Around the Rink 08.24.06

It's been too long since a new story has been posted, so here's a look around the important spots of the hockey world.

---------
Patrice Bergeron will be a Bruin for the forseeable future as he agreed to a 5-year deal worth about $4.75M a season. Bergeron had a career season last year putting up 31 goals and 42 assists after being thrusted into the top center with the departure of Joe Thornton.

With Bergeron locked up and plenty of other key players there for the next two to three years, the Bruins can actually focus on getting back onto the playoff track. There has been a lot of turmoil in the last couple of years, but with new faces behind the bench and in the front office; the fans of the spoked "B" will be hoping to get further than the first round this season.

---------
According to reports from the Detroit Free Press, the Red Wings will have their first new captain since the 1986-87 season. The reports have pegged defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom as the top candidate for the position, while others on Red Wings fan sites are calling for Henrik Zetterberg to get the "C" since he's younger and could continue the process of long-standing captains.

Mike Babcock was reached and denied anything was happening, but odds are this has been in the making for a long time.

---------
If you're a Blue Jackets' fan, you may be resigned to the fact that Nikolai Zherdev may not be in the line-up for the '06-'07 season. It seems that the staring game between Zherdev's camp and the GM/Czar of Columbus Doug MacLean has reached it's pinnacle and should see Zherdev head to the Russian Elite League to play for Khimik.

Granted, with Fredrik Modin having been acquired in the off-season, the sting probably won't hurt too hard. As valuable of a talent that Zherdev is, his performances in the past few season haven't been what the Blue Jackets had hoped. With plenty of underachiving performances, the Blue Jackets may welcome the leaving for more development. Getting him back could be the biggest hurdle, but I'm sure they'll cross that bridge when they get to it.

---------
Winger J-P Dumont has narrowed his search for a home down to about four teams. Dumont, who didn't have his arbitration award signed by the Sabres, didn't mention the teams, but took the Canadiens out of the picture saying they didn't make a formal offer to Dumont's team. Odds are that the Red Wings and Sabres are two of the teams, while the other two could be out of the blue.

It's odd that so many people would be chomping at the bit for a guy who had only 40 points last season (20g-20a), and who's career-high in points is 51 (23g-28a). Of course, for an arbitrator to give said player a one-year $2.9M reward...that's a tad overboard, but who didn't see that coming??

---------
That's some of the bigger stories that are out there. We're counting down the days before the training camps start, and if you haven't listened the the archived shows through the summer, like the one we did last night, then you're missing out on some crazy, crazy stuff. So check out our webpage, check out our Podcast, and check out our past shows so you can catch up on all the hilarity.