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Former Canadiens first-round draft choice Ron Hainsey – 13th overall in 2000 – has signed with Atlanta: five years, $22.5 million
contract.

Nice raise on the $900,000 the 27-year-old earned with Columbus .... and yet another indication that puck-moving defencemen (see CAMPBELL, Brian) have become a very valuable commodity in the NHL.

•  •  •

Brooks Orpik, who's an old-fashioned bone-crunching defenceman, is staying put in Pittsburgh.

He's signed a six-year contract for $22.5 million, $3.75 million per. Orpik, one of the better Penguins in the Stanley Cup final, was making $1 million

Anyone else getting nervous about the Andrei Kostitsyn negotiations?

While Bob Gainey has been wooing Mats Sundin, who plays hard to get better than he plays hockey, there's another clock ticking:

AK46 can become a restricted free agent on Tuesday.

As Pat Hickey points out in his column today, Jeff Carter's deal with the Flyers – three years, $15 million – raises the bar for Kostitsyn, who posted similar numbers this past season and was drafted one spot ahead of Carter in 2003.

Carter has completed a three-year contract that paid $942,000 per. Kostitsyn's deal paid $942,000, $802,000 and $612,000.

Yes, AK46 is said to like Montreal.

Yes, he enjoys playing with his kid brother.

Yes, he's undoubtedly grateful the organization took  a chance on drafting him and helped with his medical issues.

But No, he's not an idiot – and neither is his agent, Don Meehan. The market is overheated, and come Tuesday, some loony NHL general manager might dangle a Carter-sized offer sheet in front of Kostitsyn, obliging the Canadiens either to match an iflated number or say goodbye and settle for draft choices.

The Canadiens will not give AK46 $5 million based one good season. But if I'm Meehan, I'm not taking a nickel less than $3.5 million and I'm not going for a  day longer than two years, with the idea of cashing in huge on the next contract.

•  •  •

The Toronto Star updates the Sundin soap opera with a report that he was supposed to give the Canadiens an answer yesterday but didn't and is supposed to give the Leafs an answer tomorrow.

Theory is that if Sundin hasn't said Yes to either team by July 1, he'll be saying No to both.

•  •  •

Two good pieces on free agent frenzy in the Globe today by Eric Duhatschek and Tim Wharnsby.

"Just a coincidence," says Trevor Timmins.

That's his story, and the Canadiens director of player development and amateur scouting is sticking to it to explain why the team has used its first draft choice to take Minnesota high school players three years in a row:

David Fischer from Minneapolis in 2006.

Ryan McDonagh from St. Paul last year.

Danny Kristo from Eden Prairie today.

Hey, nothing against Minnesota.

We love Bob Dylan.

We love Prince.

We loved Bill Nyrop.

But three in a row?

This is wierding me out, man.

Unfortunately, TSN is not doing live coverage of phone calls between Bob gainey and Mats Sundin.

A few minutes into the draft, Gainey dealt his first-round pick and a second-rounder next year (Canadiens' pick, not the one from Washington for Cristobal Huet) to acquire Alex Tanguay from the Calgary Flames.

Canadiens also acquired the exclusive right to talk to Sundin. What they'll pay the Leafs probably will depend on whether they can sign him.

Bottom line on draft night for Montreal fans:

The future is now.

•  •  •

And a quiet night for the Q.

In the first round of the draft, there were more players selected from Denmark than from Quebec.

In his brief press scrum in Ottawa today, Bob Gainey offered a variation on the mantra he's been repeating since the trade deadline:

The Canadiens, Gainey said,  would like to land an "accomplished forward." I take this to be synonymous with "impact forward." Gainey also said if he had his druthers, the acquisition would be a centre.

A scan of the Canadiens' complete draft history reveals the good, the bad and the just plain funny

Favourites of Seth, the fat kid in Superbad: Graeme Bonar, RW, 1984, Les Kuntar, G, 1987, Rodney Presswood, D, 1963, and Clifford Cox, C, 1974

It's still too early to say, but last year's draft could prove to be one of the Canadiens' best.

The Canadiens' two first-round picks – defenceman Ryan McDonagh and left wing Max Pacioretty – had fine seasons as college freshmen in the U.S. and are considered blue-chip NHL prospects.

Second-round pick P.K. Subban had a good season for the OHL Belleville Bulls. The offensively-gifted defenceman has a good shot at making it to The Show.

The Canadiens also fared well in the third round. Centre Olivier Fortier won the Guy Carbonneau Award as the Q's best defensive forward, and Swiss defenceman Yannick Weber of the Kitchener Rangers could be the second coming of Mark Streit.

The draft also yielded a sleeper: fifth-round pick Andrew Conboy, a bruising LW with goaltender-screening size and an enforcer's disposition.

The countdown begins.

A week from this evening in Ottawa, your Montreal Canadiens will add another building block – or two or, inshallah, three – when the National Hockey League conducts its annual entry draft.

In a salary cap league where players can become unrestricted free agents when they're as young as 26, drafting wisely and developing young talent are the cornerstones of successful franchises.

Examples – good and bad – abound, but the most obvious is the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.

Tuned in too late to see Carbo lose but just in time to see Patrick Kane win the Calder and a Lifetime Achievement Award – so new they haven't named it after anyone – for the great Gordie Howe.

Funny they're flashing "Hart Stories" when we all know Ovechkin is going to win it.

There's a lot of filler material here to pad this out to 90 minutes.

And Ron McLean.

I think I'll watch basketball.

But not until I watch Lidtsrom win the Norris.

Dion Phaneuf looks stricken. What, he expected to win?
First surprise: Brodeur! I was sure it would be Nabokov.
And Bob Gainey presents the Hart to ...

 Alexander the Great

 Missed the Selke.

Datsyuk? 

TSN's Scott Cullen takes an interesting off-season look at the Canadiens.

In addition to signing a UFA such as Mats Sundin, Marian Hossa or Ryan Malone, Cullen suggests Canadiens could be in the hunt for Olli Jokinen, who is on the block in Florida.

I'd be ecstatic if the Canadiens somehow landed Jokinen. He is a horse.

Danick Paquette.

Plays RW for the Lewiston Maineacs of the Q. Nice size: six-footer, 209 pounds. Turns 18 next month.

I heard Paquette talked up on CKAC as someone the Canadiens should think about in the draft next week.

He was Lewiston's first choice, 11th overall in the 2006 Q draft.

Paquette scored 29 goals, added 13 assists and was plus-8 this season. Here's the stat that caught my eye: 213 PiM.

A tough kid.

Could use a few of those.

Cliff Fletcher, Toronto's interim general manager in charge of getting coffee for Ron Wilson until Brian Burke takes over, says he will be talking to impending UFA Mats Sundin before July 1.

A posible scenario is a sign-and-trade, which would give the Leafs something for Sundin, rather than having him just walk next month.

Canadiens and Detroit are mooted as the frontrunners.

And it's acknowledged as fact that a deal was in place to send Sundin to the Canadiens at the trade deadline. He nixed it with his no-move clause.

I'd love to know who was headed to Toronto in the deal. If I were Fletcher I'd have asked for Christopher Higgins and a prospect of Ryan McDonagh calibre.

Any guesses? 

For the second consecutive season, there were no fighting majors in the Stanley Cup finals.

Gary Roberts and Brooks Orpik dished out some punishing checks. So did Nickas Kronwall and Brad Stuart.

The Penguins and Red Wings yapped at each other from time to time. Dirty looks were exchanged.

But no gloves were dropped. Not even once.

When hockey becomes meaningful, the fighting stops.

"There's this theory out there that when you play the
Detroit Red Wings, our lack of success in the playoffs is because we
weren't tough enough," Ken Holland told Eric Duhatschek of the Globe
and Mail. "I don't think it had anything to do with that. Some years,
it was a great series and we just lost. Some years, we had key people
out who were injured. Some years, the other team's goalie absolutely
stood on his head.

"But to think we ever lost a series because we were intimidated, I've never seen it."

Pittsburgh's Georges Laraque never got a chance to intimidate the Red Wings. He was a healthy scratch for most of the final.  Aaron Downey – who averaged less than five minutes of ice time in 56 regular-season games – didn't play a single game for Detroit.

Philadelphia's Riley Coté didn't play in the series against the Canadiens and averaged four minutes of ice time in the games for which he dressed.

Coltor Orr averaged 4:26 ToI in the playoffs for the Rangers, Derek Boogard 4:48 for Minnesota. Jody Shelley averaged 3:15 for San Jose, Eric Godard 3:31 for Calgary.

And for the rock 'em/sock 'em defending Stanley Cup champs, George Parrios averaged 2:42 per game in the Ducks' early exit from the playoffs.

So tell me again, Don Cherry and P.J. Stock, why the Canadiens are soft and need an enforcer.

Writing in the Torontro Sun, Steve Simmons suggests Michel Therrien may be in trouble in Pittsburgh.

The story says neither Brooks Orpik nor Jordan Staal wants to play for Therrien. In Orpik's case, not a big deal. But if the kindly old coach has lost Staal, that's a major problem.

More ominously, Simmons writes, Mario Lemieux is not a fan of his coach. If that's true, Therrien is toast.

I think Therrien's troubles began when the media started calling him "Mike". 

It recalls the story of Berel, Cherel and Schmerel, three brothers my grandfather knew in the old country.

"I'm going to America," said Berel, "and evereyone will call me Buck."

"I'm going, too," said Cherel, "and everyone will call me Chuck." 

"I've decided," said Schmerel, "to stay in Russia." 

Final Pittsburgh flurry notwithstanding, for Canadiens fans the last game of the 2007-'08 hockey season was déja vu all over again.

The best team in hockey won the Stanley Cup.

The gutsiest team in hockey made it close.

And Pittsburgh, battling back from a 3-1 deficit late in the third period, came within inches of sending Game 6 into OT.

So a series that started slowly turned into a classic. And the skill of both teams produced some beautiful hockey.

Henrik Zetterberg – the best two-way player in hockey – won the Conn Smythe Trophy.

The whole series was a triumph for smart, clean, thinking-person's hockey. 

Another tyrannical bully bites the dust.

So we're down to Rosie O'Donnell, Robert Mugabe, the Saudi royal family and the dude in North Korea.

I wonder if Vincent Lecavalier's shoulder rehab prevents him from hoisting a glass of champagne. 

At least for Game 6 tomorrow night, the Penguins have an edge.

Actually, two edges.

After 110 minutes of hockey, Petr Sykora sends the series back to Pittsburgh for Game 6.

Man of the Match: Marc-André Fleury, a Patrick Royesque 58 saves as Detroit had about a dozen chances to win the Cup.

The game ends with Crosby jawing at Henrik Zetterberg.

For all the good it will do him.

Jiri Hudler scored the winner in a tense 2-1 game. The Red Wings have a 3-1 lead going home, and there's every chance this series will end Monday night at the Joe.

Turning point: Detroit killed off a 5-on-3 disadvantage in the third period. Pittsburgh managed but one shot.

The Penguins had 23 in the game to 30 for the Red Wings, who have had a shot edge in all four games. 

Number one star was the great Z, whose defensive play was superb ... and frustrating for Sid the Kid.

Dallas defenceman Trevor Daley signed a three-year, $6.9 million contract with the Stars this week.

Dallas's second-round draft choice (43rd overall) in 2002, Daley, who'll be 25 in October, played in all 82 games, plus playoffs, this season. He averaged 19:48 of ice time while scoring five goals and adding 19 assists. Daley had 85 PiM and was minus-1 on the season.

He's 5-11, 207 and plays bigger. The Toronto native, who made $800,000 this season, is a good skater and puckhandler who frequently jumps up to join the Stars' rush.

Daley's salary – $2.1 million, $2.3 million and $2.5 million over the next three seasons – is useful as a benchmark in contemplating what the Canadiens might pay Josh Gorges, who's a RFA on July 1 and made $495,000 this season, and Mike Komisarek, who'll make $1.9 million for the upcoming season and become a UFA on July 1, 2009 unless Canadiens sign him to an extension. 

We all know how this will play out, right?

Some time before the draft on June 20, Mats Sundin will announce that he does not intend to sign a new contract with the Leafs.

Frenzy will ensue in Montreal and among Canadiens fans everywhere else. We will twist ourselves into knots envisioning Sundin centring the first line, Sundin on the power play, Sundin crowding the crease.

Bob Gainey will say nothing, of course. But there will be rumours that Ol' Velcro Lips has had his UFA prize in Montreal for a weekend visit. Sundin will be spotted having dinner at Toqué with George Gillett, Gainey and Guy Carbonneau.

Speculation will spin into overdrive. La Presse will run a story saying it's a done deal because the team has ordered a Reebok jersey bearing the number 13, unused since Billy Boucher and Edmond Bouchard in the 1921-'22 season.

And then at midday on July 1, Mats Sundin will sign a three-year contract to play in Detroit. 

He will do this because:

• The Red Wings literally speak his language

• Sundin wants to win a Cup, and he'll have a better shot at it in Detroit than in Montreal 

• By joining the Red Wings, Sundin avoids bitter accusations of stabbing Toronto fans in the back by signing with a bitter rival

Later it will emerge that Canadiens offered him more money than Detroit.

Réjean Tremblay will find a way to blame the whole debacle on Saku Koivu.

With great fanfare and equally well-disguised disappointment, Canadiens will announce they've signed Stéphane Yelle.

And in the immortal words of Bob Dylan: "Bury that rag deep in your face, 'cause now is the time for your tears." 

I hope I'm wrong.

It's been known to happen. 

Who would have picked Adam Hall to score the winner?

It was that kind of game: unpredictable. Sidney Crosby scored twice and played his heart out as Pittsburgh clawed its way back into the Stanley Cup final. 

Detroit did not go quietly. Trailing all  night, the Red Wings got goals from Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson to keep it close. 

Marc-André Fleury stood on his head – especially in the third period, when Detroit outshot the Penguins 16-5.

So, maybe this will turn into a classic final after all. 

Better late than never. 

While I was stomping out family forest fires, the Wings seem to  have skated off to a 2-0 lead.

Will Pittsburgh score in this series?

Anyway, I'm back. No point live-blogging the third period, so I'll just throw in a few Comments like the rest of you plebes. 

It's not a must-win for Pittsburgh.

Game 2 is, however, a must-not-play-like-crap for the Penguins, who were pathetic over the last 40 minutes of Game 1.

Nicklas Lidstrom was not a dominant force for Detroit in the opener. Henrik Zetterberg scored the Wings' fourth goal, but the top line didn't carry the offensive load.

And still they romped.

The key was puck possession. Through the second and third periods, the Wings constantly had the biscuit – which means the Penguins didn't.

When you're losing faceoffs and chasing the puck all night, fatigue becomes a factor. And regardless of young legs and star power, you don't want to be tired against a team like Detroit.

The first goal of the series was a classic example. Coming off a shift by the Valtteri Filppula line during thwich the puck didn't leave the Pittsburgh zone, Mikael Samuelsson was able to accelerate and cash a wraparound against Penguins who were totally gassed (an unfortunate metaphor, with connotations of the Nazis conquering Antarctica).

All by way of saying the Penguins will have to be a lot better tonight. A second stomping and they're toast.

Check back later for live blogging. 

This will scare Nicklas Lidstrom.

In the wake of Pittsburgh's 4-0 loss in the opening game of the Stanley Cup final, Penguins coach Michel Therrien has juggled his lines for Game 2.

Ryan Malone moves up to Pittsburgh's top line, with Sidney Crosby and Marian Hossa.

Pascal Dupuis is demoted from the first line to the third and will play with Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy.

In an effort to get Evgeni Malkin in gear, high-energy Maxime Talbot takes Malone's spot with "Geno" and Petr Sykora.

Whew! Dizzy yet? There's one more:

Georges Laraque  will be a healthy scratch for Game 2. Gary Roberts takes his place on the fourth line with Adam Hall and Jarrko Ruutu.

Detroit, it is safe to predict, will stand pat for Game 2 – although Johan Franzen may be sufficiently recovered from concussion-like symptoms to rejoin a lineup that hasn't missed him.

Detroit started slowly, but when they hit their stride, in the second period, Game 1 turned into a laugher.

The Penguins had 12 shots in the first period, four in the second and three in the third.

Detroit had 36 shots on goal, another 15 blocked and 17 misses. That's 68 pucs buzzing in the enera direction of Marc-André Fleury, who couldn't be blamed for any of the four goals he surrendered.

So the series favourites draw first blood.

And Michel Therrien has some serious Xs ad Os to draw up for Game 2.

•  •  •

When Scott Oake asked Mikael Samuelsson what message the Detroit win had sent Pittsburgh, the game's first star said:

"The message? Whatever. We're a good team. That's the message."

And it came through loud and clear. 

Just to refresh your memory, hockey is a game played on ice, six to a side. The object is to propel a small disc of vulcanized rubber, called a puck, into ...

Is it all coming back to you now?

To ensure that a maximum number of Canadians – none of whom have any dogs in this fight – hear the dulcet tones of Bob Cole on the maximum possible number of Saturday nights, the National Hockey League had its two best teams, the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins, cool their skate blades for almost a week.

I'm not expecting a great first period tonight.

But once the players find their legs, this has the potential to be the best Stanley Cup final in years.

I can't remember a series featuring this many bona-fide superstars: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom.

As befits their superbly skilled rosters, both teams play up-tempo, positive hockey. At no time during this series will we think we're watching New Jersey vs. Florida. 

Nor is it llikely to resemble Anaheim-Philadelphia. The absence of thuggery will be profoundly disappointing for Don Cherry, but the rest of us will enjoy hockey the way it should be played. 

And it's an 8 p.m. start, just like in the good old days when you didn't have to rush dinner to see the game.

Dine at leisure, pop a cold one and settle into a comfortable seat.

This is going to be fun. 

How do you build a great hockey team?

Pittsburgh has six players the Penguins have drafted in the first round: Brooks Orpik (18th overall in 2000), Ryan Whitney (5th in 2002), Marc-André Fleury (1st in 2003), Evgeni Malkin (2nd in 2004), Sidney Crosby (1st in 2005) and Jordan Staal (2nd in 2006). 

In addition, Pittsburgh's roster includes seven first-rounders drafted by other teams: Gary Roberts, Darryl Sydor, Sergei Gonchar, Peter Sykora, Marian  Hossa, Kris Beech and Jeff Taffe.

That's 13 Penguins selected in the first rounds of various drafts.

Detroit, by contrast, has three – and only one was picked by the Red  Wings: Niklas Kronwall, 29th in 2000. The others are Dan Cleary and Brad Stuart, who  was selected third overall by San Jose in 1998 and is the highest draft choice on the team.

The Canadiens' first-rounders are Saku Koivu (21st overall in 1993),  Mike Komisarek (7th in 2001), Christopher Higgins (14th in 2002), Andrei Kostitsyn (10th in 2003) and Carey Price (5th in 2005). 

Drafted in the first round by other clubs: Bryan Smolinski, Alex Kovalev and Roman Hamrlik (1st overall, by Tampa Bay in 1992).