St. Louis Blues Sign 2009 1st-round pick David Rundblad

Posted by Nathan Fournier, The World of Junior Hockey

Press Release June 11, 2010

St. Louis Blues President John Davidson announced Thursday the club has signed defenseman David Rundblad (RUHND-blahd), who was the Blues first selection in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

“By signing David and adding him to the fold, we continue to keep our blueline depth strong,” said Davidson. “We have been impressed with the progress he’s made since we drafted him last year and are looking forward to watching his development towards the NHL.”

Rundblad, 19, has spent the past three seasons with Skelleftea HC of the Swedish Elite League (SEL).

In 2009-10, the Lycksele, Sweden native played in 47 games for Skelleftea posting 13 points on a goal and 12 assists to go along with 14 penalty minutes. In total, the 6’2”, 189-pound defenseman has made 98 appearances for the Swedish side accumulating 23 points including a goal, 22 assists and 24 penalty minutes.

In addition, Rundblad represented Sweden in both the 2009 and 2010 IIHF World Junior Championships, helping the team capture the Silver Medal in 2009 and Bronze in 2010. At the 2009 Championship, he posted a goal and an assist to go along with a plus-3 rating in six games while in 2010 he increased production to a goal, four assists and a plus-9 mark in six appearances.

RLD Hockey Talk - Episode 20 - 6/8/10

We will have Anthony Curatolo and Buddy Oakes as our co-hosts. Two great guests will join us! Draft prospect Nick Bjugstad and agent Jay Grossman are scheduled to be our guests. We'll also touch on the ongoing Stanley Cup Final, and whether will skate the Cup tomorrow... or if a Game 7 will be necessary. You don't want to miss this one!



Click Here to Listen to Jay Grossman on RLD Hockey Talk

What Would You Do To Land the Most Prized UFA?

What Would You Do To Land the Most Prized UFA?
Michelle Kenneth, Michelle Kenneth's Hockey and Musings Blog, June 8, 2010


The #1 UFA approaching the market is none other than Ilya Kovalchuk.

While most people think that Kovalchuk will sign in the KHL (because who wouldn’t want to be paid an exorbitant amount of money for a short amount of time), whoever said that Kovalchuk was all about money?

There are elements that people leave out in how Kovalchuk will make his decision. The #1 factor…Kovalchuk is a family man. He wants to go to a FAMILY ORIENTED TEAM.

There are things that Kovalchuk changed about the way he played and the way he was a team member, just to fit into the dynamics of the New Jersey Devils for a few months. What makes you think he wasn’t INTERVIEWING the Devils for the job as his new workplace?

Kovalchuk can go to just about any team in the world right now. But where he ends up going has everything to do with where he wants to relocate his family. Kovalchuk is a family man, so his decisions will be purely based on what team and location will benefit his family the most.


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Kovalchuk and Volchenkov, 1 and 3 respectively in Fanhouse Top 50 Free agents

NHL free agency begins July 1, as teams begin to wine and dine players hitting the market in hopes of filling holes and landing the guy they think can get them closer to the Stanley Cup.

Below, we rank the Top 50 unrestricted free agents available. Restricted free agents weren't included because their movement is rare. After the first five or six players there's a pretty significant drop in terms of impact players. It's a shallow pool for forwards, and a bit deeper for defensemen. Shot-blocking, stay-at-home defensemen appear to be the strength.

Also note that this list would have included Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne, two unrestricted free agents, but both players are expected to either re-sign with their current team, the Ducks, or retire. Another team seems very unlikely for both

1. ILYA KOVALCHUK, F

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Age: 26 | Experience: 8 years | '09-10 Team: Thrashers/Devils

2009-10 Stats: 41 g | 44 a | 85 pt

The Skinny: There's only a small handful of quality wingers available in this year's free agent market, and Kovalchuk is the easily the best of the bunch. One of the most explosive goal-scorers in the NHL, Kovalchuk is coming off his sixth-straight 40-goal season and is going to command top dollar on the open market. It's not often that a player this talented, this young, becomes available on the open market to the highest bidder.


3. ANTON VOLCHENKOV, D

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Age: 28 | Experience: 7 years | '09-10 Team: Senators

2009-10 Stats: 4 g | 10 a | 14 pt

The Skinny: One of the best shutdown defensemen in the NHL and still on the right side of 30, Volchenkov is set to strike it rich on the free agent market, perhaps commanding a deal north of $5 million per season. After seeing the success of players like Hal Gill and Josh Gorges in the postseason, why wouldn't a team want to invest in one of the best defensive-defenseman in the NHL?



Click here to see the full 50

Former Devils coach Jacques Lemaire defends decisions made during season

Jacques Lemaire believes the Devils could still be playing hockey this spring.

During almost a month of vacation in Florida since he announced his retirement on April 26, Lemaire has watched the Stanley Cup playoffs and feels the Devils could have been the team coming out of the Eastern Conference.

“We all tried to find the reason why we lost. That’s normal,” Lemaire told The Star-Ledger today. “But criticism shouldn’t be part of trying to find what we could have done differently. To me you have to be objective.”

Lemaire has come under criticism from several Devils players, including captain Jamie Langenbrunner, for the way he handled several team matters during the second half of the season.

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A Reason to Support Ilya Kovalchuk - The 2009-10 New Jersey Devils Roster by PDO

One of the big reasons I'm so interested in advanced statistics is because they provide a different perspective into a player's performance. For example, we know that Ilya Kovalchuk is a goal scorer. He's scored 338 goals in 631 games in his NHL career. This is simple. But how impressive has been his performances? What can help explain his exceptional results?

Well, here's one way: his PDO is quite impressive.

What's PDO? Well, it doesn't stand for anything in particular, as far as I know; but it's meaning is real. PDO is the summation of a team's or a player's on-ice shooting percentage and on-ice save percentage at even strength (5-on-5) play. What makes PDO stand out is that it can quickly show whether a team or player is above the base value of 1. Higher is better, lower is worse, and that's simple. More importantly, as Tyler Dellow found way back in 2008, is that it's usually an unsustainable value. A team's or player's PDO will regress towards their true mean over time. The exceptionally talented player will be able to maintain a PDO above 1 consistently.

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Kovalchuk Emphasizes Win Now For Russia

World Championship - Ilya Kovalchuk: "We need to win now like never before"
RussianHockeyFans.com May 4, 2010


RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation.

Many thought that you won't play for the national team. It is very risky as you don't have a contract for the next season in the NHL. Besides your wife gave a birth to your son in March. Was this decision hard to take?

Kovalchuk: "After failing in Vancouver all guys agreed to go to the World Championship if there is a chance. We must win and make this season end well.
My wife Nicole understood me at once, told me that the whole family would be watching games on TV and cheer for us. She and the kids stayed in Miami. I spent a week there and flew to Russia."

Many teams will have either weak or very young rosters. It will be easier for Team Russia to win the gold?
Kovalchuk: "In first place we have to think about our team. It doesn't matter against whom we will play. All teams will fight against Russia. Especially the young guys, who will want to show themselves. But our team is young too, we have Kulikov, Anisimov, Varlamov, Radulov, Ovechkin, Semin... They aren't old men, are they?"

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Canucks prospect Shirokov set to shun KHL for shot at NHL dream

Matthew Sekeres Chicago Globe and Mail May 4, 2010

Vancouver Canucks prospect Sergei Shirokov does not intend to play in Russia next season, according to both the NHL team and the player himself.

A report on a Russian website, picked up by Canadian and U.S. media outlets, says the 24-year-old winger is headed back to the Kontinental Hockey League next season after spending most of 2009-10 with the Manitoba Moose, Vancouver’s farm team.

But Canucks assistant general manager Laurence Gilman says that Shirokov’s camp has given the team every indication that he will be back at training camp next autumn. Shirokov, in fact, said as much just last week when interviewed from Moscow.

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Kovalchuk hits, scores -- and wins

Please excuse Ilya Kovalchuk if his emotions sometimes get in the way of his spectacular moves and blistering shot.

"I'm an emotional guy and I should stay away from some of that stuff in front of the net, but you have to play tough so sometimes things happen out there," Kovalchuk said.

Players and fans of the New Jersey Devils saw another side of their prized midseason acquisition on Friday night in a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Round at Prudential Center.

Kovalchuk not only produced an empty-net goal, a pair of assists and a plus-2 rating, he also took a game-high six minutes in penalties on the way to earning his first Stanley Cup Playoff victory in six career games.

"It's nice," Kovalchuk said of leaving a playoff game as a winner for the first time. "That's what the playoffs are about. I knew I was going to win at some point. When we come to the rink tonight, we had no doubt in our minds we were going to win. We battled hard; we were down a goal twice and came back to win. It was great teamwork and everyone battled so hard and Marty (Brodeur) made unbelievable save in the third period and (Dainius Zubrus) scored a great goal.


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Preds win battle of Finnish goaltenders

CHICAGO -- Patrick Sharp couldn't believe his luck when he grabbed a turnover at the Nashville blue line in the first period of Friday's playoff opener between the Predators and Chicago Blackhawks.



It was the end of a shift, but Sharp took the puck and bolted for the net. Waiting there was Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne. It looked like Sharp had an opening -- but Rinne made the save of the night by poke-checking the puck harmlessly to the corner as Sharp went to shoot.


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Devils' Ilya Kovalchuk: I was too emotional in Game 1 vs. Flyers

It was evident in the Devils' dressing room before Game 1 of their playoff series against the Flyers.
Ilya Kovalchuk was not exactly himself.
"He hasn't been in the playoffs that much. With that first game it's just good to get back into it," Dainius Zubrus said. "He had a lot of emotions going on."
Kovalchuk, who has only played in one other playoff series, did not deny that he may have been too fired-up in Game 1 Wednesday night.
"I felt very good physically. Maybe I was a little too emotional, so I overplayed on some plays," Kovalchuk said this morning. "You just have to try your best all the time and good things will happen."


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Nashville Gamebreaker: Pekka Rinne

It goes without saying that goaltender is a focal point for every playoff team, but for the low-scoring, defense-first Nashville Predators, the position's importance becomes elevated even further.

In their 11th season, the Predators will make their fifth postseason appearance this week –- also their fifth in the last six seasons -- and they will do so with their fourth different goalie.

This time, 27-year-old Pekka Rinne will make his debut as a No. 1 playoff netminder and he will enter the postseason among the League's hottest goalies. Over his final 14 games, the 6-foot-5 Rinne went 10-3-1, posting four shutouts.


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Playoff stage awaits Ilya Kovalchuk

"He works hard, he wants to win, and maybe that's why I think maybe he's a better player than I thought he was. He wants to win so much. He enjoys the game, which I didn't see that as much as when he wasn't around," the veteran coach and Hall of Fame player said. "He's a real player. He's a guy that he wants to improve. He wants to do well. He wants the team to win. He's not selfish; those things that you don't know when the guy's away. And then when they come in, sometimes you do get some surprises, could be negative or positive. This one was positive, big time."




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Volchenkov talks terror

I am waiting for Volchenkov to finish. He is standing facing a posse of reporters in a corridor at Scotiabank Place answering questions to do with The Second World — sports, in this case, hockey — but I want to talk to him about the moment this week he suffered a rare and serious jolt into The First World, the everyday, more important one beyond all he’s known for most of his 28 years.

The reporters are finished with Anton Volchenkov, the worst friend an airborne chunk of rubber ever had, and after introducing myself, he seems relieved when I tell him I don’t care to hear his millionth media seminar on blocking shots, or to winkle out the mystery of his “upper body” injury — “I want to talk to you, Anton, about the tragic terrorist subway suicide bombings in Moscow, your hometown, and how you were affected by them.”

Thirty-nine subway riders killed, 70 injured, the separatist Chechen rebels claiming responsibility, promising more of the same, and Anton Volchenkov, who is more than just jock sweat, shakes his head in a slow, deliberate, grim-faced manner that reflects the reality...


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Hedberg Wins Georgia’s Own Credit Union Three Stars of the Year Award

Atlanta Thrashers goaltender Johan Hedberg has won the 2009-10 Georgia’s Own Credit Union Three Stars of the Year Award, and for the second consecutive year, forward Marty Reasoner has been selected by his teammates to receive the Players’ Player Award. Both awards will be presented prior to tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils at Philips Arena (7 p.m.).

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Panthers forward Evgeny Dadonov talks about playing his first NHL game tonight against the Senators.

Listen to Evgeny Dadonov chat about playing in his first NHL game tonight vs. Ottawa Senators

Click here for interview

The Devils, Ilya Kovalchuk and Protecting 1-Goal Leads

It wouldn't be much of a surprise if Ilya Kovalchuk leaves the New Jersey Devils (whether that be after this season or several years down the line) as a better all-around player than he was the day he arrived. Would you expect anything less from Jacques Lemaire, the master of structure and defensive hockey?

Since the Devils acquired Kovalchuk in early February, they've had no hesitation when it comes to playing him in late-game situations to protect the slimmest of leads. It's something he didn't always get the opportunity to do in Atlanta this season, unless a prime opportunity presented itself (power play, offensive zone face-off, etc.)....

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Evgeny Dadonov will make his NHL debut Tonight

Evgeny Dadonov will make his NHL debut Tuesday night.

Dadonov, the 71st overall pick in the 2007 NHL Draft by the Panthers, has 17 goals with 23 assists with the Americans this season. This is Dadonov's first North American pro season; he played in Russia last year.
``He's a very skilled, talented player, but he had to adjust to the North American game,'' general manager Randy Sexton said of Dadonov. ``He's done that and has worked hard on both ends of the puck. His offense has really picked up in the second half of the season as he's adjusted. We're rewarding a guy who deserves the chance.''


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/06/1564871/florida-panthers-winger-david.html#ixzz0kKXOj7b9

Ilya Kovalchuk looking forward to return to Atlanta in a Devils jersey

In a city that embraces the tomahawk chop, Chipper Jones and college sports moreso than hockey, Ilya Kovalchuk was still someone very special.
They may have had some trouble understanding his Russian accent, and he their southern drawl, but for more than eight seasons Kovalchuk forced Georgians to pay at least some attention to the Thrashers.
Now he wonders how they will react when he returns to Philips Arena Tuesday night wearing a Devils jersey, well aware that he turned down lucrative offers to sign a contract extension with the team that drafted him first overall in 2001....


Continue Reading: http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2010/04/ilya_kovalchuk_looking_forward.html

The Volchenkov/Sutton Non-Argument...

Nobody in the mainstream press is saying it, but you get the impression from some fans, through the blogs and the call-in shows, that Andy Sutton just might be a fine replacement for Anton Volchenkov next season, the premise being that GM Bryan Murray won’t be able to sign both under the salary cap.

For one, it’s not out of the question for Murray to keep both of them (in fact, I think it's likely). Filip Kuba can be moved this summer when his no-trade clause expires, and he may not be missed with the sudden emergence of Erik Karlsson as this team’s best offensive defenseman....




Continue Reading: http://www.thebestblogs.com/articles/47362-The-Volchenkov-Sutton-Non-Argument-