Happy Canada Day! (This statement is required by blogger so as not to offend any Canadians who read this)
Is it coincidence that UFA day and Canada Day are the same day? Why would you want to have such conflicting events happening at the same time. “Yeah, Canada! Boo, Chara’s an LA King.” Strange.
Musing throughout the day about the free agency signings, and whatever else.
Chris Mason – Why it took this long to sign him, I don’t know, maybe it was required of the team. But if I were him, I’d be asking for more playing time. When Vokoun went down with a medical condition, Mason was not ready for duty, due to not playing enough games. I realize it’s the way of the world sometimes, backing up a star goalie, but it was a mistake to keep him on the bench so much (a mistake that wasn’t exclusive it Nashville).
Dwayne Roloson – Resigns with the Oilers. Good for him. Really. Now, let’s see if he gets the long-term-high-dollar-blues that Turco and Giguere and all of them seem to get after a big signing.
Washington Caps resign Brent Johnson – And the world breathed a collective sigh.
Chara – An LA King? Really? weird…
Chara – And now a Bruin? What? How many other reports are going to come out about him? This makes more sense to me than going to LA. Could you see Chara rollerblading down the beach? No. Just stop. Considering how people don’t seem to enjoy being in Boston these days, maybe $7.5 mil for 5 years is just to get him past the bad behavior of the club.
John Grahame to Carolina – I’m just glad he went somewhere. He may not ever be a number 1 for a long time, but at least he’s signed.
Tyler Arnason is an Av – Ok. Don’t know too much about him. Kind of average for a first day pick up. One year deal.
Jovo to Phoenix – Good for Phoenix. They could use someone like him.
Osgood is back with Detroit – Do you think Jose Hilton will fight him?
4:00 PM – Where is the Rob Blake news? What’s the hold up? Worry meter tingling.
Blake talks break off – Damn, the worry meter is going to get a downgrade. From the Denver Post, the issue being the $2.3 mil bonus that counts against the cap, and therefore takes away salary to give him. I’m sure more details will come to light soon, but for now, lets hope they don’t wait too long to look for other D men, or resign Liles. Again, damn.
Gerber goes to Ottawa – Does this mean Hasek is done? Or is that it for Ray Emery? Even though Emery stepped up after Hasek’s injury, I know they weren’t to happy with him as a person sometimes. But my feeling is Gerber as a 1A, Emery as a 1B. Gotta wonder what is going though the minds of Sens fans today. Happy Canada Day!
And just like That, Blake is a King – That didn’t take long. From the time the story came out that Blake was no longer an Av, to the signing with the Kings (2 year, $12 mil), no more than two hours passed. You know the Kings had an offer ready to pounce with. I can’t wait for the Av’s silence to become uncomfortably deafening. As of 6:12 pm MST, his stats are still on the team website. We’ll see how long it takes for them to take them down (ala Tanguay).
Lalime signed by Blackhawks – What is it with the Hawks and goalies? Khabibulin underachives last season, so they hire the guy who couldn’t save in a 401k in St. Louis last year. This just in, Blackhawks have most goals against for 2006-07 season.
Carney to Wild – The funniest thing I have ever heard yelled at a player was at the 2003 SCF Game 7 Ducks at Devils. “Hey, Carney, guess my weight!”