Nice of the Penguins to kill the buzz of the Blackhawks triple OT win by announcing the mammoth contract extension for Evgeni Malkin, who was due to become a UFA after the 2013-14 season.
The good news for the Pens and their fans is that they get to keep Malkin in their fine city for eight more seasons.
NEWS ALERT: #Pens have agreed to terms with forward Evgeni Malkin on an eight-year $76 million contract extension: http://t.co/WrXTRpDpDS
The Pens are going to have to say goodbye to many, if not all of their UFAs-to-be in order to re-size their salary cap, which will shrink from $70.2 million to $64.3 million come this September.
Malkin's annual cap hit will be $9.5 million. Yikes.
Cap shrinks to $64.3M in Sept. Pens have $7.8 in cap space available. PIT can kiss goodbye UFAs Iginla, Morrow Dupuis, Cooke, Adams, Murray.
There have been reports out of Russia that a KHL club was prepared to pay Malkin $15 million per season, tax free to lure the power forward home to play in his mother Russia. The Pens will pay Malkin a $10 million signing bonus. The new deal includes a no movement clause.
There isn't enough money in the Pittsburgh budget to pay all of their UFAs. I can see Shero locking up Dupuis and Adams, while the others will be sent free to the open market where they will attract a lot of attention, and long term deals. Trade Marc Andre Fleury, you say? Forget that. Shero said Wednesday that Fleury is his starting goalie and he ain't goin' anywhere. Another key point to consider: Next July, Letang and Oprpik become UFA. Letang will make $3.5 million this season, and Orpik will make $3.75 million in 2013-14. Each D will be looking for a heavy pay raise and a long term extension.
Where will Shero find the money to sign his core UFAs?
If I'm Buffalo, I make a play for Steve Ott's former Dallas Stars running buddy, Brenden Morrow.
The Nielsen overnight ratings are in. Once again, the hockey-addicted region of Buffalo/Niagara have made it known that they are Hockey Heaven.
It goes without saying that the two cities with horses in the race would have the highest TV ratings. Boston, Chicago, and Providence are no-brainers to pin the needle on household TV ratings.
Then, there's little ole Buffalo.
Top 5 markets for Gm 1: Boston (28.1), Chicago (25.1), Providence (18.5), Buffalo (8.5), Milwaukee (6.1)
If you were to use Nielsen Plus rating to quantify the viewership in the combined Buffalo-Toronto metro, you'd see ratings in the top two, perhaps #1. Buffalo's NBC affiliate, WGRZ, beams its signal into the Greater Toronto Area by way of Rogers cable. There are 7+ million people in the Golden Horseshoe.
Imagine the support and the record-breaking TV ratings once the Sabres finally make it to a Stanley Cup Finals and they win the damn thing!
Andrew Shaw will never have to buy another beer in the Windy City ever again. Nor a cup of coffee, either. The Belleville native scored one of the most memorable and dramatic goals in NHL Stanley Cup history in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
Shaw ended the triple overtime classic with the flick of his wrists. It was nearly 1:30am in the east when Shaw had the presence of mind to re-direct a Dave Bolland tip-shot off of a Michal Roszival point shot.
Greasy goals are the ones that usually end such hotly contested games as this one was. Shaw's 3OTGWG was scored on the 107th shot on goal of the game.
Thanks, Blackhawks TV
I love it when the grinders and muckers become improbable heroes. The Hawks are an all star team of offensive over-achievers with the likes of Kane, Toews, Hossa, Sharp, Seabrook, and Keith. To see Shaw, and his blue collar buds Bickell and Bolland find success in these playoffs does this observer's heart good.
Shaw was a menace to the Bruins in Game 1, delivering 9 body checks in his 6 periods of play. He hammered Chara so hard and to the point that the Bruins captain lost his cool and took a stupid roughing penalty in the second period of the Marathon On Madison.
Shaw was a physical force for nearly five and a half hours in Game 1. He skated 24:03 TOI. He scored the biggest goal of his life and added an assist. He was +2. Shaw proves that it ain't the size of the dog in the fight. Its the size of the fight in the dog. At 5'10 and a shade under 200 lbs., Shaw plays like her 7 feet tall. He's an inspiration to players everywhere.
I don't know what I love more. Shaw's dagger to the heart of the ferocious Bears, or, his F-bomb that he sprayed at Pierre McGuire in his post game interview.
What a beauty!
At Tuesday's media day, the Niagara Ice Dog alum told a story of his encounter with the Stanley Cup last summer. Brad Richardson of the LA Kings, a fellow Belleville boy, brought the Stanley Cup home to share it with his friends, family and fans. Shaw attended Richardson's party. The pest was bit by the Stanley Cup bug. Now, he and his Blackhawks teammates are three wins away from him hosting a party of his own in Belleville. Ron MacLean coined the phrase "Shaw Festival" after Shaw's Game 1 heroics. I like it.
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Watching the Game 1 heroics of Shaw and his Hawks mates, I was reminded of two Buffalo Sabres classic playoff marathon games.
The 1993 4 OT epic game won by Dave Hannan when he scored on then rookie Marty Brodeur.
Show of hands if you remember Brett Hull and the Stars stealing the Stanley Cup in triple OT in Buffalo in Game 6.
Foot in the crease. No goal. Screw the Dallas Stars and their hollow, cubic zirconia Stanley Cup rings.
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