Corey Hirsch is a former NHL goaltender who spent parts of seven seasons with the New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals, and Dallas Stars.

Every year at midnight on July 1, the NHL's free-agent frenzy begins - and it's a very different experience depending on how sought-after a player is.

The most popular players sit on their royal thrones as agents feed them grapes and let the offers roll in. Teams trip over themselves, courting and overspending, trying to sign that special player they believe will put their team over the top and bring them the Stanley Cup.

Well, that's not it exactly, but for some players it's that easy - and rightfully so. Those players have worked hard, and earned that right.

For the other 95 percent of free-agent players, it's nothing even remotely like that. On July 1, most will have already received a phone call or a couriered letter from their team that informs them their services are no longer needed.

Mike McKenna, a 12-year veteran depth goaltender, is one of those players. He's coming off a great season in which he took Syracuse to the AHL finals, losing to Grand Rapids in six games. He will become a free agent on Saturday.

"July 1 is incredibly nerve-racking; depth goalies are almost always on one-year deals, and the pressure to perform is constant," McKenna says. "Even when you know you've had a good season, there are only so many jobs available and every year someone really good ends up without a seat."

Free agency always offered a special twist for me; my birthday falls on July 1. The hardest one without a doubt was 1997 - the year I found out the Canucks had signed Arturs Irbe and realizing I was on my way out.

Let the birthday celebration commence.

What's fascinating to me is how the decision of a free-agent player at the top can completely affect the direction of someone else's life.

The year I thought I was going to make the New York Rangers, they signed Glenn Healy as a free agent. I was crushed, but went on to play in the Olympics. It was the best hockey experience of my life. If Healy doesn't sign with the Rangers, I never play in the Olympics.

So when Joe Thornton signs with a team, the domino effect will begin.

Thornton will take the first-line center spot, and bump everyone a seat back. The kid in the minors that was hoping to crack the fourth line will find himself in the minors again. The free-agent journeyman, hoping to take that player's place in the minors, will now be looking in a new direction.

The same thing will happen to the goaltending pecking order when Ryan Miller signs. That team's third-string goalie will be back in the minors, and the Mike McKennas of the world will have to go somewhere else.

I can't pinpoint that moment when a player goes from prospect to suspect, but free agency isn't always a million-dollar windfall. For most, it's nervously waiting for a chance to stay alive in hockey - and when one door closes, you can only hope that another one opens.

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