Free agent frenzy begins

Canada Day marks the opening of NHL free agency. This year the fireworks started early, unlike 2008 when the good folks at TSN were forced to fill airtime until the board started to light up around 6pm ET. Fortunately, there was more to talk about this year and not just where Dany Heatley will be traded to (not Edmonton).

Here are the notables (in order of appearance):

• Daniel & Henrik Sedin, Canucks, 5 yrs/$30.5M each. OK, they were officially resigned before becoming UFAs at 12pm ET, but I'd otherwise have to lead with Mattias Ohlund. Not very exciting. The twins were looking for matching long term contracts but settled for less to stay in Vancouver.
  
• Mattias Ohlund, Lightning, 7 yrs/$25.25M. Steady defenseman will be a mentor to future franchise blueliner Victor Hedman.
  
• Marian Hossa, Blackhawks, 12 yrs/$62.8M. Hossa can get 12 years but the much younger Sedins can't? This puts him under contract until age 42. For a winger, that's like Chelios years. But let's be honest, no one expects Hossa to play out his deal. It's front loaded, paying him $59.3M in the first eight years and $3.5M over final four, reducing the cap hit to a manageable $5.23M while still lining Hossa's pockets with gold.
  
• Dwayne Roloson, Islanders, 2 yrs/$5M. This is a hedge against Crazy Wang's golden boy, Rick DiPietro, getting injured - or just generally sucking. Roloson, who's know to flop backwards if a crashing forward breathes to heavy, is going to love Brendan Witt knocking guys over in his crease. Do you think he thought about how many times he'll have to face Sean Avery when he signed the contract?
  
• Donald Brashear, Rangers, 2 yrs/$2.8M. It sickens me to admit this is an upgrade in the pugilist department for New York. I assume this means Glen Sather doesn't expect to resign Blair Betts.
  
• Scott Niedermayer, Ducks, 1 yr/$6M. No real surprise to anyone once Chris Pronger was dealt to the Flyers.
  
• Brian Boucher, Flyers, 2 yrs/$1.85M. Boucher's return to Philadelphia isn't really all that noteworthy other than providing a chance to recall one of the sickest saves ever.
  
• Nikolai Khabibulin, Oilers, 4 yrs/$15M. Edmonton fans shouldn't be too upset about losing Roloson.
  
• Scott Clemmensen, Panthers, 3 yrs/$3.6M. Clemmensen returned to NJ last year with his tail between his legs after bolting to Toronto the season before for a chance to play more games, which never materialized. When Marty Brodeur was lost to injury, his dream came true and, in fact, Clemmensen was the goalie he said he was. He deserves more back up duty than he got behind Brodeur but don't expect a second deal with the devil should Vokoun go down.
  
• Mike Cammalleri, Canadiens, 5 yrs/$30M. Bob Gainey is hoping Cammalleri will have more chemistry wiith Scott Gomez than Jaromir Jagr did.
  
• Mike Komisarek, Maple Leafs, 5 yrs/$22.5M. Brian Burke spent today toughing up his defense, signing Komisarek and trading Pavel Kubina for Garnet Exelby.
  
• Marion Gaborik, Rangers, 5 yrs/$37.5M. Sather almost regains his respectability with the Scott Gomez trade and then loses it again 24 hours later. Scotty Hockey puts it well: "The dude is a Fabergé egg. Stunningly beautiful and expensive, yet ridiculously fragile." Either this was a knee jerk reaction to Ottawa's choosing Edmonton's offer over New York's for Dany Heatley or Sather decided "he must be mine" after witnessing Gaborik score 5 goals against his club in a single game. Or maybe the masterplan is to flip Gaborik for Vinny Lecavalier? One can only dream.
  
• Brian Gionta, Canadiens, 5 yrs/$25M. Together with Gomez (5-11) and Cammalleri (5-9), Gionta (5-7, yeah right) fills out the shortest top line in NHL history.
  
• Martin Havlat, Wild, 6 yrs/$30M. Minnesota plugs the hole left by one oft injured winger with another. Havlat stopped counting his pennies just long enough to Twitter his displeasure with the Blackhawks. Gee, I can't imagine why they'd choose Hossa over you?

The fun resumes tomorrow with Montreal's former first line - Alex Kovalev, Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay - still available.

Find the complete list of free agent signings on TSN.ca.

Aaron Ward's no sucker

Aaron Ward took a sucker punch from Scott Walker during the Bruins' game 6 romp over the Hurricanes. Ward's no sucker though.

One thing hockey players do is learn from past experience. If a guy takes a run at you, the next time you see him coming you'll have your elbows up.

And Ward has experience to learn from. A couple years ago while with the Rangers, he took a punch in the same spot from Donald Brashear, who was on his way off the ice after a scrap with Brendan Shanahan.

So don't feel too sorry for Ward. Perhaps a little too willing to take one for the team, but he's no pacifist.

Survey says: Pronger is dirtiest player in NHL

Sports Illustrated recently polled 324 NHL players and asked them, who's the dirtiest player in the league? Their answer may surprise some, but not me.

30th Anniversary: Potvin Sucks!

In 1979, Potvin and Nilsson were locked into one of the better hockey rivalries as the glamorous urban Rangers were trying to hold off the emerging expansion team from the Long Island boondocks.

Potvin was the hard-hitting young defenseman with the Islanders, and Nilsson was the smooth center for the Rangers, one of those so-called “chicken Swedes” who were too mature and too skillful to be intimidated. Hard hits were part of the game.

“With about 1:20 left in the period, Rangers fans saw a sight to enrage them, when Potvin splattered Nilsson against the boards in the left corner,” Lawrie Mifflin, now an editor at The New York Times, wrote in The Daily News that night.

When Nilsson’s right skate caught in a crevice in the ice, the leg took the full weight of Potvin’s hit.

- Slap Shot, New York Times

Throughout the early '80s, the organ at MSG would continue to play the popular arena tune "Let's Go Band." Regardless of the opponent — whether it were the hated Islanders or a non-rival like the Winnipeg Jets — Rangers fans would punctuate the end of the tune with a choir-like refrain of "POTVIN SUCKS!"

In the mid-'80s, Garden management wanted to clean up the Rangers' gameday experience and stopped playing "Let's Go Band." Rangers fans noticed, and started to whistle the tune on their own — punctuating their grassroots version with a "POTVIN SUCKS!" holler at the end.

- Fox Sports on MSN

True blue Rangers fans know to respond to a whistle from the crowd with a hearty "Potvin Sucks", but not all know the origins of the chant. I, myself, knew about the hit on Nilsson which sparked it all but wasn't aware the whistle itself had roots as well.

I love traditions like these. In my hometown, Seattle Thunderbirds fans chant "Portland Sucks" (referring to the archrival Winter Hawks 200 miles south) to the tune of Gary Glitter's arena anthem 'Rock & Roll, Part 2' after every goal, regardless of the opponent. Good times.

Sadly, in recent years, Potvin Sucks has become overused. Instead of the one whistle early in the game from near the press box, it's all night long, particularly if the Islanders are actually in the building - likely a bi-product of the Rangers success over the past few years. It's been fun to go to games again, reviving the popularity of the chant.

Georges Laraque on Fighting

Ever wonder what exactly The Code is for hockey fights? Montreal pugilist Georges Laraque explains:

The Code is unwritten -- everyone knows it, but not everyone follows it, and those who don't are not respected. When you retire, respect is all you have left, and you want people to say that you were honourable at all times. At least I do.

The Code says things like:

• not fighting a guy at the end of his shift
  
• not jumping guys to get a head start
  
• never punch a guy when he's down (that's the most important thing for me; players -- and referees -- know I never do)
  
• and, especially, don't celebrate after a fight. You see that stuff a lot in junior hockey, but for guys who do it in the NHL, it's embarrassing and shows no respect for the other guy. Remember that everything you do comes back to you; you do that, it will happen to you because everyone is watching and talking!

Laraque expounds more on fighting and his "job" in the NHL in his blog for Sportsnet.ca. Pretty good read.

Funny kinda fight night

First Sidney Crosby goes gong show on Brett McLean during a faceoff....



Later Alexander Semin tries to b*tch-slap Marc Staal...



Can you imagine Crosby vs Semin in a tilt? Finally put that Puck Daddy interview to rest.

Cinderella Slovaks upsets United States at WJC

Wow. It may be shocking enough to hear Slovakia beat USA in the quarterfinals of the World Junior Championships. Perhaps even more shocking that it was a 5-3 score in which the Slovaks never lost the lead. But you had to see the game to realize what a stunner it was. (Highlights here.)

USA thoroughly dominated until the third period, when the Slovaks realized their carriage would in fact not turn into a pumpkin before the final buzzer sounded. Credit to the Slovakian team, who kept battling despite being out shot 47-18. Though the game was hardly back and forth action, it was a goaltenders duel.

Slovakia's Jaroslav Janus was undoubtedly the star of the game. His initial saves seemed more dumb luck, often leaving the netminder searching for his own rebounds. But as the game rolled on, luck turned to confidence and he made a number of big saves to win the game for his country. Janus called it "the best game of my life." An understatement if ever I heard one.

On the other end of the ice, USA's Thomas McCollum struggled. Perhaps a classic case of rarely seeing the puck, he let in 3 of 8 shots in the first period and 2 of 9 in the third. I wonder what the Red Wings think of their first round draft pick in pressure situations?

While there were many possible turning points in the game for USA - Jordan Schroeder's missed penalty shot in the first minute, Janus' glove save on Tyler Johnson, center ice turnover which lead to Tomas Tatar's empty netter - it was more than just a moment, it was surviving the second period which brought the Slovaks victory. Though they only managed two shots on net, Slovakia kept USA off the scoreboard. If USA had managed to get one, it would have been a different third period.

The upset clears the road for Canada on their "Drive For Five". They'll next meet Russia in the semis. USA plays Czech Republic for 5th place. And Slovakia has a shot at a medal. This could perhaps turn into an Eastern Bloc Miracle on Ice.

Props to James van Riemsdyk's third period goal in an otherwise disappointing game. It's up there with Pavel Datsuyk's backhander at the Winter Classic.