As the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings get set for Saturday's Stadium Series game at Coors Field in Denver, an esteemed group of hockey legends from both sides gathered to renew acquaintances and pay homage to a great modern rivalry in the alumni game.
After Valeri Kamensky opened the scoring, a pair of Hall of Fame centers got in on the action, beginning with Steve Yzerman's rebound goal past Patrick Roy.
Soon after, Joe Sakic displayed his still deadly wrist shot, beating Ty Conklin up high.
NEWARK, N.J. - The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed defenceman Braydon Coburn to a three-year contract extension.
General manager Steve Yzerman announced the deal Friday before the team played the Devils in New Jersey.
Coburn has played in ...
Stan Bowman's roster re-making and cunning ability to maneuver around the salary walls that are constantly closing in on his empire is the stuff of legends.
Now, this isn't to say he's bamboozled every executive brave enough to seal an agreement with a firm handshake. Brandon Saad's doing just fine in Columbus, thanks. But the Chicago Blackhawks general manager seems to make the most advantageous decision for his dynastic franchise every single time out. Even moves that prompt a few head scratches, work.
So there's really no reason to suggest his latest stroke, the acquisition of the rental market's presumably most-expensive asset, Andrew Ladd, won't be another shrewd decision. One looked back at and lauded, all over again.
It's a former subordinate, though, a man who won a title with Bowman and Ladd almost six years ago, that deserves a heaping slab of credit in the fallout from Thursday night's blockbuster.
Because Kevin Cheveldayoff's come a long way since he tabled a lucrative long-term contract offer to the 10-year veteran who'd recently rolled off a surgical table, and whose signature would have probably victimized the singular, and most unique asset on the Winnipeg Jets' roster.
The right call
The Jets GM was met with the greatest plight of his career this summer. Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien, the organization's senior pillars - who though sewn through the fabric of the organization are on the wrong side of 30 - came up for new contracts, and raises, at the same time.
At first, the plan appeared to involve retaining both. However, contract talks in the summer, and even into the start of the season, seemed to focus primarily around Ladd. He was the Jets' captain, a player who recently set a career high in points, and performed valiantly through a sports hernia for a chunk of last season.
Still, to someone outside the market, it seemed misguided. Ladd remains a useful top-six player with 50-point potential. And his role as captain, and in turn his value, transcends point production to a certain extent. But he's a depreciating asset playing a subsidiary position, and a player showing his 10 seasons of on-ice battles.
Simply put: a long-term deal with Ladd would most certainly see the Jets paying for what he's done, not what he will do.
To Winnipeg's benefit but despite its efforts, things would change. Byfuglien, who's actually a few months older than Ladd but has appeared in about 100 fewer games, emerged as Cheveldayoff's priority.
And, he turned out to be a far easier sell.
The Jets signed the best deal for the organization under the circumstances Feb. 8, inking Byfuglien to a five-year extension worth $38 million.
Though a veteran, Byfuglien is still raw and prone to the blunder. But his footprint, overall impact, and combination of skills he'll bring over the next five years is so much greater, and so much more valuable than that of Ladd's.
About time
Limiting the term on Byfuglien, a player that's either at, fast approaching, or now passing the peak of his career was most important in Chevy's dealings. But the timing of his pact with the rover, and clarity gained when the captain was pinched with weeks still leading up to the deadline shouldn't be understated.
It was that defined direction that helped drive up the price over the weeks that Ladd was peddled on the open market, and Cheveldayoff received tremendous value on his asset as a result.
Barring a deal, the Jets will select twice in the first round in back-to-back drafts, while Marko Dano - a former first-round pick in his own right - joins Hobey Baker challenger Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey, Joel Armia, and a surplus of quality prospects assembling under the Jets' banner.
It wasn't without a few clumsy first steps, and assistance from Ladd's staunch negotiation, but in retaining Byfuglien and manufacturing a return on their captain, Cheveldayoff made the most of a difficult situation.
The New Jersey Devils are facing the prospect of fighting for a playoff spot without one of their best players.
Mike Cammalleri, who's been out of the lineup since Jan. 26 with a hand injury, suffered a setback in his recovery and could miss the rest of the season, head coach John Hynes revealed Friday.
Hynes: "He's not close (to returning)." Cammalleri is skating on his own without a stick.
The Chicago Blackhawks have completed another deal, officially trading Rob Scuderi to the Los Angeles Kings for fellow defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, the Kings confirmed.
The former Avalanche defenseman was asked if there was one member of the former Red Wings he would punch in the face Friday night during the alumni game, and responded with one word.
"Draper," he told Denver's 104.3 The Fan on Thursday morning.
Kris Draper, to be exact - the former Red Wings forward who was hit into the boards from behind by Colorado's Claude Lemieux in Game 6 of the 1996 Western Conference final.
"Lemieux was frustrated simply because, the way the game was going, Detroit knew they were going to lose that series," Foote said.
"(Red Wings head coach Scotty) Bowman was setting the table for the following years, in my opinion. Just earlier in that game, I got hit from behind (by Vyacheslav) Kozlov, and that took 20 stitches.”
Draper suffered a broken jaw, as well as shattered cheek and orbital bones on the Lemieux hit, but Foote is still not pleased with how his former rival reacted after the incident.
"I just didn't like the way Draper carried (himself)," Foote said. "Yeah, you can be upset (that) it was a bad hit, (but) it was a bad hit on myself and all we heard in the media for, god, over a year was (about) that hit.
"It's too bad that he got hurt that way, but he was always just a little bit of a pest. There's something about him that just turns my stomach the wrong way."
Foote and Draper were teammates on the Canadian team at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turino, Italy.
The Avalanche-Red Wings alumni game takes place Friday night at Coors Field in Denver.
Bathgate spent the majority of his career with the New York Rangers, spending parts of 12 seasons with the team, amassing 272 goals and 729 points in 719 games as a member of the blue, red, and white.
The trade may not become official until later Friday, but the pending transaction includes Ehrhoff and Blackhawks defenseman Rob Scuderi, McKenzie reports.
Ehrhoff has a cap hit of $550,000 while buried in the AHL after being placed on waivers and assigned to the Ontario Reign earlier this month.
The Blackhawks waived Scuderi and assigned him to the AHL's Rockford IceHogs last week. He has a cap hit of $1.3 million this season, and another $1.3 million in 2016-17.
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Olli Maatta felt like a Pittsburgher from the moment the Penguins took the talented teenager with the 22nd overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, the one held on the floor of the Consol Energy Center.
"It started to feel ...
"Recently, I underwent yet another medical procedure, and I need more time to recover and heal from it," Torres said. "After this most recent procedure, I want to give myself the proper amount of rest and recovery time so that my body can completely heal."
The longtime NHL forward remained with the AHL's San Jose Barracuda even after being traded by the Sharks to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Roman Polak deal Monday.
