Just a couple of quick tidbits over the past couple of days in case you missed it:

-The Rangers re-signed restricted forward Nigel Dawes to a one-year $600,000 deal. In 61 games during his rookie season, the 23 year-old Manitoban who the Original Six club selected in the fifth round back in 2003 posted 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points while pacing them with a plus-11 rating. His four deciding tallies tied with Sean Avery for third on the team and put him in a tie for second among rookies.

No surprise here that the Blueshirts brought the promising left wing back. He really made strides last season improving his overall speed and really becoming an effective forechecker. His passing also was very underrated. Figure Dawes to take that next step up this Fall with 20-25 goals a possibility.

Recently acquired forward Dan Fritsche was also re-signed.

In other club news, the team signed 24 year-old Russian defenseman Vladimir Denisov. He played in 66 games for Lake Erie of the AHL registering two goals and six assists for eight points while racking up 111 penalty minutes.

-The Oilers re-signed center Shawn Horcoff to a six-year $33 million extension. The new contract will keep him in Edmonton through 2014-15. In 53 games this past season, the 29 year-old from British Columbia tallied 21 goals and 29 helpers for 50 points bouncing back from a disappointing 2006-07 in which he had just one more point (51) while posting a minus-22 rating in 27 more games played.

Horcoff’s a nice playmaking pivot but giving him six years seems a bit much as by the end of the contract, he’ll be 35 going on 36. Is he really a $5 million dollar player? I guess in today’s crazy NHL, that’s the case.

-In a couple of minor signings, the Thrashers added former Edmonton veteran forward Marty Reasoner while Calgary brought back ex-Ranger 1999 first round pick Jamie Lundmark. It’s ashame what became of his career after the Blueshirts ruined him letting the Edmonton native waste away in Hartford before barely playing him in New York. Why did the Flames even bring him back? Amazingly, he’s only 27. So, we’ll see if he’s got anything left after splitting the past year in Moscow and Lake Erie.

As for Reasoner, I always liked him as he was a decent skater who put forth an honest effort fitting in well on Edmonton after starting his career with St. Louis. The 31 year-old Rochester native will probably play on the fourth line with Atlanta.

-The Islanders re-signed forwards Sean Bergenheim and Jeff Tambellini. The 24 year-old Bergenheim attained career highs in games (78), goals (10), assists (12), points (22) and PIM (62) last season after spending 2006-07 with Frolunda in Sweden posting near a point-a-game. He’s a solid energy player who can play in a third line role and agitate the opposition.

As for Tambellini who the Isles acquired from Los Angeles a couple of years prior, the former Kings’ 2003 first round selection has yet to develop scoring just one goal while adding three helpers in 31 games last season on Long Island. For some reason, GM Garth Snow gave the 24 year-old Calgary native a two-year contract. They’re only paying him $1.175 million which is an average of less than 600 K. Still, it would’ve made more sense to give Tambellini a year and see how he does.

-Other minor signings included the Blues inking former Leaf D Andy Wozniewski while the Sharks added a pair of veteran blueliners in Matt Kinch and Brett Westgarth.

-The Sabres re-signed forward Daniel Paille to a multi-year deal. The former Buffalo 2002 first rounder achieved new career bests in games (77), goals (19), assists (16), points (35) and plus/minus (9) while registering three shorthanded goals. For some reason, the 24 year-old out of Welland, Ontario didn’t have a link in the original TSN story. Doesn’t that seem odd considering the kind of season he had? As our Buffalo blogger might say, it’s a Buffalo thing. If it were the Leafs, well…Seems like a decent move anyway.

-From the bizarro world last night, the Kings reportedly have hired Terry Murray as their new coach giving him a three-year deal to replace Marc Crawford. He was an assistant with the Flyers the last four seasons. He hasn’t coached since 2000-01 with the Panthers.

Murray’s best known for guiding the Flyers to the Stanley Cup 11 years ago before referring to them going down 3-0 to Detroit as a “choking situation,” sealing his fate. I doubt he’ll be able to utter those words with the porous Kings. Best of luck.

One of the common trends we’re seeing is GMs sign Group II’s to offersheets ticking off rival executives who either make a big threat as the Sabres did last summer when Kevin Lowe gave Thomas Vanek that huge offer sheet or make disparaging remarks such as know it all Brian Burke did taking jabs at the Edmonton GM for stealing away Dustin Penner. Funny how the NHL didn’t call the former employee into the office but as soon as Lowe fired back, they finally asked both to the principal’s office.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Lowe give Burke a beatdown because the latter thinks he invented the game. Is he a good GM? Absolutely. But sometimes, his arrogant attitude can get a little irksome. His rival Lowe hasn’t broken any rules. As far as I know, teams can ink restricted FA’s to deals if they’re willing to sign on the dotted line giving the original team seven days to match. There’s nothing wrong with that. Either the organization concludes that the player is worth keeping and antes up or decide they can’t afford to due to the cap and go in a different direction.

Ironically, Burke’s former team the Canucks are involved in the latest Group II game. They signed Blues’ forward David Backes to an offer sheet which St. Louis quickly matched to keep his rights. Less than a week later, the Blues have signed recently acquired forward Steve Bernier to an offer sheet worth $2.5 million for next season.

Out of curiosity, is this why the penny pinching Sabres dealt away the potential power forward last week so quickly after acquiring him at last season’s deadline? At least they finally upgraded their blueline picking up steady veteran Craig Rivet from San Jose.

The 23 year-old Bernier is a solid player. In 76 combined games with the Sharks and Sabres, he finished with 16 goals and 16 helpers for 32 points along with 64 penalty minutes. It was kind of odd how Buffalo got him in the Brian Campbell deal only to later deal him off. He’s a former 2003 first round pick who has solid size going 6-2, 235. No wonder teams are after him.

Unlike rival GMs who take these kind of deals personally as if it hurts their egos, current Vancouver GM Mike Gillis didn’t see anything wrong with what the St. Louis organization did:

“We have a great deal of respect for the St. Louis Blues, John Davidson, Larry Pleau and their management team, The offer sheet to Bernier is a clear indication of how highly Steve is thought of in our league.”

It’s refreshing to see no cheapshots being dished out for what looked like some payback. I do wonder though about where this league is headed when a guy who’s yet to reach 100 career points is going to make $2.5 million. The average cost for FA’s will only continue to escalate spiraling out of control.

Former Flyer center R.J. Umberger who ironically was drafted by Vancouver but never set foot there due to contract demands is already on his fourth team having played 228 total games producing a little over half (116 pts) before the Blue Jackets traded for him rewarding the 26 year-old with a four-year $16 million deal. Now, he did post a career best 50 points and had an outstanding postseason torching the Canadiens for eight of his 10 markers while posting 15 points. At this juncture, he’s no better than a checking center.

This is where the league’s headed. No wonder Jaromir Jagr picked up and left for a richer return to Russia to play for Avanguard-OMSK. Here’s the sad aspect. A star player though older at age 36 who could add a lot more to a contender only attracted offers from three teams (Oilers, Pens, Rangers). Most just weren’t willing to pay No.68 top dollar due to producing only 71 points in Tom Renney’s defensive system which held him back. If he played in a more high tempo system, no question he’d have fared better despite going through long goal droughts and lingering questions as to whether he could bounceback. If you saw how he performed in two rounds with the Blueshirts, you know better.

It’s a young man’s league even though the Devils committed too much for 35 year-old Brian Rolston giving him four years at an average of five million per. Now, Rolston has been a quality NHL player and will certainly boost New Jersey’s struggling offense. He’s a solid two-way forward who can play power play with that booming shot from the point and is a shorthanded threat. But do you think giving him four years is a little bit much? He’ll be 38 in the final season.

How do they justify this? By knowing that the Flint, Michigan native is a reliable player who’s scored at least 30 goals in his last three seasons even though his point total went down in each year. It’s still much easier to conclude paying Rolston five million on average for what he’s accomplished than one million less for Umberger, who looks to be a similar player if he can take that next step in Columbus.

Still, when you look at these salaries, just remember the Maple Leafs led by NHL fossil Cliff Fletcher gave Jeff Finger four years at an average of $3.5 per-year.

Don’t try to laugh too much.

If you’re an avid Back To The Future fan, then yesterday was your day when it came to the hockey scene as two former bitter Western rivals turned back the clock to a decade prior.





Back then, the best rivalry in the game was between the Red Wings and Avalanche featuring some epic playoff battles resulting in Cups for both franchises. Well, it’s been a while since these teams had that sort of magic going. Maybe with yesterday’s moves, they’re trying to rekindle it in hopes of a big Spring.





First, former Colorado star center Peter Forsberg decided after all that he wanted to comeback, reversing course to re-sign with the Avalanche where he had his most success. It was there where Peter The Great became one of the best players in the league helping lead the Avs to their first Cup in 1996 and also being part of that second championship five years later even though he missed the final two series.



For a decade, Forsberg lit up the highlight reel teaming up with captain Joe Sakic to form a dynamic duo. Following the lockout, the Swede left the thin air for the Flyers where he played the last two injury riddled seasons due to a bad right foot.

Not long ago, it looked like a Foppa return to the NHL wouldn’t occur because the 34 year-old pivot recently concluded that he wasn’t where he needed to be for that to happen. Well, I guess a lot can change in a week. Especially when the Avs are waving lots of cash at their former superstar in the hopes that a less than 100 percent Forsberg will be able to get them back to the postseason after falling short last year.

Currently, the Avalanche rank 10th in the ultracompetitive Western Conference trailing eighth place Nashville by four points and the upstart Coyotes by one. The Blue Jackets are only a point in back of the Avs and five out while the Blues are six behind the Preds.

With 19 games remaining, Colorado is paying Forsberg a pro-rated one million for basically a six week rental. If it were a full season, he’d make five million.

It’s certainly no guarantee that the Avs will make the cut but with Sakic finally healthy along with leading scorer Paul Stastny plus a motivated Forsberg, that should give them a leg up on the competition.

Colorado will visit Calgary later tonight and plays Vancouver twice in the next week. Plus the pesky Kings and defending champion Ducks. Certainly nothing easy about the upcoming schedule.

While the Avs are going Back To The Future, Doc Brown and Marty McFly also might want to make a visit to the Joe Louis Arena where the Wings will be welcoming back the comebacking Darren McCarty.

The 35 year-old former member of The Grind Line will get a second chance at the NHL after a battle with alcohol and drugs which left him bankrupt. The Wings gave him a tryout with the AHL’s Grand Rapids and IHL’s Flint Generals.

With the team struggling lately having dropped seven of eight due to a ton of injuries which has kept out Nicklas Lidstrom, Dominik Hasek, Chris Chelios, Dan Cleary and Niklas Kronwall, Detroit GM Ken Holland decided his club needed to do something despite continuing to lead the league with 89 points (six more than red hot Dallas).

They’ll hope the gritty and physical McCarty still has something left to reenergize the Original Six club who he once helped win three Cups with in 1997-98 and 2002.

At the very least, it should be intriguing to see how he fares. Wishing him the best of luck and hoping he makes the most out of this opportunity.

Boyle re-ups with Lightning: With the 3 PM deadline approaching, Tampa Bay and much coveted defenseman Dan Boyle decided they wanted to remain together. The Bolts and Boyle agreed to a brand new six-year contract extension worth a reported $40 million.

The 31 year-old has three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 17 games this season. During his nine-year NHL career with Florida and Tampa, the Ottawa native has tallied 76 goals and 203 assists for 278 points in 503 games.

Most of that production has come with the Bolts. In 374 games since GM Jay Feaster acquired him six years prior, Boyle has totaled 239 points (65-174-239). That kind of reliable production was a big part of the franchise’s only championship in 2004.

He’ll be continuing to run the power play and log big minutes instead of being dealt elsewhere.

Prospal To Flyers: The same day, Feaster also unloaded forward Vaclav Prospal to the Flyers in exchange for defenseman Alexandre Picard and a conditional 2009 draft pick.

The recently turned 33 year-old Prospal returns to where he began his NHL career a decade ago. After stints with Ottawa, Florida, Tampa, Anaheim and again Tampa, he’s come full circle and will try to help the depleted Flyers make the playoffs.

After a disappointing 2006-07 in which he scored just 14 goals and 55 points with a dreadful minus-24 rating, the veteran Czech has bounced back with a strong season notching 29 goals, 28 helpers for 57 points in 62 contests with the Bolts.

With the Flyers’ best forward Mike Richards sidelined due to a torn hamstring, GM Paul Holmgren needed to do something to upgrade his roster. This is a solid addition.

Jackman re-signed: The St. Louis Blues also made some news yesterday re-signing defenseman Barret Jackman to a four-year extension. The 26 year-old injury prone physical defenseman was thought to be on the block but instead St. Louis Team President John Davidson opted to retain him.

Following a solid 2006-07 in which he attained career highs in assists (24) and points (27) as well as got into his most games (70) since his rookie season, the British Columbia native has struggled. In 58 contests, he’s 2-6-8 with 63 penalty minutes and a minus-12 rating.

One Blogger’s Reaction: With Boyle and Jackman staying put, the defensemen to look for who could get moved later today are Buffalo’s Brian Campbell, Toronto’s Bryan McCabe and Tomas Kaberle along with LA’s Rob Blake.

We’ll have more on the deadline at some point today as I’ll be quite busy. Hope our other bloggers contribute to what should be a fun day!

Flyers 5-0 Rangers
Key Goal-Getters: Mike Knuble - 2 Goals, Sami Kapanen, Mike Richards (PHI)

Leafs 4-3 Bruins (Shootout)
Key Goal Getters: Phil Kessel (BOS), John Pohl (TOR)

Blues 3-2 Thrashers
Key Goal Getters: David Perron (STL), Marian Hossa - 2 Goals (ATL)

Senators 2-1 Canadiens
Key Goal Getters: Jason Spezza (OTT)

Red Wings 5-2 Penguins
Key Goal Getters: Kris Draper, Henrik Zetterburg - 2 Goals (DET), Evgeni Malkin (PIT)

Capitals 2-1 Lightning
Key Goal Getters: Alexander Semin (WSH), Martin St. Louis (TB)

Hurricanes 1-4 Predators
Key Goal Getters: Jason Arnott (NSH)

Oilers 5-4 Flames (Overtime)
Key Goal Getters: Jarret Stoll, Shawn Horcoff (EDM), Alex Tanguay, Jarome Iginla, Marcus Nilson (CGY)

Easy: Pick the Best Signing So Far…

My votes would be torn between Ouelett in TB, Lang in CHI, Kariya in STL, and Drury with NYR.

What’s your take on this lovely Independence Day?