(VIDEO) Taylor Hall cheap shot on Cal Clutterbuck

First off, this is a text book knee-on-knee hit, it's a bush league hit, it's dirty and it deserves a suspension. I do not care that Taylor Hall is a super star.

I also, find it hilarious that Edmonton Oilers fans are defending this hit on twitter tonight. Second; would the NHL referees, please stop rescuing the players that do these hits on the ice. Whenever Matt Cooke or some other hack does something like this, the refs and linesman immediately come to their aid, don't. Screw-em  they deserve what they get. They just hurt someone, they deserve what they get. Hall didn't care about Clutterbuck as he was trying to end his season with that dirty leg check.

Let the players have some say on the ice before you throw them in the box or send them to the locker room. The hockey code demands that an act this be answered to, if not this kind of stuff will fester for a very long time, until you end up with Todd Bertuzzi type incidents.

First point of contact on Hall vs. Clutterbuck after replay showed in press room. Knee on knee
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) February 22, 2013

Brodziak on Hall: "First thing I did was ask the refs if it was dirty. They said yes. We just hope (Clutterbuck's) all right."
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) February 22, 2013

Buffoon of the day (from a comment on Sports Net)

tbizz17 Feb 22, 2013 9:54 AM in response to: sportsnet_ca Re: Oilers' Hall delivers questionable hit

Clutterbuck's one of the dirtiest players in the league...he deserves every bit of that. If the guy didn't bail out at the last second that's a clean hit...it's when guys start jumping out of the way that knees get tangled...a guy like Clutterbuck should have his head up all the time....he would have done the same thing to Hall if it's the other way around. I'm not a fan of either team, but sometimes you reap what you sow and Cal learned that. He won't miss a game...it's his thing to role around on the ice for a while after a hit...

Zach Parise's no goal.

At first look, it appeared that Zach Parise had scored with 4:37 left in the second period of tonight's game between Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild. After further review, the refs determined correctly that Zach had punched the puck into the net with his glove.

Dany Heatley and Zach Parise's magical night

While the game didn't go the way that Wild fans would have wanted, Zach Parise (2g-1a-3—pts), Mikko Koivu (1g-1a—2pts) and Dany Heatley (1g-1a—2pts) all had a pretty good night and scored all four of the Wild goals. The Blues would win the game in overtime with a goal from former Boston Bruins forward Vladimir Sobotka.

Sports Net; Suter and Parise among Top 5 NHLers not losing money over lockout

ST PAUL, MN - JULY 9: Chuck Fletcher, general manager of the Minnesota Wild looks on as Ryan Suter #20 and Zach Parise #11 speak during a press conference on July 9, 2012 at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

If there is one thing that we have learned during the 2012-13 NHL Lockout that we don't need to feel sorry for former Wisconsin Badger Ryan Sutter and North Dakota Fighting Sioux forward Zach Parise.

While other NHL players aren't getting a salary during the NHL lockout Sutter and Parise will be getting paid their 10 million dollar signing bonuses.

Patrick Hoffman; Sportsnet --- Ryan Suter, D, Minnesota Wild: $2 million

Much like Weber, his former defensive partner with the Nashville Predators, defenceman Ryan Suter had quite the interesting and rewarding off-season.

On the first day of free agency, Suter was signed to a 13-year deal worth $98 million by the Minnesota Wild. It was one of the most lucrative deals in Wild history, and one that must pay off if the team wants to become a postseason contender.

Suter is due to make $12 million total this season, which includes a signing bonus of $10 million. Therefore, should the NHL season be lost for the year, Suter will only lose $2 million of his salary.

Zach Parise, LW, Minnesota Wild: $2 million

The other most lucrative deal that the Minnesota Wild signed this off-season was to left winger Zach Parise.

Like Suter, Parise was also signed to a 13-year deal worth $98 million. The Wild, not known for their offensive prowess, now have someone who can produce on a consistent basis and a player that wields a ton of speed, a nose for the net, soft hands and the ability to create plays.

In an identical windfall to Suter, Parise is due to make $12 million this season with a signing bonus of $10 million. Like Suter, Parise will only lose $2 million if the lockout extends.

Just for the record I don't fault either player because they signed what they were offered during the off-season. I also think it's a bit of irony that the NHL owners while claiming to be hurting - there is at least one NHL owner that is going to have to pay 20 million dollars in player bonuses while the league is locked out. 

Zach Parise 9th in the Top-40 Fantasy Hockey Left Wing Rankings

The rankings are out and another Former Fighting Sioux forward Zach Parise was ranked 9th in the Top-40 Fantasy Hockey Left Wing Rankings.

1. James Neal
2. Daniel Sedin
3. Scott Hartnell
4. Alex Ovechkin
5. Patrick Sharp
6. Rick Nash
7. Ilya Kovalchuk
8. Patrick Marleau
9. Zach Parise - UND
10. Milan Lucic
17. Brad Marchand
18. Thomas Vanek - Minnesota
23. Max Pacioretty - Michigan
29. Matt Moulson - Cornell
38. Chris Kreider - Boston College

Bettman proves that he is a ________!

If you had any hope of the CBA getting hammered out by the September 15, 2012 - those hopes were squashed today. This is the zinger that Commissioner Gary Bettman uttered today at the end of 90 minute negotiating session between the NHL Owners and the NHLPA.

Gary Bettman:"we believe that we are paying the players more that we should be."
— Renaud P Lavoie (@RenLavoieRDS) August 23, 2012

Jesse Spector of the Sporting News has a really good story on Bettman's comments that he made today and lets just say that the NHL's Commissioner isn't going to make a lot of friends with the fans and with the players.

Based on the comments that Bettman made today - we can say that the good will is over and it's game on now.

As fans we just hope that we don't have another lost season. As it stands right now, Bettman is bound and determined to lock the players out because he can.

Jesse Spector Sporting News --- Another difference between Bettman of early August and Bettman of late August is that the younger Bettman expressed a “need” to lower costs, which was understandable. For teams that are struggling financially now, or that would be in several years under the current system as leaguewide revenues outpace local revenues, spending to the NHL’s salary floor is becoming an annual challenge. Seven teams finished 2011-12 under the projected $54.2 million floor for 2012-13 under the current CBA.

Contrast that with Thursday, and “we think we’re paying too much in salaries.” That’s a shift from a statement of plain-to-see fact to difficult-to-grasp opinion, and one that comes off as entirely hypocritical in the face of the $196 million the Minnesota Wild spent this summer on Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, or the Nashville Predators’ matching the Philadelphia Flyers’ $110 million offer to Shea Weber.

The counterargument to that is that teams are just playing by the rules of the current CBA, trying to compete as best they can. But the NHL’s owners did not become owners by making stupid business decisions, and it would be a lot easier for Bettman to make his case if star players were only getting offers from teams in the biggest markets. There’s a salary cap and a salary floor, and when the small-market Predators talk about wanting to be a cap team, it doesn’t do much for the case that the players are currently overpaid.

I agree with Spector – seriously – how can these NHL owners pay these outrageous salaries to the NHL players and then turn around and in the next breath say that they are paying too much in player costs? It makes no sense what-so-ever – or at least from a sane person’s point of view.

Let’s not forget that they want to also limit player salaries to five years also – so what do they do they turn around and sign players to 6,7,8.9, 10-13 year deals.

I don’t think I am missing the point – if you’re hurting financially you don’t go out and spend a bunch of money that you claim that you don’t have.

Is anyone taking these guys serious when they wheel their representative – who is pompous, condescending, mealy mouth jerk – this is also the same guy that has preceded over two other work stoppages and in his smug way say’s that the NHL owners are paying players too much and they need to wheel back the players salaries and oh yeah the Edmonton Oilers just paid Taylor Hall who has played in the NHL a grand total of two seasons 6 million a year over 7 season.

Fehr, 'still sufficient time to get NHL deal done'

I must say that I agree with the Head of the NHLPA – I also don’t see a reason to have a lock-out either. There is lots of time to get an agreement on a new CBA and in my opinion a lock-out does nothing for progressing the game of hockey after making much progress with exposure the last five seasons or so. Why not negotiate through at least the pre-season.

The NHL and the NHL Players' Association can agree there's still more than enough time to reach a new labor deal even though the union has yet to submit a counteroffer with less than six weeks left before the current collective bargaining agreement expires.

“I don't think time's running out yet,” Fehr said by phone Monday from Barcelona, where he met with about 40 NHL players. “I still think if the parties are dedicated to it, there's sufficient time to reach an agreement.”

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly concurred.

Daly declined to discuss the NHL's plans if an agreement is not reached by mid-September. [Associated Press]

Who is to blame? 

I am going to respond to a comment a fan made on a blog post that I wrote yesterday by someone named Bar Down, this is the comment that he posted, “Don't the players have something like a 57%-43% split??? What other sport is that uneven? I could be wrong...but if I'm right you must quit blaming the owners.” I do blame the owners – who else is culpable? The players were offered the current outrageous salaries by the owners. Do we blame Zach Parise, Ryan Suter and Shea Weber for their multiyear million dollars salaries? If the owners are willing to agree to these salaries I don’t blame the players for signing the contracts and taking the money.

Will the Preds match Philly?

Will Shea Weber stay a Predator or will be in the city of brotherly love next season? Do the Predators match the offer sheet or take the four first round draft choices and rebuild their defensive corps?

The Predators have until Wednesday to match the Flyers offer sheet. What would you do if you were the Predators general manager? If the Predators don't match the Flyers offer sheet they could run the risk of alienating their fan base. The Predators have already lost Ryan Suter to the Minnesota Wild so their defensive corps are not as good as they were before July 1st.

Shea Weber agrees to offer sheet from Philly

Reminiscent of the Toronto Maple Leafs general Manager Brian Bruke making an offer sheet to former Boston Bruins forward Phil Kessel –the Philadelphia Flyers have made an huge offer to Nashville Predator defenseman Shea Weber which he has accepted. Now the ball is in the Predators court – If I was them I would take the four first round draft choices.

ESPN.com --- The Philadelphia Flyers have signed star defenseman Shea Weber to a 14-year offer sheet worth upwards of $100 million, a source confirmed to ESPN.com. The Flyers also confirmed the offer sheet, although the team didn't disclose terms.

A restricted free agent, Weber has spent his entire career with the Nashville Predators, who have seven days to match Philadelphia's offer, which was first reported by TSN.

If the Predators decide not to match the offer, they would receive four first-round draft picks from the Flyers, according to TSN.

Weber's departure would be a devastating blow to a Nashville team that already lost All-Star defenseman Ryan Suter, who signed a 13-year, $98 million deal with the Minnesota Wild.

Now; is anyone besides me rolling your eyes? Seriously – the owners claim they need to reel in expenses and that they are bleeding money and then the Philadelphia Flyers go out and pull this bush league move. I just don’t take the owners seriously anymore or think that they have a leg to stand on. First they want to limit contract to 5 years – Weber’s deal is for 14 seasons – who knows what else is in this deal. The Nashville Predators have 7 days to match the Flyers offer sheet. You have to think that they won't be able to match this one.

If I was the Predators GM, I would take the four first round draft choices, while the Flyers won’t pick that high in the first round it could end up giving the Predators some decent players in the future and could give them something to trade if they want to move up in future drafts.

Here is a breakdown of the contract from Frank Seravalli Philly.com

According to Kypreos, the Flyers have structured the deal in a way that it may be impossible for Nashville to match. The breakdown would be as follows:

2012-13 (age 27): $1 million salary + $13 million signing bonus (league maximum $14M)
2013-14 (28): $1 million salary + $13 million signing bonus (league maximum $14M)
2014-15 (29): $1 million salary + $13 million signing bonus (league maximum $14M)
2015-16 (30): $1 million salary + $13 million signing bonus (league maximum $14M)
2016-17 (31): $4 million salary + $8 million signing bonus (total $12 million)
2017-18 (32): $4 million salary + $8 million signing bonus (total $12 million)
2018-19 (33): $6 million salary
2019-20 (34): $6 million salary
2020-21 (35): $6 million salary
2021-22 (36): $6 million salary
2022-23 (37): $3 million salary
2023-24 (38): $1 million salary
2024-25 (39): $1 million salary
2025-26 (40): $1 million salary
TOTAL: $110 million

Labor talks to resume Wednesday

There is still time to work things out and not time to panic yet - this is just the beginning of the negotiations. The regular season doesn't start until October 11, 2012.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The NHL and the NHL Players' Association are set to resume labor talks on Wednesday at the league offices in New York.

Total revenue of the league's operations is the biggest sticking point right now, and it's an important one. The players like their cut right now. The owners don't.

The two sides met last Friday in another round of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement before the current one expires on Sept. 15.

There were multiple reports coming out of the last round of talks that the owners' offer included players' hockey-related revenues get slashed from 57 percent to 46 percent. It also was reported that players would be forced to wait 10 years before becoming unrestricted free agents and that contracts would be limited to five years -- a major change considering Zach Parise and fellow blue-chip free agent Ryan Suter decided to sign matching 13-year, $98 million contracts with the Minnesota Wild.

NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly are among those meeting Wednesday. The two sides have regularly met since opening talks June 29 in a bid to reach a new collective bargaining agreement.

Updated Wild Wild Depth Chart

Michael Russo of the Star Tribune has the updated the depth chart for the Minnesota Wild. Seems like the Wild have a lot more talent to work with than other years. It will be interesting to see if former Denver Pioneer Jason Zucker can make the Wild out of training camp or if he will need a year in the minors before he makes the Wild.

It also seems like the Wild have a few pieces that they could trade if they had to. One question mark is whether Wild forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard will be able to make a comeback after suffering another concussion last season.

FORWARDS

Left wing-Center-Right wing

First line: Zach Parise-Mikko Koivu-Dany Heatley
Second line: Devin Setoguchi -Mikael Granlund-Pierre-Marc Bouchard
Third line: Matt Cullen-Kyle Brodziak-Cal Clutterbuck
Fourth line: Darroll Powe-Zenon Konopka-Torrey Mitchell
Extra: Matt Kassian

Vying for spots: Kassian, Stephane Veilleux, Jake Dowell, Jason Zucker, Brett Bulmer, Charlie Coyle, Johan Larsson, Nick Palmieri, Zack Phillips, Chad Rau, Jarod Palmer, Kris Foucault, David McIntyre, Carson McMillan, Justin Fontaine, Joel Broda.

DEFENSEMEN

Left-Right

First pair: Ryan Suter-Jared Spurgeon
Second pair: Marco Scandella-Tom Gilbert
Third pair: Clayton Stoner-Justin Falk/Nate Prosser
Extra: Falk/Prosser

Vying for spots: Falk, Prosser, Jonas Brodin, Steven Kampfer, Matt Dumba, Brian Connelly, Tyler Cuma, Chay Genoway, Drew Bagnall, Kyle Medvec, Josh Caron, Colton Jobke

GOALTENDERS

No. 1: Niklas Backstrom
No. 2: Josh Harding
In the wings: Matt Hackett, Darcy Kuemper

NHL Owners can't claim they're poor - not after the latest free agent signings

I touched on this in the last blog post... The battle lines are being drawn up. The good news is, the two sides are talking to attempt to avoid another lock out. I doubt either the players or the NHL owners want another repeat of the lockout that cost the NHL the entire 2004-05 season.

Scott Burnside, ESPN.com --- Never mind the spreadsheets and the pie graphs breaking down the NHL's revenue streams, all union head Donald Fehr needs to do when the NHL and its players sit down to try to hammer out a new labor deal is to bring the clippings from the first four days of free agency.

Zach Parise and Ryan Suter combining for $196 million over the next 13 seasons.

Forty-year-olds Ray Whitney and Jaromir Jagr combining to bring in a hair more than $9 million next season.

Matt Carle, 20th among NHL defensemen in point production last season, was lured back to Tampa by a six-year deal that will pay him an average of $5.5 million annually.

Jiri Hudler struck it rich with a four-year, $16 million contract after a career-best 25-goal campaign in Detroit.

Brandon Prust -- seriously -- got $10 million over four years to bring toughness to the Montreal lineup.

Every time a new contract was added to the list of bloated contracts that came before, commissioner Gary Bettman must have given a grim shake of his head.

When the NHL announced that they had a record breaking $3.3 billion in revenue this past season and then they turned around and said that the NHL owners we're hurting is going to fall upon deaf ears. I don’t believe it and I am sure most of the fans don’t as well.

Seriously! The NHL Owners are going to have a hard time convincing most sane people that the NHL owners are suffering financially. Sure, there is no doubt that certain teams are not as well off as financially as others – that’s life.

I also don’t doubt that are probably a half dozen NHL teams that would fold tomorrow if there is another lockout, but the owners made this bed for themselves. I don’t blame the players in this mess, the owners are the ones that signed free agents for astronomically high contracts and then turn around and say we want to reel in player contracts and that we’re broke.

The players and owners get to work and try avoid a work stoppage.

Parise and Suter signings didn't go unnoticed

I don’t think that anyone one is going to feel sorry for the NHL owners during the upcoming CBA negotiations when they say we’re broke and we can’t afford to play these big exuberant salaries anymore… Seriously! No one is going to feel sorry for the owners – especially after the Minnesota Wild’s owner signed two players for a total of 196 million dollars. I just don’t see there being a lot of empathy – especially for the Wild owner Craig Leipold.

I would imagine that the players have been watching these players’ signings as well.

Michael Russo, Star Tribune --- Leipold responded Monday, saying, "Listen: We've been losing money and the way we were going, we were going to have another year of 'keep losing more money and more money and more money.' So if I'm going to make the kind of financial commitment to keep this team and move this forward, I'd rather do it growing it.

"Ultimately that was the decision. As a result of this move, it's not going to cause us to be financially stable. I believe it will be within a year or two. This is a move to get us out of the hole that we've been digging. And as I spoke with some other owners in the league as to why I did it, they totally get it. They understand it. At some point you have to make that kind of commitment in order to turn your franchise around. If we didn't, then we would just keep losing more going forward without any plan of changing it."

Ironically, the day after the spending spree, Leipold was one of the owners who sat in the bargaining session between the NHL and NHL Players' Association in New York. The league has moved to terminate the collective bargaining agreement and negotiate another. The current agreement expires Sept. 15, and the league is in danger of a lockout. In 2004-05, the season was wiped out because of a lockout.

The hockey world has been a buzz since the big signing in Minnesota and you can bet that executive director of the National Hockey League Players Association Donald Fehr took note of the signing as well.

The owners want to move to a 50/50 revenue split; currently the players are at 57-43 revenue split. If the players are to accept the 50/50 number would mean that means the players are going to have their salaries rolled back. This could end up being a long fight especially with the recent signing in the NHL during free agency.

Zach Parise on ESPN 1500

Check out this segment on ESPN's A.M 1500 with Jim Souhan and Tom Pelissero the two hosts talked about the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter signing in Minnesota and then they talked with the Minnesota Wild's newest star forward Zach Parise yesterday morning.

The Second hour is where Parise talks to the hosts. [click to listen]

Zach Parise on defining success in Minnesota – “In New Jersey we hadn’t won a round… I think it was since 2006, we hadn’t won a playoff round for a long time, we missed the playoffs the year before going to the finals; the league is so even right now,” Parise said.

“If you look at the Stanley Cup Finals this year you have a sixth seed with us [Devils] and the eight seed with L.A. – it’s so even that you just want to get in. The team that seems to get hot for two months always does well.”

“I think when you through in a defenseman of the caliber of Ryan Suter and mix him in with the defensemen they already got and put him on any team, that immediately makes the team much better and the appeal of having him there with me… I was… I thought it was a great fit. Like you said, I know they haven’t won a playoff series in a while and that is a challenge that everyone is going to face and hopefully we can get into the post season this year and progress and develop and get to the ultimate thing.”

A few things - Zane Gothberg goes to camp

What a difference a couple of days make. Since the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter watch is over the summer is basically officially started.

Future UND goalie Zane Gothberg attended the Boston Bruins development camp and he is in a few of pictures on the Bruins Hockey Blog. [The Bruins Blog], [The Bruins Blog]

Check out this picture. [Click to open] If you look closely you will see that Zane is wearing Fighting Sioux hockey pants.

I haven’t been able to find anything on Zane Gothberg’s development camp with the Boston Bruins and I don’t expect him to be a very early departure at UND because the Boston Bruins have a stable full of goalies.

James Murphy, ESPN.COM --- In late May, the Bruins signed Swedish free-agent goalie Niklas Svedberg. At the draft in Pittsburgh last week, they used their first selection on another goaltender in Belleville Bulls (OHL) goalie Malcolm Subban with the 24th overall pick. They also decided to invite Boston College star goaltender Parker Milner -- who is a free agent and has one more season left at the Heights after helping the Eagles to a national championship last season -- to development camp. In addition to Svedberg, Subban and Milner, goalies Zane Gothberg, Adam Morrison and Lars Volden are also attending camp. Sweeney sees nothing but positives out of the sudden logjam between the pipes.

Here is a nice article on Zane Gothberg - [Zane] Gothberg ready for the next level

One thing that you can’t deny is that Zane Gothberg is a confident kid – the young goalie wants to come into camp and prove his worth to the UND coaching staff. Quote courtesy of the Hockey Writers Bob Mand.

Both Hargrove and Gothberg will be attending colleges in the fall: Zane will patrol the crease for the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux while Colton will lace ‘em up for the Western Michigan University Broncos.

Speaking of his goals as a freshman at UND, Gothberg said he wants to, “… Come in, put my best foot forward and try and get the starting job there….It’s the competition that brings out the best in you and it’s only going to make myself and my other goalie partners at North Dakota better. I just want to step up and prove that I can take the full bulk and be the starting goalie.”

Recently, I have watched the Goalie thread unfold on Sioux Sports and I have found some of the comments to be interesting – I predict that if Aaron Dell returns to the UND for his senior season he will be the starting goaltender for the Fighting Sioux next season. Just a hunch and I predict that Dell will get the start in the big games when it matters the most. It takes a lot to unseat a former All-American like Aaron Dell.

Bruins went after Parise as well

Perusing the internet today it appears that the Boston Bruins also offered Zach Parise a significant contract offer.

Fluto Shinzawa, Boston Globe --- Before Sunday’s market opening, GM Peter Chiarelli said he expected to be quiet. The Bruins have less than $3 million in available cap space.

Had the Bruins signed Parise, they would have exceeded the $70.2 million cap by the allowable 10 percent offseason margin. They could have placed Marc Savard on long-term injured reserve if necessary.

Parise said his final decision came between Minnesota and New Jersey. Parise is a Minnesota native. The left wing had previously played for the Devils his entire career.

Parise, the ex-captain of the Devils, was one of the two high-end free agents available on the market. Ryan Suter was the other. Both signed identical deals with the Wild.

Obviously, the Boston Bruins didn’t have a lot of space to work with and they would have had to makes some moves to get under the cap. Could Bruins fans imagine how he would have looked in the B’s line up skating alongside a couple of the Bruins faster forwards like Patrice Bergeron and say the “Little Ball of Hate” Brad Marchand.

A quick look at the Wild Roster

Michael Russo of the Star and Tribune posted a depth chart of what the Minnesota Wild cold look like this season with their new additions. With the big free agent signing yesterday the Minnesota Wild look to have improved their formally depleted line up.

It would also appear that the Minnesota Wild have a few extra players that they could trade as well if they need to shore up a position.

FORWARDS

Left wing-Center-Right wing

First line: Zach Parise-Mikko Koivu-Dany Heatley
Second line: Devin Setoguchi -Mikael Granlund- Pierre-Marc Bouchard
Third line: Matt Cullen-Kyle Brodziak-Cal Clutterbuck
Fourth line: Darroll Powe-Zenon Konopka- Torrey Mitchell
Extra: Matt Kassian
Potential other extra: XXXXXX


Vying for spots: Stephane Veilleux, Jake Dowell, Charlie Coyle, Johan Larsson, Brett Bulmer, Jason Zucker, Zack Phillips, Nick Palmieri, Chad Rau, Jarod Palmer, David McIntyre, Carson McMillan, Kris Foucault, Justin Fontaine, Joel Broda

DEFENSEMEN

Left-Right

First pair: Ryan Suter-Tom Gilbert
Second pair: Marco Scandella-Jared Spurgeon
Third pair: Clayton Stoner-Nate Prosser
Extra: Justin Falk
Potential other extra: XXXXXX

Vying for spots: Falk, Prosser, Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba, Steven Kampfer, Tyler Cuma, Chay Genoway, Drew Bagnall, Kyle Medvec, Josh Caron, Colton Jobke

GOALTENDERS

No. 1: Niklas Backstrom
No. 2: Josh Harding

In the wings: Matt Hackett, Darcy Kuemper

Note: XXXXXX signifies open spot.

More bad fan behavior - Parise draws the ire of the moronic fans

This is my second installment of morons of the twitter-verse. One of my favorite Twitter feeds is the Angry NHL fans @LOLVancouver  I am going to apologize for the coarse language right off of the bat - most of the stuff that I posted here is down right moronic - some of it borders on the realm of what I would consider anti-social behavior. Reading these posts  you have to really question some of these people's their sanity. Some of the tweets I read were silly as well.

You have to wonder if some of these people realize that everything that you put on the internet is out there for all to see? If I was in human resources and one of these people were one of my potential recruits I would think twice about hiring these people. These are just a sampling of some of the worst ones that I have seen today.

Here are a few that twitter poster that don't know how to spell the word traitor... I didn't know that Zach Parise was a trader?

If anything Zach Parise has been loyal and was a New Jersey Devil for seven seasons. Actually, if we are counting the lockout season, it would be eight seasons in the the seasons in the New Jersey Devils organization. I am not sure how this clown and others came to this conclusion.

Wow! You want a sports figure to die because he didn't sign or resign with your favorite team. I am sure this guy's mother would be proud.

The Minnesota Wild welcome Ryan Suter and Zach Parise

The dawn of a new era is upon us..... One could say that today was a historic day in Minnesota Wild History.

Here are some quotes from today....

Parise: "Every kid who’s grown up in Minnesota would love to play for the Wild. That’s the way it is."

Parise on Koivu: "They've already got a captain, and they've got a great captain.

Suter says toughest call he's ever had to make in his life was to David Poile. "It was so hard"

Parise says, "It was between New Jersey and Minnesota. I'm a loyal person, I love playing [in NJ]."Parise says, "Just the opportunity to play at home, it really meant a lot to me and my family. My parents were so excited, ..."

Parise on playing at home being a part of his decision: "It was a very big part of it."

Suter says they were texting each other back and forth where "we can both work. Last night into this morning it became realistic."

Parise: Ryan and I had talked throughout the year. 'Wouldn't be great to have a chance to play on the same team?'

Parise said that he and Suter talked "throughout the year," in case this didn't already feel enough like the Heat.

Lamoriello confirms Ryan Suter had no desire to play in Eastern Conference.

“I was just waiting to hear the news,” Cullen said a couple hours after the deals were announced. “It was a pretty exciting time just waiting to see what would happen. … I had a really strong idea that we were right in the mix.”

Matt Cullen on today's trade. ”I was ecstatic,” he said. “It’s pretty exciting when you get one guy of that caliber. To get two is pretty unheard of. Strictly from the standpoint of a Minnesotan, it’s unbelievable. We haven’t had a great deal of players at this level. To get two, it changes the look of our team.”

"If we work hard and get some breaks," Fletcher said, "there's no reason we can't be pretty good."

Finally, it can be told: Zach Parise pronounces his name "pah-ree-SEE." Says you'd have to ask his dad how he pronounces it.

Suter: "Nashville is on the rise, but it came down to Zach had a big part in the decision, and my family."

According to Pierre LeBrun, "for Suter, it came down to Nashville, Detroit and Minnesota."

Zach Parise is coming home - Wild sign Suter and Parise

Getty Images

Here is the press release from KARE 11 out of the Twin Cities. While I don’t like to use profanity on the blog, I do think a loud boisterous F-BOMB yeah might be in order for this big signing by the Minnesota Wild. This is definitely a coup d'état for the Minnesota Wild.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Wild appear to be making a splash in the free agent waters.

ESPN's Pierre LeBrun tweeted "Zach Parise has agreed to terms with the Minnesota Wild."

Parise was seen as the top free agent in this summer's NHL class. The 27-year-old forward scored 31 goals and added 38 assists last season for the New Jersey Devils.

A source told LeBrun Parise's deal is worth $98 million over 13 years.

LeBrun also tweeted the Suter signing.

Suter, a native of Madison, Wis., spent seven seaons with the Nashville Predators. Last season, Suter posted a career high in points with 46 (7 goals, 39 assists) in 79 regular season games.

Earlier in the year, I said, "I think that Zach Parise would sign with the Minnesota Wild." I was told by various fans that there was no way that Parise would sign with the Wild. Yeah! Looks like the nay sayers, Debbie Downers, Negative Nellies or whatever you want to call them, were flat out dead wrong this time. Vindication, maybe. It's really not a mystery, that Parise owns a house in Orno, Minnesota so now Zach can sleep in his bed at night when the Minnesota Wild are playing at home.

I said on twitter last night, that the Wild now have more former Badgers (Ryan Suter, Tom Gilbert, Jake Dowell and Dany Heatly) and Sioux (Chay Genoway and Zach Parise) than ex-Gophers on the Minnesota Wild.

The Minnesota Wild just a few short years ago under Doug Risebrough, didn't have many college hockey players now have a good mix on their roster, add to the Badgers and ex-Sioux players that I have already mentioned, you have Jason Zucker Denver University, Nate Prosser and Chad Rau Colorado College, Stephen Kampfer Michigan, Jarold Palmer Miami University (Ohio) and Matt Cullen Saint Cloud State University.

Links to the Story

NHL Free Agency 2012: Minnesota Wild Sign Zach Parise and Ryan Suter [Hockey Wilderness]

Wild Fireworks on the Fourth of July [Russo's Rants]

Report: Zach Parise, Ryan Suter Each Sign 13-Year Deal With Minnesota Wild [NESN.COM]

Wild agree to terms with free agents Suter and Parise [TSN.COM]

Free agents Suter and Parise choose Wild [Flyers Insider]

Minnesota Wild getting both Parise, Suter [Pioneer Press]

Zach Parise, Ryan Suter to Wild [ESPN.COM]