Wild Ink Nolan
The Minnesota Wild continued their off-season makeover Sunday, signing gritty winger Owen Nolan to a two-year contract worth $5.5 million US.
Here is What Wild GM Doug Risebrough had to say about the gritty forward:
“Owen Nolan is a true power winger who can score goals, play a physical brand, play either wing and take faceoffs”
Nolan should be a nice addition to the Wild who have been very active in signing fre agent forwards this off-season. Minnesota will, no doubt, benefit from Nolan’s experience, leadership and tenacious style of play.
Lowe and Burke At It Again
Edmonton Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe tore into Brian Burke on Friday when he made an appearance on Edmonton’s Team 1260 radio station. Lowe called him a moron, described the Anaheim hockey market as pathetic, and then discussed how Burke destroyed the Vancouver Canucks.
Lowe went on to describe Burke as a “Media Junkie” and then makes reference to Burke’s single Stanley Cup compared to Lowe’s six. To be fair, I don’t think that Lowe is comparing apples to apples as his cups came courtesy of his playing days.
It doesn’t appear that Burke wants to continue the “feud” as he is reportedly not commenting on the remarks made by Lowe.
Penguins Cooke-ing!
The NHL Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins went the free-agent route to replace agitator Jarkko Ruutu on Saturday, signing forward Matt Cooke to a two-year contract.
While Ruutu was clearly an asset for the Penguins last season, it is believed that Cooke is a better two-way player with more offensive upside than Ruutu. Cooke is known as a character player throughout the league and should fit in nicely with the Penguins as Shero continues to mold an exquisite supporting cast for Crosby and Malkin.
Leafs Have High Hopes
The Toronto Maple Leafs signed centre Mikhail Grabovski to a one-year, US$850,000 contract on Friday, one day after acquiring him in a trade with Montreal. The 24-year old had three goals and nine points in 24 games with the Canadiens last season.
The Maple Leafs sent prospect Greg Pateryn and a second-round draft choice to Montreal in exchange for Grabovski. I think Montreal got a steal of deal here. A prospect and a pick for Grabovski who has a questioanable future in the National Hockey League.
Players Feel Buffaloed By Sabres
The Buffalo news is reporting what we have known for years, the Sabres have a poor reputation among players.
Gleason goes on to comment that It has become increasingly evident that the only way to get quality veterans into Buffalo is to force them here through trades. It’s an unpleasant way to survive.
“Forget the woe-is-Buffalo excuse. Everybody knows this is a passionate hockey town, but the word has spread about the organization’s business practices. The Sabres are known more for their commitment to the bottom line than their commitment to winning. To players, it might as well be Edmonton.”