Day 1 - Oxnard

First day in California, and I am ready for some football. The Blog won’t knock your socks off today, but it will be solid this week with Cowboys topics, so keep checking back:

Rangers keep Soriano …

I like the fact that they drew a line in the sand and insisted that they got a huge ransom for Soriano, but we must now consider two things: 1) he is now your responsibility to tender in the winter, lest you lose him for nothing. That cannot happen. And 2) we must now brace for many, many Wilson, Benoit, Ric-Rod, and C Young starts the rest of the way. I hope they are up for it.

Zubov, 3 years – 12 million …offers good news and bad news:

Good News:

Zubov's deal includes a no-trade clause, according to his agent, Jay Grossman. It makes him the second-highest paid player on the team to Bill Guerin ($6.8 million).

With nine players under contract, the Stars have spent almost $22 million. If the team has a budget around $35 million (90 percent of the NHL's $39 million cap, as prescribed by GM Doug Armstrong), they have about $13 million left to spend on 14 positions.

And now, the Bad News:

The Zubov deal could make it difficult to fit Mike Modano and another high-level defenseman under the cap.

Modano said the Stars have never put an offer on the table, and he is confused by their approach.

Said Armstrong: "We have had conversations with Mike and were never able to find common ground. That said, we still want to talk to him after he explores the market."

But wait, Modano hints that he will give the Stars a chance to match offers …

"I don't think they know my value right now," Modano said. "Maybe come next week, I'll have something to be able to take back to them."

Meanwhile, Finley to the Knickerbockers? …If you are a Knicks fan, aren’t you saying, “wait, we just bought out Al Houston so we can trade for another goofy contract?”…

Finley will be a former Maverick by Aug. 15, the deadline to exercise the amnesty clause.

Trade possibilities exist, but the returns would be marginal. New York appears to have legitimate interest as Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown begin remaking the Knicks. It's possible they would explore swapping Anfernee Hardaway or Tim Thomas for Finley.

Hardaway ($15.75 million) and Thomas ($13.975 million) have contracts that expire this season and both would match Finley's salary this season ($15.938 million) in trade scenarios.

I prefer that deal than Finley ending up in Phoenix now That Joe Johnson is out of the picture ...The Suns just took a big step back..