Top 5 Sexiest Hockey Players!

Well, it is the dog days of summer in the hockey world. Not much to write about hockey-wise...even the Sundin rumor world is quiet today! So what a better time then now to take a look at the top 10 sexiest guys in the NHL!

Yes, the guys here at fauxrumors got our heads (and other things) together and came up with this list of the 10 sexiest guys in the league. The guys that make our mouths drool and the crotch in our jeans get tight!

Here we go:

#5 - J.S. Giguere - Lets just say this. According to dressing room sources...or should we say shower room sources...Giggy needs those larger pads for a reason! MMM!

#4 - Kristian Huselius! There are not many guys in the NHL that we could be dominant over. Being totally honest here, pretty much all of them could kick our collective asses. Kristian is the exception. Not to mention his boyish looks don't hurt!

#3 - Henrik and Daniel Sedin! Ok, we know there are two of them, but who can figure out which is which. A night with both of them tag teaming...WOW!

#2 - George Laraque! Big and black is a great place to start. Add aggressive to that and we have a night of punishing penetration ahead of us!

#1 - Sid "The Kid" Crosby! The nickname says it all! Child-like looks combined with a sexy ass body! He is the guy all of us at FR would love to get in the sack with. Or on the couch. Or on the floor. Or...anywhere. Call us Sid!

There you have it! Those are the guys all us at FR go to bed dreaming of and doing other things with while we think of sexy them! MMM!

Crosby Now Allowed To Buy Booze!

1) While we were away one of the more important occurrences was the 21st birthday of the NHL's boy(now man) wonder, Sid (no longer the kid?) Crosby. As this picture seems to indicate he wasted no time getting wasted and finding two skanky co-eds. ; ) While we wish he swung our way, there is still time for him to change his ways. And what's best about his recent birthday is he is now legal age...no more jail bait!


2) Just kidding of course, Sidney is a tea-totaller, right? The drinking age in Canada we believe is 19 so its mute. However, the real reason for us posting this is to make a statement of how much he has done at such a very young age.

3) Crosby at 21 has already played 3 full NHL seasons.(albeit the last one was hampered by injury) A rarity in today's NHL to see a teenager excel to this degree. He has already accomplished so much that it's easy to forget how young he still really is. Many players from his draft class (2005) have yet to make any impact or play much at all in the league. To compare with his age peers from that year: First the top 2-10th draft picks, then the best of the rest

• Bobby Ryan-drafted 2nd. 5 goals/10 points for Anaheim


• Jack Johnson-drafted 3rd. 79 NHL games played/11 points for LA (defensemen)


• Benoit Pouliot-drafted 4th. 14 games/3 points for Wild


• Carey Price -drafted 5th (Goalie) 41 NHL games, 24 wins for Habs


• Gilbert Brule- drafted 6th. 12 goals/32 points for Columbus


• Jack Skille- drafted 7th. 16 NHL games 5 points for Chicago


• Devin Setoguchi- drafted 8th. 11 goals/17 points for the Shark


• Brian Lee- drafted 9th (Defense) 6 NHL games 1 point for Ottawa


• Luc Bourdon- drafted 10th (Defense) 36 NHL games, 2 points for Vancouver


• Anze Kopitar- drafted 11th 52 goals/138 points for LA


• Paul Stastny- drafted 44th. 52 goals/149 points for Colorado

4) By contrast Crosby has 99 goals and 294 points in 213 games, nearly double the nearest peer from his draft class. In addition to be far and away the best player in his class how does he fair compared to Hall of Fame players Here's a list of players who averaged more than a point per game in more than 78 games before they turned 21. Keep in mind that in the early/mid 80's the average number of goals/game was significantly more than today. So its no coincidence that all but Crosby on the list below played a good number of games during that run and gun era.

• Wayne Gretzky, Oilers 301 points. Not a surprise here. TGO is ahead of almost everyone in all offensive categories


• Sidney Crosby, Penguins 294 points. Not bad to be 2nd behind Gretzky in any category!


• Jimmy Carson, Kings/Oilers 286 points.(Carson never scored over 100 points AFTER 21!)


• Ron Francis, Whalers 241 points. One of our all time fav players.


• Mario Lemieux, Penguins 241 points. Figured he'd of been higher, but the team around him initially wasn't too strong
• Steve Yzerman, Red Wings 218 points. Stevie Y was a dangerous threat especially at the start of his career

5) His accomplishments thus far:

• He scored 102 points his rookie season, breaking Mario Lemieux's team rookie scoring record and becoming the youngest player in NHL history to reach the 100-point mark. If not for another phenom, then 20 year old Alex Ovechkin, he would have been a shoe-in for Calder.


• In his next season, at the age of 19, he won the Ross by leading the NHL in scoring, won the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP


• Was the youngest player to ever be named captain of a team and a starter in the All-Star Game.
• Along with the other youngsters (Malkin/Fleury) helped propel his team to winning the Eastern conference in last season's playoffs, pushing the Wings to 6 games before succumbing to the Detroit juggernaut

6) Only time will tell whats in store for 87 the rest of the way, but we'd be very surprised to see him become Jimmy Carson, but we would not be surprised to see him at the end of the day (20 years from now) in the top 5 all time in scoring. He doesn't appear to have the knack for goal scoring at the Gretzky-esque pace (who has?), but combined with his evident skill and excellent supporting cast, if he stays healthy Crosby should put up some very impressive numbers when all is said and done. Sid, this Bud's for you!

NW/NE Divisions Set To Slide?

1) While we normally love it when things slide...especially when they slide into a nice piece of hot guy's ass, we feel the NW/NE Divisoins are set up for a not so pleasant slide!

2) While it is a bit too soon to make our preseason predictions (Check for them in late September), the trends don't appear to be good if your a fan of the NE and/or the NW divisions. Traditionally the strongest of the NHL's 6 divisions, they appear poised to lose that distinction. Fans north of the border, who's teams' make up a large number of those divisions, might be in for a tough year. There hasn't been a Stanley Cup champ from a Canadian based team since the Habs did the trick back in 1993. It doesn't look good that this will change in 2008-09, and many Canadian based teams might not even qualify for the posts season.

3) Teams that we feel are going to be poised for a down turn this year are:

• Colorado: Going into the season with Budaj and Raycroft as your starting goalies doesn't bode well for a return to the post season.



• Minnesota: The losses of Rolston and Demitra will be hard to replace. While we don't underestimate the coaching abilities of Lemaire, it might be a tough season in The 'Land O Lakes'



• Ottawa: For those like us who were keeping track, the Senators after the first 2 months last season, played below .500 hockey. With the loss of Redden, and Gerber now the #1 goalie, we could see this team miss the playoffs entirely

4) In addition to those, several teams that struggled a bit last season will probably continue to not excel next season:

• Toronto: We believe that even WITH Sundin this team would struggle to make the playoffs, but without him they are all but assured of watching hockey next April.



• Vancouver: Sundin could still be the wild card here, but without him we don't see their team having the fire power to stay in the top 8 even if Luongo plays at the top of his game



• Buffalo: Another big loss of a big time player in Campbell. The younger players like Vanek, etc and Miller in goal will have to carry the load, but we are dubious that have what it takes to get back to the elite 8 in the East

5) Of the remainder we can see Edmonton as seeing an improvement over last year, and perhaps even compete for what we believe will be a relatively weak NW division. Montreal in the NE despite relying heavily on some aging vets and a second year goalie should be right back in the chase for the division title along with the Bruins. Overall though at this juncture we would be surprised to see a team from these 2 divisions representing their respective conferences in the Finals next spring. Certainly we would NOT have said such a thing a few months ago. A slide indeed!

Why Eklund is an Asshole!

1) Firstly a huge 'You're Welcome to all the folks who sent us Thank you notes, for the just ended faux vacation in Patagonia. Its been a while since we last posted so we figured we'd weigh in on a few topics. We plan to do our annual "Rating The Franchises" some time next week, Look for it. However after reading the latest blog-bullshit from FR's buddy Eklund, (pictured above) we couldn't stand idly by and not comment. Despite the fact that we rendevouzed with Eklund on a Jersey beach last summer and buried the hatchet (among other things we buried in each other) we could'nt let this Ek BS go. (BTW, we got that picture from puckthathit.com) Without permission. ; ) We urge our readers to read that blog entry as well.

2) The asshole who we'd have to bet has fewer and fewer real readers who believe his drivel, came out with his latest "rumor" post today. It had to do with Brian McCabe. As anyone knows who follows hockey (anyone who reads this blog surely fits that bill) knows that McCabe has a No Trade Clause (NTC) and up until now has been reluctant to agree to waive it. First the facts that are well known and not Eklund rumour bullshit

• Brian McCabe has apparently agreed to waive his NTC


• The latest published(not rumor) report stated that the Florida Panthers are one of the teams that Brian has agreed to be traded to.


• One of the 'sticking points' is that Brian will be automatically paid 2 million (not bad for doing nothing!) bonus on September 1st so no deal will be consummated before this date.

3) Eklund used this information then to satisfy his paying customer(suckers) readers he has to add that his 'sources' tell him a much bigger deal is being discussed. Naturally if Florida is in the mix what should we expect but this:" ...the Leafs are attempting to get Bouwmeester into the deal.....". OK, perhaps, but not fucking likely. So WE decided to ask our real faux sources. We have a good budy who has the inside scoop on these kind of things in south Florida. When we told him of Eklunds assertion that Bouwmeester would be part of this he sounded like he almost spit up the drink he was sipping on he laughed so hard. " Not in a million years do the Panthers trade the Leafs Bouwmeester for McCabe!!.. Not even if they threw in Antropov and the CN Tower!"

4) He went on that the Panthers aren't even the only team inquiring. That despite his 5+mil cap hit more than 6 other teams are now lining up for his services. Apparently those GM's haven't been watching Brian play recently? Of course we weren't shocked to find out that Eklund's drivel was just that, made up shit to satisfy his hungry, sap readers. Tomorrow he will likely do a 180 and proclaim that another team has a huge 4 way deal on the table. By the time September 1st rolls around he'll have mentioned 20+ teams as possible McCabe destinations and just after the trade is reported he'll report it as a E5, and do a 'see I told ya so'. BTW, any of you loyal Eklund readers, ask him if he's heard any new Jason Allison rumors. In the past 24 months he's had the now-former NHL-er rumored to all 30 teams. Anyone keeping track of how many 'rumors' he's created on Sundin? LOL

Hold The MSG:NHL At War with The Rangers?

1) Intriguing story that we haven't heard much of since the 2008 NHL Entry draft weekend. Apparently there is very bad blood between the NHL (Gary Bettman) and the NY Ranger's ownership led by the Dolan family. Make no mistake, they are at war! The dispute goes back to the last CBA negotiations. The Dolans were one of the owners who were not exactly enamoured with the prospect of a salary cap. After all, prior to that his team could spend their enormous wealth of any player they pleased. The cap would significantly cramp that style (We believe its been a God-send to them, but at the time Dolan didn't see this)

2) Things didn't improve once the CBA was finally ratified, begrudgingly approved by the Ranger ownership. One of the provisions that the Rangers objected to (and continue to now) is the virtual take over of all online teams' advertising. The league and the Rangers have feuded over control of the team's web site. In September, Madison Square Garden sued the NHL, saying it violated antitrust laws by monopolizing control of team promotions. However, a judge ruled in November that the league was within its right to take control of the web site. As a way of returning the favour to the Rangers(retribution) the NHL in a June court filing asked a judge to agree that MSG breached its contract by challenging NHL rules. The NHL further claimed that it can force MSG out of the league.


3) That last statement is what got our attention at FAUXRUMORS. The NHL is going to kick out its most profitable American based franchise over web site control? Are they kidding? Talk about a cutting off one's nose to spite your face situation. Its also not like Bettman and the NHL can just force the Dolan's to sell the team. Even if they did/could somehow pull that off, what then happens to the team? The Dolans also happen to own the arena where the Rangers play (Madison Square Garden, MSG) We doubt they would simply allow the new owners to use their arena, so then we'd be faced with a situation where the biggest American NHL team has no home to play. Imagine Ranger fans if you were forced to play your home games in Newark, or worse yet, in Nassau??? LOL
Knowing Bettman he'll probably have the team handed over to Boots DelBaggio

We're Back

1) Oh Geez! What an incredible week. Still recovering from all the travel and wild guy-on-guy sex nights. We probably should have stayed away a few days to recover just from that. We seemed to be on the go almost every day since last Friday. Where did we end up going? Well, we never heard of it but our final stop was a place in Argentina called Bariloche (The locals pronounced it Bah-ree-law-cheh) Still trying to figure that out. LOL The folks there are very proud and proclaim the area as "Switzerland of the Americas". After spending a week there we can see why!


2) After landing in the country's capital, where we were only in the huge airport, we took a puddle jumper (and we mean that in the literal sense as the landing strip on at our final destination was not exactly state of the art/what we are accustomed to in the states) to Catedral resort where we enjoyed skiing as good as we have ever seen in the Rockies or Alps. Conditions were perfect. Lots of powder, and not too cold. Some wind, but that's par for being at the end of the world. ; )

3) As Italian is the countries unofficial 2nd language most of us in the FR group were able to communicate very well with a majority of the locals. We would most definitely recommend it for anyone who has the means. It was a nice contrast to the heat and humidity that we left when we left from Dulles in Virginia. The thin Andes air did take something out of us, but there were no major injuries among us and we all got back to our initial airports with relative ease. We want to again thank FR2 for footing the bill. This had to be a pretty penny. Its nice to have rich friends. ; )

4) Probably the most amazing part of the trip was the amazingly hot argentinian guys. They were young, sexy, and willing! It is amazing what they will do for a few American dollars. What's even better is the fact that there is no legal age of consent in Argentina so FR2 was in his absolute glory gettin it on with those youngins! I can't say I minded a whole lot either!

5) LOL Anyway, now back to hockey. We were able to sign in a couple of times over the week away. Due to the renewed(expected) harassment of our continuing blog-pest we had to moderate comments while we were away. Thanks for the birthday wishes from all of you who e-mailed/wrote to us. We're excited to start on our 3rd year here at FAUXRUMORS. As always, keep it here for all the latest!

Happy 2nd 'Birthday' To Us!

1) Though we are away on our annual imaginary FAUX (fake) vacation, we felt we'd post a BD message to be published while we are away. Its amazing that we have reached this milestone. When we made our first post (inspired by the late summer drivel/rumours of the time) http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2006/08/ we never in our wildest dreams believed this would become what it has. We continue to make up whatever we want and cling to the hope that we will someday have a single source of real info!

2) We especially didn't think we'd still be at this when the dark days when our now vanquished blog enemy hacked and stole the original FAUXRUMORS blog. We have long since moved on when we restarted things again in March 2007. In retrospect he did us a favour, as we feel this forced us to improve/upgrade the blog in many ways since then.

3) With over 530+ original FAUX posts and growing to our credit since that first fateful blog entry, and more than 386+ thousand hits (and growing fast) we are proud of what we have grown here the past 2 years. As we were then, (and always will be) we are a totally FREE site/blog. We decline all advertising offers (though we have yet to receive any). For one, honestly we don't need the income, but more importantly, we feel that accepting money would be the wrong perception. We don't want to become Eklund. Selling nonsense/made up crap to sad/loser people. We look forward when we return from South America to begin our third year! Thanks to all of you! As always, keep it here for the latest!

Annual Faux Vacation

1) Time for our FAUX vacation! While we wish and dream of the day we can go on a real exotic vaction we will have to settle on a FAUX (aka FAKE) vacation. Its that time of year. The time when we at FAUXRUMORS have our annual gay fest holiday away from the blogging world. When FR2 treats the entire Faux-crew to a unique vacation. Last year http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2007/08/ we pretended to go to northern Italy and were treated to an amazing imaginary week.

2) This time around FR2 has something unique planned for all of us. As they did last year FR2 did not give us details until the last minute so all that we can relate to you now is that we were told to pack warm clothes and our skis. All we know is this imaginary place will be exotic and full of hot and hunky men to serve our every sinful pleasure! We just got our plane tix that will bring us to Buenos Aires in Argentina. We're told there is a connecting flight thereafter so all we know is that is NOT our final destination. We will be sure to relay to our readers details when we return. We will try to 'smuggle in' a lap top so we can occasionally check in here, but no guarantees.


3) The time of year was chosen for a reason. Traditionally its the time when we have the hardet time making anything up for this blog so its unlikely we'll miss much. When we return we will begin in earnest our preparation for the 2008-09 season by first going through our summer report cards team by team. Later on of course we will do our pre season predictions. As always relaying/discussing pertinent NHL news and gossip. As always(even when we're not actually here) keep it here for all the latest!

Nolan-Isles-Redux!

1) We're not trying to pile on here, but there doesn't seem to be much else to talk about in hockey right now and besides Ted Nolan is very intriguing and interesting to us. We are fascinated by the hot and sexy chief! The guys at Fauxrumors have long fantasized about being with a native american like him, but sadly have not yet enjoyed that pleasure. What struck us was the huge contrast of the good feelings fans tell us they had in the summer of 2006 following the ouster of Mike Milbury as team's GM. At the time many folks tell us it was like a cathartic experience. Finally the 'wicked witch' was gone, etc. The team seemed poised to take a fresh direction. A new GM and coach would be hired and possibly they would buy-out salary cap anchor/underachiever Alex Yashin. At first things looked quite bright indeed as Wang jointly hired former Ranger Cup winning GM, Neil Smith to handle the same duties on LI where he got his start in NHL management under Bill Torry. It was a feel good story of home grown talent coming back to his roots, etc. Smith was respected around the league and brought credibility where there was a dearth of that since Milbury took over in 1996.

2) Next the 'feel good' story continued with the hiring of previously blackballed Ted Nolan. He seemed genuinely thrilled to be hired as coach. It looked like he was as excited, if not more than the fans at the prospect of having a real NHL coach behind the bench navigating the team. Additionally, Wang brought back 2 wayward sons in Bryan Trottier to handle player development, and Pat LaFontaine as advisor to Wang in the newly created panel. Both Patty and Trotts had had falling out with past Isles owners so it was nice to see both back on the Island where they started they Hall of Fame Careers.

3) The good feelings however didn't last long, and the current disorganized/bizarre predicament began. A mere month after taking over as GM, and after negotiating several UFA to come to LI (Sillinger/Witt) Neil Smith was abruptly fired by Wang. Apparently Smith didn't fully realize when he took the job that the title of GM was in name only; That all decisions first had to be first cleared through Wang (and the other members of the panel). Smith rightly balked at this, and as others have found out before and since, you don't screw with Wang.

4) The next move is what really amazed the folks throughout the NHL. Almost immediately after Smith was unceremoniously let go, he was replaced with the teams current back up goalie Garth Snow. It was unprecedented to have an active player under contract propelled into such a high level of management, literally overnight. Snow was/is a bright guy with a degree in business, possibly making him a good candidate to be an asst GM, but hardly the top spot in over seeing player-personel moves by an NHL franchise. Pat Lafontaine tried to convince Wang to reconsider his rash decision of dismissing Smith. Seeing how things were really being done there, and as a friend of Smith, Pat Lafontaine imeadiatly gave notice of his resignation. Further giving the organization a black eye. Wang didn't forget/forgive Patty for this transgression as we found out this past season. http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2008/02/islanders-bush-league.html

5) The final nail in the coffin was the way in which Nolan was canned. We won't rehash this as we already wrote about this extensively here.----->nolan-tossed-off-island. We also want to make it perfectly clear that our intention was NOT to pile on Islander fans. Clearly the good and loyal folks who root for their team should be commended for sticking with them the past 15 odd years. It has been a roller coaster of ups and unfortunately for you guys, mostly downs. We can only hope that Snow now has the experience and as importantly, the authority to make the right decisions going forward. The team now is stating it is in a 'youth movement. That's another word for 'rebuilding', or a euphemism for 'we're going to suck' this year. Hopefully for those folks the team will stick with it and retain the good assets, and finally show/have some management stability. As we wrote on the excellent islandersarmy blog; There might be a light at the end of the tunnel, but it may merely be a LIRR express to Jamaica. ; ) As long as Wang seems to be a hands on owner we fear that the Isles will not truly become a contending team and remain the butt of jokes. We want to be on record here and now that we sincerely hope this is NOT the case.

Kevin Lowe Fired!

1) OK, he wasn't really fired. Technically he was given a promotion, but anyone with any understanding of hockey management can see that he was removed from a place where he over saw all the operations of the team to one of an advisor. More of a figure head than anything now. He was the team's GM from June 2000 until today. His biggest accomplishment was guiding the 2006 team to within 1 win of The Cup. Thereafter the wheels fell off, starting with the Pronger situation, then the Ryan Smythe trade, and finally the Penner offer sheet last summer. To be fair we feel Lowe did a good job overall. In fact many believe the Oilers are poised to return to the post season, and in no small thanks to Lowe, but apparently the new owner in Edmonton wanted a new man at the helm and in our opinion he made a good choice.



2) The Edmonton Oilers named Steve Tambellini as their new general manager. Tambellini, 50, has been part of the Vancouver Canucks hockey operations staff for the past 17 seasons and was most recently the Assistant General Manager and Vice-President of Hockey Operations. (copied word for word from TSN) His name had long been bandied about as the successor to several of the open GM positions the past couple of years, as he is well regarded in NHL circles. As Director of Player Personnel, Tambellini helped put together the roster that won the gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah and he was also a member of the management team for Team Canada's gold medal triumph at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. He also served as the General Manager of Team Canada at the 2003 and 2005 IIHF World Hockey Championships, winning the gold medal in Finland in 2003 and silver in 2005. Good luck Steve!

0) The guys at Fauxrumors have been known to seek out our share of hot and sexy captains. To us it doesn't matter...military captain, police captain, or captain of the high school football team, to the fauxrumors guys, we love them all!

1) With the naming of (hot and yummy) Jon Towes as the Black Hawks newest/youngest ever captain the conjecture within the media started: Is Towes too young to be an NHL captain? A list of young captains were then listed ranging from the naming of Crosby and Yzerman to Vinny Lecavlier. From my point of view there should be no such thing as too young...for captain or for other things too!

2) Along with the list came commentary of how each handled being named captain at a tender age. Also it was pondered if there was a backlash among veterans to having a peach faced player wearing the C. One columnist even went as far to suggest that it had a negative impact on teams attracting free agents as veteran players would shy away from playing for a team with a pimply faced captain.

3) We at Fauxrumors read these various articles with amusement. Never has an honor/assignment been so over rated! Giving a player "The C" doesn't make him a leader and a leader doesn't need "The C" to be one. Its an absolutely overblown/over rated title. The term Captain or 'A' (which by the way means Alternate NOT Assistant) is only important in terms of communicating with the officials during a game. Teams each have different/altering uses of their 'captain'. Some act as a go between the team and the coach, some are the actual team leader, but we suggest they would be viewed as such with or without the title anyway.

4) We also think its poppy-cock (old English for bullshit) that a vet player who is a UFA might think twice about signing for a team based upon who is the captain. We challenge anyone to come up with one concrete example of this ever happening in the NHL. UFA's take many factors into consideration before choosing a team: Money, location, contender status, the coach, etc. We believe no where on a UFA's list is who is wearing the C.

No-Man's Land!

UPDATE: Thank you to all those well wishes for FR2! I am happy to report that FR2 was released this morning on bond. He is at home relaxing and working on his defense. The entire fauxrumors family is confident that with the help of our high power lawyers and acquittal will be achieved. As we mention before...FR2 had no clue the boy he was involved with was under 18 and therefore we are sure he will be vindicated!

1) The original meaning of No-Man's land came from WWI. It referred to the area between the trenches that the troops had built. Usually filled with mines and covered with wire fences, anyone caught in this area was in grave danger (thank you to BrokeBack guy for letting me know that the term No-Man's Land actually dates back to the 14th century and for last night too! Source: Wikipedia)

2) With regard to the NHL, the no-man's land we're alluding to here are the teams that fail to make the playoffs, but don't fall into the bottom 5(lottery) teams. By finishing in the slots from 17th to 25th they are assured of not getting playoff revenue that many teams rely upon to turn a profit. Worse yet, they not only miss out on that cash, they also miss out on attaining the top prospects in the draft. Reducing their abilities to convince fans that they are going to be improving. Many teams use the draft(draft party) to use as a ticket drive or sorts. By attempting to excite their fans into believing that they will be chock full of top prospects/exciting young players, folks will be more likely to plop down money to see these players in action the following fall

3) It seems that annually the same teams seem to be in this predicament. Toronto and Florida have both failed to make the playoffs the past 3 seasons and have also been well above the bottom 5. Good enough to not be a lottery team, but not good enough to make the playoffs. The problem is even more acute for the panthers who have failed to make the post season an astounding 8 years strait, yet have been above the bottom 5(lottery) the past 5 seasons. The result: mediocrity.

Best Wishes to FR2!

As many of our friends in the hockey blog world know one of the founding members of this blog, fauxrumors2, is currently undergoing some legal challenges. While he is currently incarcerated we do expect that after his Monday morning appearance he will be released.

I do not want to get into a lot of detail about what has happened but I can pass the following details on to you, which I got directly from FR2 himself:

1. He is doing fine, healthy and fine, just a little rattled from the whole situation.

2. The charges (5) stem from activities a couple of months ago.

3. FR2 stands firmly behind his story that at the time the guy in question told him that he was 18 and not underaged.

4. FR2 was unaware of the legal drinking age in the state in question, and while he should have known this, he was simply sharing his alcohol with a new friend, not deviously trying to intoxicate an underaged teen.

5. FR2 denies the youth had about 12 drinks in him. FR2 also says that the male youth was coherenet and conscious throughout their entire sexual encounter.

6. While it turns out that the male youth in question is under 18, FR2 did not know that at the time or FR2 would have stayed clear.

7. While the male youth was tied up for the encounter this was all part of the activities and not some kidnapping or imprisonment action. Once the 'fun' was over he was untied. The accuser was 100% willing in all that went on.

8. This youth continued to badger FR2 via cellphone text messages looking for another rendevous which FR2 repeatedly denied, simply because the kid wasn't very good in the sack!

I have known FR2 for a very long time. While both he and I do like our guys a little on the younger side, I can honestly tell you that neither he or I have ever knowingly ventured under the legal age. This is 100% a complete misunderstanding.

Luckily the Fauxrumors family has some best criminal lawyers in this field at their disposal. We have the financial means to beat these ridiculous charges and look forward to having FR2 cleared and out of incarceration soon.

Our thoughts are with you bud!

Strange Bed-Fellows?

1) Since the time the Fauxrumors gang came out of the closet we can honestly say we have had our share of strange (and sexy) man bed fellows, but non as strange as the one we are about to outline.

2) As the saying goes; Politics makes strange bed-fellows. Translation: Amazing who can become allied if an issue benefits two unlikely parties. The two unlikely allies are the NHL Players association (NHLPA) and the new KHL. It seems both have a mutual/converging interest just as myself and the hot and hunky fry guy at McD's have a converging interest with each other. That is the KHL wants to pilfer as much talent it can from the NHL, and the NHLPA sees this NHL rival as an opportunity for its rank and file (players) to use this as leverage to get more money in the short term an perhaps concessions/an alternative place to play in the next round of CBA talks/lockout. As we all know, money talks. We at Fauxrumors should no, we have tempted many a man into our bed with the right $$!

2) This came to light recently when the NHPA objected to the International Ice Hockey Federation(IIHF) attempt to ban certain players because they left to play in the KHL. Said the NHLPA:

• Yesterday's announcement by the IIHF that they have suspended certain Players from international competition has no basis in fact or law, and constitutes a violation of the rights of these Players. The affected Players are being unfairly singled out in a dispute between the NHL and the KHL

3) At first brush we at FAUXRUMORS found it interesting that an NHL players' union is sticking up for players that have signed elsewhere and broken contracts. However, after reading several other blogs the apparent reasoning for this is very logical. They simply want to encourage movement between leagues as a way of increasing a healthy rivalry/demand of players and thus the amount of cash available to those players. Interesting nonetheless to see the NHLPA in essence align with the KHL?

4) The next question, is this a good idea? We whole heartily believe it is! Supporting the KHL (in this instance) is exactly what the NHLPA should do.

• It increases the choices of the union membership. More choices/jobs are always the goal of any association/union


• It could very well increase wages. Not in the NHL in the short term, given the salary cap, but down the road, though, increased competition. Competition for labor is something that tends to drive up wages and as such something a union will always endorse.


• The NHLPA's reason for existing in the first place is to legally represent the interests of the players involved who are currently members. What happens next is up to the players, the IIHF the NHL and KHL and the union wants to stay relevant in all these manoeuvrings. Always keeping the best interests of the players first and foremost. Good job Mr. Kelly!

Mats Dicking with NHL

While I originally called this blog 'Mats Playing Cat and Mouse with NHL', I decided to rename it. Cat is too much like the slang for a particular part of a woman's anatomy which we find revolting and are not interested in. The new title we have so carefully penned reflects our favourite activitie...Dicking with NHL (Nice Hot Lads). We only wish we could be dicking with Mats...or vice versa! And once again - no that isn't me in the pic, but something I hope to be enjoying very soon!

1) The biggest remaining question these days in the news starved hockey media world is where will Mats Sundin end up playing? This immense amount of interest is in part due to the fact that Mats played in the hockey media mecca, Toronto the past 14 years and they have invested all their time in trying to find out where he will go. (They are bored/trying to sell papers) The other is that he's the best remaining free agent available. Since almost every other blog has weighed in on this issue, we figured it was time we at FAUXRUMORS take time away from hot gay sex and had our say whether anyone gives a care or not. While we have no clue or sources that can enlighten us on anything related to Mats, that has never stopped us here at FAUXRUMORS from hypothesizing, guessing and just down right making it up! LOL!


2) There have been multiple (thus far false) reports that he has agreed to go here or there.

• The going rumour de-jour in June was he was going to play in NY to take Jagr's place. Sure JJ left town, but the Rangers chose (wisely) to pass on paying oodles of money for an aging vet, and instead build around youth and pay a lot less for another aging Swede (Naslund).



• Later we were told that Montreal had the upper hand. That Bob Gainey was set to trade for his rights before the draft, and grab the big guy only to hear later that Mats was still undecided on where he'd like to go so asked that teams not trade for his rights.


• Some, especially among the Toronto media delegation believed that he would return to Toronto after all, but as we noted last month that possibility is very remote being that we were told that bridges have been burned back to Toronto.



• Then we hear a totally fabricated story that he was in negotiations for a contract to play in the KHL. The Russian team DID contact Mats agent, yes, but they were quickly rebuffed. The phone call we're told lasted about 30 seconds. At no time has Sundin considered playing there.



• Most recently we were told that Mats had already signed to play in Vancouver only to back track to say that a decision won't be forthcoming for another 2 weeks.

3) Some are saying further still that Sundin is set to retire. Can't imagine Mats will retire yet. Most players start to feel the itch about a month or so before the season starts (see Favre) Certainly Sundin doesn't need the money, but unless he has a family issue, what else does he plan to do for the next couple of years? Overall, it would seem that Vancouver would be a the logical fit: Why?

• Mats is on record saying he likes playing in Canada. He's played his entire career north of the border, so its his apparent comfort zone, so its unlikely he'll leave to move south at this late date in his career


• They are offering (supposedly) a nice 2 year 20 mil deal? Again, Mats isn't starving for cash, but one last nice pay day would be hard to turn away from


• Mats appears to not care if he wins (he won't in Vancouver). We have argued with several other bloggers that IF Mats really wanted to win a Stanley Cup, he would have waived his NTC last spring and move to a contender and not stay in Toronto where it was unlikely they'd make the playoffs, and almost impossible they'd win the Cup


• The Olympics are in Vancouver next year so would be nice to play for the reigning gold medal Sweden in Vancouver in 2010 in front of home fans.

4) Clearly we aren't underestimating the worth of having Sundin added to a roster, but it also should NOT be over estimated either. He would NOT be the difference maker in Vancouver where they are more than one piece away from winning a Cup. He could propel them back into the post season, but we don't see a Cup in the Canuck's future with or without Mats. Montreal could be another story. There he would potentially fit well with their mix of veterans and youngsters, who with Sundin could return to Cup contention in 09. What we do NOT want to see is a LONG drawn out soap opera that goes into the season like a Peter Forsberg or to a lesser extent Teemu Salenne. Shit or get off the pot Mats, we don't want to have to be reading about your potential destinations in September and beyond!

What a Weekend!

The entire fauxrumors gang headed down to San Diego this past weekend to take part in Gay Pride 2008 (July 19/20). It was an amazing celebration of the lifestyle that we here at fauxrumors embrace and love.

Parades, parties, games and rallies, it was truly an amazing event. I was impressed with the number of out of the closet people there are out there, and from how far a way many of them traveled to take part. We met people from all over Canada and the United States, Australia, Mexico, and various parts of Europe, including Scandanavian Hottie Sven!

I found it very interesting (and convenient) that some of the small motels in the parade area were offering half hour room rates! I have always heard stories about such things but never have seen them, or had the opportunity to take advantage of them.

Here are some shots from our great time!


And now, time to rest. It is a little difficult to sit right now, things are a little tender there from all the activity, but in a few days I will have the time to sit and type out some more of the crazy hockey rumors I am hearing.

End Of The Rookie Salary Cap?

1) The NHL instituted the idea/concept of limiting the salaries of entry level players in the mid 90's when several big time players (Eric Lindros) came into the league demanding huge sums of money before they even had played one NHL game. The rule set forth that players under 24 who are playing in the league for the first time would have their salary limited in their first 3 seasons to a set maximum plus set allowable bonuses not to exceed an annually set level. The cap was worked into the 1994 CBA as a way for owners to have a level of cost certainty for rookie contracts. However, players, agents and owners initially circumvented it by using lucrative signing bonuses and performance incentives to supplement rookies' maximum base salaries. In the most recent CBA these loopholes were largely abolished.

2) With the new league wide salary cap restricting team payrolls GM's used the rookie cap to infuse talent at relative low cap cost. Even when these entry level deals expired in years past players had only a few areas of leverage as they were still RFA after the 3 years were up. They could use arbitration, or the threat of an offer sheet. Even today (despite the ramblings of Brian Burke), an offer sheet is still a rarity, and something you'd unlikely see for anyone other than the top tier stars. As Vancouver found out the hard way, trying to poach another team's RFA can come back to bite you! Therefore we believe we won't see many offer sheets thrown around in the future. The recent Radulov situation illustrates where it might become plausible for additional young talent to go back to Europe to play if they are offered salaries beyond what they normally would be paid in their early 20's and not yet established themselves.

3) So why would the NHL then abandon a rookie cap if its working for them so well? Firstly, we don't believe it will in the short term, but if things progress they may have no choice. Their problem is the KHL and European super leagues. Without a player transfer agreement, and with the Eurpoe, especially the new KHL trying to poach as much young talent as they can, they will surely try to lure the players with big paydays. Well beyond what the NHL would compensate them for their first 3 years. For instance next summer John Tavares and Magnus Pääjärvi will probably be drafted in Montreal first and second. If soon after KHL teams made both ridiculous offers and they accepted them to play in Russia for a quicker big pay day it could be the tipping point for others to decide to do the same.

4) Now realistically we doubt Tavares would do such a thing. If he wanted, he probably could have signed on to play there already, but we would not be shocked to see increasing numbers of young Russian and other European born players staying closer to home where they can get the big money much sooner. You might even see several N.A. born players who are not happy with who drafted them use the KHL as leverage to force a trade, again ala Eric Lindros to Quebec in 1992. (Eric was traded to Philadelphia, in exchange for players such as Mike Ricci, Peter Forsberg and Ron Hextall, along with $15 million). As a result the NHL might have little choice but to either seriously alter or abolish entirely the concept of the rookie cap.

Burke's Secret Destination?

0) Here is a little photo taken of me at a recent party attended by the entire Fauxrumors gang. Sorry to say though, it is not my face you can see...I am the receiver on this one!

1) We usually are not ones to listen to the Toronto media. In fact we usually read what they say and believe that the exact opposite is the likely reality of a situation. However with regard to the Brian Burke to Toronto rumours we believe that 'where there is smoke there is fire' argument may have merit.

2) First we should verify that despite constant rumours and innuendos we here at Fauxrumors have no sexual interest or lusting for Mr. Burke. We would find him to be too old and dominating as a sexual partner. The entire Fauxrumors gang much prefers being in the dominant role and must then focus our affections on more feminine men. While some may say Burke has a predator aura to him, we much prefer being the older 'predator' type in our gay relationships.

3) Just too many coincidences are occurring to ignore. To refresh the memories/educate the folks who may not recall:

• Brian Burke is the current GM of the Anaheim Ducks. He successfully orchestrated the team to a cup win in 2007.


• His current contract with the Ducks has one year remaining and has yet to sign an extension that the ownership supposedly offered him this past spring.


• The Maple Leafs fired their GM, John Ferguson Jr, (JFJ) this past winter. It was widely rumoured that Burke was in line for the position.


• When Burke was 'unavailable', or so we were told, the Leafs hired Cliff Fletcher to be the 'interim' GM until a permanent individual could be hired in the off season.


• Burke states that he will live up to his contract (one more year) then decide what he will do from there.


• Toronto announces that Fletcher will stay on as GM through the 2008-09 season.

3) It doesn't take a rocket scientist to deduce the possibilities here. That Burke will finish up another season in southern California. Allow Fletcher to do the dirty work of unloading the bloated contracts that JFJ signed, and begin the rebuild. Then after next season the Leafs can hire Burke to come on and finish the process of rebuilding the troubled Toronto franchise like he did with Anaheim.

4) This is not to say that this is written in stone. In fact we were at first dubious of this. We are told repeatedly that Burke is one of the brightest minds in the game today. (He'll tell you himself if you ask) Despite his gruff/abrasive style (and we at Fauxrumors like our men to be gruff and abrasive...mmm), he is very well liked and regarded in NHL circles.(Outside of Edmonton) However, IF Burke is that smart, why in hell would he want to come to the ever-dysfunctional franchise/media circus in Toronto? Is it all an ego trip? Who could ask for a better situation that what he has now? He lives/works in Southern California. He's already won, so the pressure is minimal. He's making very good money. Why turn this away for a chance to be in the middle ring of the media circus that is Toronto?

5) Our sources tell us: "Yes, it IS about Burke's ego here. He wants to be the one to do something no one has done in over 40 years". That is, bring a Cup back to Canada's biggest city. A feat that would guarantee Burke hockey immortality. A place in hockey lore forever more! If this is true we would then have to lower our regard for the man. After all, to pull your family out of an ideal circumstance, back to the cold winters, into a high stress environment, and especially into the microscope they will be under, would be a poor decision in our opinion. Stay tuned. The wheels appear to be moving in this direction. And besides, now at this point I have hedged my bets and have written posts saying Burke will be there, and posts saying he will never end up there. Either way I will be able to pump my fist (among other things) and claim victory for being correct once again!

To Russia With Love?

0) Many are asking themselves, "Is the new Russian Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) a real threat to the NHL? Many including our gay friend over at The puckstopshere think it is. We will attempt to wade through the hype both real and trumped up and the realities of this fledgling rival to the NHL's prowess on the world stage.


1) First we will be the first to admit that Russia is probably the number one GAY PORN producer in the world. Since the iron curtain fell so have the boxers and briefs of some of the hottest guys in the world. To the guys at Fauxrumors, nothing is hotter than a smoking hot and naked commie!

2) So what IS the KHL? Well its really not a new hockey league. Its merely an ambitious expansion of the existing Russian elite league. A few Russian oil barons/entrepreneurs got together and decided to rename/expand the league and give it a new flashy name to try to compete with the NHL and other European elite leagues for talent.

3) Firstly, what are some of the advantages that the new KHL have over the NHL?

• Tax free income- This is a huge incentive. Imagine adding an additional 30%(or more) on top of your salary? Taxes have kept/dissuaded players from playing in Canada, especially Quebec in the past, so its no surprise that this could be a nice incentive for players to earn nice pay and avoid the tax man



• Shorter season- The KHL is slated to have 56 games in its initial season. Significantly shorter than the 82 game marathon the NHL currently employs. The long season then potentially long playoffs takes its toll physically on players. To be able to cut their season by a 1/3 or more and make good money at the same time is a nice bonus



• Russians and some Euros might feel less home sick playing at home. This is certainly a huge factor for Russian born players. Imagine leaving your home at age 18 to work where you know little of the language and culture. In stead you are given a chance to stay home where your family and friends are, and still make about the same money? The KHL is trying to use Russian nationalism to try to lure players to stay and play in 'Mother Russia'



• Big Russian oil money: This is the underlying engine that is driving the Russian economy these days. When the price of oil collapsed in the late 80's the USSR died with it. The surge in oil has fueled the economy and more importantly lined the pockets of a few elite 'businessmen/corrupt politicians/Russian mob bosses, etc. These are the folks who by and large own the teams that make up the KHL. Its their diversion/past time from their other 'activities'.

4) Possible disadvantages:

• Hard to attract top flight North American-born talent to play abroad. Few players in their primes will willingly leave the comfort of home to play where English is not spoken, and the creature comforts we take for granted are not wide spread. If Eric Lindros thought Quebec city wasn't a place to live,work and raise a family, how many top North American born NHL players will want to go to obscure/smaller Russian cities to live and work?



• Huge amount of travel. If you thought going from LA to NY was brutal (2,800 miles), try going from Amur Khabarovsk to Dinamo Riga (4,500 miles!) The other KHL teams are also spread far apart so to be 'on a long road trip' may have a new meaning in Russia.



• Piss-poor facilities: Some of these arenas we're told are in very poor shape. Ice conditions are worse than a typical hot day in MSG (not good). NHL players who are accustomed to the best of the best will be in for a rude awakening when they have to practice in facilities where they are sharing a bathroom with the general public. LOL



• Russia is still a 3rd world country. (See above) The many creature comforts even those of us working class people take for granted are hard to come by in Russia of 2008. There isn't a Home Depot/Circuit City/ Target, etc on every corner like we see here in the US. These guys may have money, but being rich in a poor country has its distinct disadvantages.



• Teams owned by crooks/mafia/corrupt politicians: Sure that sounds like the NHL, but in reality there is no comparison to the rampant corruption over in the old Soviet Union. Many players who went over there to play during the last Bettman lockout got stiffed millions of dollars. With many judges in the back pockets of these oil barons/Russian mafia, etc owners these players have no recourse to recoup that cash, so folks going over there to get rich better keep their eyes on their wallets and ask for the cash up front!

5) So how does the KHL stack up so far? Well many made a big deal over the signing of former Ranger Jaromir Jagr to Avangard Omsk. While it made a nice headline it hardly signals a trend that has the NHL shaking in their boots. So who else is going over there?

• • G Ray Emery, Ottawa Senators to Atlant Mytishchi (KHL)• F Josef Vasicek, Islanders to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL) • )• F Stefan Ruzicka, Philadelphia Flyers to Spartak Moscow (KHL) • F Marcel Hossa, Phoenix Coyotes to Dinamo Riga (KHL) • G Wade Dubielewicz, Islanders to Ak Bars Kazan (KHL)• F Martin Straka, Rangers to HCL Plzen (CZE) • D Jon Klemm, Los Angeles Kings to Straubing Tigers (DEL)
• If your a follower of the NHL you probably won't miss any of the folks not named Jagr. As for JJ, sure he could still be considered a top NHL player, but he's not the same dominating force he was even 2-3 years ago. He will be missed, but even Jagr will admit it was his plan all along to 'retire from the NHL' with a deal in Europe. While we won't sugar coat his loss to the NHL, we believe his departure will NOT cause an avalanche of younger players to leave to play in Russia either
  

6) What might cause the KHL to become a true NHL rival?

• If the NHL salary cap begins to contract. Not expecting this any time soon. In fact it'll probably continue is drift higher at least for the next 2 years, up to nearly 60-65 million. However if: a) the US economy truly goes into recession(it hasn't as of this date) b) the CN dollar shrinks to its early 90 levels c) Oil stays or goes even higher then its conceivable that the NHL won't increase its income, and it could deflate causing the subsequent cap to go down. Thus making the KHL more attractive to high end talent



• If there is any new work stoppage in the NHL. This clearly could happen in 4 years when this CBA expires. We won't go into the details, but we at FAUXRUMORS are on record predicting another work stoppage as owners attempt to end guaranteed contracts. This could flood the KHL with players fleeing the NHL for work. You could even see substantial North American born/trained players go to Europe/Russia to continue their careers as the NHL is locked out yet again.

7) How can the KHL can start to attract top players in their primes? We believe that our above negative factors will continue to seriously dissuade top/impact players from defecting to the KHL. (The Radulov situation still is unresolved as of this printing) However if the previous 2 'causes' occur then we could finally see a shift of significant talent resources to Europe/Russia and at that time, and that time only would we pronounce the KHL as a true rival league. Until then, they are mere annoyance and a refuge for the lesser/older player.

Nolan Tossed Off Island!

1) In yet another bizzaro-world move by the kings of Bizzaro moves, the NY Islanders today fired their head coach Chief Ted Nolan. For those of you who have not been keeping track with the Islanders head coach's trials and tribulations we invite you to read our blog post http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2007/11/wasis-ted-nolan-being-blackballed.html where we ask if Ted is being blackballed. We additionally invite our readers to to look at the post we did just 2 short months ago where we predicted this very occurrence.
http://fauxrumors.blogspot.com/2008/05/are-isles-dicking-with-nolan.html

2) We did however believe that the Isles would at least retain Nolan into the season then fire him; using him as the teams scape goat. It seems that Ted was not allowing the team to play him for the fool. The honest Nolan would tell reporters exactly how he felt and this irritated maverick(euphemism for rich nut job, as opposed to the NUT JOB I gave my boyfriend last night) owner Charles Wang. Wang thought Nolan owed him big time for resurrecting his career. Feeling that without the Isles, Nolan would still be in the QMJHL or worse yet, back on the reservation coaching kids. Nolan would be a stand up guy and tell reporters or anyone who would listen how he felt about the direction the team was taking.(Diplomatically of course). He must have known what Wang/Snow had in store for him and refused to play along. (Also we do NOT believe this move was racially based or related to Ted's past issues). In a choice between wang and Nolan we'd choose Nolan. Wang in the past has been shown to be bush-league!

3) However the very proud Nolan feels he has earned every penny he has made from the Isles and owed them nothing but living up to his part of his 3 year contract.(We agree!) The writing was on the wall that Nolan would soon be gone when the Isles traded his good friend Chris Simon for almost nothing at the trade deadline. We're told Nolan called Snow and angrily told him that he was pissed that they isles didn't consult with him first. Things got worse from there and even former Isles PR man Chris Botta recently weighed in on the Snow-Nolan issue on his blog. http://nyipointblank.blogspot.com/2008/07/code-ted.html

4) So where do both parties go from here?

• The Isles are now without a coach. Many chastised the Kings for waiting until June to fire Crawford and then name a new coach. The Isles felt they had to out do the Kings in idiocy by waiting 3 full months to decide to replace Nolan. Why the wait? Only Wang and Snow know for sure and they will only be spinning drivel blaming Nolan that he wasn't going to be on board with the new youth movement, etc. We have a feeling Nolan would be 'on board' if he was given assurances of being with the team beyond this season (a contract extension was a must!) Given that his tenure was, well tenuous, we can't blame Nolan for fearing that his next/last season with the Isles would be a bottom finish and thus wasn't keen on having such an inexperienced lineup to work with.



• Meanwhile we don't believe the hype of these 'kids'. Other than Okposo none impress us as being a future star player in the league. We saw a bottom 5 finish this season for the Isles, and this move only cements this viewpoint. They rid themselves of one of their better assets in Nolan. The team will probably hire a very desperate/loyal AHL coach that they will sell to the fans as the perfect candidate to 'coach the kids'. Or hire former super star Brian Trottier in a clear PR move to save face. Who could boo a living legend like Trotts?



• For Nolan its definitely too late to find work as a head coach, but he may find work as a teams' asst if he chooses, or wait until the inevitable first firing and wait for the phone to ring. If another team/GM is smart they will have Nolan's number on speed dial. Nolan is a legit/good NHL coach who deserved/deserves better. The Isles do not!

Is Ray GAY?

Despite the countless stories about former Ottawa Senators goalie Ray Emery, there still remains a lot of questions about the 'lifestyle' issues that he has been facing. Some have speculated that Ray is in fact struggling with his sexuality. In simple terms, Ray has discovered he is gay. Sources have even told Fauxrumors that Ray Emery turned down several lucrative offers for potential starting positions in the NHL to sign in Russia so he could be closer to the more open minded European community where he could let his sexuality flow without repercussion.

There has been plenty of talk within the gay hockey community that we at fauxrumors are deeply involved in. Over the years there has been speculation about various NHL players being gay, but never have we been so close to having a true NHL player out of the closet and close to embracing the gay lifestyle we at fauxrumors love.

We should be clear here. We at fauxrumors have no evidence that Ray Emery is gay. In fact we are regulars in the gay club scene and have not at any time seen Ray or even found anyone who had first hand experience with him.

All we at fauxrumors know is if Ray is one of us it is time for him to step up and be GAY and PROUD of it, just like the fauxrumors crew. We would love to hear from Ray! We would love to get to know Ray A LOT better. Even the possibility of Ray Emery being gay brings visions of me on my knees in front of him frothing at the mouth awaiting him...MMM!

Stay tuned!

Less Is More?

0) This is something we at Fauxrumors are used to hearing from the guys we hook up with. They tell us not to worry, less is more...and we thought that would probably translate to hockey as well.

1) This is apparently the case with regard to games played for a team's starting/#1 goalie. When we were discussing possible topics to discuss during the doldrums of the summer, a few of us at The FAUXRUMORS Group, LLC. got into a discussion about the merits of playing your top goalie as much as has become almost a regular occurrence these days. We discussed for instance if the Devils would have done better if Brodeur would have been rested more often?

2) In fact, with the origination of the salary cap, teams are more and more carrying only 1 top quality goalie for a good salary and a very cheap back up to save cap space. Seldom do we see a split between 2 goalies like we saw regularly 25 years ago. Nowadays, playing 65-70 or more games by the top goalie is common place, but is it a good strategy to employ?


3) Our discussion was prompted by the Red Wings recent Cup run with Chris Osgood. He wasn't really a true/prototype #1 goalie that many teams possess. In fact he wasn't even the #1 going into the post season. We figured it would be interesting to see if this was the exception or not. What we found surprised us. With the exception of Martin Brodeur (earlier in his career) it seems that teams have success (win the Cup) when they have a goalie that plays under 60 games. We went back the past 5 years to see if this premise held.

• 2007-2008: Western Conference champs goalie (Osgood) 43 games/ East(Fleury) 35 games played


• 2006-2007: Western Conference champs goalie (Giguere) 56 games/ East (Emery) 58 games played


• 2005-2006: Western Conference champs goalie (Roloson) 43 games/ East (Ward) 28 games played


• 2004-2005: Bettman Lockout.


• 2003-2004: Western Conference champs goalie (Kiprusoff) 39 games/ East (Khabibulin)55 games played

4) The next question is do teams take this bit of information and try to alter their teams' future strategy? We are already on record stating that the Devils made a mistake playing Brodeur so much the last 2 seasons as he has looked 'tired' and not nearly as sharp from playing so much. (77 and 78 games respectively) However teams like New Jersey and Vancouver, etc are in a catch 22 situation. They rely so heavily on their goalie to carry them, that playing him less could result in missing the post season entirely. Eventually we believe teams will begin to re-think their strategy in this regard and possibly have to set aside more resources to retain more than one quality goalie. Allowing them to rest their #1 so he is ready to face the immense 2 month long pressure cooker that is the Stanley Cup playoffs

Ray Bolts To Russia

1) For those who may have missed it, former Ottawa Senator goalie and probably the hottest, sexiest and most f*able goaltender in the NHL, ray Emery will NOT be playing hockey in the NHL, or anywhere in North America in 2008-09. Despite my buddy fauxrumors predicting he would land in LA, Edmonton or Washington on a 3 year $12 Million deal, the sexy Emery has flown to Russia. According to Canadian media reports Ray Emery's NHL career is taking a detour — through Russia, where he'll collect his paycheque in rubles. The goaltender, whose contract was bought out by the Senators last month, has agreed to a one-year deal which could pay him in excess of $2 million plus bonuses next season with Atlant Mytishchi of the newly-formed Kontinental Hockey League in Russia.

2) As FR2 postulated last week, the Senators did Ray a HUGE favour by buying him out of his contract. Not only will Ray receive approximately a half million dollars from his former team the next 4 years for doing nothing, he will now make an additional 2 million tax free playing in Russia, plus whatever bonuses they gave him. No matter the bonus situation, Emery will receive MORE this season than if he had stayed in the NHL with Ottawa.

3) While some pundits have opined that this is a mistake by Emery to go over to Europe to play next season, we at FAUXRUMORS respectfully disagree. By bypassing the NHL he will be out of the glare of the camera eye for a year. Ray needs some time away to help heal the wounds (real and media generated) from last season. If he has a good season playing in the now well regarded KHL he will undoubtedly be a wanted man come July 2009. Time heals all wounds is what they say, and in NHL parlance, memories are short. If Ray has a good season all they will see is a 27 year old goalie not yet in his prime who might help a team get to the next level. Either way, he won't be hurting for cash any time soon. The 2 mil+bonuses plus the 1/3 of 2.5 the Sens will paying him the next few years should keep Ray's wardrobe up to date. I will sadly miss the topless dressing room interviews he was known for. An amazingly hot and downright SEXY physique for a goaltender. I know I'd love to tap his ass!

As the Dust Settles.....

1) We at FAUXRUMORS were tempted to chime in the last few days with a post concerning how we feel teams fared this free agent signing season, but we were busy attending the annual Gay Pride Festival in Atlanta Georgia. We are happy to report a great time was had by all and we even managed to 'connect' with a few new guy 'friends'. Certainly in some circles 7 days may not seem like a long gay bender, but we at Fauxrumors can assure you we wore out the knees in more then a few pairs of pants and our assess are extremely tender from excessive action.

2) First (yet strangely listed as #2), the teams we feel clearly improved their chances going into the 2008-09 season compared to where they were at season's end. The winners:

• Chicago- The rebuild/transformation of the Blackhawks will be one of the bigger stories this next season in our opinion. Only a year removed from the black death that was the William Wirtz ownership, the team now can be looked upon as one of the more exciting teams to keep an eye on. A familiar refrain we expect to hear is they will be 'the Capitals of this season'. The addition of big time offensive defenseman Brian Campbell to go with their impressive array of young guns will make their PP a deadly weapon. Adding dependable Huet and hopefully for them the trade of underachieving goalie Khabibulin will mean the Hawks will reemerge back from the dead, and possibly back to the post season. They will need to jettison Nikolai to avoid a divided club house. They probably won't get much in return, and at his salary their are probably few who can take him, but despite this we feel the folks in Chicago will enjoy a renaissance of hockey the Windy City hasn't seen in over a decade!
  
  
• Tampa Bay- They started the off-season by extending the contract of super star Vinny Lecavlier. Removing the silly Montreal rumors (they won't end there ofcourse). Next ownership/Jay Feaster went out and got pro-active and signed Ryan Malone, Vaclav Prospal, and Gary Roberts, before any were even on the market. Then to cement these moves the added Radim Vrbata, David Koci and Adam Hall, to round out their forwards and goalie Olaf Kolzig to add some veteran leadership/depth to the thin goalie position. We especially like the addition of Koci who give the Bolts a true heavy weight enforcer to help deter those taking liberties with its offensive stars. We still are not sold on their defense/goaltending as being Cup calibre, but Add these moves to the drafting of Stamkos, the folks of the Florida Bay area should be excited to see hockey return this fall!



• Pittsburgh- Their biggest moves were to get their own people resigned. Getting Malkin and Fleury signed long term to relatively reasonable cap-friendly deals it allowed Ray Shero to make other moves to bolster his team going into next season. In addition to those deals, Shero went out and got/retained Pascal Dupuis, Mark Eaton, Eric Godard, Brooks Orpik, Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Matt Cooke. We feel the additions of the former Islanders Satan and Fedotenko along with Cooke will give the pens a nice veteran feel they may have been missing. Godard will bring toughness (at a lesser cap cost) in the absence of the departed Laraque. The key, as it always is, can Fleury give them the type of goaltending he provided in the post season, over the long haul? Sabourin is highly touted, but can't be expected to carry the load like Conklin did last season when Fleury went down. Still, we believe the Pens should be right there again next season!



• Detroit- The rich get richer? This certainly applies in the case of the reigning champion, Red wings. They added the free agent cream of the crop in Marion Hossa. Not only did they add him, but got him at a big discount of 7.4 million, and only to one season. It looks like Marion wants to sip champagne next spring, not watch others do it. They also got another former Penguin, Ty Conklin to augment their goal tending with Osgood. The two are well regarded, but combined only will cost the Wings a cap hit of 2.4 million! (Compared with Chicago's 12.3) They also retained the services of defenders Brad Stuart and Andreas Lilja who both seemed to come into their own this season in Mo-town. All in all we would have to say the Wings of 2008-09, baring injury/Cup hangovers should be every bit as good as this past year's squad!

3) Next, the teams, in our opinion, who have decreased their chances going into the 2008-09 season compared to where they were at season's end. The losers:

• Montreal- The Habs were relatively quiet on the signing front. The added tough guy Georges Laraque to address the team toughness issue highlighted in the Flyer series, but the lost defensemen/PP specialist Mark Streit. Gainey did resign star forward Andrei Kostitsyn to a multi year deal removing him from offer sheet eligibility. Still Habs fans must be wondering about their team's strategy. They will be relying heavily on another season from a 36 year old Alex Kovalev, 35 year old Hamrlik, and 34 year old Saku Koivu along with 2nd year goalie Carey Price to get them back into the post season.



• Toronto- The (now permanent-?) GM Cliff Fletcher tried to add by subtracting. Erasing Kyle Wellwood, Darcy Tucker, Andrew raycroft from the payroll (still trying with McCabe). However the void left by the departing captain, Matts Sundin is gaping to say the least. Jason Blake will have to seriously return to his 40 goal form if the Leafs are to have any chance at returning to the playoffs. They over paid in our opinion to acquire former Av's defensemen Jeff Finger. 4 years 3.5 million a lot to pay, but the folks in TO are used to that and losing by now. We don't see any reason to believe that will change in 08-09.



• Rangers- They may have replaced the likes of Jagr, Avery, Straka and Shanahan with Naslund, and Zherdev, but that in our opinion leave a big leadership/toughness gap that we feel will be evident. Sure Naslund could return to his form of 5 years ago, and the enigmatic Zherdev might become a real star in Manhattan, but we don't see it. For all the hoopla about the big acquisition of Redden, many forget he wasn't even the best defender in Ottawa the past 2 years, and he hardly has played up to his salary in the process. The burden will be even more heavy on King Henrik this next season. He will need to play at a season long Vezina caliber to get the Blueshirts into the post season. Also much more will be expected from the 'kids' like Staal, Dubinsky,Callahan, Girardi, etc.



• Colorado- Any team that has as its top goalies Andrew Raycroft and Peter Budaj can't feel confident. A year ago we felt Budaj had the potential to be a #1 goalie, but lost his starters job to the departed Theodore. Raycroft hardly inspires, as he is 4 years removed from his last good season. Kicked to the curb by the Leafs. A few weeks ago we wondered if re-signing Jose at big bucks would be worth the gamble, now that seems like it would have been the better move. One has to wonder if there was a falling out with Colorado and the former Hab? They also lost Finger to Toronto, and were forced to pay big bucks to keep Liles and Foote. The former getting a huge 4 year 4.2 mil deal. Faced with the possible losses of Sakic and Forsberg, the addition of Tucker hardly makes us confident the denizens of Denver wil be back in the playoffs in 08-09.

3) This is hardly a final grade on these an the other 22 non-mentioned teams, but with most teams already with their rosters set, barring a trade the bigger moves have already taken place. There are only 2 few players remaining who could alter the landscape a bit. Matts Sundin and to a lesser extent Pavol Demitra. After that the list gets thin. Teams with significant additional cap space to add one(or both) (after signing their own RFA's)

• Vancouver - 12 million
• Phoenix- 14 million
• Islanders 15 million
• Nashville 10 million
• Montreal 8 million
• LA- 15 million
• Columbus 10 million
• Atlanta- 15 million

4) Of those we wouldn't expect to see much movement from NY and Phoenix, but LA and Atlanta may try to land Demitra, and its been widely rumoured that the Canucks are hot after Sundin. With the loss of Naslund the Canucks will need to add some offense else they will be on our 'losers' list.

Editors note: We now are in what we call at FAUXRUMORS the no mans land of hockey news. The draft and main wheeling/dealing of the UFA period is over. Some deals will certainly occur, but they will be much further and fewer between. We at FAUXRUMORS will not be posting as frequently over the coming weeks as we gear up towards Gay Pride Week festivities with our good neighbours to the north in Canada. We hear there are many a hot man to be had there. As always, keep it hear or here for all the latest!

5 Players I Wish Were Gay!

With just one day to go before free agency I thought it might be fun to look at the top 5 players around the league I would love to spend some 'quality time' with! While all are not free agents, it doesn't diminish the passionate desire I hold for them.

5. Kristian Huselius - sweet baby face who really knows how to dangle with his stick. Oh how I'd love him to dangle it for me!

4. Sid the Kid - while not a fan of him on the ice, who can resist that 70's porn stache. A bit of a wimp, but that will allow me to be the one in charge for once!

3. Todd Bertuzzi - hey even us gay guys like it rough sometimes! His reputation for giving it hard and rough from behind has my attention! MMM!


2. Dan and Henrik Sedin - some say they can't tell these hottie euros apart. I say who cares double the fun under the sheets! I'd love to explore every inch of their bodies and see how identical these two really are!
1. George Laraque - Big, Burly, and Black. Yes even us gay guys dream of gorgeous men like George. Though based on dressing room rumours I may have to do some serious throat exercises to enjoy every inch of this hockey hunk!

Well, there you have it. If by chance any of them are reading this and are interested in a secret rendevous I can be emailed at fauxrumors5@yahoo.com. And if anyone is interested in discreet random same sex encounters...email me at fauxrumors5@yahoo.com.

Why Emery Should Send a ThankYou Card to Bryan Murray

1) Of course we don't expect the oft maligned(deservedly) former Senator goalie to send an early Christmas card to his former coach/GM, but he should. Why? Well, in our opinion Murray did Emery a HUGE favour by buying him out. While we would like to do some nasty and dirty favours to Emery anytime, his former GM has done a big one for him first.

• Emery will lose 2/3 of the anticipated salary, but still will get close to 900K for the next 4 years for nothing


• Emery becomes an Unrestricted free agent. Here is where Emery potentially wins. This year there are few reliably good UFA goalies. Huet, and perhaps Theodore. After that as FAUXRUMORS pointed out yesterday, the options become limited! As such Emery becomes a wanted man and could very well earn MORE in a new deal than he would have with his former contract with Ottawa.


• Adding up this new(possible more money to the 'free' money he will get from his old team, and you can see how Ray makes out like a bandit


• Above the monetary enhancement, just getting away from Ottawa, will give Emery the new start that will probably reignite his career. At only 26, he really is young for goalie standards, and has probably yet to achieve his potential.

2) Therefore at the end of the day, Mr. Emery should acknowledge that his former team did him a HUGE favour by discarding him. Of course don't hold your breathe on that. And Ray, anytime, anyplace, any position, I just want to be with you!

Scouting/Handicapping the UFA's

1) As we move toward July 1st and 'freedom' for a rather large if not too deep/impressive group of UFA's we at FAUXRUMORS will provide an abridged list of whom we feel are the more interesting/talented/and sexy players available. We will go by position (much like we have done with our boyfriends in the past) starting with forwards, then defense, and finally goalies. Not in any particular order. We will list each players 07-08 team/stats, age, his previous salary, and our projection/what we are hearing with respect to where they might be headed, as well as our projected contract size/length (which I sadly lack).

2) Forwards:

• Sean Avery: Rangers. Age 28. 33 points in 57 games. Made 1.9 mil. The Ranger's amazing record when the pesky forward is in the lineup as opposed to on the sidelines is unavoidable. The question that Sather has to ask is he worth double (or more) his current salary? We say no. At under 3 mil Avery is worth the headaches. Anything over 4 and now he will have to score 50+ points to be worth that salary. Likely contract: 4 years 16 million. Possible destinations: Rangers, Dallas, Islanders
  
  
  
• Marian Hossa: Pittsburgh. Age 29. 66 points in 72 games. made 7 million. One of the bigger names available this summer. Had a good playoff with Pitt enhancing his value. That said, we at FAUXRUMORS are not big Hossa fans. Certainly not at the salary he's likely to command. He's a solid 1st line forward. We feel the 7 million he made this past year was a bit too much for his production. Likely contract: 5 years 42 million. Possible destinations: Bruins, Atlanta, Edmonton
  
  
  
• Pavol Demitra: Wild. Age 33. 54 points in 68 games. Made 4.5 million. Its unlikely the Wild will re-sign the Slovak, but its still not out of the realm of possibility either. If he doesn't ask for Hossa money (more than 5 mil) we hear a deal could still be worked out. Likely contract: 3 years 16 million. Possible destinations: Wild, LA, Rangers, Toronto
  
  
  
• Mats Sundin: Maple Leafs. Age 37. 78 points in 74 games. Made 5.5 million. Probably the cream of the UFA crop. Featured in our last post on how Toronto bridges-burned. He would be an excellent addition to any team that is in contention already and looking to add the 'final piece'. Due to his age we wouldn't expect a long term deal. Likely contract: 3 years 21 million. Possible destinations: Rangers, Montreal, Vancouver, retirement.
  
  
  
• Joe Sakic: Avalanche. Age 38. 40 points in 44 games. Made 6.75 million. Coming off an injury plagued season, its not certain if Joe even wants to play. He's earned enough to live quite comfortably, but does the fire of competition remain in the Burnaby, BC native? We believe its yes, and its a HUGE long shot he'll be anywhere but in Denver in the fall. Likely contract: 1 year 6 million+incentives. Possible destination: Avalanche, retirement
  
  
  
  
• Ryan Malone: Pittsburgh. Age 28. 51 points in 77 games. Made 1.45 million. The 6'4" native of Steel town appears headed away from his birth city to collect a very nice pay day. The Pens in a perfect (non capped) world would have loved to retain his services, but its impossible with the other problems that face Shero this summer. That said, we like Malone, but don't believe he deserves big money (4-5 mil). He's a solid 3rd line checking forward. However, given the dearth/depth of quality UFA's Ryan will probably get his cash. Likely contract: 5 years 20 million. Possible destinations: Columbus, Toronto, Islanders, Atlanta, St. Louis.
  
  
  
  
• Jaromir Jagr: Rangers. Age 36. 71 points in 82 games. Made 8.36 million. Even with decreased production, and the additions of 2 high priced UFA's last summer, JJ was still the best Rangers' forward this past season/playoffs. He was also cheap until now. (The Caps were paying 4 mil of his salary as part of the deal that brought him to Broadway.) So far its been a guessing game if the Rangers want him back or if Jagr will play out his career in Europe where rumours persist that he's been offered big money to play in Russia. Haven't read/heard one rumor of JJ playing anywhere else in the NHL but the Rangers. Likely contract: 1 year+option(player) 7 mil+incentives. Possible destinations: Rangers, Russian KHL
  
  
  
• Markus Naslund: Canucks. Age 34. 55 points in 82 games. Made 6 million. The Ornskoldsvik, Sweden natives production has been sliding the past few seasons. He's no longer the go to guy on Vancouver despite being paid big bucks. He has publicly hinted that he may return home to continue playing. That is the most likely scenario unless a team approaches him and offers him a good deal to stay in North America. Likely contract: 3 years 15 million. Possible destinations: Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, Sweden.
  
  
  
• Daymond Langkow: Calgary. Age 31. 65 points in 80 games. made 2.44 million. Langkow has been a consistent contributor to the Flames offense the past few seasons as well as playing a solid two-way game that Sutter loves. He rarely misses games and would be a solid # 1 or a 2 center on many teams. The Flames would like to keep him, but with already 43 mil tied up with 13 players it might come down to Daymond 'wanting' to return, by giving a bit of a home town discount. Likely contract: 4 years 15 million. Possible destinations: Calgary, Canucks,
  
  
  
  
• Brian Rolston: Wild. Age 35. 59 points in 81 games. Made 2.43 million. Brian has been the leader of the Wild for the past three seasons. As such we hear the team is working hard to try to re-sign him. The Michigan native has scored 30+goals the past 3 years, and has earned every penny the Wild have paid him. Likely contract: 3 years 10 million. Possible destinations: Wild, Rangers, Atlanta
  
  
  
• Vaclav Prospal: Flyers. Age 33 71 points in 80 games. Made 1.9 million. With his rights exclusively re-acquired by the Lightning from the Flyers it appears likely that Vaclav will be reunited with the other Vinny(Lecavalier), where he has enjoyed his most productive seasons. Now that the hated Fonzie (Tortorella) has been dispatched look for Vaclav to stay in Florida. Likely Contract: 4 years 14 million. Possible destinations: Tampa Bay
  
  
  
  
• Brendan Morrison: Canucks. Age 32. 25 points in 39 games. Made 3.2 million. With the Canucks addition of Wellwood, it probably means the team will not try to retain Brendan. Likely contract: 3 year 10 million Possible destinations: Columbus, Vancouver, Atlanta, Minnesota
  
  
  
• Jason Williams: Blackhawks. Age 27. 36 points in 43 games. Made 1.6 million. Injuries plagued Jason hindering his output. He has scored 20 goals 2 years ago. Likely contract: 2 years 3.8 mil. Likely destination: Chicago, St. Louis,
  
  
  
• Michael Ryder: Canadiens. Age 28. 31 points in 70 games. Made 2.95 million. Fell out of favour even before his play suffered sealing his fate. Surprising that he wasn't traded at the deadline. We can see a few teams taking a shot that Michael will regain his scoring touch which earned a Calder nomination in 2004. Likely contract: 2 years 6 million. Possible destinations: Pittsburgh, Bruins, Canucks, Dallas
  
  
  
• Kristian Huselius: Age 29. Flames. 66 points in 81 games. Made 1.4 million. With a lot of other free agents to sign and having very limited cap space, Huselius could be the odd man out in Calgary. His output/cap dollar is among the best. He will assuredly garner considerable interest and a nice salary boost to go with it. Likely contract: 4 years 19 million. Possible destinations: Chicago, Montreal, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Vancouver
  
  
  
  
• Teemu Selanne: Ducks. 23 points in 26 games. Made 1.5 million. Will the Finnish flash retire or will he return once again. He didn't take long to get back into the thick of things once he returned to Anaheim. He probably would have scored 60+ points if he had played a full season. Something the offensively starved Ducks needed. It appears that Teemu once again will either retire or return to Anaheim. Hopefully for Burke ad the Ducks he doesn't take 6 months to decide this time around. Will Niedermayer back its more likely we'll see the Flash return as well. Likely contract: 3 million+incentives. Possible destinations: Anaheim/retirement
  
  
  
• Cory Stillman: Senators. Age 34. 65 points in 79 games. Made 1.75 million. Wasn't spectacular after his trade from Carolina, but Cory rarely is. He merely puts up consistent numbers 65-75 points every year. For his salary he was worth the investment. He is a solid second line forward. If he's placed in a position where he's relied upon to be the go to guy he'd probably disappoint, but could help a team with established stars. Likely contract: 2 years 6 million. Possible destinations: Ottawa, Carolina, Calgary
  

• Radim Vrbata: Coyotes. Age 27. 56 points in 76 games. Made 1.25 million. Had a career year in Phoenix. Will Vrbata stay and try to grow with the young and exciting Coyotes, or go for the big pay day and play somewhere else? Likely contract: 4 years 12 million. Possible destinations: Phoenix, Chicago, Atlanta, Vancouver, Anaheim

3) Next-defense.

• Wade Redden: Senators. Age 31. 38 points in 80 games. Made 6.5 million. He admittedly had a bit of a down year for his standards, but that probably won't prevent teams from throwing big dollars his way this summer. Is probably the marquis UFA defensemen available(with Campbell) he plays well on both ends of the rink. Is he worth his salary? We say no, but we will see quite a few GM's with a different perspective. Likely contract: 5 years 40 million. Possible destinations: Toronto, San Jose, LA
  
  
  
  
• Adam Foote: Avalanche. Age 36. 16 points in 75 games. Made 4.6 million. Made a successful return to Colorado following a trade back from Columbus. With four possible unrestricted free agent defensemen, the Avalanche are facing some serious decisions, even if they can get a couple of them re-signed. They would like to retain Adam who played well down the stretch, but they are unlikely to offer more than what he made this past season and at his age can't give a long deal. We hear Foote would like to stay so we don't anticipate movement, but if that changes there will be many possible suitors. Likely contract: 3 years 3 years 15 million. Possible destinations: Avalanche, LA, NJ
  
  
  
  
• Brooks Oprik: Penguins. Age 27. 11 points in 78 games. Made 1.75 million. We read that he rejected the Pens (last?) offer so he'll likely be available July 1st. Brooks really shined in the playoffs this past year for Pitt, significantly enhancing his value. One scout tells us 'he probably doubled his next contract' with his tough as nails play. Its still possible he will be back with the Pens, but once he goes on the market its less likely he stays put. Likely contract: 5 years 20 million. Possible destinations: Pittsburgh, Rangers, Bluejackets, Washington, San Jose, LA
  
  
  
  
• Mark Streit: Canadiens. Age 30. 62 points in 81 games. Made 600K. The Swiss blueliner was a revelation on the Habs blueline. Making folks quickly forget about the departed Sheldon Souray. Putting up very impressive numbers, but in the process making him a tough player for Montreal to re-sign. Likely contract: 5 years 20 million. Possible destinations: Florida, Chicago, NY Rangers, NY Islanders, Colorado
  
  
  
  
• Brian Campbell: Shark. 62 points in83 games. Made 1.75 million. Many see him as the best offensive defensemen available this UFA season. It appears that the Sharks were unable to get the former Sabre to sign before the free agency period begins. Likely contract 5 years 35 million Possible destinations:New Jersey, NY Rangers, Ottawa, Chicago, Montreal, Carolina
  
  
  
  
• Brad Stuart: RedWings. Age 28. 23 points in 72 games. Made 3.5 million. The Wings probably can't afford Stuart if he wants a big raise, but at his previous $3.5 million he might stay put. He has certainly helped his case for staying with his impressive playoff. If he gives a bit of a home town discount he might appear more attractive to the Wings. Likely contract 3 years 10 million. Possible destinations: Detroit, LA, Ottawa, Florida
  
  
  
• Robert Blake: Kings. Age 38. 31 points in 71 games. Made 6 million. We were never huge Blake fans, even when he was good. Now that he's well past his expiration date we feel that teams looking for the old Blake are better served to pass on him, especially at a high salary. That said, he'll probably get attention from a few teams in need of a veteran defensemen. Likely contract: 2 years 8 million+incentives. Possible destinations: LA, Colorado
  
  
  
• Ron Hainsey: Blue Jackets. Age 27. 32 points in 78 games. Made 900K. The Bolton, CT native picked a good time to put it all together for Columbus. Putting up good offensive numbers but as important playing more reliably in his own end as well. Would make a good #3 or 4 defensemen. Likely contract: 3 year 9 million. Possible destinations: Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago
  
  
• John-Michael Liles: Avalanche. Age 28. 32 points in 81 games. Made 1.4 million. Liles hasn't put up big offensive numbers, but is one of those guys you miss more when he's not in the lineup. He has great value for his solid puck movement and playing 'Top 4' minutes in every game. The Avalanche have many choices on who they can/want to resign. We hear the odds are against a return of J-M. Likely contract: 3 years 8 million. Possible destinations: New Jersey, Boston, NY Islanders, Buffalo, Columbus
  
  

4) Finally goalies- The depth is paper thin. teams looking to upgrade the most important position are probably better off doing it internally than via UFA-agency:

• Cristobal Huet: Capitals. Age 32. 32 wins in 52 games. Made 2.75 million. Came out of no where a few years ago to become the Habs # 1 goalie. Has put up good regular season numbers, but has yet to perform up to that level in the post season. Bob Gainey made huge gamble trading him away at the deadline to DC. From there he helped lead the caps into their first post season in many years. The Caps are desperate to sign the St. Martin D'Heres, France native, as they broke ties with long time goalie Olie Kolzig, and their prospects are not yet ready. The window for getting a deal done are closing. If Cris isn't signed before July he's probably not going to stay in Washington. Likely contract: 4 years 22 million. Possible destination: Washington, Ottawa
  
  
  
• Ray Emery: Senators. Age 25. 12 wins in 31 games. Made 2.75 million. Bought out by Ottawa where he went from the top goalie on a Cup run last year to a bitter/forgotten/distraction/back-up this past year forcing the Sens to buy him out at only 1/3 of the original contract worth. That said, if Ray controls his off-ice antics he is one of the better available goalies this summer. He will have more than a few options. We believe that once Huet decides if he wants to either stay in DC or move to Ottawa (more likely) Emery will likely go to DC or to a western team. Likely contract: 3 years/12 million. Possible destinations: Washington, LA, Edmonton
  
  
  
  
• Jose Theodore: Avalanche. Age 31. 28 wins in 53 games. Made 6 million. The former Hart trophy winner is in the top 3 of the rather thin UFA goalie class. Although contract negotiations are stalled, Colorado wants to re-sign him. Jose will ironically make less than before he becomes a UFA as his bloated deal signed in Montreal 5 years ago finally expires(Never sign a goalie to a long term deal!) Likely contract: 3 years 12 million. Possible destination: Colorado, LA, Washington, Ottawa
  
  
  
• Olaf Kolzig: Capitals. Age 38. 25 wins in 54 games. Made 5.45 million. Its not clear if Olie intends to play, although it sounded like he wanted to compete and perhaps show the Caps that they made a bad choice last year when they discarded him for Huet down the stretch. He had a poor start, but came on (with the rest of the team) in the New year. Its a good year to be a UFA goalie, else we'd say Olie would have trouble finding work. Likely contract: 1 year 1 million+incentives. Possible destinations: Washington, Ottawa, LA, Vancouver, Dallas
  
  
  
• Andrew Raycroft: Maple Leafs. Age 28. 2 wins in 19 games. Made 2 million. The former Calder (rookie of the year) winner-2004, has fallen fast. Heralded 2 years ago as Toronto's #1 goalie, he played sparingly once Taskala took over the #1 mantle and left the team with a decision to buy him out or send him to the AHL (as of today that's uncertain. If he's an UFA we doubt he'll get any huge offers, but as with most UFA goalies with NHL experience, the options are limited for teams so he might at least get a 2-way deal offered. Likely contract: 1 year 5-600K. Possible destinations: LA, Vancouver, Boston, Islanders
  
  
  
• Marc Denis: Lightning: Age 30. 1 win in 10 games. Made too much money for what he produced(almost his whole career he's been overrated in the fauxrumors opinion) This forced the Lightning to buy out the Montreal native. He probably won't get more than a camp invite, a 2-way deal or at most a league minimum offer , or more likely Europe. Likely contract: 1 year 500K(2-way). Possible destinations: Europe, (a desperate NHL team)
  
  
  
• Ty Conklin: Penguins. 18 wins in 33 games. Made 500K. As we called him back in january Ty was our cinderella-man for his miraculous rags to riches story. The forgotten 3rd goalie in Pitt, carried the team when M-A Fleury went down with an ankle injury in December. He lost the #1 when Fleury returned, but he salvaged his career and will likely find work at least as some teams' back up next season. Likely contract: 2 years 2 million. Possible destinations: Toronto, Calgary, Islanders, Buffalo
  
  
  
  
• David Aebischer Age 30. No record in 2007-08. Even in a very thin class we wouldn't sign David to be anything more than a backup. Likely contract: 1 year 600K. Possible destinations: Dallas, LA, Islanders
  

Bridges Burned?

1) For those who haven't been following the Maple Leafs-vs- Mats Sundin saga, (where the hell have ya been.) It sounds almost like divorce proceedings than a long time player about to move on to a new team. There are hurt feelings and accusations of betrayal, and possibly a new suitor(a long time rival) for Mats. Of course anything that takes place in Toronto and is hockey related is bound to get more than a little over blown.

2) To review, Mats Sundin is the all time Toronto point getter. The 37 year old Bromma, Sweden native has played in TO since a 1993-1994 offseason deal that brought him from Quebec. For the mathematically challenged that's 13 seasons (one lost due to the last Bettman lockout) The former 1st pick overall in 1989 has accumulated 555 goals and 1321 points, a large majority with the Leafs. He has been the team's captain for quite a number of seasons and has chosen to stay when he had the option to leave on many occasions.

3) Despite all that loyalty/accomplishment, the team and its fans were still upset when Mats decided he would exercise his contractual right to stay in Toronto. He apparently didn't want to uproot himself down the stretch by agreeing to waive his no trade clause. At the time the Leafs still had a shot at the post season themselves, though it wasn't likely. They did make a brief run at it in late March. but fell well short. New GM Cliff Fletcher cajoled the big Swede up until the deadline, hoping to convince him it was in every one's best interest. Fletcher had many potential suitors and the leafs would have been given a small king's ransom for the rental of Sundin. He saw it as the first step towards rebuilding the team. Alas, Mats didn't budge and the ill feelings began to fester. Articles were leaked out by the Leaf management(Fletcher) and it became apparent that it was unlikely that Mats would return to the Leafs next fall.

4) Recently we have heard conflicting stories that his 'rights' were traded/given to Montreal or the Rangers in hopes that one of those teams would be able to sign Sundin before he was available to everyone come July. It appears that won't happen, but it would have been the final needle in the eye to Maple Leaf supporters if Mats had signed with the hated rival Habs. (Imagine Derek Jeter signing with the RedSox?) Its a sad ending to what should have been a glorious exit to a fine tenure with the Leafs. (Perhaps if they had won a Cup things would be a bit different?) In any case, as with any divorce there will be bitterness and sharply worded statements in the upcoming weeks. We are fairly certain that once tempers calm, in time, Mats' #13 sweater will be hanging a top the AC rafters. He's earned that respect regardless of how his career proceeds from here!

Malkin: Returning to Russia Or Turning Screws on Pens?

1) From what we have read/heard from various sources around the league (and we have previously reported) the stories that Sexy Russian Malkin would settle for a contract extension with the Pens for LESS than what Hot Baby Face Crosby signed last spring are erroneous to say the least. Its not to say that Evgeny wants out of Steel Town (as he actually expressed prior to his arrival 2 summers ago http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2007/08/malkin-still-wants-trade.html ), but he does NOT feel he should be paid less than market value. Yes once again we will say that Malkin will be traded, if not now, sometime soon. Heck, we throw enough darts at the dart board eventually you have to hit the dartboard! Perhaps if I post enough hot guys I will get my own real hot guy beside me at night (or on top of me!)

2) So what exactly IS market value for a Hart Finalist who is about to start the final of his 3 year entry level deal? Well, "think about what his rugged and delicious country-men Alex Ovechkin got (9.5 mil) and go from there" is how one agent told us over this past weekend. He isn't Malkin's agent, but knows his agent/the facts well. He tells FAUXRUMORS exclusively (but of course anonymously) that Malkin will use whatever leverage he has to extract as many dollars from Pittsburgh. Not because he's necessarily a greedy bastard, but because he feels he's earned/deserves it!

3) If that means using offers from the 'new' Russian Continental league (where its rumored he was offered a 12 mil (USD) tax free, which is in excess of 15 mil) then so be it. We have been led to believe that Geno likes the states much more than he thought he would, so he'd prefer to stay here, but if things don't begin to coalesce and a new extension bear fruit that pays the star center in excess of 10 mil, look for the 'rumours' that he may return to 'mother Russia' to intensify. Without an enforceable transfer agreement it is actually possible for Malkin to leave as soon as next season if he desired, but we're told that is highly unlikely. Malkin intends to live up to his deal, and hopes that having yet another stellar season will further enhance his value.

4) To review, a player under the current CBA can NOT receive a salary that exceeds 20% of the salary cap maximum. In the first year of this CBA with a salary cap max of 39 mil, that individual max was 7.8 mil. With the expected rise to 56 mil for the next season that individual max will balloon to 11.2. If, as many project,the cap rises further to 60 mil for the 2009-2010 season(the first under an extension for Malkin) the individual max could be 12 million! Can/would the Penguins(or any team) afford to pay one player that amount? If Malkin has yet another Hart-worthy season the answer could be affirmative for a rival team, but with Pitt having other players top consider(Crosby) down the road they may have little choice but to trade his rights if that occurs. It will be interesting to see how things unfold the next few months. Ray Shero clearly has his work cut out for him. Yдача as they would say in Russia(Good luck!)

By the way, does anyone still believe the owners won the last CBA war?

Trade Winds Blowing In Ottawa?

1) We wish we were the ones doing the blowing in Ottawa, or anywhere for that matter, but will have to stick to my palms for this weekend!

2) Its still 30+ hours until the 2008 NHL Entry Draft is set to get underway in Ottawa and it appears that the big intrigue surrounding the weekend is more on who will get dealt than the players about to be drafted. Sure we're told this is a 'deep draft (again, we ask, what in hell does that mean!?), but there is no Sid Crosby or Alex Ovechkin this year or a John Tavares, the anticipated top prospect in 2009 NHL draft. There are several big name players who we are told could be on the move by Saturday evening. This seems to be overshadowing the big name prospects whom this weekend is supposed to be all about

• Ollie Jokinen- We have heard from a reliable source close to Florida(and its recently been made public) that Ollie wants out of Florida. This is a change from last season when these same rumors cropped up and we dismissed them as nonsense. This time there is validity to them. We're told Jokinen was fed up with the lack of improvement the organization has made. Specifically their choice to keep Martin as GM, and their choice of coach didn't enthuse the Finn star forward. Over the next day or two (or more if this deal takes longer to consummate) you'll undoubtedly hear every Canadian team rumored to be his destination. We have been told that the front runner for Ollie right now is Nashville. We're told they have offered their first round pick this season as well as RFA Shea Weber who we're told the Preds have been in contract talks. Apparently they are not going well and are willing to trade his rights. The Panthers may add another asset to the deal as well.




• Patrick Marleau- Another seemingly perennial trade rumor mention. However this time around it appears his availability is not total nonsense. We're told GM Doug Wilson is down on his captain and feels the need to shake up his talented, but perennially underachieving roster. Our favourite west coast asst. GM source has told us that 'it wouldn't shock him to see a Spezza-Marleau swap this weekend'. A much less complicated deal is also possible, but for sure Wislon is listening to offers for he and also Cheechoo.




• The entire Maple Leaf roster (well almost)- No surprise here. The TO media will hype this of course, but there is some truth to many of the rumors out there. The never ending Mccabe to NY Isles rumor won't die. Why? It makes too much sense. However, don't look for the Isles to make it easy on Fletcher to reacquire their former captain. Darcy Tucker is headed out west or will be bought out. LA has their eyes on the agitator, but they may wait until after the weekend to deal unless they feel other teams may try to nose in on Darcy. Jason Blake (The Mastedon trophy winner) is staying put. As a scout told us: 'Just too much dam salary and cancer'




• Jason Spezza- who signed a seven-year, $49 million contract extension during the season, scored 34 goals and added 58 assists for 92 points in 76 games with the Senators in 2007-08. As we previously mentioned the fomer 1st rounder is on the block. As we have been told in the past 'he has the skills, but doesn't like to get his uniform dirty'. Murray will want a big return for the offensively gifted centre, so there won't be a huge number of potential suitors who would be able to afford the Sens price. The Sharks (as mentioned earlier) and Florida are the top potential destinations. Would the Panthers offer RFA Bowmeester?




• Jay Bouwmeester- (See above) We find it difficult to imagine the Panthers would trade both Jokkinene and Bowmeester. If we were a fan of Florida we'd find another team. However, if contract negotiations don't look promising, and or they can acquire the aforementioned Weber, then Jay might become more expendable. If we were a GM we'd give Martin whatever he asks if he comes available. Again the Senator-Florida connection can't be overlooked as the Sens will lose Redden to UFA and Meszeros is a RFA to be signed as well.
  



• Martin Havlat- the still relatively young(27) Czech forward is coming to the last year of a 6 mil deal in Chicago. Like he has most of his career, 'Marty' shows great skill, but doesn't stay healthy to put together a true great season. The Blackhawks will use his availability to try to move up in the draft/get another 1st round pick. Several teams in the east have expressed interest; including the Rangers and Devils.




• Ray Emery- As mentioned here Tuesday, the Sens are trying desperately to trade their former starter, now annoyance. Else they will buy him out right after the draft. There are few takers right now, but Murray is hoping to dump him for a 2nd rounder if he can. The Kings have shown interest, but are asking to talk first with the goalie. Thus far Emery, who is traveling in Europe and not answering calls, has been unavailable.
  



• Jonathan Cheechoo- (See Marleau.) We can't see the Sharks dealing both of them, but we have been told that its not an impossibility that the Sharks may want to shake up their roster significantly along with their new coach to try to have better post season success to go along with their perennially strong regular seasons




• R.J. Umberger.- As mentioned Tuesday, the Flyers need to make some big decisions., Apparently they already decided that Vinny Prospel would be too expensive to keep so they traded his rights to TB today. They Flyers are not done dealing we're told. That RJ is the most likely to be dealt either this weekend, or sometime this summer. Holmgren will likely be among the most busy of the 30 GM's this weekend




• Andrej Meszaros- (See Spezza) The RFA Slovak defender will be part of any rumor coming from Ottawa, the place for this year's draft. Lack of contract talk movement may initiate Murray to listen to offers. Though we wouldn't expect to see him traded, anything is possible. He could be part of any large deal with Spezza, or used as a chip to move up in the draft to make a big splash with the home town folks

3) Certainly it appears that the next 24-48 hours will be quite interesting. This is the reason we started this blog; We love the intrigue surrounding this time of year. This list is certainly not a complete listing of all the potential players on the block, just the bigger names who've we've been hearing about the past few days. Not all will be changing addresses and some deals may get completed later this summer, but for sure tomorrow and Saturdays proceedings will be likely overshadowed by the trades made/rumored! There will certainly be a plethora of lesser deals for draft picks, etc. No matter, Let the fun begin!

Latest pre draft rumours

1) Firstly we want to say great job to FR2 on our adventures last night. Intense and WOW! Oh yea also decent work with your breakd down of the possible RFA's who could be on the move this summer. It was comprehensive and informative. We're sure from the feedback that we received from our readers that they agreed.



2) As a very astute and damn sexy fellow hockey blogger pit it recently; The Awards ceremony was the unofficial end of the 2007-08 season, and the draft is the unofficial start of the 2008-09 NHL campaign. In reality its true.

• While players are by the letter of the law still under contract until 7/1/08, RFA can actually be in negotiations with prospective offer sheet minded GM's a week prior.

• Teams can buy out players with existing contracts for either 2/3 or 1/3(depending on the age of the player when the deal was signed) of the remaining value of the contract.



• Its a mere few days before the entry draft in Ottawa when many are expecting a few trades

3) With all of this in mind this is some of the topics we are hearing about here at Fauxrumors:

• Yashin back to the Island? When we first heard about this we got up off our knees. If this were early April(fools) we could understand it. So we called around. Almost everyone said the same thing. Its probably Yashin's agent (Gandler) throwing up a trial balloon. Its doubtful he had any meaningful talks with Snow, but he threw out his name in hopes other GM's would recall his client and hope he can get a good offer. Yashin desperately wants out of the hell hole in Russia, but wants to save face with an offer that would at least equal what he would have made had the Isles retained his services. He will get attention, but he might find it difficult to get more than 2-3 mil from any team. The Isles were told are NOT interested. Perhaps they have heard of the saying: "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
  



• Vinny to Montreal? Another rumor worthy of a good LOL! Does any one learn? Big name Francophone athletes do NOT want to play in Montreal if they have a choice. As one agent told us 2 years ago when the JP Dumont rumours were swirling ' Its a zoo in Quebec, the French players get no break year round playing there'. The rumor being promulgated basically stated that Vinny could make more with endorsements than salary if he played there. Perhaps, but they neglected to say that taxes are so high in Quebec that he'd see about 10% of that income! LOL




• Flyers to deal? Now this rumour has teeth and you know how much I hate teeth. They get in the way when enjoying some fresh meat! The Flyers have sent out feelers to the 29 other teams to see what interest they might have in players on their roster. The player they'd most like to unload is Joffrey Lupul who is due 2.9 mil next season. the Flyers as a whole have 48 mil tied to 14 players next year. Even an increase in the cap to 56 mil will leave them vulnerable to a RFA offer sheet for either RJ Umberger and or Jeff Carter. We're told its unlikely the Flyers will trade Carter, and most likely would match any offer made for him. Lupul will be a draft day deal we are told, and the Flyers probably won't get a huge return. However, even with Lupul gone they Flyers would still need to do more. Not to mention that they may need to shell out a few bucks to retain Vaclav Prospel. All this means that Paul Holmgren will be a busy man the next 2 weeks for sure!
  



• Malkin to be traded? We were probably the only blog that mentioned this as a possibility. Of course we were way out in front of that curve 2 years ago before Geno even played his first NHL game. Its not an easy answer. A player of his skill level is almost never compensated for properly in a trade. Ray Shero has to look toward next summer and see if the team will have the cap space to accommodate Malkin/Crosby/Staal/Fleury and still be able to have a competitive cast around those stars? With the cap probably close to 60 mil be NEXT summer, the Pens could afford Malkin IF he doesn't want an Ovechkin-like deal. If his agent asks for the cap max (next season that would mean upwards of 11/year) it could be a deal breaker. How can you pay him 11 and Crosby 8? Don't believe the reports that said he'd settle for less than Crosby! Meanwhile Hossa will want 8 million himself to saty in Steel town. (To say nothing of Staal who will be a RFA next summer too!)Fleury being taken to arbitration means he will be on the team come October, but it remains to be seen if its a one year deal, or a long term contract. One is for certain, it will be a very busy month or so for Shero!



• Maple Leafs to trim Payroll? Worst kept secret in a long time. If Fletcher had his druthers (what exactly is a druther?) he'd unload a whole host of vets, but its too expensive cap-wise/not allowed to buy out too many players all at once. Also most have no trade clauses. Most of those players invoked those clauses last spring, tying the hands of Fletcher. Which leads us to now. Will those same players relent for a trade now that they could move their families in an orderly manner? Probably. We're told the McCabe to the Islander rumours do have validity, but the Leafs shouldn't expect much in return. Some of our Islander fan readers believe the leafs should give THEM something to re-take on their former captain who has 3 years left on a deal that costs 5.75 to the cap. Darcy Tucker may also relent and accept a trade if the rumours we are hearing that LA has interest in the super pest. Could be another draft weekend deal. Meanwhile Fletcher is still pissed at Sundin for not accepting a trade this spring. This could hinder the possibility of the Swede staying in TO. The circus will continue in Canada's media hub! LOL



• Buy Outs? Lots of talk of who is going to get bought out. The biggest names are Boston's Glen Murray, and Ottawa's back up goalie, Ray Emery. What we are hearing is that both clubs are set to announce the buyouts, but are desperately trying to find a trade suitor first. In the case of Murray, good luck! The 35 year old is set to make 4.1 mil next season, and his production is no where near what it was prior to the stupid Joe Thornton trade 3 years ago. Emory could be another matter. There are virtually no quality goalies available i this year's crop of UFA's. Huet and Theodore hilite the top 2, but both are expected to stay with their current teams. That leaves Ray. He has 2 years at 3.1 mi. remaining. If a GM believes he can be a true #1 goalie, that price is reasonable. One would have to wonder who would want to take a chance after the shenanigans Emery pulled in Ottawa this past year. We wouldn't be shocked to see Emery dealt, but its a 70/30 chance against.


• Who's gonna move up/Down this weekend? I know I will be going down that's for sure. Who the lucky guy will be is yet to be determined! Any readers interested? There is consensus that this is a deep draft (actually no one really knows what the hell that means) but its also come down that there is a significant drop off in talent after the first 4-5 picks. After STEVEN STAMKOS, DREW DOUGHTY, ZACH BOGOSIAN, ALEX PIETRANGELO, and NIKITA FILATOV, the rest are no longer considered 'can't miss'. (How many can't miss have never played?-plenty!) That said the lure of obtaining one of the top 5 slots will be significant. We're told there is almost a zero % chance that Tampa will trade the chance to pick Stamkos. After that all bets are off. We hear the Kings who are full of young up and coming kids would entertain offers for the 2 slot. However it will cost that team significant assets in the form of a current roster player and probably that teams #1. The Thrashers, Blues and Islanders would also accept a deal to trade down if the right offer is placed, but those teams are less likely to deal than the Kings. One asst GM from the left coast tells us 'this draft will see more deals than in recent years' as teams are all over the map on whom they covet, and we may see one or two block busters go down before all is said and done.

4) Of course we at FAUXRUMORS will stay on top of all the latest news/gossip/rumors as the draft nears. We will offer our unique analysis and discuss all deals/contract signings/buyouts, etc as they occur. This is the best non-hockey time of year! As always, keep it hear for all the latest!

Offers They Can't Refuse!

1) With free agency a mere 2 weeks away, we at FAUXRUMORS2 (aka FAUXRUMORS, lol) figured we go through who we believe would be potentially vulnerable/worth it to get an offer sheet this summer. To the right is an offer that we have never been refused! Tighty Whities, oh yummy! To review, these are for 'restricted' free agents. That means that the players previous team still has the right to match any offer sheet that a team may give, but that franchise is locked into paying what was negotiated by the other team. If the original team declines to match, then compensation in the form of draft picks are awarded based upon the salary/size of the contract. We at fauxrumors feel that many of these guys will be signed this year, probably about a dozen.

• There would be no compensation for players getting an offer of less than $773,000



• 773,442-$1,171,882, third-round pick



• $1,171,882-$2,343,765, second-round pick



• $2,343,765-$3,515,647, first- and third-round picks;




• The compensation for a player offered $3.51 million to $4.68 million a year is a first-, second- and third-round pick.



• For an offer of $4.68 million to $5.85 million, it's two first-round picks, a second and a third.




• And a player earning more than $5.85 million would require four first-round picks as compensation.

2) Last summer we saw 2 significant offers placed. Both were by Kevin Lowe, who was described by our blog as desperate He almost guaranteed the Oiler fan base that the team would make a splash at the draft. When trades failed to materialize the natives got restless and it almost forced Lowe to make a 'bold' move. His offer to Buffalo's Thomas Vanek was matched by the sabres, who were none too happy with Lowe, but that was NOTHING compared to what would happen next.

3) Having been thwarted in his first attempt to land a big name, Lowe then went after Anaheim's Dustin Penner. Penner had just won a Cup, and played a big role along with team mates Ryan Getzlaf and Cory Perry to form a power trio that helped propel them to their win. Lowe made Penner an offer he would have been stupid to refuse. A 5 year, 21 million deal. For someone who made the league minimum it was a nice salary raise. The feud that resulted with his 'buddy' Brian Burke still smolders on.

4) So who will be available/vulnerable this time around? This is our list, although admittedly we may have missed a player or two, we feel it represents the players MOST likely to get interest from teams that were in Edmonton's position last summer; In need of a big name, AND has salary cap room. Keep in mind teams still have another 2 weeks to get these guys signed, so some may NOT be available to be snatched on July 1. We have listed them in order of sexiness!

• Jay Bouwmeester- As we have said in the past, Jay is the best defensemen no one knows about. The 24 year old would be a catch for any team. He's a big, puck-moving defenceman that plays well at both ends of the ice. Not many of those around. The Panthers/Jack Martin would be smart to give Jay a long term deal before other GM's try to nab him.





• Marc-Andre Fleury- Before the playoffs we wouldn't have worried about teams trying to acquire M-A. However his performance, helping propel the Pens into the Finals, raised his value significantly. As we've talked about before from a salary cap perspective, the Penguins may have a tough time in securing Fleury, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal over the next couple of seasons. A lucrative offer for their No. 1 goalie could make Shero/Mario sweat some, but they would probably match almost any offer.





• Pascal Leclaire- Leclaire has finally emerged as the bonafide star the Jackets expected him to be when they took him eighth overall in the 2001 draft. The 25-year-old went 24-17-6 with nine shutouts with a struggling Columbus team. He was snubbed for an All star selection. With plenty of cap space its doubtful the Jackets would allow a team to acquire Pascal.





• Mike Green- The 22 year old came into his own this past season, putting up impressive numbers of 18 goals(to lead all defenders) and 56 points (7th in the league) He teamed up with league MVP Alex Ovechkin to form a nice 1-2 PP punch for the Caps. The team has cap space, but will they be willing to take a chance and give him a big contract/long term deal? Is what they saw last season was not an aberration, but only the beginning for the former 1st rounder?
  




• Pierre-Marc Bouchard- Bouchard has steadily improved his play as well as his statistics each season since entering the NHL in 2002 and has established himself as an excellent playmaker. Bouchard will be the Wild's No. 1 center next season and Doug Riseborough should lock him up as he hits the prime of his career. Getting him under contract may come at the expense Demitra or Rolston, but it would be worth the risk if he builds on his solid numbers.





• Andrej Meszaros- The 22 year old Slovakian came out of no where 2 years ago; teaming with country-men Chara as the teams # 1 unit. Struggled some after Chara's departure, but all in all has had a solid first 3 seasons in Canada's capital. He usually puts in 'Top 4 minutes' and even some in 'No. 1' minutes during this past season. He could be vulnerable as Murray would have a tough time juggling a payroll weighted heavily towards the "Big Three": Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza.





• Joni Pitkanen- Pitkanen didn't exactly have a great year in 2007-08, missing 19 games with injuries and scoring a career-low 26 points in Edmonton. If another team is willing to give Pitkanen a big offer and bank on the chance that the 24-year-old will blossom, Lowe might just settle for the draft pick(s). We'd agree if Lowe doesn't match.





• Andrei Kostitsyn- The 23 year old Belarussian had a breakout year in 2007-08, playing on Montreal's No. 1 line with Alex Kovalev and Tomas Plekanec. He had 29 goals and 53 points playing in his first full NHL season, showing that he has the potential to be an elite scorer in this league for years to come. Kostitsyn has publicly stated that he's happy in Montreal and having younger brother Sergei around is a big incentive to stay put. Negotiations though won't be easy.
  




• Valtteri Filppula- The 24 year old Finn had a decent season/strong playoffs with the Wings. He wasn't a huge scorer with 19 goals/36 points in the regular season, but in the playoffs he was one of their prime defensive forwards and put up decent numbers, 5 goals-11 points. Its tough to try to predict how he'll progress over the next few seasons. His overall game is impressive, but the stats make it tough to put a firm dollar amount on him. Its likely the Wings would match most offers
  




• Jeff Carter- Despite recent rumours that Philly is about to resign the 23 year old, as of this writing he was still to become a RFA. The Flyer projected payroll next season is about $48 million. Assuming the cap rises to the estimated $56 million, another GM could try to push Carter's salary close to the Flyer's ceiling. Carter, has shown to be a great two-way center with a good scoring touch, having scored a career-high 24 goals and 53 points in only his third NHL season. Definitely worth the offer sheet if we were a GM





• Shea Weber- The 22 year old Nashville blueliner is a 'poor man's Dion Phaneuf' with his huge 6-foot-3, 200-plus pounder a powerful shot, thundering hits and a dominating presence at both ends of the rink. Like Bowmester, if he played in a big market/in Canada every one would know who he was. We would anticipate that GM Poile won't allow this gem to get away. If he's still unsigned in July, we would try to land him, hoping that The Preds ownership issues might scare them off from a big money commitment to Shea. He'd be worth the lost draft picks for sure.




• Kari Lehtonen- The 24 year old didn't have a great season, but who did in Atlanta this past year? His win total was down from 34 to 17, but his save % was marginally better. It could be a case of a decent goalie in back of a dreadful team. A team without a goalie may try to land the big Finn.



• Cory Perry- Led Anaheim in goals and power play goals this past season despite missing 12 games. We wouldn't foresee the Ducks allowing the 23 year old to be snapped up. They have some cap cushion, so Burke might not have to worry about Kevin Lowe this summer. ; )
  
  


• Paul Gaustad-Not a big scorer/name free agent, but the 6'5" forward might be worth the loss of a 2nd or 3rd round pick





• Marek Svatos- Overlooked by many who are listing potential RFA's but the former 30 goal scorer is coming off a third injury plagued season in Denver. Still he managed 26 goals in 62 games. The Slovak made 1.2 mil this past season. Would a GM take a chance on the forward? At the right price (under the 2.3 mil mark) we would consider it.





• Wojtek Wolski-At only 22 the big Polish forward had another decent season for the Avalanche. He's finishing his entry level deal at 860K. The Av's will probably resign the left wing for a reasonable 1.5 mil, but we wouldn't be shocked to see an offer sheet from a GM who like this kids size and skill. We wouldn't give up multiple first rounders, but he might be worth what the Oil lost for Penner.




• Jaroslav Halak- The well regarded Montreal goalie prospect is penciled in to be the team's back up to Cary Price next season. The 23 year old Slovak tender has had success in the AHL(2007 all rookie team) and has looked decent in limited playing time with the big club. Would a GM in need of goaltending depth, who believes Jaro is a future starter, take a shot at signing him away? Halak made the league minimum last year. Gainey will try to get him signed for under 750K if he can for the next season. Of course Halak can always threaten to go to Russia.




• R. J. Umberger- Really blossomed in the playoffs for the Flyers. He was one of the many young up and coming forwards for Philly. He had 10 goals in this past post season and it couldn't have come at a better time for RJ's wallet. The Pittsburgh native made 1.2 mil this past season. He should be able to double that. With the other RFA's and other salary commitments the Flyers have (see Carter) RJ may be trade bait next week




• Ryane Clowe- The big power forward missed large chunks of this season with a knee injury, but once he appeared healthy was among the better Sharks in the playoffs.(9 points in 13 games) It doubtful a team will take a chance on him with his injury history, but GM's love playoff performers so his stock is worth far more than before the post season. His 06-07 salary of 600K will be on the rise




• Kyle Wellwood- The smallish Leafs center has yet to develop into the consistent scorer that Leafs management believed he was capable of. Injuries have also played a role in limiting his scoring recently. He has shown in spurts that he can score in the league, but we wouldn't risk much more than a 2nd rounder on him.




• Shaone Morrisonn- Overlooked due to the fact that his defense partner, Mike Green puts up the big offensive numbers. However, even Green would tell you that his success can partly be attributed to the steady work of Shaone behind him, allowing Green to take the chances that resulted in his scoring outburst. The 6'4" Vancouver native could use his big frame better, but he has shown that he is a top 4 reliable defensemen

Big Night For Euro Hotties!

1) Firstly we were happy to see how many people fell for our joke about the awards. Of course all of us here at fauxrumors knew the true story all along but it is our duty to pass it on. Unfortunately many of you are not intelligent enough to figure out a joke when you hear it! The NHL did NOT erroneously post the winners in advance as we had relayed earlier yesterday morning. We were happy to see this was incorrect for it kept the awards process from becoming tainted/a joke like this blog.

2) As for the results, we were quite satisfied with all the winners selected. Our April choices of who the winners-should-be (Before the finalists were announced) turned out to be correct in ALL but the Selke selection. With 2 awards each Datsuyk (Selke/Byng, and Ovechkin(Pearson/Hart) along with Lidstrom's 6th Norris, it gave the evening a decided European feel despite the show emanating from Canada. It was fitting as the Cup champs, Wings, were a largely European dominated squad.

3) The show itself was actually better than in recent years. Gone was any lame/2nd rate comics to show up and NOT entertain. No bad singing/dancing, etc. The Howe award for Life Time achievement was quite poignant, and moving to all who are long time fans of the game. Overall we have to say the NHL did a fine job. On to the draft! The rumours are starting to come in fast and furious. Stay tuned in the upcoming days as we discuss them and let all our readers know what we are hearing and believe will occur. As always, keep it here for all the latest!

4) From a personal point we were thrilled to see Ovechkin dressed up in his hottie suit. His don't care hair and his innocent smile created a happy lil bulge in a very special place!

And the Winners Are!

Can't think of anything to write so I will steal someone else's idea! I will put a link to it so it isn't copying! But first, here is a picture I shot of some of my friends at last years Pride Parade!


1) Only in the NHL could this happen. If true, it would be another prime example of the utter/incredibly inept manner in which this league is run. We first became aware of this fiasco by reading Jon "J.P." Press's (great writer, awesome piece of ass too) article on this, this morning. If you believe that this is a coincidence then continue to read, IF you don't want to ruin the excitement/anticipation of tonight's ceremony then STOP reading now!

2) If one were to visit the linked NHL site. The trophies are shown. Next to them are the three nominees. Not in any particular order UNLESS you read between the lines of who are the favourites for each award, then it becomes plain why this order was used. Intentionally, or a screw up? It doesn't matter to us at FAUXRUMORS. The reason is unimportant. The fact that the NHL has apparently (again) allowed a supposedly secret vote result to become public shows how the league is run.

3) Here are the "apparent" winners.

• Hart-Ovechkin


• Vezina-Nabokov


• Norris-Lidstrom


• Calder-Kane


• Lady Byng-Pominville


• Selke-Zetterberg


• Adams- Babcock


• Masterton- Blake


• Pearson-Ovechkin

4) Nothing Earth shattering about any of the 'selections'. They differ from some of the choices we made back in April (PRIOR) to the announced finalists, but we can't vehemently/strongly disagree with any of the selections. However, given the nature of this possible 'leak' it allows one to theorize that the NHL may not be on the level as to the voting. Perhaps the 'winners' were selected not elected? The three Red Wing winners are all deserving, but is it a tad coincidental that 3 are winners of big trophies the year they won the CUP? Certainly Lidstrom is a no-brainer, but the other 2 are not. Not saying it was done intentionally, BUT the NHL has allowed/tainted the process to the point where these kinds of questions are now valid/can be legitimately asked. Another great job by Mr. Bettman, et al! Anyone still going to watch?

...And the Winners Should Be...

THE BELOW POST ORIGINALLY WRITTEN/PUBLISHED 4/8/08 (I have edited the names so it looks like I actually called things before they were announced.)


1) With the conclusion of the regular NHL season its time to vote/award the various trophies based solely upon the regular season stats/accomplishments.

• Hart- Alex Ovechkin. Easy choice! There is simply no way to deny what he has meant to his team. Scoring 28% of the team's goals, and involved in 49% of ALL Caps scoring alone would be Hart worthy stats. Add to that his goal total of 65, a record set for ANY left wing, EVER! He also won the league scoring title. Was tops in PP goals. Tops in game winning goals. In the top 5 for hits among forwards. He even had an impressive +28 for the year. The 'Great 8' was simply The Most valuable player, going away. Honorable mention: Nicklas Lidstrom and Jerome Iginla. Both had amazing years and were invaluable to their clubs, just not on the same planet in comparison to the degree that Ovechkin changed his club's fortunes



• Norris- Nicklas Lidstrom- If not for Ovechkin's record setting season the ageless Swede would have been our choice for Hart. He had yet another amazingly dominant season at both ends of the rink. Putting up great offensive numbers while having yet another great +/- a small indicator of how well he plays on his own side of the blue line. Honorable mention: Dion Phaneuf and Zdeno Chara. No doubt Phaneuf will have a slew of Norris hardware some day, but probably not until Lidstrom is done.



Vezina- Martin Brodeur. What can we add to the accomplishments of one of the games all time greats? Marty had another 40+ win season moving him within shouting distance of Patrick Roy's all time win total. His save % and GAA were again miniscule. Even in back of a very average Devil defensive corps, Marty was an inpenatrable wall. Keeping the Devils in the playoff picture and a chance to win every night. Honorable Mention: Evgeny Nabokov and JS Giguere. Both had great years propelling their teams into the elite of the West.



Lady Byng- Pavel Datsyuk . Not only has the Russian had an outstandingly productive offensive season, but he also did it with a mere 20 mins in penalties. Honorable mention: Henrik Zetterberg and Martin St. Louis.



Ross- Alex Ovechkin- By virtue of winning the scoring title with 112 points the 3rd year forward becomes the very first Russian born player to takes home the Art Ross trophy. Its also the first time a Washington Capital has won the award.



Selke Trophy-Daniel Alfredsson. The offensively gifted Swede is often over looked for his significant defensive contributions. He played regularly on the PK unit, even racking up 9 points while on the kill, including an impressive 7 goals. Honorable mention: Pavel Datsyuk and Patrick Sharp



Richard- Alex Ovechkin- This will probably not be the last Richard trophy for the Russian sniper! Most goals EVER by a Left wing. We have a feeling this record won't stand long!



Masterdon- Jason Blake. Probably the most difficult award to pick as there is not always a direct on-ice correlation to the winner. However, given the awards recent history of giving it to a player who is stricken with illness (Phil Kessell) Jason's battle with cancer will probably get him the nod.



Calder- Patrick Kane. It was a close call, but the young NY native won us over. He led all rookies in points with 72. Honorable Mention- Kane narrowly in our opinion edged out capital center Niclas Backstrom by a hair. If not for an injury, we would have picked Kane's team mate Jon Towes, who before the injury was the Calder favourite.



Adams- Bruce Boudreau. Since taking over for the inept Glen Hanlon on Thanksgiving, the affable, former slap shot extra, 'Gabby' had his Capital charges playing at an amazing 108 point clip. Good for second best (Pittsburgh) during that time in the East. From then to the trade deadline the only change was behind the bench, so credit needs to go where its deserved. Honorable Mention: Guy Carbonneau of the Montreal Canadiens and Barry Trotz of Nashville. Guy's team finished tops in the conference. Weaving rookies and vets into a very impressive tapestry. Trotz on the other hand kept his team working hard/succeeding every night despite losing a ton of talent in the off season and rumours of the team being moved.

Happy Belated Birthday To ME!

1) Congratulations to our blog founder, FAUXRUMORS (thats me!) for gaining this amazing mile stone. Sorry we forgot to mention it when it occurred (about a month ago), but we've been away on an imaginary Safari in Botswana for most of May. For those of you who are unaware, Fauxrumors and Fauxrumors2 are both me, one person, slightly split personality. Its complicated. Not its not. Yes it is. Since only a handful of people read this blog I must trumpet my own accomplishments. Here's hoping someone will read the next 500 here!! Keep up the great work!

Is The Officiating Getting Worse?

1) It seemed almost every game/series in the past Stanley Cup playoffs was mired in some sort of controversy involving the officiating. Whether its a bad penalty called, one that is missed or a goal that is allowed/disallowed, we can't recall a period of time when there wasn't a game where the officials weren't 'The Story'! Thankfully (for Gary Bettman) this wasn't the case in Game 6 in Pittsburgh where for once the refs/linemen were not involved in the outcome.

2) We understand that officiating the game of hockey that is moving at break neck speed has to be a difficult task, however if these are the best athletes, certainly we should/could have the very best officials too, right? Is this a case of institutional incompetence or is it going according to Gary Bettman's plan, or both? We have even seen a significant number of blown/missed offsides calls. For instance, the game winning OT goal by Pittsburgh-v-Rangers appeared to be significantly offside, yet it was allowed.

3) Also, can someone please explain the rule of when a goal counts/doesn't count/when interference should be called with respect to players bumping/interfering with goalies? It seems each referee has a different take on the rule, and then they change the interpretation game to game or sometimes period to period. We have seen offensive players throw/push defensemen into a goalie and have a goal count, and have player stand NEAR the crease and have a goal waved off, and every other possible scenario take place these past playoffs and we are as befuddled by the actual rule as we were before. If we are, then the players/coaches must have no clue either on how they are allowed to play. We would most definitely could have foreseen another Brett Hull 1999 'goal' to decide the Finals. We'd have loved to see Bettman again embarrassed by such an occurrence once again!

4) Another factor that can't be overlooked is the uneven manner in which calls are made. We were told that there would be zero tolerance for restraining fouls, yet we have seen countless stick infractions missed by BOTH refs. Also, can we dispel with the myth that they call the games the same in the first period as the third/OT? The stats we have uncovered would seem to tell another story. Thus far in the playoffs the number of calls in the first half of games has averaged to be about 40% MORE than the second half. (eliminating coincidental penalties) If one simply compares the first period to OT's thus far the difference is even more stark!




5) Again, we understand it's not an easy job, officiating an NHL game. Even on a good day it's probably one of the least desirable and most difficult jobs to do, and no one is saying that 100% of the calls are expected to be right 100% of the time. In a high pressure situation like the playoffs the microscope is even bigger, with instant replays and the 18,000 or so paying referees (fans) disputing every call, and there is a subjective nature to the system that can't be overlooked. That said, there should be the expectation that the referees and linesmen will make the right call most of the time. Clearly, thats not that much to expect. There will always be controversial calls in every playoff series; there are always those plays that should have been whistled down that weren't, the moments that become legend for one fanbase or another. Somehow, though, it seems like this year the bad calls, or blatantly missed calls are not only more prevalent but more pivotal in the final outcome of a game or even a series. That shouldn't happen. In order for hockey to maintain its integrity, this SHOULD NOT happen.

1) Congrats to the RedWings and their organization for obtaining their 11th Cup (4th in the past 11 years) last night. There is no doubt they were deserving of winning. Like they have for each of the 6 games, the Wings outplayed the Penguins. To the credit of the home town Pens, they never gave up, even after falling behind by 2 goals late, and nearly pulled even in the waning seconds as a Sid Crosby shot was stopped by Chris Osgood to secure the victory.

2) Not to beat a dead horse, but goaltending was overall a non factor in all but Game 5 when Fleury was the difference in the Pens victory. Last night he was ordinary, and could be held directly responsible for the 3rd Detroit goal. On the other side of the ice Osgood saw little rubber of quality most of the night, but did make a couple of nice stops, most notably the aforementioned last gasp Crosby attempt. Certainly he was not the reason they won.

3) Nice to see the first European captain finally carry the Cup. If someone were to listen to Lidstrom interviewed and didn't know he was a native Swede, they probably wouldn't be able to tell listening to him. He has little detectable accent, and sounds more like a western Canadian than a European. With his 4th Cup, and next week his 6th Norris his name will probably (and deservedly so) be placed among the all time greats of defensemen of all time with Orr, Potvin, Bourque, Coffey, etc. Additionally he performs this quality with class and without having to resort to Chris Pronger-like tactics

4) On a side note it was classy for Pens fans to stay and to applaud politely as the Wings circled the ice with their booty, but it always seems a bit anti-climatic when a visiting team wins the Cup. The raucous atmosphere of a home win can never be duplicated. Additionally were we the only ones who thought that Gary Bettman felt unusually uncomfortable out there? He was twitching even more than usual, and he seemed like he had a plane to catch when he quickly gave Lidstrom the Cup and almost sprinted off the ice.

5) All this quickly brings us the the off season. No meaningful NHL games until October, 4 months away. Between now and then we have some important dates.

• First are the awards ceremonies next week.
• Followed by the NHL draft when there are sure to be many a deal.
• Following this the free agent season commences. This year will probably not be as interesting as last with so few quality players available, but some important players will be changing uniforms for sure.
• Summer rookie player camps usually take place in mid July for those of us who need a quick hockey fix.
• Training camps in mid September

6) As such we at FAUXRUMORS will probably not be posting quite as frequently over the summer. However, look for regular updates as the rumor mills begin to churn in earnest now that the season is over for all 30 teams. We have a post soon about officiating, and one we are working on about Power forwards. Look for them in the upcoming days/weeks. As always, keep it here for all the latest!

The Cup is Ready!

1) Tonight is Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Play resumes tonight in Pittsburgh where the going/prevailing thoughts are that the Penguins now have wrestled the Big Mo (momentum) away from the not-so mighty Red Wings. That we should see the Pens once again fight off elimination and go on to a Game 7 (Nirvana for Gary Bettman)

2) To that idea, we at FAUXRUMORS say, "Not so fast!" At the risk of placing our feet back into our mouths like we may have done prior to the last game, we believe the Cup will be awarded to the Wings by the sexy, gorgeous, yummy commish tonight.

3) Why? Even the most partisan Pens fan has to admit they are playing tonight/have life for one reason: M-A- Fleury, and a tad of Lady Luck. The Wings, despite the final outcome, were by and large the better of the two teams. They out-shot/out-chanced the Pens all evening. If not for the heroics of Fleury and a few missed shots by Wings' forwards we would be discussing the parade route this morning and not a Game 6.

4) With all due/deserved respect the Pens have earned from us at FAUXRUMORS, they have yet to be the better team in any of the 5 games played. From a Detroit perspective, we believe them to be too well coached, and have far too many vets who have been here before to have the last game carry over to any large extent. In fact, playing away from The Joe may help keep them from trying to do too much/get excited before the final buzzer like they may have been in Game 5. Therefore we believe that tonight will be the night, and the Cup will be awarded. Get that champagne ready fellas!

Fonzie Finally Fired!

1) As expected the Tampa Bay Lightning announced Tuesday John(The Fonz) Tortorella will not return next season as the team's head coach. The decision comes after the Lightning finished last in the Southeast Division at 31-42-9, missing the postseason for the first time in five years. Tampa Bay recorded just 71 points, tied with Los Angeles for the lowest total in the NHL.

2) This had to be the worst kept secret ever. Even though we like Tortorella's sexy swagger, we can't help but feel bad that the guy was basically fired through the media a month ago and its taken the new TB ownership this long to get around to making it official. Meanwhile Torts has been twisting in the wind with his apparent replacement (Melrose) already nearly on board to replace him.

3) Before we all have a pity party for Johnny, not to worry. He has a contract through next season, but we would be astonished if he weren't snatched up by one of the many teams with coaching vacancies this summer. He could possibly even not have to change his cars' license plates if the Panthers were to give him a call. We however don't feel that would be a good fit as Torts would do better with a more veteran team. We believe he could do well with Ottawa. They may need his style(at least in the short term). Maybe The Fonz can get Spezza to step up his game in the post season? Of course if Ray Emory remains their goalie it could make a JT coach all the more interesting next season in Canada's capital. Lets keep our fingers crossed this comes to pass! LOL

Staying Alive!!

1) Wow is all we can say. What an entertaining game this evening/this morning as we saw the Pittsburgh Penguins stave off elimination to extend the series to a Game 6(tomorrow night). So many story lines tonight:

• The injuries to several Penguins most notably Sergei Gonchar. He was their best all around defender all playoffs and he was seemingly lost for good with an injury in the 3rd period. He did not play in the first 2 1/2 periods of OT but miraculously returned to help the Pens PP score the game winner


• The amazing work of M-A Fluery. The oft maligned Penguin keeper stopped 55 of 58 shots thrown his way, including an incredible 24 in the OT sessions. Some in the spectacular category. Can anyone now say that Osgood is the better goalie after tonight's performance?


• The Wings appeared to have the Cup won in regulation. The celebration in the stands anyway sounded like it had started prematurely as fans chanted ' We want the Cup', as time ticked away. However Max talbot had other plans for his team as he knocked in a rebound with a mere 35 secionds remaining to stifle the crowds jubilation.

2) We give the pens tremendous amounts of credit for gutting this one out. We at FAUXRUMORS did NOT give them a shot at winning tonight and they showed us something this evening/morning. They may not win the Cup, but Detroit should now lose that bit of a swagger, and the pens should be a confident bunch that they can indeed skate with the Wing. Detroit has human players afterall.

3) So what happens from here? We fully expect to see the pens come out storming in the Igloo tomorrow evening. The key will be can the Wings withstand the onslought and play their style of game? Can Osgood playbetetr than he did tonight. He wasn't the rereason for the loss, but he wasn't solid looking either. he will need to be if Detroit want to avoid a return to The Joe this weekend. Either way, it should prove to be an exciting contest. Can the penguins stay alive to play another day?.

Add Another Year to the Banner Tonight!

1) Few who read this blog should have been surprised with what transpired Saturday night in Pittsburgh. As we surmised, the Red Wings simply did not allow the Penguins to play their style of game like we saw in Game 3, and the result was a return to the style and the results from games 1 and 2.

2) Even a late 3rd period 5 on 3 was not enough to allow the Penguins to tie the game.(If the refs called it that close all game, there would have been 30+ restraining fouls) It was here that the ConnSmythe trophy was won by Henrik Zetterberg. He almost single handedly killed off that last gasp opportunity for Pittsburgh. Showing on one sequence his excellent 2-way abilities with a fine back check to stifle a Sid Crosby chance, then skating and ragging the puck/killing valuable PP time, then even getting a 5-3 short handed shot on goal. If/when Detroit wins tonight, Henrik will win the playoff MVP award as well!

3) So what do we expect to see tonight? Probably another repeat of games 1,2 and 4. We don't foresee and early blow out, however if the Penguins start to get frustrated and the Wings get an early lead, the Pens may start to take chances and the Wings could end the game/series before the 2nd period is even over with a 3+ goal lead. We would not expect a wide open contest. In the end we will see the first European born captain Nicklas Lidstrom handed the Cup from Gary Bettman. The RedWings have been the best team from the beginning of the season. That season officially ends tonight!

My NHL? Hockey Fans Less Loyal?

1) When we say 'less loyal' we don't mean less loyal to their particular team but to their purposed favourite sport, ice hockey. Why do we say this? From reading various other hockey blogs/published article, as well as the playoff TV ratings it occurred to us that a majority of fans curtail significantly, or even stop paying attention to the NHL playoffs once their teams' season is completed. Either in the playoffs or after game 82.

2) No where is this more apparent/surprising than in The Hockey Capital of the World' (Canada). Certainly here we would expect that folks would watch every possible playoff game regardless of whom was playing, right? Apparently not. Ratings compared to last year (when Ottawa was in the Finals) are down in the Great White North. In fact overall more hockey fans in the US watched the last Pitt-Wings game than in Canada. Now we can understand that the US has 10X more population than Canada, but if the NHL can't garner better ratings in The Hockey Homeland,(Canada) how can it expect to get much higher ratings in the US where there are large areas that never see ice/snow year round?

3) Non scientific evidence from reading some of the more popular Canadian based hockey blogs seems to indicate that hockey fans up there are not much different than their US counterparts. Once their team is eliminated they essentially lose interest in hockey outside of discussing 'next season' with regards to their team. They may have some passive interest in the playoffs, but nothing like other sports. Compare this pattern to what is seen with regards to MLB, The NBA and especially the NFL. Here in the U.S. most baseball and basketball fans will tune into their sports playoffs/pay attention. The NFL ofcourse is the biggest example of fan loyalty. They attract probably all its fan base for their playoffs regardless of one's teams participation, and their 'Super bowl' gets non fans in droves.

4) We could understand this 'apathy' for NHL playoff hockey here in the states where hockey interest is so regionalized, but find it curious that this situation is so pervasive up in Canada as well where one would think folks are hockey fans first, and partisans of their team second. The NHL, who probably take their Canadian fans for granted, better sit up and take notice!

Is It a Series Afterall?

1) Last night was undoubtedly the best game of the three Stanley Cup Final contests thus far. For one, both teams scored. There was lots of hitting and scoring chances. It was far more wide open than the first 2 games. The last point is why the penguins prevailed. The RedWings allowed the penguins to play 'their game'. The run and gun style significantly helps the penguins. Pittsburgh showed they can not stomach a tight checking close to the vest style.

2) Very impressed with the play of Tomas Holmstrom and Brooks Oprik. Both were warriors in every sense of the word last evening. They can play on our team any day! Even though last night's game was played exactly like Pittsburgh likes, they still were far from being the better team. The game could have gone either way. If not for stellar goaltending of M-A Fleury the Wings probably would be ahead 3-0, despite the Penguin-like tempo.

3) Which brings us to the goaltending issue. Can we stop the nonsense about Osgood? Some were anointing him MVP based upon his stats, not about his actual worth to his team. Sure he did his part to win games 1-2, but he was hardly the primary reason. Last night illustrated this clearly. In our opinion through 3 games: Osgood was better in game 1. Game 2 was a toss up, and Fleury was better last night. Confirming our opinion that if you exchanged each goalie onto the other team it wouldn't effect the end result of this series.

4) So where do we go from here? We believe that in Game 5 the Red Wings will do all they can to have the game be played on their terms. Expect it to be far less wide open. Expect the Penguins to get frustrated when they fail to score easily. In essence we believe we will see a repeat of games 1-2. We see last night as an aberration, not the beginning of a new trend. Make no mistake, the Red Wings are light years better right now than the Penguins. The series will/should end in Mo-town, next week. Despite what the talking heads at the network want you to believe, it is NOT a series!

Bush League!

1)Why is Pittsburgh Afraid of Wings Fans? We read with amusement this morning the fact that apparently the Pittsburgh Penguins have instituted a policy of restricting the sale of tickets to their home playoff games for this Finals series. This, taken directly from the web site: Pittsburgh Penguins 2008 Playoffs - Round 4, Home Game 1 Tickets....... Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of PA, OH, WV, MD, NY, NJ, DE, VA and the District of Columbia. Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside of PA, OH, WV, MD, NY, NJ, DE, VA and the District of Columbia will be canceled without notice and refunds given.

2) Are they kidding? Come on Pittsburgh! Are you telling folks that you guys are afraid that a huge contingent of people from Michigan might invade your house? For the record, the Pens sold out every home game this past season. They have excellent season ticket sales. We would assume that those season ticket holders bought playoff tickets, meaning their are probably a very limited supply of seats anyway. How many people from Michigan do the Pens think would try to get in? Detroit had their own attendance issues so the Pens think those same apathetic fans would be motivated to drive to Steel town when they didn't even support their team at home?

3) We find it ironic that they are employing this tactic since they themselves bemoaned it when it was done to them in 2001 by the Washington Capitals. We highly doubt that enough Wings fans would have been in attendance anyway for the aforementioned reasons, but we find it ironic/ hypocritical and disappointing to see Pittsburgh to institute this policy. Bush league!

4) And yes, that is me in the pic above. It was taken by a 'friend' during my Euro-vacation last winter! Sorry, the rest is reserved for the significant men in my life!

Men-2 Boys-0

1) If the first two games of the Finals are any indication the young Pittsburgh Penguins are totally outclassed against the more veteran Red Wings. In almost every aspect of the game the Pens have been dominated like they haven't been all season long. Managing a mere 41 shots in 2 games and not getting one of those shots passed Chris Osgood. The number of quality scoring chances could probably be counted on one hand in these 2 games! Neither contest was in doubt from the opening face-off onward.

2) Make no mistake, Osgood has been the better goalie, especially in game 1, but he has NOT been the reason for either victory. We'd have to say that UNLIKE last year's Finals when IF you exchanged goalies and no other personnel you'd get an opposite result; so much a stark difference existed between Giguere and Emory. If you placed Fleury on Detroit behind that blanketing/stifling defense he'd likely have a shut out streak and Osgood would be 0-2.

3) Many are wondering whats wrong with Geno Malkin? From having watched him play and grow all season long into a dominating player, he just doesn't appear to be the same from what he's been from X-mas until the second round of the playoffs. Some, including Malkin himself say its fatigue, whether it be mental or physical. However, we would be shocked if he weren't playing with an undisclosed injury. Its easier to get atomic secrets than to get accurate injury information this time of year, so we may have to wait until the Finals are over to know the real reason for Malkin's significant drop off.

4) Strangely few are castigating the Golden Boy, Sidney Crosby. Its not like he has been on fire either. Some might forget he IS a boy, of 20! He appears to be in over his head. All you have to do is look at the demeanor of both teams' captains for the stark difference. On one hand you have the scruffy faced(Has he really forgone shaving for 2 months now?) near-teen in Crosby leading his team of fellow early 20 somethings(with a few vets thrown in) against the amazingly professional/confidence that exudes from Nicklas Lidstrom and his fellow older teammates, and you can see why we say that the men are beating the boys.

5) The way the Wings are playing it reminds us in many ways of the old Soviet era teams where puck control and stifling defense coupled with opportunistic offense frustrated many a North American team in the late 70's/early 80's. Additionally it appears the gulf between the conferences has grown, not shrunk in the last few years. The West has clearly been the stronger conference going back a decade or more, but in the past the East was able to throw out a good enough counterpart into the Finals to win their share of Cups. We don't see the Pens (the best East team) as being in the same league as Detroit. We suspect that Pitt would have had trouble beating Dallas, SJ, Anaheim, and possibly Minnesota as well. So much better was the west this past season that this current Final should not be a shock. Alas the East should not give up hope. Some of the best young talent resides in that Conference. With teams like the Rangers, Washington, and the Penguins poised to make the leap from up and comers to actual Cup contenders. It takes time and maturity. Until that takes place, the men will continue to beat the boys.

2008 Finals Prediction/Assessment

1) Well, no big surprises in the Conference Finals other than perhaps the veritable ease in which Pittsburgh rolled over the Flyers and how meekly they bowed out. The Red Wings' 6 game series win probably came as little surprise to us at FAUXRUMORS. We predicted as such before the series started. With our 2 accurate predictions in the last round it brought the FAUXRUMORS playoff series predictions to a very solid 10-4.

2) With the Stanley Cup Finals to (Finally!) get underway tomorrow we at FAUXRUMORS felt it time for us to weigh in on what we believe will occur over the next 2 weeks. Since almost every other hockey blog has had their say, its time for us to have ours. The Pittsburgh-Detroit series. No Cinderellas in this year's Finals. Looking back these ARE the Two best teams!

3) Anyway, we will break down the series with regard to the important/compelling matchups we see could be important in determining who will carry the Cup around the ice in 1-2 weeks. Its the old guard in Detroit, with many players over 35(Chelios is soon to be 65, right?) -vs- the Young Guns of hockey, the high flying Penguins

• The Stars: Crosby/Malkin-vs- Datsyuk/Zetterberg. All four are amazing players in their own right. All have greatly contributed to their teams' regular season AND playoff success. They are not coincidentally the overall top point getter's in the playoffs. Any of these 4 will probably be the playoff MVP, depending upon whom has the best Finals/wins the Cup. It wasn't long ago that the Detroit duo were being castigated for their playoff disappearing acts. Not this time around as both have scored/assisted on critical goals in all 3 series wins. The pens dynamic duo of Malkin and Crosby are scarily so young and amazingly talented that we are reminded of a similar duo of centers out of Edmonton in the early 80's(Gretzky and Messier). The Wing forwards may have a slight edge in experience/defensive prowess, while their Pitt counterparts are slightly more explosive. Should prove to be an exciting matchup of some of the NHL's best talent up front. Edge: Even



• PP QB's: Nicklas Lidstrom-vs- Sergei Gonchar. Two of the most gifted offensive defensemen in the game today. Both are long time NHL vets, with Gonchar playing in his 15th season. 'Gonch' has significantly elevated his game this season and in the post season especially. Not only is he contributing as the team's PP QB, but his defense has been nothing short of excellent. He has previously been overlooked for Norris consideration due to his defensive weakness, but not so anymore. Therrian uses Gonchar as his 'shut down' defender, and should no longer be looked upon as one dimensional. Lidstrom is in his 18th season, ALL with the Wings, easily should win another Norris, and legitimately should been a Hart Finalist this past season. He is the epitome of what a 2-way defensemen should strive to be; The shut down/reliable defender in his own zone and the team's PP specialist at the other. No one combines/excels at both better. Edge: Detroit



• The aggitators: Jarkko Rutuu-vs- Tomas Holmstrom. Although Rutuu is more an agitator and Holmstrom more a power forward type both play the role as the teams' forward most likely to get under the opposition's skin. Jarkko is just better at it. However, the Redwings being a veteran team are less likely to respond to his nonsense than other more inexperienced teams. Both players are not relied upon to score huge number of goals, both possess some offensive ability that shouldn't be overlooked, but Holmstrom is far more productive. Edge: Detroit



• The Goalies: Chris Osgood-vs- M.A. Fleury. Before the playoffs/season no one would have placed these two as likely opponents to play for the Cup. Certainly NOT osgood, as we outlined in the linked post. Since replacing Hasek he has been a steadying influence and merely done what was asked, win. Both goalies still struggle for respect and you can bet many will be asking if one, or both, will fold under the pressure of being here. As always goaltending will be a factor, but it remains to be seen who will step up their game another notch. Thus far we are more impressed with what Fleury has accomplished against what would seem to be tougher opponents, and he has answered the call and them some. Some have been waiting for the former first overall pick to become the superstar goalie the Pens believed they drafted in 2002. Thus far he is answering in the affirmative. Edge: Pittsburgh



• Secondary scoring: Both of these teams are obviously loaded offensively, but if there is a weakness with Detroit, it is scoring balance. Since playoff sensation Johan Franzen was injured after the Wings' second-round win over Colorado, the RedWings has struggled at times to score. Infact, Franzen still leads all players with 12 goals and five game-winners. Without him, the pressure will clarly be on Detroit's top line of Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Holmstrom. Shut them down, and the Penguins could have a good chance to win. The Penguins offensive depth is much more evident and down right impressive. If Franzen comes back the stark edge for the Pens will be mitigated to some degree, but we'd still say they are better. Edge: Pittsburgh


• Team defense: Here is where Detroit has a stark edge. For one, the Red Wings are one of the best puck-possession teams in the NHL. No slap at Pittsburgh's blueliners; They have performed admirably, however they have no answer to the 'other Niklas' back on defense. Kronwall. He has been a difference at both ends of the ice. He leads all playoff defenders with 12 points.(One more than Gonchar) As important he also has the potential to deliver devastating hits and punish opposing forwards in the Detroit zone. We feel he may the key to containing the speedy Penguin forwards by giving them something to fear as they cross the Detroit blueline. Edge: Detroit
  
  
• The Intangibles: Experience-vs- Youth. This spring marks the fifth time the Wings have advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals in past 13 years, and have won the Cup three times in their last four appearances. Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, Kris Draper, Darren McCarty, Chris Osgood, Dominik Hasek, Tomas Holmstrom and Kirk Maltby played on previous Detroit Cup teams, while Rafalski won two Cups with New Jersey. Only Petr Sykora (NJ), Darryl Sydor(Dallas) and Gary Roberts(Calgary) have played on a Cup champion. Edge: Detroit

4) What this series will come down to is will the Redwings be able to play their puck possession game or will Pittsburgh be able to play their up tempo, more wide open style? Regardless of their edge up front, we believe that defense wins championships. As such we see the Redwings as having enough offense and a strong enough defense to stifle the Penguin attack. Perhaps not entirely, but at least contain it enough to eke out 4 victories. Also we do NOT underestimate the experience factor. Many more Wings have been here and know what it takes to win. The Penguins are far too young and shown immature streaks/lack of killer instinct at times this post season. This will NOT be a sweep by either team. However, we believe the Penguins time to win will have to be put off at least another season. Detroit in 6

Stupid Scheduling!

1) Just when you believe the NHL can not out do itself in screwing itself/the fans, they continue to try. The latest is the out right STUPID scheduling of the Stanley Cup Finals. We understand the problem of booking venues, and all that, but there had to be flexibility enough to avoid overlapping games with the NBA!

2) Oh, you're not an NBA fan/know what we're talking about? Well we think the NBA sucks as well, but looking at the schedule of their Eastern Conference Finals it indicates that BOTH the Red Wings AND Pistons (Detroit's NBA squad) will be playing simultaneously at home! Come on Gary, you couldn't avoid this?? We looked into this, and find that the NBA schedule was posted/public even before the last RedWing win, so LONG before the NHL released this dumb/stupid schedule

3) Its incredible that the NHL had the choice of when to schedule their Finals games, yet the first three games of the Stanley Cup finals will be played at the same time as Games 3, 4 and 5 of the NBA's Eastern Conference finals! WE can understand 1 game overlapping, but 3?? Two in the same dam city! Does Bettman want to have his minuscule ratings be even lower than they already are? The Redwings have already had trouble filling their arena without this avoidable competition/conflict. Some may point that not all basketball fans are hockey fans so it doesn't matter. Even if there is only a 25% overlap, its still significant, and if it is at all possible to avoid such a conflict (especially within one city) it should have been! More stupidity. More of Bettman's NHL!

Penguin Emperors Of The East!

1) Congrats to your Eastern Conference Champions, Pittsburgh Penguins. We at FAUXRUMORS back in September http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2007/09/pre-season-playoff-cup.html predicted the Penguins would be in the Finals. We also correctly predicted that the pens would play and beat Philly in 5 back last fall: http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2007/09/pre-season-playoff-cup.html We got it backwards seeing the pens beating the rangers next, but the end result was the same. Ofcourse then we also saw the Sharks as their opponent. Not likely this year. We may find out as soon as this evening whom they will face for the Cup, as the RedWings hope to close out their series against the Stars in Dallas at 8:00 pm.

2) Many are again asking in reference to the West series if 33 is a-lucky-number. The Redwings seemingly with a stranglehold and playing at home on Saturday to close it out like the Pens did yesterday, laid an egg and allowed the Stars right back in it. Dallas playing before their home fans can extend the series to 7, and give further hope for the improbable. Click on the link for our history synopsis of that. We have to say that we felt the Stars would be no push overs especially if Turco played as well as he had against San Jose. Which is why in our final-four predictions we had the Redwings winning, but it taking 6 games. Dallas has a chance to prove us wrong, but possibly make history in the process. We do NOT see this happening. Detroit has shown that once they are pushed they respond, so we wouldn't be shocked to see a similar response as the Penguins from yesterday.

3) As for the Pens, as we mentioned, no big surprise. They simply were the better team. Kudos to the Flyers for getting this far. Many didn't even see them as a playoff team before the season. We at FAUXRUMORS saw their team ready for a quick turn around in our pre-season-predictions-east. We maintain that we are not sold on Martry Biron as the guy to get them to the promised land, but he was certainly a big step up from what they have had in recent years. They still need to add a player or two on defense, but if they can retain their core forward unit, they should be right back in the thick of things next season.

4) Barring significant NHL news, or a post from FR2 or Antz, this will be our last post until our Finals prediction, probably by week's end. Look for it! As always, keep it here for all the latest!

Europeanization?

1) Many a hockey fan have been complaining about the lack of drama/intensity of the Stanley Cup playoffs thus far this spring. We'd have to agree with this assessment. Some have said it could be the matchups have been partly the reason? We disagree with that. Some of the playoffs pairings have traditionally produced great series: Detroit-Colorado/Dallas, NYR-Pittsburgh, Boston-Montreal. Phily-Pitt. All of the aforementioned series from days gone by have produced classic/intense/interesting series. None, in our opinion have been worth remembering this spring. We'd guess that unless you're a fan of Detroit or Pittsburgh, you'd agree with that?

2) Now, we know that traditionally there is far less fighting in the post season than in the regular campaign, but when you see that there have been SIX, yes SIX fighting majors in an astounding 76 playoff games played this spring!! Six! Come on! We understand how much Bettman hates to be embarrassed by this aspect of the game, especially during nationally televised games when hundreds are watching on Versus, but we feel ultimately this will further erode the NHL's dwindling popularity.

3) Sure game 3 of the Pens-Flyers series drew an above average TV audience, but anyone want to guess why? Well, probably like us at FAUXRUMORS, non Pennsylvania viewers thought they'd see an old time rock-em, sock-em affair between the two in-state rivals. They figured we'd see a few scraps as the Flyers, in front of their own fans, try to turn the series around and force the pens to play their game. Well, what did we see? Same old crappy, low intensity games. To paraphrase Joe McGrath (Strother Martin) from SlapShot fame: " We're losing.... The fans came to see the Flyers not these puss-ies.....".

4) Sadly, we doubt we'll see a change to this trend any time soon. As our friends over at "twominutesforblogging" wrote the other day: why would John Stevens ever put out some toughness to send a message these days? We all know Collie and Gary have put the word out that message-sending will not be tolerated in their playoffs. True enough. Gary is afraid that one of these end of game melees may become a black eye for the NHL. Message for Bettman: The folks who hate hockey because of fighting wouldn't like it even if there was ZERO fighting, so why try to placate this minority at the expense of the majority?

5) AS TMFB also wrote, and we agree: "...It's too late. The NHL has spoken and we will get a snooze fest for a Stanley Cup final. Shoot, no one in Detroit even cares anymore. Empty seats for playoff games???" While many are saying its the Michigan economy that's to blame for the empty seats at The Joe, we can't help but believe that a component to the issue is also the type of game the Wings play. With a roster that is 75% European, they play what many describe as the classic boring, opportunistic, for the most part, passion-less European brand of game. While we can't blame them for implementing this successful approach, we can blame the NHL/Bettman for allowing it to take root and thrive.

Wizard of Osgood!

1) Before this season (and probably still) very few would have placed Chris Osgood among the all-time greats of goaltenders. Heck, we'd say that a majority of fans wouldn't have even placed him in the top 10 of current goalies in the NHL. Yet, when one looks at what his has, and is accomplished/accomplishing you have to admit he may belong among the elite of goalies. Many will point that he's playing for a great team(s). Point granted, but the RedWings were in early disarray against the Predators, and many can rightly point to the change in goal as the turning point of the playoffs for Detroit.

2) What has Osgood done since replacing Hasek? Only win. Osgood is 9-0 with a 1.47 goals-against average and .935 save percentage. If Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, or Hasek had put up those kind of numbers many would be mentioning them as possible ConnSmythe candidates, yet we can find no article/stories/commentators that are mentioning this possibility. If he leads the Wings to the Cup it will only be his 3rd drink from the silver chalice. He would also surpass 100 playoff victories.(currently at 97). Add to that his 363-195 career mark and you can make an interesting argument that Osgood deserves Hall of Fame mentioning.

3) Having said all that we would have to say in our opinion that although it is true that Osgood's worth/talent has been understated/overlooked, he is NOT a Hall of Fame goalie. He deserves credit for being an above average goalie for sure, but NOT an elite. He has NEVER won a single Vezina trophy as the best goalie. We're not sure if he's even ever been nominated. Sure in the 1995-1996 season he won the William M. Jennings Trophy (Lowest goals-against) which he shared with Mike Vernon. He's never been named as a First team Allstar (2nd team twice).

4) His win totals are impressive, but truth be told he would not have nearly this kind of success if he were with a weaker franchise. In fact his non-Detroit win-loss numbers are quite pedestrian, (84-67). Its been a mutually beneficial relationship for both he and the Redwings and it appears that this symbiosis will soon result in yet another etching into Lord Stanley's Cup for Mr Osgood. Very nice career Chris, but not an All Time Great.

Are the Isles Dicking With Nolan?

1) For the non-Islander fans out there, their head coach, Ted Nolan just completed the second of his three year contract. Now, normally with only a year left on his deal that would mean that it would either be time to fire/replace him, or negotiate an extension. Of course the manner in which 29 other teams run their organization mean little to how the Wang-led Islanders run theirs. When asked about his coach Snow and Wang both have given him half-hearted votes of confidence along the lines of 'we like Ted and he is under contract to be our coach next season.'

2) As we mentioned earlier this past season, we believed that Nolan was overlooked or even blackballed for a deserved Adams nomination last season; Coaching an undermanned Isles team into a playoff berth when most, including us at FAUXRUMORS believed them to be the 14th best East team. This past season the Isles were again over-achieving; through the first 50 games they either held a playoff position or were within a few points of 8th. That, until a series of significant injuries occurred culminating with the loss of franchise, goalie-for life, Rick DiPietro. From there the team went into free fall and finished with basically a group of Bridgeport (AHL) skaters into nearly the East bottom.

3) You would have thought that given the trials and tribulations that the team had endured, the successful Al Arbour night that Nolan almost single handedly arranged, and last season's over achievement, that it would be an automatic/logical process to extend Nolan's contract. No coach likes to go into his final year of a contract as a lame duck. He also doesn’t like to be thrown under the bus for failures that are not his fault. Such was the case here, when Snow/Wang intimated that Nolan didn't like to work with the kids. This is especially puzzling since Nolan's last position was with a junior hockey team where ALL the players were 'kids' and he/they thrived to win the QMJHL title . What is certain is that Nolan is the best coach this franchise has had since Al Arbour.

4) Nolan, and anyone else for that matter can see the hand writing on the wall; The Islanders plan on sucking next season, and appear to plan to have a reletively low payroll under the guise of "playing the kids." Nolan evidently will be the sacrificial lamb/scape-goat and be blamed for not being able to work with the kids, or not be a team player in Wang's wacky Knight of the Round Table mentality. Nolan is probably counting down the days until he can get his 'contractual obligation' done and can move on. Clearly he is a good coach. Now he needs to find an organization that appreciates him/uses his talents!

Playoffs So Far

Well, upon the completion of the first weekend things seem to have lined up exactly like Fauxrumors had called.


West:

Out west things are not as Wild as many predicted. The Wings are dominating over the Predators. While the Preds did show some bite, the Wings simply laughed in their faces and took the game. One down side to the Wings is the new clean shaven Darrin McCardy. The entire Fauxrumors crew thought he was a lot sexier with that chin hair.

The Sharks stumbled but have now shown the Flames who is best. Keenan and the overrated crew of Dion Faneuf, Mikka Kippersoff, and the most overrated of them all Jarome Igginla will be whimpering home in 5.

While many are stunned at the Ducks stumbles against the Stars, but we at Fauxrumors aren't. We felt that it wouldn't be long before Brian Burke screwed things up in Duckland, and his interfering ways with the club has already soured the mood in the Ducks dressing room. Look for the Ducks to be out in 4.

Minnesota and Colorado is just like it was build. Boring trapping hockey. Yawn and no further comment needed.

East:

The Habs are dominating the Bruins in every aspect of the game. The series is 2-1 but that will be as close as the Bruins will get. The Devils and Rangers are playing some of the most boring hockey in the playoffs. Marty Brodeur is showing how washed up he is and is the reason the Devils won't stand a chance.

The Flyers and Caps are proving to be an interesting series. The high flying Capitals against the pounding physical game of the Flyers. Will cheap shots or slap shots win this series?

The Sens have been a no-show so far in the playoffs which is surprising to nobody. But what about Yummy Ryan Malone. No wonder the Senators seem distracted on the ice. I'd like to polish his stick sometime!

There you have it! Check back for my hot eye candy soon guys! MMM!

Well, I stayed up too late watching American Idol so no time for a post today, but as promised here is some eye candy for guys like us that can't get enough of guys like him!

MMMMM!

Playoff Predictions

It is that time again! Time for the Famous Fauxrumors Playoff Predictions!

But first - a new feature for FR! Eye Candy of the Day! A fav pic the guys at FR have on our desktop today!



We have the inside scoop and will once again duplicate our near perfect predictions from last year!

So here we go...

Eastern Conference:

Montreal (1) vs. Boston (8) - the FR team is going against the grain on this one and nailing down the Bruins in 5. Yes the Habs are good, but the Bruins will strike fast and this series will be over before the Habs have a clue about what went on.
Pittsburgh (2) vs. Ottawa (7) - we are no idiots. Bettman wants Sid the Kid in the Cup and the fix is in. Pens in 6.
Washington (3) vs. Philadelphia (6) - As much as Bettman wants Sid the Kid in the Cup, he would also love an Ovechkin/Crosby Eastern Conference matchup. Caps in 4.
New Jersey (4) vs. NY Islanders (5) - Garth Snow is as incompetent as they come. With his leadership the Isles will fail out. If it was possible to lose in 3 they would. Devils in 5.

Western Conference

Detroit (1) vs. Nashville (8) - I am no fool, Wings in 7. The Wings may take a bit to get started, but will prove to outclass the Preds.

San Jose (2) vs. Calgary (7) - Keenan will destroy the Flames faster then the highly overrated Iginla can. The Sharks will feast on the Flames and dominate them in 4.

Minnesota (3) vs. Colorado (6) - Colorado got on a roll just to make the playoffs. Will they be burned out or burning hot. Joe Sakic will show the way. Avs in 5.

Dallas (4) vs. Anaheim (5) - This is a close one to call. Dallas started strong but tailed off, the Ducks started slow and finished strong. So close to call, but I will take the Stars in 7. Home Ice will prevail.

Well there it is! Check back soon for more Faux Fav Eye Candy, and a little hockey talk too!

Eklund is GAY!

I know, heard him called million names, what else is new. What is new is that he is really truly GAY. Homesexual! A genuine sausage swallower!

Several people in Nashville reported seeing the Ekster at a local gay bar called "Lucky's Garage" in the days surrounding the NHL Trade Deadline. Apparently he was getting quite close and personal with a fellow patron known locally as Shanker. A quick call to Lucky's revealed that he tried to keep a low profile, but did frequent the 'private lounges' numerous times with several regular Lucky patrons.

We were lucky enough to obtain the following camera phone pictures showing Ek hangin out with the boys!











Further details of Ek's adventures are still unavailable as the owner of Lucky's wants to protect the privacy of his 'regulars'. Regulars? Ek? A lot more to this story!

Confessions...

Coming soon?

Hit Counter

Another Dead On!

1) Firstly we want to congratulate FAUXRUMORS for getting yet another trade rumor dead on. Coming off getting the Stuart deal a week in advance today we had the Coyotes trading forward Nagy to the Stars. As many of you might recall FAUXRUMORS discussed this deal way back during the All Star break, a full 3 weeks ago!! Great job guys!
2) ANTZNARCHING along with ourselves will be conducting a new poll shortly with a list of folks we feel are the biggest underachievers/over rated players in league history. Feel free and e-mail/post your thoughts on who you believe should be in this poll.
As always keep it here for the latest!

More Forsberg Discussion

1) The Forsberg sweepstakes are really starting to take off. Apparently Peter has been given the assurances that he demanded before any deal could be consummated. With his no trade clause and being a UFA after the season he holds ALL the cards on this one.
2)So what specifically does he want? Well, he wants to remain a Flyer, but wants a lucrative extension with a new no trade clause in it. If a trade is made you can be certain that this has already been worked out between the Flyer organization Peter and his agent. Of course its not official, as that would amount to tampering, but as we saw with the Recchi and Weight 'rentals' last season, hand shake rental deals are now the dirty, not so little secret, of the new NHL.
3) Our sources within the Flyer organization tell us they are now going to use the short list that Peter gave the team and sell to the highest bidder from among those squads. That list which we have exclusively obtained contains 4 teams: Not surprising the Red Wings to who most have Forsberg going to. They possess about a 1/2 dozen fellow Swedes. The Predators. Who's GM David Poile has shown in the past to be a very aggressive GM around the trade deadline. They also have quite a few good prospects to deal. The Caucks who Peter would potentially be reunited with buddy Naslund. Morrison is the player rumored going the other way. Lastly, the Avalanche. mainly due to Peter having fond memories playing there with Joe Sakic. Their playoff hopes are on life support right now so a deal for Peter could place them back into the hunt.
4) Our sources tell us this is more likely to happen sooner rather than later as the Flyers want this deal over and done with to remove the distraction, and so Holmgren can concentrate on other potential deals. Keep it here for the latest inside information as it becomes available

Blake Follow Up

1) Just wanted to follow up what we mentioned in our post: http://fauxrumors.blogspot.com/2007/02/februray-6th-update.html#links where we discussed the Jason Blake contract issue. Apparently the problems we alluded to have become public which is NOT a good sign. Islanders owner Charles Wang is very sensitive to criticism vollied his way and despite Blakes statement that he like Mr. Wang. his public statement that he will pursue free agency if a deal isn't struck soon did NOT endear him to the Islander's owner
2) Apparently Blake is holding firm to a 5 year deal at about 4 million/year. The Islanders would probably be OK with that or perhaps slightly less money, but are unwilling to go beyond 3 years. Our Islander source tells us, "Blake is 33 and probably peeking now." Wang perhaps learned from his Satan deal where he gave the free agent forward one too many years and is now in decline
3) Are the Islanders finally learning? After a decade contract for Yashin, and the amazing 15 year deal for goalie Di Pietro, are the Islanders finally seeing the error in their ways. Well yes and no our source tells us. The source is certain that if given the chance Wang would offer Yashin/Ricky the same deals again. He's just less likely to offer lesser stars long term deals
4) So what will happen? Our source tells us that 10 days ago it was "80:20" that Blake would be resigned. ( The same source told us it was 90% in January) Now its closer to 50:50, and as each day goes by the percentage goes down. Our sense is if Blake isn't signed by ext weekend, Snow will open up the bidding.

Two Minor Deals Today

1) Just a prelude to bigger deals to come or will this be the trend of teams trading salary for like salary. Dumping unwanted trash. So far that's what can be said of the 2 deals so far today. The Hurricane re-obtained underachieving Czech forward Josef Vasacek from Nashville for center Eric Belanger. The 6'5" Vasicek has been a disapointment in his first go around with the 'canes. Frequently in coach Laviolette's dog house. Its surprising they decided to get him back. We guess it was a case of 'better the devil you know....'.
2) The other minor deal today involved the Minnesota Wild dealing their seldomly used forward Pascal Dupuis to the Rangers in exchange for Adam Hall. We have a feeling this isn't the deal Ranger fans were expecting. They will be disappointed in this acquisition as Pascal is NOT the answer to their most pressing issues, better defense, a second line center!
3) A note that none of the rumor mongers had this one on their radars (when do they have any?) We're sure they'll take this opportunity to let us know that these are the prelude to some real deals, or that these are setting the tables in NY for their big deal, etc. As always come here to FAUXRUMORS for all the latest rumors, commentary, etc. Unfiltered, and not afraid of the truth.

A Fine Mess?

1) We at FAUXRUMORS found it quite interesting to read that apparently Mark Messier is going to hire himself as Glen Sather's replacement as GM of the N.Y. Rangers. In fact when interviewed Sather himself found it both interesting and amusing. Stating among other things:"Mark is free to say what he wants, but I have no plans to change jobs". He then threw a back handed jab at mark when he alluded to the need to have experience before taking on such a position. Messier to date has no hockey managerial experience, nor any business training at all that we are aware of
2) We're told the Messier comment took the entire Ranger organization totally off guard. It would be a strange way to try to lobby for a position that ostensibly isn't available. Going through the media would seem the wrong way to go about things. One Rangers source tells FAUXRUMORS that "If Mark thinks all he has to do is ask and the job is his, he's going to be sadly mistaken". If anything this public statement will hurt Messier's chances.
3) Those who know the former Edmonton/NY/ Canuck forward know he has quite the ego, and its likely as one former teammate said to us yesterday that "Mark really thinks he can do whatever he wants, and so far in his life, has".
4) The puzzling aspect of this story is that the initial report in the Toronto Sun had quotes from Sather that indicated that he and Messier had already discussed this possibility, and that they would discuss it further after Mark's sweater ceremony in Edmonton later this month. However later interviews with Sather seem to contradict that earlier story. From what we have gleamed from our sources it appears that Messier has jumped the gun more than a little.
5) We won't deny Messier's significant on ice accomplishments, but since his last Cup win in 1994 his persona has taken a bit of a hit. Ask any Canucks fan what they think of Messier. We remember the number of negative e-mails we received after the NHL created a new leadership award after the bald former star. Even many Ranger fans are a bit sick and tired of his omni presence in the city that never sleeps. One told us last month. " Enough of Messier already. Its time to go away! We're sick of seeing him". If that quote is any indication Messier may be in for a rude awakening if he believes New York is waiting to roll out the red carpet for him to return as the teams new GM. Looks like Mark has placed himself into a fine Mess. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. ; )

Where Will Peter Go?

1) Vote today on where Peter Forsberg will be going (If anywhere)

http://f2dl.pollhost.com/

Sergei on Waivers......

1) The news of the late evening was the placing on waivers of underachieving Montreal forward Sergei Samsonov. Many were surprised by this move, as some had the Habs trying to trade away the cranky Russian, especially after he was held out of the lineup for the Canadians last game So many were taken a back when Bob Gainey decided to instead place Samsonov on waivers.
2) What does this all mean? Well, do NOT expect Sergei to be picked up by anyone. There are 3.75 million reasons. That being Samsonov's salary for NEXT season, in addition to the remainder of this year. With his paltry production he simply is NOT worth even 1/2 that figure. Which brings us to the next issue. Will he be allowed to come back through "re-entry waivers".
3) The new CBA is a bit complicated, but if the Habs demote Samsonov, he can not be recalled unless he passes through re-entry waivers. If a team snaps him up then, the Habs would be on the hook for 1/2 of his remaining salary, and lose the player for nothing. Even at that, we believe there will be few takers even at that reduced rate for the over paid Russian
4) We believe the Canadians are hoping the Russian declines going to the AHL, allowing the Habs to suspend the forward, eliminating his salary both on their cap and payroll entirely. Since he is under 35 the Canadiens could conceivably keep him demoted all next season without it counting against their cap even if he did report to the AHL(Which we feel is unlikely)
5) What this does is frees up considerable cap space for the Habs to add that second line center they have been trying to add. Published reports have mentioned Smolinski, and this remains a possibility, but Gainey has also his eyes on impending free agent center Petr Sykora of Edmonton. If the Oliers fall out of contention BG will try hard to pry the Czech center away from the Oil as a playoff rental

Byers/Sellers Update

1) As of today Tuesday February 6th, 3 weeks until the trade deadline this is an updated list of the teams we believe will be buyers and the teams that we believe will be sellers.
2) Below is a team by team list and the % chance they will be buyers or sellers. The higher the given number the more likely that team will be a seller by 2/27. Conversely a lower number indicates a team more likely to be a buyer.

St. Louis- 95
Phoenix- 95
Los Angeles- 90
Chicago- 90
Philadelphia- 85
Columbus- 80
Florida- 75
Boston- 75
Washington- 70
Carolina- 60
Colorado- 55
Edmonton- 55
Vancouver- 50
Montreal- 50
N.Y. Rangers- 50
Toronto- 50
N.Y.Islanders-45
Minnesota- 40
Tampa Bay- 40
Pittsburgh- 35
Dallas- 35
Calgary- 35
Ottawa- 30
Atlanta- 30
San Jose- 25
Detroit- 25
Nashville- 20
Anaheim- 20
Buffalo- 15
New Jeresey- 10

Februray 6th Update

1) These are a few of the potential deals we're hearing this morning. As we mentioned several times in the past few weeks the Boston Bruins remain an enigma. The biggest of course is Brad Stuart. Acquired in the amazing stupid Joe Thornton deal last fall. Our sources in Boston tell us the B's are eager to unload Stuart and if possible package him with Primeau.
2) The destination? Well, as of this morning our source tells us that Darryl Sutter has been hot after Stuart. Apparently Sutter isn't all that happy with the current make up of his squad and wants to add some offense. What would the Flames offer up? We're told that Andrew Ference possibly another player, probably a 3rd line forward or a draft pick. We're told this one could be done BEFORE the deadline!
3) In other news we're told that the Islanders are getting a bit frustrated with impending free agent forward Jason Blake. Evidently the diminutive forward is being adamant about a 5 year deal. The money is probably negotiable as far as the Islanders are concerned. Blake wants about 4 mil/year. BUT the Isles do NOT want to go beyond 3 years. That could be the deal breaker, and this all could come to a head before the deadline.
As always keep it here for all the latest!

Rumors Or Media Wish?

1) The recent Islander Blake rumor brought to light what we have been discussing with the other members of FAUXRUMORS for some time now; the 'art' of creating rumors where none truly exist. For years the Canadian media were the biggest culprits. Add to that list some of the bigger U.S. markets and you have potential for quite a few 'rumors'.
2) With all this chatter/nonsense, the rumors that may have some basis in fact are more than drowned out by the bull shit. A good one recently was a multi-media driven rumor in 2 cities simultaneously. On the surface it sounded plausible, but do even a little digging and you can see this rumor is pure 'Barbara Streisand'. That rumor of course is the Adrian Aucoin to Montreal for Sergei Samsonov
3) If this were 3 years ago you would have a story there. However with the salary cap, with both players not playing particularly well, with both having additional years with hefty salaries remaining, it makes both pretty untradeable. Do the Habs need another slow injury prone defensemen? Do the Black Hawks need another under achieving forward? Aucoin has 2 more years at 4 mil/yr left. Samsonov has another year at 3.5 mil. Both are awful deals. Both teams would love to unload that contract, BUT no way is either team going to turn around and re burden themselves with another's 'trash'.
4) Apparently those obvious flaws in this potential deal weren't enough to prevent writers in Chicago and Montreal from picking up this pile of tripe and regurgitating it. As we have mentioned more than a few times; There is definitely a market from fans hunger for 'inside information' about possible deals. Nothing is more exciting away from the rink to hockey fans than to contemplate trades, and the media(print, electronic, on-line) is very happy to feed this hunger, even if they have to fabricate the fodder they are peddling.
5) As one of the few outlets that has ZERO financial stake in what we write we at FAUXRUMORS ONLY write actual information that is received from some of the most respected sources throughout the NHL. As such our track record is impeccable, and one we are very proud of. As always keep it here for all the latest as we hear it. Nothing ever created, just the facts ma'am.

Stumbling Blocks?

FAUXRUMORS HAS CLOSED DUE TO LACK OF READERS! Sorry for the inconvenience.

Six Month Sign Post

1) We didn't realize it until one of our readers, Leo Mathews of Lake Bonavista in Alberta wrote us an e-mail yesterday afternoon congratulating us on our first 6 months in existence. We hadn't planned on commemorating this feat as we only recently celebrated our 200th post last month. However, as we also received other notes from some of the folks we visited this past fall, we decided to write a brief post this early (COLD) Monday morning to say Thank You to everyone who wrote in yesterday, but to all who have contributed to our success
2) Amazing to think in such a short time we have written 225 individual postings. That amounts to 1.2 posts every day! WOW, we didn't think we were being so prodigious, but having a group of individuals with like minded goals certainly makes this much easier. Thanks again! We look forward to the next 6 months with equal excitement as we were with our first post August 4th 2006.

Super Bowel Hangover

1) Still recovering from a few too many last night, but won't discuss the football game because this isn't 'faux football'. LOL Anyway we are hearing a few minor deals are getting closer. We will have a story later today discussing the alleged problems with the Penguins arena deal as well as Jason Blake and the Islanders.
2) The deal that our sources tells us is closest to coming to fruition appears to be the Rangers acquiring pesty forward and occasional loud mouth, Sean Avery. Glen Sather, as we have mentioned on more than one occasion, sees his roster in need of more North American grit. Sather really wanted/wants Shane Doan, but the asking price so far is more than the Ranger GM was willing to part with(Marc Staal)
3) In other trade rumor news the Stars and Blues continue their discussions to reacquire forward Billy Guerin. We're told this deal is not nearly as far along as the Avery deal, but the Stars would love to have the sniper back in green and gold for the playoffs.
As always keep it here for the latest as it develops

Penguins To Stay Put

1) As we here at FAUXRUMORS told all our readers back in December when the arena deal fell through the Penguins will NOT be going anywhere. http://fauxrumors.blogspot.com/2006/12/no-deal-in-pittsburgh.html
2) In our original piece we were told by our Pittsburgh sources that the deal would be in place before the playoffs. However with the number of out side cities beginning to line up for the Penguins, and a deadline fast approaching state officials finally got off their collective asses and decided this needed to get done NOW
3) Our sources tell us the overall good play of the team, and ofcourse having one of the best young players to break into the NHL in many a year, "significantly helped" get this deal done. The details of the plan are probably going to be released later today or tomorrow. Congrats Pens fans!

Ovi Needs Help

As a more-than-casual fan of the Washington Capitals, it has perturbed me for quite some time that GM George McPhee has been unable to secure a frontline center to play with standout winger, Alexander Ovechkin. In fact, George has had nearly two and a half years from the moment Ovi was selected in the draft to get this job accomplished. How could this NOT be his primary focus and top priority? Following last season, Yanic Perrault (for a miniscule salary) and Marc Savard (for a tad bit more) were available. Ovi presently plays with a sub-par, out of position center in Dainus Zubrus, and still manages to produce phenomenal numbers and awesome feats. One can only imagine how amazing Alex would be with a legitimate NHL playmaker. 65-70 goals is not even a stretch. I suppose Georgie has more important things to do, for instance, signing a bad backup goalie to a 2 year contract extension and consistently recalling players from Hershey in the calibur of Jakub Klepis. While I realize many of you could not care less about the Nation's Caps, Ovechkin is the future of this sport, and his steady progression is paramount to the league's success.

Trade Explosion?

1) From the amount and number of trade rumors we've been hearing from our voluminous sources through out the league we feel we are getting very close to a relative explosion of deals. The word on the street is that the Conroy trade, as minor as it is may have been, helped push a few reticent GMs over the edge and who may want to move now rather than wait till the deadline in 4 weeks. After all, another month and 10-15 games later could be the difference between watching and participating in late April hockey. And the playoffs is what makes the big dollars for teams
2) On that front since we last discussed this issue it appears that there are now a few more teams that are looking like they will be sellers. In the West Phoenix despite their recent better play finds themselves 10 points out of a spot and thus Mike Barnett is now listening more intently to offers. As we at FAUXRUMORS have stated a few times, the front runners to a Phoenix sell off are the N.Y. Rangers. Glen Sather covets impending UFA, Shane Doan. the hold up is what Barnett has been asking. Sather has been reluctant to trade any of his top prospects and instead would prefer to deal away a combination of picks, and/or a 3rd/4th line roster player. Doan will be sought after by many teams so sather may have to bite the bullet on this if he truly want Doan on Broadway. Else he may have to 'settle' for Scatchard who would be very attainable for a mid round pick
3) Players who are NOT likely to be moved are Darcy Tucker, Todd Bertuzzi, and Peter Forsberg. All 3 have health issues for starters. The Leafs are still very much in the race, so its doubtful they'd deal one of their leading scorers now. Forsberg has been discussed enough lately so we won't rehash that issue. Bertuzzi is a more interesting case. The Panthers are holding on to their playoff hopes by a thread. In reality they are out of it. They could stand to lose Todd for nothing if they don't deal him but what team would risk much of anything on a player who hasn't played a meaningful game in 4+ months? Therefore we believe the Panthers will retain Bertuzzi and hope to resign him before July 1
4) Another team that is sure to soon to be dealing are the St. Louis Blues. Specifically Keith Tkachuk, Billy Guerin, and Eric Brewer. Of the three Tkachuk has a no trade clause. meaning he will have some say so where he ends up. But he WILL be dealt. Several teams have expressed interest. The most intriguing is a recent rumor that San Jose is interested in bringing in big Keith. That would improve an already formidable line up going into the post season. The Stars are quite interested in bringing back Guerin. They didn't want to lose him in the first place, but in the cap age his salary was beyond what his production afforded. The Stars could definitely use his scoring prowess. Brewer has been rumored to be going to many teams. The defenseman has been a bit of an enigma since arriving on Long Island a few years back. He would be a decent addition for a team in need of blue line depth, but his addition won't change the balance of power anywhere. The Flames are the team we're hearing the most in discussions of Brewer.
5) These are just a few of the players we're hearing a lot about the last few weeks. We will update these and others as the days go by. As always keep it here for the latest!

Dryden Honored

1) It was a LONG over due celebration of one the game's all time great goalies when the Montreal Canadians finally celebrated and retired ole # 29 the other night. Dryden was frequently overlooked and not given the due he earned because many at the time felt his team was great due to an amazingly strong roster and masterfully coached by Scotty Bowman.
2) However, those of us who can recall watching hockey from the old Forum know differently. Sure those teams featured an array of Hall of Famers, but then, like now, without a great goalie, a team can not truly be 'great'. Dryden used his huge frame to his advantage. Playing the angles as good as anyone before or since.
3) Now that Ken's # 29 is in the rafters, it makes another over site all the more egregious. When will Larry Robinson get his night? If it is already planned, we apologize to the Habs organization. If it is not, we have to ask, no scream, why????

Tueday Morning Musings

1) The Conroy deal was no surprise, but its hardly a huge deal in our opinion. Conroy is NOT the player he was 2-3 years ago His numbers have slipped significantly, and his age(36) is probably beginning to show. From a Calgary perspective they didn't appear to give up too much anyway. Lundmark is a BUST and a 2nd and 4th rounder isn't anything these days for a playoff team to give up.All in all this deal isn't going to tip the balance of power in the tight NW division.
2) One has to wonder how much longer Dave Lewis will last in Bean-Town. His Bruins were trounced last night by a mediocre Ranger team, further injuring their slim playoff hopes. Many thought the Bruins were poised to return to the post season after acquiring FA's Zdeno Chara and Mark Savard; The cream of the UFA's last summer.
3) Thus far the team has been a big disappointment, and as usual the coach is first to feel the heat. New GM Peter Chirelli will likely be pressured from on high(Harry Sinden) to make some changes. While personnel changes are possible, it is becoming more likely that a change behind the bench could be soon forthcoming. Its to bad as Dave is a good guy who we at FAUXRUMORS have known since his Islander playing days. Unfortunately, he may be one of those who is a better fit as an assistant and not the top man.

Forsberg Follies Continue

1) It appears that the Peter Forsberg situation just won't be resolved easily. We first reported a month or so ago that Peter decided that he didn't want to waive his no trade clause and wanted to use the extra time off to rest his injured body
2) Late yesterday we received mixed signals in the media. Some outlets went with a story that Forsberg agreed to waive the clause so the Flyers could trade him to a Cup contender, while another report states that Forsberg is denying he did that. Throwing the whole situation back into chaos/uncertainty
3) We asked our reliable Philly source late last night to see what he could tell us about this silly, and apparently fluid situation. What he has been able to discern from talking with unnamed club officials is that Forsberg DID propose waiving the clause IF the Flyers would agree to a hand shake deal that would include "making Forsberg the highest paid Flyer next year with a player option for a second season".
4) Apparently this fact slipped out of the Holmgren meeting, infuriating Forsberg. Now what Peter will decide to do is any one's guess. There is now a stronger possibility that Forsberg will play out his contract and go back to Europe for good. However, don't count out the Flyers from trying again to prod Peter once more. What is certain the next few weeks will be interesting in Philly.

Forsberg Staying?

1) Flyer's star forward Peter Forsberg is to meet with GM Paul Holmgren today to discuss the oft injured Swede's future. Its speculated that Holmgren will ask Forsberg to waive his no trade clause allowing the Flyers to attempt a trade of the soon to be UFA.
2)We're also told that Peter will come right out and be frank with Holmgren today. As has been our position all along, our sources tell us they don't believe that Peter has changed his mind. That he will NOT allow the Flyers to trade him to a contender before the trade deadline. Forsberg will tell Paul that he intends to instead use the extra time off to try to finally heal the many injuries he has suffered through this season, and then decide if he wants to return to the NHL next year.
3) Our source also tells us the Swede would like to return to the Flyers IF he was to return to North America next season. "Right now that's a 50:50 proposition" , our source confided. More on this as it develops

Saskin Safe!

1) OK, first a warning, the following post will contain references to union-NHL strife and mention of salary cap issue. If these things cause your eyes to glaze over, you have been warned. ; )
2) The latest salvo in the never ending Players Association head Ted Saskin-vs- the minority of players unhappy with his hiring is the hiring of an independent auditor/investigator to find if Mr. Saskin was hired appropriately or if it was done illegally
3) Some, like union flunky Larry Brooks wrote in his column yesterday that he believes that this move is the beginning of the end of Saskin's tenure as PA head. http://www.nypost.com/seven/01282007/sports/union_ready_for_shootout_sports_larry_brooks.htm 4) However, we believe this idea is fool hearty OK, Now we don't disagree with Brooks' argument that the current PA head Saskin is a Bettman butt-buddy, and perhaps his hiring wasn't totally above board, BUT if Brooks believes that this investigation will lead to Saskin's demise, he's smoking dope. This investigation was for one reason, to shut the small minority of players like Chelios up once and for all. Most players didn't necessarily like the new CBA, BUT most right now are happy with how things are going. Last thing the majority want is to rock the boat again.
5) Most feel, like we do, that its time to move forward and stop reliving the mistakes made 2 years ago when the players caved and accepted the salary cap. If one were to look at current average salaries its looking more and more like the players really didn't lose anything. They are almost right where they were BEFORE the lockout
6) We feel Brooks' problem/issue with Saskin and the new CBA was more the fact that the cap limits his Rangers from buying/trading at will. He as much as states this in his whining about the fact that the New NHL seems to cater more to the small markets. Hey Larry, tough! Get over/used to it and move on. The vast majority of players have. Thankfully we believe this investigation will put this to bed, FINALLY!

Supply and Demand?

1) Taking a look at the latest NHL standings this early Monday morning and one is struck how many teams are still very much in the playoff hunt. January is almost over and the trade deadline is a mere 4+ weeks away, and if the standings continue to stay tight, there may be very few 'sellers' at the deadline, and quite a few potential 'buyers', looking to add that final piece that they believe will cinch a playoff berth or Cup run.
2) In the East only the Flyers are out of it. The current 14th seed Panthers are a mere 6 points from the 8th spot. With 5 other teams in front of them its an admitted long shot, but it wouldn't look good for their fans if they were to fold up when the playoffs appeared within reach. The Panthers aren't alone in that category; teams that are technically still in it, but the odds are against them. The Bruins, Caps, and one could argue the Coyotes and Blues are in this category.
3) However for the sake of argument we believe any team more than 6 points out at the deadline will be a potential seller, then if that were today that would be a mere 6 teams! With 24 potential buyers, it could be a case of low supply and high demand, which could cause an escalation or a bidding war to ensue.
4) Of course the ever present trade choker, the salary cap, is still likely to limit a free for all of dealing. Either way this is going to be an interesting month or so. As always keep it here for the latest!

All Star Snooze

1) Ambien was not needed for anyone with an insomnia issue if they were 'lucky' enough to tune into last night's NHL All-Star game. As in previous years, there was little that resembled NHL hockey. Instead offense was the only talent that was allowed to be displayed with regularity. Little to no hitting, defense was spotty at best, and goalies also didn't appear to be too interested in playing to their abilities.
2) What was left was as boring as hockey can get. Which led us at FAUXRUMORS to thinking; Why is Gary Bettman and the NHL powers that be so fascinated in increasing scoring? Last night there were 21 goals scored and it couldn't have been more boring/uninteresting. If ever there was a case to illustrate the absurdity of the claim that scoring makes games exciting, that was it.
3) So that leads us to the inevitable question: Just what does make a game exciting/interesting? We believe the answer is emotion. That's what gets hockey fans going; Emotion displayed on the ice. That's what was lacking with the exhibition last night, and for the most part has been lacking in most regular season NHL tilts in Bettman's New NHL. Emotion that derives/manifests from hard hits and the occasional scrap.
4) Is there a mere coincidence that as fighting majors have fallen so has the TV audience/arena attendance? Even some of Bettman's fiercest backers have begun to see what we here at FAUXRUMORS have been bemoaning for the past 2 years. Bring back the emotion! We want hitting/fighting!
5) Examples range from the NBC broadcast where all 3 announcers, who usually would shill the NHL line, stated that the instigator rule has allowed players to no longer fear for committing a cheap shot. Gary Bettman butt-boy Stan Fischler in his latest column actually stated that a league official told him "that the league is quietly responding to critics claim that The Game has gotten too soft." If Stan writes it, you can be sure the NHL is aware of the issue. Stan doesn't defecate without league approval.
6) Yet another sign of the times is the minor leagues are losing attendance since they tried to institute NHL rules changes. Except for the AHL who is directly tied with the NHL, the other minor leagues will probably ignore other NHL rules changes and return to what sells. If minor leagues understand this, why has it taken so long for the NHL to see this as well?
7) We are NOT advocating a return to the 1970's and bench clearing brawls, but we want there to no longer be a hindrance to players who scrap on occasion. Not only is it hugely exciting and entertaining, but we believe it helps keep the dirty stick work, and cheap hits to a minimum. We don't need more scoring to better the game. We need a return to what made it great in the first place. Can you hear us now Gary?

All Star Rumor mill

1) Lots of deals being discussed this morning in big D. The most intriguing is the source which tells FAUXRUMORS that the Stars are very interested in unrestricted free agent forward to be Ladislav Nagy. The Stars have coveted the speedy Slovakian for some time now.
2) We here that once the 'Yotes are sufficiently out of the race they will entertain offers more seriously for Nagy, Doan, and the other UFAs the Coyotes have after the season.
We will keep our ears open for any other potential moves if and when we hear something

Second Half predictions

1) Well,technically the NHL half way point passed a couple of weeks ago, but the traditional point that's used is the All Star Break, so for all intents and purposes we will use that as the new starting point for this discussion
1. Buffalo *- We don't see any one overtaking them.
2. Atlanta * - Our preseason Cup favourite. They are team to beat in SE
3. New Jersey * - Marty having MVP season. Should carry division easily
4. Ottawa - Starting to come together, but will come up short for division
5. Carolina - Cup champs can't be counted out
6. N.Y. Rangers - Lundqvist is key, but division out of range
7. Montreal - Not as good as start, but better than they've been recently
8. Tampa Bay - Should sneak into playoffs and give Buffalo a scare

9. Pittsburgh - With Sid and others playing well will give TB run for playoffs
10. Toronto - Another non-Cup year for the Leaf Nation
11. Boston - Big Z not big enough to carry this team into post season
12. Washington - Mild improvement in Nation's capital, but no playoffs
13. NY Islanders - 'Yashin-led Islanders' is all that needs to be said
14. Florida - Will be active 'sellers' at deadline.
15. Philadelphia - How bad can they get/be? Might see some mild improvement


1. SanJose * - Quietly creeping up on Ducks. Will pas them before season is over
2. Nashville * - Best team last 2 months. Will carry over the rest of the way
3. Calgary * - Will win the NW division but won't be pretty.
4. Detroit - Geezers finish behind Preds, but best non divisional winner
5. Anaheim - Will falter a bit more and lose division to SJ
6. Dallas - Should make playoffs despite injury bug
7. Vancouver - Luongo will carry team into playoffs, but fall short of division
8. Minnesota - Back in the playoffs if they can stay healthy

9. Colorado - Young guns and Budaj not enough, but future looks bright
10. Edmonton - Won't be able to make up for long mid season slump
11. Phoenix - Too bad they waited until December to start season
12. Chicago - Another season, another non playoff year in Shy-town
13. St. Louis - Playing better as of late, but will sell off most vets at deadline
14. Columbus - Yet another losing season in Ohio. They need a change at the top!
15. Los Angeles - Gunning for the bottom with Burke!

All-Star Break Power Rankings

1) Welcome to our latest edition of our Power rankings. All-Star Break edition. The format will be essentially the same as our previously lauded offerings. With the addition of adding our latest divisional Power Rankings as well. Enjoy. : )
2) As always: Rank Team Last Poll's Ranking Comments

1- Nashville (4)- NHL's hottest team right now. Easy schedule aside, they have been beating just about everyone they've played the last few weeks

2- San Jose (2)- Moving up yet another spot, the team that the Ducks made most forget about is quietly having a great season. Look out Anaheim!

3- Buffalo (1)- First 3 game losing streak 'plummets' Sabres out of top spot for first time in our poll. Still a VERY formidable opponent that is still the beast of the East

4- Anaheim (2)- Have been continued solid despite injuries. After the break and the return of many of those injured the Ducks will probably again be the team to beat out West

5- Detroit (5) Overall the geezers continue to amaze. Key we feel will be the health of the over 65 crowd down the stretch. Will their Rheumatism set in!

6- New Jersey (9)- Its all about the goalie. Without Brodeur Lamarello would look much less the genius than many give him credit for. If Marty gets hurt, the Devils are not even a playoff team! Our Hart Trophy candidate as of now.

7- Vancouver (12)- Swept through the east like a hot knife through butter. Luongo trade looking better and better. The Devils of the West? Without Robbie, the 'Nucks are cellar dwellers!

8- Ottawa (13)- Starting to play to expectations. When healthy may be a tough opponent to play in spring. Key will be is Emory ready to come up big?

9- Dallas (6) - Inconsistent couple of weeks have cost a few spots in Big D. Turco remains an enigma. Amazing one night, very average the next. They are stuck with the 'Bad Marty' so they best get used to it

10-Minnesota (11)- Finally winning a few road games. That continues they may win the black and blue NW division

11- Atlanta (8)- Sliding a bit back recently. Up and down play has allowed Carolina and TB to start to again sniff for the division lead. Still has the fire power and goaltending to maintain edge.

12- Calgary (10)- Hot couple of weeks put Flames right back in division race. With Kipper between the pipes they can never be counted out of any game

13- Montreal (7)- Have struggled the past couple of weeks with injuries and poor play, but recently rebounded looking a bit like they did most of the fall. Live or die with special teams

14-Tampa Bay (20)- Maybe the hottest team in NHL. Tortorella's sextant is looking more like 2004 than any time since, well 2004. Can the 'Big 3' keep it up?

15- Edmonton (17)- Rebounding after hitting rock bottom. Still only 6 points from division lead. Though may need to make some roster adjustments to get back to the playoffs

16- Colorado (16)- Continue to stay right in there. Budaj looking like a true # 1 on most nights. Rookies complementing vets. Can they keep it up down the stretch?

17- Carolina (14)- Just when it looks like they have turned the corner the 'Canes play another 'stinker'. Still in division race with Atlanta slowing, but will have to get more consistency to return to Finals

18-Pittsburgh (25)- Crosby & co. recent good play places them in the top 8 in the East. Far ahead of schedule in their rebuilding. Will the good folks of Pittsburgh be allowed to see them develop further beyond this year?

19- N.Y. Rangers (19)- Stagnating at 19th spot. Porous defense and no scoring beyond 1st line taking toll. Jagr's pouting showing with a -4 and some bad penalties last week. Still with Lundqvst they are still a playoff contender

20- Toronto (22)- Have looked dreadful at times. Can't expect to get into playoffs playing under .500 at home! 40 years since last Cup. Looking like it'll be 41!

21- Boston (15)- Dave Lewis's team underachieving. Making his job tenuous. No playoffs-new coach in Bean town. Think they might want to take back that silly Thornton trade?

22- Phoenix (21)- Falling a bit recently, but overall much improved over their early dreadful start. 2 years running that the 'Yotes lost a chance at the playoffs in October/November. Will they be sellers at the deadline?

23- N.Y. Islanders (18)- Up and down few weeks for the Isles. Bet they wish they could play the Flyers and Rangers every night! Without those 2 teams the Isles are on the bottom. Yashin returning to form, of invisibility. Not to worry Isle fans, he only has 4 years left on his deal!

24- St. Louis (29) Slowly pulling themselves upward. had a very good couple of weeks. Still well out of playoff contention. Sell-off of vets likely to start after the break

25- Washington (24) Defense injuries and inconsistent goaltending illustrated teams' weaknesses. Only 3 scoring threats also not helping. Playoff hopes dimming quickly

26- Florida (27) Move up 1 spot, but still are not a good team. Trouble winning away from Miami. Biggest story here will probably be the inevitable trading of vets at the deadline

27 - Columbus (26) Bad week in Ohio. Best player Nash gone for a while. How does GM, McClean still have a job??

28- Chicago (23) Totally dead! Hard to discern the worst team of the bottom 3. All have had a hard time winning in 2007. Sad is too mild a word to describe the state of hockey in once proud Windy City

29- Philadelphia (29) Pulled out of last only because Forsberg is back and LA appears to want to be last more. Without Peter, Flyers ARE the worst team by far. Guess the coach wasn't the problem?

30- Los Angeles (28) Firmly in the Angelo Esposito sweep stakes. Confirmed their aspirations when they acquired 58 year old Sean Burke to play net

Snowy Sunday Offerings

1) As the flakes fly here in and around the offices of FAUXRUMORS we figured we'd share some of the goings and coming that we've heard the past few days around the league, but due to the inclement weather this will probably be brief. We are looking forward to FAUXRUMORS2 All Star Break Power Rankings. They tell us it should be out some time tomorrow afternoon.
2) Now on the latest. The biggest rumor fodder involves Peter Forsberg. If you were to read all the many published rumors he's headed to about 10 different teams. We will stand by our source who told us 3 days ago that Peter would prefer to NOT participate in the Cup playoffs and the potential 2+ month grind it involves. He would prefer to rest his weary/injury riddled body for the full 4 months and the decide if he wants to continue to play in North America. Our source tells us its about 75-25 that he stays put in Philly and puts the Kibosh on any potential deals
3) Contradicting a rumor that we at FAUXRUMORS broke 2 weeks ago the Islander beat writer for NY NewsDay wrote recently that the Isles have yet to offer their impending free agent forward Jason Blake a contract extension. We inquired from our VERY reliable Islander source to see if this was accurate. What they are telling us is that technically it is true that the Isles haven't yet sent an "official" offer, BUT as we exclusively reported 2 weeks or so ago, the parties are in informal negotiations. Things are at a very critical time we're told. However a team source who didn't of course want to be identified said that Blake should NOT over inflate his value. We took that as meaning that if he demands an exorbitant sum he will likely be a UFA in July. However we're told this is an unlikely scenario as Blake feels very loyal to the Isles and Wang where he resurrected his career
4) Non hockey related but today is Championship Sunday in football. A few intriguing scenarios for Super Bowel Sunday. First would be the Manning vs his Dad's old team the Saints. Add to that the New Orleans city situation and you have the underdog appeal that sells. Also you could have a repeat of the 1985 Super Bowel with NE and Da-Bears squaring off. However we believe the scenario most appealing to the NFL will be(and we believe the fix is in!) is the Bears-vs- Colts. It would have not one but TWO African American coaches against each other. The NFL is VERY race conscious and would LOVE to have the league appear color blind (its isn't!) with that match up. If we were betting types we'd put the house up in Vegas that this will be the Super Bowel! Anyway we have a few hours until then. Not to worry we don't need the money anyway! LOL
As always we will stay a top any potential NHL deals. Keep it here for all the latest!

All Star Snub Follow up

1) For those who missed it the first time, we invite our readers to peruse the post written by ANTZMARCHING concerning the apparent All Star snubbing of Jaromir Jagr:
http://fauxrumors.blogspot.com/2007/01/all-star-snub.html#links
2) A follow up that we find interesting is the fact that apparently fellow team mate and All Star Brendan Shanahan was named captain of the Eastern All stars. Another jab at JJ for sure. Add that to the fact that Shanahan has a full 13 points fewer than JJ, AND is a minus 6 to Jagr's + 13.
3) Earlier this season the Ranger captain was over looked once again in favor of his North American born team mate when the inaugural Leadership award was dispensed by Mark Messier in favor of Shanahan causing the seeds of dissension that had been simmering between the two since training camp to become more out in the open. The pouting that Antz alluded to in his post is sure to now intensify further. Hindering Ranger playoff aspirations. Stay tuned as this may get interesting

Message Sent?

1) From watching several games and perusing over the box scores of the many games around the league last night, what struck us was that officials were apparently instructed to keep a keen eye on 'divers'.
2) There could be no coincidence that this sudden increase in calling the 'unsportsmanlike conduct-diving' penalty' on the heels of the Blake-Crosby incident alluded to in our previous post.
3) We called a well placed NHL official/source to see if our suspicions were accurate. Sure enough NHL head official Stephen Walkom made a conference call to all the league's referees early yesterday afternoon to inform them that the NHL wanted them to be "extra vigilant" about possible diving, and to enforce the rule closely. No word if this policy will be short lived or a trend for the remainder of the season, but divers have now been put on notice(again); do it at your and your team's own risk!

Crosby Cries Wolf?

1) Many were a bit surprised with the NHL's decision today to NOT suspend Islander forward Jason Blake for a spearing incident that occurred in the waning moments of last night's Islander-Penguin game in the Igloo. Replays clearly showed it was an intentional action on the part of the diminutive Islander forward on the teen super star
2) Why then was Blake cut slack when it seems the league would have gone out of its way to send a message to protect its most marketable product, Sidney Crosby? The answer actually isn't too complicated. The NHL front office, specifically Mr.'s Walkum/Campbell and the officials are none too pleased with the way Crosby continues to embellish infractions against him.
3) This trend/perception would explain why on a play that was clearly a 5 minute spear, Blake not only didn't get so much as a 2 minute minor, BUT Crosby got an unsportsman like conduct call. Ostensibly for 'diving'.
4) It appears a case of 'Boy crying Wolf' once too often. If Sid had a clean record with regard to embellishments/diving, you can be certain he would have been given the benefit of the doubt with regard to the Blake stick foul. Instead Blake was given that benefit, and got away with one. The league could have decided to give Blake a suspension after the fact today but may be sending Mr. Crosby and other divers a message: Stop it! Hopefully the message is received and we start to see less of this now common tactic to draw fouls.

Correction/Explanation

1) As mentioned/alluded to in our previous posting we have been in discussions with Spector/Lyle Richardson regarding a profane post left on his Fox hockey blog under our name AND the clarification of what we meant by in our 200th posting: ".....we have either been mentioned/sited/espouse by/been a contributor or been lauded by many other popular hockey blogs......"
2) To his credit Spector(Lyle Richardson) saw through the apparent attempt to mimic/defame this site/our good name by imitating our name and making inflammatory and vulgar comments on his blog.
3) However we agreed to disagree with his asserton that we are/were not a contributor/referred to on his blogs. We in fact believe ALL who write and respond here ARE contributors in their own way. Else, as we mentioned to him, this would be a MONOlogue, not a blog. We feel each and everyone of our many readers and posters(contributors) are a part of/make this blog what it is. For that we thank each and every one of you!
4) This does NOT mean ofcourse though that he, or any other contributor has advocated/endorsed this site. We also want to make clear that we are NOT employed by, paid by, or in any way connected contractually with any of the blogs we sited, including the Spector blog sites.

Thank You HockeyNutz!!

1) As the story goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Our frequent blog critic/annoyance/lurker Hockeynutz attempted to discredit our blog by creating/imitating our name then commenting on one of the more popular hockey blogs, Spector on Fox sports net.
2) Using profanity and sounding like the adolescent that he apparently is, his feigned such vitriol that the blog author actually responded to it both there AND here!!
3) Of course we responded and set the record strait for all to see. Anyone who has been a regular reader to this blog and to all the thousands of posts we make to other blogs know that we may disagree with folks from time to time, but we never resort to/sink to that level of discussion
4) Having said that all the unexpected notoriety has increased traffic to our blog by 10 fold in the last 24 hours! We only can thank Mr. Nutz for doing that for us. Unintended we're certain, but that's the result. Thank you again!

All-Star Snub

It seems trouble continues to correlate highly with Jaromir Jagr's existence... I am sure by now most of you are aware that Jags is not listed on the Eastern Conference's all star roster... It has been reported on the New York Rangers website that Jaromir was miffed and confused by Lindy Ruff's apparent snub... The story even went so far as to say that New York GM, Glen Sather, contacted the league protesting the omission... It all sounds plausible, right? What the site conveniently left out was the TRUTH... Jagr, when hearing of the addition of Brendan Shanahan as a reserve, threw an adult tantrum in Tom Renney's office... A source overheard Jags as stating that, "I am top dog on this team, and I will not share "another" locker room with that "bleeping" jerk." What was reported as a "snub" in politically correct NHL circles, was in reality, Jagr declining Ruff's invitation... To no one's surprise, upon hearing of this potentially explosive situation, Gary BUTTman concocted the "snub" allegation so as to limit the amount of image damage... Jagr's meltdown is consistent with the in-house issues he has had with many of his fellow countrymen - inevitably, he will pout and destroy team morale wherever he lands...

Here and There

1) Just some musings from this mid January morning. One of the more popular rumors thats sure to surface(if it hasn't already) will be the Scott Gomez trade rumors. We're told from our source close to the scene that Lou Lamarello has NO intention on trading him before the deadline even if he is an impending UFA. This source was dead on when he told us that Gionta was staying put, so we are inclined to believe him on this one too
2)Ranger's beat writer Larry Brooks cooked up a doozy rumor this past weekend. Stating the Blues refused a deal that would have sent former Ranger Marti Rucinsky back to Broadway for forwards Peter Prucha and Adam Hall. Our sources in both N.Y. and St.Louis almost laughed out loud when they heard this one. They both told us that there were discussion between the teams BUT there was no way that the Blues would have said no to such an offer. The Blues sources indicated that Rucinsky could be sent back, but the Rangers have their eyes on/have inquired about other players as well(Guerin/Brewer!)
3) The Flyers would LOVE to trade Peter Forsberg, BUT Peter isn't sure he wants to get traded. Our contact in Philly tells us that Peter may not want to go through the grueling Stanley Cup playoffs, as would be possible in the event he were traded to a contender. As he has a 'no trade clause' Forsberg won't be going anywhere unless he wants to. Significant persuading may be necessary, but money is NOT an enticement to the Swede who is not hurting financially.
4) Feel good story of the day comes from Toronto where they talked with former NHL head boss/policeman, and cancer survivor Pat Burns. It seems Pat is doing well, and might return to the NHL if his "family allows it". FAUXRUMORS hopes the big man is back behind the bench where he belongs, soon!
5) Has Jason Allison been rumored to be going to any new destinations lately? Rumor whore, Eklund recently added to his list that is probably close to 30 teams by now by mentioning Montreal as a possible destination for the PP specialist. When will is readers learn he is a real fraud!?!
Finally, We're hearing a lot of chatter the last few days. If/when we hear anything concrete you can be sure we will relate it to all of you.
As always,keep it here for the latest!

Number 200:Recognition/Thanks!

1) When all of us here at FAUXRUMORS got together last August and launched this blog we had no expectations. We as a group had become fed up with the rumor mongers as well as simply wanted to write about what we loved most, NHL hockey. As a group we had ample potential sources which we have cultivated/added to in the past 6 months of blogging. We are VERY proud of what we have accomplished in such a short time.
2) Amazingly, this is our 200th post! Some ofcourse have been more memorable than others, but we stand behind, and are proud of each and every one of them. We don't do this for recognition, but an independent web browser/tabulator recently audited our site and found we are in the top 1% of hockey blogs based upon number of hits, and more importantly, UNIQUE hits. Simply put, we have attracted a rather large audience without anything other than word of mouth!
3) Nothing is more gratifying though than to be recognized by one's own peers in the blogging community. In such a short time we have either been mentioned/sited/espouse by/been a contributor or been lauded by many other popular hockey blogs. Among them are Islander Army, http://www.islandersarmy.com/blog/, Jasper's Rink, http://japersrink.blogspot.com, OffWing Opinion, http://www.offwing.com/ Igloo Dreams, http://igloodreams.blogspot.com/ Hockey Rants, http://jesgolbez.blogspot.com Canuck's Hockey Blog, http://canuckshockey.blogspot.com/ Anotherhabsblog, http://anotherhabsblog.blogspot.com Tom Benjamin's NHL weblog, http://www.canuckscorner.com/weblog/nhllog/ James Mirtle, http://mirtle.blogspot.com/ And many more!
4) Additionally, as has been mentioned here in the past, we have been nominated for a blog award in the category of best new hockey blog by The Interactive Media Awards.
None of this could have been possible without all of you! We will continue to strive to bring all of you the latest news, commentary, irreverent humor, and of course the most accurate rumors on the net today. All FREE of CHARGE!
As always, keep it here for the latest!

Today's News/Rumors

1) The news of the day is that the Flyers have claimed goalie Michael Leighton off waivers from the Nashville Predators. There's been lot of speculation as to why the Flyers did this, other than that both of their current goalies are playing hurt.
2) We're hearing from some sources that there could be a deal in the works involving Robert Esche or Leighton. Several clubs have expressed interest. Anaheim was rumored to be the team that was going to claim Leighton in the first place. Perhaps the Flyers knew this and figured they'd swoop in and make life difficult for the Ducks and force them into a deal.
3) Also we're hearing LA has some interest as well for some reason. Colorado is another team, while an unsubstantiated rumour this morning had a Theodore and a pick going for Forsberg floating around. As we stated a few days ago as the deadline gets closer so will the number of trade rumours. Some like the Theodore rumor will be nutty.
4) Sometimes for us at FAUXRUMORS it's hard to sort out the crap from the real rumors, and at FAUXRUMORS we will always try our best to do that. That being said, we will relay all of what we hear, because anything can happen.
As always keep it here for the latest!

Last Straw in Philly?

1) Word from the city of Brotherly love this morning indicates that Flyer's management has finally conceded that this current group of players are NOT going to be able to turn this season around. What has been painfully obvious for most other hockey observers since late October is now without a doubt crystal clear to all within this once proud organization.
2) What is not certain as of this writing is how much of a change in personel will GM Paul Holmgren make as the deadline approaches. As one of the few teams with zero chance of making the playoffs he will be sure to get plenty of inquiries about many of his players. Already rumored to be on the block, defender Joni Pitkanen. The talk has been Joni going to Edmonton.
3) Holmgren's dilema is that the players teams may want most are the ones that could be part of a future resurgence. Players such as Pitkanen, Carter, Umberger would be coveted by others. The players Holmgren would certainly be fine with trading: Hatcher, Sanderson, etc. are either over paid or injured
4) The wild cards in this are Simone Gagne and Peter Forsberg. If healthy(when is he?) Peter can be a dominant player that would be a huge boost to a playoff bound team. He's poised to become a UFA after the season, and may not return to North America after this season, so it may be a no brainer to move the Swedish star IF he's healthy.
5) Gagne is in the first year of a 5 year deal that will pay 5.25 annually. He has missed his line mate Forsberg and his numbers have fallen considerbly. The down side to acquiring Gagne is his huge contract. It would be difficult for most teams to fit it in without trading away some salary. However that hasn't stopped several GM's from inquiring into his availability. We hear Hiolmgren has the green light to trade Gagne IF he can get a decent package of picks and young talent in return.
It should be an intersting 6-8 weeks in Philly. As always, we will relate any new rumors as they occur. Keep it here for the latest!

McGuire Denied

1) Be sure to check out our take on The Baseball Hall of Fame's passing over Mark McGuire.: http://fauxbaseball.blogspot.com

Question/Help?

1) Was going over old posts when we came across the silly Messier Leadership award posting/commentary. Made us think; Who won it in December? Went to the NHL.com site, and Googled the leadership award, but in the few minutes of attempting couldn't find reference to a second honoree who received the 'prestigious' award.
2) For those who may have forgotten or never heard, The NHL Leadership Award was started oddly in November with Mark Messier giving the award, and supposedly having significant input into who would win.
3) We were told that there would be a monthly honor and an end of the year award as well. Brendan Shanahan won in November. Which led us to ask: Who won in December? If any of you out there know, please let us in on this apparent secret.
Thanks in advance!

Let the Dumb Rumors Commence!

1) Well, to be truthful, they have never really stopped from some places. The usual rumor salesmen have been at it since before the season began. As they have folks who pay them money for this "service" they are compelled to make up both obvious and ridiculous trade rumors.
2) With the combination of the early trading deadline, as well as the amazing parity that has taken a hold of the "New NHL" we're sure to see this trend of silly/ludicrous/odd rumors to intensify over the next 6-8 weeks.
3) An unprecedented(for this time of year) number of teams are in playoff contention. Many of those same teams are also in need of 'help'of one type or other. The rumor mongers and media hockey types are sure to try to 'correct' those deficiencies with an added player by making up a silly rumor with hopes it comes true. Almost all without an actual source.
4) Many amazingly don't even do their home work with respect to the player's contract status, possible no-trade clause, or a team's salary cap liability. All very pertinent to a GM before making a deal.
5) As always we here at FAUXRUMORS have no one to answer to. No 'stock holders' to mollify. We ONLY relate actual information that we hear from our various sources through out the league. As always keep it here for the latest as it develops!

Who Will Be First?

1) Here's our latest poll question. Who among the listed professional athletes will die prematurely first?
2) OK, not directly hockey related, but fun/interesting none the less. Feel free to add/comment on who you would have included.

http://7qx6.pollhost.com

Other Shoe?

1) With the trade of Mike Comrie to the injury depleted Ottawa Senators this morning, will that move finally spur more GM's to act quickly? Thus far, outside of the 2 Isles-Philly trades its been an extraordinarily quiet season on the trade front. Many times all that is needed to spur on trades is one move by a team that becomes the first domino.
2) Some GM's may see this as a small window of opportunity to pick up that one or two players that they are coveting, but were unwilling to deal for earlier in the season due to cap concerns. With the season nearly 50% over a contract becomes a more easier fit into a team's payroll structure.
3) With only 8 weeks left until the deadline some GM's may see the time to move as now and not wait until later when the pickings may be small. One of our sources told us earlier today that the phone lines have always been open, but since the Comrie deal went down, things have really picked up as far as serious discussions.
4) Looks like Phoenix has decided its time to look towards 2007-2008, so a smart GM might want to contact Mr. Barnett about a possible Doan, Scatchard, etc trade. Will other teams follow the 'Yotes lead? The next obvious candidate would be the Blues with many vets who could help a playoff bound team. Stay tuned as things could be getting interesting!

Power Rankings!

1) Welcome to the latest/New year edition of the now very popular FAUXRUMORS Power rankings: We believe our formula that emphasizes strength of schedule, recent success, and overall record). makes our power ranking/poll the most accurate. We have received raves from many other publications which asks FAUXRUMORS permission to publish our rankings on their blogs. You may notice that we only use 2 columns on wins/losses. (Last rankings)
Team
1. Buffalo (29-10) (1)- Maintains their top spot with consistent high quality play. No doubt they're for real
2. Anaheim(28-12) (2)- Despite recent 'slump' still team to beat in West. Goalie injuries hurting.
3. San Jose (26-14) (3)- If not for Ducks amazing start, they would be talk of the west. May still be when all is said and done
4. Nashville (26-14) (4)- Continuing to play very well
5. Detroit (24-14) (6)- Geriatric Wings still in upper echelon of the NHL
6. Dallas (24-15-0) (11)- Despite recent mediocrity, playing better the past month
7. Montreal (22-16) (8)- Playing good disciplined hockey in front of star-Huet
8. Atlanta (24-17) (7)- Continue to play very well, with excellent road record
9. New Jersey (22-16) (16)- Broduer and devs starting to roll. Look out East!
10. Calgary (19-18) (17)- If the Flames could win a road game they'd be in top 5
11. Minnesota (20-19) (15) - Another team with road trouble in black and blue NW division
12. Vancouver (20-19) (20) - Recent surge place them into playoff spot
13. Ottawa (21-20) (18) - Had good month, but recent injuries could cause slide
14. Carolina (21-20) (9) - Chugging along anonymously for a Cup champ
15. Boston (19-18) (22) - Better play recently have put them into thick of things
16. Colorado (19-20) (21)- Some stumbling, but better play of late has them in contention
17. Edmonton (18-20) (10) -In free fall? NW doesn't allow for long losing streaks
18. NY Islanders (19-19) (13) - Consistently inconsistent. Not yet a true contender for playoffs
19. NY Rangers (19-21) (14) -Recently ended 7 game slide against Hershey, err Washington
20. Tampa Bay (18-21) (12) - Just when you think they're putting it together Tortorella's squad goes on another losing streak
21. Phoenix (16-22) (29)- Playing much better with injured players returning. Give Wayne credit for not quitting
22. Toronto (18-23) (5)- Biggest tumble of any team. Sundin return hurt chemistry?
23. Chicago (16-22) (27)- When healthy(rare) aren't nearly as bad as last year
24. Washington (16-24) (24) - Recent rash if injuries/flu expose talent-thin squad
25. Pittsburgh (16-21) (19)- Pens continue slide from early fast start
26. Columbus (15-24) (30) 1 step forward, 2 steps back
27. Florida (15-26) (26)- Continue the struggle on the road. Trades on horizon?
28. Los Angeles (14-27) (23)- None expected them to be playoff team, but still under achieving
29. St. Louis (12-26) (28) - Playing better as of late. May forestall trade talks?
30. Philadelphia (10-28)(25)- Still by far the worst team in the NHL. Without Forsberg, worst ever?

Blake Extension Imminent?

1) Sources on Long island told FAUXRUMORS over the holiday weekend that there have been on going (Informal) discussions with Islander forward Jason Blake, and Isles acting GM, Garth Snow about a contract extension.
2) The diminutive spark plug like forward is currently having a career year with the Isles. The Minnesota native is on pace to shatter his career best, set only last year with 57 points. After 38 games Blake already has 39 points. Among the league leaders with PP goals, he has established some good chemistry with Captain Alexei Yashin
3) Under the terms of the CBA, until yesterday it would have been illegal to have formal discussions to extend a contract. However that didn't stop maverick owner Charles Wang from inviting Blake and his agent over to his L.I. estate to discuss Jason's future. We're told that the moves last month that freed up significant cap space might be used to formally announce a extension well before this season is completed
4) Our source tells us that terms that have been (informally) discussed were along the lines of a 3 year 12 million extension. On the open market next summer the 33 year old might have fetched upwards of 5 or more. People close to the forward tell us he feels a certain degree of loyalty towards the organization that resurrected his career with a trade from the Kings mid way through the 2000-2001 season.