OK, so now that I have caught up on rest after the long weekend, we can get back to reality. The weekend saw a lot of big name players get a lot of big money, and surprise surprise the New York Rangers were at the front of the line. Picking up two of the biggest name free agents in Scott Gomez and Chris Drury will no doubt bolster an already fairly solid team and make up for the loss of Michael Nylander. Daniel Briere signed in Phily for mega bucks and the Leafs signed Jason Blake? A pesky, whiny, little winger who is probably my least favorite player in the NHL. He is gutless and not generally well liked in the dressing room. Here's hoping Paul Maurice tears him a new one. Other players like Jerome Iginla and Joe Thornton signed contract extensions with their respective clubs, and Captain Canada decided not to return to Canada but instead to play with Joe Sakic, an opportunity many would love, myself included, and the rest of the Colorado Avalanche. Edmonton finished cleaning house from the team that went to the cup finals just two years ago, (now that this season is over) and traded their captain Jason Smith to Philly for a younger more offensive player in Janni Pitkonin. I like Smith, he's a good character guy but Edmonton is moving in a new direction and with the fast ice in Edmonton younger quicker players seem like a good investment. Cheer hard Aaron, and fear not your Oilers may have a better season...As for the rest, the Habs singed several veterans and are likely to loose Sheldon Sourray in the next few days, the Sens lost D-man Tom Preissing to LA, and Pittsburgh is once again improving adding Peter Sykora and Daryl Sydor...look for the Penguins to win the Atlantic this year, and maybe even the East, as they have improved and the young players have matured and will only get better while New Jersey and Buffalo have lost key players. Ottawa shouldn't have much of a drop if any in the east. The Cup champion Ducks signed Matthieu Schneider possibly to replace a possibly retiring Scott Neidermayer, which is a downgrade no offense to Schneider, but Niedermayer is one of the best ever. They also signed Todd Bertuzzi hoping he can resurrect his career under form GM Brian Burke. The Red Wings added a defense man to replace Schneider in Brian Rafalski, the Michigan Native should help Nick Lidstrom on the PP. It was a busy few days and promises to keep being that way a least for the next few as players try to nail down jobs and cash. And on another note, the salary cap was again raised, now to $50 Million US per season, so remind me again why we had a lockout?...But anyway, props to TSN, who on our national holiday spent the day covering our game, and thankfully for them it turned out to be a worthwhile day, even if it did start very very slowly. Check out their web site or the NHL website for all player transactions.
Who was the best signing?..Let me know what you think.
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