'Black Friday' as NHL Free Agency Opens, Wild do very little...

Free Agency Opens, Wild stay put

'Black Friday' of the NHL as 2011 NHL Free Agency opens with $240+ million spent in one day, meanwhile the Wild stays cautious

Written by Derek Felska | 01 July 2011

'Black Friday' best known for the day after Thanksgiving where bargain-crazed shoppers storm stores, malls, etc with credit card's ready to go and a voracious appetite to get their Christmas shopping accomplished. These 'Black Friday' diehards will camp out in the parking lot overnight so they can be the first one inside to grab up all of the sweet deals. Whether they're really getting a bargain or not is up for debate but retailers don't mind accommodating these fanatics by even changing their store hours to allow them to shop very early in the morning so the far less casual shoppers can enter the store later in the day without having to fight over cheap DVD players or X-box bundles. While the NHL trade deadline has its own brand of craziness, there is pretty good insanity to be had each year on July 1st as the opening of free agency begins. In my opinion, its sort of the league's 'Black Friday' as teams throw out ridiculous contracts especially when you have a limited amount of quality team-changing players available. Every Christmas, there seems to be a fad item that incites irrational purchases and an over inflation of price. I remember the buzz created by the availability of Tickle Me Elmo and hearing about shoppers literally slug it out in Target over the last one.

You're not going to see NHL General Managers throw down against one another (although wouldn't it be funny to watch Brian Burke fight Glen Sather?) over a free agent but many are rushing to their phones and for some teams like Florida and Winnipeg actually have to spend money just to reach the salary floor. This summer's 'Tickle Me Elmo' of this year's NHL free agent class is unrestricted free agent Brad Richards. With teams offering long-term contracts in an effort to keep its young talent, quality UFA's (meaning impact players) available each summer is becoming increasingly rare. Thus, Brad Richards is likely going to have a giant pay day as multiple NHL teams court the former Rimouski Oceanic star as if he's a member of the British Royal Family. As if they were members of other European monarchies' sending their sons as 'gentleman callers' to court the King's daughter. Teams were allowed in one-by-one to make their 'pitch' to Richards who would consider their offer. The Leafs, the Lightning, the Rangers, the Flames and the Philadelphia Flyers all made their case before Richards' today. So who will win the Brad Richards sweepstakes? Perhaps more importantly is this question; at what cost will it be to win and how long will he be under contract? (click on the link for the rest of the article)

Interesting first day spent checking Twitter and listening to the TSN crew give their thoughts on trades and moves. Enjoy!