Given his injury history and uneven play the last couple of seasons, it's easy to forget that Giguere has collected at least 30 wins in four seasons since the lockout. He was, lest people forget, the goaltender of record when the Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup in 2007. At age 34, there should still be lots left in the tank, and, given the lack of durability for young netminder Semyon Varlamov -- the man tabbed by the Avs as their goaltender of the future -- Giguere could be asked to do a whole lot more than just offer mentoring and open the gate at the end of the bench.

Under the radar players set to make impact

I'm basically block quoting the couple of sentences on Jean-Sebastien Giguere.  But, they surmise how I feel about one of my all time favorite goaltenders and his potential impact to my favorite team.

Barring a big transaction, the Avs are going to need Gabriel Landeskog's $3.75 million capt hit to reach the $48.3 million cap floor. 

With the free agent additions of Chuck Kobasew and Joakim Lindstrom and the re-signings of RFAs Kevin Porter and T.J. Galiardi, the Avs have 14 NHL veterans forwards under contract.  So, for Landeskog to make the roster, he will have to displace one of these forwards.  Who are the likely candidates?

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Laperriere still has nerve damage to his eye suffered as a result of the shot block and hasn't played for Philadelphia this season, but he remains a constant presence around the team's training facility, running drills for injured and extra players. Laperriere has also helped the Flyers in the areas of television, community relations, scouting and player development.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=561031

Ian Laperriere - Really? I mean... REALLY? This is an absolute joke, and the PHWA should be ashamed of itself for accepting the nomination, let alone allowing him to be a finalist. If Laperriere wins, the family of Bill Masterton should petition to have Masterton's name removed from the award.

This is an absolute travesty. Sure, he was injured. Lots of guys are injured. Sure, it may have ended his career. Again, happens to a lot of guys. I don't see anything special in nominating a guy who hasn't fought through it to return to the game, or at least contributed something major to the game off the ice during the process. 

I see no perseverance here. I see no dedication to hockey here. I most certainly do not see sportsmanship here. The guy has spent nearly a day and a half of his life in the penalty box. A grand total of 1956 PIMs in 15 years. If this guy embodies sportsmanship, then Zenon Knopka better win the Lady Byng next year.

http://www.hockeywilderness.com/2011/4/26/2134346/pierre-marc-bouchard-left-off-masterson-list-award-officially-a-joke

Ray Emery and Daymond Langkow are the other finalists.

"This young team was ready to challenge, almost, for a Stanley Cup this season," Peter Stastny told KMOX radio in St. Louis on Tuesday. "They were so good. All they needed was some more chemistry and some synergies. Instead, they destroyed the team."

"I should not have said this, but I'm so, so mad with what they've done to this team," Stastny told the radio station. "They've moved the team about two to three years back."

PETER STASTNY RIPS AVALANCHE AFTER DEAL WITH BLUES

I know that a lot has been said about this trade already.  But I am going to try to run through my thought process with this:

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7 years; $60 million; $8.571429 cap hit.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=326655

I'm really curious about this.  The Kings have said that they are out of the running  and the Islanders reportedly offered the same 10 year $100 million deal that Atlanta had on the table before they were forced to trade him.  Lamoriello has said that he would move other players if need be to sign Ilya Kovalchuk.  But, who does he move?

According to capgeek, the Devils already have $55,391,666 committed to just 18 players.  Patrik Elias is the team's highest paid player at $6 million and he's a life long Devil with a NMC.  Martin Brodeur is the next highest paid player at $5.2 million and he's not going anywhere.  After that comes Brian Rolston, who's got 2 years left on a 35+ contract that pays him just over $5 million.  He would be the ideal candidate to go, IMO.  But, no one's going to want to take on that contract.

Jason Arnott, Henrik Tallinder, Anton Volchenkov are all guys that they either just traded for or signed but are making salaries in the $4 million range.  Arnott and Volchenkov have an NMC and an NTC, respectively.

Also keep in mind that Zach Parise's only making $3.125 million in the final year of his deal before he becomes an RFA.

I'm not saying that he won't be able to do it.  Lamoriello's been very creative at managing his cap situation in the past.  I'm just curious to see how this whole thing would play out.

The guys over at In Lou We Trust are of course on top of this.

They linked to a Larry Brooks Tweet which suggests some possible candidates to move if this deal happens.

Patrik Elias has a no move. Expect Salvador to be waived at camp. Perhaps Zubrus can be dealt. Maybe Langenbrunner goes in deal.

Out 2-4 weeks.  Per Dater.

This team is on a roll right now.  But it's definitely a shame that the timing of this procedure couldn't have been closer to the February 15-29th Olympic break.  At least he'll have an extra two weeks to heal up should he be out the full four weeks. 

Hejduk will also be celebrating his 34th birthday just before the Olympic break on Valentine's day (hey, ladies!)

I'm not sure that anyone else caught this;  I didn't see any mention of it.  But, it looks like Chris Durno was sent down to Lake Erie and Justin Mercier was recalled.  I wonder if this has more to do with getting Lake Erie one of their leading scorers back or getting a look at Mercier.  I guess we'll find out if we actually see Mercier in uniform.

Also, Adrian Dater has a semi-update on Anderson from which we can surmise that Peter Budaj will again be starting against the Wild tonight.  Game nationally televised on Versus!

Well, anyone who saw my fanpost knows that I now reside in Tampa and was looking for someone to come to this game with me.  I had a Subway voucher for two $5 dollar tickets good for a few select dates and tonight was one of them.  Unfortunately, my roommate who had said he would go to the game with me came home sick from work and couldn't make it.  Fortunately, while I was waiting in line for my $5 ticket, a guy with two corporate tickets that he got from a family member was selling his second ticket for $20.  It was a $220 seat, Row B (second row) in the corner to Anderson's right for the first and third periods.  And VIP club:  Free alcohol!

So, some of my thoughts/observations from the game:

• I parked in a nearby downtown parking garage for $5.  Most of the downtown garages and parking lots by the St. Pete Times Forum were charging that much.  Not bad.
• I saw a #28 unipron in the stands.  I didn't get a chance to see the back of the jersey.  But, I can only assume that it was the jersey of old friend Ben Guite.
• Duchene was fantastic.  Yes, he scored both goals.  But, I'm talking about his stick work in close.  It is world class.
• I was right next to the tunnel that the Avalanche came out of.  It was also the same exit that I took to the bar.  So, I got to see our boys entering/exiting the ice every period. 
• The veteran players (Foote, Hannan, Liles, Tucker) were the last on to the ice.
• Liles was the last off of the ice as he congratulated his teammates.
• Sacco, Kono, and Sly all seemed to be in good humor coming back to the bench to start the third.
  
• Like many rinks, the St. Pete Times Forum doesn't have a bench big enough to accommodate the back up goalie.  So, Budaj was just a stone's throw away sitting on a stool in the tunnel.
• Hejduk came and chatted with Budaj for almost the entire second period.  He was wearing a long sleeve shirt and shorts and was sweated from probably riding a stationary bike.  And his knee injury?  He had both ankles wrapped, with a noticeable pack wrapped against the inside of his right ankle.
• Budaj and I had a moment.  Well, a couple of them:  First, as I was returning to my seat, clad in my too-small-for-me Patrick Roy Avalanche Jersey, beer in hand and smile on my face, we exchanged smiles and nods.  Second, when the boys were coming out to start the third, Budaj was one of the last players in the line and I called out, "can't wait to see you again, Budaj!" To which he replied with another nod, smile, and a "Thank you."
• I also yelled out to Duchene to "get a hat-trick!"  The damn kid didn't listen.
• Bud Light Golden Wheat is...not bad.  It's no Blue Moon.  But, it was free.
• A couple of lady Lightning fans wore some Lightning blue shirts with "We love Koci" written across them.  Must've been a piece of local merch from last season.  They stood by the tunnel and cheered on the big man when he came out.   They can have him.  But, I played along like we love him, too.  I mean, they were pretty cute after all.  And that's what's important, right?
  
• The guy who sold me the ticket said that in the Lightning's first year of operation, he bought season tickets for $99 a piece.  That's less than half of the face value for the ticket that I had to tonight's game!
• For the third period, I slid down a row.  Right up against the glass with a couple of old timers in Lightning jerseys who had print outs of the game notes and were writing down tonight's scorers.  They were both very, very impressed with Craig Anderson.  He was everything that the Avalanche needed him to be tonight.
• Antero Niitymaki was solid.  Yes, the first goal that he let up was one that snuck through him and he should have had.  The second one was just a sick play by Duchene in following up on his own shot.  But, he played well enough to give his team a chance to win.
• The crowd was pretty weak.  After the Avs were up 2-0, one of the old guys said, "if they score again, this place is gonna clear out." To which I replied, "this place is only 1/3 full anyways."
• AD was right: reception does suck in that building.

Tomorrow's (Monday, 11/30) game of the Avalanche playing in Tampa was one that I marked on my calendar as soon as I moved to Tampa.  I lived in Pittsburgh for the past 8 years and Pennslyvania my entire life until this past August.  I haven't had that many opportunities to see my favorite team play.

But, when I saw the Avalanche on the Lightning's home schedule, I planned to be in the stands donning my too small for me Avalanche Roy jersey.

To make it even better, my roommate gave me a voucher that she got at Subway.  The voucher is good for two $5 tickets to one of a handful of Lightning home games.  And one of the games is this one.  I don't know how good the seats will be.  But, I was planning on going anyways.  And $10+parking is definitely within my lowly grad student budget.

The thing is, I don't have anyone to come to the game with me.  Any other Avs fans in the Tampa Bay area that would be willing to go?

Hi to everyone here at Raw Charge! 

I just joined this blog and would've posted in the "introduce yourself " fanpost but noticed that the comments are closed.

My name is Dorian.  I'm a 26 year old ice and roller hockey goalie.

I moved to Tampa this past August for a graduate program and have yet to attend a Lightning game.  I lived in Pittsburgh for the past 8 years and still cheer on the black and gold teams.  But, I am an Avalanche fan.  And it's not often that I've gotten to see my team play live. 

I was thinking about going to the Lightning/Avalanche game next Monday.  But, I literally have no one to go with.  I'm wondering if there is a group of you guys that get together for Lightning games and wouldn't mind another fan.

My girlfriend recently dropped some hints that she would love a Max Talbot jersey for Christmas.

Unfortunately, not being in Pittsburgh anymore has taken the black and gold out of my every day life and I'm trying to find the best place to get her a women's cut Talbot jersey.

NHL.com sells the Penguins women's cut premier jerseys starting for $79.99 without customization.  With the name and number customization, that price jumps to $129.99.  I noticed that some online retailers sell the pre-customized Crosby and Malkin women's cut jerseys for $104.99.  But, no superstar!

Having the current income of a graduate student, I'm just wondering if any of you know where I might be able to find what I'm looking for at a more reasonable price.

On a related note, I've always wondered why football jerseys were so much more expensive than hockey jerseys.  I went through the same struggle last Christmas.  But, eventually came through with a women's cut Heath Miller jersey for a pretty reasonable price.

Following up on and recapping DDC's post regarding roster moves, Brian Willsie was reassigned to Lake Erie yesterday after Cody McLeod's return to the line up on Wednesday.  Today Chris Durno was reassigned, something on which Dater speculated with Darcy Tucker's return forth coming.  But before that will happen, the Avs also activated Matt Hendricks from the IR today.  Philippe Dupuis is still on the roster with T.J. Galiardi out for a few more weeks, giving the Avs 13 healthy forwards to date.

An Unmitigated Disaster noted that Tom Preissing was sent to Lake Erie on a conditioning assignment yesterday.

Today, Terry Frei is reporting that Ruslan Salei says he'll be back sometime between a week and a month.  In the Frei article, Sacco notes that with Ryan Wilson still on the roster, the Avs will have 8 healthy defensemen once Tom Preissing returns from his conditioning assignment.

Barring further injuries, it seems likely that Ryan Wilson will be reassigned upon Preissing's return.  And with Salei set to return not long after, the Avs could again be faced with the "problem" of having too many defensemen.

I'm personally of the opinion that it's a good problem to have so many veteran defensemen chomping at the bit.  The season's only about 20% complete and injuries will inevitably happen.  And when you see playoff bound teams loading up on defensive depth at the trade deadline, you see how important that can be. 

I'm sure that when/if the Avs do finally get healthy on the back end, trade rumors are going to heat up involving any combination of Salei, Clark, and Preissing.  But, I think that the more likely scenario is that T.J. Hensick is waived and the Avs go with 8 defensemen.  Hensick hasn't played much at all so far this season and has been frequently scratched by Joe Sacco - even in favor of recent call ups.  When he has played, he hasn't played poorly.  He just doesn't seem to fit in with the team and doesn't seem to have the coach's favor.

On a related note, I am such a procrastinating graduate student.

Looks like the Avs reassigned Ryan Stoa and Ryan Wilson to Lake Erie this morning.  Four more players will still be cut to reduce the current 27 man roster down to the 23 man opening night roster.  Tyler Weiman, Derek Peltier, and Chris Durno are probably three of the obvious choices.  As has been said, most all teams are set in their goaltending.  So, the risk of losing Weiman via waivers is minimal.  Peltier is not eligible for waivers while Durno is.  Other bubble players could include: T.J. Galiardi, Matt Hendricks, Ryan O'Reilly, Kyle Cumiskey, or even Tom Preissing.

I think that at this point, Galiardi's spot on the opening night roster is secure.  Although, he is also exempt from waivers.

Matt Hendricks might have literally fought his way onto the team.  He is waiver eligible.

It's kind of looking like Radar might be this team's fourth line center, at least to start the season.  He has yet to play his way off of this team.  And he can play upto 9 regular season games and still be eligible to be sent back to his junior team, as we saw with Wolski's first action with the Avs.

The Avs are now at risk of losing Cumiskey to waivers or otherwise starting the season with 8 defensemen and one less forward.

It's almost looking as though Preissing might be waived, or start the season on IR, given that he has yet to play a game with his "minor knee injury."

It's also possible that the Avalanche themselves may be active in waivers, claiming a player from another team.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild have signed AHL center Nathan Smith to a one-year deal.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=285411

The guy is a former first round pick and a two-way checking type center.  He played for Lake Erie for one season.  When the Avs signed him last summer, I was hoping that he would make more of an impact than he turned out to be.  Seems like he just might be turning into a journey man AHL'er, though.

 

The Chicago Blackhawks have parted ways with general manager Dale Tallon and replaced him with assistant general manager Stan Bowman.

Bowman is the son of hall of fame coach Scotty Bowman.

Tallon and the Blackhawks had taken heat over the offseason for failing to properly send RFA offers to several players by the deadline.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=284670

I wonder if this has as much to do with the way his RFA's were handled this year as it does his wild man spending in these past two off seasons and the Blackhawks' potential inability to be able to re-sign their RFA's (Kane, Keith, Toews, Ladd, Eager, Fraser, Hjalmarsson, Niemi) next off season, with the salary cap expected to fall.

The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that it has signed forwards David Jones, Chris Durno, Darren Haydar, Matt Hendricks and Brian Willsie, along with goaltender Tyler Weiman.

http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=433537&navid=DL|COL|home

This confirms those rumors on Jones, Haydar and Willsie.  Very happy to see Weiman back (He was actually a group VI UFA).  Especially since Bacashihua was let go.  Kudos to Jori for her early observations that most these players had been re-signed in addition to Kyle Cumiskey and Philippe Dupuis, both of whom we still have yet to receive official confirmation on.

Willsie needs to play just 24 NHL games to hit the magic number of 400 games played at which point he will be eligible to receive a pension.   

No announcement on the numbers just yet.  We'll wait to hear on those. 

 

On Thursday, Hockey Canada released a roster of 46 players who have been invited to the camp, including five goaltenders, 16 defencemen and 25 forwards. The camp will run from August 24-27 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary.

The list of five goalies includes three-time Olympian Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils), and 2006 Olympian Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks). Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-André Fleury has been invited, as have Steve Mason (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes). Two-time Stanley Cup champion Chris Osgood was not invited, although many had debated his chances during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Just five of the 16 defencemen invited have Olympic experience: Jay Bouwmeester (Calgary Flames), Dan Boyle (San Jose Sharks), Scott Niedermayer (Anaheim Ducks),  Chris Pronger (Philadelphia Flyers), and Robyn Regehr (Calgary Flames). Dion Phaneuf of the Flames gets his shot after being left off the 2006 roster for his youth. Rounding out the mix on defence are: Marc Staal (New York Rangers), Shea Weber (Nashville Predators), François Beauchemin (Anaheim Ducks), Brent Burns (Minnesota Wild), Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings), Stéphane Robidas (Dallas Stars), Mike Green (Washington Capitals), Dan Hamhuis (Nashville Predators), and Chicago Blackhawks duo Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook.

 

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby highlights the list of forwards. The group of 25 has 10 from the 2006 Olympic team roster, including Shane Doan (Phoenix Coyotes), Simon Gagné (Philadelphia Flyers), Dany Heatley (Ottawa Senators), Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames), Rick Nash (Columbusn Blue Jackets), Joe Sakic (Colorado Avalanche), Martin St-Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning), Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes), Joe Thornton (San Jose Sharks), Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning). Youngsters getting a chance are: Jeff Carter (Philadelphia Flyers), Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks), Milan Lucic (Boston Bruins), Patrick Marleau (San Jose Sharks), Andy McDonald (St. Louis Blues), Brenden Morrow (Dallas Stars), Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks) Michael Richards (Philadelphia Flyers), Derek Roy (Buffalo Sabres), Patrick Sharp (Chicago Blackhawks), Ryan Smyth (Colorado Avalanche), Jordan Staal (Thunder Bay, Ont./Pittsburgh, NHL) Jonathan Toews (Winnipeg, Man./Chicago, NHL) and Dan Cleary, who has impressed with the Detroit Red Wings. One youngster not included on the list is Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos, who drew attention during his performance at the 2009 world championship.

 

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/hockey/news/newsid=12421.html?cid=rsstsn

An indication that he will play?  Ryan Smyth is the only other Av listed.

 

Calgary Flames general manager Darryl Sutter made the most of his opportunity to negotiate with Jay Bouwmeester.

The defenceman avoided unrestricted free agency by agreeing to a 5 year deal worth $6.6 million per year against the salary cap on Tuesday night.

The Flames acquired the rights of the 25-year from the Florida Panthers on Saturday at the NHL Draft  for the rights to blueliner Jordan Leopold and a third round pick (67th overall), which the Panthers used to select right winger Josh Birkholz.

"I am happy to have this deal done as Calgary was a team I was very interested in playing for. I was encouraged by the commitment Calgary showed by acquiring me prior to July 1," said Bouwmeester. "I am familiar with some of the players and believe we have a strong club that is poised to make the next step in becoming a championship club. I look forward to contributing to that success."

 

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283345

Yeesh. The NW just got that much tougher all of a sudden.

 

USA Hockey unveils men's Olympic camp roster

CTVOlympics.ca Posted Tuesday, June 30, 2009 10:24 AM ET

Young guns like Ryan Miller, Patrick Kane and Phil Kessel  headline the list of 34 players that USA Hockey has invited to its 2010 Olympic orientation camp this summer.

On Tuesday, USA Hockey released the list of participants for the camp, which will take place Aug. 17-19, at Seven Bridges Ice Arena in Woodridge, Ill, a suburb of Chicago. Here is the roster:

 

Goaltenders: Ryan Miller, Jonathan Quick, Tim Thomas

 

Defensemen: Tom Gilbert, Tim Gleason, Ron Hainsey, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson, Mike Komisarek, Paul Martin, Brooks Orpik, Brian Rafalski, Rob Scuderi, Ryan Suter, Ryan Whitney

 

Forwards: David Backes, David Booth, Dustin Brown, Dustin Byfuglien, Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, Patrick Kane, Ryan Kesler, Phil Kessel, Jamie Langenbrunner, Ryan Malone, Mike Modano, Kyle Okposo, T.J. Oshie, Zach Parise, Joe Pavelski, Bobby Ryan, Paul Stastny.

USA Hockey previously announced its management team for the 2010 Olympic team, including Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke as G.M.; David Poile, associate G.M.; Jim Johannson, assistant executive director of hockey operations. Toronto Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson will act as head coach, and his assistant coaches will be New Jersey Devils coach John Tortorella and New York Islanders coach Scott Gordon.

 

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