Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
If you're reading this blog, you darn well know that the NHL's free-agent window opens Thursday at noon Eastern Time. That's when official communication between the 30 teams and the unrestricted free agents can begin.
It also will mark the end of the unofficial, on-the-QT, back-channel communication that has been going on for a while between clubs and player representatives. After all, it's no accident that some guys will agree to lucrative, long-term deals mere hours after getting their freedom.
So what will go down?
Want E.J.'s intel on the upcoming free-agent frenzy? For that, you must be an ESPN Insider.
E.J. Hradek
Senior Writer, ESPN The MagazineABOUT THIS BLOG
E.J. Hradek
E.J. Hradek is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine, joining the staff prior to its launch in 1998. He began covering hockey as a writer/editor for Hockey Illustrated in 1989. The following year, he beat the Stars to Dallas (by three years), taking over as the editor of Beckett Hockey Monthly. When the Stars finally did arrive in Big D, he hosted a weekly hockey radio show and tried (unsuccessfully) to convert ESPN's Skip Bayless to the greatest game on ice.
In 1996, Hradek left Dallas, but not the Stars. Relocating back to the New York area, he became a part-time pro scout for the club, seeing more than 100 NHL/AHL games for each of the next two seasons. The scouting gig was a great learning experience, offering a different view of the game.
Hradek grew up in Tuckahoe, N.Y., about a 40-minute train ride from New York City. Despite the proximity to the Rangers, Hradek embraced the Islanders when the expansion franchise debuted in 1972. Eight years later, he was part of the sellout crowd at the Nassau Coliseum that witnessed the Islanders' first Stanley Cup championship.
