Did Scotty Niedermayer essentially screw the Ducks last season? it obviously wasn't intentional but at the end of the day it appears this way.
The bottom line is the Anaheim Ducks would have never signed Mathieu Schneider in the first place if Niedermayer had made up his mind that he wanted to play hockey.
The fact that they didn’t know meant they had to get a D-man to replace Niedermayer.
The only way Brian Burke and the Ducks could sign the veteran D-man was if they gave him two year deal which averages out at $5.625 Million.
The Ducks Placed Schneider on waivers in an effort to not only get themselves under the salary cap but to also make room for Teemu Selanne who they expect to re-sign soon.
The Ducks will look to trade Schneider as soon as possible if he doesn’t get claimed on reverse waivers.
Don’t forget NHL clubs have until the last day of the regular season to get themselves over or under the salary cap.
At the end of the day Niedermayer’s indecisiveness screwed not only his own club but Sshneider in the process as he once again is forced to pick up and move his family.
Do The Rangers Want Shanahan?
The Shanahan saga is beginning to get a little stale as well. Not quite to the level of Sundin but we are certainly headed in that direction.
There is little doubt Shanahan is frustrated with the Rangers. He wants to play there and the Rangers know it, yet the club refuses to tell the player if they can make it happen or not.
The Rangers are preparing to leave the country for a few weeks to begin their European tour and it appears they won’t be packing Shanahan before they leave.
Sure Shanahan has other options. If he wanted to play elsewhere his agent could cut a deal in a matter of a few hours. Philadelphia remains hot after Shanahan and New Jersey would be an option as well.
I spoke to his agent as recent as Tuesday and they are not even focusing on playing anywhere except with the New York Rangers. The two sides haven’t spoken since last week and there is no timetable to speak again.
Participating in training camp has little importance to Shanahan who is willing to wait for the Rangers to return from Europe as he keeps his fingers crossed they offer him a deal to play this season.
We are getting very close to suggesting that Shanahan should begin to look elsewhere to play this season if we aren’t already there. There are many hockey people who believe it would be in his best interest to move on from New York because the Rangers don’t look to be prepared to commit to the future Hall of Fame sniper.
Don’t expect either Mark Parrish or Glen Murray to attend a training camp without a contract. Both players have spoken to several teams and are not interested in a professional tryout.
Murray has received interest from three teams, I’m not prepared to speculate which clubs are interested but it is clear Murray will only go to a club that is a strong playoff contender.
Parrish has received no offers but is continuing dialogue with several teams including Vancouver, Nashville, Atlanta, and Dallas.
Speaking of Nashville, they are beginning to aggressively shop forward Alexander Radulov who all of the sudden wants to return to the NHL. I respect Predators GM David Poile for having no interest in hanging on to a player that bailed out on the organization.
Will we begin to see a trend from NHL players who want to return to North America after opting to play in Russia this season? It may not be it’s all cracked up to be is it????
Most NHL players I speak to believe Mats Sundin will in fact retire. Deep down I feel he’ll pull a Forsberg and find his way back into the NHL and attempt to be the savior for whichever club he joins.
I ask that all NHL fans, players, alumni, coaches, and executives keep former tough guy Kelly Chase in your thoughts. Chaser, as we know him, is in the middle of the toughest fight he’s ever faced.
Several weeks ago while vacationing near his hometown in Saskatoon, much of Chaser’s left side became numb. He quickly returned to St. Louis to seek medical attention.
Doctors have since found a small lesion, about the size of a fingernail, on his brain.
Recently Chaser had a spinal tap procedure done to check for Multiple Sclerosis which the Doctors have 90% ruled out.
Currently doctors are continuing to perform tests in an effort to determine an exact diagnosis.
Six days a week Chaser is receiving IV treatment’s for four hours a day in hopes that the steroids from the IV will shrink the lesion. He has five more days of this treatment to go before an MRI is performed next week to determine whether or not the IV treatments were successful.
Chaser still fully plans on doing the color commentating on Blues radio this season. He is truly one of the good guys in the business and has a lot of people pulling for him during this difficult time. In the meantime he remains a very visible part of the St. Louis community. Please keep Kelly Chase and his family in your thoughts.
Blues Clues!
Johnny Mac’s Sporting Goods will be the official home of my NHL radio show Blues Buzz for this season on 1380 am! The Show will feature Blues players, coaches, and executives on site each week. Please stop by every Tuesday from 6:00-7:00 to watch the show and meet your favorite Blues players. Also, Blues head equipment trainer Bert Godin will be on site each week sharpening skates for those who bring their skates in. The first show will broadcast live from Johnny Mac’s on Watson on September 30th.
There will be no Free Food promotions this season. The Blues had done this the past two seasons.
Lee Stempniak stayed in town all season and has been skating at least two days a week since early July. He has focused on being more explosive than he was a year ago.
There will be no Blues post game show this season following games on CW-11. The network will still broadcast 25 Blues games for what I’m hearing will be the final season channel 11 does Blues hockey. Next season FSN Midwest will handle all locally televised games.
The Blues veteran players are currently at the Lake of the Ozarks for a players bonding trip before camp gets underway on Friday.
Blues management and coaches are very happy with the play of D-man Jonas Junland during this week’s rookie tournament in Traverse City, Michigan. This kid has matured and come a long way over the last few years. You would have a difficult time convincing me isn’t one of the top seven defenseman heading into camp.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
[email protected]
More to come,
Andy strickland
St Louis Blues Blogger •1380 ESPN • 
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