Top 10 Video Special - Players Who Changed Teams This Summer

Okay, the Top 10 DGA Video Series has returned for the ninth edition of the blog's existance.  This one is a bit random, but since readers enjoy them, I'll give this one a chance.  If you feel that this post is stupid and pointless, please leave a comment below, tweet to me, write on my Facebook page or e-mail me with a better idea for next time.  Until then, here's a look at ten players who switched teams during this past off-season and one moment that they aren't necessarily proud of with their old team, although some of these moments are something to be proud of.  Whatever...


10. Niclas Bergfors

Old team - Florida Panthers
New team - Nashville Predators

Steve Ott crushes Niclas Bergfors back when Bergfors played for the.......umm, well let's just call them the Winnipeg Jets.

9. Ilya Bryzgalov

Old team - Phoenix Coyotes
New team - Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers haven't seen a decent goalie in nearly 15 years.  Now they have the league's richest goalie.  What he does here is a little unusual, but effective nonetheless.

8. Jeff Halpern

Old team - Montreal Canadiens
New team - Washington Capitals

Jeff Halpern gets crushed in Game 7.

7. Eric Belanger

Old team - Phoenix Coyotes
New team - Edmonton Oilers

Eric Belanger isn't just a third line center, just as this isn't just a boring fight.

6. Maxime Talbot

Old team - Pittsburgh Penguins
New team - Philadelphia Flyers

Eric Brewer mistakens Talbot for Gary Bettman and destroys him.

5. Christian Ehrhoff

Old team - Vancouver Canucks
New team - Buffalo Sabres

There's one thing in common between Ehrhoff's new team and old team: they combine to have the same number of Stanley Cups as Sean Avery's IQ number.

4. Jamie Langenbrunner

Old team - Dallas Stars
New team - St. Louis Blues

Langenbrunner shows his play-making abilities in a unique way against the Islanders (only watch the first goal).

3. Brad Richards

Old team - Dallas Stars
New team - New York Rangers

Is Richards just another Glen Sather mistake?  Well, I can't say that now, but I know he can do this.

2. Dany Heatley

Old team - San Jose Sharks
New team - Minnesota Wild

I'm not sure what's more common: Dany Heatley requesting a trade or Niklas Kronwall doing this.

1. Tomas Kaberle

Old team - Boston Bruins
New team - Carolina Hurricanes

Many people felt that Kaberle didn't have a strong stint with the Bruins.  This particular moment doesn't exactly disprove that notion.

Teams and players that need to bounce back in 2011-12

Ilya Kovalchuk's stick...probably about to snap in half.

The 2010-11 NHL season was a dream season for the Boston Bruins, but for 29 other teams, it failed to produce a championship season.  Of course, that happens every year, however, some teams (and players) are due for a big bounce-back season in 2011-12.

Martin Havlat - He hasn't even come close to his 77 points in 2008-09 since he left Chicago, but he leaves the offensively inept Minnesota Wild in favor of the San Jose Sharks.  This assures Havlat that his linemates will accumulate more points than the league's average goaltender.

Jamie Langenbrunner - He saw his point total nearly slice in half from a season prior between the Devils and Stars, and he probably won't rebound this season either.  Luckily, he'll be teammates with Jason Arnott again, and together, they can sing the Blues...

Ottawa Senators - Last year could not have gone much worse for the Sens, but they traded some of their older players away to build draft picks (and to satisfy country music stars).  They also signed Zenon Konopka to center their second line, which is nice, because last year Konopka put up 307......oh wait those are penalty minutes, not points...

Ilya Kovalchuk - Like many Devils, he didn't exactly thrive under John MacLean, but Kovalchuk will look to bounce back from his worst offensive season since 2002.  He's also under a lot of pressure from fans and media, but if he struggles again in 2011-12, he might not be able to get a big contract when his current one is up.

Edmonton Oilers - Edmonton finished last season true to form: last place and another first overall draft pick.  Many people believe that the Oilers will be a much better team, though, which has GM Steve Tambellini wondering if he should cancel the party he planned for late June 2012.

Florida Panthers - Many people think the Panthers went on their free agent spree to put a better team on the ice, when in fact, they signed those people to sit in the stands so it looks like people go to games there.

Scott Gomez - He had his worst season ever (by far) last year in Montreal, and it has people wondering if he'll ever live up to the huge contract he signed with the Rangers in 2007.  Well, since he probably won't, let's hope the hometown fans will be very forgiving of his struggles in Montreal.  They would never, say, throw waffles at him...

Alexander Ovechkin - For the first time in his career, he failed to score at least 40 goals and 90 points last season, proving that even the great Alex Ovechkin can be a victim of defensive hockey.  Even so, he managed to score 19 more points than Sidney Crosby.

Marian Gaborik - Scoring just 22 goals a season ago, he'll be looking for a bounce back season, and he'll have some help.  Having Brad Richards center him should help, until he inevitably has a season-ending injury after he gets checked by Nathan Gerbe.

Teemu Selanne - Last season, he put up just four more points than he did goals during his rookie season with the now-reinstated Winnipeg Jets in 1992-93.  He needs to make his decision about his playing future soon, because Brett Favre is officially retired (for now) and ESPN has no time available for a live special for him.  ESPN reportedly has a poker commitment every night until the hockey season starts.

Winnipeg Jets - Last time they existed, they finished the season with 78 points, and their leading scorer (Keith Tkachuk) has since retired.  Luckily, Dustin Byfuglien added a few extra pounds during the off-season, making him almost big enough to play on the Jets' offensive line.  Oops, wrong sport...

Mike Richards - His leadership was questioned at times last season, but he has a fresh new start as the face of the Kings.  Unfortunately, he wasn't even LA's most desired hockey player with the last name "Richards" during the 2011 off-season.

Signs that hockey season is approaching

I didn't lie.  The title of this post is "Signs that hockey is back."  Here's a sign.

Whether you're celebrating your team acquiring a big free agent, mourned in the sorrow of tragedy that struck so many times this year or just wondered what the hell your team was thinking, we're all hockey fans and hockey is back.  Well, it's almost back.  It's close enough to being back that I felt like writing this post.  Here are some signs (figuratively) that hockey is back.

• Your team's official website has real news on a daily basis.  Instead of summer-quality news, such as "this game will be moved from 3 PM to 7 PM," there's real news, such as "check out this player's new skates."
• ESPN starts talking about pre-season basketball.
• All of your friends are participating in fantasy football drafts while you wait for your fantasy hockey league's draft.
• Hockey fans stop tweeting about how their lawn looks too overgrown and more about possible line combinations.
• You feel an earthquake, but soon realize it's just Dustin Byfuglien arriving in Winnipeg.
• The Islanders' first round draft pick arrives at Nassau Coliseum for the very first time...and vomits when he sees it.
• John MacLean is sighted in a local Newark parking lot with a bag full of jelly jars with him.
• The Stanley Cup completes its summer with the championship players and returns to Toronto...to the Hall of Fame, of course.
• Marian Gaborik starts to feel a pain in his.......somewhere.
• Don Cherry buys a large bucket of tie dye paint and some plain suits.
• TSN's journalists discuss the annual "Is this the year a Canadian team wins a Cup" article, considers the teams that play in Canada and burns the article.
• The Florida Panthers start releasing marketing campaigns that sound like they were thought of by Gary Bettman on a bad day.
• Fires start breaking out in Vancouver again.
• People in Florida think hurricane season is over, but people in North Carolina know that Hurricane season is about to start.
• Ridiculous hockey bloggers start to get back to their strict routine of posting whenever they feel like posting.