Czechs beat Ruskies, Thanks to Happy

Thanks to my buddy, Shane for e-mailing me a link to this on yahoo!sports...

Jiri Hudler scored three goals as the Czech Republic edged Russia 3-2 after a penalty shootout Sunday to win the Czech Hockey Games.

Sounds like every one's favorite Oompa Loompa isn't taking the summer off. Where were those hat-tricks when it would have won me a free roast beef sandwich at Arby's???

Hudler, who had 57 points in 82 games with Detroit last season and who now plays with Dynamo Moscow, finished with five goals in three games to top the tournament.

I guess his Houdini disappearing act in this year's play-offs was just him saving himself for international play... @#$%.

Who's to Blame for Hudler Hold-up

From freep.com this morning...

It appears that we are getting closer to nailing down the why reason Jiri Hudler is not getting the green light to play for Moscow Dynamo in the KHL:

"...the holdup appears to be coming from USA Hockey, which has not signed off on Hudler's transfer overseas -- a move backed by the NHL. The ITC needs signatures from the incoming federation (Russia), the outgoing federation (USA Hockey) and the player. An e-mail from the IIHF communications director Szymon Szemberg said that in these matters the national federation checks with the relevant league, which in this case is the NHL."

So who's to blame here: USA Hockey or the NHL or both?

If Hudler returns, Holmer goes?

realgmhockey.com is reporting that ESPN's Rumor Central has hinted that Tomas Holmstrom could be dealt if Jiri Hudler returns due to the fact that he is yet to receive his transfer card to play in the KHL. The IIHF last week denied Hudler the transfer card in a baffling move that has lots of people all in a tizzy.

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Of course this is an unsubstantiated rumor from a sports network that hates hockey. But what if? I wanted to see what you guys think...would we be willing to take back a greedy little defensive liability if it meant we had to trade away an aging, injury prone, funny speaking warrior?

Will this Ever Freakin' End???

Now this crap from the Cult of Hockey...

"The International Ice Hockey Federation is refusing to grant Jiri Hudler his transfer card, which means he is not allowed to practice or play for his new team, Moscow Dynamo, reports Sovietski Sport."

Oh boy, here we go again.

"Without this card, Hudler can't play in any IIHF-sanctioned game. The Russian league is under the domain of the IIHF, hence Hudler's current problem."

So basically, he doesn't have a team to play for. The Red Wings don't have room and the IIHF says he can't play for the Dynamo. What a convoluted mess this whole situation has turned out to be...

"The IIHF's stance is baffling to Alexander Medvedev, chief of the KHL, because both the Detroit Red Wings, Hudler's NHL team, and the Czech federation have given permission to Hudler to play for Dynamo, according to Medvedev."

Apparently, when it comes to league rules, the Red Wings can't win for losing. It is now an INTERNATIONAL CONSPIRACY that goes beyond Lil' Gary Bettman...good grief.

"Hudler was a restricted free agent, who went to arbitration this summer. Rather than accept the arbitrated contract with Detroit, he signed in Moscow."

Just let the guy play...what rule is being broken here? We went through the stupid motions of the NHL, made peace with the KHL, now the IIHF is sticking it's big fat nose into it.

Again I say...will this EVER freakin' end???

Shut Up, Burnside

From ESPN.com...

ESPN’s Scott Burnside had a chat with some fans, and unlike XM’s hour with Gary Bettman, Wings fans didn’t get cut-off or avoided…

Cam (Lansing)
Hey Scott. Where do you think the Red Wings will finish? Other publications have all but handed the Central Division to Chicago, so I was wondering what your take is. Thanks!

Burnside
Cam; I think the Wings have taken a step back losing Kopecky, Hudler, Samuelsson and bringing in Jason Williams and Todd Bertuzzi. Sorry that math doesn't add up. The bigger factor, I think, will be the Olympics where the Wings will see probably half a dozen players jet off to Vancouver for the 2010 Games. Remember the 2005-06 season and how the Wings were upset by the Oilers in the first round after the Turin Games. Never count the Wings out but I think their stock has fallen ever so slightly.

Me
Ha ha, losing Kopecky Hudler and Samuelsson? I think he got his Slovaks mixed up and meant to add Hossa in there. And the Wings “will see probably half a dozen players jet off to Vancouver for the 2010 Games”? Yeah, on team Sweden alone, jackass. The Wings stock may have fallen ever so slightly, but it was so high to begin with, is anyone going to notice? This team we’re going to ice in 2009-2010 is better than the one we had in 2007-2008, with few exceptions (back-up goaltending and such).

Jim (Grand Rapids MI)
Hi Scott-What are your thoughts on Bertuzzi coming back to Detroit? I personally like it for 3 reasons: 1. He brings a BIG body with some skill to the team. 2. He's been here before so he knows what the expectations are and 3. At 1.5M-he's a low-risk gamble

Burnside
Jim; A quick follow-up on Bertuzzi. Injuries, lack of foot speed and a reluctance to play in traffic I think mitigate his usefulness. But he is a low-risk gamble given his salary cap hit.

Me
So if nothing else, he’s cheap? Putting up 44 points in 66 games is the same point per game production as Jiri Hudler, who actually lacks foot speed and has a reluctance to play in traffic. You say Hudler is a big loss, but Bertuzzi isn’t a big gain…something ain’t stirring the Kool-Aid, Scott.

Everyone seems to be jumping on the "Wings are done" bandwagon. Get ready to be dissapointed, Scott.

Oh wait, you work for ESPN…which means I don’t care what you think.

Nolan Finley: Blame Obama for Hudler

Nolan Finley of detnews.com suggests that even if the Red Wings had room under Gary's cap to match Dynamo Moscow's offer for 2 years, $10 million...Hudler still would have left.

"Here, he could expect to pay roughly 45 percent of his salary, or $4.5 million, in federal, state and local income taxes. And if the Obama administration prevails in its array of desired new taxes on the wealthy, that number could easily reach 60 percent or more. That's at least $6 million more dollars in Hudler's pocket than if he stays in the United States. American sport franchises can't compete.

Expect entrepreneurs and investors to depart next."

While it seems like stars in their prime will continue to choose to play in the NHL (the greatest league in the world), there has been an in increasing level of middle-of-the-road talent as well as aging stars that are hopping aboard the KHL Bandwagon.

The question remains; with a shrinking cap and taxes on the rise, will we see a prime time star head of the KHL over the NHL? (Clearly, at this point it would just be for money. The KHL is no where near the NHL in terms of talent, quality of facilities and such.)

Case Closed

From the Free Press today:

Saturday afternoon, Kenny Holland learned that Jiri Hudler's arbitration award will earn him $2.75 million in the first year and $3 million in the second of a two-year contract. This was confirmed by Tick Tock today.

"He's obviously going to Russia because it's an opportunity for a financial windfall, but right now his plans are to come back to the NHL and to come back to the Wings."

Look on the bright side, when/if he does come back in two years, there will still be a decade left on Zetterberg's contract. I doubt that Hudler's meager defensive skills will be improved playing over in Russia, but if he can hone what are already impressive offensive talents, his $2.875 mil cap hit will be a great value.

Finally. Closure.

Holland slams Sportsnet

"They're just making up crap. How can they come up with this stuff?"

From Dave Waddell of The Windsor Star today.

"Deal in the facts. They're misleading the public. Every conversation I've had with (Hudler's agent) Petr Svoboda he's told me he was playing in Russia. Hudler has publicly announced he's playing in Russia, so let's use some common sense."

Apparently, Hudler also told Detroit that he if he didn't like playing for the Dynamo after a season, that he would come back...and then we could deal with him doing a reverse Radulov and see where that takes us.

Didn't take long to Squash that Bug

Per Khan(!) over at MLive

Kenny Holland:

"The story's over. He's going to play in Russia. We're waiting on the terms (of the salary arbitration case) he has to (honor) if and when he returns to the NHL.''

Let's get those terms so Kenny can get a pen and some paper for someone who values winning the 2010 Stanley Cup over making tax free dollars in Russia. No offense, Happy...well maybe a little.

Hudler Staying????

Sportsnet.ca-

We finally get the results from Hudler's arbitration:

Reports are that Jiri Hudler gets a 2 year deal with the Detroit worth over $5 million.

Now...before you get all up in a tizzy, as I did when I first read that...remember that just because he is awarded that from arbitration, doesn't necessarily mean he will sign. In fact, I thought that we already established that he won't. He'd be making half the salary (before taxes) if he stays...which he won't.

Dynamo Jumped the Gun

TSN- today.

"...the Russian league officially registered Hudler's contract with HC Dynamo Moscow. The 25-year-old Czech Republic native signed a two-year, $10 million offer to play in the Kontinental Hockey League on July 8 after reportedly rejecting a five-year deal worth $3 million to remain with the Detroit Red Wings."

$1.6 mil per or $5.0 mil...hmmm tough call.

"The NHL is contesting the contract and has approached both the IIHF and KHL seeking intervention."

Give it up, Gary. EVERYONE wants this deal to go through except for you. This isn't the Radulov case where the team had him under contract. It's time to let go.

I'd love to know when we have to stop worrying about this....seriously.

Another Warm and Fuzzy Friday

From George James Malik’s post on Snapshots

Jimmy Devellano on Fan 590 with Roger Lajoie:

“But the curve ball thrown at us was Jiri Hudler being signed by the Russian team, and why it was a curve ball was, uh, he was a restricted free agent, we were negotiating with his agent, he filed for arbitration, so...All appearances were that Jiri Hudler would come back.
Now it's a little bit gray as to whether he will be back. He might be, he might not be. The problem then becomes, if you wait to find out, uh, and he leaves, you've got quite a bit of money under the cap, but then the free agents are all eaten up, for any of the good ones that might be left.”

So it might not be the whole “peaceful parting of ways” that we thought it would be. It appears that Happy caught management by surprise on this one, which does not sit well with me at all. The question is, did he file for arbitration with the intention of re-signing with the Wings, and then the offer from Moscow changed his mind? If so, Mr. Hudler is to blame for Red Wing’s current predicament. Sure, the league didn’t have to take such a hard stance against it, but what did we all expect…them to pass on a chance to screw the Wings over? Please. Hudler should know better than to pull a move like that.

It’s probably going to end up with nothing more than time lost. And that time lost could prove to be very costly as the Free Agent pool gets shallower and shallower.

“Roger, up front, we've lost 82 goals, between Samuelsson, Hudler, and Hossa, we've lost 82 goals. There aren't many hockey teams that can afford that, us included, so we're a little bit, um, concerned, to put it mildly, but we're going to try to be active and try to get it at least half figured out, but, Roger, the salary cap has caught up to us.”

Front office is worried....

Damnit.

Another News-less weekend

This year’s “slow season” seems to be slower than usual. No updates on anything Red Wings. But really, is that such a bad thing? We’re nearly 3 weeks into the Free Agency Period and it has been pretty much bad news the whole way. And now, all we’re waiting for is the official word that Hudler isn’t going to be returning to Detroit and now that the league has stuck its big ugly nose into our business, we won’t retain Happy’s rights when/if he does decide to return to the NHL…what a joke.

But again, we should remember that we did our big free agent signing during the course of the season, we locked up Zetterberg and Franzen for life. We debated and fought over whether we wanted to keep the Mule or Hoss. Looking at their play-off performances this year, is anyone still arguing who we’d rather have?

Oh and looky here at Hockeytown Blog nothing like getting a shout-out (thanks for the heads-up, grog34) on the official blog, even if they don’t quite get your name right.