USA! USA!

Team USA invites are out. Thrasher Ron Hainsey got one, and Blues Erik Johnson, David Backes, and TJ Oshie also wound up with some. Congrats!

More Blues news.

Still on vacation, so I'm just posting this as an FYI, but the Blues have tossed out some QOs:

We made qualifying offers to F B.J. Crombeen, F Jonathan Filewich, G Chris Holt, D Roman Polak, D Danny Richmond and D Steve Wagner. THANK YOU for locking up BJ and Polak. Seriously.

I'll blog on this later since I'm on vacation...

... but I just wanted to share the news that the Blues have re-signed Winchester and Weaver and are buying out McKee's contract, per the Belleville News Democrat.

Welcome to the club, boys.

Ok... here's the run-down of who drafted who.

The Thrashers, obviously, drafted Evander Kane with the 4th overall pick. Kid seems pretty happy to be here.

From Central Scouting:

"He has power forward qualities from the blue line in. He's the type of player who doesn't like being denied access to the net. You can almost see when he's got the puck he's going to the net and defying people to stop him. He'll be a 200-pound forward in the National Hockey League. He plays like he's 6-2, 6-3, bigger than his size. He's surprised a lot of people with his strength going to the net."

Kane could stand to probably fill out and add about 25 pounds or so, really. He's still an 18 year old kid. I watched him during World Juniors and was fairly impressed with his speed and playmaking abilities. I don't know if he'll be centering Kovy (honestly, as thin as he is, I could see him staying in juniors another year) but very nice pick by Waddell.

The rest of the Thrashers' selections:

2nd Round, 34th overall- LW Carl Klingberg

2nd Round, 45th overall- LW Jeremy Morin
4th Round, 117th overall- G Edward Pasquale
4th Round 120th overall- D Ben Chiarot
6th Round, 125th overall- D Cody Sol
6th Round, 155th overall- C Jimmy Bubnick
7th Round, 185th overall- C Levko Loper
7th Round, 203rd overall- LW Jordan Samuels-Thomas

Ben Wright at the Blueland Blog has more in-depth stuff on all of our picks... I'll be doing a post a little later on about Kane and Klingberg (who I am very excited about as well). Lots of size, lots of oomph. Good, solid draft by Don Waddell. He's improving with each one.

While I was fairly pleased with the Thrashers' draft, the Blues' draft just fairly underwhelmed me. Thankfully, Game Time, as usual, has awesome analysis (would it KILL the Blues to get a media guy like Ben to pass on info? I knew every Thrashers pick today in real time. Blues? Hell, no clue about their FIRST ROUND pick, let alone anyone else).

First round the Blues drafted defenceman David Rundblad at 17th overall. There are comparisons to Mike Green going around. He's an offensively minded puck-moving d-man. That's great, except like Mike Green, I have heard that he has defensive breakdowns. He did score 15 points (8-7-15) in 10 games for the Swedish junior team, so that's impressive. The Blues could always look for more offense since we need some, so this could help. I'm shocked we didn't look to see if a forward could fill the position. Goal scoring d-men are great, but if they mess up on the defense, then goals *get* scored. And that is a problem. That, and the Blues have solid defensive prospects and a good corps on the ice now.

Who else the Blues drafted:

2nd Round, 48th overall: D Brett Ponich
3rd Round, 78th overall: RW Sergei Andronov
4th Round, 108th overall: RW Tyler Shattock
6th Round, 168th overall: D David Shields
7th Round, 202nd overall: C Max Tardy

Generally speaking, I am far more impressed with the Thrashers' draft than with the Blues', but let's hear what John Davidson has to say, since his opinion's the one that counts, not mine.

Welcome to Atlanta, Evander.

More in-depth analysis of the Thrashers' and Blues' picks to come later... I'm packing and getting ready for a trip to Tybee Island and some Low Country Boil (no, crawfish do not come before hockey, but it's fairly close). I'll at least have a list of our picks up in a few. But here's a tease... our new boy, Evander Kane. I am extremely excited here as are those who bet online... The Thrashers' site has some great video and coverage up. Find the link on the right to the Blueland Blog and go there for all your needs. I wish I could say the same for the Blues' site. Hey, guys... get a web dude like Ben Wright. Please. The Thrashers' fans are completely spoiled by him.

Wacky draft day trade speculation and dovetailing news reports!

Oh my! Brian Burke, in his never-ending quest to get the Leafs Tavares (good freaking luck) is said to have had talks with Don Waddell regarding getting the 4th pick. Waddell said the usual, prudent, "I'll talk to people and entertain offers" thing, which is prudent since you never can tell what's coming up. He's been so adamant about the Thrashers knowing who they're picking, blah blah not trading the pick, blah blah... but for the right price? What if we can get our top D man *now* instead of a prospect that might take another year to grow? We'd get that at 7th as well as at 4th.

Well, a day after the Globe & Mail article, TSN cracks out this bomb... the Leafs got a major offer for Tomas Kaberle. TSN assumes it's from a team that got shut out of the Bouwmeester rights deal, but it could have just of easily come from a team that needs a solid D man. What does Burke want? To trade up. Were NYI, Tampa Bay, Colorado, and the Kings involved with J-BO talks? Not that I have heard of. Frankly, the idea that the Thrashers tossed out this idea is just as plausible, if not more so, than a team who had a deal fall through with Florida.

Beats me if this is true, but it's veeery eeenteresting...

To Celebrate Hullie's Selection to the HOF...

The Post-Dispatch has put together a great photo gallery remembering Hull's career. Shockingly, I didn't see a golfing photo. I did enjoy the photo of Hull and Oates together again at his number retirement... really REALLY liked seeing Oates in a Blues jersey again. *sniff* Speaking of number retirements/HHOF inductees, um... where is Oates? I get more and more frustrated every year that he doesn't get chosen.

Here's just hoping that Hull goes in with a primary affiliation to the Blues, even though he doesn't have to choose, and gave a diplomatic answer to that question. Yes, he won Cups in Dallas and Detroit, and you can't forget that amazing stretch with the 'Yotes (heh). But geeze. Look at the stats - 744 GP with the Blues, 527 goals, 409 assists. Only thing missing is a Cup.

News, (Blue)Notes, and Whatnot

Few random bits of info. First off, John Davidson would like to see Ben Bishop grow another year in Peoria. I can't argue with his reasoning.Wait... are you saying I need to grow *more*?

"I'd like to see him play 60 games in Peoria rather than 20 in St. Louis. I don't think he'd think that way. The mind-set is to do it yesterday. I like that push and the hunger, but you have to pay a price to get there. Ben is a good, young goaltender. He needs to play," said Davidson.

Next up, per a tweet by Craig Custance, the Thrashers have extended QAs to three of our RFAs: Kari Lehtonen, Colby Armstrong, and Jim Slater. The ones waiting for an offer include Thorburn, and Valabik. Don't fret - we have until Monday to extend one.

Fun write-up on our probable #4 pick at the draft on Friday, Evander Kane, from the Vancouver Sun. This kid sounds like a possible immediate impact player for us... hello, secondary scoring? Before you start crowing about how Little is our secondary scoring, nay. He's our *primary* scoring with Kovy. Kozlov, White and Pevs are secondary.

Best part about Kane? Possibly the fact that he was named after Atlanta resident and heavyweight boxer (though a hard of hearing one) Evander Holyfield. Take that, mush up the obvious marketing bo-nan-za of having a young black man on a team in a town with a large African-American population, and the Thrashers have insta-PR. Let's see if Atlanta Spirit can not screw this up. The already haven't marked Bogosian and have barely marked Army - can we please market one of our fun young guys somewhere else other than the awesomeness on the official web site that gets offered up?

Speaking of official web site awesomeness, our web guru Ben Wright has an interview with Z-Bo up concerning the draft and the combine. It's refreshing to hear what someone who was there has to say.

I Can Has Cheezburger?

Sorry, sorry... I know, the jokes are old. And I really do it out of love, because I adore the man. And yes, Blues fans everywhere can has Walt! The Blues re-signed Tkachuk for a 1 year contract, no monetary terms leaked as of yet. Fantastic. His net presence and work on the PP are invaluable, his leadership skills necessary, and his love for the city of St. Louis is very obvious - he mentioned it every time someone said the word "contract" to him. He's made it known that he wants to retire a Blue, and JD has made it so.

I wouldn't be shocked to see him retire after this season, possibly with an office job a la MacInnis to come. Knowing our fetish for jersey retirements, that might not be out of the question. But, for right now, let's all be happy that we've re-signed a very valuable piece of the puzzle for our team.

So far I've posted on 2 big UFA re-uppings for both of my teams. Here's hoping that the next one's Kovy.

More info from Custance: $2.15 mil. Not half bad.

"They know how much I like it here, being a part of the team. I like where the team is heading. It's one of those things I did for the right reasons."

New Thrashers News.

First up is the interview with Kari last night on Fox5 (big thanks to Blue who alerted me to this - I would have spaced and missed it). He was at the kids' camp for goalies, helping 'em out. He was asked a few questions about contract talks and such, and the tone didn't exactly go well. Of course, DW's never been one to lock up RFAs quickly.





Also, the Thrashers hired former Blackhawks Assistant GM Rick Dudley as an associate GM under Don Waddell. From Custance, Dudley was not hired to replace Waddell, despite his own experience as a general manager of the Florida Panthers and the Ottawa Senators. He was also a vice president of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He brought Khabby and St. Louis to Tampa... let's see who he can help bring to Atlanta. Best of luck to him... we're shoring up our front office. Let's shore up our team.

Contract extension talks underway for...

Keith Tkachuk! Everyone's favorite resident grizzled vet (ok, probably our only real grizzled vet) is in talks today with Davidson and the organization, per the Post Dispatch. The agreement could be done by the end of the day today. From the tone of the write up, it might be for only one more season, but he can provide the leadership in that season to the young guys to keep them going in the right direction - because we all know how quickly youngsters can get in trouble. Whipper snappers.

Anyway, I'd be keeping my eyes peeled on the PD or the official Blues site for the contract announcement.

I've invaded Cycle Like the Sedins. Again.

I've been asked to type up the Thrashers' draft preview... please, do, check it out.  James is the master of the well placed photo, and I apparently am the master of the Simple Jack reference.

Hilarity ensues!

Oui Oui Dupuis!

From HockeyWildnerness (originally from a TwitPic twittered by The PensBlog)... a close-up of Pascal Dupuis' new celebratory tattoo! Congrats to the Pens and congrats to everyone's favorite former Thrasher - I'm very glad that he found a home in Pittsburgh and a Cup to match. He's got a killer work ethic and gives 110% (and yes, I am still upset DW included him in the trade instead of Perrin...), and totally deserves that ring.

And, well, any team that beats Detroit is a friend of mine.

Pascal Dupuis shows off his new tattoo. Good for Pascal! - Hockey Wilderness

Hedberg's a spokesman for high tech goalie gear?

Who knew? No, really - who knew? Because I had absolutely no clue, but I admit, it's kinda cool.

Don gets it done... Reasoner Re-signed

Marty Marty Disco Partay (no clue why I just typed that) has been re-upped by the Atlanta Thrashers for two more years. He's been an excellent checking line center and as the winner of the Players' Player award last season, he's in a role much like Hedberg has been - mentor to the younger youth movement. Reasoner had a career last year (much like a few other guys - remember, we weren't totally horrible). He had this to say about why he re-signed here, which needs to be repeated in a press release to every major media outlet as to why playing here isn't horrible:

"It's pretty obvious it's a team on the rise. I think in a lot of ways it's a place that you can come in and have some success. It's a great place to play, there's good support, it's a great organization, and there's a coaching staff that's going to support the players. I think obviously the weather is a nice bonus. It's a great place to raise a family and I think you can become a part of the community pretty quickly."

From what I've read, Kovy really likes Marty and what he brings to the team. Re-signing Reasoner and Salmela are good steps forward to getting Kovalchuk to stay put. Now, let's see what Don does at the draft.

Blues and Thrash News-N-Notes.

And everyone thought I was dead! No! It's just summer vacation, no Blues and Thrashers hockey, and a healthy dose of both playing Spore (crack) and The Sims 3 (whatever's worse than crack - meth?). Honestly, stuff has happened for both of the teams, and I've been lax in saying anything about it.

Blues wise, GM John Davidson, former broadcaster for the NY Rangers (and Blues goaltender) is this year's winner of the Foster Hewett Memorial Award for Excellence in Broadcasting, which means chalk up another HOF announcer in St. Louis - not necessarily *for* StL, but really damn close. Congrats, JD! Outstanding broadcaster and an outstanding president.

Speaking of Blues front officie people, Dave Checketts and his ownership group are thinking about buying the Rams. While being a selfish Blues fan and being a worry wart, I wonder what this would do to the daily runnings of the team. And then I think about how well the Blues are run, and then how horrible the Rams have done the past several years... and despite the fact that I could care less about pro football, well... I want this to happen. If the Rams leave St. Louis, that's the 2nd franchise that's gone kaput. We'd probably never get another NFL team.

Hullie is no longer co-GM in Dallas, but he's still the Ambassador of Fun, so ROCK ON. Please bring him back to NBC. Someone. Anyone?

Aaaaaaaaand Thrashers news: Nikulin isn't coming over. Insert shocked gasp... here. But, in Don Waddell's best fleecing of recent memory, Anssi Salmela (who we got for a "going back to Sweden because the Ikea in ATL isn't as good" Havelid) is rumored to have re-upped with us for a 1 way, 2 year extension. Puck moving, offensive defenseman... really? In John Anderson's system? Thank you. The GM is finally doing stuff to go with the coach. Of course, we don't have a coach now who is a succubus for young talent.

That's all I have seen recently, but the Draft Party for the Thrashers is on the 26th at Jillian's in Duluth. Bogosian's making a stop-by, and there will be AIR CONDITIONING this year. Please, come on through and say hi! We take what we can get over the summer, I know.

Not too much longer and there's prospect camp...