Lynn to meet with Gaborik’s agent; Foster skates for the first time
Posted on September 9th, 2008 – 11:08 AMBy Michael Russo
Updated at 1:20 p.m.
Wild assistant GM Tom Lynn plans to fly to Los Angeles tonight in order to meet with Marian Gaborik’s agent, Ron Salcer, over the next few days “so we can both try to push the process forward.”
I should say, the last time Lynn flew to Manhattan Beach to meet with Salcer, Brent Burns was signed soon thereafter. That was last November. I remember this because Lynn just suddenly appeared in the Anaheim press box wearing his infamous salmon-colored suit 
Of course, this is a much more complicated negotiation.
More in tomorrow’s paper.
Defenseman Kurtis Foster, who sustained a season-ending broken femur last season, skated for 40 minutes this morning in Minneapolis.
Foster said, “It felt good. I’m still a long ways away [from returning to action], but it felt so good to be out there. It wasn’t pretty, but I’m excited.”
94 Responses to "Lynn to meet with Gaborik’s agent; Foster skates for the first time"
Question:
Is there any way to get a schedule of when the Wild is skating at Parade Ice Garden? I live close to there and would love to take my daughter down there one day to check it out. Is there some schedule (and are they open to the public?)?
Thanks.
Are they done at SLP Rec, then?
Ah! That’s fantastic. I’m happy for him.
[…] Originally published by Russo’s Rants […]
Saw Foster at the State Fair. Nice guy… and classy. He was REALLY enjoying chatting with fans.
…very happy that he’s coming along ahead of schedule!
Welcome back Fozzie!
Good to see him get out on the ice. One step closer to his goal.
Yeah thats cool, thanks for the info Russo..
YAY!!! Back on skates has to feel so good to Foster. He’s one of my favorites. I was so mad when he got hurt, he was playing really well. I hope when he comes back he can pick up where he left off… after the rust is nocked off that is.
Fozzie’s theme song should be “Houston (Means I’m One Day Closer to You)” by Larry Gatlin.
Good to hear! And 40 minutes seems to me to be quite a long time for a first skate back. Good news it wasn’t just 10 minutes! 40 minutes would seem to indicate he wasn’t having too much discomfort though I realize this was probably just a ‘light’ turn around the rink.
good news for Foster! He was playing the best hockey of his career when he got hurt. While that doesn’t mean he should be getting confused with Rob Blake, circa 2002, it was an improvement. Hopefully he returns to -if not passes - that level of glory quickly.
Well if the mythical Adrian Foster is trying out for some fictional team in some fabled country I suppose we have room in Houston for another Foster to get some rehab starts.
I’ll be sure to roll out the red carpet.
Is Foster, K getting some time in Houston a possibility? Is he signed to a contract that would allow that?
great news!! glad to hear he is well on his way and getting back on the ice. foster was a big asset to the team last year; really looking forward to his return.
btw- long time reader, first time poster. i figured i’d join in with Russoville…
I should clarify… Would he need to clear waviers to get to Houston? Not that it would be likely that another team would claim him now, but on re-entry???
I was at SLP yesterday, they’re still going strong. PMB, Schultz, and Skoula have arrived!! SLP run’s through this week I believe.
Goody:
My understanding is that the Wild can send him to Houston for a conditioning stint without Foster needing to clear waivers.
Has any of the new acquisitions arrived? Nolan, AM, Zidlicky, MAB, Reitz, Pouliot, or Weller?
Goody - I believe he can have rehab starts in Houston without waivers being involved.
For example, Marc-Andre Fleury had some rehab starts with Wilkes-Barre before returning to play in Pittsburgh last season.
TheFastOne - welcome!
I know its totally wrong but I am going to do it anyways.
I won both of my Fantasy Football games this week and one team scored 140 points! I have been jumping up and down for joy since 10 pm last night.
Okay, back to modesty now.
Watch, next week I am going to get trounced.
NHL players can do rehab stints in the AHL. Definitely a precedent for that. I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t do that before throwing him back in the NHL.
Sunshine, I got beat by ONE friggin point. LT totally hosed me. Damn underachiever. Grr.
Well, ladies, it doesn’t look like the results are counting for us. Notice how everyone’s still 0-0.
On Foster future rehab assignment, as usual, sunshine is dead-on.
Oh, man…by one point. Heartbreaker for sure.
I might have to drop a total of 3 players because they are either out for the year or for a long time. Its slim pickings now. My other picks were sleepers to start off, too.
Gaborik and Burns have the same agent?! Or is it that both of their agents live in the LA area?
Ah, that Sunshine… teacher’s pet. 
Most of my team overperformed except for Mr. #1 pick. How very Daigle of him.
What do Andrew Brunette, Willie Mitchell, and Mark Parrish have in common?
They were all regular weekly callers to the P.A. & Dubay radio show during the NHL hockey season. And then they were all let go by the Wild. Coincidence? Curse?
More importantly: who will be the regular caller this season? (Don’t everyone shout out SKOULA now…)
5MM-
As much as I would love to see Skoula go, so I hope its him… PA and Dubay love Bruno, and Bruno loves them. He’ll be the mainstay for most radio outlets. When he was here before, he was on one station or another almost everyday.
They like guys who tell it like it is, and save the canned answers. Bruno tells it like it is, none of this, well, we did our best, or it just didn’t go our way.
The only other guy I see them talking to a lot would be Nolan. They usually look for veterans for those type of things. They really like the gritty, down to earth players too. Which could explain why the guys keep ending up ebing let go… under-rated, and seemingly overpaid if they don’t have stellar seasons every year.
I agree… its gonna be Bruno. It doesn’t matter if he is gone after 3 years because he will likely retire by then. PA was already salivating when he interviewed Bruno. Plus, Bruno has great quips.
I see the media’s go-to-guys this year will be: Bruno, Nolan, and Schultz. The second tier guys will be: Burns, Sheppard, and Weller.
The other guys don’t seem to be talkers, full of cliche, or think/analyze before saying anything, which seems to take too long.
I believe Schultz was on 93x about once
a week last season too.
Thank you AiH, I think I’ve been reading these blog posting enough to know most of the acronyms around here 
[…] Originally published by Russo’s Rants […]
Welcome TFO. You don’t have multiple personalities do you? There won’t be a TheSlowOne coming in to tell you how smart and fast you are?
Thanks for verifying Sunshine’s answer Russo.
How long can a ‘conditioning stint’ last? A set number of games? A set time? Until the team feels he’s ‘ready’?
What about cap? How does a ‘conditioning stint’ affect the Wild’s cap space?
Haha nope Ms. C, no alter ego for me. I got this name from a past work nick-name.
Wish it was a hockey nick-name, but I’m not that speedy…yet.
I hope we hear some good news out of L.A re: Gaborik
Well at least there is a ‘process’.
“I hope we hear some good news out of L.A re: Gaborik”
Amen to that. I’d just like to have all things Gaby settled before the season starts.
Ok so I think the niece gave me a cold. She sneezed on our popcorn on Sunday at the Twins game and now I’ve got a headache, a sore throat, and a sniffle.
Sometimes sunshine is so on I’m starting to wonder if she’s a players wife/girlfriend in disguise, or maybe just clairvoyant. So which is it sunshine? Are you a fortune teller? What does your crystal ball say about the Gaby situation?
“Well at least there is a ‘process’.”
When isn’t it a process with Wild management team?
“Sometimes sunshine is so on I’m starting to wonder if she’s a players wife/girlfriend in disguise, or maybe just clairvoyant. So which is it sunshine? Are you a fortune teller? What does your crystal ball say about the Gaby situation”
LOL!! You learn a lot from reading NiNY’s blog.
Farthest from the truth. Can you believe that I have only met one professional athlete in my life? Actually, we didn’t even meet, I walked right by him and only realized it was McHale. That is my only brush with sports greatness.
I read Nick’s blog! Where are my damn hockey chick super powers?
Brushes with greatness… Does Brusty moving a chair out of my way and then apologizing for the chair having been in my way count? He did play in the NHL. Of course, it took me an hour to figure out who he was and had to hear him talk to know it was him. So, no, that probably doesn’t count.
Hey, at least he said one word to you. I could only gawk at McHale because I was half as tall as him.
Oh yeah, well my brush with fame …ummm… ok so when I met Boogie (both times) all I could manage was to giggle and blush.
Well, Sunshine, I was REALLY mad at my husband at the time and I must have been wearing it on my face. He looked afraid, frankly.
Wow MsC, that must have been some look if you scared a hockey player.
For those Russovillians with a Nintendo Wii at the house, NHL 2K9 was released today–check it out. A Wii remote and nunchuk shaking this way and that with buttons blazing makes for some interesting moments as you jab at buttons and flail your arms to shoot!
I think my favorite hockey game was the original EA NHL 93 for the PC when the North Stars were still on the game… My buddies and I spent hundreds of hours on weekends and snow days playing that game; ahh, the days of two-button games–long gone.
Anyone else glad the conventions are over? I was more concerned with some stupid protesters trying to damage the X than with either party’s nominations! I’ll definitely vote in Nov., but by then I’ll most certainly be immersed in a certain hockey club’s fortunes…
Well, I’m guessing in his 24 years, he’s learned what “angry woman” face looks like and that the appropriate reaction is to clear a wide path and start apologizing immediately, even if you did nothing wrong.
minwild93! “interesting moments” isn’t telling me much. Is it fun? Playable? I’ve been dying for a review because it looks like a blast…
I guess I was using “interesting moments” as a euphemism for “I suck at this game right now;” sorry.
If you’re a serious gamer, I’m sure this probably doesn’t satisfy and you’ll buy EA’s NHL 09 for PS3 or 360. However, if you’re like me and wanted a system to play with friends at parties and just pick up the stick to get going, it’s certainly more feature-filled than a lot of other Wii titles.
One of the nice things about the game is the ability to practice skills. I was just trying out moves against poor Hards, but he stoned me several times as well. I haven’t tried the pond hockey mode, which sounds cool, nor the mini-rink mode.
So far I like the controls, though Wii remotes are notorious for not always picking up what you’re trying to make it do. The announcers on the game are pretty lame; they mention the goalies’ use of the butterfly waaaaay too much. Ugh. I love that the goal horn from the X is included; I also like that the crowd instinctively (for a game) starts cheering “Let’s Go Wi-ld” when you get a PP or other moment in the action. The in-rink announcer isn’t great either; he botched Benny’s name. Still, considering you end up with a guy in a sound booth somewhere saying the name of every guy in the league, you’re bound to have a few of those–just don’t screw up out guys’ names!
All and all, it’s definitely way more than what you get on a WiiSports game or other “easy” gameplay title; since this is the first serious (read: not “Backyard Sports”) hockey game for the Wii, it’s worth the money. And, apparently there weren’t many copies available around town here in Bloomington, Ind., so leaving work to track down one paid off handsomely!
I’m a very UNserious gamer so this sounds perfect. Thank you for the expanded review. I’m trying to drag myself through some drudgery at work but this is going to be my reward. And it should be pretty easy to nail one down here in Houston, hopefully by this weekend.
In fact, my Wii Fit is waiting patiently for me to get off my duff and do some hula hooping.
ms.conduct
>>>>In fact, my Wii Fit is waiting patiently for me to get off my duff and do some hula hooping.<<<<<
And we have video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v31qxrXsxv0
Seriously, if I was Ron Salcer, Gaby’s agent, and the team representative showed up in a salmon colored suit, my negotiating base would immediately increase by $1M/year just on principal.
Man! I told him to erase that video!
Beau pantaloon! Is that the Mick McGough line now available at Victoria’s Secret?
I wonder if Russo will ask Ballard about his new 6 year contract that is reported to be worth about $24 million if he sees him at SLP Rec tomorrow.
Well, it gives him a chance to talk about Florida, so yeah, no doubt.
How do you do the smilys ?
Mister Know it all says:
How do you do the smilys ?
If anyone tells you, you have to change your name. Someone who “knows it all” would know already.
MKIA:
smile= colon then )
winking = semi-colon then )
My one act of kindness for the month.
Way to go sunshine…you just couldn’t stop Mister from really Knowing It All, could you?
Ok MKIA, now that you have your new-found smarts, realize this: if you over-use the smilys your computer could explode. Unless it is a Mac. Then it will just laugh uncontrollably at you.
My daughter went to HS with one of McHale’s. At a choir concert I had the misfortune of sitting behind him in the bleechers.
Man, he was one tall dude.
Has FSN announced the TV schedule regarding HD broadcasts? Just got HD, anyone know how many were broadcast in HD last year on FSN?
Mtu:
Check out the link. The first post lists all the HD games on FSN-North. The poster has some connections with FSN-N.
http://boards.wild.com/index.php?showtopic=22271
Something kind of funny:
I have been reading the CBJ’s beat writer’s blog. For most of the summer and the last week or so, he has been updating the movement of Filatov.
For example:
9/8 - Breaking news …
Nikita Filatov is in the air.
He’s expected to arrive in Toronto tonight between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. After a night in TO, he’ll fly to Columbus tomorrow afternoon, arriving around 3:30 p.m.
9/9 - Nikita Filatov has arrived in Columbus.
Hmm, so why isn’t Russo keeping us abreast of the Wild air traffic? I’m feeling cheated.
Then again there needs to be SOME perk to being a CBJ fan.
So does the Columbus beat writer have a contact in the FAA?
I think I much prefer a writer (Russo) with contacts who have something to do with the sport!
Just saw that the NHL Network will be airing games from the Prospects tourney next week.
Wild vs. Blues Sept. 15 7PM CST.
This is why I love the NHL network, they are smart to pick up this tourney and show a few games. It looks like they’ll be showing a game a night.
Russo has better things to do than tell us when one of the players is flying in. I’ve been to Columbus. Not much there to do (read boring crap hole) so their writer has to find things of interest. This was a crack at my family who lives out there, in retaliation for making fun of my ‘accent’, my college of choice, the winters here, hockey in general (hoser)… my cousin sucks and is mean, I’m glad my sister threw him head first into a snow bank when we were little. … I need hockey season to start, going crazy.
great news about the prospects tourny on NHL network, Lapper!
For everyone’s amusement:
“…from the European Olympic pre-qualifying women’s hockey tournament: Slovakia 82, Bulgaria 0.”
Even better:
“…the all-time record…is still held by Thailand, which lost 92-0 to South Korea in the 1998 Asia-Oceania U18 Championship.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=3577150&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines
For those of you that are fans of the college game, especially the WCHA, this is kind of an interesting article.
Mitch,
Yes, interesting. Neglected though is the limit of Arena size. As I’m sure the MN fans would point out, if their arena sat more spectators, they’d have higher attendance. If you notice, the average attendance figures for the WCHA teams are curiously close to the arena capacities. Perhaps the higher #’s in the WCHA as opposed to the other college leagues is simply due to arena capacity. The author should do a little more research.
Can you believe it? Tampa Bay wants to get in on the Sundi sweepstakes.
I say, good-bye Vancouver and hello, sunny Florida for Sundin. He was just waiting for them to make him an offer, I bet.
Oh, Wild v. Blues. A little Ben Bishop action! Beauty.
DON’T PRINT THAT
Contract extension talks about Wild star Marian Gaborik continue, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the 26-year-old ended up with an eight-year offer worth nearly $70 million.
Goody,
…Neglected though is the limit of Arena size…
This was my thought as well. I had already left a comment with the author to address this, we’ll see. Seems like a case of “build it, and they will come.”
Thank you for the HD link! I was looking at the Wild schedule last night on wild.com to see how many games will not be on TV this year* and it was sad to see how many opponet games were listed in HD and none of the Wild games were. Last year I would guess around 10 Wild games were in HD on FSN North which was way too few so it is good the Wild’s broadcast partners are making some progress.
* just 4 by my count, 11/1 in PHX (no PHX TV either it appears), 2 during March Madness/Final Five/HS Tournament - this seems to be typical - and one in April - which I would bet gets picked up
My wife just purchased the Center Ice package for me for our anniversary. How cool is that! No longer a CI virgin.
Congrats Mitch! Don’t abuse the privilege like I do and watch hockey from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. every night for 7 months.
First Aeros pre-season game against SA was just announced. Oct. 3. Sugarland Ice. $10 and includes a public skate pass, so really about $3 for the game. Man, life is good.
http://www.newsobserver.com/796/story/1213270.html
Article re: insurance on players’ salaries — I never really thought about it but it could affect the length of a contract. The NHL’s insurance policy only covers the first 7 years of a contract and only 5-7 of the 23 contracts are covered. The article focuses on the Hurricanes’ situation but they are in the process of extending Eric Staal. Its an interesting read.
Don’t abuse the privilege like I do and watch hockey from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. every night for 7 months.
Isn’t that the point of CI?
The Mr and I were going to get CI this year… guess not now.
Well, it was for me last season KiPA… with DH living in NY most of the time and me here in Houston, all our TVs were tuned to either a CI channel or NHL Network (NHL Live starts back up on Monday, BTW…). I’m surprised the Tivo even remembered there were any other channels.
He’ll be home more this season so I suspect my nightly hockeyfests will be reduced dramatically.
Thanks for the info on NHL Live. I was wondering when that would start again.
He’ll be home more this season so I suspect my nightly hockeyfests will be reduced dramatically.
Rawr. Go get ‘em, tigress.
Pfft. No, it’s because he’ll be watching the History Channel or some crap like that. Though I think sometimes he just gets tired of the sound of hockey being the backdrop to everything (whereas I, of course, feel like that’s perfectly wonderful). Damn his well-roundedness.
Fortunately, we do have a slingbox so I can pull games up on my computer while he watches whatever he wants. But it’s not the same as the big screen.
I’m also thinking we need to suspend Netflix for a the season. I don’t see myself having time to watch anything but hockey and Project Runway until April.
History Channel is not crap. It’s good for the nights there is no hockey (for those of us without CI there are such things). Although I do have to say there is nothing wrong with hockey being the backdrop to everything. I get more done around the house during hockey games than I do any other time…. that is until I found Russo’s, now I just sit in the chair with the lap top during games. I used to fold laundry, dust, sweep, do dishes, but now, not so much. Russo has created a monster here, I just can’t break free.
Oh, and Project Runway…. so addicting as well.
Project Rungay - is that going to be on for yet another season?
On another note, I heard NHL 2k9 for Wii came out this week. Has anyone tried it yet?
I would agree the History channel is not crap. That said, from early October to mid June, I don’t know that I see much of it, unless I am home during the day.
Only so much room for Roman engineering and the last stand of the 300. But like Bill Cosby said, there’s always room for Jell-o. To me, there’s always room for hockey.
Got myself in trouble with CI. the Mrs wanted CSI, the kid wanted cartoons, and I’m watching the ‘Nucks play Dallas. What’s a guy to do? Hard to justify keeping it on the game… but somehow we did most of the time.
It’s crap when there’s hockey on. I stand by that.
Iggy, check out yesterday’s comments for a review of the game. Haven’t done any research though to see what others are saying. And yes, PR is ON baby. It’s Runwaylicious! God bless Bravo, the Guilty Pleasure Channel.
So I’ve had my first hockey dream of the new season (yes it’s a few weeks early). I dreamed that I got to go to the Nov 20 game (day after my birthday) and I was down by the glass watching warm-ups and taking pictures of the guys with my friend H. and she yelled, “Boogie, toss us a puck it’s her birthday, and your her favorite player.” He was all embarrassed and blushed, Burnsie was laughing at him, picked up a puck, rubbed it on Boogie’s arse and tossed it over the glass to me. I swear something similar actually happened to my friend H at a baseball game. So at least I know where the inspiration for the dream came from. The inspiration came from H.’s butt-ball experience.
FOOD!!!
After reading Russo’s article in Saturday’s paper, it’s looking more and more like the Wild will have to trade MG. I hope I’m wrong. The agent continues to say he can only negotiate with one team now, but 30 after the season. We get that — but by repeating it all the time it seems like they are saying they want to test the market, regardless of what the Wild offer. It’s like Rolston — at a certain point it was clear he was going to test the market.
If MG isn’t traded and tests the market, you know some team will overpay. That’s what the agent wants. I also believe MG’s relationship with JL plays into all of this.
