New Conference and Redwing77's Musings Part Two

Conference Teams Musings

When this was announced with Miami in the mix, I thought "Well, all eyes are now on Notre Dame." And then Coach Blashill left WMU. So, we're back to six looking at eight. I'm no longer certain that WMU is in the mix. Blashill would have made it a shoe in, and yeah, it's saying a lot that a coach can make a break a team's chances at conference alignment. So, where do we go?

I was thinking go get Notre Dame for #7 and perhaps SCSU or BSU for #8. Now, scratch SCSU out. I'm not sure why SCSU attracts so many weirdos in high administrative positions but Potter channeled Saigo and voila, welcome to Weirdoville. What's mystifying is that Gino Gasparini is advising SCSU. I would have thought that a positive towards inclusion. Guess Not. Giving the benefit of the doubt, perhaps SCSU wanted to be the big fish in the small pond instead of being maligned at times of being Minnesota's Jan Brady. SCSU fans will not be heard saying "Marsha Marsha Marsha!" in 2013-2014, that's for sure.

As for BSU, look at the intangibles: They've been very competitive as of late. They have a HIGH quality head coach in Serratore. They have brand new state of the art facilities. They have a positive rapport with the current Super League members (except Miami, of which BSU has a neutral stance). Also, without BSU, they only have one Minnesota school: tUMD.

I'd love to see Notre Dame and BSU round out the eight. I don't see going up to ten, which I'd think the next two teams would be WMU and... who? I'd say SCSU but... well...

League Name

Please please please please please please (how many more pleases can I say?) dump the name "College Hockey Super League." I hate it. It's too pretentious and arrogant. It's too bad the MCHA is taken (it's a DIII league) because the Midwest College Hockey Association would be a great name. Perhaps go back in time and call us the Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHL)?

I keep up coming up with already existing hockey leagues. What do you all suggest?

League Leadership

I know Goon seems to think Gino Gasparini would be a shoe in for the new commissioner but I'm not so sure he'd take the job even if he was offered. He walked away from the USHL when the USHL was willing to give him whatever he wanted. He'd be a good candidate for sure, but I just don't see him taking it. I'm not connected enough with Hockey Administration to know who would be a good candidate to run this league.

I just hope they don't hire a politician to run the league like they did with McLeod. I guess if I wanted to be completely unrealistic, the person I'd love to have is Lou Lamoriello. He has been a DI head coach and he was the HEA Commissioner for a while before bolting for the NHL. However, Lou is as likely to leave New Jersey for this job as I am likely to leave Omaha to buy the LA Dodgers. I'll give McCourt $1000 for the team but otherwise I'm broke.

But on the side of Director of League Officiating.... I'd love the CHSL to adopt a pro style of officiating. Using NCAA and USA Hockey guidelines, the CHSL should be officiated as close to the NHL style as is realistically feasible. It is true that this would cause certain problems, namely compatibility with how other leagues call the game, but it still would be nice to be known as a league that competes with MJ, Europe, and the USHL when it comes to developing NHL caliber officiating talent. To do that, I think we should make a big splash... and go after arguably the most respected name in officiating: Bill McCreary. He may be Canadian, but that's hardly a drawback. He's available (he just retired). He knows hockey and how games SHOULD be called. The whole thing with USA Hockey is something that can be developed, especially since USA hockey is on the upswing and there are resources such as College Hockey, Inc. available to help. The bottom line, no one knows what an NHL style called game looks like and what good officiating talent looks like better than a guy who has been around the top tier of hockey for 20+ years.

The Good, The Bad, and Cooke's Season's Over (REDWING77)

My Oh My..... Gary Bettman, if you're reading this, don't worry big guy. You're still the boss. And there's always next year. Perhaps at the GM meetings this offseason you can make a new rule that breathing on Crosby will be a 5 minute major and an automatic 3 game suspension.

The Bad

Chicago lost in 7 to Vancouver. Man, I'm bummed about this. But it really comes down to what I thought it wouldn't come down to: Offensive inconsistency. I thought Chicago's weakness was Crawford (well, Turco, but he sucks so bad, he isn't even allowed to carry Crawford's bags... which brings me to this question: Who sucks worse: Turco or Huet? Tough one! Still say Huet. Turco was good for more than one season at one point). I was wrong. Crawford was the bright spot in Game 7. Toews finally showed up offensively. Big drop from Conn Smythe to barely noticeable on the stat sheet. I know, he wasn't bad in this series but... everyone is ruled by the stat sheet.

Anaheim vs. Nashville: I wonder if anyone in Tennessee even knows that the Preds won a series? This series was only slightly more noticeable than the Cubs baseball games in that time period... but alas, Anaheim and Nashville could beat the Cubs... And yeah, at baseball. And yeah, the Cubs are that big of a joke.

The Colin Campbell Wheel of Justice. I understand you want to take a stance that physical play belongs in hockey. I agree with you. But dangerous hits to the head doesn't belong in hockey. Might want to revisit that.

The Good

2/3rds of the Triumverate of Awful are eliminated!!!! (The Avs were eliminated 2 months into the season so I guess that means 3 of 3?) Somewhere Gary Bettman is squeezing the crap out of that stuffed penguin pet he has and crying into his Pens Jammies. His beloved boys are out! Carey Price is OUT! Let me explain:

First, Montreal. You know, I despise Carey Price. Normally, it would end there. I have nothing against any of the other players, coaches, or whatever. However, how come so many of Montreal's web-based fanbase come across as such pompous, arrogant whiners? Uh huh huh, so you can speak two languages! Uh huh huh so you historically root for a team that has won 25 Stanley Cups (probably more). But you haven't won since Patrick Roy was a rookie. Gracious in losing and in everything is what measures a fanbase. And, I admit, I root for two fanbases that have shown their backsides at times, but really... grow up guys.

Second, Pittsburgh. I feel for Crosby. He is an innocent in all of this. But he's also the Messianic message to Pittsburgh fans and the NHL Front Office. After all, no way would TB have won had Crosby been playing. After all, that's what the commentators say every time the Pens lose when Crosby isn't on the ice! In fact, I'm fairly sure that, if Crosby were healthy and the game was called the way it was supposed to be called, Pittsburgh wouldn't have lost a single game since Crosby first suited up for the Pens. He is a God child anyways.

As for Fleury, he played well, but I still think he's an overrated goaltender. Not quite as overrated as Carey Price (who I predict is going to get a nice paycheck to suck for X years for Montreal... Yep, he's the next Jose Theodore for Montreal), but that's not the story. He got outplayed by 41 year old Dwayne Roloson. The neatest Fleury trick though was Moore burned him 2 times in a row... WITH THE SAME DARN PLAY! You'd think, as Crybaby Roenick pointed out, a GREAT team like the Pens would learn. Nope. Fleury first learned that he was scored on when the red light when Moore celebrated coming out from behind the net.

As for Matt Cooke, his suspension ended up being just the right length, which is KARMATIC JUSTICE. He can now stare moodily at the video footage with Byslma 24/7 until training camp starts up without worrying about which playoff team is he going to traumatize with his cheap and illegal antics. SUCK IT COOKE.

The Red Wings: You know what: I think the Red Wings are now more dangerous. They were fairly banged up coming into the playoffs but this sweep of the Yotes may be just what the doctor ordered. In other news, the Yotes might be distracted by wondering where to address their moving boxes.

The Bruins: As Goon48 stated, Julien's job was on the line and Julien made it past the Habs. YAY! Now if the Bruins can just do what no one other than Chicago has been able to do in the last two seasons: Finish off the pesky Flyers. Bad news? Pronger is back so Savard better watch o... oops. Nevermind.

The Lightning takes on the Caps. Bettman's red headed stepchild is still in the hunt so look for the rare Ovechkin Snuggie to make an appearance wherever Bettman watches the games.

Are the Canucks gutless?

Here is an interesting article that I found in a Chicago newspaper the Daily Herald, to be honest with you, this is how I have felt for a very long time when it comes to the new NHL. I blame the instigator penalty for much of this.

The crap that goes unanswered today is ridiculous, in the old days if you ran hit someone with a questionable hit you had to answer for it, for example Matt Cooke’s hit on Marc Savard would have caused a bench clearing brawl in the 1970’s, now the refs go out of their way protect the agitators and the punks that skate up and down the ice taking liberties that many times go unanswered...

Daily Herald --- The Vancouver Canucks have long been known as a team that will crack under the strain, succumb to the pressure and ultimately choke away a chance to win the Stanley Cup.

But now they've shown the entire NHL they're gutless, too. Raffi Torres tops the list and Kevin Bieksa isn't far behind.

They're both fairly typical of the “new” NHL, which has created an environment where players aren't held accountable.

The players used to police these matters and settle scores — think Darren McCarty-Claude Lemieux and Dirk Graham-Vlad Konstantinov — and the game was safer because of it, but now the league would rather have Torres running around trying to end careers and never force him to answer for it.

John Scott had every intention of putting Torres in his place Tuesday night late in the game, but as he engaged Torres at the faceoff circle, referee Dan O'Rourke tossed them both, robbing the Hawks of a chance to set things straight.

That's maddening enough — and you wonder why Scott didn't wait until the puck dropped — but then Bieksa suddenly became a tough guy with Scott gone for the night.

He jumped legendary enforcer Viktor Stalberg and began throwing punches before Stalberg even knew he was in a fight.

Wow, Bieksa is some brave man. Does he kick kittens, too?

About 10 minutes earlier, Tanner Glass refused to fight Scott, and when he couldn't get Glass involved, Scott waited too long to have a conversation with Bieksa, who feigned hearing loss and wouldn't even look at Scott — the equivalent of going into the turtle.

No Horseplay League; NHL no more octopi to be thrown on the ice.

Hockey News Photo

This one is for my buddy Redwing77, the NHL has decided after all of these years that rules, regulations and laws are more important than traditions. Wait a minute did I just say that? Well you know what I mean, they have been throwing Octopi on the ice for a very long time in Detroit and now the NHL has decided that they no longer feel that this is acceptable. Personally, it sounds like a bunch of crap to me but that's life.

DETROIT -- The NHL apparently is trying to put an end to Detroit playoff tradition that dates back to the early 1950s -- tossing an octopus onto the ice.

The Detroit Red Wings today released the following statement:

"The throwing of objects onto the ice surface is prohibited by the National Hockey League and persons caught doing so may be subject to prosecution for violating local and state laws.''


A fan reportedly was arrested and fined $500 for throwing an octopus onto the ice just before the opening faceoff in Game 1.

“I don't know anything about it,'' Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "I like calamari as much as they next guy, I don't like batter on it, but I like it spicy and cooked. It's part of the tradition here. I just hope the guys that come on to scrape it off aren't digging up the ice. I want it to be smooth.''

A couple of Phoenix players, including goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, said they're not upset when an octopus lands onto the ice in their zone after the national anthem.

Mike Ribeiro hit on Michal Handzus

Check out this hit by Mike Ribeiro on Michal Handzus? Was it a shoulder to shoulder hit or was it a hit to the head? What do you think? I think It looks like Ribeiro hits Handzus shoulder to shoulder but follows through with the elbow and catches Handzus in the head... I think it's funny how the refs rescue Ribeiro before any of the Kings players can get their hands on him.

Most Canadians want hockey fights banned: poll

The Boogey man beating the tar out of some stiff

I would really like to see the ins and outs of this poll; I would like to see their data and who they sampled. I highly doubt that many NHL Hockey fans would like to see fighting taken out of hockey. There is a big difference between asking hockey fans from Canada about fighting in hockey and asking Canadians about fighting in hockey.

Bradley Bouzane, Postmedia News ---- While most older Canadians say fighting is not an important part of hockey and want the National Hockey League to crack down on violence, younger Canadians are less inclined to blow the whistle on dropping the gloves, an exclusive poll has found.

An Ipsos Reid poll, conducted for Postmedia News and Global National, found 54 per cent of those surveyed say an outright ban should be placed on fighting in the NHL. The poll also found 68 per cent disagree that “violence is just a part of the game and penalties for playing rough and tough should not increase.”

However, the majority (about 60 per cent) of respondents between 18 and 34 are opposed to an outright ban against on-ice fisticuffs. In fact, nearly half of younger Canadians say fighting is an important part of hockey.

In contrast, 56 per cent of the 35 to 54 age group support a ban, while 65 per cent of those 55 and over say they want an end to fighting.

Under current rules, fighting leads to five minutes in the penalty box — and often a spot on the nightly highlight reels.

Meanwhile, the majority of those polled also say the NHL should punish other violent behaviour — which has led to serious injuries, including concussions.

I doubt we will ever see fighting gone from NHL and junior hockey in our life times. Take fighting out of the NHL and you will be letting thugs like Matt Cooke get away with taking liberties on skilled players in the NHL, the level of violence will actually go up and there will probably be more head injuries. Allowing fighting in hockey lets the players police the game and doesn’t make the NHL teams and their players rely on the NHL front office to dole out suspensions and punishment for questionable acts of violence on the ice. For example; if I am an NHL hockey player and I knew I can take a run Crosby or Ovechkin an not have to answer for my actions by having to fight I basically have a green light to skate up and down the ice taking liberties that may never be answered for. Having to fight keeps the players semi honest.

Tortorella wants Kreider soon

If I was Jerry York the coach of the Boston College Eagles I would be a little bit worried because an NHL coach is trying to get one of my top/key players from my hockey team to sign a professional contract. That’s the breaks you get sometimes when you recruit top notch blue chip players. According to Rick Carpiniello Torts would like to see Kreider get into their system as soon as possible.

Ranger Report Blog --- “I’m not sure if (he’s ready for) the National Hockey League, and even next year I’m not sure if it’s the National Hockey League if he does turn pro. But I think the sooner that you get into that grind of the American League, if that’s where you start, the better, because that’s where you learn to play the game. It’s a different game than college hockey. And I can understand. I don’t get into the personal matters as far as education. I think education’s important. I think this is a family decision. But as a coach, we want to sink our teeth into him as quickly as possible as far as getting him into a situation, to a Ranger, as quickly as possible.

“I had conversations with Ryan (McDonagh), I had conversations with (Derek Stepan) over the summer, and I had conversations with Kreider also. McDonagh and Step decided to come out, and I think that’s their call, and it’s Kreider’s call also as far as staying in (college). Selfishly for us, we want to get him to us and get working with him immediately.

“And even us, our discussions with him, are we going to hurt him by trying to get him in too quickly? So you’ve got to be careful. So we felt in watching Kreider, and all three of those guys when we talked to them, that we felt they were ready and we weren’t going to hurt them. McDonagh and Step decided to come and they’re playing with us right now. Kreider decided not to, which is fine. I’m sure he learned more going through the Beanpot and all these things, and all the World Championship games and stuff like that. It’s still a good training ground. So you’ve got to be really careful who you’re trying to get to turn pro because you may hurt them as a player, too, if you don’t allow them to develop where they’re at.”

This is what former Wisconsin Badger Ryan McDonagh had to say about playing in the AHL. I find these comments to be very interesting, not really an endorsement for college hockey coming from Torts or McDounagh… I guess I was a little off on my prediction about Ryan McDonagh as well; Goon's World thinks he can make the team out of training camp. [Puck Daddy]

On McDonagh saying his brief time in the AHL was invaluable:

“It’s hard (as a defenseman). It’s hard. That’s the toughest position, and down there everybody’s chasing that little black thing, and just to learn the grind of the gam at that position, the quick reads you have to make—and I think he handled himself very well. We were very patient as far as … he struggled at first and he just kept on coming on, coming on, and that’s why we felt we could make a deal in getting a forward when we were struggling with so many injuries and lacking offense. As I said, we let a pretty good defenseman go in Rozy (Michal Rozsival) because we felt McDonagh was ready to take the next step, and we feel he’s played very well for us here. He’ll go through some growing pains, but he’s played very well.”

NHL Rant (RW77)

ESPN.com (yeah, ESPN!) columnist Scott Burnside gets it.

I'm proud to say that there is SOMEONE at ESPN who sees through the NHL Front Office smokescreen that is their PR campaign and sees the light when it comes to the professional ranks of the sport in general. What did he do?

He sees the league as more than just Pittsburgh and Washington. AND he's not afraid to tell the Pens to go stuff it.

Recently, there was a kerfuffle (as Paul Allen of Vikings and KFAN fame would often say) between the Islanders and the Penguins in which one Pen (Godard) and 2 Isles (Martin and Gillies) were each suspended as a result. The Islanders were even fined.

I didn't watch the game so I'm not going to sit here and say that what happened was right but... Mario Lemieux is a crybaby. And Burnside called him on it. I like this guy.

Lemieux issued a statement contending that the league was too soft and did not send a clear enough message... yet the league suspended two guys a combined 13 games and one Penguin 10 games AND fined the Islanders $100,000.

Burnside alleges, and I concur wholeheartedly, that Lemieux's stance comes from the same stance that has me so derisive towards Sidney Crosby: Since the League makes such a big deal of the Pens/Crosby, they should take extra care to protect us. Like they're something special and the rest of the league is not.

Here's a small blurb I find extremely awesome:

Lemieux apparently didn't mind the state of the game so much when Matt Cooke, a player his Penguins signed to a new contract this past summer, put Marc Savard's career in jeopardy last season with a blindside check a thousand times worse than the one that recently felled Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby.
And Lemieux must have been too busy working on his short game last week to defend the game he loves when Cooke was suspended again, this time for four games, for drilling Columbus defenseman Fedor Tyutin headfirst into the boards.
Nope, Lemieux was pretty much silent on that one, too. Funny.

I agree. 1 million percent. And what's worse, some of their fans even feel the same way as Lemieux!
Lemieux goes on to talk about how the league needs to do a better job stating that the integrity of the game must be upheld and that hostile actions should not be tolerated.
Sure, I agree... and the league did take action. But what about the Penguins? Burnside enlightened me on some interesting statistics:
The Penguins lead the NHL in major penalties assessed as well as penalties per game!
Yet the only embarrassment that really happened that night was the score. A down and out, talentless Islanders team dropped 9 goals on the awesome Penguins!

Look, the points Lemieux made weren't exactly awful, but they did, as Burnside stated, come across as that of a spoiled little boy who didn't get what he wanted. The fact is, Lemieux is a hall of famer and when he speaks, people listen. This is not how you treat a league who bailed out your team and basically got you where you are today.
If you want those problems fixed then do two things:
1. Propose solutions and present them in the proper channels
2. Call out everyone... INCLUDING players like Matt Cooke, who deserve a hellova lot worse than a stupid 4 game ban.

In any case, read the article. It's DEFINITELY worth reading if you want to understand where I come from on the Penguins and Sidney Crosby.

VIVA the League, baby... NOT just the Penguins.

Penguins and Islanders line brawl...

This might end up being a suspension for the islander player Matt Martin's as he attempts to sucker punch Maxime Talbot. I am not sure if he Martin caught him or not. This in my opinion is a violation of the hockey code. I also wouldn't class Maxime Talbot a dirty player or worthy of a response like this.

Penguins’ hack gets flimsy four game suspension

I know we have covered this subject a lot here but I really think that Matt Cooke needs to be suspended more than four games, his latest suspension is a friggen joke and a travesty. This was an opportunity for the NHL to throw the book at this P.O.S. and make a statement that they will no longer tolerate this kind of crap anymore, they let him off the hook with a flimsy four game suspension.

Hey I don't have a problem with players being a pest and it’s one thing to be a antagonize but Cooke goes way beyond the what should be considered ethical behavior on the ice. In looking around the internet today there is a common theme among the fans and bloggers, Matt Cooke needs to sit and there needs to be some teeth to his suspension, maybe a lengthy 15-20 game suspension. Cooke’s four game suspensions is a joke and is basically the league condoning his behavior. Cooke tried to take Ovenchkin’s knee out earlier this week, now this. The next time Cooke commits another dirty hit or bush league the league needs to make it hurt.

NHL.COM --- Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins was suspended four games by the NHL on Wednesday for hitting Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin from behind Tuesday night, according to Nick Kypreos of Rogers Sportsnet.

I have to agree with Don Cherry that Matt Cooke is a back stabbing piece of _________. We don’t need to put it down here because you know I mean. If you think I am over blowing this go back and watch this video, this is the kind of player Matt Cooke is, in my opinion Cooke is a text book definition of thuggery and goonery. [Click to watch]<<<--Watch this video it's a great historical breakdown of Cooke's antics.

Today on XM-204 Jeremy Roenick called Matt Cooke a chicken shit. [Click to listen]

Potential vs. Current Development, a RW77 Rant

Ok, I am feeling rantish today and I'm in need of some enlightenment from the reader base.

On and on throughout my online fandom, I've read post after post about fans expectations of collegiate players based upon draft status and position. I find this extremely laughable.

Here's my rant:

Draft position, or even the fact they were drafted, is only marginally relevant to the college game. It's not even all that relevant towards junior player-rostered international competition. Why?

The NHL is always trying to draft for "now" talent, but it's not all that often that there are those sitting around beyond, say, the top 5 picks overall, and that's not always the case even so. Those who are good enough for the NHL when they are drafted are usually signed by the NHL right away. There are exceptions, sure, but for the most part, they are drafted based upon potential... or what they're predicted to develop into.

With this in mind, it's amazing on how people can base whether or not a player has done well or is living up to expectations based upon when they were drafted. If they weren't drafted at all, then there is no such expectation. Talk about hypocrisy.

The most recent example is the fact that Finland hung in there with the US WJC team despite the US having more draft picks on the team. What does that have to do with anything?

Sure, the American players have a higher potential towards professional play according to NHL Scouts, but that's hardly what's being graded at the WJC. Remember, Herb Brooks had the option to put even "better" players on his 1980 Olympic team than he did, but he did not. Craig, the goaltender, IIRC, wasn't the best goaltender available to Brooks at the time. BTW, Craig didn't have an altogether stellar pro career either.

Why is draft stock held in so much higher regard towards expectation than the players' current level of development?

I'm reminded of the former Wild GM Risebrough (sp?) who talked about the potential of his team being the key to his system. Yet, year after year, the Wild sucked. Why? Because potential relates directly to the future... a future that isn't guaranteed, just predicted. Teams that want to win NOW sign players who are able to produce NOW. Much like why the Red Wings are so successful as of late. Yeah, they are older than the sky but their potential has been realized and Babcock can better assigned them into roles within the team that should bring the most success.

College Hockey deals almost exclusively in players who have not yet reached their potential. In fact, if they did before they reached DI, they're typically on the watch for being busts... (See Mike Fink, Sioux fans). Yet, if an NCAA player is drafted, especially if it is in the first round, they are expected to be absolute monsters right away. If they're not, or play differently than the expectations the fans build on them, they're usually criticized, more often or not, unfairly so.

It's one of the main challenges of being college fans. We want our players to play fantastic, win it all, etc. We bang our heads against the wall when the NHL takes notice and signs them early. But if the player takes a normal developmental curve, they're open for criticism for not being as good as a player who bolted early.

So what is it? Allow the players to play their game at the current developmental rate and criticize them according to their play or let draft status cloud our judgment and grade them according to what they should be X years down the road today?

It seems rather harsh to me.

Saturday Morning Pontifications… Links…

There really isn't much going on in the "College Hockey World" right now... The World Juniors Championship is going to be firing up after Christmas. The first game for the USA WJC in on the NHL Network at 7:00 PM against Finland on December 26th. There is only one WCHA series this weekend as the Mavericks travel to the Springs to play the C.C. Tigers.

Links

Team Canada goaltenders on the hot seat [Globe and Mail]

Flash Back; U.S. wins junior gold in overtime thriller [Globe and Mail]

Julie Robenhymer from Hockey Buzz has been tweeting from the USA WJC selection camp and you can catch her tweets here at @JulieRobenhymer...

BSU Beavers tested by their tough schedule during the first half of the season, BSU has played the second hardest Strength of Schedule. [Up North Sports Report]

Former UAA Goalie Nate Lawson is going to make his NHL debut tonight because their starter is former BU goalie Rick DiPietro out with an injury again. Nate is still sporting the number 52 that he wore in college...[islanders.nhl.com]

Earlier this week another former WCHA goalie Ricard Bachman made his NHL debute with the Dallas Stars as well. [Eye of the Tigers] Bachman was sent back down after his debut. [Eye of the Tigers]

Zdeno Chara Gets Too Close to Ryan Miller; Miller Starts Skirmish. [NHL Fan House] Awesome I was looking for the video for this one...

WJC: Team USA preview Defending the gold on home soil [niagarathisweek.com]

Jack Campbell should be key player in World Juniors [starsblog.dallasnews.com]

The UMD Bulldogs are opening at new arena on December 30th against the UND Fighting Sioux and they are having a dress rehearsal. [Rink and Run] UND opened the BSU's Beavers new home by sweeping the Beavers by a pair of 6-2 scores back in October.

Colorado trip no vacation for Mavs... [WORLD-HERALD]

Turf Wars.

I saw this story on line while I was perusing the internet this afternoon. The Columbus Dispatch had this news nugget on it.

Puck Rakers Blog --- It’s commonplace for players to limber up by kicking a soccer ball in a circle, but the teams are usually separated by a considerable distance to avoid conflict. For example, in Nationwide Arena teams play soccer at either end of a 200-foot hallway.

The Blues, however, are the one visiting club with a history of circumnavigating the unwritten code in Columbus, an NHL source said. Last night, Blues players walked around the inside of the building to hold their soccer game within about 100 feet of the Jackets’ players, eyewitnesses added.

Jackets alternate captain R.J. Umberger, who does sprints before every game, apparently ran through or nearby the Blues’ circle sparking a verbal exchange, several eyewitnesses said. Umberger has grown weary of what he perceives as gamesmanship by the Blues, a source said. The Blues certainly have set a physical tone against the Jackets in recent seasons and the local club has not always responded well.

It’s unclear how many players on each team were involved. The skirmish was broken up quickly, but the game featured two fights, multiple scrums, 92 penalty minutes and venomous verbal barbs.

Sounds like the rivalry between the Blue Jackets and the Blues is getting heated. As an NHL fan, you have got to love a near scrum in the building before an NHL game. Nice! I would love to have former Ohio State University Buckeye R.J. Umberger on my team any day.

Fallout of 'dirty' hit against Miettinen is concussion exam

This kind of stuff concerns me, the league wants to protect the players and then doesn't suspend them for dirty hits. Now another player is out with a possible concussion.

Star Tribune --- Wild right winger Antti Miettinen has been sidelined with what the team now believes may be a concussion stemming from a high hit he took Monday from Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown.

Miettinen, who has been complaining of headaches and vision problems, was to be examined by a neurologist Friday after coach Todd Richards said Wild doctors ruled out an inner-ear infection.

Brown was assessed a 5-minute major and game misconduct for an "illegal check to the head," although he avoided further discipline from the NHL.

That surprised Richards, who called Brown's hit "dirty."

"You've got to protect the players," Richards said. "To me, it's a blindside hit."

Voiding Roberto Luongo contract would be ‘in complete violation’ of CBA: prominent agent

If you haven't seen this article it's worth taking a look at. I don't see how the NHL could void the contracts of players that have already played a season under their current deals.

VANCOUVER — Prominent player agent Kurt Overhardt doesn’t figure the National Hockey League will void the registered, front-end loaded contracts of Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo and three other players.

Overhardt, who possesses 20 years experience in contract law, employment law and intellectual property law, noted that arbitrator Richard Bloch’s decision on the Ilya Kovalchuk deal was “subjective” and that the 17-year contract should have been upheld.

As a consequence, Overhardt cannot see the NHL throwing out the Luongo, Marian Hossa, Chris Pronger and Marc Savard contracts. On Monday, Bloch ruled in favour of the league’s decision to void Kovalchuk’s $102-million deal with New Jersey, agreeing with the NHL that the contract “has the effect of defeating” the league’s salary cap.

“What basis did [Bloch] give?” Overhardt said in an interview from his Denver office. “What did he hang his hat on? The decision was completely subjective. There was no bad faith found between the parties, There was nothing within the collective bargaining agreement that he found was actually in violation of the document. So, therefore, logic and law and the facts dictate the contract should have been upheld.”

This, of course, leads to the already registered contracts for Luongo, Hossa, Pronger and Savard. Hossa has played one year on his contract while the other three will see their deals kick in for the 2010-11 season.

“Any and all speculation that the league is going to claw back these other contracts ... would be in complete violation of the collective bargaining agreement and it would be a complete infringement of the players’ rights under the CBA,” Overhardt continued. “Any attempt to do so would be absolutely predatory behaviour by the league, would be in bad faith and not in the spirit of the CBA.”

Source: NHL to change tiebreaker

This is good news for the hockey purists that don't like shootouts deciding tie breakers. I also think it his is the first step in the NHL backing away from the shootout.

ESPN - The NHL plans to finalize a change to its regular-season tiebreaking system for 2010-11 at a Sept. 14 Board of Governors' meeting, a league source said.

Under the new plan, the first tiebreaker will be a combination of regulation time and overtime victories, with shootout wins excluded. In the past, the first tiebreaker had been total wins of any kind.

Wilson will help the defense.

I found this blog post over on MVN.COM ; first off I wouldn't call it a rift but a smart hockey move by the Minnesota Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher. Hiring Former Fighting Sioux defenseman Rick Wilson who is a proven assistant coach in the NHL was an awesome move and his defensive philosophy can help a team that was horrible defensively last season. I don’t think it it’s a stretch to say that last season the Wild defense looked like a bunch of orange pylons or road cones and it was almost like they had forgot everything that the previous coach had taught them.

Is the hiring of defense-guru Wilson a sign the team has lost a little faith in Richards' and his system to win games? Mike Ramsey, who was the outgoing defensive guru noted philosophical differences as part of the reason for deciding to step away as part of the Wild's trio of coaches. So far nothing public has been stated that really points to a rift but Fletcher clearly is willing to place who he wants above the desires of the head coach. I know that many Wild fans steadily began to question Richards' decision-making especially after holding an optional practice after a particularly paltry effort the night before. So could upper management be wanting Richards to be on the hot seat unless the team shows some real improvement? Maybe, because the franchise is finally feeling a bit more pressure from hockey-mad fans as demonstrated by the struggles to sell season tickets, especially in the lower bowl where you can now purchase 10, 20 and 30 game season ticket packages for the first time in the history of the team. The best cure for those sorts of woes is winning and I think Richards would be foolish to think he would not catch some flak from the ownership if the team again finds itself mired in a mediocre season. The fact of the matter is the team is spending near the cap ceiling, and Wild owner Craig Leipold is going to want to see some return on that investment. I think many Wild fans are wanting the same thing, and they're hoping to avoid a complete rebuild even if that really may be the best solution in order to achieve long-term success.
[State of Hockey]

I think we need to give Chuck Fletcher the benefit of the doubt here and I also think Wild fans need to be a little patient when it comes to the Wild Coach Todd Richards, the former general manager Doug Riesbrough left the Wild hockey in shambles and it’s going to take a long time to correct the mess that was left behind.

Friday Links

I forgot to add this story the other day but former UND defenseman Rick Wilson will be an assistant coach with the Minnesota Wild. You can expect the Minnesota Wild to be better defensively with Rick Wilson on board.

A former University of North Dakota defenseman, Wilson brings a ton of experience to the Wild's relatively-inexperienced bench. He has spent the past 20 years as an assistant or associate coach with the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Wilson began coaching hockey 24 years before Todd Richards’ playing career even ended. In fact, when Wilson began coaching his alma mater, the University of North Dakota, in 1978 as an assistant, Richards was just 12 years old.

He turns 60 today and summers in Bemidji. As I've mentioned on here and Twitter, the delay had to do with working out the contract because Tampa Bay and Dallas each have to pick up a portion of his two-year deal.

After spending one season with the North Stars in 1992-93, Wilson moved to Dallas with the franchise’s relocation and spent the next 15 seasons with Dallas. Over that time, Wilson helped guide the team to seven division titles, two conference championships, two President’s Trophies and a 1999 Stanley Cup. [Russo's Rants]

There has been an on going debate this summer about the state of college hockey and how College Hockey has been losing top blue chip recruits to the OHL. While I don’t like seeing players leave early and sign with their professional teams, I would rather see that player play with their college team for one or two seasons than not have them play in college at all.

Julie Robenhymer from hockey buzz has a really good story on this subject.

I was then asked why I thought NCAA players were leaving school for the CHL or AHL. We could talk about the difference in educational opportunities and the number of games they can play or not play and the time available for them to spend in the weight room or not, but that's rather pointless because it's really all about having options.

What's the difference between what Cam Flower did in signing a pro contract and Nick Leddy signing a pro contract?? Fowler has the option of going back to his junior team if he doesn't make the cut in Anahiem where as Leddy had to cut ties with the University of Minnesota because of NCAA eligibility rules. He doesn't have the same options that Fowler does and in my opinion, is making more of a commitment.

Some guys think they're ready. Some guys just want a change of scenery. Maybe there was a coaching change and the new coach wants to make changes that don't allow a particular player to develop into the best player he can be... The real problem is that we only see college players leaving for juniors because they can, but we NEVER see junior players leaving for the NCAA because they CAN'T and it really skews the perception that one is better than the other when really they're just different paths with different options available to them.

I think the NCAA could improve if they gave a kids more options like major junior hockey does. Personally, I like the option where if a kid tries out with his professional team and doesn’t make his NHL team, that player has the option of going back to his junior team and continuing his development. While I know it’s never going to be an option with NCAA division I hockey, I can see why some players might choose the CHL over the NCAA. Like others have said there is no one size fits all route to the NHL and college is still getting great players into NHL. I am not going to bash one or the other.

Another thing that I don’t like is the fact that once a kid signs with a CHL team he is considered a professional and is no longer eligible for division one hockey, I think it is a dumb rule and I would like to see college hockey change that rule.

Fetch from the college hockey blog takes a stab at this issues in a blog post titled Two Early Departures, Very Different Circumstances [Click to read]

I do think that Sid Hartman should stick to writing about things that he knows about like football, basketball and finally baseball. I should think twice about quoting this Sid Hartman post on anything that relates to hockey but it does make for some interesting reading.

The Big Ten commissioner didn't see the 18-game conference basketball schedule being extended. But he did say that on the table is a possible Big Ten hockey championship, once another school adds hockey as a sport. Five conference schools now play the sport: Minnesota and Wisconsin in the WCHA, and Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

Sid are you sure they aren't talking about maybe a possible Big Ten Hockey Championship and maybe not a Big Ten Hockey Conference?

Maybe just maybe there is more to this than Jarred Tinordi backing out of his commitment to Notre Dame Fighting. I mean things aren’t always as they seem. However you look at it, it’s a big loss to the Fighting Irish. Also, I guess we can mark Dale Hunter down as not being a fan of Jeff Jackson or a fan of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Ouch! I was always told if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all.

The London Knights have run against an old foe in the battle to sign Montreal Canadiens first-rounder Jarred Tinordi.

The coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is Jeff Jackson, a former Guelph Storm coach who once accused the Hunters' Knights of playing "prehistoric hockey."

Tinordi has committed to suit up for Jackson in South Bend, Ind., this fall. The Knights, who own the big defenceman's OHL rights, aren't giving up hope.

"We think he's a very good player," London coach Dale Hunter said, "and it's not like they're (Notre Dame) the best team in their league.

"They're not Boston (University) or anyone like that."

The Knights aren't the same club Jackson remembers, either. After his Storm departure in 2003, the Hunters transformed London into a team dominated by skilled forwards with puck possession and power-play success.

Jackson is regarded as one of the top coaches in U.S. college history. He guided Lake Superior State to two national titles in the 1990s, helped build the foundation of the United States national development program (where Tinordi played and captained the under-18 team to gold this year) and turned the Irish program around.

But Notre Dame finished a combined 13-17-8 last season. The Knights won 49 games and Hunter was named OHL coach of the year for a third time.
[London Free Press]

Bruins: Marc Savard deal investigated like Ilya Kovalchuk’s

With an arbitrator voiding Ilya Kovalchuk's contract Monday, it looks like pandora box has been opened. You have to wonder if Marian Hossa's deal is going to be looked at as well.

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins [team stats] say they’re cooperating with the NHL in its investigation of Marc Savard’s contract.

The league is looking into Savard’s contract after voiding one with a similar structure that went to Ilya Kovalchuk. The Devils had agreed to pay Kovalchuk $102 million over 17 years, with much of the money coming upfront. An arbitrator agreed that was meant to circumvent the salary cap.

Kovalchuk is back on the free agent market. It’s not clear what would happen if the league determines there’s a problem with the extension Savard signed last year. It pays him $28 million over seven years, with about $1 million of it in the last two years.

The league registered Savard’s contract in December but told the Bruins it would investigate. Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli says he met with league lawyers last week.