Dedicated to coverage of UND Hockey; aka the team formerly known as the Fighting Sioux. More specifically, WCHA, NCHC and college hockey news stories in general. I post stories on the NHL, to include my favorite hockey teams, the Boston Bruins and the Minnesota Wild… I will post anything that happens that’s big in NHL hockey, hits, fights and suspensions. This is also an unapologetic UND hockey site. This site has no official connection to UND hockey, but we have been accused of being toadies.
This is why Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron was tied up with Carolina forward Jeff Skinner at the end of last night's game. You can see by the video that Bergeron was slew footed by Skinner behind the Bruins net. This was what Brad Marchand was suspended for last season.
Marchand: "Skinner slew foots all the time." Said he and Bergeron talked about it before the game. So there you go. #Bruins#Hurricanes
— DJ Bean (@DJ_Bean) January 29, 2013
The recent signing of Jeff Skinner is going to set the bar for other RFA with similar numbers. The upside of Tyler Seguin is pretty big as I could see him erupt and have a very big season this year.
This is an interesting discussion that is worth talking about - one could also ask the question - what if Seguin gets somewhere in the neighborhood of 75-80 points - he is going to command a pretty big salary and if the Bruins low ball him you could see someone sign him to an offer sheet like the Toronto Maple Leafs did with Phil Kessel.
Joe Haggerty, CSNNE.COM --- Skinner signed a six-year, $34.35 million contract that could wind up being very similar to Seguin’s second contract if the Bruins opt for a longer term pact with their budding superstar. The deal will play Skinner $4.35 million in his arbitration-eligible season in 2013-14 and $6 million per season from 2014-2019.
If Seguin got the same deal, it would make him the highest-paid forward on the Bruins, and the second-highest paid player behind only Zdeno Chara.
But it’s also the kind of deal that Seguin could command given the comparable track that both Skinner and Boston’s young superstar have undergone over the last two years. In essence Skinner has set the bar for Seguin and agent Ian Pulver if a contract extension is to be completed before the end of next season.
Boston could opt to go the shorter deal route with Seguin, but that could end up costing them more money if the B’s center continues his rapid ascension toward being one of the game’s best offensive players.
I am not sure what Joe Haggerty is talking about because according to Cap GeekDavid Krejci makes 5,250,000.00 and Patrice Bergeron makes 5,000,000.00 a year.
Right now there is a major debate by the hockey pundits to ban fighting in hockey but as Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy mentioned, none of the players Sidney Crosby, Jeff Skinner, Simon Gagne, Shea Weber are not out of hockey because they were hurt in a fight. They were hit in the head, some of them were hit with dirty hits like this. Ironically, the above embedded video didn't result in a suspension but it probably caused a concussion to Shea Weber.
Also, Shea Weber is out with an apparent concussion and his agent Jarrett Bousquet is less than pleased that Mark Fistric wasn't suspended for this hit. In watching the video, it find it puzzling as well.
“We want what’s best for Shea long-term. We want to get it right and make sure it doesn’t happen again, and Nashville wants to exercise on the side of caution, as do we. From my point of view I’m surprised that there’s not been more about this Fistric hit. I’m surprised he’s not suspended. I’m surprised that it has not been reviewed. If the NHL wants to protect their stars, then they have a chance here to right the wrong and get some consistency. If they do want to protect their players, then hits like that have to be suspensions.
“To me it looked like Fistric jumped. The puck had clearly gone past (Weber), because he was ready to look back for the puck. I can’t believe that this hasn’t been looked into closer and examined closer.” [The Tennessean]
I am confused, and I am not sure what is even worthy of a suspension anymore? Isn't Weber's head the the principal point of contact in this check? I have watched the video a few times and it would appear that the head is the principle point of contact. According to Stu Hackle there have been 28 concussions during the month of December.
