonis has been named senior vice president of hockey operations. (The Full Story on TSN)

Trades & Transactions:

• None

Injuries:

• Dan Ellis (G - Predators) Day-to-Day with bruised knee.
• Cam Ward (G - Hurricanes) Placed on IR.

Rumours & Gossip:

• Thrasher’s GM Don Waddell is said to be looking to move star Winger Ilya Kovalchuk.
• Mats Sundin’s agent states he will decide on a team by December 15.  Front running teams include the Rangers, Canucks, Blackhawks, Flyers and Canadiens.
• Leafs GM Brian Burke is said to be looking at offers for defenseman Tomas Kaberle.
• The Rangers are said to be looking to move Wade Redden & Michal Rozsival.
• Florida could be looking to move Nathan Horton, Rostislav Olesz and Brett McLean
• Oilers could be interested in moving Ladislav Smid.
• Are the Capitals thinking of shopping Jose Theodore?
• The Flyers are looking to dump salary and may shop Joffrey Lupul.
• Thrashers could be looking to move defenseman Mathieu Schneider.
• Tampa Bay could be looking to move veteran players including Gary Roberts, Matt Pettinger and Chris Gratton.

Scores:

• Washington 1 - 3 Carolina
• Phoenix 1 - 7 Chicago
• Calgary 3 - 0 NY Rangers
• Columbus 3 - 5 Anaheim
• Vancouver 4 - 5 Colorado (Shootout)

Source: NHL.com, Yahoo! Sports, TSN

Tags: atlanta thrashers, board of governors, brian burke, cam ward, carolina hurricanes, chris gratton, Dan Ellis, dave nonis, don waddell, economy, florida panthers, gary robert, ice hockey, ilya kovalchuk, Joffrey Lupul, Jose Theodore, kaberle, Mathieu Schneider, Mats Sundin, Matt Pettinger, michal rozsival, nashville predators, NHL, thrashers, toronto maple leafs, Wade Redden

Latest NHL Trades, Signings & Rumors

As the NHL Free Agency market looms only hours ahead, there has been a steady increase in activity around the league. Today we cover the latest trades, signings and rumors.

NHL Trades:

The Edmonton Oilers have done a trade with the L.A. Kings, which sends Lubimir Visnovsky (D) to the Oilers in exchange for Jarret Stoll (F) and Matt Greene (D).

Tampa Bay have acquired the rights to Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts from the Penguins, and also Brian Rolston of the Minnesota Wild.

NHL Signings:

The Dallas Stars have signed Loui Eriksson (F) to a 2-year extension.

Boston Bruins have signed Mark Stuart (D) to a 2-year extension.

Carolina Hurricanes signed forward, Tuomo Ruutu to a 1-year, $2.25 Million contract.

Nashville Predators signed Dan Ellis (G) to a 2-year $3.5 Million contract, and also Shae Weber to a 3-year $13.5 Million contract.

Ottawa Senators re-signed Chris Kelly (C) to a 4 year contract.

Moves:

Ottawa Senators placed Ray Emery on Waivers, then bought him out, making Emery a free agent.

Anaheim Ducks placed Todd Bertuzzi (F) on waivers, with plans to buy him out.

Toronto Maple Leafs bought out Andrew Raycroft (G)

Rumors:

Philadelphia Flyers are rumored to have signed Jeff Carter (C) to a 3-year $13.5 Million contract.

Calgary Flames are rumored to have locked up Conroy (C), Langkow (C), Nystrom (LW) and McElhinney (G).

Brooks Orpik is rumoured to be looking to the free agency market instead of re-signing with the Penguins.

Source: NHL.com | Yahoo! Sports

Technorati Tags: ice hockey, nhl, dallas stars, ottawa senators, anaheim ducks, calgary flames, tampa bay lightning, pittsburgh penguins, toronto maple leafs, nashville predators, boston bruins, caroline hurricanes, edmonton oilers,

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On the eve of Round 1 Game 1

The 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are here.  In just a few hours the pucks will drop on a series of Round 1 games, marking the start of 2 months of grueling battles to find an eventual victor.

This is a good time then to take a look at the battles for Round 1.

In the east

Montreal Canadiens (1) Vs Boston Bruins (8)
The Bruins struggled this year.  First they lost Patrice Bergeron to a season ending concussion, then later in the year Marc Savard goes down with an injury.   Yet,  somehow they scraped through to the playoffs, and they go into them equal to all other teams.  Montreal however are a hot team who have the leagues best Powerplay.  Boston, in order to keep in this series will need to stay out of the box.

Pittsburgh Penguins (2) Vs Ottawa Senators (7)
Ignoring the fact that Brian Murray accused the Penguins of throwing their last game, am I the only one who hopes to see the Penguins kick some serious ass this series?  Last year the fresh faced Penguins were routed from the playoffs in just 5 games by a stronger, more powerful Senators team.  This year the teams are evenly matched and both offensive powerhouses.

Washington Capitals (3) Vs Philadelphia flyers (6)
The classic Cinderella story.  Alexander Ovechkin is in the playoffs for the first time, and with him is a solid determined Capitals team.  The management of that team deserve awards for the progress and improvements they made with the team.  The Flyers have been inconsistent, and will need to be 110% on their game to beat the Caps.

New Jersey Devils (4) Vs New York Rangers
The battle of the creek, as it was referred to earlier on today.  These 2 teams have plenty of reasons to hate each other, and you can guarantee a very passionate series.  Unfortunately neither team can guarantee an offensive display, so expect physical defensive style hockey.

In the west 

Detroit Red Wings (1) Vs Nashville Predators (8)
There is nothing bad you can say about the Red Wings this year.  Top of their division, top of their conference and top in the league on points.  The best goalie duo (by stats) in the league.  Nashville don’t have a Crosby or Ovechkin.  They don’t have a Hasek.  They do however have a very potent young goalie in Dan Ellis, and a very effective Pack Mentality style play.  At the end of the day however, the Predators may find themselves a little behind the eight-ball.

San Jose Sharks (2) Vs Calgary Flames (7)
If there was going to be an upset, this might be it.  Going into the last day of the regular season, there was a chance that the Sharks may face the Avalanche in the first round.  In fact, most Sharks fans wanted them instead of the Flames.  Look for Iginla to lead the Flames to a long series against the Sharks, possibly even 7 games.

Minnesota Wild (3) Vs Colorado Avalanche (6)
Veteran leadership Vs Young blood.  That’s how this series may end up being.  The Avalanche have been reuniting old team mates, the question now is whether the likes of Sakic and Forsberg are able to content with the young speedsters like Marian Gaborik.

Anaheim Ducks (4) Vs Dallas Stars (5)
Defending champions the Anaheim Ducks have had a strange type of season.  If not for the controversial return of both Selanne and Niedermayer earlier in the season they would not be in the playoffs.  Their leading scorer, Corey Perry is out and Chris Pronger is likely going to do something to get himself a suspension.  Unlike last year the Ducks don’t have a powerful attack this time round.  They do however have the best Blue Line in the league with Pronger, Niedermayer, Schneider and Beauchemin.  Dallas will have to battle with their own demons however.  Getting past the first round is the goal of this team, and you can expect goalie Marty Turco to be on his game.  The inclusion of proven playoff performer Brad Richards in the lineup may have the desired impact.  The Stars, unlike the Ducks, can score this year, so expect a very hard hitting, physical game.

Predictions?

I know people like predictions, so here are my wildly unpredictable, highly unlikely, but what they hey predictions…

East:
Montreal Canadiens in 5 games
Pittsburgh Penguins in 5 games
Washington Capitals in 6 games
New Jersey Devils in 7 games

West:
Detroit Red Wings in a 4 game sweep.
Calgary Flames in 7 games
Colorado Avalanche in 6 games
Dallas Stars in 6 games

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