Penguins re-sign Curry - 7-31-09

The Penguins re-signed restricted free agent goaltender John Curry (above) to a two-year, two way deal worth $1 million. He went 2-1-0 last season with a 2.40 goals against average and .913 save percentage. In the AHL, he had a 33-15-1 record with a 2.38 goals against average, .916 save percentage and four shutouts.

EN Says: We like the fact that they will have a real competition for the back-up goaltender position this year between Curry and Brent Johnson. Last season, it was simply given to Dany Sabourin who wasn't up to the task when Marc-Andre Fleury was injured. That forced the team to overpay a bit to get Mathieu Garon from Edmonton.

Curry was solid in his cup of coffee in the NHL last season, but he will have to earn a spot in the NHL this season.

(Photo: Associated Press)

Brookbank, Smith sign with Penguins - 7-31-09

The Penguins have signed former Hurricanes forward Wade Brookbank (above, with former Flyers forward Josh Gratton) and former Avalanche forward Wyatt Smith to one-year contracts. Terms of the deal were not announced.

Brookbank, 31, spent 27 games with the Hurricanes last season recording one goal and 40 penalty minutes. He was sent to the Lightning in a deal that brought playoff hero Jussi Jokinen for the Hurricanes. Brookbank spent the rest of the season with the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL.

This will be the second go-around for Brookbank, 31, in the Penguins' organization he spent 39 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the 2006-07 season.

Smith, 32, spent all of last season in the AHL splitting time between the Norfolk Admirals and San Antonio Rampage, affiliates of the Lightning and Coyotes respectively. He had 47 points (19 goals, 28 assists).

Smith last played in the NHL when he played in 25 games with the Avalanche in 2007-08 and recorded three assists.

EN Says:  Brookbank, 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, is a borderline NHLer who has little skill other than as a fighter.

Smith is also a borderline NHL talent who has struggled to stay out of the AHL throughout his career. He's a player with some defensive abilities but he offers little in terms of offense. Both of these signings are meant to fill out the AHL roster.

(Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

See ya Sergei - 7-31-09

Sergei Zubov (right) is on the verge of bolting to the KHL. We won't ever rule anything out, but given that he's 38, this all but ends his NHL career.

It might be hard to remember given how many injuries he had dealt with the past few seasons, but Zubov was one of the best defensement in the NHL for at least a decade. He has 771 career points, the 18th best total all-time among defensemen. Considering the peak of his career was right smack dab in the middle of the "dead puck" era and that he played for Ken Hitchcock, a coach who seems to consider anything more than one goal as an offensive outburst, Zubov's numbers are even more impressive. 

Another thing to remember about Zubov is that he was the Rangers' leading scorer during their Stanley Cup-winning season in 1993-94 with 89 points. Not Mark Messier. Not Brian Leetch. Not Adams Graves. Zubov

But numbers don't tell Zubov's entire story. He was similar to Sergei Gonchar when it came to defense. He wasn't going to make you forget someone like Adam Foote, but he saw regular minutes on the penalty kill as a player who was always positionally sound and just possessed good hockey sense.

That's what made the fact that the Penguins dealt him after one season a bit of a sore point with Penguins fans. He had 66 points (11 goals, 55 assists) in 64 games that season for an average of 1.03 points per game. He was one of four defensemen in team history to have hit the point per game mark during a single season. The others were Randy Carlyle, Paul Coffey and Larry Murphy. (The legendary Steve Durbano had one point in one game during the 1974-75 season, but we'll exclude him.)

There was allegedly a rift of some sort between Zubov and Mario Lemieux that led to a trade that sent him to Dallas for Kevin Hatcher in the 1996 offseason. It's not quite Markus Naslund for Alex Stojanov, but the Penguins unquestionably were on the wrong end of this deal regardless of the reasons. The Stars got a player who at 25, eventually gave them 12 years of mostly Norris Trophy-caliber play. And he was vital part of their Stanley Cup title in 1999. The Penguins picked up a 29-year-old Hatcher who did go to an All-Star Game his first year in Pittsburgh, but was on the back nine of his career. He only spent three seasons with the Penguins and was out of the league within five years. Additionally, Hatcher's game was in no way shape or form nearly as complete as Zubov's.

What might be the most sobering aspect of Zubov's departure that that there are only now seven players still in the NHL who played for the Penguins during the 1990s:

• Andrew Ference, D, Bruins
• Alex Kovalev, RW, Senators
• Patrick Lalime, G, Sabres
• Robert Lang, C, free agent
• Richard Park, RW, Islanders
• Mark Recchi, RW, Bruins
• Michal Rozsival, D, Rangers

(Photo: eBay)

Empty Netter Assists - 7-31-09

Penguins

-If you happen to be at the City Hall of Regina, Sask. between 9-11 a.m. on Aug. 10 annndddd... you're a fan of Chris Kunitz (right) and/or the Stanley Cup... good news.

-Penguins executive Jay Heinbuck did his thing with the Stanley Cup in Mitchell, Ont.

-Puck the Media scored an interview with Mike Lange. Here's the second part.

-Does anyone know how to say "smashing" in German? Because it looks like Connor James signed with the Augsburg Panthers in Germany.

-Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies spotted perhaps the greatest shirt ever.

-Happy 23rd birthday to Evgeni Malkin.

-Happy 68th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Paul Andrea, a member of the first Penguins team in 1967-68.

-The Penguins are aiding efforts to repair a public pool in Patton, Pa.

-The Wheeling Nailers signed forward Mark Roebothan.

Atlantic Division

-Since they always seem to need a slow lumbering defenseman on the roster, the Flyers signed former Blue Jackets blue liner Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (right) to a one-year deal.

-Flyers executive Bobby Clarke took some time off from being owner Ed Snider's caddy to belch out some nonsense about the Penguins. Clarke said, "We were allowed to spend the money, we always tried to win. We didn’t do what Pittsburgh did; lose seven years in a row so they could get good. They did it twice, in fact. They went through six or seven different owners. We’ve had one owner."

-1975.

Northeast Division

-The Sabres signed goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureaux.

Southeast Division

-Capitals defenseman Milan Jurcina was awarded a one-year contract worth $1.4 million in arbitration.

-Forward Brendan Morrison (right) joined the Capitals to win the Stanley Cup.

-The Thrashers signed former Flyers forward Josh Gratton and former Avalanche forward Mike Vernace.

Central Division

-The NHL is investigating the 12-year contract former Penguins forward Marian Hossa signed with the Blackhawks. Apparently, if the possiblity of retirement - an action that would lift Hossa's cap hit off the books - was literally discussed between the parties, there could be trouble.

-As James Mirtle points out in the above, post, why is this now being investigated four weeks after the deal was made? The Blackhawks sign a 30-year-old player to a 12-year deal and everyone just kind of chuckles and winks when the idea of Hossa playing until he's 42 is brought up.

Northwest Division

-Canucks forward Kyle Wellwood (right) was awarded a one-year deal worth $1.2 million in arbitration yesterday.

-The Flames re-signed restricted free agent forward Dustin Boyd to a one-year deal worth $650,000.

-Hopefully, you never ordered that Todd Bertuzzi Flames story.

Adams Division

-Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! has perhaps the best article on uniform patches you will read all day.

-James Mirtle takes a look at some of the more notable free agents still available.

(Photos: Kunitz/Jamie Sabau/Getty Images; Tollefsen-Terry Gilliam/Associated Press; Morrison-David Zalubowski/Associated Press; Wellwood-Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

Matt Cooke cares not for poorly planned parades - 7-30-09

Peter Kooistra, the mayor of Stirling, Ont., must've been a newspaper editor somewhere along the line during his lifetime. Because his communication skills are... well... substandard.

You see, Stirling is the hometown of Penguins agitator Matt Cooke. As you can imagine, Stirlingers (Stirlingians?) were pretty excited about the prospect of their native son bringing the Stanley Cup home for a day.

Kooistra, perhaps sensing an easy way to score some much-needed points in the seedy world of Stirling politics hurriedly organized an epic parade and a day full of festivities to celebrate the success of arguably the city's second-most famous native (We'll give former Sabres goon Rob Ray the benefit of the doubt in that race. He had an ESPN commercial don't forget.)

There was only one problem with all these grand plans.

No one told Matt Cooke about it. And he ended up taking the Cup to Belleville, Ont. where he was born. Cooke told the Belleville Intelligencer:

"It's unfortunate but the Stirling mayor made all these plans without ever talking to me. I still haven't talked to him. I'm disappointed that people are getting the wrong impression about what happened."

Cooke ended up raising $5,000 for his charity, The Cooke Family Foundation of Hope, through his appearance with the Cup in Belleville, but that didn't mean anything to the spurned hearts of Stirling. A call-in radio station in Belleville was flooded with calls from Stirling natives who blamed Cooke for the mix-up.

No word yet on how Kris Draper managed to blame this on Sidney Crosby.

(Kudos to EN reader Leanne for the heads up.)

(Photo: Gene J. Puskar/Getty Images)

Empty Netter Assists - 7-30-09

Penguins

-Brooks Orpik's decision to take the Stanley Cup to Boston College instead of his hometown of East Amherst, N.Y. did not go unnoticed in Buffalo.

-Jordan Staal sure likes lakes.

-Puck the Media scored an interview with Mike Lange.

-"I can honestly tell you I was more nervous in those final moments than I was sitting on the sidelines in Tampa." - Steelers safety Troy Polomalu (right) comparing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final to Super Bowl XLIII.

-The PensBlog ranked the top 10 goal celebrations in Penguins history.

-PensBurgh wonders who will be the team's breakout player next season.

-Happy first birthday to the incredibly resilient Pesonen and the Pens.

-Happy 24th birthday to Alex Goligoski.

-Happy 36th birthday to former Penguins forward Markus Naslund (right). Alek Stojanov will be by later with his present.

Atlantic Division

-The Islanders re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Jack Hillen to a two-year deal worth $520,000 per season.

Northeast Division

-The Senators signed defenseman Derek Smith and forward Jeremy Yablonski to one-year two-way contracts. Additionally, forwards  Keegan Dansereau and Brandon Svendsen were signed to amateur tryout contracts.

-New Ottawa goaltender Pascal Leclaire will be under the gun next season.

Southeast Division

-Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier is disappointed his team let go of forward Vaclav Prospal.

-Tampa Bay hired former Stars assistant coach Rick Wilson as an assistant coach. He is the father of former Penguins forward Landon Wilson.

Central Division

-The Blues signed former Rangers defenseman Bryce Lampman.

Northwest Division

-The Wild avoided arbitration and re-signed restricted free agent and EN favorite Josh Harding to a one-year deal worth $1.1 million.

-The Oilers re-signed restricted free agent forwards Ryan Potulny and Liam Reddox.

Pacific Division

-The Coyotes re-signed restricted free agent forward Scottie Upshall to a one-year deal worth 1.25 million.

-Phoenix also re-signed restricted free agent goaltender Josh Tjordman to a one-year deal.

-The NHL's board of governors approved Jerry Reinsdorf's bid to buy the Coyotes and rejected Jim Ballsillie's. Ultimately, a U.S. Bankrupcy Court judge will decide who can buy the team.

-Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf (right) underwent surgery for a sports hernia. No wonder he was making that face...

-Anaheim signed forward Petteri Nokelainen to a one-year contract extension worth $950,000.

(Photo: Polamalu-Jamie Squire/Getty Images; Naslund-Get High On Hockey; Getzlaf-Harry How/Getty Images)

Empty Netter Assists - 7-29-09

Penguins

-Former Penguins Tom Barrasso (right) and John LeClair will be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. They will be joined by former Blackhawks forward Tony Amonte, inventor Frank Zamboni and the 1998 United States Women's Olympic hockey team.

-Remember that Tim Hortons in Alberta that had an autographed Sidney Crosby poster stolen earlier this summer? Well... guess who replaced it.

-Crosby's day with the Stanley Cup in Cole Harbour, N.S. was officially confirmed.

-If you happen to be at Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton, Mass. Aug. 13, annnnddd... you're a fan of Hal Gill and/or the Stanley Cup... good news.

-"I’m 100 percent sure that I’ll be ready for training camp." - Paul Bissonnette on his wrist injury.

-All the luxury boxes at Consol Energy Center are already sold out.

-The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins re-signed goaltender Adam Berkhoel and signed former Wheeling Nailers defenseman Mitch Ganzak.

Atlantic Division

-The Flyers named former Flames coach Greg Gilbert as head coach of their AHL puppy-drowning affiliate which is now in Adirondack.

-The Islanders are the latest Atlantic Division team to use Kansas City as leverage for a new arena.

Northeast Division

-After missing the playoffs for the past two seasons, the Sabres will not raise ticket prices.

Southeast Division

-The Lightning intends to buy out the final three years of forward Vaclav Prospal's (right) contract.

-The Hurricanes bought out the final year on defenseman Frantisek Kaberle's contract.

-Nonsensical Note of the Day: Were the Penguins to sign Kaberle, they would have four of the past six Stanley Cup-winning goal scorers on the roster:

• Mike Rupp with the Devils in 2003.
• Ruslan Fedotenko with the Lightning in 2004.
• Frantisek Kaberle with the Hurricanes in 2006.
• Maxime Talbot with the Penguins in 2009.

-The Chicago Wolves, the Thrashers' AHL affiliate, signed former Maple Leafs forward John Pohl.

Central Division

-The Red Wings signed former Flyers defenseman Andy Delmore to a one-year two-way contract.

-The Blue Jackets re-signed restricted free agent goaltender Dan LaCosta to a one-year two-way deal.

-Blackhawks broadcaster Ed Olczyk (right) basically told disgruntled former Chicago forward Martin Havlat to shut up now that he's with the Wild. No word yet on how Olczyk managed to work in his obligatory "I used to coach the Penguins" line.

Northwest Division

-The Wild hired former Ducks scout Brent Flahr as assistant general manager. He had previously worked with Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher in Anaheim and Florida.

(Photos: Barrasso-Photobucket; Prospal-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Olczyk-Gene J. Puskar)

Sticking around - 7-28-09

While reading up on former Bruins forward P.J. Axelsson, who signed with Frolunda of the Swedish Elite League, we kind of forgot how long he had been with the Hub. He was drafted in 1995 by the Bruins and made his NHL debut two years later and appeared in all 82 games that season. He eventually played in 797 games for Boston which is the 10th-best total in franchise history. He appeared in more games for the Bruins than the likes of Milt Schmidt, Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr for heaven's sake.

The team traded away elite talents like Ray Bourque and Joe Thornton during Axelsson's time in Boston and replaced them eventually with the likes of Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard. Boston underwent two re-building processes during that time.

In other words, Axelsson went through quite a bit with Boston. While he was hardly a player you would see on too many highlight shows, he was a very steady, dependable type who could play in any situation. He saw a fair amount of ice time in even-strength situations, on the first power-play unit and was a staple when it came to penalty killing.

With Axelsson gone, the Bruins are pretty short on experience in terms of time with one team. The longest tenured Bruins players are Patrice Bergeron, 24, and Mark Stuart, 25, who were each drafted in 2003.

Here's a look at each team's most tenured player and when they joined that franchise:

The only players on this list who were not drafted by their teams are Giguere, Iginla and Brind'Amour. They were all acquired by trades.

(Photo: Elsa/Getty Images)

Empty Netter Assists - 7-28-09

Penguins

-You explain this to us. Michel Therrien gets fired Feb. 15. Some "homeless man" begins throwing letters and other items into Mario Lemieux's yard four days later.

-Introducing a new feature we're "borrowing" from Japer's Rink. Current or former Penguins' birthdays: Happy 40th birthday to former Penguins goaltender Garth Snow (right).

Atlantic Division

-The Rangers signed free agent defenseman Sam Klassen.

Northeast Division

-The Maple Leafs acquired former Penguins center Wayne Primeau and a second-round pick in the 2011 draft from the Flames for defenseman Anton Stralman, forward Colin Stuart and a seventh-rounder in 2011.

-Former Bruins forward P.J. Axelsson (right), who had been with Boston since the 1997-98 season, signed with Frolunda of the Swedish Elite League.

-Fateful note of the day: On July 16, then Bruins defenseman Aaron Ward downplayed talk of his team being in the Winter Classic saying, "Don't jinx me yet. I could always be traded." Nine days later, he was traded to Carolina.

-The Sabres' Web site has a pretty "sharp" new look.

Southeast Division

-The Thrashers signed 2006 third-round pick Michael Forney.

-Remember how the Lightning used to have like three and a half NHL-caliber defensemen? Well... now they have nine. Last we checked, most teams only dress six.

-Without any sort of annoying Stanley Cup-related functions to attend to, Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin sure do have a lot of free time.

Central Division

-Tripp Mickle of ports Business Journal has a fantastic piece on former Predators investor and would-be Penguins owner William "Boots" Del Biaggio.

-How devastating was the Red Wings' loss in the Stanley Cup final to the Penguins? Red Wings forward Dan Cleary (right, not exactly doing a bang-up job in a positional battle with Kris Letang) has had to spend his entire summer in Detroit.

Northwest Division

-The Canucks signed free agent forward Kellan Tochkin.

Pacific Division

-After ending their affiliation with the AHL's Iowa Chops, the Ducks will farm out their prospects to several AHL teams next season.

-The Ducks hired former Oilers assistant coach and former Flyers goaltender Pete Peeters as a a goaltending coach.

(Photos: Snow-Rusty Kennedy/Associated Press; Axelsson-Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images; Cleary-Harry How/Getty Images)

Tickets here - 7-27-09

The Penguins announced dates for pre-season games, regular season mini-plans, and regular season individual games.

(Photo: eBay)