Super Saturday #1

Nobody likes being sick, but when you're like me and come down with a fever and can't go out on the NHL's 1st Super Saturday of the season - it's not a bad thing at all.

14 games, 28 of 30 teams in action. I <3 the Center Ice package.

I flipped around between mainly the following:

7:00 - Hockey Night In Canada - Habs/Leafs
Great way to start the evening. Toronto-Montreal Hockey Night in Canada should be the season kick-off game every year, American ratings be damned.

Great game, great action, great rivalry. People think Toronto is a playoff team and Montreal isn't, but huge games like this often balance the teams out.

I plum forgot that Vesa Toskala was a Leaf now. Andrew Raycroft can't keep a #1 job to save his life. But, to be honest, I didn't think goaltending was the Leafs problem last year. Leafs fans might have a different view, as his Wikipedia page is currently being protected from vandalism.

Note to DIRECTV: when a hockey game is tied after the 3rd period, and the broadcast goes to commercial, THE GAME IS NOT OVER! Do not cut the feed off! I could almost see if they did it at the end of Overtime and forgot there was a Shootout, but COME ON! This is the 2nd major Center Ice flub I've seen this year - with the 1st being when the wrong Fox Sports Net feed was routed to the Center Ice channel, preventing me from taking in the pre-game and 1st period of game #1 between the Kings-Ducks in London.
I would have really liked to see the conclusion of this one, with Tomas Kaberle netting the 4-3 OT winner. I guess they put it back on at some point, but I had given up flipping back by that point and stuck to other games.

7:30 - Ducks/Penguins
Not a surprising turn of events given the Ducks awful schedule combined with the Pens lackluster start in Carolina. The Pens had a weak 1st and then turned it on in the 2nd and the tired Ducks just couldn't keep up.

Marc-Andre Fleury needs to pick things up. He's been a capable goalie for a few years now, but it's time to show he's the real deal. I know he's 22, but the Penguins are ready to go deep and if Fleury doesn't play great he could play himself out of a Stanley Cup. His contract extension also expires after this year, so there should be no lack of incentive for "The Flower" to step up.

I missed the flurry of goals that started the 2nd, but Petr Sykora's 2+2=4 performance in under 14 mintues of ice-time made GM Ray Shero look like a smart man.
I had always thought Sykora would be a great fit in Pittsburgh ever since he had the production drop and subsequent falling out with management in Anaheim. When he was bouncing around from the Ducks, to the Rangers, and finally the Oilers, I couldn't understand why Pittsburgh never came up in discussions of Sykora's next destination. There was such a void of European scoring talent on the Pens left by the departures of Jagr, Kovalev, Straka, and even to some extent - Morozov, that Sykora seemed like a perfect candidate to fill. At only 30 years old, and surrounded by a wealth of young talent, look for Petr Sykora to return to his former production this season.
Quick note: Ryan Malone really picked that corner on the last Pens goal. He had a lot of time and space 1-on-1 with the goalie, but that goal was crucial and Malone could use to bury a few more of those.

8:00 - Flyers/Oilers
Daniel Briere has 3 goals in 2 games as a Flyer and two of them have been absolute beauties. Even the third (first in sequential order) was pretty nice and showed a lot of skill down low. I know it's early, but he certainly looks like he's earning that huge contract so many were quick to criticize. However, Danny couldn't save the Flyers on his birthday.
A few bad bounces did them in vs. the Oilers Saturday night. They looked poised to take over the game, but allowed Edmonton to tie it back up with :04 left in the 2nd period. It hurt their momentum, which was lost for good when Martin Biron made a save and let the rebound pop out to the slot where it bounced off the snowplowing Mike Knuble and back past Biron.
Knuble's skate = Edmonton's GWG.

I was surprised by Edmonton's performance. It will be interesting to see where they'll end up in the West, because it's a bit of a mystery at this point.

Other action:
Hurricanes/Capitals
First of all, thank God that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (Caps regional network) finally upgraded their video/broadcast equipment. They had such horrible quality video for the last few years that I actually couldn't bring myself to watch much of Alexander Ovechkin because of it. It was really that bad. They went from fuzzy home camcorder last year to HD this year. Plus, those new Capitals sweaters' look sweet.

The little I saw of this game I was keeping an eye on rookie Nicklas Backstrom, whom looked lost out there. I don't know if it's the smaller ice surface, or new teammates, or the speed of the NHL game, but Backstrom was a step behind and a little out of position on the few shifts I saw of his. I was left wanting more, but I'm sure we'll get it soon enough from the kid.

Red Wings/Blackhawks
I actually brought myself to watch the Red Wings play, if you can believe it. I really wanted to see the 'Hawks. I finally saw how the injury to Martin Havlat went down. So unfortunate. It was really so innocent and he was so pissed going off the ice because he knew it was the same injury he just had repaired twice and he knew it was bad. It reminded me of the Milton Bradley incident from a few weeks ago in MLB.

It was good to see the 'Hawks had so many in attendance on a night the Cubs had a playoff game. 18,768 is a damn good crowd and good enough for a sellout in many other cities. Hockey isn't dead in Chicago; William Wirtz just killed it.

Anyway, it was good to see the 'Hawks get 2 points from the Wings in front of that kind of crowd on that kind of night. It was great to see Patrick Kane deke and score on the Dominator for the deciding score - even if it was in the Shootout.

First and Last

Couldn't have gone better for the Flyers.

Daniel Briere scores first early, Biron plays solid, Briere gets the winner late (sweet roof job). Thanks, Buffalo!

Gagne and Briere were trying a little too hard to give Daniel the hattie - Briere took a lick, and Calgary got a chance the other way - but you really couldn't blame them for trying to put the cherry on top.

These weren't your '06-'07 Flyers...

Good sign for Philly

Daniel Briere was offered more money (average per year) than the deal he signed with the Flyers.

Briere revealed (on a TSN interview) that he was offered over $7mil/year average by other clubs. The fact that he chose to be locked up for 8 years at an average of $6.5mil with the Flyers was because he wanted to go there.

I'm sure the $10 million Briere will earn this season didn't hurt the Flyers' cause (modern-day signing bonus, anyone?), but when a guy turns down more money and chooses to sign somewhere for 8 years just as he is hitting the prime of his career says a lot.

Sure, he's not Chris Drury, but having Daniel Briere wanting to come play for your team is pretty damn good.

I'd say that between the Briere and Timmonen's long-term, front-heavy deals, Paul Holmgren in already in the running to be GM of the year.

Briere to test waters?

After their surprising beat-down at the hands of the Senators, I thought the Sabres could re-sign the Centre duo of Briere and Drury.
I figured they didn't have big concerns outside of the duo in terms of free agents and they could be had for an average $6mil/year. But that was assuming the Sabres were going to spend up to the new cap ($48-50 mil) with the constant sell-outs, highest TV ratings in the league, and merchandise selling out as soon as it's stocked. Add to that the fact the Sabres are so close to winning that Briere and Drury would work it out for another two years for a chance at the cup.
I was wrong.

Buffalo is still a small-market town, current revenues notwithstanding. They can't afford to pay up to the cap and they won't. They didn't get to their current situation by being foolish.

But, I suppose it could be argued they may have been foolish for not paying Briere what he wanted last year - 5 years at $5mil. He got $5mil in arbitration anyway and they just offered him the same deal he wanted twelve months ago. He wanted it in '06, but it wasn't enough in '07.

So, instead of doing like the Oilers did with Hemsky and the Flyers did with Timmonen - signing a long-term deal that seems a bit inflated now, but by the end of the deal will be a bargain for the team - they now have to overpay even more or be without a top center.

He will certainly get at least $6mil/year in free agency. Some will say he's not worth it, but to me, 1 point per game in each of the last two playoffs and 95 points this past season is certainly worth what Federov, R.Blake, and Redden made this past year.