SB Nation User Blog: James Mirtle

Sakic says goodbye

James Mirtle — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:01:30 -0000

You can see Joe Sakic's retirement press conference here:

The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that the organization will officially retire...

James Mirtle — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:39:49 -0000

The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that the organization will officially retire number 19 in honor of team captain Joe Sakic.

The club will raise Sakic’s number 19 in a special ceremony prior to the start of the club’s 2009-10 season opener (game date and time to be announced).

"It is appropriate and deserving that we launch the season by honoring Joe’s accomplishments," said Avalanche President Pierre Lacroix. "It will be a tremendous event for a very special person and hockey player. We can’t put into words what he meant to this franchise and to our hockey fans.

"Joe’s numbers and records speak for themselves. He’s been the face of the franchise for two complete decades and his impact on this team and this city cannot be overstated. By retiring number 19, we are honoring one of the finest professionals in the history of the National Hockey League and we are bidding farewell to one of the greatest individuals in pro sports."

Sakic’s 19 will be the third sweater number to be retired in the 14-year history of the Colorado Avalanche, joining Ray Bourque (77) and Patrick Roy (33). Sakic will be the seventh player in franchise history to have his sweater number retired, as the Quebec Nordiques retired the jerseys of Peter Stastny (26), Michel Goulet (16), Marc Tardif (8) and J.C. Tremblay (3).

>> team release

The Dead Puck Era's top scorers

James Mirtle — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:43:27 -0000

On the day Joe Sakic officially announces his retirement, I figured this was a fitting way to highlight just how prolific he was during his career. Over the past 20 NHL seasons, Sakic is the highest scoring player in the league, and since the start of the Dead Puck Era in 1994-95, he's right among the leaders:

Rk	Player	From	To	GP	G	A	Pts	PPG	+/-
1	Jaromir Jagr	1995	2008	962	521	759	1,280	1.33	222
2	Joe Sakic	1995	2009	917	410	667	1,077	1.17	138
3	Teemu Selanne	1995	2009	997	478	548	1,026	1.03	104
4	Mats Sundin	1995	2009	1,022	429	586	1,015	0.99	94
5	Paul Kariya	1995	2009	914	384	562	946	1.04	38
6	Mark Recchi	1995	2009	1,075	338	595	933	0.87	1
7	Mike Modano	1995	2009	1,007	370	557	927	0.92	153
8	Daniel Alfredsson	1996	2009	932	355	566	921	0.99	147
9	Keith Tkachuk	1995	2009	950	453	440	893	0.94	60
10	Peter Forsberg	1995	2008	706	249	636	885	1.25	242
11	B. Shanahan	1995	2009	1,011	432	443	875	0.87	152
12	Markus Naslund	1995	2009	1,046	391	467	858	0.82	9
13	Doug Weight	1995	2009	969	226	629	855	0.88	-31
14	Jarome Iginla	1997	2009	942	409	442	851	0.90	65
15	Alex Kovalev	1995	2009	1,010	351	496	847	0.84	-24
16	Joe Thornton	1998	2009	836	265	577	842	1.01	114
17	Nicklas Lidstrom	1995	2009	1,082	200	640	840	0.78	323
18	Sergei Fedorov	1995	2009	936	330	477	807	0.86	143
19	Rod Brind'Amour	1995	2009	1,002	295	500	795	0.79	-15
20	Jason Arnott	1995	2009	958	331	428	759	0.79	73

Pretty impressive, no?

Sakic had a pretty good stretch there from 1996 to 2002, when he won two Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe, a Hart Trophy, Olympic gold and Olympic MVP. Over that span, he had 249 goals, 382 assists and 631 points in 508 games, the equivalent of 73 games, 36 goals, 55 assists and 90 points a season between the age of 26 and 32.

One year, he averaged nearly 26 minutes of ice time a game, which could be a record for a forward in the modern era. Two years ago, he became just the second player in league history to score 100 points at the age of 36 or older. (Gordie Howe was the first when he notched 103 points at age 40 in 1968-69.)

On the whole, there's a pretty solid argument that Sakic was the game's best player for a sizable window there. Or at least somewhere close to it.

The problem with the Pronger contract

James Mirtle — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:13:24 -0000

More photos » by Tom Mihalek - AP

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My very first question, voiced on Twitter, when I'd heard that Chris Pronger had received a seven-year, $34.45-million contract from the Flyers, was "Is this a 35-and-over contract?"

Because that, and that alone, is what separates a decent deal from a silly one.

The answer seemed obvious — especially in light of Tim Thomas signing a deal at 34 that applies under the 35-and-over rule because of when his birth date was — given that Pronger turns 35 this fall and the deal kicks in next summer. And after some consideration around the blogosphere and media, we've got our answer:

... the spirit of the provision is that it governs contracts that kick in when a player turns 35, not when it is signed.

"The league has sent out memo after memo after memo alerting teams about this," said one former NHL executive. "If this is what they’re doing, they’re trying to drive a 747 through a loophole."

The league has yet to hear from the Flyers about this and considers it to be unambiguous. And given that Holmgren has said the Flyers are willing to live with the negative ramifications of signing Pronger to a seven-year deal, it might not be an issue.

Other takes on all this are out there by Tyler Dellow, Darren Dreger and Broad Street Hockey, but the Ken Campbell piece quoted above is the most interesting one to this point given we get the GM's perspective. And with that, I think it's clear the Flyers have taken a big gamble here, perhaps unwittingly.

As hard as that is to believe.

Here's Campbell on the structure of the deal:

Pronger will make $7.6 million in each of the first two seasons of the deal, then is scheduled to make $7.2 million, $7 million and $4 million in the next three seasons before dropping to just $525,000 in Years 6 and 7 of the deal, which are the 2015-16 and ’16-17 seasons.

That's all fine. Sure it's a lot of money up front, but Philadelphia's a well-moneyed club and Pronger's still a top player, good enough to make the Flyers one of the league's best teams over the next couple seasons. Even his dropoff in performance isn't that big a deal in the later years as long as he's still contributing.

No, the biggest problem is that he turns 35 this October and not a year from now.

Think about it: Henrik Zetterberg can sign a contract that extends until he's 40 in 2021 but retire to be a goat herder tomorrow and it doesn't hurt the Red Wings a whit. If Pronger does the same, however, Philadelphia's in a heap of trouble, stuck living with a nearly $5-million a season cap hit until 2017 and without a star player on the blueline.

By my count, there are really only four different ways for a player to end his NHL career while under contract. Either (a) he retires, (b) he is injured long-term, (c) he is bought out, or (d) he defects to a European league. With a 35-and-over deal, voluntary retirement and buyouts don't provide cap relief, while it's incredibly unlikely that, at age 40, someone like Pronger will head to whatever form the KHL is at that point.

Some form of long-term injury to cap his career, then, would be the only way for Pronger to still retire and not impact the Flyers' ability to spend. Philadelphia would be able to claim a long-term injury exemption for his salary, keep it on the books, and then spend over the cap to fill out the roster. (As they did last season with Mike Rathje and Derian Hatcher.)

The collective bargaining agreement is structured in such a way that multiyear 35-and-over contracts are supposed to be so punitive in the case of retirement as to be completely unreasonable, but this year alone we've seen three high-profile players — Pronger, Thomas and Nikolai Khabibulin — get four or more year contracts that could easily be albatrosses down the line.

Now, this CBA ends in 2011, and there could potentially be changes to the agreement to make these deals easier to do away with, but the real spirit of the language in the current contract is aimed at idiot proofing the thing by protecting teams from (a) signing brutal deals and (b) circumventing the cap with throwaway years at the end of contracts.

And it's not working.

Who's to say then, in the event of a change, there won't be some other silly way to bungle things? And is it even possible to idiot proof something when those at the top are so willing to gamble big on the long term for short-term gain?

Probably not. And we won't even have our cautionary tale until one of these contracts goes sour in 2013.

Niittymaki headed to KHL

James Mirtle — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:00:40 -0000

More photos » by Fred Chartrand - AP

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According to two sources, one in Russia and one in Finland, former Flyers netminder Antero Niittymaki has signed a preliminary contract in the KHL with the Atlant Moscow Oblast. He's essentially taking over the job Ray Emery had overseas, while Emery of course has joined the Flyers.

With several teams still searching for a backup netminder, Niittymaki was one of the top UFA goaltenders available. His former teammate, Martin Biron, is also still looking for a home and will likely have to sign at a steep discount to remain in the NHL.

Niittymaki, meanwhile, will be a candidate to play for Finland at the 2010 Olympics in February.

Koivu joins Selanne with Ducks

James Mirtle — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:57:29 -0000

More photos » by Ryan Remiorz - AP

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The Ducks are set to announce shortly the signing of unrestricted free-agent center Saku Koivu to a one-year, $3.25 million contract. Koivu, captain of the Montreal Canadiens the past 10 seasons, will be reunited in Anaheim with his longtime friend and Finnish national team linemate, Teemu Selanne.

— Ducks Blog

Anaheim's certainly going to be a different team next season.

No Chris Pronger, no Francois Beauchemin and what could be a dynamite tandem up front after having hardly any offensive depth in recent years. Koivu's closing in on 35 and Selanne turned 39 on Friday, so it remains to be seen what they have left in the tank, but they were terrific together for years in international competition.

The Ducks have no spent roughly $50-million under the cap and that's likely where they'll stay. Anaheim still needs another addition on the blueline, where they'll be weaker than in the past with a top six that inludes Scott Niedermayer, Ryan Whitney, Luca Sbisa, James Wisniewski and Brett Festerling.

Koivu makes them better up front and that's a reasonable contract, but what they really need is to move J-S Giguere for a defenceman.

Blackhawks controversy evaporates as RFAs all sign contracts

James Mirtle — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:22:39 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

Chicago Blackhawks' Jonathan Toews, right, celebrates his goal with Cameron Barker (25) and Kris Versteeg, center, against the Detroit Red Wings.

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A source confirmed the Hawks and restricted free agent winger Kris Versteeg have finalized a three-year deal worth more than $9 million. The contract could be announced officially by the team on Wednesday.

Signing Versteeg for roughly $3 million puts the Hawks just about at the $56.8 million salary cap. A $3 million cap hit for Versteeg would put the Hawks' payroll at approximately $55.578 million, not counting the salary for the backup goalie.

— Tim Sassone, Between The Circles

Versteeg's the last of six restricted free agents involved in the qualifying offer "debacle" of last week to sign on the dotted line, thereby making the NHLPA grieving the situation a relative non-issue. Here's a look at the contracts they signed:

Players	2008-09	New contract	Cap hit
Cam Barker	0.984	Three years	3.083
Kris Versteeg	0.490	Three years	3.083
Troy Brouwer	0.700	Two years	1.025
Ben Eager	0.650	One year	0.965
Colin Fraser	0.500	One year	0.700
Aaron Johnson	0.525	One year	0.540

Make no mistake, Chicago could have had a real problem on its hands after bungling the qualifying offers, but it was clear from the start all six players were more interested in playing as Blackhawks this coming season rather than fighting through a grievance to become UFAs. The four lower-end guys here either accepted small raises or just took their qualifying offers (Johnson, for instance, could have received much more had he fought for it), while Barker and Versteeg likely received a little more than they would have as RFAs but less than on the open market.

Had this issue occurred involving a team or market where players wanted out of, I imagine the results would be quite different. As of now, 'Hawks fans and front office brass are breathing a sigh of relief.

Click here for a look at where Chicago sits against the cap. They are likely fine this season with their current group intact, but there'll need to be major changes next summer to accommodate new contracts for captain Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

Claude ends his comeback

James Mirtle — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:02:31 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

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Forward Claude Lemieux today formally announced his retirement from the game of hockey at the age of 44. One of the most successful NHL players in the history of the League, Lemieux won four Stanley Cups and is one of only eight players to win hockey’s greatest prize with three different teams (Montreal, 1986; New Jersey, 1995 and 2000; Colorado, 1996).

"I want to thank my former teammates from my entire career for all of their support," said Lemieux. "I feel very fortunate that I was able to have a career like I had. There have been many great NHL players who did not get the opportunities to win that I had. I played for a long time but it went by so very fast."

>> team release

Lemieux ended up being one of the remarkable stories of 2008-09, pulling of a comeback no one imagined would be successful after his first retirement all those years ago. Good on him for giving it a go.

"Many people will think the main highlights of my career will be the Stanley Cups, the Conn Smythe Trophy and Canada Cup," said Lemieux. "But to me and my family, coming back and playing in my first game in San Jose will be remembered as one the great highlights of my career.

"I want to thank the Arizona Sun Dogs for letting me train with them, the China Sharks for the opportunity to play there and the Worcester Sharks organization for helping making this dream possible. I cannot say enough to thank Doug Wilson, my Sharks teammates and the entire San Jose organization for giving me the opportunity to bring this dream to fruition. In my heart, I will forever be a San Jose Shark."

Sakic to call it a career

James Mirtle — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:49:09 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

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The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club would like to extend to the media an invitation to a press conference on Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. At that time, Avalanche captain Joe Sakic will make a special announcement regarding his hockey career.

>> press release

And I don't think you need any hints as to what that announcement will be.

Sakic turns 40 today, and just last week was invited to be the greybeard of the Canadian Olympic team's entry in the 2010 Olympics, which will be played right in Burnaby Joe's backyard. Yet, after two injury plagued seasons, he's opted to call it a career, retiring 21 years after first stepping foot on NHL ice with the Quebec Nordiques in 1988-89.

Since that point, he's won one Hart Trophy, one Conn Smythe, one Lester B Pearson and two Stanley Cups with the Avalanche. He has also played 1,378 games, scored 625 goals and had 1,614 points, putting him 14th all time in goal, 11th in assists, eighth in points and 12th in points per game. He was the active leader in assists, points and points per game, and is seventh all-time in playoff points with 188.

Sakic's a surefire, first ballot Hall of Famer for 2012, and is behind only Gretzky, Messier, Howe, Francis, Dionne, Yzerman and Lemieux in the career scoring race.

He's also the best British Columbian NHLer ever, and they would have blown the roof off GM Place had he been around next February to help lead the Canadian team.

So, a tip of the cap to Super Joe. I'm sure he'll find fulfilling employment with the Avs front office soon enough.

UPATE Adrian Dater, a beat writer in Denver who's covered Sakic for an awful long time, has a really nice tribute to him as we learn the Avs captain is hanging up his skates.

Gustavsson chooses Toronto

James Mirtle — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:47:11 -0000

Less than 24 hours after getting free-agent defenceman Francois Beauchemin to come to Toronto, Brian Burke found out that the Maple Leafs have won the Jonas Gustavsson sweepstakes.

Gustavsson, nicknamed "The Monster", will sign a one-year, $810,000 (U.S.) contract with the Maple Leafs, globesports.com has learned. The entry-level deal will also include a $90,000 signing bonus.

— Tim Wharnsby, The Globe and Mail

Gustavsson is a good choice for the Leafs, especially on a bargain of a one-year deal. As I've written in the past, more teams should take fliers on good European goalies given the success the likes of Jonas Hiller and Niklas Backstrom have had, and Toronto's well-positioned to turn over its backup duties to a 24-year-old rookie given the risk here isn't all that great.

If he stinks, he'll either end up in the minors or ride the pine without getting another contract. If he's great, he likely won't cost all that much on his next deal.

Like Fabian Brunnstrom, Gustavsson has come out of nowhere in Sweden recently, playing in the Elitserien only the past two seasons after he was a division lower prior to that. He is young, however, and we've seen other netminders excel after his age in the NHL, so why not?

While at the world championship, Gustavsson expressed interest in playing in Toronto, and given the opportunity for him there, I'm not surprised that's the route he's gone. The only thing we don't really know is if he's a flash in the pan or something more.