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Free Agent Signings - July 1, 2008 PDF Print E-mail
Written by Maury Brown   
Wednesday, 02 July 2008 04:49

The following Signings as of today (July 1, 2008). The first day of free agency for the upcoming season.  

The listing comes by way of the NHL's Official Free Agent Tracker

July 1, Free Agent Signings

TEAM PLAYER/S SIGNED
Acquired: David Koci
Acquired: Michael Ryder
Re-signed: Michal Rozsival, Stephen Valiquette
Acquired: Craig Weller
Acquired: Drew McIntyre
Acquired: Darcy Hordichuk
Acquired: Mark Streit
Acquired: Brian Rolston, Bobby Holik
Acquired: Aaron Voros, Patrick Rissmiller
Acquired: Alex Auld
Acquired: Eric Godard
Acquired: Patrick Lalime
Acquired: Niklas Hagman, Curtis Joseph, Jeff Finger
Acquired: Darcy Tucker, Andrew Raycroft
Acquired: Todd Fedoruk
Re-signed: Mark Eaton
Acquired: Andrew Brunette, Marek Zidlicky
Acquired: Adam Hall
Acquired: Todd Fedoruk
Re-signed: David Backes
Re-signed: Andrei Kostitsyn
Acquired: Cory Stillman
Re-signed: Daymond Langkow, Craig Conroy, Eric Nystrom, Curtis McIlhinney
Acquired: Ty Conklin
Acquired: Kurt Sauer
Acquired: Per Ledin
Re-signed: Jay Pandolfo and Bryce Salvador
Acquired: Anton Babchuk, Joni Pitkanen
Re-signed: Pascal Dupuis
Acquired: Blake Wheeler
Re-signed: Ryan Bayda, Wade Brookbank, Tim Conboy and Tuomo Ruutu
Re-signed: Paul Gaustad

Source: National Hockey League 


OTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK


Maury Brown

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer.

Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

Read more...
 
NHL Free Agent Listing As of July 1, 2008 PDF Print E-mail
Written by Maury Brown   
Wednesday, 02 July 2008 04:17

NHL LogoBelow is a complete list of players, who, effective July 1, became free agents by way of the National Hockey League.

Names will be removed from this list as the players sign with their respective Clubs. OFFICIAL FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

Some players whose names appear on this list may recently have signed with their respective Clubs; however, their contracts had not yet been filed with the League prior to publishing.


FREE AGENT CLASSIFICATIONS

GROUP 2 - SUBJECT TO COMPENSATION AND RIGHT TO MATCH

These players have been tendered a qualifying offer by their respective Clubs and are subject to draft-choice compensation and right to match. The draft choice compensation scale is based on compensation offered by the new Club:

OFFER                                           COMPENSATION

$863,156 or below                        None
Over $863,156 to $1,307,812      Third-round choice
Over $1,307,812 to $2,615,625    Second-round choice
Over $2,615,625 to $3,923,437    First-round and third-round choice
Over $3,923,437 to $5,231,249    First-round, second-round and third-round choice
Over $5,231,249 to $6,539,062    Two first-round choices, one second- and one third-round choice
Over $6,539,062                         Four first-round choices

GROUP 3 - UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

These players have qualified for Group 3 Free Agency (age 27 or older or with at least seven Accrued Seasons) and are Unrestricted Free Agents.

GROUP 6 - UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

These players, whose contracts have expired, are age 25 or older, have completed three or more professional seasons, and (i) in the case of a player other than a goaltender, have played less than 80 NHL games (regular-season and playoff), or (ii) in the case of a goaltender, have played less than 28 NHL games (regular-season and playoff).

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

These were not tendered a qualifying offer and are therefore Unrestricted Free Agents not subject to a right to match or draft choice compensation.



ANAHEIM DUCKS

Group 2 FAs: Stephen Dixon, Jason King, Drew Miller, Geoff Platt.
Group 3 UFAs: Jean-Sebastien Aubin, Joe DiPenta, Mike Hoffman, Jay Leach, Tony Martensson, Mark Mowers, Geoff Peters, Teemu Selanne, Bruno St. Jacques, Doug Weight.
Group 6 UFAs: Darryl Bootland, Joe Callahan.
UFAs: Gerald Coleman, Shane Hynes.

ATLANTA THRASHERS

Group 2 FAs: Joey Crabb, Kari Lehtonen, Nathan Oystrick, Brett Sterling.
Group 3 UFAs: Milan Bartovic, Eric Boulton, Kevin Doell, Darren Haydar, Jason Krog, Joel Kwiatkowski, Steve McCarthy, Karel Pilar, Mark Recchi, Steve Rucchin.
Group 6 UFAs: Mark Popovic, Jesse Schultz.
UFAs: Guillaume Desbiens.

BOSTON BRUINS

Group 2 FAs: Johnny Boychuk, Pascal Pelletier, Nate Thompson.
Group 3 UFAs: Bobby Allen, Jeff Hoggan, Zdenek Kutlak, Jordan Sigalet, Alex Zhamnov, Sergei Zinovjev.
Group 6 UFAs: Brett Skinner.
UFAs: Mike Brown, Stanislav Chistov, Chris Collins, Nathan Saunders, T.J. Trevelyan.

BUFFALO SABRES

Group 2 FAs: Steve Bernier, Clarke MacArthur, Mark Mancari, Daniel Paille.
Group 3 UFAs: Dmitri Kalinin, Teppo Numminen, Nolan Pratt, Michael Ryan, Jocelyn Thibault.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: None.

CALGARY FLAMES

Group 2 FAs: Cam Cunning, Tomi Maki, Adam Pardy, Brandon Prust, David Van Der Gulik.
Group 3 UFAs: David Hale, Kristian Huselius, Owen Nolan, Mark Smith, Jim Vandermeer, Stephane Yelle.
Group 6 UFAs: Brent Krahn, Grant Stevenson.
UFAs: Derek Couture, Ryan Donally.

CAROLINA HURRICANES

Group 2 FAs: Patrick Dwyer, Mark Flood, Joe Jensen, Chad Larose, Brandon Nolan, Dennis Seidenberg.
Group 3 UFAs: Keith Aucoin, John Grahame, Bret Hedican, Trevor Letowski, Glen Wesley.
Group 6 UFAs: Joey Mormina.
UFAs: Kevin Nastiuk.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Group 2 FAs: Corey Crawford, Colin Fraser, Danny Richmond, Martin St. Pierre.
Group 3 UFAs: Kevyn Adams, Jim Fahey, Wade Flaherty, Yanic Perreault, Prestin Ryan, Jason Williams, Andrei Zyuzin.
Group 6 UFAs: Mike Brodeur.
UFAs: Steve Marr.

COLORADO AVALANCHE

Group 2 FAs: Jason Bacashihua, Cody McCormick, Cody McLeod, Marek Svatos, Michael Wall, Wojtek Wolski.
Group 3 UFAs: Peter Forsberg, Riku Hahl, Eric Healey, Jaroslav Hlinka, Jeff Jillson, Vitaliy Kolesnik, Sanny Lindstrom, Dale Purinton, Joe Sakic, Wyatt Smith.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: Dan DaSilva, Mitch Love, Tyler Weiman.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

Group 2 FAs: Dan Fritsche, Pascal Leclaire, Joakim Lindstrom, Marc Methot, Alexandre Picard, Aaron Rome, R.J. Umberger, Clay Wilson.
Group 3 UFAs: Nate DiCasmirro, Ron Hainsey, Zenon Konopka, Derek MacKenzie, Andrej Nedorost, Martin Paroulek, Michael Peca, Mark Rycroft, Dan Smith, Dick Tarnstrom, David Vyborny.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: Mikko Maenpaa, Tomas Popperle.

DALLAS STARS

Group 2 FAs: Brandon Crombeen, Vojtech Polak, Konstantin Pushkarev, Francis Wathier.
Group 3 UFAs: Stu Barnes, Nolan Baumgartner, Trevor Byrne, Johan Holmqvist, Antti Miettinen, Mattias Norstrom, Brad Winchester.
Group 6 UFAs: Bryce Lampman.
UFAs: Marius Holtet, Jussi Timonen, Janos Vas.

DETROIT RED WINGS

Group 2 FAs: Jonathan Ericsson, Valtteri Filppula, Jimmy Howard, Ryan Oulahen, Kyle Quincey.
Group 3 UFAs: Adam Berkhoel, Chris Chelios, Carl Corazzini, Mark Cullen, Aaron Downey, Dallas Drake, Brad Ference, Mark Hartigan, Dominik Hasek, Stefan Liv, Darren McCarty, Garrett Stafford.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: Igor Grigorenko, Logan Koopmans, Francis Lemieux.

EDMONTON OILERS

Group 2 FAs: Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, Jean-Francois Jacques, Joni Pitkanen, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Zack Stortini.
Group 3 UFAs: Kristian Antila, Marty Reasoner, Allan Rourke, Geoff Sanderson.
Group 6 UFAs: Curtis Glencross.
UFAs: Jonas Almtorp, Troy Bodie, Glenn Fisher, Fredrik Johansson, T.J. Kemp.

FLORIDA PANTHERS

Group 2 FAs: Jay Bouwmeester, Drew Larman, Martin Lojek, Stefan Meyer, Anthony Stewart.
Group 3 UFAs: Christian Berglund, Jassen Cullimore, Magnus Johansson, Branislav Mezei, Steve Montador, Denis Shvidki.
Group 6 UFAs: Rob Globke.
UFAs: Garth Murray, Adam Taylor, Martin Tuma.

LOS ANGELES KINGS

Group 2 FAs: Erik Ersberg, Gabe Gauthier, Peter Harrold, Matt Moulson, Patrick O'Sullivan, Brad Richardson, Jarret Stoll.
Group 3 UFAs: Rob Blake, Brendan Buckley, Kevin Dallman, Jeff Giuliano, Jon Klemm, Ladislav Nagy, Scott Thornton, Brian Willsie, Tomas Zizka.
Group 6 UFAs: Richard Petiot.
UFAs: Petr Kanko, Dany Roussin.

MINNESOTA WILD

Group 2 FAs: Shawn Belle, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Kurtis Foster, Danny Irmen, Peter Olvecky, John Scott, Clayton Stoner, Stephane Veilleux.
Group 3 UFAs: Keith Carney, Pavol Demitra, Sean Hill, Steve Kelly, Andre Lakos, Petteri Nummelin, Serge Payer, Branko Radivojevic, Chris Simon, Wes Walz, Joel Ward.
Group 6 UFAs: Matt Foy.
UFAs: Miroslav Kopriva.

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Group 2 FAs: Marvin Degon, Josh Gorges, Mikhail Grabovski, Jaroslav Halak, Andrei Kostitsyn, Janne Lahti, Corey Locke, Ryan O'Byrne.
Group 3 UFAs: Mathieu Biron, Patrice Brisebois, Yann Danis, Brett Engelhardt, Bryan Smolinski, Marc-Andre Thinel, Rene Vydareny.
Group 6 UFAs: Andrew Archer, Jean-Philippe Cote, Jonathan Ferland, Duncan Milroy.
UFAs: Jimmy Bonneau.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Group 2 FAs: Matt Ellison, Triston Grant, Kevin Klein, Ville Koistinen, Rich Peverley.
Group 3 UFAs: Martin Gelinas, Alex Henry, Jan Hlavac, Petr Hubacek, Josh Langfeld, Andrei Mukhachev, Konstantin Panov, Kirill Safronov, Shane Willis, Nolan Yonkman.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: Brandon Bochenski, Dov Grumet-Morris, Oliver Setzinger, John Vigilante.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

Group 2 FAs: Olli Malmivaara, Rod Pelley.
Group 3 UFAs: Arron Asham, Sergei Brylin, Noah Clarke, Frank Doyle, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, Grant Marshall, Richard Matvichuk, Ian Moran, Justin Papineau, Ilkka Pikkarainen, Karel Rachunek, Erik Rasmussen, Jari Viuhkola.
Group 6 UFAs: Jason Ryznar.
UFAs: Jordan Parise.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Group 2 FAs: Sean Bergenheim, Jeremy Colliton, Bruno Gervais, Frans Nielsen, Jeff Tambellini, Ben Walter.
Group 3 UFAs: Bryan Berard, Kip Brennan, Rob Davison, Wade Dubielewicz, Ruslan Fedotenko, Mike Morrison, Miroslav Satan, Josef Vasicek.
Group 6 UFAs: Matt Keith.
UFAs: Luciano Aquino, Drew Fata, Aaron Johnson, Masi Marjamaki, Michael Mole, Steve Regier, Matthew Spiller.

NEW YORK RANGERS

Group 2 FAs: Ivan Baranka, Nigel Dawes, Hugh Jessiman, Greg Moore, Fredrik Sjostrom, Matt Zaba.
Group 3 UFAs: Sean Avery, Mitch Fritz, Andrew Hutchinson, Jaromir Jagr, Darius Kasparaitis, Marek Malik, Paul Mara, Brendan Shanahan, Martin Straka, Jason Strudwick.
Group 6 UFAs: Josh Gratton, David LeNeveu, Pierre Parenteau.
UFAs: Bruce Graham, Chris Holt, Rick Kozak, David Liffiton.

OTTAWA SENATORS

Group 2 FAs: Jeff Glass, Josh Hennessy, Andrej Meszaros, Antoine Vermette.
Group 3 UFAs: Niko Dimitrakos, Shean Donovan, Matt Kinch, Martin Lapointe, Justin Mapletoft, Luke Richardson, Randy Robitaille, Oleg Saprykin, Julien Vauclair.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: Arttu Luttinen.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Group 2 FAs: Riley Cote, Nathan Guenin, Randy Jones, Stefan Ruzicka, Patrick Thoresen.
Group 3 UFAs: Jesse Boulerice, Tomas Divisek, Jim Dowd, Rory Fitzpatrick, Martin Grenier, Jaroslav Modry, Keith Primeau, Jason Smith, Tony Voce.
Group 6 UFAs: Darren Reid.
UFAs: Rejean Beauchemin, Martin Houle, Lars Jonsson, Scott Munroe.

PHOENIX COYOTES

Group 2 FAs: Dan Carcillo, Matt Jones, Brian McGrattan, Al Montoya, Joel Perrault.
Group 3 UFAs: David Aebischer, Pavel Brendl, Ryan Caldwell, Jon DiSalvatore, Bryan Helmer, Niko Kapanen, Sheldon Keefe, Matt Murley, Travis Roche, Mathias Tjarnqvist, Pete Vandermeer, Mike York.
Group 6 UFAs: Brendan Bell, Joey Tenute, Bill Thomas.
UFAs: Marcel Hossa, Tyler Redenbach, Cory Urquhart.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Group 2 FAs: Mark Ardelan, Paul Bissonnette, Tim Brent, Daniel Fernholm, Jonathan Filewich, Ryan Stone.
Group 3 UFAs: Kris Beech, David Gove, Marian Hossa, Milan Kraft, Georges Laraque, Ross Lupaschuk, Alain Nasreddine, Brooks Orpik, Jarkko Ruutu, Michal Sivek, Jeff Taffe.
Group 6 UFAs: Connor James, Ryan Lannon, Nathan Smith.
UFAs: None.

ST. LOUIS BLUES

Group 2 FAs: Jay McClement, Hannu Toivonen, Jeff Woywitka.
Group 3 UFAs: Alex Brooks, Petr Cajanek, Micki Dupont, Mike Glumac, Mike Johnson, Ryan Johnson, Juuso Riksman, Martin Rucinsky, Jean-Guy Trudel, Igor Valeev, Matt Walker.
Group 6 UFAs: Yan Stastny.
UFAs: Chris Beckford-Tseu, Francois-Pierre Guenette, Martin Kariya.

SAN JOSE SHARKS

Group 2 FAs: Riley Armstrong, Ryane Clowe, Christian Ehrhoff, Marcel Goc, Lukas Kaspar, Brad Staubitz.
Group 3 UFAs: Curtis Brown, Justin Forrest, Graham Mink, Brad Norton, Sandis Ozolinsh, Alexei Semenov.
Group 6 UFAs: Tom Cavanagh, Brennan Evans, Mike Iggulden, Dimitri Patzold, Tomas Plihal, Craig Valette.
UFAs: Dan Spang, Jonathan Tremblay.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Group 2 FAs: Ryan Craig, Justin Fletcher, Janne Niskala, Jay Rosehill.
Group 3 UFAs: Mathieu Darche, Chris Gratton, Doug Janik, Andreas Karlsson, Junior Lessard, Craig MacDonald, Norman Milley, Jimmie Olvestad, Andre Roy, David Schneider, Tim Taylor, Kyle Wanvig.
Group 6 UFAs: Karl Stewart.
UFAs: Jonathan Boutin, Mike Egener, Zbynek Hrdel, Marek Kvapil, Ryan Munce, Mario Scalzo Jr.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Group 2 FAs: Alex Foster, Chris Harrington, John Mitchell, Jaime Sifers, Matt Stajan.
Group 3 UFAs: Scott Clemmensen, Roman Kukumberg, David Ling, Dominic Moore, John Pohl, Mats Sundin, Andy Wozniewski.
Group 6 UFAs: Jay Harrison, Ben Ondrus.
UFAs: Reid Cashman.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Group 2 FAs: Mike Brown, Zach Fitzgerald, Colby Genoway, Nathan McIver, Rick Rypien, Ryan Shannon, Jimmy Sharrow, Kyle Wellwood.
Group 3 UFAs: Artem Chubarov, Greg Classen, Brad Isbister, Mikko Jokela, Trevor Linden, Aaron Miller, Brad Moran, Brendan Morrison, Markus Naslund, Byron Ritchie, Curtis Sanford, Mike Weaver.
Group 6 UFAs: Jozef Balej, Drew MacIntyre.
UFAs: Marc-Andre Bernier.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Group 2 FAs: Eric Fehr, Boyd Gordon, Brooks Laich, Shaone Morrisonn.
Group 3 UFAs: Dean Arsene, Josef Boumedienne, Frederic Cassivi, Matt Cooke, Sergei Fedorov, Jason Morgan, Alexander Riazantsev, Rastislav Stana.
Group 6 UFAs: None.
UFAs: Jameson Hunt, Stephen Warner.

Source: National Hockey League 


OTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK


Maury Brown

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer.

Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

 

Read more...
 
Ducks owner Henry Samueli Suspended by NHL PDF Print E-mail
Written by Maury Brown   
Wednesday, 25 June 2008 19:11

Anaheim DucksAnaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli was suspended by the NHL yesterday following Samueli’s guilty plea to a federal count of lying to SEC. Samueli is the co-founder of chipmaker Broadcom Corp. and admitted to illegally backdating stock options at Broadcom.

The Associated Press reports that Commissioner Bettman would review the status of Samueli’s suspension after he is sentenced on August 18 to see how long his suspension from the league might be,

Since Samueli purchased the Ducks the franchise has been highly successful, both in terms of the front office and the team on the ice.


OTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK


Maury Brown

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer.

Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

 

 

Read more...
 
NHL 2K9, First Officially Licensed Game by NHL and NHLPA for Wii, Coming this Fall PDF Print E-mail
Written by Maury Brown   
Friday, 13 June 2008 12:26

NHL 2K92K Sports, the sports publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc, yesterday announced that the next iteration of NHL 2K9, will be coming to the Wii console from Nintendo this fall. NHL 2K9 will be the first and only officially licensed NHL and NHLPA video game for Wii, allowing players to use the Wii Remote controller as a hockey stick.

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Rick Nash will grace the cover.

“Nintendo is thrilled to have 2K Sports’ NHL 2K9 on the Wii platform this season,” said Steve Singer, VP of Licensing at Nintendo of America Inc. “This title has been highly anticipated by our Wii consumers who will now be able to use the Wii Remote to face-off, play hockey, and fire a slap shot in their living rooms.”

“It’s our goal this year to bring the fun back to hockey video games,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “NHL 2K9 for Wii includes the full feature set as available on other platforms, and added Wii Remote controls and other exciting features specific for the Wii console will allow dedicated fans the opportunity to fully enjoy and embrace NHL hockey in a brand new experience.”

NHL 2K9, being developed by Visual Concepts, is not yet rated by the ESRB, and will be available this fall for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Wii console from Nintendo, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system.

Source: 2K Sports


OTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK

Maury Brown

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer.

Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

Read more...
 
Dion Phaneuf Selected for Cover of EA Sports "NHL 09" PDF Print E-mail
Written by Maury Brown   
Tuesday, 10 June 2008 13:20

NHL '09Electronic Arts Inc. announced yesterday that Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf will be the cover athlete and spokesman for NHL® 09. With just three NHL seasons under his belt, Dion Phaneuf has been nominated for the 2007-2008 Norris Trophy, is a two-time All-Star, and has put up 159 points thus far in his short NHL career. Phaneuf is joined by some of the NHL’s biggest international stars on packaging across Europe, including Alexander Ovechkin (Russia) and Daniel Alfredsson (Sweden). NHL 09 is being developed under the EA SPORTS™ brand by EA Canada in Vancouver, B.C and will be available worldwide this September.

“It is an incredible honor to be named to the cover of NHL 09,” said Phaneuf. “I’ve been a really big fan of the franchise for as long as I can remember and am looking forward to being the face of the game this year, particularly because of the significant improvements that have been made to the defensive game and the new checking engine.”

Player Territory
Team
Dion Phaneuf* Worldwide
Calgary Flames
Alexander Ovechkin Russia
Washington Capitals
Daniel Alfredsson
Sweden
Ottawa Senators

*with the exception of the countries named below

As the successor to the critically acclaimed NHL 08, winner of seven sports game of the year awards, NHL 09 builds on the momentum of last year, with innovative controls, added depth and new features designed to help newcomers jump into the series.


The revolutionary Skill Stick System evolves to bring an unparalleled level of control to the defensive side of the puck. The all new Defensive Skill Stick gives you the ability to sweep your stick to block passing lanes and lift an opponent’s stick to prevent one-timers. Take your game online with 6 vs.6 team play, where 12 people can play together on 12 different consoles around the world. With new teams from the Russian, Czech Republic and German Elite leagues, NHL 09 connects hockey fans around the globe like never before.
Players new to the series can now shoot, pass and check with ease. NHL 09 features Be A Pro, a game mode that will put you on the ice with a dynamic new 3rd person camera that allows you to play the role of one player. With a performance tracker grading your progress in more than 50 categories, you will know exactly where you need to improve to become the next NHL superstar.

Source: EA, Inc.

 


OTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK

Maury Brown

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer.

Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

Read more...
 
NBC Reports 6.8 Million Viewers for Game 6. Up 111% from 2006 PDF Print E-mail
Written by Maury Brown   
Friday, 06 June 2008 19:01

NHL on NBCAs first reported Thursday, the overnight Neilsen ratings, which look at large markets were up for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, now the final figures show how well the NHL and NBC did.

Wednesday night’s deciding Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on NBC drew an average of 6.8 million viewers making it the most-watched Game 6 since the NHL returned to network television in 1995 and the third most-watched Stanley Cup Final game overall in that same span. The 4.0 national rating and 7 share is a 111 percent increase over Game 6 in 2006 (Edmonton-Carolina, 1.9/4).

NBC’s Stanley Cup average (3.2/6, 4 telecasts) earned the best rating and was the most-viewed series (5.4 million average viewers) since the 2002 Final (Carolina-Detroit, 3.6/7, 5.8 million viewers, 3 telecasts). 

NBC finished No. 1 for the night in all key adult-male demographics and No. 2 overall for the night. The 2.9 (Adults 18-49) is NBC’s highest Wednesday average in that demo since Jan. 23. From 10-11 p.m. ET, NBC’s Stanley Cup coverage dominated the competition in key demographics, beating the combined ABC-CBS rating for that hour in Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and all key adult-male demos.

“Two great teams, at the top of their game, generated significant interest,” said NBC Sports President Ken Schanzer. “Hopefully this provides a launching point for future growth. We can’t wait for our season to begin, somewhere outdoors, next season.”

Source: National Hockey League


OTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK

Maury Brown

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer.

Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

Read more...
 
Post-Game Commentary from Mike Babcock, Henrick Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Osgood, Michel Therrien, Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux, Ryan Whitney, and Evgeni Malkin PDF Print E-mail
Written by Maury Brown   
Thursday, 05 June 2008 18:43
The following are post-game commentary from Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, Conn Smythe trophy winner Henrick Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Osgood, Penguins coach Michel Therrien, Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux, Ryan Whitney, and Evgeni Malkin following the decisive Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

COACH MIKE BABCOCK

Q. What was harder, the last 30 seconds or the long wait before the game began?

COACH MIKE BABCOCK: You know, even in the last game, the last minute and stuff like that wasn't long or harder, it was just doing what you do.

The interesting thing is when you're playing in the Stanley Cup Final like this and it's a closeout game, the emotion on your bench is so much more than you've had to deal with. Getting guys on and off the ice is more difficult, and yet we have a real committed group.

Nicklas Lidstrom, in my opinion, is a phenomenal leader and captain. And with his poise and his skill. And then the support group in Chelios and Draper. And Datsyuk and Zetterberg, for their leadership. You know, we have a very special team, and we're thrilled to be in this situation, obviously.

Q. All season long you were so focused on the process. Now that you got to the end and your name is going to be on that Cup, what are your emotions?

COACH MIKE BABCOCK: Well, you know, I probably haven't come to grips with that. But to be able to share this journey with the guys and to be able to share it with the city of Detroit, and obviously my family, that's very emotional. And I'm sure I'm going to have some emotional moments in the next week just thinking about it.

But to have your name on the Stanley Cup, pretty special.

Q. How important was it to get that first power play goal tonight?

COACH MIKE BABCOCK: I think always scoring first is very important, if you possibly can. And it's not like they weren't given some opportunities on the power play tonight.

We had to do a good job on the penalty kill and we just found a way to win the game.

Q. Can you just talk about the effort that the Penguins gave you throughout this series?

COACH MIKE BABCOCK: Well, the news since the cap world, everybody's good. We played four tough series. I can't remember who we played last it seemed so long ago, but they're all good. The battle we got from Nashville, from Colorado, and Dallas to play a talented, talented group like this, I was very impressed with Michel Therrien's ability to run the bench.

He has a good feel to know who is playing the best, and he makes adjustments accordingly. I thought he made it hard for us as a team. And to me he's done a fantastic job with his team. They just keep getting better and better.

Mario and his ownership group here got a good thing going here. Obviously the city of Pittsburgh.

Q. Chris Osgood is usually a guy who flies under the radar. He probably had the best two games after losses; can you talk about his ability to play in those games?

COACH MIKE BABCOCK: I think Ozzie is a fantastic story. You talk about us, but when you pull your goalie in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, that usually means you're going fishing in about three days, and not 14 more wins or whatever we needed to get it done. You gotta give him a lot of credit. He sat in my office at my house three years ago or two years ago, I guess, after the season and talked about reinventing himself and finding a way, and he did.

He learned how to butterfly, and he's improved his game. And he's now back as one of the top goalies in the League because of his mental toughness and his stick‑to‑itiveness. And I think he showed that in bouncing back and winning tonight.

Q. In the past you've come within a game of winning the Cup. So from one coach to another, what would you say to Michel Therrien who is not feeling too good right now?

COACH MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I can tell him that he's won at the Junior level and Minor Pro level and now he's a winner at this level. He's going to get his opportunity. And coaches don't get here by accident. And you need good players, and he knows what he's doing. He's done a good job. In the time he's been here, he's made a huge difference. You don't get here without being a big believer in yourself, and he's obviously that. He did a heck of a job, and he should be proud of himself and his team.

Q. Can you talk about Zetterberg's performance in winning the Conn Smythe Trophy, the attention on both ends of the ice was something to see.

COACH MIKE BABCOCK: You know, I mean, someone said to me here earlier, you turned your best offensive players into checkers. I never did that. They're just very good both ways, and deliver offensively. And that's the philosophy I have, anyway. I believe if the people that are playing against the best people can score, they have to worry about them.

If you've got guys who don't score playing against those people, they can just let it go on offense all the time. Zetterberg and Pavel are two of the best players in the world. And when you put Rafalski and Nick on the ice with them, I mean, that's a pretty special group.

And Crosby and Hossa gave us all we could handle, and yet it was great to see us, obviously, get this done.

Q. Ken Holland said just a little while ago that you guys had to lose the Anaheim series to get back here. So when something like that happens and you go through a long road, how do you reset yourself for another long, not‑so‑guaranteed struggle to get back?

COACH MIKE BABCOCK: Well, it's difficult, obviously. But if you go through the last three years in the NHL and the amount of games we've won, I mean, we won 58, we won 50, and we won 54.

So do the math there. And then we flamed out. We went 2‑4 against the Oilers. And last year we got to the Final Four, won a lot of games. And this year it's been a process. It didn't happen overnight. We've been a good team, and I think elite, elite team for the last three years. And we were finally able to get it done.

HENRIK ZETTERBERG

Q. What were your thoughts on killing the two‑minute penalty early, the two man advantage. How key was that to this game?

HENRIK ZETTERBERG: Well, of course it was huge. It's not the first time they had a two‑man advantage. Of course, it was a great opportunity for them to score. But we battled through it.

And we kept the puck outside the net.

Q. What are your emotions winning that award next to you there?

HENRIK ZETTERBERG: (Smiling) it feels pretty good. It's been a long way. And it's been a long season. Especially in the last few nights ago in Joe Louis Arena was devastating. And found a way to battle back. And it's just a great feeling right now.

Q. Can you talk about the play of the Penguins. A lot of people didn't think they had a chance in the series. They made it an interesting one. What are your thoughts on how they played?

HENRIK ZETTERBERG: Well, they battled really hard. They were down 3‑1 and came to our building, and I think their first period in our arena was unbelievable. They just came at us.

We really didn't have anything to answer it. But overall, I think they played really good. They had some really skilled players. It's a young team, and they're going to be a good team for many years to come.

Q. Your fellow Swede, Nicklas Lidstrom, became the first European captain to win a Cup. What does that mean to you for him to have that place in hockey history?

HENRIK ZETTERBERG: It's a great feeling. There's been a lot of talk about that throughout the years. It's great to see him lifting the Cup and with the C on his chest. It means so much for the team and the organization. He's bringing it every night. He's probably our best player every night.

And I'm really happy for him. And as I say, it was a great feeling seeing him lift that Cup.

Q. What was it about your team that made you guys be able to bounce back from that last loss, as you did in previous series, disappointing losses to come back and closeout series?

HENRIK ZETTERBERG: We've been there before. We knew that even if we lost Game 5, we play good on the road. And we just had a mind‑set, we're going to play a good game. And we had a great start, and we just kept going. Kind of what we did in Dallas. It's great to have that behind us, and we know we could pull it off. And we did.

Q. Historic night obviously with Lidstrom becoming the first European captain to win the Cup, but it's also the second time that a European has won the trophy sitting beside you there. Nicklas is the only other one who has won this. Can you talk about sharing your name with his on that trophy, I think with other 40 other Canadian players?

HENRIK ZETTERBERG: Well, it's some great names on there. I didn't know Nicklas was the only European. Of course, it's special to be on there. And especially to be among such great players, and especially with Nick. It's great to have that with him.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about, I know you were brought in 2002 during the Cup run, during the Colorado series. Can you talk a little bit about seeing that group, and obviously this is your first time since then, and what that put in your mind at an early age?

HENRIK ZETTERBERG: Well, it was a great experience. It was me and Niklas Kronwall. They brought us over here. We saw two games against the Avalanche, and it was real high, high speed in the game. And both me and Nick didn't realize that we were able to play there next year. We were really -- it was a little bit too fast for our game, but it was a great experience. We met all the guys.

And I remember I went down and met Steve and Nick and Draper and Holmer and a few others. So it was a great experience. It was good for me to have when I came for training camp.

Q. There in the last minute and a half when Hossa scored, and then they had that real frantic ending there where they almost scored there at the last second, was there any time you guys were thinking: My God, here we go again. This is just like Game 5?

HENRIK ZETTERBERG: Yeah, you know, we were happy we had the two‑goal lead. But when they scored the second one, we knew it was going to be tight all the way to the end.

And when they had a chance, I don't know how many seconds was left, but when I saw the puck behind the net, and I looked up and it was 00:00 on the game clock, I was a pretty happy man.

NICKLAS LIDSTROM

Q. Nick, how much thought did you give to who would get the Cup, when did you start thinking about it, and why Dallas Drake?

NICKLAS LIDSTROM: I started thinking about it actually in the first round. I didn't tell anyone about it. But I started thinking about if we were to go the whole way, who should be the guy I gave it to first.

And looking at all the players on our team, Dallas is one of the first ones I played with. He came in the year after I did. He's been in the League for 16 years.

He had a long, good career. And he had never been to the Final before. So it felt natural to me to give it to him for all the effort and hours and everything he's put into the game, and not having a chance to hoist a Cup yet.

Q. What does this mean to you? Is it any different being the captain of the team that wins? Is there any different significance to this, how that felt being the first guy to get the Cup?

NICKLAS LIDSTROM: It felt great being the first guy to touch the Cup on our team. Otherwise it felt the same as winning the previous ones, where you're so happy with the end result. You start training camp with a goal, and that is to win the Stanley Cup.

You talk about it throughout the season and the way you have to play to be able to be successful in the playoffs. And we had a good regular season, and we were able to carry that into the playoffs, too, and so that's something I'm more proud the way the team played in the playoffs, too.

It was a tough loss last year against Anaheim in the conference finals, but most of the guys were on that team last year. And this time around, I thought the team really responded well to some of the adversity we faced throughout the run.

Q. I know you didn't want to talk about it too much until you got it, but now that you are the first European born captain to lift this trophy, what does that mean to you?

NICKLAS LIDSTROM: It's something I'm very proud of. I've been over here for a long time. And I watched Steve Yzerman hoist it for three times in the past, and I'm very proud of being the first European. I'm very proud of being a captain of the Red Wings. So