Who says you can't go home

You know, if the price of oil keeps dropping the Russian Kontinental Hockey League is going to be in a world of hurt...

“I was thinking about it and if Mario would call me and say, ‘I’d like you to play for our team,’ I would think about it a lot,” Jagr said in a telephone interview from Moscow where the Kontinental League will hold its inaugural All-Star Game outdoors at Red Square Saturday. “I would play for the minimum salary. I would play for $350,000 just for him because I owe him my hockey life. I want to pay him back because he has made me what I am…besides my parents.”

Talk about bringing things full circle, eh? Of course, everything's conjecture until the rubber hits the road, but even if Jagr finishes another season and a half in Russia he would be 38 years old. That's so young Mark Recchi and Chris Chelios would be yelling at keeping him off their lawn.

Stay tuned, and as always never say never..

Huge hat-tip to Empty Netters

Naslund interested in Pittsburgh return?

In what could finally lay those Alek Stojanov nightmares to rest, Markus Naslund apparantely would be considering a return to where his NHL career started in Pittsburgh.

Here's a link: (warning it's in Swedish) which we found by way of the wonderful HFboards.

Someone who apparantely understands the article (which has Crosby's name and a picture of the musatchioed man in it) relayed the following details that we've mashed together...

"What kind of guys I will play with, and what kind of hockey I will play
will be a big decision in my future.....I will play next season, the question is where...I feel very motivated to play in NHL" says Naslund and wont go back to Modo and Sweden

"Money is not the important part, I prioritize the social bit, what type of hockey the team is playing and what kind of players they have....With the uncertainty for the future it was the right decision to sell my house (in Vancouver)" says Naslund.

"Though it might not mean I wont return here"Naslund is an UFA july 1st.Source

"Of course it would be fun to play with Crosby," says Naslund.

Take this with a grain of salt, but it's certainly an interesting development. Talk is cheap and easy, it'll be more impressive if Naslund puts the pen to the paper and joins the Penguins.

However, the Pens (and their fans) should be aware this is a player in decline. His points total as slipped every season since the lockout. Last year he had 30 assists, his fewest in that category since the 1998-99 season. He's gained the reputation of a free-floating player away from the puck that doesn't have much interest in playing defense. As a team leader for the Canucks he hasn't delivered and at turning 25 this summer, Naslund is no spring chicken.

Let's not discount his talent though, this is a guy who scored 55 points this past season and would seem, if healthy to be a lock for 25-30 goals and 35-40 assists on a line with Crosby. Naslund, a natural left winger, would fit perfectly with Crosby. Both are good skaters, have a lot of skill and think the game well. Naslund is selling his house, which we think is significant; for whatever reason it looks like a move from Vancouver is in the cards...And Pittsburgh seems to be on his radar. He mentions money isn't important, but we don't think he's signing anywhere for close to league minimum. Still, the Pens should plenty of money short-term (before Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin extensions kick in for 2009-10) to accomendate at least a one year deal.

As usual all we have for you is a lot of speculation and not too much of actual action. But this is a development to definitely keep an eye on. It'd be getting a little ahead of ourselves to imagine a top like of Naslund-Crosby-Hossa next season, but wouldn't that be amazing?

Reports of Gary Roberts Demise Greatly Exaggerated?

A simple, almost throwaway line in the PG today, but then you read it and it floors you..

[Sidney]Crosby and left winger Gary Roberts (broken leg, high ankle sprain) skatedyesterday for about a half-hour with no apparent problem, team officials said

Uhhh, what was that again? Slightly different then the bombshell PG Columnist Ron Cook laid out in his column entitled: "Latest setback threatens Roberts' career"

Make no mistake here.

This really is crunch time for Roberts.

Like never before in his career.

Off topic a bit, but a personal beef.

What's the deal with almost every newspaper writer in America going overboard on these one sentence paragraphs?

It's like, come on let's develop these things a little more.

The PG's Shelly Anderson is the worst at this.

It's very annoying.

And doesn't seem like the mark of an effective or good writer.

But that's just one man's opinion.

Anyways, as you can see Cook basically spelled out that Roberts career is in jeopardy and after reading it, you thought he was Barbaro or something and the docs were about to put him down. Cook also wrote (emphasis added):

He said he won't try to skate for two more weeks. His new target date to play again is March 27, a home game against the New York Islanders. "At least that would give me five games before the playoffs."

So much for that big push for the team down the stretch.

In conclusion, the day this hit news-stands (yesterday) Gary Roberts skated for 30 minutes with Crosby. The legend continues to grow.

Rob Blake watch begins...

We’re glad to see that we at TST aren’t the only ones with trade deadline fever; famed and reliable Canadian writer Eric Duhatschek (by way of kuklaskorner) writes:

Blake, whose name has circulated in the rumour mill for almost a month now, clarified his position in an interview Friday. He said that at this juncture, he and Kings general manager Dean Lombardi had not spoken about the possibility of him waiving his own no-trade clause to go to a contender as a rental at the deadline.

"It's never been agreed that I'd waive my no-trade and I've never been approached about it," said Blake. "I don't know where that started, but I knew it would eventually creep in, given my situation."

However, Blake did not rule out the possibility of moving at the deadline, if Lombardi pitched the idea to him.
"I don't know how I'd approach it," said Blake. "My philosophy was to come back here and remain a King for the rest of my career.

Unfortunately, when you get in last place, things do change. I haven't really sat down with Lombardi and spoke to him, but I'm sure that's something that will happen in the next little while — that we're going to sit down and discuss what the future holds.

"Obviously, you think about it, but until it happens, I don't know what I'd do in that situation."

Blake, who is still averaging more than 22 ½ minutes of playing time per night, would be a huge upgrade for any number of teams seeking a skilled, physical presence on defence. Beyond his role in mentoring Kings rookie defenceman Jack Johnson, coach Marc Crawford says Blake has been an effective player for the team, "especially in the last two months.

"He's playing just terrific. He's getting lots of shots. His shot totals are way up. When Rob plays, when he's looking to shoot and looking to jump up in the play, that's when I feel he's at his best. Defensively, he's played very physically this year as well. Most of guys, as they get up in years, they recognize it takes a little more out of them to play the physical role. But Rob's physical game has been way higher than it was last year. I think he's feeling good about his body too. He had the off-season surgery for his hip, the labrum problem. For him, he's skating better and I think he's feeling better.

Those things, all in combination, are giving us high-end, quality play from Rob. He's been a pleasure to be around this year for sure."

As for the Kings' goals in the short term, Blake suggested: "It's an important stretch for us to get competitive down the stretch, even if we fall out of the race. We've got the majority of our team, 25 and under, playing pretty well, but they haven't played in a playoff game. They need that experience. Pittsburgh last year played great, got in the playoffs - and that experience is really going to help them this year.

"Unfortunately, we don't have that situation.

If you can’t beat them, Rob…

Also is it fate that earlier in this article the writer only specifically mentioned two players that waived their no-trade clauses last season (Gary Roberts and Georges Laraque)?

Blake’s long been a west coast guy but he’s also very familiar with Darryl Sydor (his teammate in LA from 1992-1996) and Mario (who played with Blake on Canada’s gold medal team in 2002) and probably vets like Roberts and who could help sway his opinion to join up with the Penguins. The Penguins, for their part, could sure use a physical defenseman with an all around game.

Just sayin…..