Wednesday's Rumors, News & Notes

First the news, where two members of the old guard are calling it a career. Scott Stevens, a 13-time All-Star and three-time Cup winner in New Jersey (whose career has left Caps fans wondering what might have been), retired yesterday. Next stop: the Hockey Hall of Fame. Joining Stevens as the newest former-NHLer will be Vincent Damphousse, who will announce his retirement later today. Damphousse was a four-time All-Star (one-time All-Star MVP) and won a Cup with the Canadiens in 1992-93. Next stop: Tim Hortons.

The latest on Pavel Datsyuk: according to the Freep, he's as good as gone, as the deal he signed with Omsk is "ironclad" (i.e. has no out clause). Of course, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation is not party to the IIHF player transfer agreement, so that may be meaningless but irrelevant, as the sides are still miles apart. The Wings will now turn their attention to signing wing Henrik Zetterberg, with some sources reporting that a deal is already done (or at least we're told that that's what that article says), and possibly signing Peter Bondra as a stopgap measure to counter the loss of Datsyuk.

Updates: The Wings have signed Zetterberg to a four-year deal. The Isles have signed Rick DiPietro to a one-year deal (just 14 years shy of Mike Milbury's initial offer).