Illegal hits shouldn’t be taken lightly whether it’s in the NFL or the NHL.  The NHL took action today by suspending forward Shane Doan of the Phoenix Coyotes for a total of three games due to an illegal, blindside hit to the Anaheim Ducks’ Dan Sexton’s head.  Along with this three-game suspension that Doan was handed by the NHL, he is also going to lose a chunk of his salary – more than $73,000.

The hit initially came in Sunday night’s game, in which the Phoenix Coyotes lost 3-2.  Referees can call these illegal hits during the game and issue in-game penalties, but many do not.  This was the case for this hit – Doan wasn’t penalized during the game but instead after the game. Continue Reading…

After the 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, the Wings are not happy at all; however, if it’s not for the reason you think and instead it is with the hit that was taken on Franzen by the Dallas Stars’ defenseman Mark Fistric.  In the first period of the Detroit Red Wings’ game on Thursday, center Johan Franzen suffered a hit and didn’t return to the game.

There were eight minutes left in the game’s first period when the hit came in the corner of the defensive zone of the ice.  Franzen went down hard but did eventually get up and skate off the ice to not return – and no penalty was ever called on this play.   Continue Reading…

Monday, in order to strengthen their problem defense, the Anaheim Ducks decided to sign veteran defenseman Andreas Lilja.  The contract is reportedly only for a single year but is worth $600,000.  Don’t expect to see the veteran on the ice immediately as there are some visa issues that he is having to work out prior to being able to play, reportedly.

The agreement between the Ducks and the 35-year-old veteran defenseman came over the weekend, not too long after Anaheim lost one of their top defensemen to a broken thumb – Andy Sutton suffered the injury to his right thumb Friday evening.  In addition, the Ducks are also without their newly signed defenseman, Tony Lydman, who has been out since before training camp due to serious case of double vision that could have been connected to and caused by severe migraines.  Continue Reading…

Saturday, sources confirmed that the Boston Bruins have in fact signed Zdeno Chara, a four-time All-Star, to a seven-year contract on the morning of the season opener for the Bruins against the Phoenix Coyotes. As for financial terms of the seven-year deal, the contract, which is set to keep Chara part of the Bruins through the 2016-2017 NHL season and until the Bruins captain turns 41 years of age, is reportedly worth $45.5 million.

Originally drafted in the third round of the 1996 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders, 33-year-old Chara comes in at 6-foot-9, which makes him the tallest hockey player in the history of the NHL. He played between the Islanders and the Ottawa Senators for eight seasons, four and four, respectively and was then signed in 2006 by the Boston Bruins as a free agent. Upon signing his contract with Boston that year, he was immediately named the captain of the team and has held that title ever since. Continue Reading…

Along with many other NHL teams, the New York Rangers took a step forward in trimming their active roster today.  They have officially trimmed 11 of their players from their training camp.  Of these 11 was Wade Redden who will move on after clearing waivers to be on the AHL and whose wife just recently gave birth to their first child less than a week ago.

Should Redden decide to not report to Hartford, he will forfeit his the rest of his six-year contract with the Rangers and will then become an unrestricted free agent.  Three more that were cut and assigned with Wade Redden to report to Hartford were Dale Weise, Mats Zuccarello and Evgeny Grachev. Continue Reading…

Chris Drury, the captain of the New York Rangers, is going to be out for about four weeks due to a broken finger.  He broke his finger Monday morning during a scrimmage after trying to block a shot and is currently scheduled to miss four weeks.  The stem of his injury – from blocking a shot – is what Drury is truly known for.  He led not only his team but the entire NHL in blocked shots last season  with a total of 97 blocked shots.

While 34-year-old Drury didn’t have the most impressive season last year with the Rangers, with career lows of just 14 goals as well as 18 assists resulting in 32 points in 77 games, said that he was feeling positive about the upcoming 2010 NHL season, which is his fourth season with New York but 12th career season in the NHL and was showing positive play in camp early on.  During his 11 seasons in the NHL, he has recorded 254 goals and 610 points in 868 career games.  Drury is currently in the last year of a five-year contract with the Rangers worth just over $35 million.

As of right now, Drury isn’t required to undergo surgery; however, if Drury goes as scheduled and misses four weeks approximately, he’ll end up missing all six of the preseason games (two against New Jersey, two against Detroit and two against Ottawa).  In addition, he’ll miss the first four games of the NHL regular season including two away games against the New York Islanders and the Buffalo Sabres as well as two home games against the Colorado Avalanche and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The left wing may be able to get back into the game against the Avalanche on October 18 if his finger heals quickly enough and properly, which means he’ll only have to miss three of the regular season games.

Training camp is just days from starting and the New York Rangers aren’t wasting any time signing Marc Staal.  The Rangers announced Wednesday that they have officially signed leading defenseman Marc Staal to a five-year new contract.  The five-year deal is reportedly worth almost $20 million.

The 23-year-old restricted free agent is entering his fourth year in the NHL and was one of the four New York Rangers that participated in all 82 of the games last season.  Continue Reading…

Eric Belanger, a free agent center, signed with the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday.  Sources confirm that the deal is a one-year contract worth $750,000.

32-year-old Belanger is a nine-year veteran and played with the Minnesota Wild last season prior to the Washington Capitals acquiring him at trade deadline.  The Coyotes make Belanger sixth team in his NHL career.  He will join the Coyotes this season and leave behind Minnesota, Washington, Atlanta, Carolina and Los Angeles. Continue Reading…

After several attempts and two long drama-filled months, the National Hockey League has finally approved a long-term contract, which was submitted to the NHL on August 27, between the New Jersey Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk on Friday.  The revised contract is for 15 years and is worth a total of $100 million. The NHL had previously rejected a contract between the Devils and 27-year-old Kovalchuk for 17 years and $102 million but there were issues about lowering the cap hit at the end of those previous attempted contracts – $8.9 million for 11 years then $750,000 for the 12th year and $500,000 for the final five years, which resulted in the cap hit lowering to about $6 million Continue Reading…

The Atlanta Thrashers announced Monday they have re-signed free agent Bryan Little to a three-year contract.  The contract is reportedly worth just over $7 million.

The 22-year-old restricted free agent forward was drafted in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft during the first round as the 12th overall draft selection.  During his first season with the Thrashers, Little appeared in 48 games in which he totaled 6 goals and 10 assists for 16 points.  Last season, he recorded only 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points in 79 total games after recording 31 goals and 20 assists for 51 points during his first complete 79-game NHL season, which was the 2008-2009 season.   Continue Reading…