Around the Rink 09.12.06

Simon Gagne and the Philadelphia Flyers have seemingly found a common ground as the winger signed a new five-year deal worth $5.25M a season. Both Gagne and the Flyers have been a little bit apart at the beginning of the month, but it seems the cooler heads prevailed and Gagne will be in camp.

With Gagne signed, Forsberg skating again, it seems that the Flyers could be a solid team. However, like it has been in the past couple of season, goaltending will be the real issue. Yet, if there are goals to be scored, then it could work out. Robert Esche and Antero Niittymaki will have to be on their best to get the job done in net.

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The Nashville Predators rewarded one of the original Preds by signing goaltender Tomas Vokoun to a four-year extension worth $22.8M to keep the goalie in the Music City until the 2010-11 season. Vokoun was picked up by the Predators in the expansion draft in 1998 when the Montreal Canadiens left him unprotected.

There is no doubt that Vokoun is the biggest reason that the Predators are where they are today. He's a workhorse and really can get the job done. You could see that the Preds were struggling when Vokoun bowed out with blood clots late last season.

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In this weekend's Vancouver Province, there was an interesting write-up by Tony Gallagher about Todd Bertuzzi's tenure in Vancouver and what led to the fall-out. Bertuzzi talks about what was going on in the lockerroom, his relationship with former Canucks bench boss Marc Crawford, and how it all came crashing down.

I don't know if what Bertuzzi said was true, but I don't know if something like this should be brought out into the open. It almost seems like he's diverting the cause of failure to other parties other than himself. You all can form an opinion for yourselves, but for me-- it wasn't my cup of tea.

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Apparently there is a market for goaltender's autobiographies. Well, I say this because Martin Brodeur is putting out his autobiography "Brodeur: Beyond the Crease." In it, Brodeur talks about the happenings on and off the ice, including the Todd Bertuzzi incident, seperatism, and soft drink preferences.

I don't know if it'll be a best-seller, but I'm sure that it'll be an interesting read regardless of the quality of Brodeur book-writing skills. I think the most interesting part while reading some of the shots given out by the CP is what it's like to being his own agent. Brodeur has always been quotable, which should continue after this book is out on the market.

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That's all for now, but listen into Face Off Hockey Show this Wednesday night at 9 PM ET or if you can't catch us live, be sure to check out the Podcast to get everything you missed.