Jan Bulis Bolts to Russia

by Jes



I heard the rumours out of Russia, and didn't want to believe them.

Alas, Jan Bulis, the penalty killer Willis was talkin' bout, has signed with a Russia team, after being spurned by the Canucks.

Unrestricted free agent Jan Bulis has opted to go overseas for the 2007-08 season, where he will play for the Russian club Khimik Mytischy, according to eurohockey.net.

The Czech forward played 79 games for the Canucks last year, scoring 12 goals and adding 11 assists in his first season with Vancouver. He played the previous 4 1/2 with the Montreal Canadiens.

*teardrop*

Well, I'll never forget Bulis or this hit he delivered to asswipe Jack Johnson.

Monday Morning Musings

by Jes
Good looking, famous, and dumber than a sack of potatoes. This is an apt description for the couple that is one Mike Modano and one Willa Ford.

Yes, the NHL's Pretty Boy and bimbo 'actress'got married in a private ceremony.

If these two ever have kids, you can expect some good looking tykes who will have trouble tying their own shoelaces. Basically, Paris Hilton clones. I wonder if their kids will have enough IQ points to breath without mechanical assistance.

Read more gag-inducing details over at the NHL FanHouse.
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Jan Bulis has a much better car than you will ever hope to have. See?



August 27th, and still nobody has signed the guy? WTF?? Poor Alanah is being driven to drink. Greg even went to London to escape the pain.

Hat tip to Vakfan, who has his own English-language blog that gives us North Amerikaners a nice look at the hockey goings-on in Czechia.

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It turns out that the Flyers are joining the growing list of teams that are moving their goal judges to far-away lands. Instead of just firing the guy, they move up him to the press box.

What the hell is the point? Just scrap the position and wake up to the 21st Century.

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Over at Taking One For The Team, a few of us bloggers took part in the Salary Cap Challenge.

The premise is simple: Make a team of any 20 players that you want, so long as you fit under the $42mil salary cap set.

You can go and see my team, which is very well balanced and has enough Slovak to kick some ass. I ensured to take Samuel Pahlsson "Is God" and other defensive specialists, so my team can beat you in just about every way other than fighting.

Marian Gaborik (6.5) - Sidney Crosby (0.85) - Pavol Demitra (4.5)
Cory Stillman (1.75) - Evgeni Malkin (0.984) - Justin Williams (3.5)
Jere Lehtinen (3.9) - Jordan Staal (0.85) - Corey Perry (0.494)
Jay Pandolfo (0.836) - Sami Pahlsson (1.4) - Branko Radivojevic (0.68)
Kevin Bieksa (0.55) - Francois Beauchemin (1.65)
Dion Phaneuf (0.942) - Lubomir Visnovsky (2.052)
Jaroslav Modry (1.2) - Mike Commodore (1.3)
Roberto Luongo (6.75)
Chris Mason (1.25)

Total Cap Space Spent = $41.938
Cap Space Remaining = $3.062


Most chose guys like Marc Savard for their fourth line, not realizing what a poor fit that would be in terms of playing style, chemistry, and personalities. Put a guy like Savard on the fourth line, and expect to have a pouty poopypants who is unable to stop opposing scoring stars from, uhh, scoring.

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And, lastly, I'd like to thank my Sidney Crosby blogger/partner-in-crime, snoopyjode (Jodie), for creating the new sidebar that you see on the left. Thanks to her, the links are much more organized for all to use. There are many excellent hockey blogs out there, so be sure to check them out.

Blogger Poll #1: Who is the Worst Free Agent Signing?

by Jes

On a lark, I decided to poll a few of my fellow hockey bloggers with a selected question. This could become a regular feature, since it offers the chance to get a spectrum of views in a nice capsulated format.

The first question: What was the worst free agent signing of the NHL off-season?

The one with the most answers with mighty-mite Daniel Briere, for which the Flyers were panned heavily for giving out such a long-term deal to a shrimp.

Mike Chen:

I'm going with Daniel Briere. Who the hell gets an EIGHT-YEAR term not named Crosby or Ovechkin? (Jes: Rick DiPietro) Couple it with the fact that the Flyers don't play Buffalo's go-go-go system, nor do they have the same offensive depth as the Sabres, and you're looking at a marked point drop and a bad cap hit for years to come. I could be wrong, but I see Briere's skills tapering off around year four of his deal.

Snoopyjode, from The Sidney Crosby Show:

BY FAR, my choice is the Daniel Briere signing. The Flyers basically bet the entire ranch on him. He's a somewhat decent and reliable player, but he's only had one really notable "standout" season in the NHL, so he's not even close to being worth what he got in that deal.

AND, Earl Sleek from the Battle of California:

In my opinion, the worst free agent signing this offseason was Philly's signing of Daniel Briere. I don't watch a ton of eastern conference hockey, but looking at the dollars and years committed, I think he's a guy who's very likely to underperform over the life of the contract.

Ritch Duncan, the American Hockey Fan (yes, the only one), had a very unique choice: Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics.

OK, how is a basketball trade the worst move of the hockey off-season? I'll tell ya. If there was one consolation for Bruins fans living in a town dominated by the Sox and Patriots, we could argue that with the Celtics around, the B's weren't the most pathetic team in town. It wouldn't have been a strong argument, but one could make it. Now, thanks to Mr. Garnett ( who has 2 inches on Zdeno Chara, by the way), the Boston Bruins are the least interesting sports draw in New England.

My fellow FanHouse cohort, Greg Wyshynski, wasn't too excited about the Habs paying heavily for a 2nd line defenseman.

Roman Hamrlik, four-year, $22-million deal with Montreal. He nearly had Mark Streit's stats, and now he has Sheldon Souray's money.

Michael the Hockey Fanatic chastised Kevin Lowe for his crazy RFA bids. I have to disagree about the 'playing nice' part, however. Hockey is war, on and off the ice ...

"I think the Vanek/Penner signing was the worst this off season because it exposed a loop hole in the FA rules when everybody is supposed to play nice and focus on the big picture of winning back fans."

JP Swenson, my San Francisco tour guide, and webmeister of the long-running Sharkspage.com agrees with me that the Ducks signing Todd Bertuzzi was dumber than Eddie Murphy thinking we want to see him making bad jokes in a fat suit for the third time.

Instead of hanging on to a young, dominant physical power forward and matching Edmonton's offer to Dustin Penner, Burke signs an aging Bertuzzi to a contract that hamstrings the Ducks financially. Bertuzzi has yet to regain his previous form after returning from injury, and there are too many off ice issues that might cause distractions down the line. Burke did not want his players to develop in a "fear free" environment, but now they may have to fear how the loss of a Niedermayer and Selanne will effect the team down the stretch run and in the playoffs.

The Acid Queen loves to hate (the Red Wings) and is predicting woe to those who sign Peter Forsberg and his "glass ankles".

It's going to be whoever signs Peter Forsberg--hopefully that'll be Detroit, so I can laugh at them. The guy has glass ankles, and he's breaking down rapidly. Peter The Great is no longer so. He should just retire from the NHL and head back to Sweden so he can try to win an SEL title with MoDo.

As for myself, I almost agree with my girlfriend, who suggest that "Anyone who doesn't sign Jan Bulis" is the answer to the worst FA signing question, but I'll have to go with Dustin Penner.

As much as I like the big lug, he is nowhere near worth $4mil per season AND all of the draft picks the Oilers gave up to get him. The Flyers will give up just cap space, while the Oilers give up that and some future assets for a 2nd line winger.

PS: HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY TO SIDNEY CROSBY!!

One more year and he can legally drink in the US of A.