Whew, yesterday was a hell of a day. League-wide there was, according to TSN, over 100 years and a couple of hundred million dollars worth of deals signed. That's ridiculous. The Leafs were generally restrained which was a good thing. I listened to Dave Nonis on the radio on my drive in to Toronto and came away pretty impressed with their approach. He explained, as Burke had previously, that they had their list of targeted players as well as the price they were willing to pay. So throughout the day they dropped out of the bidding on particular players (he wouldn't identify them) as they went past their pre-determined cap. That's the good part.

The bad part is that they misread the market for Colby Armstrong. There is no other way to describe it when Armstrong himself said on TSN that he was surprised by the offer and that it was the most lucrative. At the end of the day, we all love the Leafs or we wouldn't be kicking around. So no one should get any hard feelings from disagreements. We'll get to see how this deal pans out once the season starts and then one side can rub the other's face in it. One bright side is that our goalies look pretty good and good goaltending can hide a variety of ills.

The Leafs have not addressed the Kaberle situation or the Finger conundrum or the Kovalchuk auction so there's still a lot of movement to be made with the roster.

Maple Leafs sign Colby Armstrong - Pension Plan Puppets
Reaction ranged from "Hooray we got one of my favourites" to "This is a terrible move" to "Well, it's a slight overpay but he'll make the team harder to play against" and everywhere in between.

Best, worst and surprising for 2010 Free-Agent Frenzy (so far) - Puck Daddy
Poor Flames fans...

Colby Armstrong Signs With Maple Leafs | Toronto Mike's Blog
Mike doesn't mind the signing but notes the Leafs need goals.

Leafs Need More Offence " Maple Leafs Hot Stove
Hmm Leafs need goals. Let's wait for the Leafs to improve before saying Burke's worked miracles. He's made bold moves for sure but we'll see about miracles.

HOCKEE NIGHT - Exclusive: Inside the Derek Boogard Negotiations
This makes sense to me. Also, based on last year's ice-time, Boogaard will be paid around $4700 per minute. Alex Ovechkin gets paid about $5000. Think about that for a second.

Vintage Leaf Memories: Can this be like Litzenberger in ’61?
VLM remembers the last time the Leafs picked up a former Blackhawks Cup champion.

Ducks going public with offers to free agent Bobby Ryan - Puck Daddy
Bob Murray is taking a page out of Burke's book and negotiating through the press.

Battle Of Ontario: THM's WTF moment
THM does not like seeing Volchenkov walk for $500K less than the $5.5M Gonchar will receive.

Senators sign Gonchar to three-year, $16.5M deal - Silver Seven
Pretty good analysis. Could work out since the Senators' defence contributes minimal offence but the risk of injury has to be worrisome.

Flames Bring Back Jokinen, Confusion & Anger Ensues - Matchsticks and Gasoline
Olli Jokinen is back for another stint with the Flames; will the results be any better this time around?

Rangers News: Rangers Lose Shelley, Sign Boogaard - Blueshirt Banter
Weird, Rangers fans do not like this signing.

July 1st Signings - Initial Thoughts & Questions - In Lou We Trust
The reaction from the readers is much more optimistic than John Fischer's. Sound familiar?

Canucks Sign Dan Hamhuis! - Nucks Misconduct
Canucks fans are happy with Hamhuis and they should be. He now gives them one top pairing defenceman. We'll see how he does when he's not be protected by Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. Lots of money and attention for a local boy.

From The Branches