This Week's NHL Musings

By Glen Miller

Here are a few of the relatively minor story lines in the NHL today and my thoughts on them. One of the “headlines” in particular will spur a strong response so from here on out consider this blog rated “R”.

Buffalo Sabres Forward Patrick “the Coward” Kaleta signed his Qualifying Offer with the team. After earning $500,000 last year, the terms of the CBA dictate that Kaleta receive a Qualifying Offer of $550,000 or an undeserved 10% raise from last year’s salary. This “Gutless Pansy” may be best known for running then Rangers’ Defenseman Paul Mara in a contest near the end of the 2007/2008 season elbowing him in the face and breaking Mara’s orbital bone (I believe). During a game last season, Mara sought Kaleta out for a measure of revenge and Kaleta “turtled” right up ala Claude Lemieux style instead of taking the beating he deserved.

TSN kindly calls Kaleta an “agitator”; I call him a punk. He finished last season with a whopping 9 points in 51 games with 89 PIM’s. Someone on the TSN site actually compared Kaleta to both Avery and Claude Lemieux. HA!! Avery and Lemieux might both be punks (at least to fans of the opposing teams) but at least they have some skill or had in Lemieux’s case. Kaleta is a Ryan Hollweg type of player but worse because at least Hollweg will stand up for himself.

The Hurricanes signed two role players to multi-year contracts. Defenseman Andrew Alberts agreed to a 2 year deal that will pay him a total of $2.1 million; an average of $1.05 million per. Alberts recorded 1 goal and 13 points in 79 games last season with Philadelphia. He led the Flyers with 157 hits and was sent to the sin-bin for a total of 61 minutes last year.

The Canes also agreed to terms with F Tom Kostopoulos on a 3 year contract worth $2.75 million. Tom (I will use Tom from now on because his last name is long and has too many “o’s” in it) appeared in 78 games for the Canadiens last year scoring 8 goals and 22 points with 106 PIM’s.

These signings are exactly what a team like Carolina needs. Alberts and Tom are both physical, gritty players that don’t show up on the score sheet much but are willing to do the little things it takes to win. It’s usually guys like this that step up and play a key role in a playoff series. Neither one will cost the Canes much in terms of cap space. I wonder what the addition of Alberts means for RFA Anton Babchuk and UFA Dennis Seidenberg. The Canes have engaged both players in contract talks but don’t appear confident in retaining either player. Does this mean the Canes are ready to move on?

Tampa Co-Owner Len Barrie Must Come up With $10 Million to Help Cover Cost Overruns.

In what has turned into the messiest ownership situation this side of Phoenix, Barrie was ordered by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to produce the cash to cover to date losses and also to provide a “slush fund” to help cover for any losses incurred during this season. I notice that Oren Koules, the other Lightning Co-Owner, wasn’t mentioned. I assume he has already produced his share. Barrie, as a former journeyman NHL’er is not likely to be able to come up with the cash as easily as Koules, a successful movie producer.

So in little more than a year, Koules purchased the team from Bill Davidson with Barrie as a partner, fired Cup Winning Head Coach John Tortorella, hired Barry Melrose (who hadn’t coached anywhere in 13 years), fired Cup Winning GM Jay Feaster and hired former player agent Brian Lawton as GM. Then after the season, Bettman had to pull Koules and Barrie into his office as if Bettman was the principal of a junior high school and Barrie and Koules had been brought in after scrapping in the halls. Apparently the two have different philosophies on how to run an NHL franchise.

I have no clue what will ultimately happen to the ownership in Tampa. I do know that this is a sadly humorous situation though. I wonder if Bettman is trying to force Barrie out of ownership with this ploy. Thoughts?

John Tavares Signs His Entry Level Contract. No real surprise here, although I imagine Islanders’ fans must feel good to know that he won’t be holding out for some ridiculous salary. I’m not sure what the exact salary or cap hit is (I’ll leave that for Justin). I am happy from the perspective that I hope Tavares and the other Islanders’ young players can inject some life into this Rangers-Islanders rivalry. It’s been pretty bland of late. HA! HA! HA!

The NHL Announces That This Year’s Winter Classic Will be Held At Fenway Park. The game will pit the Bruins against the Capitals. While I love the idea of the Classic being played in such a historic venue like Fenway, I wish the match-up was different. I liked last year’s game pitting Original 6 franchises and long-standing rivals the Red Wings and Blackhawks against each other. The Bruins are an Original 6 team and are coming off the best record in the East last year. The Caps are coming off a tremendous season and have one of the game’s most marketable stars in 2-time defending Hart Trophy winner Alex Ovechkin. It should be a lot of fun and a good game but maybe the Bruins vs. the Canadiens would have been better as a rivalry game.

That’s all for today; remember to hit the Mail Bag for any Rangers or NHL questions, comments or criticisms. Send your email to gkmkiller@cox.net Talk with you soon and thanks for reading.