Oh Kevin Lowe...

So, I found this little doozy on one of the facebook groups that is anti Kevin Lowe and thought it was quite entertaining. Anyway, Kevin Lowe got his man. Dustin Penner is officially an Oiler. It's kind of weird to think of him that way. The Ducks will receive a first round, a second round, and a third round pick in the next Draft. Over the next 5 years Dustin Penner will receive $21.25 million. Penner had 29 goals and 16 assists last season. Dustin Penner will go to Edmonton being one of their top forwards. I'm kind of speechless. Burke's reaction was typical of Burke

''We don't believe these salaries make sense,'' Anaheim general manager Brian Burke said on a conference call. ''If I believe these salaries don't make sense and I match then I'm just as dumb as the team that extended the offer.''

The friendship between Lowe and Burke seems to be over. But, I think that Lowe put it best when he said this:

"I have not (called him) and I don't plan on it," Lowe said on a conference call. "I have one responsibility and one responsibility only - and that's to the Edmonton Oilers fans and the Edmonton Oilers ownership.

"I'm not in the business of trying to make friends. Never have, never will be."

Dustin had this to say about the pressure that was about to be put on him.

"The pressure that I receive from the media and fans won't be near the pressure of what I put on myself," said Penner. "I know myself I didn't peak this last year as a player in Anaheim.

"I don't know what my potential is, but I think in the next five years I'll find out."

Just a random thought though if Brian Burke and Kevin Lowe were to duke it out...who do you think would win? My money is on Burkie.

Get a good hard look Dustin, you won't be holding that for a long long time.

Parise re-signed!!

I have this thing for the Devils. I don't know why, but I do. And, today Lou made me proud by re-signing restricted free agent Zach Parise to a 4 year $12.5 million contract. Remember Anaheims Dustin Penner? He was offered a 4 year $21.25 million contract. I was curious so I compared their stats. Parise had 31 goals and 31 assists (62 points) Dustin Penner had 29 goals and 16 assists (45 points). It seems interesting to me that Penner's worth as a guy who will score the "dirty goals" is more than a guy who has real play making talent. I'm not trying to take anything away from Dustin at all because I'm a huge fan. Just something to point out. Anyway, Parise is back for four years as a Devil I am happy. And, so is Zach and Lou.

"I'm excited, it's definitely a weight off my shoulders so I don't have to worry about it and can just relax and get ready for the season," said Parise.

"Over the past two seasons, Zach has established himself as one of the outstanding young stars in the National Hockey League," said Devils' CEO, president and general manager Lou Lamoriello in a statement.

Dustin Penner

I really wanted to wait to write something about the 'Large Human' until he was officially a Duck or officially an Oiler, but, I can't wait anymore. Penner is one of my boys. He started his career with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks...so I got to watch him develop from his first game as a pro into the NHL player he is today.

Penner was tendered an offer sheet by the "desperate" Kevin Lowe. Is he really desperate? Well, yeah. But, if Dustin Penner continues to develop into a great NHL talent then the deal will make Lowe look like a genius. However, it is entirely possible that Lowe could have another Lupul situation on his hands.

Penner was always the Cinderella Story of the NHL. The kid that got cut from every team he tried to play for. The kid that went and played club hockey eventually earning a spot on the University of Maine's hockey team. Which then earned him a professional contract with the Ducks. I can't say I blame him for signing the five year $21.25 million dollar offer sheet. Although, selfishly I wanted him to stay with the Ducks because I think they have the potential to repeat. In about 24 hours we will know where Mr. Penner will be going...but wherever he will be I will be cheering for him. So listen up Jordi you better take good care of the kid and be nice if he ends up playing for the Oilers!!

I know that Kevin Lowe is staying with the rules in tendering these offer sheets however do you think this will affect his trading abilities? I mean given Buffalo's reaction saying:

"As it comes to the Edmonton Oilers," pledged Sabres managing partner Larry Quinn, "if there is an opportunity for us to put an offer sheet on a player any time as long as we're alive, we'll be very comfortable doing that. And they can expect that."

Those are some pretty big words...Larry Quinn wasn't too happy about the offer sheet. And, now with Burke's reaction was somewhat similar:

"I have no problem with offer sheets, they are part of the CBA," Burke said on a conference call. "I think it's a tool certainly a team is entitled to use. My issue here is this is the second time this year in my opinion Edmonton have offered a grossly inflated salary for a player, and it impacts on all 30 teams and I think it's an act of desperation by a general manager who is fighting to keep his job."

Here's some other bloggers take of the Penner situation.
Sleek's Ode to Penner
Finny already says goodbye
Mirtle pokes a little fun at Burke
Shmee has her take up

The Scrum

The boys I cheer for...

This was for hlog but I decided to put it up here also...
I have a ton of players that I like and would cheer for them even when they are playing against my Jackets.

1. Martin Brodeur...I just love him. He is so impressive to me not only the way he plays but also he is such a leader on that team. He just amazes me everytime I watch him play.



2. My Cincinnati Ducks boys...Joffrey Lupul, Dustin Penner, Kurtis Foster, Shane O'Brien, Stanislav Chistov, and Ilya Bryzgalov...these guys in the 04-05 season were unbelievable...and a lot of people in CIncinnati had their hearts broken when they left to Portland...we found out during the playoffs and it was so sad. But, I still love these guys...and probably always will.



3. Phil Kessel...wow. How can you not like him? He has gone through so much his first year playing in the NHL. And, he is still going strong. It makes me feel good everytime he is out on the ice.



4. Dion Phaneuf...I'm a huge fan of his. I love watching him...he is everything you could ever want in a dman.



5. Chris Chelios...the oldest man in the NHL...and he is still going strong. He just continues to impress me...and he is pretty darn good at what he does.



6. Roberto Luongo continues to impress me. He is such an amazing goalie and so determined and I am so happy that he is going to make the playoffs this year so we can see what he is capable of there.



7. Dany Heatley oh my gosh his play this year is just amazing. When Spezza was out he continued doing well and proved he can play with anyone.



8. Alexander Ovechkin...I can't say enough about him. He impresses me on and off the ice. He has been so wonderful with the Caps. I mean at the draft announcing their pick? Come on...that's adorable. He is also doing a lot for the community there and seems like a genuinely great guy.



9. Ryan Suter this one is for sure a secret, because, I hate the Preds but he comes from one of those hockey elite families. I can't help but not cheer for him when he does well.



10. Ty Conklin yeah Edmonton disowned him last year for one bad play. BUT, he is a good goalie. I don't know why I like him so much but I found myself so excited everytime he was in the net for Columbus...and I liked him better than Leclaire.

Go Ducks Go!

Me, live blogging the Ducks vs Sharks game?! Yup, my Jackets aren’t playing tonight so I throw myself into the Versus world and blog the game that is on. Ilya Bryzgalov is in net for the Ducks and for the Sharks Evgeni Nabokov. Everytime I watch these two teams I’m amazed. Two very very different teams. The Ducks are a very defensive team, but they have some great young offensive players and they have Teemu Selanne who is a great shot and just an amazing player. The Sharks however are a VERY offensive team with guys like Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Jonathan Cheechoo. But, they have two amazing goalies which kind of makes up for their very young defense. (Just a note, Josh Gorges, was traded yesterday to the Montreal Canadiens. I was a big fan of Josh Gorges. I liked the way he played and how motivated he was…oh well he, went to my favorite Canadian team!) I don’t understand why I love the guys protecting the goalie. Anaheim scores first with a goal from Dustin Penner…his 20th of the season. Not too bad for his rookie season. Watching this game makes me really want to go to a game in San Jose. Those fans are crazy…maybe a bit louder than the Nashville fans…I dunno…guess I’ll have to figure it out for myself. Dustin Penner scored again to make it 2-0. Could the boy get a hat trick?! I guess we’ll see. The first period went by pretty fast…because there were no penalties and 2 goals.

Why is it that when you aren’t at the games the intermissions seem to go so slow and when you’re there…they go really fast?! I don’t get it…this is the longest 18 minutes of my life. Why do the San Jose fans boo Chris Pronger every time he touches the puck? Am I missing something? I dunno…if anyone knows let me know. Ryan Getzlaf took a penalty and the Sharks being the best team in the NHL for power play. Milan Michalek scored on the power play getting his 16th goal of the season. Andy McDonald took a slashing penalty…not smart taking 2 penalties in a row with these Sharks. Anaheim, were able to kill off the second penalty. Teemu Selanne took an interference penalty. Anaheim seems to be getting a little out of control. They need to be really careful especially with this San Jose team. Anaheim was able to kill off another penalty. Bryzgalov just made an amazing save on Cheechoo. And Bryzgalov was unable to stop Michalek yet again. So there have been 4 goals in this game by 2 guys…Michlek and Penner. Anaheim got their first power play of the night…Curtis Brown got called for holding. Dustin Penner keeps staying right in front of the net. He knows how to get the goals…just have to crash the net. He is such a big guy…and a great screen. Anaheim was unable to capitalize on the power play. So they end the period with a 2 all tie. I really don’t like Chris Simpson…she is quite obnoxious…maybe it’s just because I’m tired…who knows.

Christian Ehrhoff, was mic’d up. He spoke in German and in English…kind of cool. Kyle McLaren is one rough and tough guy. He threw quite the hit on Selanne. Corey Perry took a holding penalty and then Sean O’Donnel took a slashing penalty. San Jose got a 5 on 3 for 17 seconds. You really don’t want these guys on the power play they are so dangerous. But, once again Anaheim was able to kill off both of these penalties. Right after the power play Selanne got the go ahead goal…oddly enough that was the first shot on goal for Anaheim in the 3rd period. Penner is all over the ice in this third period. I think they are trying to get him the hat trick…well at least I hope they are. Scott Niedermayer took a huge hit and got right up…that guy is tough as nails. San Jose has hit 2 goal posts in the 3rd period. Why do the goalies who are off always wear hats? They look cute…but still why? The Sharks only took one penalty the entire game.

Alright my three stars of the game:
1. Dustin Penner 2 goals pretty impressive..if only he could have gotten the hat trick
2. Milan Michalek 2 goals…honestly I had never heard of this guy…probably not a good thing.
3. Ilya Bryzgalov 40 saves!! Way to be!!

The Ducks Could Not Buy a Goal

Pretty much thanks to Peter Budaj. He was like a brick wall last night. I have talked about him before but I'm pretty sure he was channeling his inner Martin Brodeur. It was absolutely incredible. The Ducks were short handed and they kept throwing shot after shot after shot at him and he stopped everything. I absolutely could not believe it. The Ducks I do believe need to step it up a notch it seems they have just been coasting along. And, the line juggling needs to stop. It's almost playoff time...don't juggle your lines now. Although, I will say this I was happy to see Penner on a line with Getzlaf and Perry...at least for the first period...haha.
I was shocked with the way Teemu reacted when the ref made a bad call when the puck was backhanded off the ice and into the stands. I know the guys chirp at the refs and yell and what not. But, Teemu seemed genuinly outraged and kept yelling at the ref and eventually was sent to the locker room. I could not believe it. Teemu has always seemed calm, cool, and collected to me when I have watched him at least. I suppose I was wrong...(hey it wouldn't be the first time!)
Oh and for the first time in a long time...the entire line up was healthy...so hopefully we will be seeing the first half of the season Ducks real soon...actually really really soon because as of right now the San Jose Sharks are only one point behind the Ducks...so get your act together!!
Tonight, I'm hoping that the Jackets can beat the Blue's and that the Sharks beat the Preds...even though if they do...they will be ahead of the Ducks...but that's ok because I hate the Preds more than I love the Ducks!