Official NHL Discussion Thread

[MikeRaw]

Brendan Shanahan is a New Jersey Devil -- sort of.

Sources says the unrestricted free agent winger is joining the team but has yet to agree to terms on a contract and it isn't clear at this point when that will happen or when he will be ready to play a game with them.

But sources say Shanahan will start skating in New Jersey today and the details of him officially becoming part of the team will be worked out in the days to come.

Shanahan, drafted second overall by the Devils in 1987, spent the previous two seasons with the New York Rangers but was not offered a contract to remain with the club.

The 39-year-old became a free agent after last season and was planning on returning to the Rangers for at least one more campaign. Rangers general manager Glen Sather repeatedly told him to hold on as the team could make room for him.

After four months of waiting, he decided to move on and his agent Rick Curran began listening to offers from other clubs.

In 20 NHL seasons with the Rangers, Devils, Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers and St. Louis Blues, the three-time Stanley Cup champion has 650 career goals and 690 assists in 1,490 games.
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TSN.ca

 

[niggles]

^What happened? I tried watching it to see Mats, but couldn't stomach a Casucks game.

Took a slashing penalty late in the 3rd and the gwg was scored on it...

btw glad to see Shanny back

 

[MikeRaw]

Pretty fun all star skills competition tonight.
Fun to see guys mess around like that, and the best Dman in the league, Chara, beat Iafrates record for hardest shot ever.
And lol at OV:

 

[Wordlife]

Man that was some funny shit... I can't WAIT to see the All-Star game tomorrow!!! Toews, Campbell, and Kane better represent my boys tomorrow night! Go Hawks players!!! Its going to be a great game

 

[MikeRaw]

Flames are on fire.
I face reality that my Leafs suck, and although I watch every game, I'm losing interest (they're rebuilding, so I have to stick by them).
But my Flames are continuing strong, and now have an 11 point lead on the division.

BTW, check out this from tonight:
[YT]sPvVqNzMV68[/YT]
Eric Godard (Pittsburgh) KD's Colton Orr (New York Rangers) in a great fight.

 

[Soulpower]

Another EZ, off the heezy loss for the Loltreal Canadiens. They've now dropped 3 in a row, and 8 of their last 10 games.

Meanwhile, the Red Wings will look win their 5th game in row tonight when they face Nashville.

 

[MikeRaw]

:laugh: After the leafs beat the Habs, Carey Price was almost crying in his interview.
Leafs are on a bit of a roll, which is good, but I have to be honest with myself, they'll probabyl lose tonight, and go back where they belong. Oh well, there's always next year.

The Flames however, finally snapped a losing streak, and ae back to winning, still with a 9 point lead on the division. w00t

 

[monkeystyle]

I'm considering suicide over here.

 

[MikeRaw]

^Dude, I'm not just saying this cause I'm a Leafs fan and a Flames fan, and hate the Habs but... Damn! The habs are soft as hell. The Flames literally beat them up last night. If Montreal has to play Boston in the playoffs, good luck, because Boston is a huge, physical team, and basically the East's version of Calgary (although not quite as tough as Calgary).

 

[niggles]

montreal wont even make the playoffs at this rate...

 

[Soulpower]

Oh my god!

The NHL on Friday will send security officials to Montreal to meet with local police following reports linking a number of Montreal Canadiens players with an organized crime investigation, sources said.

French language newspaper La Presse of Montreal reported Friday that Pasquale Mangiola, who faces weapons and drug charges, is close to the Canadiens' Kostitsyn brothers, Andrei and Sergei. The three have often been seen together at Montreal bars and restaurants, the paper reported.

The paper also mentioned veteran defenseman Roman Hamrlik as also being linked to Mangiola, who is alleged to have acted as an intermediary between a number of rival criminal gangs in Montreal.

Police officials would not comment to La Presse when asked about the ongoing investigation. The NHL is aware of the reports and is in the process of gathering additional information.

A spokesman for the Canadiens said Friday morning the team had no comment on the reports. They were scheduled to practice at 2 p.m. ET Friday.

The reports are another blemish on a season that began with such promise -- the Canadiens are celebrating their 100th anniversary and hoping for a long Stanley Cup playoff run this spring.

The team has played poorly -- a 3-11-1 record in their last 15 games including a 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday. Earlier this week, general manager Bob Gainey told slumping forward Alex Kovalev he would not accompany the team on a two-game road trip this week.

Gainey also shipped 21-year-old Sergei Kostitsyn to Montreal's American Hockey League affiliate in Hamilton earlier this week, although it's believed this was strictly a hockey decision.

Sergei Kostitsyn is the younger of the brothers and is in his second season with the Canadiens. Andrei Kostitsyn, 24, was the 10th overall pick in the 2003 entry draft but has been slow to mature into a top player, having bounced between the AHL and the NHL in the last two years.

Montreal has fallen to sixth place among Eastern Conference teams and is just four points from falling to ninth and out of the playoff picture. Its play, coupled with its off-ice distractions, have become the talking point for the entire province. Segments on radio and TV talk shows have incorporated the full range of the Canadiens' issues.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3921050

Lol!

 

[MikeRaw]

I was gonna post that in the SB to show Monk, but he wasn't around.
I love it. Their 100th year is going down the drain.

 

[gamebreaker]

It was a good game last night when the Thrashers played the Coyotes.
Too bad Phoenix won on the shootout. I was like nooo wtf...

 

[niggles]

the whole team is guilty of sucking

 

[MikeRaw]

The Pittsburgh Penguins have cleared up a bit of their log jam along the blue line as they have sent Ryan Whitney to the Anaheim Ducks for Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi.

The 26-year old Whitney was a vital piece of the Penguins' Stanley Cup run last year; however foot surgery caused him to miss the first 31 games of the season.

The Boston-native is one of the better puck moving defencemen in the league and should be a big boost to the Ducks power play. He became deemed surplus goods when fellow defenceman and Penguins' primary powerplay quarterback Sergei Gonchar returned a shoulder injury.

Whitney is in the second year of a six-year contract he signed with the Penguins last season. He was chosen fifth overall by the Penguins in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

Details to follow
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tsn.ca

Good trade for both teams IMO. Whitney, one of the best D-men in the league goes to Anaheim, and will help them, cause Niedermayer will probably retire after this year, and Pittsburgh gets Kunitz for some secondary scoring. Solid trade.