is this guy that the flyers got any good

yeah briere is unbeleivable. without him and drury the sabres dynasty is practically over.







NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers solved their problems at center in a big way Sunday, signing Scott Gomez and Chris Drury away from Eastern Conference rivals on the first day of free agency.


Gomez

Drury
Just hours after the summer shopping season opened, the Rangers landed the two biggest available centers -- plucking Gomez from Atlantic Division-foe New Jersey and Drury from the Buffalo Sabres, the team that knocked New York out in the second round of this year's playoffs.

Gomez signed a seven-year deal with the Rangers worth $51.5 million -- including $10 million next season. Drury inked a five-year contract for $35.25 million. He will earn $7.1 million each of the next two seasons.

The Rangers had been looking for a second-line center to play with forward Brendan Shanahan, and now can plug Gomez into that spot. Drury's signing means that New York will let unrestricted free agent Michael Nylander leave, which will create a spot on the top line for Drury to play alongside Jaromir Jagr.

The 27-year Gomez, a two-time Stanley Cup champion in his seven NHL seasons -- all with the Devils -- had 13 goals and 47 assists in 72 games with the Devils.

Shanahan hasn't signed a new deal yet, but said after the season that he wanted to return to New York.

Drury, from nearby Trumbull, Conn., joined fellow Sabres co-captain Daniel Briere in leaving Buffalo on Sunday. Briere signed an eight-year, $52 million contract with Philadelphia -- another division rival of the Rangers.

Drury, 30, scored a career-high 69 points -- including 37 goals -- for the Sabres. Buffalo had an NHL-best 113 points this season, but the balance of power in the East clearly shifted toward the Atlantic Division on Sunday.

The Rangers lost a tight, six-game series to Buffalo in the second round. New York was poised to take a 3-2 series lead in Game 5 when Drury scored the tying goal with 7.7 seconds left in regulation. The Sabres then won 2-1 in overtime to take control back in the series.

someones goin to rehab.

im psyched the flyers got briere, but i'd rather have drury or gomez. stupid rangers.

and they traded pitkanen and sanderson to edmonten for smith and lopul or whatever. . . trading pitkanen is iffy.

EDIT: briere:

“I can say that average wise there were teams that were higher than [Philadelphia],” he said. “I was fortunate to be in that position and I wanted to be able to pick the team I wanted to be with. At that point, I thought the Flyers were the best fit for me.”

sammy hates sammies

Sabres dynasty? Haha. How many dynasties haven't won a Stanley Cup?

I'm mad they lost Drury and Briere, but worse things have happened. Like losing LaFontaine and Hasek. Some change was obviously needed in Buffalo since they couldn't seem to get to the next level. And they basically have $13 mil under the cap to spend now.

They'll do something. And the Sabres will still be a playoff team. Rangers look good right now on paper, but shit, don't they always?

i guess thats what happens when you buy enough talent. too bad talent doesnt equate to success and chemistry.

paul kariya (3 year) and keith tkachuk (2 year) (re)sign with the st. louis blues!!!

welcome back st. louis to the playoffs!!

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=ap-b...p&type=lgns

Smyth in Colorado? Whaaaaaaa?!

by dynasty i just really meant last season (how often does a team start a season out with a bang like that, seriously). but sabres are probably gonna pick up some solid prospects/free-agents. even without briere and drury, you always have that powerhouse miller. nothing gets past him.


as far as NYR is concerned: if we don't take the cup with the stacked roster we have now, then we never will. :-\

Got much expectations? Get ready for a hell of a time signing Lundy with all of that money you gave Drury and Gomez. And I'd also expect Shanny to be gone. And I'm sure Jagr isn't going to be happy that his best bud Nylander is an Oiler now.

They look like they should be a top tier team in the East, and I'm sure they're playoff bound, but a lot is gonna happen between now and October, and chemistry is huge.

Lundqvist wants to stay in new york and Shanahan has said he wants to spend another year with us. After the 2007-2008 season he is probably going back to detroit.

Drury and Briere wanted to stay too...

After that performance last year he's gonna want big cash. No doubt they're gonna get him signed, but you'll lose some other UFA's or RFA's due to him wanting more. Wouldn't be surprised to see him go to arbitration.

sens are a non-cup winning dynasty


the winners so far:
Boston. Getting a clear #1 goalie in Fernandez should help this team start to become a contender. With moves they made late last year (Bochenski, dumping Mara) coupled with the Thornton pickup and Manny, they should start to be a little more cohesive with a team that you can rely on to be consistent from game to game. They have a very young core with guys that can just take off and light it up at any time (Kessel, Savard, Boch, Bergeron, Sturm) - they'll finish 7th-9th.

Philly - finally have a goalie that, like Boston, can come in & win games consistently in Biron. Yeah this happened at the deadline, but you have to throw that season out for the team, so don't even compare what they were to be fair. You add a top forward who has insane hands, insane speed...sounds kinda like Gagne. You add Kimmo Timonen, a rock on the point with great vision to create plays up the ice with a solid breakout; you add Jason Smith to bring more grit to the backend, clear the front a lot more (Biron is prone to letting out wild rebounds when he's pressed - like on the power play), but he has a bit of the Derian Hatcher big guy downside; you add Hartnell & Upshall, great younger guys who have the drive to be winners (Nashville), and can put up points when needed (Hartnell: +19, decent PPG numbers for a second unit guy, would've had more points but missed about 20 with a broken foot, needs to shoot more; Upshall: can play 15-20 minutes a game, good penalty killer, quick, lots of upside if he develops through Philly); you get Lupul who had a brutal season with Edmonton, but that's ONE SEASON with a shit team, he had more points in his rookie season than he did last year...another younger guy that brings energy, at least a 20-goal scorer, but if opposing teams jam the blueline when he's coming into the zone, he's done. He's not exactly a sharpshooter, especially from behind the circles.
What do they lose? Pitkanen, Sanderson, a draft pick, and Forsberg. You lose a guy with tremendous speed, you lose a prospect, you lose a defenseman with a bright future, you lose an overrated big name player that could retire due to injury at any time. They'll be by far the most improved team next year.

St. Louis - re-signing Jackman, who showed people a lot of skill over the summer by getting the gold for Canada and performing incredibly while doing it is a solid move. Getting Keither back is a great move. Getting Kariya from Nashville is a great move.

the losers:
Toronto - Not because I'm a Sens fan and I want to pick on Toronto, but they get a power forward (that's good) in Mark Bell, they get a solid #1 goalie in Toskala (that's good), and they get a 40-goal scorer in Jason Blake (that's very good). Unfortunately they have too many skill guys and Maurice has to cater to their level & style of play rather than adapt to include some grit & tenacious forechecking up front that Bell and Tucker can bring. It's great to pick up Blake, but this is just a pure Leafs move - ignore your glaring issues (defense, penalty killing), and add more players to the roster that are unproven with great numbers. Getting Toskala is their one great move, clearly, but they also gave up the chance to get Logan Couture, Esposito, Cherapnov, etc..., and they're already overpaying Raycroft to be their #1. This'll for sure cause issues when you're shelling out 3.5-4.5 for a backup goalie (because rest assured Toskala will win the job), and you're already stretched to the cap due to dud moves with your big 3 D.

Columbus - Another bad season, another year of no change. It's just like they don't want to win - nice new RBK jerseys though.

the interesting:
NYR makes a massive move to get another high level scorer with Drury, a guy that can be the heart & soul of the team that matches Shanny's style, and he should be able to work really well with the faster elite European players. On the other hand, Gomez is an overrated garbage scorer who had one good season with NJD. Love that article that says he's had a stellar career - he averages 16 goals a season. Maybe he's maturing, but nah, it was a bad pickup and giving him a RIDICULOUS 7 year contract is one of the worst moves you can make. Chill on the long guaranteed contracts, boys.

Chicago - Yanic Perrault, the best face-off guy in hockey and a great penalty killer, gets a year. Samsonov comes from MTL where he was a huge disaster, for a year. They get Patty Kane as the number one pick, they dump a wildly bad Aucoin (he may be slower than Derian Hatcher) for Zyuzin. They re-sign Lalime off of back surgery but a good end to the season, to backup Nikolai, who proved nothing last year. They have the great skill of Marty Havlat, if he can play more than 30 games a year. Basically, this team is top-loaded for speed and skill, and they were interesting at the draft/agent day, because they didn't address their need for size. It's taking a massive gamble that Buffalo wasn't a fluke, and that those are the type of players that can take a team far down the stretch - the difference being that the Sabres had the depth when their skill guys went down with injuries (which will happen with Chicago).


It's clearly far too early to make predictions of any sort, but here they are for now:
EAST TOP 8:
1 - Pittsburgh
2 - Ottawa
3 - Atlanta
4 - Buffalo
5 - Tampa
6 - Philly
7 - Boston
8 - NY Rangers

WEST TOP 8:
1 - Detroit
2 - Anaheim
3 - Vancouver
4 - San Jose
5 - St. Louis
6 - Colorado
7 - Nashville
8 - Chicago

I agree 4th is hardly out of the question for Buffalo. The roster they have right now is still deep as hell. Connolly gets a full season to work with, as does Stafford. I expect huge seasons from Pommer, Max, Connolly, and Stafford. I expect Hecht and Campbell to take the reigns in terms of leadership. Center is a big hole right now, but I think it will be filled at some point. Defense needs some tweaking and the power play needs a complete overhaul. But whatever the case, we have Miller in net, and things will be just fine.

And add Montreal into your losers there. I feel bad for those guys. Screwwwwed yesterday.

Fucking Preissing is in LA now. I knew he wasn't going to be back in Ottawa, but it just pisses me off that he's gone. He's supposed to get $11 million over 4 years, something which we could have afforded if not for the large contract of an underachieving defenceman *cough*Redden*cough*. Oh well.

yea, hi, i'm here to eat my words about the Drury to Rangers deal

i totally did not see that coming to fruition

i guess anything goes in the NHL now!


shit's crazy

Supposedly the Sabres told Drury whatever he wanted they'd match it, and then he pretty much told them he didn't want to stay in Buffalo.

Sources say Briere and Drury had a pact. Either both of them would stay or they would both leave. So when the Sabres lowballed Briere, he said fuck it, and Drury said fuck it and they both went wherever they wanted. I hope they both get career ending injuries.

Chris Neil, have a field day on them...

I don't believe that "pact" thing. It's probably coming from the same sources that said the Sabres threw the Conference Finals, which is why Ottawa won.

Anyways, another valuable Sabre is gone as Zubrus signed with NJ.

Vanek signing in Edmonton? Sweet merciful crap...

Sabres news conference is in about 30 mins, so I'm interested to see what happens.

Sabres had no intentions of signing Zubrus from the beginning. Also, the pact is pretty much fact. Hehe rhyme. But yeah, many people close to Drury and Briere have said that both said they wouldn't stay unless both would be there. It's pretty obvious in Drury's case I would say... The Sabres offered to match or beat any offer he got from the Rangers, but he just wanted to leave because Briere wasn't gonna be there anymore and they wouldn't be a contender anymore...

And fuck the Oilers. They knew they couldn't get Vanek. Way to go driving up the market up on a fellow small market team. I guess they were afraid we'd go for Parise or Stempniak? Or I guess it's just a warning to teams out there with RFA's. Either way, that's shady shit.

At this point it's pretty clear that Darcy had no intentions of signing Briere because he knew they'd have to let Vanek go. Vanek will be a superstar in the next 7 years and is the type of player you want to build a franchise around. Where Briere may be on his last legs in his long ass contract, Vanek being 23 will be in his prime for these 7 years. It stung for them to lose Drury, but I think they didn't want Briere long term.

Good move by the Sabres to lock him up for 7 years. A big fuck you to Kevin Lowe.

Things don't look half bad for the Sabres right now, honestly. They'll be in the picture I'm sure.

some of the signings so far this off-season have been ridiculous. there`s no way Briere or Vanek are worth the 10 mill.

rangers re-signed lundqvist to a one year deal. huge

I guess they plan on either winning the cup this year or the cap going up again next year and them being able to retain some folks. Either that or they have no intentions of signing Jagr next year...

Well they better hope this is the year. According to a salary cap site, as of right now they're $1 million over the cap? Someone wanna explain to me what the deal is here?

Say goodbye to Avery I guess...

So speculation around the league in the past few weeks has Buffalo playing the Pens on New Years day at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo. I didn't really believe that but the schedule just came out today and sure enough PIT@BUF 1/1/08 1:00 PM.

If they did that, it would be the dumbest move in the history of the NHL. Not that I wouldn't love to see it, and I would probably pay ridiculous cash money to be there (and I will definitely be there), but still. You put what will probably will be one of the most awesome spectacles in hockey since the Heritage Classic on NEW YEARS? College football day? What do they expect to do with that? Get 5 people outside of Buffalo and Pittsburgh to watch?

The NHL is just fucking stupid. Bottom line.

yea i don't see many people being there for that besides a few die hards

there was a canadian one very similar to that years ago and that was hugely successful

eh you'd be surprised i guess

I have no doubt the game will sell out. I'm just saying I doubt people will watch on TV.

i don't have the greatest knowledge on the history of the Buffalo franchise, but as far as i know, i don't think they have a huge rivalry with the pens. i'd much rather watch the game if it were between two teams that have had a lasting rivalry. ex: leafs vs. sens, leafs vs. habs, bruins vs. habs, rangers vs. islanders, etc.

it should still be a great game nonetheless, i'm just thinking that the NHL could have scheduled this game a lot better. they probably scheduled it on new years day thinking they'd get some good publicity for it, but at the same time not realizing the many other sports that are shown on tv on new years day.

That's what happens when a basketball dude is in charge of the NHL. Someone needs to kick Gary Bettman in the teeth.

They wanted it in either Pittsburgh, Detroit, or Buffalo. The main reason for this is to get American audiences. Canadians will watch this anyway just because it's outdoor hockey and it's sweet. Pittsburgh and Detroit both declined.

If Buffalo was necessary, Leafs vs. Sabres should have been the way to go, I think.

Amen to that.

pittsburgh, buffalo, and detroit also have a dearth of colleges that would be in contention for a new year's day bowl spot, with the exception of U michigan

If they wanted audiences I think a Rangers vs. Leafs game would have been the way to go.

i wish they had ice hockey in australia that would be bad ass

Then you might want to check out the Australian Ice Hockey League.

Sens traded Peter Schaefer to Boston for Shean Donovan.

Gay. Whatever. We need to free some money for signing back Emery, as well as Heatley next year.

good move by the Bruins. Donovan's a good defensive player but doesn't bring much offense to the table.

hate & rage building.

I think it's a step in the right direction. Donovan is making like 1.8 mil less than Schaefer. Murray is just trying to make room to sign other dudes back.

But yeah, I really liked Schaefer.

cullen finally got traded back to the canes today for hutchinson. rangers need that cap space

edit: i'm thinkin it's only a matter of time before avery gets his new contract

i understand the need, what with Spezza (RFA), Heatley (UFA), Fisher (UFA) coming up next year. on a random note, WHAT THE FUCK?! how did I miss the fact that Saprykin ain't comin' back? Fuck you, Murray, you piece of shit.


Downers:
"Murray in the 10am Press Conference provided some rational behind the Schaefer/Donovan trade beyond the obvious salary dump. Vermette, Murray said, is ready to be promoted to the top six, playing on Fisher's wing on a full time basis."
"BTW: Murray mentioned that Schaefer asked to be traded twice last season."

I'd be kind of surprised if he gets anything more than a 1 year deal. I'd also be very surprised if this isn't Jagr's final year with NYR.


I didn't know about that. Shitty.

Sens avoid arbitration and sign Emery for 9.5 mil over 3 years. I'm content with that.

Chris Pronger brought the Stanley Cup into the bar I was hanging out in on Friday. It was way rad.

Wouldnt be surprised at all, we're fuckin broke.

flyers signed brian boucher to their minor league affiliate. awesome

NHL's Staal brothers arrested in Minnesota
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2007...s-arrested.html

Hockey brothers Eric and Jordan Staal are in some hot water following a raucous weekend party.

Eric, a 22-year-old Carolina Hurricanes forward, and Jordan, an 18-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins forward, were among 14 men arrested and charged with disorderly conduct early Saturday morning after police responded to noise complaints at a Minnesota resort.

The men were gathered at Lutsen Resort and Sea Villas in Lutsen, Minn., about 90 minutes south of the Staals' hometown of Thunder Bay, Ont., for a bachelor party in honour of Eric, who is to be married in August.

Eric was among the 10 who spent the night in jail. Jordan was released after booking but not before being charged with consumption of alcohol while under 21 years of age, in addition to disorderly conduct and obstructing the legal process.

"I'm sure that everyone involved is embarrassed about the incident — as they should be," Rick Curran, the agent for both players, told the Canadian Press on Wednesday. "Not to take anything away from the seriousness of it, it's what can happen when you get any group of 15 to 20 people together and there's loud noise."

"It was a bachelor's party gone awry," said a Lutsen Resort employee, who did not want to give her name.

continue article here

Eric's wife came over to my house all pissed off last night. I calmed her down with a good dose of the Stevie-D.

Apparently Mike Comrie is dating Hilary Duff. Awesome.