Ray77

Alex Simonson? That's a shock...I'd have never guessed that he'd be involved in something like this! Wait a minute...yes I would.

SAD

Fox Sports 1 strikes deals with DirecTV, Dish Network Come on - we need this for Sioux hockey!

Great article about Zane. Gothberg working on physical and mental game at North Dakota In it they mention he had a foot infection during last year's tournament, which would be (could be) why Saunders got the start against Yale. Did they ever come out and say that last year? Maybe they did and I'm just not remembering it right now. Maybe I intentionally deleted that part of the year from my brain. Anyways, I think this goes to show that this will be Zane's team this year - his job to lose.

Even though he retired they get hit for $250,000? Ouch. I suppose $250,000 is a long ways away from the $10M or so he was due this year. Just sucks for the Devils to have to eat that when he decides to leave.

Bruins: Logo was not roped off Best part of the article: "We did not rope off our logo this weekend when Justin Bieber performed at the Garden and no one was in our locker room," Chmura said.

Yes and no. I suppose they could cut him at any time, but NHL contracts don't work like NFL contracts. The Devils would still be on the hook for his salary and they'd have nothing to show for it. With the new CBA coming out of the last lockout each team is allowed 2 compliance buyouts in the next 2 seasons. Other than that, they'd still have to pay him so they can't really just 'cut' him. As we're seeing here, he can just leave when he wants. I'm not completely sure about the rules around this, but if he'd decide to come back to the NHL would he still be property of the Devils until his current contract runs out?

Wow! Here's to you, DaveK! I would have replied directly to one of your posts, but I couldn't pick just one. This goes to all of your posts.

We know that you won't give in to that, Mafia Man . Nothing would make you turn your back on your beloved Redwings. P.S. See what I did right there?!

I read this from Dave's article and immediately thought the reason they don't want to imagine playing Cooke 3 or 4 times next season is because they don't want to risk a career ending injury.

Interesting. I guess I was figuring he'd be very happy to come back to Minnesota. If you're from there, why wouldn't you? Too high expectations playing in front of the 'home' crowd? Also, if he didn't want to come here but chose to sign here, that tells you what options he had. I was more surprised that the Wild would want to sign him, but I suppose this was more of a money issue and they could get him cheaper than the alternatives. The Wild bought out Gilbert (good move) but then sign Ballard??? Gilbert had 1 year remaining @ $4M and they signed Ballard to a 2 year, $3M contract.

By golly, he HAS changed! Wild's Matt Cooke: I've changed And I'm with Oxbow on Ballard - no thanks.

As the opening day of free agency went along, me and a buddy were texting all of the signings that were being reported. At one point I got a text that said "Matt Cooke to the Bruins". I can't even begin to explain how fast I found a computer and started frantically searching to see if this was true. I've been a huge Bruin fan since I was a little guy and during that time players have come and gone. I seriously started questioning if I could continue being a fan. It'll be interesting to see and hear if (and how long it'll take) before the Wild fans start making excuses and rationalizing all the stuff this guy does. I see someone above in this thread already threw out the new standard "He's changed his game and doesn't play that way anymore - that's all in the past". Keith Ballard also went there on KFAN today as well with Russo. Good luck with that. It's only a matter of time and he'll be in the center of another headshot, blown knee, etc. and Shanahan will be reviewing the footage. MafiaMan - were you eluding to Ballard about not having interest in coming back to Minnesota? I'd like to hear where you heard this or what is the reason for that?

This!

HA - that was funny!

Yeah, I think that was Johnson.

Very interesting and classy move by the Blackhawks. This type of stuff typically never happens - I can't recall seeing anything like this. During the Finals a friend and I were talking. I recalled back in 2011 when the Bruins were playing the Canucks and it got nasty - the 'trash talking' between teams, the finger-biting incident, etc. I guess that's what you expect with the Canucks! But this series was different. This was more of a mutual respect between the 2 teams. Not a lot, if any, trash talking. Not a lot, if any, crap between the whistles. This was just a hard fought series between the 2 best teams in the league, and it was fun to watch. Well, except for that last minute or so in Game 6! Hawks praise Boston's 'big heart'

Because of the lockout shortened season and how long the playoffs went, it sounds like the 2013 draft will be held in 1 day - this Sunday the 30th at 3:00 pm ET in New Jersey. I'm not sure how they're going to pull off 7 rounds of drafting in 1 day, especially if they're not starting until 3:00 ET. It also sounds like the Avalanche have said that Nathan MacKinnon of the Halifax Mooseheads will be their pick at #1, and not Seth Jones. The Calgary Flames have 3 first round picks - #6, #22 (from St. Louis) and #28 (from Pittsburgh). The Columbus Blue Jackets have 3 first round picks - #14, #19 (from NY Rangers) and #27 (from LA). The Buffalo Sabres have 2 first round picks - #8 and #16 (from Minnesota). The Dallas Stars have 2 first round picks - #10 and #29 (from Boston). The LA Kings, Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild, NY Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins do not have 1st round picks.

Congrats to Toews and the Blackhawks. This one stings.

Awesome - I hope the entire team was wearing those for every game last year.

HAA...man, that is funny right there!

I also wouldn't be surprised to see 7 OT games in this series!

Sad news... Former Tiger Scott Winkler dead at 23

This series could be one for the ages!

I hope you didn't think I was putting him in the Matt Cooke/Raffi Torres category. No way. But I agree with what you say here.