Tuesday at the Links… The No Hockey League and "Sloppy Seconds"

Good morning and there are now roughly 32 days until the University of North Dakota plays it’s first exhibition game against the Manitoba Bison.

Former Maine Star and current Tampa Bay Lightning forward Teddy Percell says that the lockout is going to hurt the players. [CBC.CA]

"Sloppy Seconds"

Here is a story that is just too good to pass up. Toronto Maples Leafs defenseman Dion Phaneuf is now engaged to former 24 actress Elisha Cuthbert– in case anyone has forgotten, Cuthbert was the center of a crude and disparaging comments that Sean Avery made about her while he was a member of the Dallas Stars.

"Uh, I'm really happy to be back in Calgary, Avery said. "I love Canada."

"And I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about. "Enjoy the game tonight."

Avery was suspended indefinitely by the NHL for those comments and after his suspension he was traded to the New York Rangers and he has since retired from the NHL.

Here is all you need to know about the star studed engagement - Exclusive: Elisha Cuthbert Engaged to Dion Phaneuf: All the Details!

Lockout Talk

If this doesn’t sink for you - The Ottawa Senators have begun preparing their fans for the strong possibility of an NHL lockout.

Former Minnesota Duluth Bulldog and current Vancouver Canuck defenseman Jason Garrisonis growing a beard and he says that he'll keep the beard until the National Hockey League and its players sign a new CBA. Garrison might have to trim that beard or it could get pretty long.

The on going saga that is the Phoenix Coyotes; deal with Glendale in flux .

Misc stuff

While we are on the subject of the Phoenix Coyotes; Though ownerless, Coyotes have shown signs of staying power...

Apparently, Wayne Gretzky 'dreamed' of second Summit Series... [The Observer]

From ESPN yesterday - Bloomberg Businessweek has its annual ranking of the smartest spenders in sports. Check out the Smartest and worst spenders...

Smartest spenders:
1. Detroit Red Wings
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Boston Bruins
4. Chicago Blackhawks
5. San Jose Sharks

Worst spenders:
1. Toronto Maple Leafs
2. Edmonton Oilers
3. Columbus Blue Jackets
4. Calgary Flames
5. Minnesota Wild

Here is the defending Stanley Cup Champions National TV schedule "if" there is a season. [LA Kings Insider]

University of North Dakota Defenseman Andrew MacWilliam made the latest Hot List.

Andrew MacWilliam, D – University of North Dakota (WCHA) Never to be confused with an offensive dynamo, MacWilliam has nonetheless been a sturdy, physical presence on the UND blueline during his first three campaigns. Entering his final year in college, the Calgary native will don the green sweater as captain, with Habs prospect Danny Kristo as one of the assistants. Drafted 188th overall by Toronto in 2008.

Kitchener Rangers irate over Jacob Trouba report

Apparently, the Kitchener Rangers are none too pleased with the accusations that the Rangers have offered Michigan recruit Jacob Trouba $200,000.00 to sign with the Rangers and forego his commitment to the Michigan Wolverines.

Sunaya Sapurji, Yahoo! Sports --- Steve Bienkowski, the Rangers’ chief operating officer, flatly denied the report and any kind of payment offered to the Trouba family. In addition, Bienkowski said the team has retained a lawyer and will purse the matter legally.

“We’re going to look at every legal remedy we have against the newspaper, the reporter and these so-called unnamed sources in the OHL who need to be held accountable for basically saying lies against our organization,” said Bienkowski in a phone interview from Halifax.

Unlike most OHL teams, the Rangers are community-owned and not a privately held company. As such, an external accounting firm audits their financial statements and those accounts are presented to season-ticket holders each year.

“The reality is there’s nowhere to hide the kind of money people are accusing us of paying,” said Bienkowski, who is a chartered accountant himself.

“But it is what it is, we’ve been targeted before and I’m sure we’ll be targeted in the future.”

This is not the first time an OHL team – or the Rangers – have been accused of paying players large sums of money to play for them. Last summer Paul Kelly, the then-executive director of College Hockey Inc., an arm of NCAA hockey, accused teams of paying players though no proof was ever produced.

I do think it’s funny that the Kitchener Rangers are going to go after a the student run newspaper "The Michigan Daily- I have a hard time believing that the editor of the newspaper would let that story go if the rumor hadn’t come from a reliable source, specially when the author of that story is working at a major newspaper as an Intern at The Baltimore Sun during the summer, I can’t see him jeopardizing his future journalism career with a story that can’t be substantiated.

Somewhere out there is the truth; these stories don’t just present themselves out of thin air. I am sure we will find out more in the coming days.

That being said, the statement from the Trouba family denies that any money was offered and went on to say that Jacob Trouba will honor his commitment to the University of Michigan.

“There is absolutely no truth or merit to the recent media reports that the Kitchener Rangers have..."

"...offered Jacob any remuneration. We have the utmost respect for the Kitchener Rangers and those that choose the CHL as an option..."

So as college hockey fans we wait on pins and needles to see if there are any more stories like this emerge – especially the teams that recruited players from the USNDT.

Make no mistake; the CHL teams isn’t going to back off, commitment to NCAA teams mean nothing to them and they will attempt to lure more of the best blue chip American hockey players with promises that the CHL is a quicker route to the NHL than the NCAA route.

Again, I am not here to say one route is better than the other – in the end both routes are good routes to making the NHL. Also, the college hockey route has proven to be a very good route to the NHL – if you don't believe me – all you have to do is look at the top free agents available during the free agent signing period – a good number of them played NCAA Division I hockey before they made it to the NHL – examples of note- Zach Parise, Jason Garrison, Erik Johnson, Matt Carle and Ryan Suter just to name a few off the top of my head.

Summer dreaming

It's 90 degrees today and I am wondering like many other hockey fans - where is Zach Parise going to sign and for how much? Zach's decision on where he is going to sign, isn't going to happen today, according to Michael Russo.  Also, it sounds like the Penguins are Zach's front-runner, I suppose none of us should be shocked with that because they cleared a bunch of cap space. If you're a Wild fan I am sure you're hoping that Parise changes his mind.

 Sounds like free agent players like Jason Garrison, Florida and  Matt Carle, Philadelphia are also going to wait and see where Ryan Suter, Nashville goes before they make their decisions as well.
 

Link around on Thursday

CBS Boston

This weekend the free agent signing period will kick off on Sunday July first. There are some big name former WCHA players out there on the market looking to sign new deals. With all of the negative news stories making up today’s news cycle I thought I would focus on the positive, NHL Hockey.

SCSU forward Drew LeBlanc has been invited and will attend the Minnesota Wild’s Development Camp. [St Cloud Times]

Apparently, former Fighting Sioux forward Jonathan Toews is trying to get Phoenix Coyotes forward Shane Doan to sign with the Blackhawks. [Rant Sports]

According to Darren Dreger of TSN – Penguins star forward Sidney Crosby Penguins will sign a new long-term contract extension worth than $9 million and a total value over $100 million. [ESPN.COM]

According to NESN, the Boston Bruins are close to re-signing Tuuka Rask. [NESN.COM]

While I am not a fan of Montreal Canadians defenseman P.K. Subban or his bush league antics – I am quickly becoming a big fan of his little brother Malcolm Subban, who was drafted in the first round by the Boston Bruins. Get those recorders rolling – Bruins first-round pick Malcolm Subban is already on record as saying that he hates the Montreal Canadians. [CBS Boston]

According to Michael Russo - the oft injured power forward - Guillaume Latendresse's playing days with the Minnesota Wild are now over - Latendresse will test the free agency market starting on July first.

From the Same article Russo says that, "The Wild's contract offer to Parise on Sunday will be, let's just say, absolutely colossal." As a Wild fan this makes me happy.

According to the AP - A judge has upheld the Glendale City Council's vote on an arena lease agreement with a prospective owner of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Former Fighting Sioux defenseman Brian Lee has been resigned by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Lee’s contract is a two year deal, and also a one-way contract.

Former Fighting Sioux All-American Forward Zach Parise is listed as one of the top dozen free agents [NHL.COM]

Also, from that same article linked above – former WCHA alumni Ryan Suter (UW), Nashville, Jason Garrison (UMD), Florida, Justin Schultz (UW), Anaheim and Matt Carle (DU), Philadelphia – are also included in that dozen. Impressive fact is that five out of the top 12 available free agents that also have ties to the WCHA. That speaks volumes on what kind of league the WCHA is. [NHL.COM]

Justin Schultz has given his list of teams that he will sign with, they are as follows the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers. [TSN.CA]

Former Boston College Eagle goalie Cory Schneider doesn't seem all that worried about not having a new contract as of yet. [TSN.CA]

Here is the latest from the CBA front - Donald Fehr, ‘says season could start on time even without agreement.’

WCHA well represented in NHL free agency

s/t to Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald... According to the Globe and Mail four out of the top 10 free agent defensemen are former players from the WCHA. That's pretty impressive in my opinion. Also, former Fighting Sioux forward and current New Jersey Devil Zach Parise will probably land in the top three as well.

Zach Parise rated number two Free Agent

Zach Parise prepares to start in a game for the New Jersey Devils (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here are the top 12 unrestricted free agents according to Ryan Porth – Sportsnet.CA

1. Ryan Suter, Nashville Predators

2. Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils

2011-12 salary: $6 million

As for Parise, he may be the best free-agent forward since teammate Kovalchuk signed his 15-year, $100 million contract with the Devils two summers ago. Despite coming off major knee surgery, Parise scored 31 goals in 2011-12 -- his fifth 30-goal campaign since the lockout -- and was a factor in getting the Devils to their first Stanley Cup final since 2003. Some pundits doubt the Devils have the goods to match any contract offer Parise would receive in the frenzy. Like Suter in Nashville, it comes down to Parise’s commitment level to the Devils, the only organization he has ever known. Parise is the captain of the Devils and the heartbeat of the offense, but money speaks volumes.

3. Alexander Semin, Washington Capitals

4. Shane Doan, Phoenix Coyotes

5. Jaromir Jagr, Philadelphia Flyers

6. Jason Garrison, Florida Panthers

7. Matt Carle, Philadelphia Flyers

8. Olli Jokinen, Calgary Flames

9. Dennis Wideman, Washington Capitals

10. Dustin Penner, Los Angeles Kings

11. P.A. Parenteau, New York Islanders

12. Josh Harding, Minnesota Wild