CrashingTheGoalie

by Ron Spence
Anson Carter and J.P. Dumont were somewhat nervous. It was early in August, 2006, and neither had contracts – or teams – for the following winter. And both had wives with new babies that summer.
Dumont had scored 20 goals – along with 20 assists – for the Sabres in 54 games (He had missed [...]

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by Ron Spence
“We’re just going about business,” Neil Smith said, “trying to help our team.”
The New York GM said this in 1997, after he had just offered Colorado’s – Restricted Free Agent – Joe Sakic $17 million for the 1997-98 season (This was structured as a $15 million signing bonus, along with a $2 [...]

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by Ron Spence
How could the Washington Capitals have two farm teams – at the top of their leagues – and the franchise be ranked only 11th overall by Hockey’s Future?
The Hershey Bears beat the Moose to win the Calder Cup, while Washington’s ECHL squad, the South Carolina Stingrays beat Anchorage to take the Kelly Cup. Hershey [...]

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by Ron Spence
Not that much has been written about the young Swede, but everyone agrees that he’s highly skilled.
He is a Dave Gagner prospect. Rodin  will have to work on his diet and weight training, etc. to make it to the Big Tent.
One of the things that this draft has shown to me, [...]

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by Ron Spence
I like this choice very much.
The kid is small, but strong and fiesty. He did his wingate test and vomited once it was over. He also completed 17 bench presses at 150 pounds, which has impressed everyone.
He didn’t do very well at the World Juniors, but he’s entitled to a bad series. [...]

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by Ron Spence
Look for San Jose’s Doug Wilson to make some major trades at the draft.
Why? 
Well the former Norris Trophy winner knows that his team needs some tinkering, plus a shaking up. 
They were too good a team for their brief skirmish in the post-season.
The other reason for some big trades is that Doug only has [...]

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by Ron Spence
Brian Burke gets most of the press about trading up – switching his pick with additional player(s) or selection(s), for a higher pick. 
His most famous trade was for Chris Pronger when the was the GM in Hartford. Burke traded Sergei Makarov, a 1st round pick in 1993 (Viktor Kozlov) and a 3rd round pick [...]

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by Ron Spence
The Vancouver Canucks draft 22nd overall in the first round, and then 53rd, 83rd, 113rd, 143rd, and 173rd.

“The top 10 this year are very good and everyone will get a good player in the first round,” predicted Dan Marr, head scouting guy for the Atlanta Thrashers. “You put a rough list together prior [...]

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by Ron Spence
The Blackhawks went on a rampage late in 2003 and early 2004. They were unloading salaries and veteran players and acquiring a bunch of draft picks. 
The 17 picks that they exercised appears to be a record for one team in one Entry Draft. 
The Blackhawks’ alloted picks are in solid red.

courtesy of hockeydb.com
I was [...]

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by Ron Spence
NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly was spouting the party line, but then toned it down:
“Glenn [Healey] just wanted Ryan to understand that sometimes we make public comments that might get misinterpreted to the extent he was encouraging other players to take pay cuts. That’s not a message that he wants to present. I think [...]

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