Saturday, November 01, 2008

Welcome to Brochu is Hockey, Mach II!

Hi everyone!

As you can see, Brochu is Hockey has a new look. It's been coming for a long time, and I hope you like it. It's a bit streamlined now, and I've optimized the site for widescreen monitors. Some of the links may not work, and some details need to be ironed out but overall, I think it looks really good. If some of you can't see the new look, I suggest clearing your cache. Feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks to everyone who have visited the site over the last few years! Hopefully, this new look will take Brochu is Hockey to the next level, whatever that is. ;-) Look out for new features in the next couple of weeks.

Now let's back to what you're here for, rumours!

Another Sunday edition of Bruce Garrioch's "Rumours Du Jour":

Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer (of CSI fame) has backed off on its interest in building an arena in Las Vegas and has pulled its bid off the table.

Brendan Shanahan could be headed to the Montreal Canadiens, Colorado Avalanche or the Carolina Hurricanes. Brochu's take: Rumor is that Shanny wants to stay in the East, so that rules out Colorado.

The Anaheim Ducks may be shopping forward Chris Kunitz in order to make room for Mats Sundin. Brochu's take: Kunitz is probably on the market, but there's not much interest in him.

"Expect to see the Sabres move [forward] Ales Kotalik, who is making $2.5 million, before the March 4 trade deadline." Brochu's take: They might, but again the market is not strong for underperforming forwards with big cap hits.

"[Vancouver Canucks GM Mike]Gillis was telling anybody who would listen last week he is not going to trade [defenseman] Mattias Ohlund. As I told Gillis in an e-mail, he can deny he won't deal Ohlund all he wants, but if he doesn't get him signed before the trade deadline, then a move is a strong possibility. Oddly enough, Gillis admitted that "teams have called" on all his players and that means there's interest. He can't deny that." Brochu's take: That could be said about any player that has an expiring contract this season! And I could say that all 29 teams have interest in Sidney Crosby, and there's "no denying that".

The Anaheim Ducks have apparently jumped into the Mats Sundin sweepstakes: Brochu's take: I'll file this under "SC", as in salary cap.

According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, the Senators are pushing hard for a puck-moving defenseman, and may be willing to part with a roster player. Garrioch suggests that the Sens could part with forward Mike Fisher or Antoine Vermette, who have both under-performed this season. Brochu's take: Fisher isn't going anywhere, but Vermette's name has been in the rumour mill for some time. Maybe the Hawks will come calling? Source

The "Between the Circles" blog on the Chicago Daily Herald website is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks are looking for a top-6 forward, preferrably a centre, and another defenseman. Tim Sassone suggests they could send goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and defenseman Cam Barker to the minors, but they have both played well. Brochu's take: Like Sassone said, the Hawks are pushing the cap as it is. Unless they trade someone off their roster or demote them to the minors, they won't be making any moves. Source

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