Archives › Joe Yerdon
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2010 NHL free agency: Ducks sign defenseman Andy Sutton for two years
Aug 2, 2010, 6:30 PM EDT
Comments OffAfter the Anaheim Ducks traded James Wisniewski to the New York Islanders last week, a lot of questions were stirred up about the lack of physicality on the Ducks blue line for next year. Consider those questions answered today with the announcement from the Ducks that they’ve signed defenseman, and noted questioner of experts, Andy…
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With the news of Antti Niemi being let go by the Chicago Blackhawks today after walking away from his arbitration decision, the speculation over where the soon-to-be 27 year-old goalie has taken off. One place that’s been getting mentioned heavily is Philadelphia, but as it turns out, there’s no interest there from general manager Paul…
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President Obama deals out executive trash talk for Caps owner Leonsis
Aug 2, 2010, 4:31 PM EDT
Comments OffI know this isn’t necessarily a features blog by any means, but when the President of the United States is getting in on some executive level smack talk, it’s pretty tough to avoid. President Barack Obama recently attended a WNBA Washington Mystics game with Captials/Wizards/Mystics owner Ted Leonsis and you had to figure the fact…
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Remember last week when Sabres forward Tim Kennedy won his arbitration case against the team earning himself a $1 million salary for next season? Funny thing about that, while it wasn’t much of a raise for the young forward, it was apparently too much money for the Sabres’ blood and they’ve put him on waivers…
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Last week we told you about how the Islanders put Brendan Witt on unconditional waivers and now the team has made it official, declaring they were buying out Witt’s contract. Witt was due to make $2.5 million next season, the final year of a two-year, $6 million deal. According to Cap Geek, the buy out…
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The St. Louis Blues have gotten their most important player back in the fold signing restricted free agent defenseman Erik Johnson to a two-year deal worth $5.2 million. Johnson was the number one overall pick in the 2006 NHL draft and lynchpin along the blue line. In two seasons, Johnson has 15 goals and 57…
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2010 NHL free agency: Blackhawks walk away from Antti Niemi award, sign Marty Turco to one-year deal
Aug 2, 2010, 11:34 AM EDT
In a stunning turn of events, the Chicago Blackhawks are walking away from the $2.75 million arbitration award for goaltender Antti Niemi and will be signing Marty Turco to a one-year deal for around $1 or $1.5 million (Update: $1.3 million is the number). While a report of this happening came out last night, this…
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The New York Rangers have been looking for a little bit of help at the center position. With Chris Drury being essentially their one true top center, and he’s even been relegated to second or third line duty, getting another center with some offensive touch has been a bit of a priority for the Rangers.…
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Blackhawks goaltending a hot topic during Blackhawks fan convention
Aug 1, 2010, 5:01 PM EDT
Comments OffWhile the Chicago Blackhawks held their fan convention this weekend, much of the festivities were a bit overshadowed wondering about what the team will do with goaltender Antti Niemi. This is unknown territory really for any NHL team to have such great success one year winning the Stanley Cup to scrapping a lot of the…
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A lot of our attention this summer has been spent on restricted free agents and arbitration. With over 30 players having filed for arbitration, there was potential for a lot of drama between teams and players. As is generally customary, arbitration is the last resort in contract negotiations and the majority of players settled into…
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NHL challenging the NHLPA over legal contracts is nothing new
Aug 1, 2010, 10:51 AM EDT
Comments OffBelieve it or not, there’s actually some history with the NHL and the NHLPA when it comes to bickering over the legality of contracts. I know, this is really mind-bending news to get on a Sunday morning but it’s true and the New York Post’s Larry Brooks is once again spending his Sunday skewering the…
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Marty Turco’s first summer in free agency hasn’t gone quite the way he was hoping it would. The free agent market for goaltenders dried up, teams are putting more faith in goalies who won’t break the bank and jobs that were thought to be around didn’t materialize. Of the handful of possible destinations Turco may…
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Niemi's arbitration split-decision is better than expected news for Blackhawks
Jul 31, 2010, 11:53 PM EDT
Comments OffWhile the Chicago Blackhawks have to be somewhat happy with how goaltender Antti Niemi’s arbitration case turned out today, rewarding him $2.75 million, finding out about where each side was hoping to end up in the grand scheme of things salary-wise is a curious matter. Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago checks in to tell us…
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2010 NHL free agency: Oilers avoid arbitration, re-sign goalie Jeff Deslauriers
Jul 31, 2010, 10:47 PM EDT
Comments OffThe Oilers have done the NHL arbitration-watching part of the world a huge favor and came to terms with goaltender Jeff Deslauriers on a one-year one-way deal. Deslauriers was set to be the last arbitration case to be heard, but now that won’t go down, leaving the Blackhawks decision on what they’ll do with goaltender…
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The sale of the Dallas Stars has been getting plenty of attention amongst interested parties in Texas. Current owner Tom Hicks is looking to get out of sports franchise owning in a big way and both the Stars and the Texas Rangers in Major League Baseball are on the block. While Canadian oilman Bill Gallacher…
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2010 draft picks Hall and Fowler skipping World Junior Championships camps
Jul 30, 2010, 6:17 PM EDT
Comments OffWhile there’s generally a dearth of hockey news in the summer, one bit of actual playing news is that many of the World Junior Championship teams are holding their evaluation camps this week. Team USA opened their camp today in Lake Placid, New York but notably absent are two players who recently signed professional deals.…
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2010 NHL free agency: Sens, Lightning, Ducks and Habs get their signings on
Jul 30, 2010, 5:04 PM EDT
Comments OffA bevy of signings all went down this afternoon so we’ll get you caught up in quick-hit fashion. We would’ve called this the lightning round but considering they’re one of the teams involved in things we didn’t want to get too silly. Dominic Moore signs two-year deal with Tampa Bay Tell me if you’ve heard…
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Source: Kovalchuk contract grievance saga to be settled next week
Jul 30, 2010, 4:00 PM EDT
While we haven’t been talking much lately about the Ilya Kovalchuk contract grievance between the NHL and the NHLPA, there are things that need to be settled and if what Tom Gulitti of Fire & Ice says has found is correct, we might see a solution to things next week. A source said this afternoon…
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It’s been almost a little too quiet on the Marc Savard trade rumor front lately. After some steady speculation all through the month of June about possible destinations in either Toronto or Ottawa for the Bruins centerman, a new contender has emerged from the shadows according to Jimmy Murphy of ESPNBoston.com. But while the market…
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The Islanders are doing a bit of housecleaning today, as they’ve placed defenseman Brendan Witt on unconditional waivers. Chris Botta of Islanders Point Blank says that this move is a precursor to an eventual buyout. A buyout is probably in his future. The Islanders still carry seven defensemen on one-way contracts for the 2010-11 season.…
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Edmonton Oilers new head coach Tom Renney is filling out his coaching staff and going off the radar in doing so. The Oilers have hired Ralph Krueger to be one of Renney’s assistants, joining former Oilers players Kelly Buchberger and Steve Smith on the bench. If you’re not familiar with the name, it’s understandable as…
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A player’s off-season workouts are generally pretty intense. Depending on the type of role you play or the style of play a guy has can depict what it is exactly that they’ll do to make themselves better. For a player like Red Wings forward Justin Abdelkader, honing his skills as an agitating and physical forward…
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2010 NHL free agency: Bruins accept Blake Wheeler decision, sign him for $2.2 million
Jul 30, 2010, 11:30 AM EDT
The Boston Bruins have made a commitment to Blake Wheeler. After Wheeler’s arbitration case was decided yesterday with the winger winning a $2.2 million award, some wondered if that cost was going to be enough to make the Bruins walk away from the young scorer. After all, the Bruins are in a bit of a…
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Taking a page almost exactly out of the Blue Jackets settlement with Anton Stralman, the Calgary Flames reached a deal with their own offensive minded defenseman Ian White prior to his arbitration hearing. What’s different this time is that Ian White got a nicer chunk of change out of the deal, signing for one year…
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Despite Stanley Cup championship, Blackhawks were a financial loser last year
Jul 30, 2010, 10:02 AM EDT
Perhaps there was a method to old “Dollar” Bill Wirtz’s madness and Scrooge-like ways. A story out of the Chicago Tribune by Melissa Harris claims that even in spite of the Blackhawks selling out the United Center on a nightly basis, reaching the playoffs and ultimately winning the Stanley Cup the team finished the season,…
