Anaheim signed the former Lightning leading scorer to a five year, $16.5 million contract today in hopes of replacing Paul Kariya. This almost definitely takes the Ducks out of contention for Sergei Fedorov and narrows the list of possible teams even more, making it that much more likely that Sergei will come back to Detroit. He probably doesn’t even want to go there any more, since he wouldn’t be the big star. At least in Detroit, while he won’t be the big star, he’ll be successful and be much more appreciated than he ever would be in Anaheim. I still have hope!

The season starts on October 9th at the Joe with the LA Kings. They play the Stars at home on the 24th and have their first late start game on November 1 at Edmonton. Derian Hatcher will return to Dallas for the first time on Novemeber 12. The new Stanley Cup Champions will come to town on January 29 and that will be the only time they play them this year. They finally play the Avs on February 5 (why so far into the season?) at Colorado and play them again at home on the 14th. They also have a home-home series with the Avs on March 25-27 (awesome!). The season ends on April 3 when they play the Jackets (yay). For the full schedule, click here.

Today was a little better in terms of getting Sergei back. Letsgowings.com is reporting that Sergei is more likely to come back to the Wings than ever. Today, a St. Louis newspaper gave his list of possibles as Anaheim, Detroit, the New York Rangers, and one unknown team. During the afternoon, the list got even smaller. Few teams are willing to give Sergei a pile of money and the contract length he wants. It’s beginning to look like the Wings might be the only team willing to give him that. The Ducks especially are reported to be pulling out of negotiations, probably because they are concerned that Fedorov will use a Ducks offer as footing in talks with the Wings. I also heard today that the radio station 1270 in Detroit reported that the Wings are in actual negotiations with Sergei on the 4 year, $32 million deal. I bet we hear the official yea or nay very soon, hopefully this weekend.

No, not Brett. His dad, Bobby.

The WHA is planning on launching for the ’04-’05 to make up for the very probable NHL lockout. Bobby is going to try to get Brett to play in the league, along with guys like Chris Chelios, Igor Larionov, Adam Oates, Steve Thomas and Phil Housley who can “still play.” Remember, Bobby was involved in the old WHA when it formed in 1972. He left the ‘Hawks to play for the Winnipeg Jets because of a huge contract (then), $2.75 million over 10 years.

The WHA wants to bring fans back to the game, get kids involved and make it a family game and not the rich business man game it has become. Just take a look at the arenas around the league. A lot of the people at the games are only there because it is “cool” and because they have the money to pay for tickets. They don’t really care about hockey.

Anyway, the WHA will make a lot of changes to the game: no red line, no trapping (YES!), automatic no-touch icing, no checking from behind and there will be clear rules against obstruction and anything else that disrups the flow of the game. Some infractions will result in a penalty shot instead of two minutes in the box. Sounds pretty good to me. Too bad the talent level won’t be all that great because I doubt a lot of NHL level players will switch over, even for that year. One more change the WHA wants to make is the rink size. For the franchises making new arenas, the ice surface should be 200×100 feet instead of 200×85 feet to match the international playing surfaces.

Hull said “I hope I can do a better job than Mr. Bettman. My job is to suggest and ratify and use any expertise that I might have gained over the 23 years in professional hockey to make our game a better game.” Well, Bobby, if the league truly does what it’s saying it will do, it won’t be too bad. Hopefully it will force the NHL to do much of the same. I think a little competition for the NHL is a good thing. For more info on the WHA, click here. I don’t know why I didn’t hear about this before. Never heard anything about it until today.

Mathieu Dandenault has signed a one year contract with the Wings. Of course, financial terms were not disclosed. As I already said, the Wings wanted him for 4 years but that didn’t happen. I’m glad Dandy’s back and he’ll give us depth once again at either defense or forward.

According to the Swedish newspaper Expressen, Niklas Kronvall, 22, has signed a two-year deal with the Wings for around $800,000 a year with a $500,000 signing bonus. He is 8th on the Wings’ depth chart so as I’ve already said, he probably will not make the team. There is no report of a clause that would allow him to return to Sweden if he doesn’t make it (like they gave Hudler), however, so we’ll probably see him playing for the Griffins next year.

Sergei’s agent has changed his mind, apparently and has said that there still is a possibility that Sergei will return to the Wings next season. “You never say never” is what Pat Brisson told the Detroit News yesterday, after he did say never a couple weeks ago, if not in so many words. He claims he said what he said on July 2 because that was how Sergei felt then and that things are a little different now. He says they are narrowing the list of teams down and that a decision will be made relatively soon. Take one of the offers, Sergei, the Wings need you.

The Vancouver Canucks have signed Dan Cloutier to a one year contract. Terms were not disclosed per team policy. I only mention this because Vancouver was a team CuJo possibly could have been traded to. Not very likely but possible. Not any more. I’m surprised the ‘Nucks still have faith in Cloutier, after all he hasn’t done for the team but maybe they know something I don’t. Hopefully he’ll get over his huge breakdowns when he gets that new helmet, like he should have years ago. He should talk to Ozzie about that. They are strangely similar. So good at times but so bad at others.

Here’s an interesting encounter I had while working at a local supermarket in the suburbs of Detroit yesterday:

While on break, I was walking towards the front of the store when I saw Vladdy Konstantinov with two women. He looked to have gained weight, and he was using a sort of electric walker that he had to lean on to walk. He looked weak on the legs, but it was heartening just to see him up and out. I didn’t say anything to him or the women because I didn’t want to bother them. It was pretty neat since the last time I saw him was on TV last season during a break in a game. Let’s hope he walks in next time he comes to the store!!!

Today is the deadline for defenseman Mathieu Dandenault to decide whether he will accept the Wings’ offer, a 10% raise on the $1.26 million he earned last year, or if he will choose salary arbitration instead. The Wings want to sign him to a 4 year deal and he will be eligible for free agency in two years because he has earned less than the league average salary and he’s 27 (under 31, like our friend Kariya). Dandenault just provides depth to an already deep defense and will help the team. He started out poorly this last year but ended strongly. As long as he can play like that again, he’s worth bringing back and I hope he re-signs. He can play forward too and might have to this year.

Wings prospect Niklas Kronvall, defenseman and the Wings’ first-round draft choice in 2000, also faces a deadline. He must sign with the Wings today or he’ll have to play another season in Sweden. He would provide even more depth on an already stacked blue line, though he probably wouldn’t make the team in that case and would most likely play for Grand Rapids. I’ve heard some good things about Kronvall but I don’t know a whole lot about him. I don’t know if he’ll be another Bykov or not. Just have to wait and see.