Both Darcy Tucker and Todd Bertuzzi are free to go to any team who might want them. And so I ask, if you were a General Manager looking for an aggressive forward, and you had to choose one, which one would it be?

Both are 33 years old and both are right wingers.

Bertuzzi is bigger at 6′3″ 245 pounds, while Tucker is 5′10 and 178 pounds.

Tucker has 197 goals, 239 assists in 813 games, along with 1296 penalty minutes.

Bertuzzi has 240 goals, 340 assists in 793 games, with 1147 penalty minutes.

Both have a sordid history of nastiness on the ice. Tucker, for example, in the 2002 playoffs, blew out the Islander’s Mike Peca’s knee with a questionable check, and has played with an edge all of his career.

And then there’s Bertuzzi.

If you haven’t heard because you’ve been living in the jungles of Brazil for several years, it happened like this. In 2004, while Bertuzzi and his Vancouver Canucks were in Colorado for a game against the Avalanche, young Steve Moore sort of, questionably, went after Canucks captain Markus Naslund’s head, causing a slight concussion and three games missed for Naslund.

The Canucks were quite choked about this incident by this young nobody, so a while later, when the Avalanche came to Vancouver, the sucker punch heard round the world happened. Bertuzzi, Naslund’s best friend on the team, was out on the ice, as was Moore, with only a few minutes left in the game. As Moore was skating up the ice, Bertuzzi quickly caught up to him from behind and blindsided the surprised kid with a shot to the side of the head which caused Moore, Bertuzzi, and several players from both teams to fall to the ice.

Moore not only ended up with everyone on top of him, but also with a broken neck and a pro career finished.

After that came a suspension, court, cops, lawsuits, bad words, bad blood, the blaming of others, tears, apologies, bitterness, and Bertuzzi has never been the same player since. He was traded by the Canucks to the Florida Panthers for star goalie Roberto Luongo, but that was a bust because he was either hurt or non-productive. Bertuzzi was then was given a chance by his friend, GM Brian Burke in Anaheim, but that obviously fell flat too because old friend Burke said goodbye and don’t come back.

Now he’s a free agent. Just like Tucker.

So who would you choose - Tucker or Bertuzzi?

Either could be revitalized in new surroundings and help your team. Or they could be absolute duds, destroy any cherished chemistry your team has built, and be a big waste of money and a serious negative.

Frankly, I wouldn’t take either.

And I hope Montreal doesn’t to.

(But if I had to choose, I think it would be Tucker.) 

I distinctly remember hearing it only two and a half days ago. “We have given the Montreal Canadiens exclusive rights to talk to Mats Sundin,” said Leafs Sort-Of-General Manager Cliff Fletcher to the interviewer at the draft in Ottawa.

I remember he said “exclusive.” He said it plain as day. I heard it and remembered it. “Exclusive.” This means Montreal would be the only one, doesn’t it?

But when I was up at four in the morning getting ready for work, there, on my TV, were the words at the bottom of the screen, “Toronto has given the New York Rangers permission to speak to Mats Sundin.”

So when Cliff Fletcher gave Montreal “exclusive” rights to speak to Sundin, he meant exclusive for two and a half days. Then another team can join the elite group of exclusive teams. I’m pretty sure that’s not being exclusive.

So now I’m not so confident about Sundin joining the Habs. He could very easily pull a Brendan Shanahan, who came within a whisker of joining the Canadiens before he signed with those same Rangers. You know, the ones who are also exclusively talking to the Swede.

Pretty soon the Red Wings, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Vancouver, and another 20 or so teams will also have exclusive rights to talk to Sundin. Only 29 teams will have exclusive rights to talk to the player. No one else, just 29.

So if I’m Bob Gainey, I’d be slightly taken aback by this new Rangers thing. And if we miss out on Sundin, do we really want Marion Hossa, who obviously plays only for the money and would disrupt the fine chemistry in Montreal right now?

Hossa would probably be the highest paid on the team, and would likely bolt to another club willing to pay, after only one season.

No, we want Mats Sundin. And we want to be exclusive. Am I wrong to think this?

Please note:  From time to time, and with no rhyme or reason to it, my little computer decides to change to a smaller font than normal. This isn’t me adjusting things, it’s just the computer deciding on its own that it would like something different. I don’t know why this, but it’s happened two or three times now. I’m sorry if this story was slightly hard to read. I hope I didn’t damage your eyes.

Drafted 28th by the Phoenix Coyotes was a young fellow named Victor Tikhonov. Tikhonov is the grandson of legendary Soviet coach and taskmaster Victor Tikhonov, who we’re all seen over the years getting nasty with his Red Army and Russian National team players.

Grandpa Tikhonov was the cause of the bitter feud between Alexei Kasatonov and Viatcheslav Fetisov. Fetisov hated Tikhonov and everything he stood for. Kasatonov was a firm believer in the coach and the system. So the two, even though they were defence partners with the Red Army club and teammates in New Jersey, wouldn’t speak to each other. I don’t know if this bitterness still exists but it went on for years so it probably does.

Igor Larionov was another who never understood the drill sargeant techniques of Tikhonov. In fact, I think the majority of Soviet players thought he was a rotten bastard.

Tikhonov was once asked by a reporter about the Russian team in 1972 Summit Series, which he wasn’t a part of. “Why does everyone always talk about that team?” he asked, annoyed.  ”Some of my teams were better than them.”

I personally was at a game in St. Petersburg between St. Petersburg SKA and Moscow Red Army, which Tikhonov was coaching. After the game I joined a bunch of people milling around him getting autographs, and he was smiling and as friendly as could be. Just like a kindly grandfather. Just like young Victor’s grandfather.

Victor Tikhonov (the grandson) grew up in California and of course speaks english with no accent at all. He didn’t even step foot in his mother country until he was a teenager. So although he played in Russia last year, and played for Russia in the World Juniors, he’s basically an All-American kid.

Montreal drafted a kid named Patrick Johnson in the 206th pick. Johnson happens to be the son of Mark Johnson, who captained the USA in the 1980 Olympics when they shocked the world by beating Victor Tikhonov’s Big Red Machine. Mark was also an NHL’er who played for five different teams. And young Victor is the grandson of Badger Bob Johnson, the much-loved coach of the Calgary Flames and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Montreal also took right winger Danny Kristo at 56th, a youngster who’s years away from playing in the bigs. He’s still playing high school, then going to college. Kristo’s favourite team before the weekend was Ottawa.

For their 86th pick, the Habs chose 6′3″ Steve Quailer of the Sioux City Musketeers of the US Hockey League.

At the 116th pick, Montreal chose a goalie, Jason Missiawn of the Peterborough Petes, who happens to be, are you ready for this, 6′8″ tall!

And at 138th, they chose Russian Maxim Turnev, who Habs scouts say reminds them of Sergei Kostitisyn.

Last but not least is all the brand new turmoil swirling around the Pittsburgh Penguins. Rental player Marion Hossa is going to bolt the team this year and become a hired gun somewhere else. That means, of course, that it was a huge mistake Pittsburgh made by trading away blue chippers Erik Christensen, Colby Armstrong, and junior star Angelo Esposito and a second round draft choice to Atlanta for Hossa.

What was GM Ray Shero thinking? He probably thought Hossa might be the final piece of the puzzle to win the Cup. He was wrong.

Pittsburgh might also lose Ryan Malone, and who knows about Evgeny Malkin. He’s apparently been offered a boatload of money from a Russian team, and he says he wants to stay in Pittsburgh, but who knows? Los Angeles also seems interested.

Instead of the Penguins looking like the young Edmonton Oilers of the 1980’s, they could end up looking like the recent Ottawa Senators.

It’s draft day in the NHL, in about three hours from now, and this post will carry on right through the day. I feel there’s no sense trying to predict who will go where because it’s always just a big guess. Lots of first rounders over the years have proved mediocre at best, and others, like Henrik Zetterberg, end up getting picked up in the hundreds.

So I’m just going to wait and see how it plays out. Gary Lupul told me once when he was scouting for the Canucks that this is the one day of the year when scouts get a chance to be stars.

The best thing about the draft is the general managers come relaxed, the stress on most of their faces is gone, and it’s always possible a really good swap could occur. I’m a bit mystified at this rumour of Pittsburgh moving Evgeny Malkin. Because unless the guy’s a major prick in the dressing room, why would the Penguins do this?

He turned it up last season when Sidney Crosby was out for a lengthy time injured. The team and the media have been raving about him all season. He just signed, or is about to sign, a contract worth more than Crosby’s.

It’s a mystery to me. All I can think of is that Malkin stunk in the playoffs. Or that it’s a completely false rumour.

It would be great if the Habs grabbed some kind of major star, even Marion Hossa. It showed in the playoffs that Montreal was missing a couple of final pieces of the puzzle, and maybe Bob Gainey can pull something off. If they would’ve made it to the Stanley Cup finals, there wasn’t a chance in hell that they would’ve beat Detroit. A top-notch power forward would be nice.

JUST ANNOUNCED

Montreal has been given permission by the Toronto Maple Leafs to speak to Mats Sundin. I don’t mind this at all. Sundin’s a tad old but he’d help the Habs.

This is something else that we’ll wait and see about.

ALSO ANNOUNCED:

Ottawa goalie Ray Emery cut loose. It’s going to be tough for him to land a job elsewhere, so he might want to think about applying at Scott Paper across the river in Gatineau. It pays a little over 20 bucks an hour.

ALSO ANNOUNCED:

A Russian team in the Continental League may or may not have offered Evgeny Malkin 12.5 million a year tax free to come and play. You see how oil can make some people over there very rich and can afford to make offers like this? If only these tycoons would throw some money to the old pensioners in Russia who are making about $50 a month and often sleeping in the streets, many of them old widows whose husbands died in the war. And over here, we’re paying a buck and a half a litre to help make people very rich.

That’s twice the money Malkin would make here. What will he do? 

AN HOUR TO DRAFT TIME:

DRAFT TIME!

Sarnia’s Steven Stamkos goes first to the Tampa Bay Lightening.

AND!   Montreal trades their 25th pick and a 2009 second round pick to Calgary for 28 year old Quebec boy Alex Tanguay. Tanguay’s a left winger, is 6′1, and also spent five years with the Colorado Avalanche before his two years in Calgary.

He’s a good, solid big leaguer (177 goals, 362 assists), and should be a big plus for the Habs. This is exciting. And Sundin’s a possibility too but may take a few days before we know.

Tanguay coming to Montreal has been a rumour for awhile now, long before the playoffs started, and now it’s happened.

The top ten picks went like this:

1. Tampa Bay - Steven Stamkos - forward

2. LA - Drew Daughty - Defence

3. Atlanta - Zach Bogosian - Defence

4. St. Louis - Alex Pieterangelo - Defence

5. Toronto - Luke Schenn - Defence

6. Columbus - Nikita Filatov - Forward

7. Nashville - Colin Wilson - Forward

8. Phoenix - Mikkel Boedker - Forward

9. Islanders - Josh Bailey - Forward

10. Vancouver - Cody Hodgson - Forward

And Chicago, with the eleventh pick, chose forward Kyle Beach who may or may not be a great pick. This guy has the potential to be an impact player, but has a history of being a major pain in the ass, especially off the ice. Will he be the next Sean Avery?

SIDENOTE:

Wayne Gretzky got a nice standing ovasion from the Ottawa crowd when he got up to announce the Coyotes’ pick. (Mikkel Boedker)

Now it’s time to wait out the Mats Sundin, Montreal rumour. I’m hoping this happens.

And thus, there’s no more hockey. For a few months at least.

Detroit closed it off on this June 4, 2008 with a game six win in Pittsburgh, and even though all of us except Tiger Woods wanted a closely-fought seven games final, it was obvious from the very beginning, from game one, that Detroit was to be reckoned with, and they made the Pittsburgh Penguins, for the most part, look very ordinary throughout.

With the Red Wings looking so impressive, Montreal will have to pull up their socks, maybe add a couple of Mats Sundin’s, and then take a long hard run at it. I’ve got a real good feeling about the Habs. They’re young, exciting, fast, colourful, and they gave us a real fun season. Next year should be even more exciting and stressful.

I hadn’t paid much interest to the Detroit Red Wings during the regular season. I was too busy concentrating on the Habs taking on Boston, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Ottawa, and the rest of the eastern teams.

But what a nice team they are.

Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are simply fantastic players. We pride ourselves on this being a breeding grounds for good Canadian hockey-playing boys, but other countries sure know how to do it too. Sweden and Russia in particular must have great minor hockey systems.

And wouldn’t Zetterberg and Datsyuk look great in Montreal Canadiens sweaters?

So the hockey season is over, but my blog isn’t. I’m just going to carry on, trying to put something interesting up everyday. And I mean everyday, except, possibly, the odd missed day.

When the Habs bowed out, I lost a ton of readers, but many of you have stuck with me, and I really appreciate this. So I carry on for you and hope the odd new reader shows up. (I also carry on for myself because writing is pretty well the only way I can be creative. I can’t sing, dance, whistle, cook, speak well, or tell jokes properly.

Not every daily posting will be about hockey this summer. I’m on my quest to find the meaning of life, and so my meanderings will be here and there and over there. Surely the meaning of life can’t be that hard to find, can it?

I still haven’t heard back from the Montreal organization regarding my application to be flag guy at a game next season at the Bell Centre. Maybe the fact that they haven’t answered quickly is a good sign.

Back tomorrow. Good night.

I don’t think anybody really watches hockey any more: Tiger Woods on Monday. (David J. Phillip/Associated Press)                                                            

Woods, the world’s No. 1 golfer, told reporters Monday that he had no preference when it comes to who captures the Stanley Cup, the Detroit Red Wings or Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I don’t really care,” he said. “Let’s talk about the Dodgers.

“I don’t think anybody really watches hockey any more.”

Woods made the remark on a conference call promoting the PGA Championship, to be played Aug. 4-10 at Oakland Hills Country Club in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Township.

Detroit leads Pittsburgh 3-2 in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup final — the first championship showdown between the two cities since the 1909 World Series, won by the Pirates in seven games over the Tigers.

Since then, Detroit teams have won 21 pro sports titles: the Red Wings with 10, in 1936, 1937, 1943, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1997, 1998 and 2002; the Pistons in 1989, 1990 and 2004; the Lions in 1935, 1952, 1953 and 1957; and the Tigers in 1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984.

Pittsburgh’s pro franchises have won 11 titles since 1909: the Penguins with two, in 1991 and 1992; the Steelers in 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979 and 2005; and the Pirates in 1925, 1960, 1971 and 1979.

Is it possible this could be a dream series after all?

Is it possible that one team, although badly outshot in the series, down three games to one, with one young star, Evgeny Malkin, asleep at the wheel, and the other young star, Sidney Crosby, not behaving like the new Wayne Gretzky, can now make this a real series like we all thought it would be, on the strength of Petr Sykora’s overtime goal in game five that now makes it three games to two.

This absolutey can be a series to remember, although not the way we thought it would be. We thought it could go either way before it started. But Detroit’s been too good and it should be over but it’s not. Now, Wednesday’s tilt in Pittsburgh should be a real beauty.

Although we’ve been fooled before.

There’s nothing worse in professional sports than a final series sweep, or even a five game series.  In a perfect world, the showcase stretches out, with drama and heartache, and ending with sheer ecstacy for one team, with one player who creates a legend for himself by hitting that ninth inning pitch into the bleachers, nailing that last second three-pointer or Hail Mary, or notching a game seven overtime goal.

It’s drama. It’s what most of us want. Not some lacklustre, one-sided four game sweep. It’s not good for anyone, except the winning team.

Now we’ve got a series. Maybe.

In the last few hours I’ve talked to people who feel Pittsburgh can now win the whole thing. I’m not sure I feel this way, but they do.

And how can this be? The Penguins have been outplayed, outshot, and outclassed. But goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is starting to play like Martin Biron did in the Montreal-Philadelphia series, which is not something I’m particularly thrilled to remember.

Game Note.

When Maxime Talbot tied the game up late in the third period, it was originally announced as having been scored with 34 seconds to go. So I planned on mentioning that this would be the biggest goal with 34 seconds to go since Paul Henderson’s in Moscow in 1972.

Then the official time became 35 seconds to go. So never mind.

By beating Pittsburgh 2-1 Saturday night, the Detroit Red Wings are only one game away from (1) winning the Stanley Cup, and (2), making me look really smart because I predicted Detroit in five games.

Detroit just seems too deep in the lineup for the Penguins. It’s a team of much more than simply Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and Nick Lidstrom. There’s all kinds of contributors spread throughout this lineup. Kind of makes you wonder how they went something like one win and eight losses during a bad stretch in the regular season.

And they’re doing this job with seven Swedes in their lineup. What would Harold Ballard think?

Pittsburgh on the other hand is Sidney Crosby, Gary Roberts, who makes up with heart what he’s lost in skill, (he is, after all, about 80 years old), and sometimes Marian Hossa and Evgeny Malkin.

Malkin looks like he’s in school, learning with great surprise that it takes a whole different game in the playoffs than it does in the regular season. Maybe he’s learning for future years, maybe not. All I know is that if I’m choosing a Russian for my team, I’d pick Pavel Datsyuk over Malkin. Datsyuk has this wonderful feistiness that I didn’t realize he had, and it goes along perfectly with his great skill.

Marian Hossa is good, not great, and I think Pittsburgh may have been more successful if they would’ve kept Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen, instead of trading these young studs to Atlanta for the hired gun, Hossa. And don’t forget, Pittsburgh also gave away future star Angelo Esposito and a first round draft pick in this Hossa deal.

Not to mention the fact that Hossa could be gone from Pittsburgh after this season.

Announcer Bob Cole has been doing a fairly good job in this series. Maybe he’s only a wanker when he does Habs games.

Further to the last post regarding arenas and how most are named after banks and other corporations. It occurred to me today that maybe Vancouver Canucks fans might want to hope that BC Ferries doesn’t buy General Motors Place. There’s something about BC Ferries Place that doesn’t sound right. Don’t you think?

Game four of the Stanley Cup finals is played, of course, at Pittsburgh’s Mellon Arena. This place, once known as the Civic Arena and nicknamed the Igloo, is the oldest in the league, having opened its’ doors in 1961. It holds about 17,000 people, is old, it leaks in places, and some people can’t see because an overhead structure obstructs their view. So televisions have been placed so they can watch the game they’re at on the screen.

The Civic Arena became the home of the Penguins when the team entered the league in the 1967 expansion.  The name was changed to Mellon in 1999, and was, like several other arenas around the league, named for a bank. 

When game five goes in Detroit, it will be, as always, played at the Joe Louis Arena, named after Detroit native and world champion boxer Joe Louis. It’s nice that this arena isn’t named after a bank or some other conglomerate.

The Joe has been around since 1979, and before that, the Wings played at the old Olympia, home of Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio, Terry Sawchuk, and several hundred dead octopi.

It holds just over 20,000. 

The good news for the Pittsburgh Penguins is their three big guys, Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa, played well. The even better news for the Penguins is that they won game three, and are now pretty well back in the series. But not quite.

Sidney Crosby did what all great stars throughout the years have done. Stepped forward and scored huge goals in big games. Like Orr did, And Richard, Howe, Messier, Lemieux, Gretzky, and all the great ones over the years did.

Tonight, he netted the first two of the game, which broke the team goal drought, and which got the Penguins going.

That’s why he’s a star. He acts like one.

The Penguins barely won game three, though, hanging on for dear life through the third period. And all they have to do is win the next three out of four games.

So I’m not going to predict anything. I’m not Kreskin. It’s sort of possible that Pittsburgh could come all the way back and win this series. I doubt it, but it’s possible.

And like Toe Blake said, “predictions are for gypsys.”

One thing I feel though. Penguins defenceman Hal Gill should be read the riot act. What guys like Gill are known for are silly physical penalties that happen because the skill level isn’t quite up there. He can cost his team the game, which almost happened tonight.

One other note regarding tonight’s game on CBC. Pittsburgh cameras are placed alnost as high up as they are in Tampa. These cameras should be down at least fifteen feet. Detroit’s are. Lots of teams are. Although lots aren’t. I don’t know why. 

In Montreal news.

Guy Lafleur has apparently said that when Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev become free agents in 2009, the Habs should concentrate more on signing Kovalev. He said Koivu is too serious and business-like in the dressing room, too demanding of his teammates.

What the hell is wrong with that? That just tells me that Koivu is about winning, is about making sure he and his teammates give their all. This is the way Mark Messier was, and Ted Lindsay years ago, and so many other great leaders. These guys have all summer to relax, joke around, have a good time. During the season, they’d better perform, better take it seriously. They’re being paid enough money.

If Koivu’s teammates, and there’s probably only a couple if any, don’t like his hard-core expectations, they should take up ballet instead.

Of course, this could be just one more case of Lafleur saying things that maybe he shouldn’t be saying. He’s been doing this for more than thirty years.

I say the team should concentrate on signing both. They’re equally important in the scheme of things in Montreal.

But I honestly do like the tough approach from the captain.