Video of the Day: Gaborik can Fly!

by Jes

Marian Gaborik is looking to score a breakaway goal against Dominik Hasek, but the Dominator has other plays.

Up, up, and away!!!



I'm a little disturbed that Hasek could have taken out the knees of Gaborik and caused some injury. If a regular player slid-tackled Gaborik, they'd likely get a bit more of a penalty. I realize Hasek is a goalie and has the job of stopping the puck, so I'll let it slide.

Peter Bondra Makes Retirement Official

After Peter Bondra scored his 500th NHL goal, and finished last season with an awful 14 points and 34 games, I called on him to just get it done with and retire from the NHL.

It's not that I don't enjoy having Bondra in the league, but it is rather painful watching a legend struggle to keep up with the new generation. Clearly, Bondra's time was up and he ought to go out without a huge fork sticking in his backside.

Well, Bondra announced his NHL retirement today, after a lot of pondering, and will become the general manager of Slovakia's national club.

"I kept it a secret for a long time. They will know overseas only after this press conference," Bondra said, according to a report from the Slovak national hockey association. "I hope I can help Slovakia win another medal at the world championship."

Bondra's final numbers: 503 goals and 389 assists in 1,081 games. I don't think it'll be quite enough to get him into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, but he was certainly one of the league's most dangerous offensive forwards during most of his career. With a smokin' slapshot, incredible skating speed, and nose for the net, Bondra was a threat that the opposition absolutely had to watch out for.

When I look at Marian Gaborik, who is injured AGAIN, I wonder how, if ever, he will live up to Bondra's status as the Slovak's most dangerous goal-scorer. Gaborik has the same raw tools, but can't stay healthy, and seems to lack the natural sniper instinct that Bondra possessed.

An Off-Season Look at ... The Minnesota Wild

By Jes

Over at Das FanHaus, I have a capsule preview of the Minnesota Wild, a team which will give the Canucks a great deal of competition in the Northwest division.

Just like the Canucks, the Wild pretty much stood pat, and did very little other than trade Manny Fernandez for Petr Kalus.

I know it's hard to believe, but Marian Gaborik has never had more than 40 goals or 70 points in a season.

He's got Pavol, he's got speed, he's got health (I hope), so now is the time to break the 40-50 goal plateaus and show us that he's a true star. There has been so much potential for this guy to skate circles around the league, but various factors, self-induced and not, have held this guy back. Really, he's got a huge salary, and needs to start earning it.

Here's the salary structure for the Wild.

It wasn't so long ago that the Wild had a pretty decent roster chalk full of cheap guys. Now? They are a fairly expensive roster, with few bargains to be found. Johnsson is pricey, Parrish is overpaid, and the rest of their stars are well compensated.

The Wild still have some room to add another piece or two, especially at RW, where Parrish isn't so productive any longer, and Koivu is playing out of position.

I fear the Avalanche' offence, but their goaltending is suspect. The Wild have a well-balanced team, a great coach, and good goaltending. It will certainly be a tight race between the Canucks/Wild/Avalanche, and I expect many great divisional matchups throughout the season.