NHL free agency frenzy begins today Tour de France starts up today in Germany
Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon was already talking about getting aggressive in the free agent market.
Now he has some extra room to do that.
Florida was one of several teams to buy out a player in the last chance this offseason, clearing salary-cap space for the start of free agency today.
The Panthers save $2.67 million by buying out forward Jussi Jokinen, the New Jersey Devils save almost $4.5 million by buying out forwards Michael Cammalleri and Devante Smith-Pelly, the Boston Bruins save $1.73 million by buying out forward Jimmy Hayes, the Winnipeg Jets save $1.17 million by buying out defenseman Mark Stuart and the Calgary Flames almost $2 million by buying out forward Lance Bouma and defenseman Ryan Murphy.
Add this to the Edmonton Oilers clearing space with the buyout of Benoit Pouliot, the New York Rangers with Dan Girardi and the Columbus Blue Jackets with Scott Hartnell and more than a few teams are ready to throw money around on the always-expensive July 1.
"We've identified the guys who we think are important as far as our future is concerned, and the right fit, and we'll go attack that on July 1," Tallon said.
With Jokinen off the books and after trading Reilly Smith to expansion Vegas, Florida will be shopping for wingers. The Panthers have more than $22 million in cap space now with which to lure free agents.
The Devils — who took Swiss center Nico Hischier with the top pick in the draft last week — are looking for just about everything. New Jersey won't spend all of its $27 million in cap space, but defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, center Martin Hanzal and others could be a good fit.
Boston is also looking for a defenseman like Shattenkirk and lost Colin Miller in the expansion draft. The Bruins were big players in free agency a year ago signing forward David Backes and have $14 million to spend, minus whatever restricted free agent David Pastrnak costs.
Bruins GM Don Sweeney said he's in "patient mode," but needs could dictate how fast he changes that tune.
"Supply and demand a lot of the time dictates that," Sweeney said Friday. "I've certainly explored some of these (players') situations, but not anxious or overly anxious to jump the gun."
Carolina, which cleared some space by trading goaltender Eddie Lack to Calgary on Thursday night, could jump the gun with $25 million to spend even after acquiring a new starter in Scott Darling. Hurricanes GM Ron Francis told reporters on Friday that he has had conversations about bringing back veteran winger Justin Williams and seems poised to make the next moves to move into contender status.
Duesseldorf, Germany — The Tour de France calls its start the "Grand Depart." This year it feels more like the "Grand Return."
Six years after German TV stopped broadcasting cycling's showpiece event because of a series of doping scandals and three decades after it last rolled off in the country, the Tour opens this weekend with two stages in Duesseldorf.
The race starts today with a mostly flat 14-kilometer (8.7-mile) individual time trial in Duesseldorf that seems tailor made for four-time world champion Tony Martin to grab the yellow jersey in front of his home fans.
Stage 2 on Sunday goes from Duesseldorf to Liege, Belgium.
The last time the three-week race started from Germany was in 1987, when the Grand Depart took place in West Berlin — when the city was still divided.
A decade later, German cycling reached its high point when Jan Ullrich became the first and still only German rider to win the Tour.
Ullrich also finished runner-up five times in the Tour, three times behind Lance Armstrong, who was eventually stripped of his seven titles for doping.
Ullrich also fell into disgrace and was suspended in 2006 in the fallout from the Operation Puerto blood-doping scandal in Spain. He retired a year later, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport then banned him for two years in 2012 for involvement in the doping program of Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
Ullrich did not contest the ruling by the sports court and remains unwelcome in cycling circles. He was not invited to Duesseldorf by Tour organizers.
While Ullrich's Tour victory set off a golden age of German cycling, the sport quickly disintegrated in the country following doping scandals involving prominent riders like Patrick Sinkewitz and Stefan Schumacher. Even Erik Zabel, the popular rider who still holds the record of six green jerseys in the Tour's points classification, admitted to doping after he retired.
These days, a new generation of German riders led by Martin, sprinters Andre Greipel and Marcel Kittel — who have won 11 and nine Tour stages, respectively — plus classics specialist John Degenkolb, have drawn local fans back to cycling.
German TV station ARD began broadcasting the Tour again in 2015 and the Tour of Germany is slated to return next year after it, too, was canceled in 2009.
"A lot of people are looking forward to have the Tour de France back in Germany, and we want to give fans reasons to be proud of us," said Kittel, who is aiming to win Stage 2. "Having the Grand Depart here is an important step for the German community."