Crashing The Crease – Sept 27, 2013
Crashing The Crease is SenShot’s Daily tour around the NHL, bringing you news, notes and stories from off the ice.
Sep 25, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals right wing Alex Ovechkin (8) smiles while standing on the ice against the Nashville Predators in the second period at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
- Even the players can’t get their heads around the Department of Player Safety “Wheel of Justice”. Marc-Edouard Vlasic sounded off about the
apparentinconsistency of fines and suspensions. - It was domino day as both of the remaining high-profile restricted free agents reached deals with their respective teams. Early in the morning it was announced that Cody Franson had reached a 1 year agreement, worth $2M with the cap-strapped Toronto Maple Leafs.
- Later in the day, pressure finally got to Derek Stepan and he gave in to the bridge deal (2 years, $6.15M) that the Rangers had put forth.
- Tim Thomas‘ sabbatical is officially over, and has signed a contract in Florida. He is going to realize pretty quickly that he isn’t in Boston any more, and there is a little less insulation in front of him.
- Alex Ovechkin will carry the Olympic torch, being the first Russian to do so. A ice honour, and I bet Ilya Kovalchuk, who left the NHL to play in Russia, is just a little bit jealous of his countryman who hasn’t spurned North America in favor of playing at home.
- We will close this edition of Crashing the Crease to offer our condolences to Martin Brodeur and his family on the passing of his father, Denis Brodeur. The famed photographer and hockey dad passed away yesterday at the age of 82.
Check back tomorrow for another look around the league.