Sundin Rumbling

Since my sources thus far have been spot on (i.e Meszaros landing in Tampa) I decided to phone up a couple people to hear their take on the Sundin situation, and rush my next blog to now, cause hey- that's life. Anyways, here is the info I have gathered together.
Sundin's options right now have been basically been limited to Toronto and Retirement. Again, take that info as you will, because so many other hockey insiders have said that T.O is about a 2% option for Sundin. But hey, this is just what I'm hearing. Also, expect there to be a media frenzy when Sundin comes to Toronto to play in his charity game- but also expect some shrewd answers like "Right now I'm undecided". Again this is what my sources are saying. If Sundin were to sign with Toronto, I'm hearing it's 7 mill, with a NTC, for one year. If he retires, I'm hearing he will go to coach in Sweden. Again, take all this as you will...more later.

Meszaros To Tampa

Consider it almost a done deal. A source told me it's 100% done, no doubt...so we'll see. Meszaros, who is a RFA under the Ottawa Senators had reached a stop point in talks with GM Bryan Murray. Tampa swooped in and offered him a $5-6 million dollar contract, apparently for around 4-5 years. Tampa will need to give the Sens a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick, unless of course the Sens choose to match the offer sheet- which I would think not. And hope not. Great deal both ways. Tampa gets much needed defence, while Ottawa can turn those picks into valuable building blocks for the future. The only way I see Ottawa matching is if they would then choose to trade Meszaros for players that they can use now, instead of in the future...which would be a horrible move. Anyways, for Tampa to do this they would need to dump some cap space somewhere else. My best guess would be Jussi Joikenen and Michel Ouellet shipped off somewhere, possibly Vancouver, Toronto, New York Isles, or even LA. Also I'm hearing St.Louis may be on the way out, but don't hold your breath.

--Update: Meszaros has just been traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, per TSN.

Nylander Out of Washington?

A source has just phoned me urgently with the information "Nylander's on the way out soon. Count on it." Take that info as you will, but just remember that Nylander has a NTC. When I tried to get more info about the situation my source would tell me little to nothing. Again take that as you will. It does, however make sense. The Capitals are looking to shed some cap space, and many teams are looking to find a good centreman. Which teams? Montreal, Edmonton, the Rangers, etc... just about everyone. Maybe this is Bob Gainey's "plan b" ? The Blackhawks have also just signed centre Tim Brent to a 1 year deal, whom they aquired about a month ago from Pitts.

---UPDATE: Nylander's house has just been put up for sale, per HF boards.

Thinking About Countries...

As a Canadian hockey fan I always become somewhat torn when thinking about other countries rising as a hockey nation. Sure I like to imagine what it would be like if China was right up there with the hockey powers of Canada, Russia, U.S.A, etc... But on the flip side, doesn't that take away from the hockey dominance Canada already has? Sharing the slices of the pie with more countries, well....takes away from our pie! We like our slice of pie just the way it is here in Canada! But I'm not knocking anybody here, if a country can have success- and they've earned it- then by God let them. So then what's my point? Well my point is that it's a very hard thing to think about when thinking about other countries in hockey. So the solution I've come up with is this: don't think about it, or you're going to confuse readers. So I'm not. I'll let you.

Article tidbits from around the web:
-"In a nation with more than a billion people, if even a small percentage of Chinese youths concentrated in the northeast of the country seriously take up the game, there will eventually be a large pool of talent. But for Chinese hockey to grow in the future, it can't be allowed to die in the present. During the last year, the NHL's San Jose Sharks have been working to make sure there's a viable Chinese team in the seven-team Asia League of Ice Hockey (ALIH)." From NHL.com
-Hockey in Ireland: "Recently, the Irish Ice Hockey Association announced the launch of the country’s first all-island domestic hockey league -- a five-team circuit that will play each Saturday from Sept. 15 until next April. Given the success of the Division III Worlds and the enthusiastic support that a Northern Irish club -- the Belfast Giants -- has received from fans on both sides of the political divide, the Irish Ice Hockey League stands a good chance to succeed, given proper planning and organization." From Allducks.com
-Aussies developing: "Ice Hockey Australia (Australian Ice Hockey Federation Incorporated) has six state member ice hockey associations and is the recognised governing body for ice hockey in Australia. IHA is affiliated with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), and Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), and is an active member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)." from http://www.iha.org.au
-Hockey in South Africa: http://www.icehockey.co.za/
-Hockey in Japan: "Japan Ice Hockey League comprised six teams.
Each team plays the others six times for a 40-game schedule,
after which the top 4 teams qualify for the playoffs.
Semifinals and finals are palyed in a best-of-5 format." from http://www2q.biglobe.ne.jp/~toru/hockey/jihl.html


And if you're not intrigued and scared at the same time about this then congratulations! You don't need to live with the dilemma I face...or don't face.

Rumor Dash

Well if you've read this far then that means that you're actually interested in what I have to say, so that's what I'm gunna do....say. Seems like I'm relatively good at it. I'm gunna throw some quick rumors at you, like to hear from you so feel free to comment.

-The McCabe to Florida rumors have rounded out a bit now, and the general consensus is that Van Ryn is headed to T.O in return. A source of mine confirmed: "Florida is very much looking to move Van Ryn's big contract (2.9 mill) . Also watch out for Karlis Skrastins. He has been unproductive and the Panthers would also like to move his contract (2.4 mill)." He also went on to point out that "Jay Bo to T.O is complete fiction. Nothing going down".

-Sellane is reportedly heavily considering signing with Montreal. The only hold ups: Retirment considerations and a big domino named Mats Sundin. As soon as Mats signs, or doesn't sign whichever way you look at it, Selanne will have wide options to pick from with the teams who failed to land the big swede.

-Shawn Horcoff could be making a trip to Montreal. A source told me: "Horcoff for a D-man looks like an almost done deal. The Habs are just waiting for Sundin to make a decision." I'm not so convinced. I think the Oil's are hooked on his offenceive ability's , and would be hard pressed to give him up. Just my thoughts...

-In my books, Forsberg is retired from the NHL. Enough people have told me that I wont see Forsberg in the NHL again that I'm convinced.

-Don't expect to see Marian Gaborik in any other jersey than the Wild's. Minny is pressing hard to resign him, and have convinced him that he can still be productive in the western conference. I would expect an imminent 8 year deal worth big time money.

-Sticking with re-uping players, Jason Pomminville and the Buffalo Sabres are reportedly close to an extension. Expect Pommer to cash in big as Buffalo doesn't want to lose another one.

-The NHL and NHLPA are reportedly close to signing a deal, which means there will not be another lockout!!! Phew.
More later...