This has been the busiest week for free-agent signings for the Sabres this summer.
Darcy Regier went out and grabbed some Stanley Cup experience and grit with Rob Niedermayer and then had Mike Weber accept his one-year qualifying offer. In addition, Corey Tropp was inked to a three-year entry level deal. Then came the big one. This afternoon the Sabres announced that they had re-signed Patrick Lalime to a one-year deal.
Well, Sabres fans can’t say Darcy didn’t sign anybody. But, he really has yet to make a major impact in free agency. On the bright side, he didn’t just sign Bob Corkum.
The Sabres signed Rob Nidermayer to a one-year deal today. According to TSN, the deal is worth $1 million for the 2010-11 season.
In the past four or five years, ESPN has become a, flat-out, frontrunner. They seemingly gave up on covering every sport and only covered the ones they care about. I understand that it is good business, but don’t say you’re the world wide leader in sports when you’re really the world wide leader in football, basketball and NASCAR.
That is where my beef truly begins. NASCAR is not a sport, it never was a sport and will never be a sport. It is drab, uniform and just plain hickish. The only good thing to come out of NASCAR is Talledega Nights and crashes. I understand that the drivers are very skilled – I know I probably wouldn’t do too well driving 160 in traffic – but, they aren’t athletes. The cars do just as much work as they do. Not only has Johnson not done anything athletic, he has won the last four Sprint Cups because of strategy, not winning a whole bunch of races. Every sport forces it’s champion to win it all, not win sometimes and finish high enough the rest of the time. NASCAR is a complete and utter joke.
So, when ESPN lists Jimmie Johnson as a nominee for Male Athlete of the Year, I know they no longer have an unbiased view of sports. Their nominees for the top ESPY are: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Albert Pujols, Drew Brees and Johsnon.
I am a big fan of the website, Icethetics. It is run very well and always has new information about what uniforms are being worn throughout hockey, not just the NHL. Chris, the guy who runs the site, has had some info about a new Sabres uniform for next season.
Larry Quinn stated on a local radio show last year that there would be two new uniforms this season, including a new third jersey to celebrate the team’s 40th season. Chris over at Icethetics put together a concept based on what he has been told the new uniform will look like, here is the link to his story.
I think he is pretty close to accurate based on his description. But, being a hockey nerd and knowing that the city of Buffalo is fanatic about its history (why else wouldn’t Bass Pro be built), I think the sweater will hearken back to an earlier era of Buffalo pucks. Going off what Chris has on his site, I think the Buffalo script will be similar to the script that adorned the old Bisons jerseys in the 1960s. Plus, I don’t know if putting an extra logo on the front makes any sense, I like having the number underneath the script, it leaves room on the right breast for a 40th anniversary patch. Here is my try at the possible third jersey:
July 1 must not be a good day at HSBC Arena. The Sabres have never done too much on the opening day of free agency, particularly in the past few years. Mark down 2010 as another one of those days.
With a free agent pool deep with defensive talent, and two UFA defensemen likely leaving the team, it was believed that the Sabres would make one or two acquisitions today. They didn’t disappoint in every sense of the word, although most fans expecting Tomas Kaberle are likely up in arms about the Sabres’ signing.
Jordan Leopold is not a bad pick-up. Three years at or around $2 million (his 09-10 salary was $1.75MM) is not a bad rate for a reliable defenseman. Leopold has playoff experience from his Cup run with Calgary and he has shown he is a capable power play contributor. Just don’t expect him to be Duncan Keith on the man advantage.
While underwhelming, Leopold addresses the loss of the Sabres’ two top left handed defensemen. With Mike Weber coming up from the minors, Buffalo shouldn’t lose too much skill. If they were to find another guy later in free agency they might be golden – reason being, Chris Butler and Andrej Sekera do not deserve a regular shift. Continue reading
It’s UFA Day in the NHL – one of the most exciting, yet, over analyzed days of the year.
In the 4 1/2 hours since free agency opened there have been a boatload of deals; 21 to be exact. The deepest position in this year’s free agent pool is defense and the bulk of today’s signings have been on the back-end.
Sergei Gonchar (Ottawa), Zbynek Michalek (Pittsburgh), Paul Martin (Pittsburgh) and Buffalo’s UFA pair of Toni Lydman (Anaheim) and Henrik Tallinder (New Jersey) all went quickly.
Only a handful of forwards are off the “board” but, my favorite for the Sabres to bring in, Colby Armstrong, went to Toronto for more than I think he is worth. Perhaps the second biggest forward name, behind Ilya Kovalchuk, is gone as well – Ray Whitney signed with Phoenix this afternoon.
Now that the biggest names (defensively) have been picked clean, I expect things to slow to a crawl in terms of signings. You won’t see the rat race for the big names that you see in the first few hours. However, there are always good value players that don’t go early who can contribute on a high level for teams. So, fans around the league can’t get too discouraged if their teams don’t make a major splash right off the bat.
More to come later, including a full wrap-up of day one of free agency.
The dearth of trades leading up to the beginning of free agency, Thursday at noon, has been somewhat surprising.
Ten days ago rumors were rampant that players like Tomas Kaberle, Jason Spezza and others would be moved on or before the draft. At the very worst they wouldn’t last past June 30. But, there have only been a few “major” deals. Vancouver acquiring Keith Ballard and Victor Oreskovich for a first-round pick, Steve Bernier and Michael Grabner is probably the biggest – followed closely by Nathan Horton and Greg Campbell for Denis Wideman and a pair of picks. Aside from Dustin Byfuglien, the Chicago-Atlanta trade was heavy on numbers but weak on talent.
Either way, the only moves that have been made have been to clear cap space rather than acquire talent. Most of the fringe acquisitions have been smart, but have lacked the pop that all the rumors have predicted. Continue reading
After completely missing on their choice to dump Jaroslav Halak and sign Tomas Plekanec, the Montreal Canadiens have made a smart move.
The dumped problem child, Sergei Kostitsyn to Nashville in exchange for Dustin Boyd and Dan Ellis. Boyd will help Montreal, especially compared to what Kostitsyn brought to the table. In the event the Habs can sign Ellis, they will have absolutely fleeced the Preds – a team that is making moves quicker than Deep Blue.
The Predators have made three moves this offseason, none of which have improved the team. They have inherited a fringe defenseman, a prima donna winger and a part-time NHLer. They sent out three players who started most nights for them in 2009-10 in Ellis, Dan Hamhuis and Jason Arnott. The only silver lining in it all is that the Predators got something in return for Ellis and Hamhuis, instead of letting them walk for free – even if the return was questionable.
As for the Habs, it seems like Ellis is interested in signing with Montreal. If that is the case, the Habs have found their 1B to Carey Price. If Price can get his game back in order the bleu, blanc et rouge have found themselves a strong goaltending combo. Continue reading
Patrick Kaleta’s HITS Foundation is pleased to announce its 1st annual golf tournament to be held Sunday, August 8 2010 at Holland Hills Country Club (10438 Holland Glenwood Rd. Holland, NY 14080).
Registration for this event is going on right now. It is slated to be a shotgun start at noon and will play in a four-man scramble format. There are still openings for golfers of all skill levels. The cost is $500 per foursome which will include 18 holes of golf, lunch, dinner, and drinks. To register for this event, please visit http://www.hitsfoundation.org or email cw.hitsfoundation@gmail.com for further information. All proceeds will directly benefit the HITS Foundation.
The HITS Foundation (Helping Individuals To Smile) has been recently established to provide opportunities within the Western New York community for children and adults to participate in activities that otherwise would not be available to them. In doing this they are aiming to elevate the participants’ quality of life.
For more information, contact Chris Wasik at: cw.hitsfoundation@gmail.com or visit the HITS Foundation website.
Bethpage Black is the hardest golf course I have ever played. I can say that will full conviction, you need to play a perfect game to make a respectable score on this track. I went in with a goal of breaking 90, I shot 92 and would have reached my goal had I not gone four over through the first three holes on the back nine.
