NHL Hockey Sports Fan Blog

Its Official, Chris Drury is no longer a New York Ranger. His buyout with the Rangers becomes official Wednesday, the New York Post reported, ending a four-year stint in New York for the 34-year-old. “It was a great honor and privilege to be a New York Ranger for the past four years, and I will always be grateful for the opportunity to fulfill that childhood dream,” Drury said in a statement that was emailed to The Post. “I would also like to thank Ranger fans. They always inspired me to do the best I could in whatever role I was asked to play. Playing before them in the Garden was a thrill of a lifetime. I wish all the fans and the entire Ranger organization the best of luck in the future.”

Drury will receive $3.333 million to buy out the final year of his five-year, $35.25 million contract with the Rangers, according to The Post. He could have been declared medically unable to perform for the final season and received his full $5 million salary, but Drury wants to continue his career and will become an unrestricted free agent, the newspaper reported.

Drury was often criticized for not living up to his immense contract, even during the first two years when he did exactly what was expected of him. Yes, he lost a significant step in the third year of his tenure, and then it got even worse last season, but that’s nothing to hold against him. Remember that he allowed this buyout to happen today, that means something, that’s something a captain would do for his team. Though its always sad to loose one of the leaders on your team, this move helps the Rangers out immensely heading into Friday’s free agency.

They will save $3.3 million this off season (which is a huge because Wade Redden’s cap hit returns), money they can use to go after Brad Richards or sign some of their own free agents. Anyway you look at it, the extra flexibility is a very good thing.

With Drury gone, it now looks like Ryan Callahan will be named the next captain of the Rangers. Callahan perfectly represents what this Rangers team stands for. Today also marks another chapter in Glen Sather and the New York Rangers attempts to make this a younger, faster and more exciting team. Sather has done a great job so far taking care of the mistakes that he made along the way and is slowly turning this young team into a competitor.

Today is the day that Jaromir Jagr has to decide if he wants to make a return to the NHL, a league he used to dominate. The Pittsburgh Penguins have offered the 39 year old a one-year deal worth a reported 2 million dollars, and he has until today to decide if he wants to return to the team that drafted him in 1990. Penguins GM Ray Shero spoke on Tuesday about the possible deal and said, “We feel from the information we have and after seeing him at world championships, that he’s a guy who might be able to help us this coming season.”

The Czech native has spent the past three years playing in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League where he has registered 66 goals and 146 points. Jagr and his agent, former NHL player Petr Svoboda, have expressed interest in a return to the NHL and that the Penguins and Detroit Red Wings are teams Jagr was interested in, among others. “He was an icon in Pittsburgh,” Shero said “We’d like to see him finish his career here.” Though Jagr cant sign with a team until Friday, he can tell the Penguins of his plans anytime before then. Jagr played 17 seasons in the NHL, 11 with Pittsburgh. If he returns to the NHL, his 1,599 career points would be the most among active players. Jagr played his first 11 seasons in Pittsburgh, winning the Stanley Cup twice, the Hart Trophy once, the Art Ross Trophy five times and the Lester B. Pearson Award twice. He was a finalist for the Hart Trophy five times, including in 2006 with the New York Rangers.

I never realized how passionate Canadians were about their hockey, until I really looked into some articles on the impact of Winnipeg getting its hockey team back. For starters, the franchise sold out its allotment of 13,000 season tickets in just 17 minutes, but the company said the online queue was full in two minutes. The remaining 15 minutes were required to process the sales. That’s absolutely crazy, 2 Minutes to sell out season tickets, 2 minutes! Then I stumbled on the following ads that prove just how crazy/passionate/desperate these fans are for tickets. How much would you pay for tickets? For these people the sky’s the limit apparently. For the record these are real ads that were posted on Kijiji (Basically a Canadian Craigslist.)

1. “Two seats to the first Jets game in (exchange) for the naming rights on my first born son! Will include the middle name of my second and third child as well.”

2. “I have been working in childcare for 12 years and have now opened my own home childcare. I currently have one spot available and would like to offer free full time or part time childcare in exchange for a pair of season tickets or portion of. This is a $600-$800/month value depending on the age of the child.”

3. “Will trade 2001 Audi A4 Quattro all-wheel drive for Jets season tickets. Car is fully loaded with leather seats.”

4. “I am a professional accountant who would be willing to assist any individuals or businesses with your finances, taxes, book-keeping, budgeting etc, in exchange for two seats for four or five various games or a permanent share in season tickets. I will gladly pay into the deposit share if you’d like.”

5. “I had no luck with the pre-sale, so I’m looking to purchase two season ticket packages, with the rights to be transferred to me after the first year. Unless the rights will be transferred, don’t bother responding. Given that the amount paid will be significant, I will ensure that a legal document will be drawn up at my expense. Bottom line: NAME YOUR PRICE. This is not a joke. I’m dead serious. There are three of us that want this, and our pockets aren’t light.”

WILD.

When this years Stanley Cup finals comes to an end, we may look back at the 5:07 mark of the first period of last nights game 3, as the turning point in the series. Boston Bruins forward Nathan Horton was skating near the middle of the ice, when he fed a pass to Milan Lucic on the left side, but, with Horton’s head still turned that way, Aaron Rome of the Vancouver Canucks, launched into him at the blue line. Horton’s head hit hard on the ice as the two players spilled to the ground. Immediately after the dirty hit, the raucous TD Garden fans instantly turned into a silent, and anxious fan base. As Horton lay on his back, cameras caught his eyes rolling back; the capacity crowd took a collective breath. Horton, who is second on the Bruins in postseason points, was cared to on ice for an extremely long time before he was finally taken of the ice on a stretcher. Watching this unfold, you had to wonder if this hit was the nail in the coffin for the Bruins, who are searching for their first title since 1973. How would the Bruins respond to watching one of their leaders, lay on the ice motionless?

Well, the Bruins did not score on the ensuing five-minute power play, nor did they tally a goal in the first period. It looked like they were physically tired, and emotionally spent. But then in the locker room, in between periods, something happened. Reports came in from Massachusetts General Hospital that Horton was “moving all his extremities.” The Bruins were finally able to take their mind for a little bit, off their fallen teammate and onto the task at hand. Bruins Coach Claude Julien implored his team to respond in a way that would make Horton proud. This was one of the moments that you usually only see in movies. One of those rare moments that can draw a team together and propel them forward. The Bruins seized this moment and never looked back.

It was time for the Bruins to finally get some payback. They decided not to respond with fists, but with something that hurts much more…. Goals. They rallied around Horton, their battered teammate. They propped up their embattled coach, then cashed in on their chance at redemption behind their goaltender Tim Thomas, who was again, in the words of Daniel Sedin, “beyond unbelievable.” The Bruins were finally playing with a purpose, as they went on to blow the Canucks out 8-1. They played such a hard-nosed, physical game, something we hadn’t seen in this final yet from the B’s.

There was no better moment that exemplified the Bruins’ play last night than when Henrik Sedin, who leads the Canucks with 21 playoff points, attempted to bat down the puck right in front of the Bruins’ crease in an array of third-period activity. Tim Thomas sized up the young center, then sent him to the ice with a cross check that sent one message. Not in My House, and Certainly Not Tonight.

As the Bruins left the Arena last night, there were a lot of questions to be answered. They didn’t know how their teammate was doing, or how they are going to play without Horton for the rest of the series. The one thing they did know though, was that they represented Horton in a way that would make him proud.

Recently, the NHL signed a 10-year extension with Versus. The league has done fairly well in attendance this year, and NHL tickets can still be bought for the playoffs. But as far as television goes, the NHL is failing miserably. Before the lockout, they were regularly on outlets such as ESPN and ESPN2. And since the lockout, while they have occasional games on NBC, they are regularly on Versus. Versus is not even a channel that loads of people have. For example, the UFC always garners much higher ratings when they are on Spike TV, as opposed to when they are on Versus.

Popularity for the NHL has gone down since the lockout, and the television deal is the main cause. They negotiated with ESPN again, but chose to stick with Versus. Sure, Versus offered them more money. But if they were on ESPN, they would get way more exposure. And in the long term, any businessman would know that more exposure leads to more money. The NHL shot themselves in the foot, and they will end up paying for it with money that they will not make.

Sunday night, the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 7-4 to take a 3-2 series lead in the Stanley Cup finals. After letting up three goals in the first period, the Flyers put in backup goalie Brian Boucher to try to stop the bleeding. However, he had just as much failure as Leighton had.

So far, each game has been won by the home team. On Tuesday night, the series heads to Philadelphia, where the Flyers look to take back control.

Dustin Byfuglien tallied two goals and two assists for Chicago. For Philadelphia, Chris Pronger had a +/- of –5, which is the worst of his career, counting both playoffs and the regular season.

by David at the Sports Fan Blog Network

I’ll be the first person to admit that I’m not the biggest hockey fan. I can name all of the best players, but I don’t really have a favorite team and I don’t go out of my way to watch regular season games. Once the playoffs start, however, that’s a different story and last night was no exception.

I got home and turned on the TV, expecting to find Game 3 of the finals between the Flyers and the Blackhawks on NBC. Imagine my surprise, then, when I had to turn on Versus to watch the game. Although this wasn’t a huge problem for me, because my cable package includes the channel, I can’t imagine how many casual fans like myself weren’t able to watch a game they otherwise would have wanted to.

While the first two games were on NBC, where they were accessible to everyone, I can’t understand why the NHL allowed a primetime game in its biggest series of the years to be bumped to Versus so NBC could put on a re-run of one of its series. If that type of things happens in the future, then I think it might be time for the NHL to either find a new broadcaster, or to re-negotiate with NBC.

by Nathan Eagan at the Sports Fan Blog Network

Entering Wednesday night, the Philadelphia Flyers found themselves in a 2-0 series deficit against the Chicago Blackhawks. While the Flyers became the third team in history to come back from a 3-0 series lead just two rounds ago, losing game three would have essentially sealed the Stanley Cup going to Chicago.

With the game all tied up, Patrick Kane scored quickly in the third period, which sent the Philadelphia crowd into panic. However, Ville Leino answered a mere 20 seconds later, sending the crowd into a frenzy. In overtime, it looked as if Simon Gagne won the game for the Flyers. With the red light on and the players celebrating, the puck never crossed the line, and thus the potential game-winning goal was taken away. With the Philadelphia crowd in a nervous state, Claude Giroux sent that nervousness away when he scored in overtime, which gave the Flyers a 4-3 victory.

Now down 2-1 in the series, Philadelphia looks to even it up. If they do not, Chicago is in serious command.

by David at the Sports Fan Blog Network

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For years, the National Hockey League has been searching for answers. While there are many hardcore hockey fans, unfortunately, the casual fans are decreasing as time goes on. Only a few games a year get respectable television ratings. Simply, the answer to their problem is Versus. This year, it looks as if the Stanley Cup is going to feature Chicago and Philadelphia; two big sports markets. However, this will not really do anything for the NHL. On May 24th, the Flyers have a chance to win the Eastern Conference Championship. Is the game on a legitimate television network? No, it is not on regular cable, which is a complete joke. The NHL continues to dig themselves into a hole, and Versus is a big reason. It is impossible to garner the interest of fans when they cannot even watch the league’s games. The NBA (except for this year, because Lakers-Celtics has a great chance of happening), NFL, and MLB would be more than happy with the idea of Philadelphia vs. Chicago. But for the NHL, it won’t change anything, if nobody can even watch it.

by David at the Sports Fan Blog Network