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The Penguins, hockey and more, by Seth Rorabaugh.

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Empty Netter Assists - 7-9-09

Penguins

-If someone tries to sell you an autographed photo of Sidney Crosby (right), a Tim Horton's in Alberta might want to have a word with you.

-If you happen to be in Thomson Park in North Bay, Ont. July 23 and you happen to be a fan of the Stanley Cup and Mike Yeo... good news.

Atlantic Division

-Speaking of former Flyers goaltender, former Penguins shooter tutor Antero Niittymaki has signed with Atlant Moscow Oblast in the KHL.

-That whole "signing Chris Pronger to a seven-year deal" thing the Flyers did the other day? One problem...

-The Rangers signed restricted free agent forward Brian Boyle. He was acquired from the Kings in a trade at the draft.

Northeast Division

-Forward Saku Koivu will be missed in Montreal.

Southeast Division

-The Lightning continued to address its defense and signed former Wild blueliner Kurtis Foster to a one-year deal worth $600,000.

-The Thrashers re-signed restricted free agent forward Jim Slater to a one-year deal.

-Leave it to Thrashers defenseman and former Penguin Joel Kwiatkowski to set off a new round of ill will between the NHL and KHL.

-The Hurricanes signed former Coyotes forward Steve Goertzen to a one-year two-way deal. The team also re-signed defenseman Casey Borer and goaltender Justin Peters to one-year two-way contracts.

-Kudos to the Panthers for "getting it." They lowered ticket prices.

Central Division

-The Red Wings' depth took another hit. Forward Jiri Hudler signed a two-year deal with Moscow Dynamo of the KHL.

-Detroit signed former Canadiens defenseman Doug Janik.

Northwest Division

-The Avalanche signed former Islanders defenseman Brett Skinner and re-signed forward Philippe Dupuis.

-The Wild signed former Islanders defenseman Jamie Fraser and former Maple Leafs defenseman Jaime Sifers to one-year contracts.

Pacific Division

-That Lemieux guy retired. Aaaagain. No not that one. The evil one (right).

-The Stars acquired goaltender Alex Auld from the Senators for a sixth-round pick in the 2010 draft.

(Photos: Jamie Sabau/Getty Images; Lemieux-Paul Sancya/Associated Press)

Posted Jul 09 2009, 07:04 AM by Seth Rorabaugh

Comments

jdd40 wrote re: Empty Netter Assists - 7-9-09

on Thu, Jul 9 2009 9:06 AM

Scratching my head about the Hudler signing. I guess when you won a cup and have a chance to make 2-3M more a year, why not? Strange nonetheless.

StarZone wrote re: Empty Netter Assists - 7-9-09

on Thu, Jul 9 2009 12:30 PM

Well, not sure if it's TOO strange JD. The feeling in Detroit is Babcock never really liked Hudler, as he usually average around 14 minutes a game. He called Hudler an offensively catalyst once, but apparently Babcock didn't trust his defense so he was restricted more to a PP / occasional third-line role. Late in the game Babcock would often double-shift someone in Hudler's place.

But, Hudler said to a source that he didn't want to be on another NHL team... and the KHL offer was close to $5 million... and it is closer to home for him... so, put it all together and it makes some sense.