Saturday, February 27, 2010

Weekend Update (UPDATED)

Here's some Olympic news and Rangers news:
  • In case you've been hiding under a rock, Team USA made its way into the gold medal game by defeating Switzerland and Finland.  They will take on the favored Canadian team, who they earlier upset 5-3 in round robin play.  The game takes place at 3pm ET tomorrow (Sunday), and will be broadcast live on NBC.
    • In case you need something else to do while watching the game, my friend north of the border has provided this wonderful mini-game.
  • Canada beat Slovakia in last night's semifinal game.  It was a tight 3-2 finish after Canada took a 3-0 lead in the third period.  Frankly, Canada was lucky to get out of this one; Pavol Demitra missed a wide open net in the waning seconds.
    • More important news out of this game (for Rangers fans) is that Marian Gaborik did not play in the third period.  There has been no official word on what ailed him, but most speculation has been centered around a groin issue.  This would be bad new for the Rangers' hopes this season, but might be just what Glen Sather needs to become a seller and get some young talent or draft picks to build around at the trade deadline.
  • The Dallas Stars placed backup netminder Alex Auld on re-entry waivers yesterday, almost immediately after he cleared waivers and was assigned to their AHL affiliate.  Auld became expendable for the Stars when they acquired Kari Lehtonen to split time with Marty Turco.  I would be very surprised if the Rangers didn't make a waiver claim on Auld.  He has a $1 million contract that ends this season and, if they claimed him on re-entry waivers, the Rangers would only be responsible for $500k of that pro-rated.  According to CapGeek.com, that means the Rangers would be on the hook for a whopping cap hit of $114,000 through the end of the season.
UPDATE:
  • Steve Zipay is reporting that the Rangers have indeed claimed Alex Auld on re-entry waivers.  This likely means the end for Chad Johnson and Matt Zaba with the big club this season.
  • Multiple reports out of Vancouver are now saying that Marian Gaborik still may play tonight in the bronze medal game between Slovakia and Finland.  That game is at 10pm ET on MSNBC.

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