OLN, NBC announce their NHL schedules

The NHL announced their national TV schedule today.

Monday October 10th is the national debut of the retooled Pens as they visit Buffalo on OLN.

Their NBC debut is January 21 at home versus the Flyers.

Arbitrator says Tarnstrom should get $1.6M in 2005

As posted in SI.com an arbitrator ruled for a $1.6M contract for defenseman Dick Tarnstrom. The Penguins have 48 hours to decide what they are going to do. An announcement is expected Monday.

Seems reasonable to me.

Malkin Speaks

Evgeny Malkin gave an interview to Russian Hockey Digest regarding his decision to stay in Russia and play for Magnitogorsk Metallurg instead of joining the Penguins.

"Actually, I was ready to compete with Alexander and Sidney for the Calder Trophy. But my agents told me that it’d be easier to win the trophy in a year. "

Thanks agent. He added:

"I hope, they [Pittsburgh] will respect and understand my decision. I already made a decision, so we’ll come back to this conversation in a year. "

It also looks like Milan Kraft will remain in the Czech Republic and also not join the Pens. Welcome to the new NHL where its not guarenteed that every player wants to play in the league.

Malkin Unlikely to Play for Pens in 2005

Dave Molinari, in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports that Pat Brisson, Malkin's agent is predicting that he'll play in the NHL in 2006.

"He doesn't have an escape clause at this point," Brisson said. "But I don't think Magnitogorsk will hold him back after he gives them an extra season."

The Penguins still were waiting for official word on Malkin's status yesterday, but general manager Craig Patrick said that if he remains in Russia this winter "we'll look to next year, for sure."

What the Penguins won't do, he said, is negotiate directly with Magnitogorsk to secure his release. That would seem to mean that Malkin won't be a Penguin unless he works out a release from the club or the Russian federation accepts the transfer agreement.

This is bad news for Pens fans hoping to see him play with the Pens this year.

Brief Contract Status Updates (or Non-Updates)

Pretty quiet on the Pens front this week. The Pittsburgh Tribune Review has a few brief updates on the contract status of some key players:

- Dick Tarnstom will go to arbitration on Friday.
- Brooks Orpik's agent and CP have had discussions and the ball is in the Penguin's court.
- Sidney Crosby's agent hasn't even talked to the Penguins about Sidney's contract yet. It should happen in the next couple of weeks. There is a rookie salary cap limit of $850,000 thanks to the new CBA. I would expect him to get the max.
- Evgeny Malkin's status is still up in the air with the Russian's out of the transfer agreement between the NHL and IIHF. One of his agents said "It doesn't look good at all.
- Alexi Morozov will likely be traded or stay in Russia according to Jay Grossman his agent as quoted in the Post Gazette :

"He has a very lucrative deal to play in Russia, given his play there, and will stay for the year if there isn't a trade," Grossman said. He added that "there is no negativity with the Penguins," even though they are prepared to cut their ties to Morozov.

Hockey Renaissance

The The Toronto Star writer Garth Woolsey writes of the hockey renaissance happening in Pittsburgh.

Lately, though, every day seems to bring another basket of unbelievably good news for a franchise, and a city, that has discovered the shortcut from hockey hell to heaven. The saviour, of course, is Canadian teenager Sidney Crosby. Tomorrow marks the one-month anniversary of his being drafted, on July 22, first overall by the Penguins, a period in which fans have bought so many advance tickets that sales already have surpassed the entire total sold in '03-04. As reported in these pages yesterday, the city's tourism bureau is piggybacking on the kid's phenomenal popularity, quite a coup in an area the Steelers so dominate.

Nothing much new, but interesting to see someone outside the 'burgh talking about the happenings with the Pens.

Pens Are Paper-thin at Center

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05233/557320.stm

Milan Kraft did not sign, as incorrectly reported last week by The Post-Gazette. Ryan Malone is also unsigned, so the Pens have Crosby, Mario, and Lasse as their centers now. I'm not even sure if Mario is going to play center anymore.

They really need to sign somebody before all the good free agents get taken.

What has CP been doing for the past week? We haven't signed anybody since John Leclair.

Out of Debt...Finally

Story in Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports that the Penguins have pulled off the rare, post Chapter 11 Bankruptcy task of repaying in full the pricipal amount owed to all creditors both secured and unsecured.

All that penny pinching over the years has finally resulted in a debtless team that can focus on building for the future.

"Campbell said the fact the Penguins were able to follow through and pay the debts is all the more impressive considering they made the final payment on the principal amount during the lockout season and did so despite the fact that plans for a new arena have not materialized.

The bankruptcy plan included a promise from local officials for a new arena by 2007.

"That promise, I can say, was broken by the government," Campbell said."

To that end, two Penguins fans have created a website www.slotsformario designed to show support for the Penguins being awarded a slots casino license to fund a new hockey arena in Pittsburgh.

Please show your support.

Pens talking to Damphousse

According to Rob Rossi at the Tribune Review Vinny Damphousse's agent confirms talk with Craig Patrick.

The 38 year old center, late of the San Jose sharks has 473 career goals in 1,518 games played. His production certainly trailed off in 03-04.

He could be a viable 2nd or 3rd line center, however, I'm slightly concerned w/ the growing geezer quotient on the Pens and it will be interesting to see if they can turn this collection of players into a cohesive unit. And whether Edzo, a second year coach, can coach a bunch of guys that he's barely older than.

Pens Re-sign Milan Kraft

The Pens re-signed Milan Kraft yesterday

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05231/556523.stm

That means Malone, Orpik, Morozov, and Tarnstrom are the only unsigned players.

Hopefully we can get all those guys signed soon (and Malkin too).

Bettman speaks about the OLN deal

Big Gary talks about his "cool" new OLN cable deal in this AP article .

"It will allow hockey fans to see a whole new game and get closer to hockey than ever before,'' Bettman said. ``This is so cool. We're really looking forward to it."

At least OLN appears to be trying to innovate w/ their impending NHL broadcasts with the addition of an HD channel (which hopefully will show up on Directv), internet streaming, video on demand and new cameras and behind the scenes access.

Whether anyone will actually see these innovations remains to be seen. But as a hockey fan I look forward to seeing what they've got.

OLN Opens NHL Coverage with Rangers vs Flyers

According to the channel's website, OLN begins their coverage of the NHL on 10/05/05 with the New York Rangers vs the Philadelphia Flyers.

So if you want to see Sidney Crosby's debut you'd better live in Pittsburgh or get NHL Center Ice (I've already put in my order).

No NHL on ESPN Counterpoint...

As stated in the previous blog entry, ESPN has opted not to top the deal offered by OLN in order to keep the NHL. (Whew! That's a lot of anagrams!)

While my collegue believes the NHL will suffer due to lack of promotion and coverage by the sports bohemoth, I have to summarily disagree. ESPN had the NHL for years. They promoted it, cross-promoted it, advertised it in their crappy magazine and the end result was still the same... low ratings and a small fan base.

The national cable package on OLN won't do any better or any worse for the league. Why? Like every other sport besides football, hockey does not translate nationally in the US. The changes the league has made will need to be promoted regionally to draw the local fan back and energize the sport. That's where the ratings are and thats where the fan-base will tune in. ESPN, for all their big money contracts and "synergy", simply would have buried the NHL in their line-up among their Little League World Series games and 80 hours of coverage of the World Series of Poker. At least OLN will build their network around the NHL franchise. They'll air more games, feature more teams, and the hardcore NHL fans who want to watch a nationally televised game will upgrade their cable package to be sure they can get them.

This league will have success without ESPN because they don't need ESPN. They need their local fans to watch. The rule changes and the greater league equity will develop stronger regional followings for the teams and that's where the money is for hockey... in the tickets and the local TV contracts. The NHL shouldn't worry about ESPN. They should worry about getting the fans back.

Fans in Pittsburgh will certainly watch in large numbers as Crosby & Lemieux take the ice for the first time together on FSN-Pittsburgh. Fans in Detroit will continue to rack up big ratings for the Wings on FSN-Detroit. And so the story will go for every team around the NHL.

No NHL on ESPN

It was reported this morning that ESPN has turned down that ESPN has turned down the NHLs final offer on a contract for the four letter network to air games this season.

The NHL national cable contract will got to Comcast which will air games on OLN in the United States for at least the next two seasons.

ESPN, siting abysmal ratings and the protracted work stoppage, declined to pay the reported $72M for the NHL Contract.

I've been of the opinion that not having the NHL on one of ESPNs 6 networks is disasterous for the NHL.

Lets be honest, we puck heads will seek out hockey wherever it is and find the games on whatever channel they air. But for the casual or non-hockey fans, ESPN is the destination for sports in this country. What is going to make new fans go to OLN to find hockey games?

In addition to airing the games, ESPN cross promotes the heck out of their products on their many talk shows, sports news shows, arguing heads shows and radio network.

How much attention do you think these outlets are going to give to the NHL now that they have no vested interest in promoting the sport? Will we even see highlights on Sportscenter? When Sidney Crosby makes his debut or scores his first goal will it make the rundown on PTI?

By signing a deal w/ Comcast that gives the league a short term monitary fix, instead of thinking about what is in the best interest of the league long term Gary Bettman once again shows the inability to market this sport in a way that will grow and inprove the product. And the players and owners, who are now in "partnership" to make money based on how well the league does financially should be concerned by this move.

This strikes of arrogance on Bettman's part. He may have won his battle with the players because he had leverage, but he had no leverage with ESPN and he should have recognized this and negotiated to get some presence on the network. Even if it was one game a week and the occasional NHL only highlight show.

So now we have to hope that the NHL, which a lot of sports fans already see as irrelevant, doesn't end up relegated to the status of slamball, the Tour de France, and pro-dodgeball on the sports landscape.

Now I have to go figure out what channel OLN is on Directv and add it to my favorites so it shows up on my guide.


More on the move to OLN from Darren Rovell at ESPN.com

Report: Stumpel signs a 2 year deal w/ the Panthers

According to Sportsnet.ca , the Florida Panthers have signed former LA Kings Center Jozef Stumpel to a 2 year $3.35M deal. The Penguins had been rumored to be interested in him should they fail to secure Evgeny Malkin from his Russian contract.

Developing...

More details on the Stumpel deal

Malkin to Sign Soon?

According to reports, Stan Savran said on the radio yesterday that according to Russian labor law any employee can get out of a contract or job by giving a two-weeks notice. This includes hockey players, and it has been done before for other Russian players. The applies to the Evgeny Malkin situation.

This is one of the options that Craig Patrick is looking at, but the Pens really don't want to him to quit Magnitized Metallurgy (or whatever his current team's name is). They would rather have him released from Russia through some kind of agreement.

This team needs another centerman, and the longer we go without signing Stumpel the more it looks like Patrick has a plan to pay the ransom for Malkin. By the end of this month we will likely have the answers.

Leonsis talks of Mario's "different goal"

Tonight on "The Bram Weinstein Show" which streams on DC's Sportstalk 980 , Ted Leonsis the owner of the Washington Capitals was interviewed about the NHL CBA, the Caps activity (or lack thereof) in free agency, etc.

The gist of the interview is that the Caps plan to hover around the floor of the salary cap and re-build with youngsters and low priced free agents (sounds like the Pens in 2003). You can read his letter to the fans here to get his vision for what he's doing with their team.

What makes this Pens related is that Bram asked him why the Pens, who he claims have been "crying poor" for years now, have been so active in free agency.

Leonsis made the statement (paraphrasing here) that "Pittsburgh has different goals than we do, they have an owner, president and best player that is getting older and sees an opportunity to [try and get something done right away..we are building for the future to have a team that can be consistently successful year after year].

Which is an interesting take. I think people feel like the Pens have been so active out of the gate in free agency mostly so they can put a winner in the aging Igloo and force an arena deal. But I hadn't considered that this spending spree may have something to do with Mario wanting to make one last run at the cup before he laces the skates for the last time.

Leonsis also said that if the NHL is smart they will market Crosby and Ovechkin as the NHL's answer to Magic and Bird.

It will be interesting to see if a long rivalry forms between these two players and by extension the Penguins and the Caps.

I have to admit it was great meeting and usually beating them in the first round of the playoffs every year.

Sidney vs Alexander would certainly add juice to the "rivalry".

Koltzov signed to 1 year deal?

According to the free agent tracker on Sportsnet.ca , Konstantin Koltzov has signed a one year deal to rejoin the Pens.

More details to follow...

This is confirmed on the official team site .

More updates, the AP is reporting the deal is worth $623,000 a year. Which is about $400,000 less than he made in 2003.

Check out TSN's 2005-2006 Eastern Conference Contract Tracker to get an idea where the Pens sit from a salary cap perspective.

Stumpel to be Signed Soon?

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05228/554653.stm

According to the article Kraft and possibly Morozov will be shown the door and they are to be replaced with Crosby and Stumpel. Morozov wants to come back, but do the Pens really have the room for him?

Stumpel is supposed to be an alternative to Malkin. The source I have say that the Pens could get Malkin over here for $2M ransom. I think it is worth it. He is supposed to have sick skills. The problem would then be - where do we put all these guys? There are only so many roster spots on a team.



Also, I keep hearing bad things about Leclair's back. A source told me that he has second-hand information that says Leclair told him his back was too bad to be playing professionally. I don't know how long ago he heard this, but Leclair had surgery in May and apparently he passed a physical exam. Mario has a bad back too. I'm sure he can tell Leclair how to rest it and all that stuff. I think he is going to score 30 goals this year as a third line player.

Tarnstrom and Orpik are yet to be signed. Hopefully that happens soon so we can see where we are cap-wise and add more people.

Dropping the puck...

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