Historical NHL Free Agent Signings on July 6

July 6th has typically been a busy day over the course of history. With some quality free agents still available, is there any reason to believe that this season will be any different?

If history is any indicator, we might see some of those available free agents signing contracts today!

Historical July 6 NHL Free Agent Signings

July 6, 2004 – Phoenix Coyotes signed free agent defenseman Sean O’Donnell, who had been with the Boston Bruins.

July 6, 2004 – Ottawa Senators signed free agent goaltender Dominik Hasek.

July 6, 2004 – Los Angeles Kings signed free agent Craig Conroy, who had been with the Calgary Flames.

July 6, 2001 – Minnesota Wild signed free agent Andrew Brunette. Brunette went on to lead all 2001 Free Agents – in scoring, with 69 points in 2001-02.

July 6, 2001 – Boston Bruins signed free agent left wing Rob Zamuner.

July 6, 2000 – Philadelphia Flyers signed free agent Michal Sykora.

July 6, 2000 – Los Angeles Kings signed free agent Stu Grimson.

July 6, 1999 – New York Rangers signed free agents Valeri Kamensky and Stephane Quintal.

July 6, 1998 – Nashville Predators signed free agent Tom Fitzgerald, and named him the first Captain in team history.

July 6, 1994 – Philadelphia Flyers signed free agent Craig MacTavish

July 6, 1983 – Detroit signed free agent goaltender Ken Holland, who went on to play 3 games with the Red Wings in 1983-84, finishing with a 4.11 GAA.

*Incidentally, Holland was named the Red Wings General Manager in 1997.

July 6, 1983 – Boston Bruins signed free agent Geoff Courtnall

July 6, 1978 – The Islanders signed John Tonelli as a free agent. Tonelli went on to star with the Islanders’ four Stanley Cup Winners.

Brent Burns Fights Jason Jaffray

Vancouver Canuck youngster, Jason Jaffray, got tangled up with Minnesota’s Brent Burns and took the worst of a beating from the Wild rearguard in a fight on December 5, 2008.  Jaffray certainly showed his lack of fighting  experience, having just one previous NHL fight (vs. Steve Staios), taking several solid shots to the head from Burns .

Apparently Burns, even though he has just four NHL fights under his belt, is no stranger to throwing fists – he practices jiu-jitsu in the off-season.

Avalanche and Wild in OT Thriller!

Shane Giroux reports from Colorado Avalanche Talk: 

Wow. If that’s how the entire series is going to be, I don’t think I can watch any more games. That was Intense. It was hard-hitting, fast-paced and had about 100 times as much emotion as their last game against each other.

In other words, this was playoff hockey!

Recap
The game started off with both teams hitting anything that moved. And that mindset never let up for the full 71:11 tonight.

The Avalanche got on the board first on a Kurt Sauer marker. No, that’s not a typo. Kurt Sauer scored his second playoff goal – his previous was in Minnesota as well – off of a beauty Joe Sakic setup early in the 2nd.

Ryan Smyth followed that one up with a powerplay goal late in the second. Yes, the Avalanche were 50% on the PP tonight. It must be a full moon tonight or something.

The Wild never shut down though and they came out hard in the third. They were rewarded early as Mikko Koivu got a puck past the previously impenetrable Jose Theodore. He got that puck past Theodore thanks to an unfortunate redirection off of Jeff Finger’s skate. But we still love Finger.

Then just 3 minutes later the Wild tied it up on a powerplay of their own as Todd Fedoruk found himself all alone in front of the net and got it past Theodore. Who was supposed to be covering Fedoruk? And why didn’t Foote get that puck out of the zone?

So it was off to OT while I tried to calm my beating heart.

You know who was already calm? Joe Sakic. You know who decided the game had gone on too long? Joe Sakic. Elevent minutes in, he gobbled up a rebound off a Ruslan Salei point shot and slid it underneath a sprawling Backstrom. And you know what? The usually reserved Mr. Sakic was caught on camera giving a giant “Whooo!” after he scored. I love it!

OT Superhero
We can talk all we want about Chris “Clutch” Drury but let’s never forget what Joe Sakic has done for this team when it matters most. This was Joe’s 8th career OT playoff goal and he is magic when the game is on the line.

His composure in these situations keeps the entire team relaxed and focused so they can do their jobs. Heck, tonight Joe was even laying the body out a bit to help lead by example.

That’s one other thing to not forget. Joe is a strong, tough player. He comes from “the Dub” and that league is not for the faint of heart. If you survive in that league, you’re going to come out the other side with a rough-and-tumble exterior.

Goaltending
Wow. Kudos to both goaltenders for putting on a show. Nik Backstrom didn’t need to get going until about midway through the game as the Avalanche didn’t put much rubber on him but once they did, he was up to the task. He made at least 3 snazzy glove saves and looked cool as a cucumber in net.

At the other end, Jose Theodore looked sensational. If it wasn’t for Theodore, the Avalanche would be hanging their heads after a 5-1 defeat.

Early on the Wild were pressing hard but Theodore stood tall – and quick – in the net and kept his team in the game. When the Wild finally got their first goal, the shots were 22-9 in favor of the Wild. Enough said.

Refereeing
Ok, look back through pretty much every post I’ve ever made and you’ll notice one thing; I don’t bitch about refs.

Tonight was different. There was a stretch in the second period where the refs looked to actively have their heads shoved somewhere they shouldn’t be. There were quite a few interference calls that were missed including the blatantly obvious one by Rolston on Hannan. In that same shift, the Wild got their first goal. So yes, the refs directly led to the Avalanche first goal.

And then, they had the audacity to try to “make up for it” by not calling the most obvious trip in the game. Milan Hejduk was all but in the penalty box after he tripped a Wild forward but both refs inexplicably held their arms down. Oh wait, it wasn’t inexplicable. It was a gesture of incompetence to try and appease the Colorado bench.

Terrible effort by the refs.

Smyth, Wolski and the Forse
Ryan Smyth had a tremendous game. This was the Ryan Smyth I was stoked about last summer. He played an in-your-face style, charged the net hard, kept his feet moving and was an overall menace. If only he’d been able to convert on his penalty shot opportunity! But hey, he did managed to score the Avs second goal so we’ll forgive him.

Wojtek Wolski also had a whale of a game. He had 2 assists on the night including setting up the game winning goal with some nice, composed moves up high. He was forechecking, backchecking and hitting and that’s what I want to see out of Wolski. If he does those 3 things each game, the points will come just like they did tonight.

And Peter Forsberg. What can be said about this guy. I’ll have to echo Pierre McGuire’s comment – albeit less enthusiastically and high-pitched – and say “This guy is spectacular!”

I don’t know Forsberg keeps the puck on his stick the way he does but it’s magical. And the respect he garners opens up so much ice for his teammates that it’s unreal. Please, please, please stay healthy, Foppa.

Props all around
I singled out Ryan Smyth, Wojtek Wolski and Peter Forsberg but really, the whole lineup deserves kudos tonight. The checking line of Guite, Laperriere and McLeod worked hard, the defense played a solid game and there really was no scapegoat tonight.

Of course winning helps deter the need for a scapegoat. But I’m still looking at you, Arnason.

The “Boogeyman”
This dude scares the crap out of me. However he appears to do no such thing to the members of the Avalanche. He absolutely flattened Ben Guite and David Jones at different points in the game and they both got right back up and kept on ticking.

There were a couple times that Guite directly went after Boogaard even after Boogaard had flattened him. He also whiffed on an open cage during a powerplay opportunity when something with hands – not fists – would likely have buried it.

And it certainly didn’t stop the Avs from knocking Marian Gaborik down multiple times.

So much for the “Boogeyman” effect.

Next game
The next game is at 9:00 EDT on Friday which should leave the West coast fans plenty of time to hit the bars to celebrate a 2-0 series lead. Or did I just jinx it?