But with me being a hockey nut, before I headed out to Parliament Hill to enjoy the festivities, I was glued to TSN, SportsNet, NHL.com, essentially any channel that would have the Free Agent signings of the day. Obviously, the biggest transactions didn't come until Independence Day, for all the American followers. You know which names I'm talking about -- Zack Parise and Ryan Suter -- both getting matching contracts to the Minnesota Wild for the same amount of time. Is this a smart investment for Wild GM Chuck Fletcher? With Heatley and Koivu already stealing the show, the two new Wild players have already pumped more season ticket owners than previous years, which makes you feel for the rest of the team, that it takes two free agents to pump that kind of dough into the Xcel Energy Center. Regardless, the West should see a good change of players heading elsewhere to different teams.
I would expect to see Jaromir Jagr pump some people into Dallas to see their games, signing a 1-year deal for about $4.55 million. And "BigMac Jokinen" (for those who don't get it, I'll post a video at the end of this post" is headed to Winnipeg to indulge in their second year as a new franchise coming from Atlanta.
I won't really touch base on the draft, because there isn't much to talk about... yet. Sure, Nail Yakupov went first overall as expected, doesn't necessarily make him a number 1 forward. I would like to see Malcolm Subban play behind Tuukka Rask this season, but wouldn't be surprised if he spent the year down in Providence.
That pretty much sums up this Sunday morning. Hope to report soon with more off-season news! Happy summer!
Video courtesy of HockeyWebCaster;
"If the Great One tells you to eat a burger, you better go eat one"
