Funny rant on the NHL discipline

This article was in the Vancouver Sun today and it’s a scream… it’s a must read if you haven’t seen it.

Cam Cole, The Vancouver Sun --- *** Is Boston coach Claude Julien right? Are the Habs the biggest collection of divers and embellishers in the NHL? (Memo to Beantown bloggers: does this mean the Vancouver Canucks are off the hook?) Is it an affront to all that's right and good in this world that the Bruins are the third-most penalized team in the NHL, and that the Canadiens have had 100 power play chances this season, while Boston has had just 61?

Or does Boston's penalty total go with the territory of being Big Bad Bruins? Kind of like the enduring Broad Street Bullies tag that clings to the reliably rugged Philadelphia Flyers, who lead the league in penalty minutes per game. Or the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were never considered very hard to play against until they went out and acquired a series of heavyweight brawlers, and now are No. 2 in the NHL in average time served.

Or is Julien whistling in the dark? He might be. Because No. 4 on the average penalty minutes ranking is ... Montreal.

Oilers' Taylor Hall faces hearing for dirty hit on Clutterbuck

Let’s see if the league has two sets of rules again, one set of rules for super stars and one set of rules for goons and third and fourth line players.

Taylor Hall might be a super star, but if a star starts racking up questionable and dirty hits, his actions will start catching up with him. Hall is also starting to develop a history with the Wild players as he also was also the guy that broke Wild Defenseman Jonas Broden's clavicle back in November with a shoulder-to-shoulder check. I do expect that it’s time for Hall to answer the bell for that dirty hit on Clutterbuck, the hockey code demands it.

NHL.COM --- Edmonton Oilers forward Taylor Hall faces a hearing with the National Hockey League Department of Player Safety Friday afternoon for a kneeing/clipping incident in Thursday night's game against the Minnesota Wild.

Hall was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for kneeing Minnesota's Cal Clutterbuck at 17:27 of the third period. Clutterbuck was helped from the ice and did not return.

It will be interesting to see how the Vice President of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan deals with this hit by Taylor Hall. It’s time to step up and make the right call. There is no excuse for this hit.

Vancouver's Hansen faces hearing for hit on Hossa

Vancouver Canuck forward Jannik Hansen hit Chicago Blackhawk forward Marian Hossa's in the head with this dirty hit and he needs to be suspended by the National Hockey League for this dirty hit, there is no defending this hit. Like I said in a previous post, this is a clear violation of the NHL’s rule 48. Vancouver Canuck forward Jannik Hansen needs to be suspended for this dirty hit, and there is no defending this hit.

NHL.COM --- Vancouver Canucks forward Jannik Hansen faces a hearing with the National Hockey League Department of Player Safety Wednesday afternoon for an incident in Tuesday night's game against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Hansen was assessed a two-minute minor for roughing Marian Hossa at 1:10 of the third period. Hossa left the game and did not return.

Chicago defeated the Canucks, 4-3, in a shootout.

I do hope that the NHL Department of Players Safety does the right thing and suspends Hansen for this hit. These are the types of hits are that hockey is trying to eliminate, there is no reason for Hansen to hit Hossa in the head on that play.

Final Thoughts on Matt Cooke’s hit on Erik Karlsson

Today, the discussion on twitter and around the hockey blogsphere is the hit that Matt Cooke put on Erik Karlsson.  You can see the hit on the embedded video posted above.

The NHL’s department of Player Safety has reviewed the play and will not suspend Matt Cooke.

First, I hate Matt Cooke, I think he is a disgusting P.O.S. and if this guy was hurt in a fight or by a check and could never play in the NHL again, I wouldn’t be upset. I hold the guy in the lowest regards. Also, if he was standing in front of me I would tell this to his face.  

I understand that Cooke has cleaned up his act on the ice, but you can put chocolate frosting on a turd, it’s still a turd. I also don’t care what Cooke does off the ice; this low life scum has ruined too many good players’ careers on the ice. I also doubt that Marc Savard will donate money to Matt Cooke’s charities, again, it's Matt Cooke.  

To me, Cooke is no different that Todd Bertuzzi.

That being said, I don’t think that Matt Cooke intended to make a dirty check in this instance. The fact that it’s Matt Cooke people will always look at him with skepticism.

Tuesday Link around… information over-load

The biggest news of the day, besides the lockout being over, is the defection of UNO goalie Anthony Stolarz to the London Knights of the OHL.

This comes on the heels of the Denver defenseman Dakota Mermis leaving the Pioneers, to play for the London Knight’s as well.

I admit that the Mermis defection to London is also puzzling as well. Mermis was in the Denver lineup and playing on a regular basis with the Pioneers (1g-3a—4pts) in 19 games.

Stolarz defecting to the OHL is kind of a head scratcher for me and many other college hockey fans. Stolarz is a second round draft choice of the Philadelphia Flyers and wanted to go the college route and develop his game.

Obviously, Stolarz is probably a little disappointed with his start with the Mavericks (2-5-0, 2.56 GAA, .898 save percentage) but playing time is earned in division I college hockey. I am not sure how it’s going to get any better with the London Knights who are currently stacked at the goalie position with Jake Patterson (16-1-1-1, 2.20 GAA, .924 %), Kevin Bailie (18-4-0-1, 2.50 GAA, .921 save %).

I also imagine, that you have to earn you playing time on a team lead by former NHL forward Mark Hunter as well.

Of course right away people are going to wonder what Mermis and Stolarz were offered by the London Knights?

Also, the Knights have a two headed monster in goal; Jake Patterson and Kevin Bailie are both ranked in the top six for OHL goalies with the likes of Franky Palazzese, Malcolm Subban, Jordan Binnington and John Gibson.  

The part that is the most puzzling to me is how “some” of today’s athletes have such a small sense of commitment. It’s like they feel there’re owed something.

It’s this entitlement attitude, that I am entitled to top six minutes, top four defensive pairing or the majority of the starts in net. It doesn’t work that way in life. If things don’t go their way, they’ll just transfer to another team or league. What makes them think they’re going to play more at their next team? Whatever happened to working harder in practice?

Back in the day, if you weren’t playing as much as thought you deserved. Said player, might go visit with the coach. The conversation with the head coach would go something like this. Coach, ‘I am not playing as much as I would like.’ Coach would probably say something like this, ‘then practice harder.’ The conversation most likely would end with the player in question thanking the coach for his time and returning to practice.

Links of interest

Roman Augustoviz has a pretty good article on his blog today on the Hobey Baker Candidates in the WCHA. [click to view]

UND Hobey Baker Memorial Award Candidate Corban Knight is leading the Florida Panthers NCAA prospects in points. Knight currently has 10 more points than Kyle Rau and Nick Bjugstad. [click to view]

With the NHL Lockout finally being over, Michael Russo is actually going to be covering NHL hockey again and not the Minnesota Gophers. I am sure that some Gopher Hockey fans will be unhappy because Russo is one of the best in the business.

There is some good news as well. Pierre-Marc Bouchard is now symptom free and will be in training camp. Yay!  It also looks like Wild Defenseman Matt Dumba will be in training camp when the Wild start training camp. [click to view]

NHL fans are asking for cheaper NHL ticket prices. Yeah, good luck with that. [click to view]

Now that the NHL is back on… One of the questions that Eric Duhatschek ask is this it for Jarome Iginla in Calgary? [click to view]

After 113 days NHL Lockout is over… Yay!

I woke up this morning to find out that the winter of discontent is over; the NHL and the NHLPA have agreed to sign a new CBA, according to Minnesota Wild beat writers Michael Russo of the Star Tribune.

"We have reached an agreement on the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement," Commissioner Gary Bettman said at a joint news conference with NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr at 5:45 a.m. ET. "The details have to be put to paper. ... It's good to be at this point."

Do you hear that? Yay! The NHL lockout over! The NHL will no longer be the No Hockey League. I suppose now the NHL will try very hard to win back the millions of fans that they upset and too for granted. If the reports that I have been reading are correct, the new deal is for 10 years with a mutual opt-out after eight years.

So we shouldn’t have to go through another lockout until the 2021 season. Winning back the fans that they took for granted is not going to be an easy task, especially in this economy. Many fans will stay home and watch the game on NHL Center ice or get the games through their regional sports channels. I can say many.

Now the NHL teams have to fish their players out of the different European hockey leagues, especially the KHL.

The Kontinental Hockey League was a favoured (sic) destination, especially with the Russians as Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, Washington's Alex Ovechkin and New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk were among that league's scoring leaders, just as they usually are in the NHL. [TSN.CA]

So basically, for 113 days the NHLPA and the NHL owners who acted like a bunch of spoiled children. Finally got to work and signed a deal. This should have been done last summer. I think the fact that the NHL owners put that ridiculous proposal out in September, kind of slowed things down and polarized the two sides.


Now the NHL wants us back. I think they have one hell of a marketing job to do. It’s not going to be easy getting some of the casual fans back into the NHL arena’s to watch the games. The NHL had a lot of mojo after last season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs and they squandered that momentum.

There might be some people that don’ want to spend that $70.00 - $200.00 to see a national hockey league game. I spent $70.00, for lower bowl seats the last time that I went to a Minnesota Wild game in March of 2011.

Honestly, I will be back watching the game from my living room, and I can’t wait to see the Boston Bruins play hockey again. I can’t wait to watch my Bruins smash P.K Subban and the Canadians again, but I am still angry.

I can’t wait to watch the Brad “Little Ball of Hate” Marchand’s antics as he drives the opposition fans and players nuts. I already have a shot across the bow to one of my buddies that hates Marchand.

Lastly, I still think that the Vancouver Canucks led by the Sedins Twins and Alex Burrows are still a bunch of diving frauds.

Some CBA tidbits

Good afternoon, this is day 73 of the NHL lockout and we're no closer to getting an agreement than we were yesterday.

The NHL CBA talks have now decided to hire a federal mediator to help them in their squabble. Which for a short period of time gave NHL hockey fans a “sliver” of hope that there could be an end to this ridiculous work stoppage – the recommendation by the mediation team is non-binding.

This might be nothing more than window dressing. I am not giving up hope that just maybe, we finally can have a break through – we’re running out of time to have a meaningful season if this lockout drags on much longer.

Ed Tait; Winnipeg Free Press --- The U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service announced Monday a pair of mediators will now be involved in negotiations between the NHL and the NHLPA in an effort to bridge the gap between the two sides.

"I think both sides are prepared to try a new approach," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Washington Times. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Added NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr in a statement: "We look forward to their involvement as we continue working to reach an equitable agreement for both the players and the owners."

Then one of the first official actions to come out of the federal mediators coming on board was to have one of the mediators removed from the team because of a twitter kerfuffle.

Kevin McGran; The Toronto Star --- In what could only be described as a bizarre twist, mediator Guy Serota was removed from the talks only an hour after being appointed due to the odd postings on his Twitter account (@GuySerota). Some of the tweets included references to masturbation and religious attacks on comic Sarah Silverman. He said it was hacked. It has since been deleted and replaced with nothing controversial on it.

He was replaced as a mediator by John (Jack) Sweeney, director of mediation services, once the hockey world got a look at Serota’s sometimes awkward musings on the social media site that has famously seen its share of hoaxes (recently during Hurricane Sandy), impersonators and the humbling of celebrities, like Alec Baldwin.

The ole my twitter account was hacked excuse. You really can’t make this stuff up – twitter references to self-gratification – some people should not post on twitter. When will people realize that you have to safeguard your twitter account but also; one tweet could ruin your whole life with one click of a mouse.

This is one of the best eye opening articles that I read today.

Barry Rozner; Daily Herald --- The reason there’s no agreement yet is that Gary Bettman has made promises he can’t keep. And if he doesn’t keep them and loses half an NHL season — or more — in the process, he will be out of a job that pays him $8 million a year.

That’s why there’s been little negotiation from the NHL. That’s why there’s no hockey. And that’s why there won’t be hockey until the owners order Bettman to sit down and negotiate, or a union decertification forces the league to bargain instead of bleed.

See, Bettman promised seven or eight owners that he could get another lopsided deal. If he doesn’t get it after losing a billion dollars in league revenue, he’s probably out of a job.

So Bettman is holding up the game to save himself, and one imagines he’s still convincing a small group of men that he can squeeze more from the players. That small group of owners, in turn, is keeping the arenas silent.

Doesn’t paint you a very good picture about the hopes of gaining a settlement for the CBA, unless certain owners want to have a new agreement.

Jason Zucker Overtime goal

Can you imagine how good Denver would be if Jason Zucker was still with the Denver Pioneers this season. According to Michael Russo of the Star and Tribune, this goal by Zucker tied an AHL record for one of the fastest goals in overtime (five seconds). This was a goal scorer's goal as well, the goalie never seen it coming. Former UND defenseman Chay Genoway was also on the ice for Aeros as well when the goal was scored.

NHL cancels more games through December 14

You see where this is going? I suppose it won’t be long before the NHL leadership cancels the whole month of December and then we get to the ledge where the season is cancelled probably soon after if no agreement is reached.

NEW YORK - The National Hockey League announced today the cancellation of the 2012-13 regular-season schedule through December 14. The NHL also announced the cancellation of the 2013 NHL All-Star Weekend scheduled for Jan. 26-27 in Columbus, Ohio. The cancellations are necessary due to the absence of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL Players' Association and the NHL.

A total of 422 regular-season games -- 34.3 percent of the season -- were scheduled for Oct. 11 through Dec. 14.

"The reality of losing more regular-season games as well as the 2013 NHL All-Star Weekend in Columbus is extremely disappointing," said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly. "We feel badly for NHL fans and particularly those in Columbus, and we intend to work closely with the Blue Jackets organization to return the NHL All-Star events to Columbus and their fans as quickly as possible."

You have to wonder how many other players are begging to feel the same way as Roman Hamrlik and Michal Neuvirth. I think this is kind of what the NHL owners wanted to do as well. You have to wonder if there is beginning to be some dissention in the player ranks.

Katie Carrera; Washington Post --- Washington Capitals forward Troy Brouwer was frustrated Thursday to read comments made by two of his teammates that questioned the direction of the NHLPA during the lockout.

In the previous 48 hours, veteran defenseman Roman Hamrlik said that he was “disgusted” and spoke out against NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr while goaltender Michal Neuvirth voiced support for the blueliner’s view, adding that he believed the lockout was about “several superstars with big contracts.”

Those comments didn’t sit well with Brouwer, who along with Jason Chimera serves as the Capitals’ representatives to the NHLPA and has spent much of the past few months learning the details of the union’s proposals and helping relay the information to others.

I was wondering about this the other day, not everyone in the NHL makes 5-10 million dollars a year in the NHL. There are a lot of players that are making less money and might be feeling the pinch of the lockout. I wonder is the will signal the beginning of the end of the solidarity with the NHLPA?

“I agree 100 percent with Hammer,” Neuvirth said. “This lockout is not about majority of players, I think. It is about several superstars with big contracts.”

Leafs Fan buys toilet for $5,300.00

This morning, I was listening to NHL Home Ice on XM-92 and this story was one of their lead stories. You would have to be one heck of a NHL Hockey fan to buy an old toilet for 5,300.00. Seriously, I can’t imagine spending that much money for a toilet no matter who sat on it.

TORONTO - An Ontario lawyer is now the proud owner of a toilet from the Toronto Maple Leafs' former dressing room.

Jim Vigmond, of Barrie, Ont., bought the unusual item for $5,300 at auction after the piece he really wanted—the 1967 Stanley Cup banner—got too expensive. The toilet was offered up along with more than 100 items from Maple Leaf Gardens, which was home to the NHL team until 1999.

Fifty-five-year-old Vigmond says his friends were skeptical about the purchase.

But the long-time Leafs fan says the item was just too good to pass up.

Vigmond says he was actually willing to spend up to $10,000 on the throne.

"They thought I had money to burn, and surely there was something that I could have better spent my money on," he said.

"They've got a point. But ... it's a part of an icon. I just thought ... what a rare piece and just think of all of the people that have spent time contemplating in that dressing room what lies ahead of them."

Vigmond plans on putting the toilet in his sports memorabilia room, where he wants to sit on it, light up a Cuban cigar, open a bottle of 30-year-old single malt, and hopefully, watch a Leafs game sometime soon.

This sums it up well.

Winter Classic to be cancelled

Original NHL logo, used until 2005. A version of the logo features it in the shape of a hockey puck. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Michael Russo, beat writer for the Star Tribune also said on tweeter today the Winter Classic is dead. Russo is one of the most in tuned beat writers for an NHL team and if he says that the Winter Classic is going to get cancelled, I will believe that it’s true as well.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP)--- A person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press that the NHL has cancelled the 2013 Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because the league had not yet announced the cancellation of its signature event. The person also the NHL will schedule its next Winter Classic at the iconic stadium that seats more than 100,000 people.

Last week, the NHL wiped out all of its previously scheduled games through the end of November.

Detroit and Toronto, two of the league's Original Six teams, were going to play outdoors on Jan. 1 at the stadium known as the Big House. The league was hoping the matchup would break the world record for hockey attendance. Michigan and Michigan State's hockey teams drew a record 104,173 fans in 2010.

 Nice to see that the NHL is finally becoming the No Hockey League... One has to wonder if and when will the two sides finally put their differences aside and come to an agreement so we can have an NHL season. It's obvious that the NHL Owners are trying to get the NHLPA to crack and I don't see it happening this time around.

Tuesday Morning ponderings

I haven’t really been following the CBA lack of a negation’s as closely as I was before the college hockey season started. It’s becoming evident that the NHL owners are trying to see if the NHLPA’s resolve will develop fissures and start to fall apart. It doesn’t really appear to be happening just yet, although according to Michael Russo, “there are some players that are starting to fret over lost wages.”

I suppose, if you’re an older veteran NHL player like former SCSU Husky forward Matt Cullen, you only have a finite number of years to play before in the professional ranks before you become too old to play in the NHL anymore.

The thing that really bugs me is that this is the third lockout of Gary Bettman’s 19 year tenure as the NHL commissioner – so in my opinion he will go down in NHL history books as being the lockout commissioner. Bettman is highly unpopular with the NHL fans and the players – but he isn’t going anyway fast according to Christopher Botta of the Sporting News.

Octagon agent Allan Walsh, a persistent critic of Bettman’s, struck a similar chord last week. “The writing is on the wall,” said Walsh, whose clients include Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. “Every sports commissioner has a certain shelf life, and Bettman’s has expired. We all know the lockout will end at some point, but Bettman has become such a toxic commodity for the game, it’s untenable after three lockouts that he be the person to grow revenues in partnership with the players going forward.”

ut unlike Logan, Bettman—who answers to the owners of a 30-team league and has the support of an overwhelming majority of them—is not going anywhere.

“Gary’s in this for the long term,” said Harvey Schiller, the former president of the Atlanta Thrashers and now chairman and CEO of GlobalOptions Group, a risk management and business solution company in New York. “He has majority support of ownership. Gary has made a commitment to them and they have made one to him.”

I consider myself a big time NHL fan and I watch at least 5-6 NHL games every week on the NHL Center Ice package, “when” the NHL is playing and not locked out. While I am saving myself $170.00 by not having the NHL this season, I would much rather spend the money.

So I find myself at a loss to find anything decent to watch on the television most nights. I guess I would rather watch the NHL than Broke Girls and Revolution, even though I do think both are decent shows.Personally, I would much rather watch the Minnesota Wild and the Boston Bruins, however, we don’t have that option right now.

I have seen some of the people that I follow on twitter say that they won’t be watching the NHL once the lockout is over – myself I will be crawling back the minute they solve this mess.

I do think that blame is on the NHL owners, I am with Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter who said.

“If you can't afford to (sign contracts) then you shouldn't do it. (Owner Craig Leipold) signed us to contracts. At the time he said everything was fine. Yeah, it's disappointing. A couple months before, everything is fine, and now they want to take money out of our contracts that we already signed.”

So for the time being – a fair number of us just have our college hockey – I know that’s how I am going continue to fill my NHL void with NCAA hockey until the NHL owners and the NHLPA come up with a solution. There have been a few other options that popup from time-to-time, I currently have a KHL game to watch on my DVR at home and there is going to be another KHL game on MSG on October 31st.

The day that NHL hockey arenas sat empty

This week was supposed to be the start of the NHL season – normally – I sit down in front of my television set to watch whatever teams are going to be playing in the double header that kicks off the NHL Hockey season.  

Opening week came and went with hardly a whimper and there was not a NHL hockey game to be found anywhere on your television dial. Not that TV’s have dials anymore, but you know what I mean.

If you’re keeping track, the NHL is into its 28^th day of the lockout and there is not an end in sight – the two sides aren’t even talking any more – not on any issue of substance anyways.

Yesterday, a banner was supposed to be raised in Los Angeles as the Kings were supposed to celebrate their magical season – instead the Staples Center sat empty.

Normally, I would be well into my first payment for NHL Center Ice – this year I am probably saving the $170.00 dollars and I might not renew my subscription once the NHL hockey season begins.

As I was sitting in the press box of Ralph Englestad Arena before last night’s game between the USNDT and UND, there were two televisions and on each television there was a separate college hockey game – it was at the time that I realized – do we really the NHL to get our hockey fix?

Not really!

There is a plethora of college hockey and minor league pro games to fill the void left by the NHL – tonight, I will probably tune into see the championship game of the College Hockey Ice Breaker Tournament on NBC Sport Network at 6:07 pm Central Standard Time.  

That being said, there is some bad news is – Pierre Maguire handling the color commentary for the game tonight – so you might want to consider turning down your television volume and just watch the game in silence. I don’t know if I can handle listening to Maguire pretend that he is an expert on Division I college hockey.

But I digress.

This is probably all of the hockey; in any form that some fans are going to get tonight – at least in most American television markets, since hockey is a niche sport.

If you think about this way, we’re powerless as NHL hockey fans anyways – neither side cares that much about us anyways – we’re just a means to an end anyway. Both sides are taking us for granted as well – if they weren’t they would have had a new CBA deal signed by now.  

I wish the NHLPA and the NHL owners would just agree to a 50/50 split and get on with it – that is where the owners are going anyways – there’re going to get to that number eventually.

Also, if I was Donald Fehr – one of the terms that I would demand is that the NHL owners to fire Gary Bettman as a gesture of good will to the players and the fans, for the good of the NHL – I think that this would go a long way in the healing process. Lets be honest, the only people that like him are the NHL owners.

It’s all about money and a piece of the pie – being a capitalist I don’t fault them one bit, however, think about it this way – the two sides are squabbling over 3 billion dollars in revenue – while some people haven’t had a job in years due to the economic down turn.

Taking it further, the average salary in the NHL today is roughly about 2.4 million dollars while most of us will probably never make more than 100,000.00 a year.  

Yeah! Both sides need to sit down and stop acting like a bunch of spoiled children so we can salvage what’s left of the NHL season.  In the meantime, tune into NBC Sports Net tonight to watch hockey where the athletes aren’t paid a salary but go just as hard to the net.

Lockout Humor

#nolockout #bettmansucks #nohockeyleague

The No Hockey League is back

I haven’t been following the NHL Lockout news as closely lately because frankly it’s been depressing and there hasn’t been much in the way of news to come out. There also hasn’t been any serious meetings either. I am hoping that NHL Network and NBCSN decided to give us some AHL hockey this season because I don’t think we’re going to have an NHL Season. It could also be a very long NHL season = No Hockey League Season.

Larry Brooks; New York Post --- It Is time for the moderate and progressive wings of the NHL Board of Governors to reclaim their league from the extremists who have managed to set the collective bargaining agenda.

It is time for the Governors who have been cowed most notably by owners’ commissioner Gary Bettman and Boston’s Jeremy Jacobs to gain control before this runaway train of an insane lockout goes over the cliff, taking the 2012-13 season and the NHL’s credibility with it.

All of a sudden, it is getting late early. All of a sudden, what seemed unthinkable over the summer and even up to a week ago, appears not only possible, but probable: The season — another season — is going to be canceled.

What kind of league operates this way? What kind of industry routinely shuts its doors upon expiration of each labor agreement? What manner of leader rules by gag orders, veto power and ultimatum?

There is a deal to be had here. Everyone in the industry recognizes it, and essentially everyone in the industry, including those on both sides of the aisle, recognizes the deal starts with the league guaranteeing all existing contracts with a capped rate of escrow of approximately 5 percent.

Apparently, the Winter Classic is going to be used as leverage either - this is from Sporting New's Jesse Spector...

The Toronto Star reported on Friday that, according to a source, commissioner Gary Bettman plans to pull the plug on this season’s Winter Classic as early as November.

“Gary told (the owners) he was going to cancel the Winter Classic in November because he didn’t want the players to use the game as leverage,” the Star’s source said.

No one should be confused now – the NHL owners aren’t going to give an inch in this labor disagreement and the NHL owners are bound and determined to weaken the NHLPA and will kill the season to make their point.

Kind of makes a guy wonder why the Owners and Players don’t just send this labor disagreement to arbitration hearing now to save our season. It doesn’t take a great hockey mind to figure out that the owners don’t plan on moving and they have sent their lap dog Gary Bettman out to relay that message.

Moreover, the fact that Gary Bettman is out there already threatening to cancel the Winter Classic should send the players a message that the owners plan on doubling down and agree with Bettman’s tactics. There is going to be no give and take here and this is beginning to look a lot like 2004-05 all over again.

The people that are going to suffer the most in this labor disagreement is the fans –it appears at least right now that the neither side care too much about the fans.

That being said I do blame the owners for most of this mess – if you were so broke why the owners signing these ridiculous contracts during the offseason. I am pointing my finger at the Owner of the Wild and the Nashville Predators specifically right now. Seriously, that is like someone that is grossly overweight complaining about their weight problems after eating a huge helping of chocolate cake. The owners can’t have it both ways.

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.

You have options during an NHL Lockout

Here is a good article that I found this morning that piqued my interest and this article kind of sums up the lockout in a nutshell – I would have to say that I agree with the author – I do believe that both sides could come to an agreement very quickly that would allow the season to start on time if both sides were equally committed to starting the season on time. I mean seriously, lock the NHL owners and the NHLPA in a room by themselves and tell them do not come out until you have an agreement.

I also agree with others that say the lockout is not our fault – we aren’t culpable.

Let’s not kid ourselves, both sides are banking on the assumption that no matter how long the work stoppage lasts that the fans are going to come back in droves when the work stoppage is over and watch the NHL play hockey.

The players want to play and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman seems bound and determined to lock the players out for a third time since 1994.

Robert Tychkowski, Edmonton Sun --- It seems rather odd that NHL owners are hurrying to sign as many players as possible under the current CBA before locking those same players out because the current CBA just isn't working.

But that actually sums up hockey's latest labour strife perfectly: it makes absolutely no sense, millionaires squabbling with billionaires over who gets the bigger slice of an obscenely big pie.

If the players were a little more understanding and the owners were a little less stupid, they could solve this thing in a week.

But they aren't, and they probably won't.

Why should owners worry about making smart business decisions, like not putting hockey teams in places where 12-year-olds knew they couldn't survive and not trying to cheat their way around their own salary cap, when all it takes to get about $350 million in taxpayer money for a new arena is stamping their feet and threatening to leave town?

And why should players settle for $4 million a season when they can get $4.5 million? Think it's easy scoring 12 goals a year?

While it appears that the NHLPA and the NHL owners are on a collision course to be locked out for an unprecedented third time since 1994 by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman – there’s no reason to fret – hockey fans have many viable otions. Unlike the professional ranks there are no lockouts in college and junior hockey. These are good options to fill the NHL.

With the aid of DirecTV you can watch oodles of College Hockey. The best comprehensive schedule for all of the college Division I hockey games can be found at the College Hockey News. While the television Schedule is not posted yet it will be closer to the start of the college hockey season.

While the prospects of not starting the NHL season on team – they NHL cynically released their 2012-13 television schedule this past week.

Top-30 Fantasy Hockey Goalie Rankings

The NHL has been running their Fantasy Rankings based on position and today they put out the Top-30 Fantasy Hockey Goalie Rankings. No big shocker who they ranked number ne –but I am surprised that Quick isn’t number two.

1.Henrik Lundqvist
2.Pekka Rinne
3.Jonathan Quick - UMASS
4.Cam Ward
5.Jaroslav Halak
6.Ryan Miller - Michigan State
7.Marc-Andre Fleury
8.Niklas Backstrom
9.Tuukka Rask
10.Jonas Hiller
12.Cory Schneider - Boston College
22. Brian Elliott - Wisconsin

Friday dreaming...

There are 36 days until the University of North Dakota plays it’s first exhibition game against CIS team the Manitoba Bison. One thing college hockey fans will never have to worry about is that the NCAA will never have a lockout. That being said, I do like the NHL.

A tradition of Excellence has it's Rankings and Features, Part 2

The picture that you see on the right is the goalie mask of Western Michigan University Broncos goaltender Frank Slubowski. It’s been making it’s way around the internet to the various sites and I think it’s an impressive site to behold. Slubowski's mask has The Big Lebowski theme on it. The paint job on the mask was done by Head Strong Grafx.

On the NHL CBA negotiations front, it looks like the NHL is once again going to be the No Hockey League as Bettman and the owners are bound and determined to lock the players out for a third time since 1994. Why does the Bettman and the owners want to lock out the players? it's simple, because they can!!!

Some of the Redwing Players are impressed with the NHL owners latest proposal – I don’t think that anyone is really that shocked by this either. I am sure that if we polled a majority of the NHL players we would get the same response.

Ansar Khan, MLive.com --- “We understand some clubs are struggling,'' Cleary said. “Our revenue-sharing (plan) helped lower-end teams. There's a lot more sharing of the pie, so everyone would keep their heads above water.''

Privately, some players are saying there is little hope of getting a deal done in time to prevent a lockout on Sept. 15. They don't believe the entire season will be canceled, like it was in 2004-05, but some think the 82-game schedule will be reduced to 60 or 65 games.

Cleary, however, said he hasn't abandoned hope of saving the full season.

“There's still time,'' Cleary said. “No one wants a lockout. The money that will be lost for everyone will be astronomical. A lot of people at Joe Louis Arena I know personally could be laid off. That's one side no one thinks about.''

Said Abdelkader: “We know Sept. 15 is coming up. I don't think anyone is panicking. The sides are still apart, but we've still got some time. Hopefully, we can get something done before opening night (Oct. 12). We still got a lot of time to hash things out. I think there's still a lot of optimism that something can get done.''

So when the NHL owners made their latest proposal this past Tuesday to the NHLPA there was a discussion about the new offer’s revenue split being somewhere in the neighborhood of 51.6 per cent to 48.4 – but after some the great hockey minds perused the NHL owners new proposal – the consensus was that the players’ was more like 54-46 in favor of the NHL owners. This new breakdown was based on changes on how the owners calculated the Hockey Related Revenues, it seems that what is consider Hockey Related Revenues has shrunk making the players share of the HHR less, hence the smaller share for the players.

Apparently, the NHLPA would like to have set standards to know just what exactly the owners are calculating as their Hockey Related Revenues. While the owners originally came out and said that the new revenue split was something like 50-50, it all depends on how you look at it. Some have referred to the 50-50 revenue split as being less than generous revenue definitions.

From the latest proposal, these are the four changes that the owners are proposing - this doesn't necessarily mean that the owners are going to get these proposed changes - but this is what the owners have put out.

1) In the existing CBA, teams can deduct the cost of doing business from HRR. But there are limits. For example, deductions from preseason games or "special games" such as European openers, "shall not in the aggregate exceed fifteen (15) per cent per League Year on a League-wide basis" of the revenues. You can find all of the examples, if you wish, in Article 50 of the current document. The NHL is arguing that costs far exceed these caps.

2) One area of HRR the NHL cannot deduct ANY costs from is luxury suite sales (e.g., paying people to sell them). Everything must be thrown into the pot. Mistake, oversight, whatever - the league would like a re-do.

3) Lightning owner Jeff Vinik spent $35 million US last summer to upgrade The Tampa Bay Times Forum. Meanwhile, Rangers owner Jim Dolan committed an estimated $977 million to a massive renovation of the Madison Square Garden. (Say what you want about Dolan, but doing that without public funding is extremely impressive.) As it stands, teams receive no financial credit for that. The league would like that changed. The model is probably the latest NFL CBA, which allows the league the option of taking 1.5 per cent from the NFLPA's 47 per cent share to build new stadiums. Larger revenues from newer buildings, the reasoning goes, benefits the players, too.

4) When players on one-way deals like Wade Redden or Jeff Finger are sent to the minors, their salaries no longer count. Not only is the NHL trying to eliminate this loophole from the salary-cap portion of the discussion, it is trying to make those contracts tied to HRR, too. [Elliotte Friedman CBC.CA]

With each passing day it looks like there is going to be a work stoppage in the NHL. It also looks like the players are preparing for delayed start to the season – but they also have to be ready because these impasses can come to a quick conclusion. While there is really no reason to believe that a quick solution can be reached and I also think many hockey fans are of that mindset as well – based on what we are hearing in the media and from Gary Bettman. Fans as well as the players would like to see the NHL start on time. I just hope that there is a quick solution to the CBA negoiations.

George Richards, Miami Herald --- Commissioner Gary Bettman has said if a new deal isn’t reached by that time, the league will lock out its players for the third time under his watch.

There is some optimism a deal will get done especially after the league’s latest proposal. Yet expectations are games will be missed. So what exactly are these players doing working out in August?

“Getting ready for November,” joked one former Panthers player who asked not to be identified. “I hope we play in October. But I also hope we play in November. We’re still getting ready.”

According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune this is the way the defense pairing are going to look to start training camp for the Minnesota Wild. It's nice to see that he Minnesota Wild have more depth than they have had in a very long time.

Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon
Marco Scandella and Tom Gilbert
Clayton Stoner and Nate Prosser or Jonas Brodin

Fred Poulin of the Hockey Writers has his top 20 overpaid players in the NHL. I think you will also notice a few familiar names from the WCHA as well as players from our favorite teams. Also, it’s not hard to see how some teams can get into financial trouble – look at some of the salaries some of these players are paying – in retrospect, I doubt the owners of the Islanders or any other team would pay Rick Dipietro what he is getting paid right now.

Ville Leino, Buffalo Sabres– $4,500,000 cap hit
Christian Ehrhoff, Buffalo Sabres – $4,000,000 cap hit
Jay Bouwmeester, Calgary – $6,680,000 cap hit
Mike Cammalleri, Calgary Flames – $6,000,000 cap hit – Michigan Wolverines
Joni Pitkanen, Carolina Hurricanes – $4,500,000 cap hit
Paul Stastny, Colorado Avalanche – $6,600,000 cap hit – Denver Pioneers
Shawn Horcoff, Edmonton Oilers – $5,500,000 cap hit
Ales Hemsky, Edmonton Oilers – $5,000,000 cap hit
Ed Jovanovski, Florida Panthers – $4,125,000 cap hit
Dany Heatley, Minnesota Wild – $7,500,000 cap hit – Minnesota Wild & Wisconsin Badgers
Scott Gomez, Montreal Canadiens – $7,357,143 cap hit
Rick Dipietro, New York Islanders – $4,500,000 cap hit
Lubomir Visnovsky, New York Islanders – $5,600,000 cap hit
Paul Martin, Pittsburgh Penguins – $5,000,000 cap hit – Minnesota Gophers
Martin Havlat, San Jose Sharks – $5,000,000 cap hit – Former Minnesota Wild
Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning – $7,727,273 cap hit
Tim Connolly, Toronto Maple Leafs $4,750,000 cap hit
Mike Komisarek, Toronto $4,500,000 cap hit – Michigan Wolverines
Keith Ballard, Vancouver $4,250,000 cap hit – Minnesota Gophers
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver $5,333,333 cap hit

Former NHL agitator Sean “Sloppy Seconds” Avery has officially announced his retirement.

Here is a pretty good read on the CBA One could make the argument that the rich teams are the ones that are going to pay a heavy burden with any new CBA agreement. - Frank Seravalli: How Flyers will suffer with labor changes.

The Edmonton Oilers have locked up two of their young stars Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle to identical seven-year deals worth an eye popping $42 million dollars. It’s apparent that the Edmonton Oilers don’t want to lose their two up and coming stars to an offer sheet and would like to keep them well into the future.