Teams That Won't Suck Next Year

1.Minnesota Wild - Only 4 points away from making the playoffs last year, 2009-10 will be a better year for the Wild. Marian Gaborik will be ready to play and has a new line mate, Martin Havlat who racked up 77 points last year. Hopefully they can have Niklas Backstrom have another solid season. A new coach will allow this team to make the playoffs.

2.Buffalo Sabres - Not much activity from the Sabres this offseason but they didn't need one. With top players such as Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, and Thomas Vanek that led the team in points will need to continue doing that throughout 2009-10 with help from others. If Ryan Miller can stay strong in the net I feel this team can make the playoffs.

3.Ottawa Senators - With rumors of Heatly possibly leaving for the Oilers in September, they make up with the signing of Alex Kovalev. If Heatly stays it only makes chances better. Pascal Leclaire was picked up and returning Brian Elliot who boosted the team in the last three months of the season with 16 wins, 8 losses, and 3 OT losses. Se this team in 2009-10 making a run for the playoffs.

4.Atlanta Thrashers - With the number 4 goal scorer Ilya Kovalchuk leading the team with new additions including Pavel Kubina, Nik Antropov, and number 4 draft pick Evander Kane. With Kubina helping to lead the defensive side, this team has 3 players who can easily have a 50+ point seasons. As long as the contract extension for Kovalchuk doesn't become a distraction this team is fighting for a playoff spot.

Big Names Still Availible

It has been four weeks since the market for free agents started. Here's a list of top name players still on the market.

FOREWARDS

Miroslav Satan	Pittsburgh	17-19-36 in 65 GP
Robert Lang	Montreal	18-21-39 in 50 GP
Michael Peca	Columbus	4-18-22 in 71 GP
Jason Williams	Columbus	19-28-47 in 80 GP
Blair Betts	N.Y. Rangers	6-4-10 in 81 GP
Maxim Afinogenov	Buffalo	6-14-20 in 48 GP
Dominic Moore	Buffalo	13-32-45 in 81 GP
Petr Sykora	Pittsburgh	25-21-46 in 76 GP
Todd Bertuzzi	Calgary	15-29-44 in 66 GP
Mike Grier	San Jose	10-13-23 in 62 GP
Rob Niedermayer	Anaheim	14-7-21 in 79 GP
Alex Tanguay	Montreal	16-25-41 in 50 GP
Brendan Shanahan	New Jersey	6-8-14 in 34 games
Eric Perrin	Atlanta	7-16-23 in 78 GP
Taylor Pyatt	Vancouver	10-9-19 in 69 GP
Ryan Bayda	Carolina	5-7-12 in 70 GP
Andy Hilbert	N.Y. Islanders	11-16-27 in 67 GP
Mike Comrie	Ottawa	10-17-27 in 63 GP
Mats Sundin	Vancouver	9-19-28 in 41 GP
Manny Malhotra	Columbus	11-24-35 in 77 GP

DEFENCEMAN

Martin Skoula	Minnesota	4-12-16 in 81 GP
Mathieu Schneider	Montreal	9-23-32 in 67 GP
Sergei Zubov	Dallas	0-4-4 in 10 GP
Christian Backman	Columbus	2-5-7 in 56 GP
Philippe Boucher	Pittsburgh	3-6-9 in 41 GP
Francis Bouillon	Montreal	5-4-9 in 54 GP
Jassen Cullimore	Florida	2-8-10 in 68 GP
Darryl Sydor	Dallas	3-12-15 in 73 GP
Dennis Seidenberg	Carolina	5-25-30 in 70 GP
Marc-Andre Bergeron	Minnesota	14-18-32 in 72 GP

GOALTENDERS

Manny Fernandez	Boston	16-8-3 2.59 GAA
Olaf Kolzig	Toronto	2-4-1 3.66 GAA
Curtis McElhinney	Calgary	1-6-1 3.59 GAA
Curtis Joseph	Toronto	5-9-1 3.57 GAA
Manny Legace	St. Louis	13-9-2 3.18 GAA
Kevin Weekes	New Jersey	7-5-0 2.42 GAA
Joey MacDonald	N.Y. Islanders	14-26-6 3.37 GAA
Marc Denis	Montreal	(in AHL) 27-18-0 2.46 GAA

I will continue posting these every Monday until the season starts.

HOSSA To Undergo Surgery

New BLACKHAWKS forward Marian Hossa is scheduled to have surgery on Friday to repair a small tear in his rotor cuff. The team physician says Hossa won't be ready for the opener on Oct 2. The BLACKHAWKS stated they knew of the injury, but hoped treatment could have avoided the injury.

“After consulting with my family and the Blackhawks, I have no doubt that this is the correct decision,” Hossa said in a statement. “I plan on being a member of the Blackhawks for a very long time, which is why I want to get this done and begin my career in Chicago at 100 percent.”

I feel this isn't the best news for BLACKHAWKS fans but it could have been a lot worse. The BLACKHAWKS have two great youngstars that helped the HAWKS to the Western Confrence finals where they lost to RED WINGS who had Hossa. I feel the BLACKHAWKS will have a similar season to last years but maybe a few more wins under the belt.

HOSSA News Tomorrow!

I will post some news on recently signed 5-time All-Star Marian Hossa to the CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS. May not be good news for some BLACKHAWKS fans.

What Are The NEW YORK ISLANDERS Doing?

So they have superstar first round draft pick Tavares(who I think will have very good season) and have a very solid goalie who was injured last season. So during the off-season they first signed Dwayne Roloson on Jul 4. So they have two good goalies now. On Jul 22 NYI and sign goaltender Martin Biron.

Update: Biron has signed a one-year deal worth $1.4 million with the Islanders, reports TSN.ca.

Recommendation: And Biron makes three. Rick DiPietro(notes), Dwayne Roloson(notes) and now Biron. Things on the Island never make sense. “Adding Marty gives us three bona-fide number one goalies,” said Islanders’ general manager Garth Snow. “We learned about the importance of stability in our line-up from last year and he now allows us to have another quality starter.” Bear in mind that three’s almost always a crowd so something is going to give on the Island.

WHY? The reason given is ridiculous. They sucked cause the back up they had was not very good. If they want to rebuild they need to find a core first line to build off of. Yes they have Tavares, but he is going to have to score by himself if he has no one else to help him. Look at the RED WINGS or the PENGUINS. They have a solid core first line and everyone else builds off them. NEW YORK look at the other teams in the league.

BLAH! First Post

Yeah everyone names their first post welcome and tells the readers about themselves. I have designed this blog to give my say about whats going on around the NHL. I'll post news about big name transactions and what not. I am up for ideas about additions and what not, but may not always use them. Please don't feel bad if I don't.