May 13, 2007

The Wild have until June 1 to sign 2004 first-round pick A.J. Thelen of Savage, or he can re-enter the draft. The 21-year-old defenseman is playing in the Western Hockey League finals for the junior Vancouver Giants.

 

Rick Jeanerette hi-lights from last night….courtesy WGR550.com. LINK 

 

The pick Florida will receive from Detroit as compensation in the Bertuzzi trade is now a second-rounder and will become a first-rounder if the Red Wings reach the Stanley Cup final. Hilarious, since Bertuzzi is absolutely no part of things right now.

 

Ottawa's Mike Comrie, quoted at TSN.ca on his road roomie, goalie and noted fashion plate Ray Emery: "He takes about three suitcases for one-game road trip. One time, he pulled this zebra blanket out of his suitcase. I didn't even want to ask what that was for."

 

The Boston Globe is reporting that Peter Chiarrelli will try to (again) sign World Championship star Sergei Zinoviev. He has 12 points in eight games in the tournament, third behind two other players who might come over – Alexei Morozov and Johan Davidsson. Zinoviev is a set-up man who would bring more experience than he did his first time around – but still his horrible attitude. Still, if they sign him he is definitely worth the flyer. He is 27 years old.

 

Martin Straka will not require surgery on his shoulder. Karel Rachunek and Michal Roszival may need surgery on their knees.

 

Tom Renney believes that Marc Staal will be on the team next season. I agree.

 

In an effort to boost their offense, it seems that Vancouver will dangle prospect goalie Cory Schneider this summer. You may see a draft-day deal here. A big one.

 

Bill Guerin is leaning towards re-signing with the Blues.

 

Tom Priessing will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

 

Interesting from Philly.com: Unhappy that local media did not send reporters to Moscow for the IIHF World Championships, in which five players from the Capitals were participating, Caps owner Ted Leonsis did something rather unprecedented: he sent two members of the organization and two fans who blog regularly on the team overseas to cover the tournament. "Our local media – either because of lack of interest or lack of budget due to declines in circulation, ad-revenue decreases and newsroom layoffs – are not covering the World Championships of Hockey in Moscow," Leonsis wrote on his blog, Ted's Take, which later appeared on E-Media Tidbits on Poynter Online. "The tournament is big news around the world, so we have decided to invest and send four people to cover the event and then put all coverage on the Web for free. We will share the news with new and traditional media outlets and syndicate it far and wide. Web 2.0 makes it possible for us to get our coverage out to millions and millions of people, promoting our sport, our team and our players."

 

Tampa Bay actually tried to get Evgeny Artyukhin back from Russia for next season – but failed.

 

Robert Nilsson finishes the Calder Cup playoffs with 15 points in 11 contests. Wilkes-Barre Scranton were eliminated. Kris Letang got an assist in the game.

 

Patrick O'Sullivan had a three-point night and now sits with 13 points in 11 games. Since Manchester is up three games to two, he has a shot at catching Darren Haydar in the final – but it's a tall order, as Haydar has 20 points. 

 

The people have spoken. Here is the design for the new dobberhockey shirt: