NHL

Connor McDavid is apparently close to signing an extension with the Oilers, 8 years - $106M. Cap hit of $13.25M a season, easily the biggest contract in hockey.

No doubt he's worth getting the biggest contract in history, but the problem with this is now he takes money away from the Oilers that could be spent on building around him, and it makes the price for Draisaitl go up as well. They need to sign both long term, but with McDavid earning that, Draisaitl will feel his worth will need to accommodated. Can see him getting $8-9M a season now, which means with the salary cap at around $75-80M for the next 5-10 years, thats 2 players taking up basically 25% of your salary.

 

wow.. that's huge. although McDavid is the real deal.

 

Doesn't get more Canadian than free agent frenzy day in the NHL. Sitting in bed with my Tims watching teams spend absurd amounts of money. Loving it.

 

Kevin Shattenkirk goes to NYR, 4 years/ $6.25M per. Terrific offensive defenceman whose terrible on D. Bruins were in for him but it didn't make sense at all, and I'm glad they stayed clear.

He'll put up 50 points but is unplayable against top opposition forwards, which is crazy to say about ANY defenceman making $4M+ in my opinion.

 

4 years is better term than I was expecting. Doesn't handcuff them like some other deals around the league does.

Happy with what the Canucks have done today. Better depth and it's not like finishing at the bottom of the pile does anyone any favours in the draft any more anyway. Should be more entertaining to watch as well. Last year was the worst year of hockey ever.

 

Joe Thornton stays in San Jose, and a day later Patrick Marleau joins the Leafs on a 3 year deal/$6M per. Brutal contract to me, 2 years too long, $2-3M too much.

 

McDavid signs his extension - 8 years/$12.5M per. Out of the total $100M/ 86 MILLION DOLLARS IS A SIGNING BONUS.

Guy just made $86M by signing his name. * that is an absolutely insane amount of money.

 

Bruins still haven't signed Pastrnak. Spooner signed a 1 year, $2.5M deal a few weeks back.

Always liked the guy and felt he never got a chance under Julien, but really looked poor this past season. Can't win a faceoff or play decent defense.

Really hoped that we would have signed Pasta early on to avoid the drama. 6 years/ @$6-7M would've been great, but now players like Johansen are getting signed for higher, who aren't nearly as talented (IMO). The longer he has no deal, the higher his price goes. B's would likely match any offer sheet should another team try to weasel in.

Overall, been a pretty quiet summer for Boston and most of the NHL. Looks like Sweeney is really investing all faith in our youth. Looks like it will be another year in the playoff bubble, but I hope to see Bjork, JFK and Jake Debrusk shine this season. Charlie McAvoy rookie of the year, I'll call it.

 

David Pastrnak - 6 years at $6.67M per.

Took the entire * summer but credit Sweeney for sticking to it. Great number for him, absolute steal. On to training camp now!

 

Yet another arena dispute in North American sports, except now its Calgary thats under fire.

The owner and the NHL have cited the need for a new stadium in Calgary, as our current arena is the oldest in the league at 35 years old. The last year or so proposals have been made but have gotten nowhere. Last week, the owner came out and announced that they will not continue to pursue a stadium deal, basically saying that negotiations are over until... a move, or a miracle? Ironically this came after an announcement from a group in Seattle saying they have agreed to build a brand new stadium there to be completed in 2020, as well as Calgary city elections coming up in 5 weeks.

Yesterday the mayor released the cities proposal for the new stadium; 33% to the tax payer, 33% to the team, 33% added on a ticket surcharge. The team would own the facility and get 100% of the profits. If it sounds like a pretty fair deal, its because IT IS. Ken King is a * moron to call that an unfair deal for the Flames, and any Calgarian who says the same is mental IMO. The Flames will stay, but there's gonna be alot of bad blood before a new arena gets built.

I still cringe at the fact that I as a taxpayer somehow get looped into paying for arena's at all. The owner that rakes in millions every year, and a league that rakes in billions, still has the nerve to request city funding and control the building and keep all it's revenue. The only argument they have is that it generates additional revenue for small business in the city and improves the moral and livability of the city. The revenue part is complete bullshit to me, as I don't think that should justify cities having to pay upwards of $500M for a building they won't own. The moral and livability, eh it's true. The Flames are the heart and soul of Calgary, and these days every big name artist is going north to Edmonton instead of Calgary, as they have a brand new stadium and can generate interest much easier.

 

* that the NHL players don't get to play at the Olympics, hockey is one of the best events there usually.

 

Its unfortunate. Team Canada's 2014 squad was arguably the best team the sport has ever seen. It would've been even better with the current crop in now. As a die hard hockey fan, I do see the benefits. Many minor league players, and players playing in Europe will get a chance with their national teams on a big stage. Teams like Germany and the Czechs ans Slovaks will have real shots at gold, and Team Canada will get to show its depth. I still think it will be a great tournament, but I understand where the majority stands with it. The best the world has to offer won't be there, and thats not great for the event.

 

will Canada fill up their roster with AHL Players or with players playing abroad?

 

AHL players not signed to an NHL team, players playing in Europe, free agents, and junior players who they think are ready to take the step up.

The 1994 Olympics had a few junior players, notably Paul Kariya for Canada and Peter Forsberg for Sweden.

 

If you have a few minutes and want to find out a bit more about of one the best, and most forgotten hockey players of all time - watch this. A piece by done by TSN Canada on Paul Kariya, a former superstar who had to retire due to concussions. Since his retirement in 2011, he's been a total ghost and no one really knew much about his life since. Was pretty fascinating to see where he is now.

The first video is one of my favourite moments in hockey history. Scott Stevens with a late and I think dirty hit (it's regarded as a tremendous hit partly because it was Steven's who threw it) in the 03 Cup final. Kariya adresses it in the clip.

 

Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne were great to watch in their old Anaheim days. such a shame what happened to Kariya.

 

Pittsburgh vs Blackhawks 1-10.. that ain't how you wanna start your season at home

 

I have tickets for the Canucks Jets game next Thursday. It's my first game at Rogers Arena in 14 years.

 

Ovechkin with a 4 goal game. he's started the season with 7 goals... holy *... cyka blyat

 

Goals galore all round.

Loving the start of the season so far. Refs actually calling penalties for a change.