Frank Mazzola: You were drafted 8th overall in 1994. Obviously, being selected that high comes with high expectations. Did you feel any adverse pressure to perform because of this and, if so, how did the pressure affect your approach to the game?

Jason Wiemer: There was definitely pressure, but I think, being that young, I didn’t even realize the magnitude of it. Looking back now, the ignorance was probably a blessing.

(Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)

Lubomir Visnovsky #17 of the Los Angeles Kings ties up Jason Wiemer #28 of the Minnesota Wild in front of the net in the first period during the NHL game on January 26, 2004 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

FM: You’ve played with 6 different teams (Tampa Bay, Calgary, Florida, New York Islanders, Minnesota Wild, New Jersey) during your career. Where was your favorite place to play and why (location, fans, the area…etc.)?

JW: Of course, playing in Florida was nice. However, my favorite place was Minnesota. They have a great organization, some of the best coaches and fantastic fans.

FM: Tell us about the most memorable goal you scored in the NHL.

JW: It would have to be my first one. I would like to tell you it was end to end, top shelf, but I’d be lying. It was against Quebec and I think it went off my shin pad. But it was my first N.H.L goal and it was pretty exciting.

FM: Were there any particular players you dreaded suiting up against (due to their skill, fighting ability…etc)?

JW: I don’t know if I dreaded playing anyone, but there were a few I didn’t look forward to. Tony Twist was a guy that made you look over your shoulder. I was lucky enough to play against some of the game’s greats like Lemieux, Gretzky and Messier. Playing guys like that was always a thrill and something I’ll never forget

FM: Who was your least favorite goalie to face and why?

JW: I’d have to say Hasek. He was in his prime and was pretty much unbeatable. Not to mention, he would be out in the corner playing pucks or at the blue line, flopping around like a fish.

FM: Hockey players are notorious for having pre-game and season-long rituals. Can you share with us any particular superstitions or routines you might have employed during your career?

JW: Actually, I was one of the rare ones that tried not to get wrapped up in superstitions. Maybe that’s because I never got on a long enough hot streak to keep doing the same thing (laughs).

FM: How did the game change from the time you were drafted up until the end of your career? What sorts of adjustments did you have to make to adapt?

JW: The game has changed in many ways in the last fifteen years. I think the biggest difference has been the size of the players. When I was drafted, teams were all about big guys. Now, they are leaning towards the smaller, faster players. The most important thing for me was to get faster. I dropped six or seven pounds to try and accomplish that.

FM: Now that you are retired, do you have any plans to seek employment within the league (coaching, player agent, league official… etc.)?

JW: I don’t have any plans to get back involved with the NHL, but I am doing some coaching here in Calgary [ Note: Jason is instructing this summer at National Sports Development, a youth hockey camp.]. It’s been fun to stay involved in the game and pass on any knowledge I may have learned to young players.

FM: Has the labor dispute which caused the cancellation of the 2004-05 season affected the relationship between the owners and the players? How did you spend your time during the lockout?

JW: I don’t know if has affected the relationship that much. As you can see, the players are still making big salaries, some even bigger than before. So, I think the players are happy with the new CBA. As for the lockout, I spent most of the time doing things I wasn’t able to do when I was playing…. a lot of hunting, fishing, hiking and skiing. It’s a good thing I could play hockey because…well, I’m a really bad skier (laughs).

FM: In your opinion, can the salary cap continue to rise in the NHL despite falling revenue and flagging interest in the American market? Are the salaries that recent free agents have received out of line with the current economic state of the league?

JW: I don’t know if it can or not. Its funny, though: Before the lockout, all the owners were crying bankruptcy and now they’re paying out more than they were. The amount and length of some of the contracts is concerning, but wiser men than me are running these organizations. So, hopefully, the league will continue to thrive in Canadian markets and grow in some of the American ones

FM: Jason, thanks very much for your time. Good luck with the hockey camp and your other future endeavors.

JW: Thank you.

Alex Tanguay native of Sainte-Justine Quebec has played eight seasons in the NHL. The Colorado Avalanche had Tanguay’s services for six seasons, one of which is a Stanley cup season.

The Calgary Flames had Tanguay for two seasons.

Now, the Montreal Canadiens acquired Tanguay. Michael Ryder is most likely going to be the odd man out now.

Tanguay has played eight seasons in the NHL, here are some interesting numbers for him. Within Tanguay’s eight seasons in the NHL he has 4 years with over 70 points, 5 years with over 60 points, 1 year with 81 points, and 7 years with over 50 points.

A slight comparison between Tanguay and Michael Ryder at their worst. Ryder having his worst season this year had 14 goals and 17 assists for 31 points. Tanguay had 18 goals and 35 assists for 48 points. As one can see even with Tanguay’s worst year, he still has more points than Ryder at his worst.

At 6′1” and 189 pounds, Tanguay is a little taller than Ryder, but a couple of pounds lighter as well. Tanguay is the better all around player. His skating is superior, his defensive coverage is better, and he is a better passer than Ryder, to go along with scoring at the right time.

Tanguay is consistent. Unfortunately for Ryder who in his defense has only played half the seasons than Tanguay, his time is most likely over in Hab town. Perhaps he will flourish in another organization, but the fact that the Habs have only offered a one year deal for Ryder the past few seasons says that they were never really sure they wanted to keep him anyway.

Tanguay has stated that he hopes to sign an extensionwith the Canadiens. Bob Gainey-GM of the Habs–has stated that perhaps Tanguay could remain a Hab for longer than one season.

The Montreal Canadiens have in Tanguay, a player that can play either side of centre, or centre itself. With the speed Tanguay possesses he is already better than Ryder. And Tanguay’s vision is better than Ryder’s also. To put it brief, if Tanguay plays with Saku Koivu, they should both have a good season. Koivu’s confidence in Ryder had been almost in-existent this past season. Tanguay should provide the Habs with a second scoring line that can produce, something which they needed in the post season against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Canadiens won the Eastern Confernce without the consistent scoring of Koivu’s line. If Koivu’s line produces, what can the fans expect this year with two lines scoring?

Tanguay will have pressure as a French Canadian player who has talent playing for the Habs. But playing with Koivu on a team which is getting better year after year with young blood should be just what he needs to keep his consistency up and make the Habs better than they were last season.

On a side note, the Canadiens have the exclusive rights to talk to Mats Sundin until July 1. But if Mats decides that he doesn’t want to come and play in Montreal, the Habs should go after Marian Hossa. Possibly Sean Avery and or George Laraque as well depending on who the Habs acquire. Sundin for two years would be great, unfortunately he seems to be playing games with the Habs saying that he hasn’t decided if he wants to play hockey again. Look Mats, I know you gave everything you had to the Maple Leafs when you played for them, but this is business. Either tell the Habs that you are not interested so the team can move on, or sign with them. Sundin only has 1-2 years left in him. If he plays the waiting game, he might regret it in the end.

Hopefully for the fans, Sundin will sign with the Habs. If not then Bob Gainey should move on to the next target as it appears that the Habs are serious about putting the right talented veterans with their crop of young guns this year.

The trade consists of Habs first round pick this year and their second round pick next year, for Calgary Flames forward Alex Tanguay and Flames fifth round pick this year.

Tanguay had this to say,

“I’m very excited about this great news. I’m a hockey fan, and I like the way the Canadiens play. It suits my style of play”.

With the Vancouver Canucks waiving their number 10 pick around, coupled with the fact that they most likely won’t resign forward Brendan Morrison and the possibility that Markus Naslund will resign cheaper, the ‘Nucks will try something.

It is still unclear at this point if the Toronto Maple Leafs will resign Mats Sundin. What is clear however is that they are waiving their number 7 pick around and have been linked with Patrick Marleau, Olli Jokinen, and Vincent Lecavalier to name a few.

The Montreal Canadiens have also been rumoured to try and move up in the draft to make a deal go through. Andrei Kostitsyn should be signed by the draft. Marc Streit could be also although rumours suggest that he would be traded. The Habs are also being linked to Marian Hossa, Sundin, Eric Cole, Ryan Malone, and Lecavalier to name a few. In Hossa’s case the Habs are trying to trade for his rights.

The Carolina Hurricanes are rumoured to be in on Joni Pitkanen.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are rumoured to be in on Marleau as well as Malone.

The Calgary Flames are rumoured to be hunting Jokinen.

The Boston Bruins are hunting Hossa.

To be brief, just mentioning seven teams and one could see that the draft this year might live up to the hype that every media source is putting out there.

Perhaps the draft will be more exciting than the first week of July.

Let’s hope that this year’s draft will be one not to miss.

The entry draft is for minor league players to move up in life, unfortunately for the minor leaguers, fortunately for the fans, this year it should be more about NHL players changing addresses.

There are 30 teams in the NHL. Perhaps not all the teams will make something happen, but if one believes the hype, it should be a draft day frenzy.

Since the lock-out season in 2004-05, the cap has steadily continued to increase. From three years ago until now the NHL has increased it’s cap, with three years left in the CBA, it isn’t ludacris to suggest that by the end of the current CBA the NHL will have a salary cap of over 70 million at the current rate of inflation.

It’s a good thing that the cap continues to climb, sure the fans are paying more for their tickets, but it also means that even if ticket prices have soared the fans are willing to pay, which in turn means more revenue for the NHL, and teams.

Unfortunately for the NHL when the current CBA ends, if the cap is 70 million or over, teams like the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, and maybe a few others will be able to maintain a competitive team, however there might be another debate as to small market teams like the Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames–to name only two– and if they will be able to survive with the cap and floor being so high.

This could result in the public and players as well as the owners losing one year of hockey and revenues as well as salaries for nothing, Eventually you might have teams being able to support two three or four players making over 8 million a season. That doesn’t mean that a certain team will be the best. Look at the Tampa Bay Lightning, until the trade deadline Tampa had Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, and Martin St-Louis, and they did poorly even though those players had a good year.

I presume that for now all the fans can do is go with the flow, and challenge their respective teams to use the accending cap to acquire better players or keep the good players that they already have. However if the world of hockey is subject to another lock-out in three years I don’t think that the fans will be so quick to come back to the sport.

For now let’s all enjoy the fact that there is hockey, and make our teams use the money that is available to them and acquire some more players, let’s enjoy it while we can.

In the Western Conference you will see the Dallas Stars against the San Jose Sharks, and the Detroit Red-Wings against the Colorado Avalanche.

Stars, Sharks: Evegeni Nabokov against Marty Turco. Nabokov is the better goalie this year by far, but Turco has played really well, and didn’t play as many games during the regular season as Nabokov, one would have to think that Nabokov will get tired eventually. Nabokov has the edge as long as he doesn’t get tired. The Stars still don’t have Sergei Zubov, which could hurt them in this series. If the Stars hope to defeat the Sharks they will have to do the same thing as they did against the Anaheim Ducks, as the Sharks are also a physical team, however they might be a little bruised after their last series against the Calgary Flames. Technically the Sharks should win, but then again, everyone had the Ducks winning too, as the Stars had a bad end of the season, and look what happened.

Avalanche, Red-Wings: As much as it pains me to say it, with the recent play of the almost extinct Dominik Hasek, Jose Theodore is the better goalie so far, Chris Osgood is a good goalie, unfortunately Theodore has been standing on his head in the play-offs, the edge to starting goalie goes to the Avalanche. Ian Laperriere, he has got a target on his back after smashing Niklas Lidstrom into cloud nine at the end of the season. The scorers for both teams are about even, the defence however goes to the Red-Wings. This series should go to the Red-Wings, but they didn’t impress too many people in their last series, are they too old? The Avalanche have some speed, but will it be enough to win? Colorado could upset.

In the Eastern Conference you will see the Pittsburgh Penguins against the New York Rangers, and the Montreal Canadiens against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Penguins, Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist, enough said. Lundqvist is superior to Ty Conklin, and Marc Andre Fleury, by far. Pittsburgh’s offence is better than the Rangers, but, Jaromir Jagr has come out of his shell, that could hurt the Pens. The Pens are all offence, and didn’t have much trouble sweeping the Ottawa Senators in their last series, but the Rangers are not the Sens. The Rangers have Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, to shut down either the Sidney Crosby line, or the Evgeni Malkin line. But will the Pens be able to defend against the re-appearance of Jagr the great, Brendan Shanahan, Brandon Dubinsky, and Martin Straka? Fleury, or Conklin will have their hands full in this series. The only factor that will not be one is Sean Avery, yes he can score some nice goals, which he just might, but his intimidation antics will not work in Pittsburgh with big George Laraque on the ice, Avery better hope that those two don’t meet, or else Avery can book his hospital room right now. Besides goal-tending which the Blue Shirts hold the advantage, the Pens have more explosive talent up front, question is, will they be able to explode on the Rangers, the Rangers aren’t the Sens. Keep the Pens in their own zone. I believe that the Rangers could win this one, if they are able to slow down the Pens, if not, the Pens take it.

Canadiens, Flyers: Where to start, well to keep it short, Carey Price is better than Martin Biron. The Flyers defence is slow, and Derian Hatcher has seen better days. These two teams were no.1, and no.2 in the regular season on the power-play, with the Habs being no.1. The Habs had a hard time against the Bruins on the p.p., but if they can manage to bring it back now that Saku Koivu is back then they will do well as the Flyers are an undisciplined team. Daniel Briere will be deaf when he leaves the Bell Centre, and may have to work on his confidence as well as the Montreal fans will let him have it big time. Montreal has the edge in coaching staff, and defence, as well as in between the pipes. With Mike Knuble, and Simon Gagne out, for sure the Habs have the edge in offence as well, question is, will Philly be able to contain it for seven games if necessary? Montreal should win this one, as the Flyers only impressed themselves by winning, but you never know, still the Habs should prevail if their power-play clicks, and they play their game, and don’t play the Flyers way, yes the Flyers have Steve Downie, but the Habs have Steve Begin, Tom Kostopoulos, Francis Bouillon, and Maxim Lapierre to a lesser extent. The Habs two best players in Alex Kovalev, and Carey Price, are better than the two best players of the Flyers in Mike Richards, and Daniel Briere. Should be a good one to watch.

Stamford, CONN. (April 8, 2008)—VERSUS, the exclusive cable television home of the NHL, will televise wall-to-wall Stanley Cup Playoffs action starting April 9 with the Conference Quarterfinals as the Ottawa Senators begin their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7 p.m. ET followed by Game 1 of the series between the Calgary Flames and the San Jose Sharks at 10 p.m. ET. VERSUS will kick-off the night with “Hockey Central” at 6:30 p.m. ET. The network will air all of the rounds leading up to and including the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final. Each night during the playoffs, VERSUS will televise one or two playoff games as well as the studio wrap-up show, “Hockey Central.”

Now in its third year televising the NHL, VERSUS has seen a substantial increase in total viewership and ratings for the 2007/08 regular season compared to the 2006/07 campaign. At the conclusion of this year’s regular season, national household ratings were up 50 percent (.3 vs. .2), total viewership showed an increase of 28 percent (272,417 vs. 212,366), household impressions were up 20 percent (192,675 vs. 160,134) and viewership for Men 25-54 was up 45 percent (99,753 vs. 69,018).

In the Conference Quarterfinals, which begin on April 9, VERSUS’ coverage is non-exclusive and subject to local blackouts. In the Conference Semifinals, which are scheduled to begin April 23, VERSUS has two exclusive games per series. During the Conference Finals, which are scheduled to begin on May 8, the network will have exclusive coverage of both series. The total number of playoff games will vary depending upon the length of each individual series. VERSUS’ Stanley Cup Playoffs coverage will culminate with the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final, currently scheduled for May 27 and 29. All VERSUS-produced games in each series will be produced in hi-definition. VERSUS will, when feasible, simulcast games from Canadian networks to give viewers the unique perspective of other networks’ coverage.

“As the exclusive cable television home of the NHL, it is our goal to super-serve hockey fans during both the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs,” said Gavin Harvey, President of VERSUS. “Our best-in-class production and hours of in-depth coverage, coupled with our tremendous presence online, on demand and on mobile, makes VERSUS the ultimate destination for both the casual and hardcore hockey fan.”

Check out VERSUS’ entire quarterfinal coverage for dates and times.

HOCKEY CENTRAL:

The network’s studio show, “Hockey Central,” is hosted by Bill Patrick with Brian Engblom and Keith Jones and will provide extensive insight and commentary of the games and what’s happening around the Stanley Cup Playoffs each night. VERSUS will also, on occasion, bring players and coaches into the studio to serve as celebrity guest analysts. From April 10 through April 14, Manny Legace, goaltender for the St. Louis Blues, will be the first guest to join the VERSUS studio crew.

Among the regular segments of the studio show are the following:

• Keith Jones’ Odd Man Rush, Keith’s unique look at the plays and players who have put themselves in the spotlight, whether for good or bad
• Brian Engblom’s Reality Check, Brian’s personal opinion on NHL issues
• Highlights from games not airing on VERSUS, as well as Plays of the Week
• Parting Shots; where Engblom and Jones debate bullet point debate topics in rapid fire fashion
• Live-Look-Ins wherever possible, bringing viewers live action from games being played concurrently during VERSUS’ telecast
• Features on NHL players away from the ice
• Historical recaps which spotlight the defining and greatest moments in NHL Stanley Cup history

VERSUS-on-Demand:

Each night VERSUS features a playoff match-up, the network will deliver a condensed highlight version of the game that will be distributed via the network’s VOD platform. These will be available the morning after game play, so that hockey fans who may not have seen the previous night’s game won’t miss out on any of the playoff action.

WEB AND MOBILE:

Throughout the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, VERSUS.com will continue to provide extensive information about the NHL, including editorial coverage from some of the most knowledgeable hockey sources. The network also launched the playoffs specific microsite (www.versus.com/stanleycup), which features a video library of the defining moments from last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as the best moments in Stanley Cup Playoffs history. The network’s website will ramp up daily coverage to include game Podcasts and highlights from all of VERSUS’ games as well as daily insider video featuring VERSUS’ NHL talent on the network’s broadband channel “The Player.” Each night after the studio show, VERSUS’ talent will film web-exclusive content that will give the inside scoop on what has happened to-date in the playoffs, as well as their predictions for the future games in the series. The website will also feature a fan zone area where viewers can submit their ultimate NHL moment and photos of a game they attended for a chance to win great playoff prizes.

The network will run media rich banner advertisements on national sports and endemic hockey websites which will, when clicked on, feature expanding video of the previous night’s game highlights. In addition to the media rich banners, VERSUS will also place flash banners on these national sports and endemic hockey sites which will allow viewers to enter their mobile telephone number to receive real-time game alerts throughout the playoffs including when games are about to go in to sudden-death overtime.

VERSUS celebrates real competition in all its forms across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand and VERSUS HD). Now in more than 74 million homes, the network is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as best-in-class events such as The Tour de France, Davis Cup Tennis, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Professional Boxing. The network also offers collegiate sports featuring nationally-ranked teams from top conferences such as the Pac-10, Big 12 and Mountain West. VERSUS features the best field sports programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events that audiences can’t find elsewhere. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

Perhaps that’s why Flyers GM Paul Holmgren has initiate contract talks with Carter’s agent, Rick Curran, as Chuck Gormley of the Courier Post Online reports. However, a deal isn’t close to being completed.

Carter was almost traded along with a first round draft pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs before the trade deadline in exchange for defenseman Tomas Kaberle. The deal was called off when Kaberle refused to waive his no-trade clause.

Erik Erlendsson of The Tampa Tribune suggests that with the addition of “couple of top-six forwards” (whether acquired via free agency or the entry draft), “at least one more veteran defenseman,” and “a solid backup goaltender” the Tampa bay Lightning would be a much better team.

The Lightning have $33 million already committed to 14 players for next season, leaving them perhaps as much as $23 million to spend under the salary cap. Of course, the club may have a different budget to work with depending on what ownership may impose.

Atlanta Thrashers forward Slava Kozlov tells Craig Custance of The Atlanta Journal Constitution that his team could really use a top defenseman.

“This team needs a foundation, defensively - like a [Zdeno] Chara or [Nicklas] Lidstrom. Good teams, they have one or two very good defensemen who can play 30-35 [minutes per game]. Like [Chris] Pronger on Anaheim - one of those guys. They’re hard to find, but that’s what we need. With our goalie, he can win a game by himself, but we have to help them. We can’t let the other team shoot 40-45 times.”

According to Damien Cox of the Toronto Star, the future of pending UFA forward Mats Sundin with the Toronto Maple Leafs is up in the air.

The team may decide to offer him an $8 million deal over two years, or not even bother to bring him back.

Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun suggests that any team thinking of spending the $3 or $4 million Calgary Flames pending UFA forward Kristian Huselius may ask for this summer, would be better off spending their money elsewhere.

“I’m an Islander at heart,” Dubielewicz said. “If I was given the opportunity to continue to be an Islander, I think I’d probably jump on it.”

“I think my value goes up over time. They can see I’m consistent and that my size isn’t a big factor. If I went to another team, I’d probably have to spend a lot of time knocking down those hurdles again.”

Defenseman Alexei Zhitnik tells Craig Custance of The Atlanta Journal Constitution he has not received word from the Atlanta Thrashers about his future with the club.

After being told to stay home for a recent three-game road trip, the veteran blueliner says he is unsure how he fits into the Thrashers’ long-term plans.

“I have no idea,” he said.

Zhitnik, who’s set to earn $3.5 million next season, says he hopes his situation will get resolved quickly after the season’s end.

“I hope everything will be finalized in May and June.”

Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press suggest that Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios will return for at least one more season with the club.

And that would be just fine with the Red Wings.

“I’ve talked to Chris and told him, he’s been around here long enough to know I’m not into a youth movement,” general manager Ken Holland said Friday. “I’m into putting the best product on the ice. Let’s see a strong finish to the year, and there’s a good probability he’ll be back.”

Holland says that the 46-year-old veteran blueliner is a great mentor for the club’s young defenseman.

“The little plays he makes on the penalty kill to his partner, so his partner can ice the puck — those are things you can’t teach,” Holland said. “He’s been able to extend his career for almost a quarter of a century because of his determination, work ethic and passion for the game. I can talk to people about it, and Mike Babcock can talk to people about it, but you just gotta watch Chris. He’s a role model.”

Still with the Red Wings, Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun reports that the club are so keen on re-signing pending UFA defenseman Brad Stuart that they would like to ink him before he can reach free agency.

Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun suggests that Calgary Flames forward Matthew Lombardi could replace pending UFAs Daymond Langkow, Craig Conroy, and Stephane Yelle at the center position if none of them can be re-signed.

First off, the Oilers could use a “sniper” to bolster their attack, some in the mold of San Jose Sharks forward Jonathan Cheechoo.

Secondly, the Oilers will look to add some toughness. While it’s unlikely that former Oilers tough guy Georges Laraque will return to Edmonton, there are other options. Those include UFAs Wade Belak of the Florida Panthers, Jody Shelley of the Sharks, Darcy Hordichuk of the Nashville Predators, and Todd Fedoruk of the Minnesota Wild.

Jean LeFebvre of The Calgary Herald suggests that Calgary Flames pending UFA forward Kristian Huselius may have a hard time getting the contract he wants this summer.

While his play in the months of October, December, January, and so far in March, has been superb, November and February saw the skilled forward play the worst hockey of the season.

Ottawa Senators pending UFA forward Cory Stillman tells James Gordon of The Ottawa Citizen that he’d love to re-sign with the club.

“I’d like to stay. It’s close to home, to my home town,” the Peterborough, Ont., native said. “You know, I was happy in Carolina, but (Ottawa) is one of the places I had said that if I ever had the chance to play, I would jump on it.

“So I’m here now and hopefully I can continue on for a couple years.”

Stillman says he hasn’t had any talks about a contract extension with Senators’ management, yet.

“My thing right now is to come play, win hockey games and continue to play into June,” the 34-year-old said.

According to Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post, Washington Capitals pending restricted free agent forward Brooks Laich could receive a significant raise this summer. A three-year, $3 million deal isn’t out of the question.

As witnessed by their reported interest in Brad Richards of the Tampa Bay Lightning before he was moved to the Dallas Stars, the Blue Jackets are willing to spend big bucks to fill their biggest needs (i.e. a number one and number two center). And with between $15 million to $20 million in salary cap space at their disposal, they may just pull the biggest moves of the summer.

With that in mind, Portzline suggests that Blue Jackets GM may inquire about the availability of Daniel Briere of Philadelphia, Patrick Elias of New Jersey, Scott Gomez of the New York Rangers. The thought there is that those three clubs may be looking for “roster and payroll flexibility.”

Of course, rumors continue to swirl that the Blue Jackets will trade for San Jose Sharks center Patrick Marleau before the entry draft, as Portzline and Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun both have reported. As Gary Peterson of the Contra Costa Times documents in his article, Marleau has had a tough season with the Sharks and has seen his name pop up in numerous trade rumors.

So, getting any one of the aforementioned players would definitely resolve their need for a top-line pivot. But what will Columbus do about their second-line center position?

Portzline suggests that trading for Matthew Lombardi of the Calgary Flames may be an option.

The Flames have two pending unrestricted free agent forwards they would like to re-sign in Craig Conroy and Daymond Langkow, and would consider shedding Lombardi’s salary to make it happen.

“You don’t get (a top-six role) by acclamation, you have to earn it,” Flames GM Darryl Sutter said last week. “To be quite honest, Langkow and Conroy have outplayed him this year.”

*(predicted re-sign value).

Damond Langkow is on the final year of a 3 year contract that paid him an average of 2.442M/season. He already has 25 goals and 56 points this season, just a year after recording 33 goals and 77 points. This year marks the 6th consecutive season Langkow has breached the 20 goal barrier and the 8th consecutive year he’s scored 50 or more points. He’s also been a plus player for the majority of his career. The last time he was in the red in terms of plus/minus was way back in the ‘98-99 season with the Philadelphia Flyers (-8).

In short, Langkow is the very picture of consistency. While he’s never going to be a big time point producer, he’s an established 20 goal, 50 point player who is both versatile and durable. It’s safe to say he would be a pretty hot commodity on the open market and it will no doubt cost the Flames a few more dollars than they’re currently paying to retain him.

Let’s assume Sutter pulls some jiggery-pokery with a long-term, descending type contract (see: Kippers extension, which pays him a relatively tiny 1.5M in the final year, thereby reducing the overall cap-hit substantially) and gets Langkow for a minimal raise - say 3.5M/year for example. That increases the committed dollars to about 47.5M and, reducing the resultant remaining space to between 7-9M (IF the Flames spend right up to next year’s cap). Seven to nine million dollars to sign or replace Conroy, Nolan, Yelle, Huselius and Hale. Huselius alone is positioned to soak up more than half of that figure, meaning:

- Sutter has a plan to reduce the committed cap dollars by cutting some of the roster fat, ie: Wayne Primeau (1.4M), Rhett Warrener (2.35M) and Marcus Nilson (1m), all of whom are healthy scratches more often than not.

And

- Sutter’s prepared to wave good-bye to Huselius, who is one of the top 5 UFA LWers available this summer and will likely be seeking his first big-time contract.

“I’m a Calgarian now,” he says softly. “I believe in this team and this town. I don’t want to be anywhere else. This is home.”

However, due to the league’s new economic environment, Warrener understands that he may very well end up playing for another team next season. He’ll have to take a substantial pay cut on the $2.35 million he’s making this season.

“… at the end the day it’s out of your control. You’re a commodity. That’s the tough part of this business.”

Despite struggling this season and being a healthy scratch in 10 of the previous 12 games, the 32-year-old blueliner says he’s still got a lot of game in him. And he hopes it’s with the Flames.

“I hope so. I mean, I still feel good. I look around the league, and I still think I can play, still think I can contribute.”

As for his lack of playing time, Warrener says that he’s trying to be a professional. Even tough he’s taking it hard.

“Am I POed some days? Sure. Do I take it personally? Of course. Some guys take it harder than others. I take it hard. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to act.”

“You don’t want to be negative or disruptive. You just sit tight and wait for your chance.”

“If you’re a professional, if you were brought up the way I was, to care about the team first, then you there’s only one way to handle a difficult situation like this.”

The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont reports that Atlanta Thrashers forward Erik Christensen wanted out of Pittsburgh because he wasn’t getting enough playing time.

Dupont also suggests that the Boston Bruins should give goalie Tim Thomas a one-year contract extension, while signing Glen Metropolit to a two-year extension due to their strong performances this season.

Lastly from Dupont, he reports that the San Jose Sharks tried hard to deal struggling forward Patrick Marleau before the February 26 trade deadline, but could not find any takers.

According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, Marleau has a “no-movement” clause kicks in on July 1, so he will be even more difficult to deal. That’s why the Sharks wanted to part ways with him now.

Garrioch also reports that the Montreal Canadiens contacted the Chicago Blackhawks to inquire about the availability of forward Martin Havlat, but could not put a deal together. Speculation is that Havlat may be moved during the off-season.

Meanwhile, the Canadiens were also working on trading pending unrestricted free agent forward Michael Ryder to the Calgary Flames for Alex Tanguay. It’s believed that the deal fell through when Flames GM Darryl Sutter decided not trade Tanguay.

Tanguay, who agreed to waive his no-trade clause, is said to be disappointed he was not moved.

Look for the Washington Capitals to attempt and re-sign pending UFA goalie Cristobal Huet, says Garrioch. If they’re successful, longtime Capitals netminder and pending UFA Olaf Kolzig could find himself playing for another team.

Did the Columbus Blue Jackets trade pending UFA defenseman Adam Foote to the Colorado Avalanche over $500,000? Yes, according to Garrioch.

The Blue Jackets also lost out on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brad Richards, even though they made a decent offer of forwards Gilbert Brule and Dan Fritsche along with a prospect.

So, which teams tried to acquire Blackhawks forward Tuomo Ruutu before the was dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes? Garrioch claims it was the Bruins, Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Negotiations between the Buffalo Sabres and goalie Ryan Miller aren’t going well, as Miller doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to sign a contract extension with the Sabres. This leaves Garrioch to speculate that he’ll take off as a UFA after the 2008-09 season.

As predicted, Alex Tanguay was not dealt for spare parts like Ryder or Tucker, although one wonders what actual package a player like Alex could have commanded considering the returns for guys like Brad Richards (3 roster players) and Marian Hossa (3 roster players + 1st round draft pick).

In addition, Darryl Sutter decided to hang on to pending UFA’s Daymond Langkow and Kristian Huselius, and was unable to off-load some of the dead-weight on the roster (Rhett Warrener, Anders Eriksson). It’s unclear whether he intends to try to re-sign Langkow and Huslius in the off-season or if he was simply unsatisfied by what was offered for them and decided they were more valuable to the Flames in the short-term.

Thanks to their relative inactivity, the Flames are still facing a lot of tough decisions come summer: 48.5M in committed salary, 4 top 6 players to re-sign and more than 5M in inefficient contracts to dump.

The frenzy may have ended for most teams on February 26th, but it’ll likely begin for Sutter and the Calgary Flames on July 1st.

It was believed that Blake would only waive his no-trade clause if he could go the Colorado Avalanche. However, with Colorado’s addition of Adam Foote from the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier in the day, the it appears as though the Avalanche may not need Blake.

Meanwhile, Darren Dreger suggests that Boston Bruins forward Phil Kessel isn’t going anywhere, although his reason as to why that may be seamed a little weak.

Lastly, Michael, one of our regular readers, sent in his thoughts on the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames:

Flames GM trying to pull off a Cliff Fletcher stunt. In saying that now he won’t trade Alex Tanguay, possibly trying to get more value in a trade for his player. Wouldn’t surprise me at all to see both Tanguay and Sundin traded, but will be a bit of a shocker for most nhl fans.

Updated: 2:25 Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos suggests that the Pittsburgh Penguins may make a play for Atlanta Thrashers pending UFA forward Marian Hossa.

General Manager Darryl Sutter told reporters on Monday afternoon that he is not trading Tanguay and he likes the make up of his team. “Alex Tanguay is one of the top left wingers in the National Hockey League an he’ll be a pretty good player for us down the stretch,” he said.

Darryl Sutter has been disingenuous with the press before, so it’s possible he’s simply playing his cards close to his vest again. However, there’s little reason to doubt him now: Tanguay is a key member of team embroiled in a battle to make the play-offs and perhaps with the Northwest Division. Not to mention that pesky NTC in Tanguay’s contract that further complicates any potential deal.

Sorry Montreal and Toronto fans. Alex Tanguay isn’t going anywhere.

Ken also goes on to suggest that after that deal Bob Gainey General Manager of the Habs could then trade Michael Ryder and a pick to the Calgary Flames for winger Alex Tanguay.

If this deal were to happen I’m sure Habs fans would be jumping for joy at the Canadiens finally doing something big at the trade deadline, and getting the big skillful and gritty center they have been lacking for too long a period of time. Would Bob Gainey actually do a trade of that significance?

The loss of Koivu would be overshadowed by the new presence of Jokinen, a bigger, younger, and more skillful center than Koivu. The loss of Perezhogin, well he is still playing in Russia as he opted to join the European hockey league this year so he wouldn’t be missed, as for Halak, the young Czech net-minder has helped the Canadiens in the past, but with Carey Price expected to be the next Patrick Roy, Halak has no room to come up in the NHL.

As for the Alex Tanguay trade, no one knows if Bob Gainey will do the Jokinen trade so let’s wait and see what happens. Although Tanguay would be a great acquisition when coupled with Jokinen, Tanguay by himself would not be the impact player the Canadiens so desperately need, he would undoubtedly help, but not enough to carry the Habs on his back which Jokinen could do.

I hope for all Montreal Canadiens fans something notable happens, maybe these trades proposed by Ken Campbell could be a possibility. In either case for the time being anyways “In Bob We Trust”.

1.) Western Canadian guys. Sutter looks for players who were born or played in Western Canada, especially Alberta. In part because there’s a high probability either he or one his brothers have observed the player up close in the past (particularly current Devils coach Brent Sutter thanks to his years of coaching and managing the WHL Red Deer Rebels). In addition, a player who has lived or played in Alberta may be more likely to be familiar and comfortable in Calgary and therefore more amenable to signing a contract with the team. Some recent examples include Brad Stuart (Calgary Hitmen WHL career), Jim Vandermeer (Red Deer Rebels WHL career), Daymond Langkow (born in Edmonton, AB), Jamie Lundmark (born in Edmonton AB) and Eric Godard (born in BC, Lethbridge WHL career).