In the off season the Minnesota Wild have lost a few key players to the free agency pool. Losing Brian Rolston and Pavol Demitra, both of whom were veteran goal scorers and natural leaders, won’t be easy for the Wild. This is the team that took the number 3 seed in the Western Conference in last year’s playoffs, largely due to the support of the two aforementioned goal scoring wonders.
General manager Doug Risebrough wasted little time in filling these gaping voids. For starters, he signed Andrew Brunette (Wild Player from 2001-2004) and believes that his consistent play will help balance out the team mentality and put up large goal/assist numbers. Only five days after Brunette’s signing, Risebrough also landed another highly skilled veteran: Owen Nolan. Nolan, 36, accrued 16 goals and 16 assists last year for the Calgary Flames. A big change was added to the defense as well, bringing in Marek Zidlicky from the Nashville Predators. Luckily for the Wild, their amazing goalie Niklas Backstrom will return as well, ready to stifle all goal scorers. The Minnesota Wild may have a very different lineup from last year but it is one that may put them in the Stanley Cup Finals.

 

A few years ago things looked pretty bleak for the NHL. A huge lockout caused an already waning public interest in the sport to all but completely die. The NHL lost a lot of television time and ticket revenue. But now, the NHL is resurging and (re)grabbing the interest of America and along with that, the rest of the world.

Last season the NHL used London as a test market for European interest. Results were fantastic. The two games held in London (matches between the L.A. Kings and Anaheim Ducks) were played in front of sellout crowds; pretty much just the shot in the arm that the NHL needed at that point.

With a great spike in interest not only in America but overseas the NHL plans to hold two more events in Europe this season. On October 4th and 5th, the NHL will host 2 games in Stockholm and 2 games in Prague. At Stockholm’s Globe Arena the Ottawa Senators will face the Pittsburgh Penguins while across the way the New York Rangers face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Prague’s O2 Arena. Without any advertising outside of word-of-mouth, tickets have already sold out.

The NHL is back.

 

After an impressive 16-year NHL hockey career, in which he played for the Jets, Panthers, Penguins, Sabres, and finally Dallas Stars, Stu Barnes will be trading in his ice skates and hockey jersey for wingtips and a suit. The man who brought intensity, intelligence, and pure talent to the ice will now bring those same qualities to the Dallas Stars bench as their new assistant coach.

Though Barnes has never seen himself as the player-coach type before, the Stars’ coaching staff has full faith in him. Co-general manager Les Jackson states, “Stu was a consummate professional on and off the ice throughout his career, and was the type of player who always exhibited the qualities you would associate with a future coach. Stu will be an excellent addition to our staff…” Sentiments that everyone of his former teammates always shared.

Barnes has been looking forward this move for quite some time, realizing that his playing days were fast approaching their end. He knew, however, that he was not ready to leave the game altogether. He believes his experience, if nothing else will assist the younger players on the team. After a total 1,136 NHL, most critics believe it will too.

 Now returning for its second year, hockey fans can rejoice as the NHL Winter Classic will once again ring in the New Year on January 1st. This year, two of the original six NHL teams will face off as the Chicago Blackhawks will host the Detroit Redwings in the open arena of Wrigley field.

The original NHL Winter Classic, which featured the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium, was an incredible success. Not even the inclement, snowy weather deterred the thousands of hockey fans from remaining in the stadium, until The Penguins finally won in penalties 2-1. It was the highest-rated NHL game since 1996.

This year, compounded with the success of last year’s event, The Winter Classic features one of the oldest rivalries in hockey history. The Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings rivalry is to hockey what The New York Yankees and The Boston Red Sox rivalry is to Major League Baseball.

The match will be non-stop action, but also a very relaxing experience to the hungover at home.

The veteran hockey player and defenseman Teppo Numminen has signed a $1 million contract with the Buffalo Sabres that will keep him running with the Sabres team for one year. The Sabres are not worried about the recent heart surgery that the veteran has had and are expecting him to be the driving force for their team this upcoming season. The doctors and the medical staff have given a clean chit to this veteran player and he is expected to play in most of the games for the Sabres this new NHL season. The tickets to the forthcoming NHL season are being sold at a brisk pace.

The Nashville Predators have extended the contract of their forward Jerred Smithson by two years and he will be playing for the Predators through the 2010-11 season. Smithson is very much delighted with the offer that the Predators made and will be richer by $1.475 million for this two year contract extension. Jerred Smithson was in great form in the 2008-09 season scoring 7 goals in the 81 games played. He made his NHL debut with Los Angeles team and has so far played in 241 games in his NHL career. Smithson’s fans are hoping for similar hockey skills this upcoming season too. Tickets to most of the NHL games are being sold at a hectic pace.

The Tampa Bay Lighting has signed a three year contract amounting to $2.625 million to rope in the No 1 pick in the NHL draft, Steven Stamkos, into their team. Stamkos is determined to make the most of this opportunity and wants to make it big this forthcoming NHL season. He said that he will be working with his new teammates at the practice camp and will be able to work on developing an excellent rapport with the players of the Lightning team. He feels that he is ready for the big challenge of NHL and will be able to prove his detractors wrong. There is no doubt that there will be huge rush for tickets by the Lightning fans to the upcoming season.

Pierre Marc Bouchard, the right wing of the Minnesota Wild, has re-signed a five year deal with his team and his recent success with the team would be one of the reasons for the management of the Wild to sign a contract for over $20 million. He entered the Minnesota Wild team at the tender age of 18 years in 2002, but all his efforts started to bear fruits for him in the 2006-07 season where he scored 14 goals and had 50 assists. Bouchard hopes to make the most of the opportunity that has been presented to him in the upcoming NHL season and is looking forward to taking his team to greater heights of glory. The Wild fans will be surely hitting the ticket counters to purchase their tickets once the sales begin.

The Sharks signed D Matthew Kinch to a one-year contract on Thursday. Terms of the deal are undisclosed as yet. Kinch spent the 2007-08 season with Binghamton (AHL). In 73 games played, he tied for second among team defensemen with 25 points and accumulated 73 penalty minutes. His presence should be a definite bonus to the Sharks’ ticket sales

Shawn Horcoff reportedly signed a $33M, six year extension contract with the Edmonton Oilers. Horcoff had a good last season before he endured a season ending shoulder surgery. He was involved with 21 goals and 29 assists in 53 games. This might help the Oilers keep Horcoff, a premier National Hockey League player, in their uniform in the long run. This will be good news for Edmonton since Horcoff has been an important part of the club, being part of their race for the Stanley Cup in 2006. He will also raise the ticket sales for the Oilers this season.