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Sarich, meanwhile, after two seasons of fighting a losing battle to secure a foothold in the lineup on a nightly basis, could probably have been spotted doing cartwheels down the street when Feaster called with the news.

“I’m very excited. They were talking about this last year and it didn’t happen. It was tough season on everyone with lack of games and preparation time.

“I’m a little disappointed, not having been able to help provide any playoffs the last four seasons for a city, a community, that’s the epitome of hockey. That’s the only regret leaving, not being able to experience that feeling a I did for a couple rounds of playoffs. It was unbelievable.”

The uncertainly of being dumped into a seventh-defence role was far from appealing. He dealt with the very professionally, but his unhappiness was hardly a deeply-guarded secret.

“It was basically know by both sides. I dealt with the situation little bit the year before, but I thought I’d proved I can play the game and then I just felt things got off to the same start again. One I thought was a lot, two was really starting to wear on me mentally.

“So I just want a chance. They’re gonna need a veteran presence back there and I’m definitely that now. I think I can help stabilize, bring some consistency, to the back end there.”

The off-ice transition for Tanguay, at least, should be as close to seamless as possible. His wife, Helene, has family in Denver, along with many friends they met during Tanguay’s seasons in The Mile High. With Milan Hejduk retired, though, his dressing-room family at the Pepsi Centre will be entirely new.

“Nobody left from 2001,” muses Tanguay. “I guess that means two things: One, I’m old. And Two, it’s a totally different team.”

More and more, the Flames are shaping up as a totally different team for 2013-2014. Iginla. Bouwmeester. Kiprusoff. Tanguay. Sarich.

And stay tuned.

Feaster might not be done bartering yet.

Those committed to the totality and inevitable pain of a massive restructuring may not miss him, but Alex Tanguay, be sure, will miss this place.

“The fans there,” he says by way of farewell, “have always been first class. I couldn’t have been treated better. I’m thankful. I had two years there, then I came back for three more.

“I’m 33. I still feel that I’ve got a lot of hockey left in me, so I’m looking ahead. But right now, today, and whenever I do retire, I’ll look back on some great years in Calgary.

“A lot of friendships, a lot of fun, and it’ll always be somewhere that we as a family and me as a player remember with great fondness.”

Calgary Herald: LOADED: 06.28.2013

682663 Calgary Flames

Calgary Flames trade Alex Tanguay to Colorado Avalanche

By WES GILBERTSON ,Calgary Sun

First posted: Thursday, June 27, 2013 04:26 PM MDT | Updated: Thursday, June 27, 2013 05:50 PM MDT

The Calgary Flames are getting bigger and younger.

And they're definitely banking on a bounce-back from the key acquisition in Thursday's trade.

The Flames dealt veterans Alex Tanguay and Cory Sarich to the Colorado Avalanche for winger David Jones and depth defenceman Shane O'Brien.

Jones, a 6-foot-2, 210-lb. right winger who'll turn 28 in August, scored 27 goals in the 2010-11 campaign and 20 the next year, but managed just three goals and nine points in 33 outings last season for the Avs, who finished below the Flames in the standings.

Jones has three more seasons on a contract with a US$4-million salary-cap hit, while O'Brien has two more years at $2 million per winter.

“It was a bit of a tough year. I'm not going to make any excuses,” Jones said. “I think I needed to be better for our team in Colorado and I just wasn't. I just blame myself.

“I hope it was an aberration. It was tough to find a rhythm and then, with such a short season, there's a lot of mixing of lines and messing with things, especially the way things were going for our team.

“The way I look at it is I played 33 games and it was just a bad 33-game stretch, and those are going to happen,” he added. “It's just unfortunate that was essentially my entire season.

“You mentioned a fresh start, and I think it's a perfect time to come back and prove all those people wrong that said I didn't deserve to get the contract and stuff like that. I know I can play and I know I can score, so I'm looking forward to doing that in Calgary.”

O'Brien, a 6-foot-3, 230-lb. blueliner who'll turn 30 in August, collected four goals and 60 penalty minutes in 28 outings last season.

“He's a tough guy to play against,” Jones said. “I know when he played in Nashville and I played against him, I was happy that Colorado picked him up because he's a strong guy, he's tough in front, he'll fight if he has to and he can move. He's one of those guys you love to have on your team and you're happy you don't have to battle against.”

Tanguay, 33, has three more seasons with an average salary of $3.5 million. He collected 11 goals and 27 points in 2012-13. He's spent five seasons in Calgary during a pair of stints.

Sarich, who'll turn 35 in August and spent the last six seasons in Calgary, saw action in 28 games this past year.

“Cory Sarich, he's been a warrior for a long time and I go way back with Cory and won a championship with him and certainly have a soft spot in my heart for him,” said Flames GM Jay Feaster. “And Alex has done great things for us. But the reality is, we are rebuilding. This is a chance to get bigger, to get younger, a little bit different identity.”

While Feaster certainly isn't finished yet, O'Brien feels good about what he sees on the Flames roster.

“Obviously, they're getting younger but there are still some good pieces there, with (Michael) Cammalleri and (Curtis) Glencross and (Mark) Giordano and (Dennis) Wideman on defence, and then some young guys they'll bring in,” O'Brien said. “The one thing about having young guys in your dressing room is they're always going to be excited to play.

“Rebuilding is never the worst thing in the world. I'll be 30 in August. I still have a lot of years left in me so I feel comfortable with going in there and just doing whatever I can to help speed up the process and get the Flames back to where they belong — in the playoffs and competing for a Stanley Cup.”

Calgary Sun: LOADED: 06.28.2013

682664 Calgary Flames

Calgary Flames Foundation to make $1 million donation to Alberta flood relief effort

By RANDY SPORTAK ,Calgary Sun

First posted: Thursday, June 27, 2013 02:29 PM MDT | Updated: Thursday, June 27, 2013 02:34 PM MDT

The Calgary Flames will donate $1 million dollars to the Canadian Red Cross to flood relief in ravaged southern Alberta.

An announcement was to be made early Thursday morning, but the train bridge collapse in the city’s southeast which shut down a big part of Deerfoot Tr. put it on hold.

However, former Flames player Sheldon Kennedy, who’s been working alongside Red Cross representatives amidst the mammoth cleanup, spilled the beans via Twitter the club was making the donation.

Flames president Ken King couldn’t be reached for comment, having departed the city in the early afternoon to attend the NHL draft in New Jersey.

Flooding of several rivers have impacted many parts of the province, including Calgary, Canmore, High River, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. Damage is estimated upwards of $5 billion.

The province has announced $1 billion in aid to start the recovery and many other major companies have stepped forward, plus countless residents.

Calgary Stampeders running back Jon Cornish said he will donate $10 for every yard he collects receiving or running the ball in Friday’s season opener against the B.C. Lions.

Calgary Sun: LOADED: 06.28.2013

682665 Calgary Flames

Calgary Flames get bigger, younger with Alex Tanguay trade

By RANDY SPORTAK ,Calgary Sun

First posted: Thursday, June 27, 2013 11:06 PM MDT | Updated: Thursday, June 27, 2013 11:40 PM MDT

The Calgary Flames needed more size at forward with a scoring touch to go with it.

They believe they’ve found that in right winger David Jones.

The Flames wanted a physical defenceman amidst a crew that lacks punch.

They believe they’ve found it in Shane O’Brien.

It remains to be seen whether Thursday’s trade that saw left winger Alex Tanguay and defenceman Cory Sarich go to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for that pair makes the Flames any better, but it does knock more years off the average age of the club.

And gives the team a different look.

“I go way back with Cory and won a championship with him and certainly have a soft spot in my heart for him,” Flames GM Jay Feaster said. “And Alex has done great things for us. But the reality is, we are rebuilding.

“This is a chance to get bigger and to get younger — a little bit different identity.”

In an odd twist, the four-player swap is a case of both teams ridding themselves of a couple of players who don’t fit in their plans and both teams acquiring a couple of players they were looking for.

Tanguay, 33, is coming off an 11-goal, 27-point season in a tumultuous truncated campaign that saw him struggle when it became obvious captain Jarome Iginla was going to be traded and ended with a knee injury.

A return to Colorado — where he spent the first six seasons of his NHL career and won a Stanley Cup in 2001 — thrilled the winger. The Avs may have finished below the Flames in the standings this past season, but they have a plethora of young offensive talent seemingly destined to break out.

Plus, the Avs will now be coached by his former teammate Patrick Roy, while Joe Sakic is the vice-president of hockey operations and making the hockey decisions with his fellow hall of famer.

“I think I can really help some of the young guys the Avalanche have up front and maybe who they are going to get in the draft Sunday,” Tanguay told the Denver Post. “I’m really excited to have the chance to play for Patrick and Joe. Those guys only care about winning, and I really want to win again. I’d really like to (win a Cup) one more time.”

Sarich, who’ll turn 35 this summer and became a bit part with the Flames, gives the Avs more veteran presence on the blueline. Whether he’ll be a full-time player remains to be seen, but the Avs do need some veteran voices in their dressing room, too.

By comparison, Jones will turn 29 this summer, and he’s looking to rebound to 20-goal form after a dreadful three-goal, nine-point campaign this past season.

O’Brien — essentially a younger version of Sarich — will celebrate turning 30 in August.

It’s doubtful Jones will produce more points than Tanguay, but the new Flames winger, whose salary is US$4 million per season and is signed for three more seasons, is a big body at 6-foot-2, 210-lb. and popped 27 goals in the 2010-11 NHL season.

Debate all you want whether the Flames made themselves better or worse for the coming season, but they did address a couple of needs in the short-term and no longer have two players who weren’t going to be part of the long-term plan.

That’s what happens in a rebuild.

Calgary Sun: LOADED: 06.28.2013

682666 Calgary Flames

Cory Sarich welcomes tradeaway from Calgary Flames if it means more playing time

By RANDY SPORTAK ,Calgary Sun

First posted: Thursday, June 27, 2013 11:05 PM MDT | Updated: Thursday, June 27, 2013 11:12 PM MDT

Cory Sarich would have been happy to stay with the Calgary Flames.

Leaving makes the veteran defenceman happy, too.

Sarich, who had become an extra on the Flames blueline brigade the last two seasons, made no secret his biggest desire was to get a chance to play more regularly, and that wasn’t in the cards in the place he’s called home the last six seasons.

“I think I proved myself the last couple of years when I was in the lineup, and I said, ‘If you guys can use my services, I do want to be a Calgary Flame. I love it here and it’s my home.’ ” Sarich said Thursday of his end-of-season meeting with Flames. “I left that decision up to them and receiving the phone call sends the message they’re not certain where I fit in, so I’m excited to get the opportunity to play elsewhere.”

Sarich was dealt along with left winger Alex Tanguay to the Colorado Avalanche for right winger David Jones and defenceman Shane O’Brien.

Sarich, who’ll turn 35 this summer, skated in 28 games this past season. Just like the 2011-12 season — in which he played 62 games — he was on the outside of the team’s top six to start the season and had to work his way into the lineup despite his experience.

“I thought I did a good job of handling it for a year,” he said of being a healthy scratch. “Doing it again last year, even though it was a shortened season, it started to wear on me a bit. I would have liked to have stuck around and been someone they could depend on and contribute, but in the same regard, I’m excited that if they feel they can’t use me, they’ve given me an opportunity to go elsewhere and I hope Colorado will be a good fit.

I hope they’re excited to have me because I’m excited to go there.”

Sarich has one season remaining on his contract with a US$2 million salary cap hit.

The Flames may be in the rearview mirror, but Calgary, where he lived even during the off-season throughout his final three years with the Tampa Bay Lightning, will remain home.

“Our kids have serious attachments and great friends here,” he said.

“It’ll probably be home for us when I’m all finished.”

Calgary Sun: LOADED: 06.28.2013

682667 Carolina Hurricanes

Canes intrigued by Russian winger as NHL draft nears

Published: June 27, 2013 Updated 12 hours ago

By Chip Alexander

Valeri Nichushkin is arguably the most interesting, if slightly perplexing, forward among the top prospects heading into Sunday’s NHL Entry Draft.

The Russian winger is physically imposing, skates well and is said to have all the tools needed to make an NHL roster next season.

“He’s a very intriguing player,” Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said this week.

Carolina, barring a trade, will have the No. 5 overall pick in the draft, its highest since 2005. If Nichushkin is available when the time comes Sunday, the Canes may not be able to pass on him.

There should be other promising options at No. 5 – forwards such as Sean Monahan of the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League and Elias Lindholm, who played well in the Swedish Elite League as a 17-year-old last season. If defenseman Seth Jones isn’t taken with one of the top four picks, he may be Carolina’s target, but Rutherford said the Canes are “leaning” toward selecting a forward.

Nichushkin, a blend of power and skill at 6-3 and 196 pounds, could give the Hurricanes more size as they move into a new NHL division next season. Canes coach Kirk Muller would like that.

“He’s a physical specimen with high-end offensive talent,” said ESPN.com draft analyst Grant Sonier, a former NHL scout.

Still, Sonier and others bring up the “Russian factor” so widely discussed in the NHL. Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League is a competitor for top talent, enticing and signing players away from the NHL.

Nichushkin was the KHL’s rookie of the year last season with Traktor Chelyabinsk and he was under contract for the next two years. He was traded in late April to Dynamo Moscow of the KHL.

He has said he is committed to playing in the NHL next season, but with a caveat – if he doesn’t make an NHL roster, he wants to return to Dynamo.

“The ‘Russian factor’ is legit,” Sonier said. “What we’ve seen with some Russian players is they say the right things and they say they want to play in the NHL, but the first minute they have to deal with adversity they know they have that golden pot of money back in Russia. That might scare me.”

Rutherford conceded there are some “red flags” associated with the KHL but said it’s not a big drawback with Nichushkin.

“There are pluses and minuses with everybody,” Rutherford said.

“When you pick at the top of the first round, you’re going to take the best player available,” said Dan Marr, the NHL’s director of Central Scouting. “There’s always risk, but you’re not going to let the passport decide who you take. You take the best player.”

Rutherford said the Canes have planned 11 player interviews in New York this week before Sunday’s draft at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. One of the first was to be with Nichushkin and his agent, Mark Gandler.

“We will have a very good dialogue with the player,” Rutherford said.

Gandler also represents Russian forward Alexander Semin, who signed with Carolina as a free agent last July and later agreed to a five-year contract extension. Semin, 29, could help mentor a player such as Nichushkin.

“Semin could be a role model and help him work his way through the transition,” Sonier said.

There are similarities in size – Semin is 6-2 and 209 pounds – and play. Tony MacDonald, the Canes’ director of amateur scouting, said Nichushkin has “great hockey sense” and creativity on the ice.

“He’s just a powerful guy who can take the puck to the net,” MacDonald said. “He’s capable of dominating physically when he cranks up the intensity level.”

Nichushkin did that in the Five Nations Tournament in February in Sweden. He had five goals and six assists in four games, causing one observer to call him a “man among boys.”

“He completely dominated. That was the first time I thought he looked like Evgeni Malkin,” Sonier said.

Nichushkin has been compared to Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ star Russian center. Sonier said he did not think Nichushkin had Malkin’s “offensive IQ” but quickly added, “He has great potential.”

The Colorado Avalanche have the No. 1 pick in the draft and could take center Nathan MacKinnon from Halifax of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL.) The Florida Panthers may take Jones at No. 2 and the Tampa Bay Lightning could select Aleksander Barkov, a Finnish center.

Nashville has the fourth pick and saw forward Alexander Radulov twice bolt for the KHL. The Predators could be wary of the ‘Russian factor’ and perhaps opt for a forward such as Jonathan Drouin, MacKinnon’s teammate in Halifax.

That could leave Nichushkin there for the taking at No. 5. Or the Hurricanes, as Rutherford has mentioned, could package their pick as part of a trade, possibly for a defenseman, and move down in the first round.

“Very intriguing,” Rutherford said.

News Observer LOADED: 06.28.2013

682668 Chicago Blackhawks

Back surgery possibility for Hawks' Hossa

By Chris Kuc

6:18 PM CDT, June 27, 2013

Marian Hossa spent last summer recovering from a severe concussion. The Blackhawks winger might spend this one rehabilitating after back surgery. Only this time, he’ll have a Stanley Cup championship to keep him company.

Hossa said Thursday he might need surgery to repair a disk in his back after suffering an injury late in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Bruins. Hossa played Games 4-6 with his right foot numb and his mobility limited. The 34-year-old has undergone an MRI and is discussing options with team doctors and training staff.

“When I saw (head trainer) Mike Gapski, he said it’s not great,” Hossa said. “I may need the surgery, but also I may need just a shot. I’m going to talk to Dr. Michael Terry and we’re going to try to make the best decision we can. (It’s) one of those two options.”

Hossa missed Game 3 of the finals but came back to help lead the Hawks to their second championship in four years.

“I don’t know if I was too effective when I was playing,” Hossa said. “I was just limping on the ice. To tell you the truth, I didn’t have as much confidence because everybody around me was much faster. As soon as you get the puck, I wasn’t too confident to do things I’m usually able to do, and that kind of frustrated me during those games.

“The coaches told me to just play your game defensively and that’s going to help us. I tried to stick with that.”

Hossa said the toll taken on his body — including a long rehab from a concussion suffered during the first round of the 2012 playoffs — is worth it.

“Yeah, it is,” Hossa said. “I know the health is so important for when you retire. You want to live a healthy life and try to not be beat up as much.

“In the four years I’ve been here, we’ve got two Cups, which is amazing. That’s why I signed to this organization. I believed in the group they had here, and it’s well worth it right now.”

Winger Bryan Bickell played the finals with a sprained right knee and said surgery is a possibility.

“I don't know yet,” Bickell said. “I haven’t talked to the doctors. I’m probably 80 percent sure that I won't (need surgery), but I'm not 100 percent. I have a couple of months to get it rested.”

Veteran forward Patrick Sharp said he will not need surgery on his injured left shoulder.

Chicago Tribune LOADED: 06.28.2013

682669 Chicago Blackhawks

Hawks must get down to business quickly

By Chris Kuc, Chicago Tribune reporter

9:01 PM CDT, June 27, 2013

They will board buses and slowly wend their way through the streets of Chicago as hundreds of thousands of adoring fans fete them.

As they soak in the adoration during Friday's parade to celebrate their 2013 Stanley Cup, the Blackhawks will know in the back of their heads that it likely will be the last time they all will be together as teammates. While the transformation of the champs to the 2013-14 team that will defend the title won't resemble the carnage of the salary-cap purge of the summer of '10 when half the team was jettisoned, there will be changes.

"We are going to make a few changes but it's not going to be like before," general manager Stan Bowman said Thursday. "There's a lot of work to be done here in a short amount of time with the schedule so tight and the draft approaching in a few days. We don't have it all sorted out yet, but we have an idea of what we want to do."

On Bowman's agenda over the next couple of days leading up to Sunday's NHL Draft and then the following week the opening of free agency, is to address the team's unrestricted free agents — including Bryan Bickell, Viktor Stalberg, Ray Emery, Jamal Mayers, Michal Rozsival and Michal Handzus, and those who are restricted, Nick Leddy and Marcus Kruger.

After his eye-opening performance during the run to the Cup, Bickell figures to receive a significant raise from the $600,000 he made in 2013 and will be in demand from teams around the league. Working in the Hawks' favor will be Bickell's desire to remain with the team.

"I want to stay here — I enjoy this city," Bickell said. "This is a second home to me. My agent and Stan are talking and they're going to do whatever it takes.

"There's that hometown discount. We have a great core of guys and we won two Cups in four years and there are going to be many more to come. I'm willing to do it because … winning is fun."

On the flip side, Stalberg spoke Thursday like a player who is headed elsewhere. Twice coach Joel Quenneville benched the winger during the playoffs and Stalberg was unhappy with his playing time during the season.

"Over the last three years I've showed I deserve to play maybe more times than I got an opportunity to do here," Stalberg said. "When you're on one of the best teams and you have some of the best players in the world in front of you, that's the way it is. That's great, but maybe at some point in your career you want to see what else is out there, what other role you can get and how good you can allow yourself to be. We're going to see if that's the fit here. If it's not, it might be somewhere else."