Coyotes Sign Auld

Alex Alud has been signed by the Phoenix Coyotes.

The 26-year old was signed to a 1-year contract today by Phoenix. He had a record of 7-13-5 last season with the Florida Panthers. Auld should prove a good backup for David Aebischer.

Auld has a career record of 46-44-13 in five NHL season with Florida and Vancouver. He also has a 2.89 goals-against average and .902 save percentage.

Auld is now part of a good goaltending crew in Phoenix with Aebischer and Mikael Tellqvist.

Blackhawks Get Adams From Phoenix

The NHL free-agent frenzy is now virtually done, and many teams got who they wanted. But some teams didn't really sign anyone good, so they have to trade. The Chicago Blackhawks were in that position yesterday.

The Blackhawks traded for forward Kevyn Adams in exchange for Radim Vrbata. The 32-year old Adams split his season last year with Carolina and Phoenix, piling up 3 gaols and 9 assists, while Vrbata at 26 years scored 14 goals and 27 assists last year.

''In Kevyn Adams we're getting a veteran player who is extremely versatile, is a good skater and is a very good face-off man,'' said Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon. ''Kevyn has won a Stanley Cup and is a proven leader.''

Even with all of those qualities, it seems Vrbata is a better player than Adams. At 32, Adams isn't very good offensively and Vrbata is young and a great forward. In his NHL career, Vrbata has appeared in 346 games scoring 75 goals while adding 95 assists fro 170 points with 104 penalty minutes. He has also appeared in nine career playoff games and has not scored.

This may be the start of a whole bunch of little trades in the NHL.

Tocchet Pleads Guilty To Gambaling Charges

It all started in February of '06. Former NHL player and assistant coach of the Phoenix Coyotes Rick Tocchet was charged with running a gambling ring that had ties to organized crime.

Tocchet also brought Wayne Gretzky and his wife Janet into the the mix of it, but no charges were ever put on either. Today, Tocchet pleaded guilty to the charges and will face a maximum of 10 years in prison.

"It's a huge operation and I think it exposes to people the allure of
gambling, illegal gambling, in New Jersey," state criminal justice director Gregory A. Paw said outside the courthouse."I'm sure everyone recalls the manner in which the case was initially announced and described,'' said Kevin Marino, the defense
lawyer for Tocchet. "I think [Friday's] proceeding speaks for itself."

Tocchet may avoid jail time for being a 1st time offender.

Because one of the charges of gambling were on hockey gambling, it looks like the door is open for Tocchet to return to the NHL as a coach.