Robert Bortuzzo Has a Hearing With Department of NHL Player Safety

Another day, another questionable, dirty hit. For those that are defending this hit and saying that this isn't a hit to the head, look a the Gif above. The video evidence doesn't lie. Bortuzzo catches Jagr right in the head with his shoulder. The head is the principle point of contract.

Pittsburgh defenseman Robert Bortuzzo will have a hearing for a late hit on New Jersey forward Jaromir Jagr. Day & time TBD.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) December 3, 2014

Devils not happy with hit on Jagr. DeBoer: "If one of our guys did that to Crosby it would have been World War 4" http://t.co/1YWuaH2WCD
— Eye on Hockey (@EyeOnHockey) December 3, 2014

LOOK at latest #pens win with photos from @TribSportsPhoto >> http://t.co/wRebJJ3aP3 pic.twitter.com/tHClzPuFTK
— Rob Rossi (@RobRossi_Trib) December 3, 2014

Pierre McGuire interviews Devils forward Travis Zajac

NBC's Pierre McGuire interviews New Jersey Devils forward Travis Zajac. The Former UND forward gives the University of North Dakota  hockey team some love going into the Frozen Four.

New Jersey Devils: Martin Brodeur's amazing save

What an amazing save by New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. Looks like he wasn't even looking. The Devils would beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1.

New Jersey Devils: Damien Brunner goal - Gif

Devils forward Damien Brunner scores a beautiful goal against the Senators. Obviously, there will be some that think this should have been a penalty. It could have been.

Check out @UNDSID's tweet.

I think this tweet is well said. Hockey players are a special breed. I just hope we don't have a bunch of sick and banged up hockey players this week when the rested UMD Bull Dogs come to town.

Overnight bus ride, players vomiting, ice packs everywhere, text books out. Keep this in mind when you question their commitment. #NDproud
— Jayson Hajdu (@UNDSID) November 11, 2013

@goon48 the ninja doesn't take holidays off.
— Chris Wassel (@ChrisWasselTHW) November 11, 2013

New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk retires from the NHL at age 30

New insider? "@AngelinaLawton: Guess I was 7 months early on this secret :) #kovalchuk @NHL @NHLDevils pic.twitter.com/tWeIpErkZc”
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) July 11, 2013

As announced today, the Devils forward Ilya Kovalchuk retired from the NHL leaving the New Jersey Devils holding the bag. I am thankful that I don't have  Ilya Kovalchuk in a keeper fantasy hockey league.

NHL.COM --- Kovalchuk's departure frees up more than $6 million in salary-cap space for the Devils, allowing the club to be more active in free agency. But the Devils will have to pay between $250,000 and $300,000 per year in cap-benefit recapture fees for each of the next dozen years.

"Right now we just have to take a step back to go forward," Lamoriello said. 'We'll just have to re-evaluate what our options are and do the best we can, but we'll be ready to play when September comes."

Kovalchuk leaves the NHL after 11 seasons; he had 417 goals and 399 assists for 816 points in 816 games. After being taken by the Atlanta Thrashers with the first pick in the 2001 NHL Draft, Kovalchuk had 29 goals as a rookie in 2001-02. He scored at least 30 goals in each of the next nine seasons, including six in a row with at least 40 from 2002-03 to 2009-10.

With Ilya Kovalchuk departure, the Devils free up six million dollars that that they can use to go after a forward to take Kovalchuk's place, of course forwards like that don't grown on trees. With the departure of Kovalchuk, former Fighting Sioux forward Travis Zajac is now the top paid forward with the Devils. The Devils also have about 10 million dollars to work with under the cap. Kovalchuck is now going to play for SKA in the KHL.

Updated NHL free agent signings

DATE	NAME	POS	FROM	TO	Total	Years	Avg/Yr
								Jul 10	Zidlicky, Marek	D	New Jersey	New Jersey	$3M	1	$3M
Jul 10	Corrente, Matt	D	New Jersey	Carolina	n/a	1	n/a
Jul 10	D'Agostini, Matt	D	New Jersey	Pittsburgh	$550K	1	$550K

Yesterday, was a light day for free agent signings.

Related articles

• Marek Zidlicky: Why the New Jersey Devils Brought Him Back for 2013-14 (bleacherreport.com)
• Devils re-sign Zidlicky (myrtlebeachonline.com)
• Janssen, Hoeffel re-signed by New Jersey (timesunion.com)

(Video) John Scott boards Stephen Gionta

Mr. Anger management Buffalo forward/defenseman John Scott drives a much smaller Stephen Gionta into the boards with what can only be seen as a knuckleheaded penalty, and of course all Gionta can do is laugh about it.

Sure, why not!

I guess it’s funny and no one got hurt, but it’s was a dangerous play by the Sabers goon John Scott. In my opinion, Scott is nothing more than a cement head, but also an insurance policy, to use only in case of an emergency.

Looking at the stats sheet, you will see that Scott adds little in the way of offense and rarely takes a regular shift on the ice, unless the Sabres are ahead or need Scott's toughness. In 26 games for the Sabres Scott has an unimpressive line of (0g-0a—0pts) 52 minutes in penalties and is averaging 4.25 minutes of ice time. According to hockeyfight.com, Scott has also been in 6 fights and has won them all, but has had a tough time finding anyone to dance with as of late.

Scott became necessary for the Buffalo Sabres when Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic ran over the Sabres goalie Ryan Miller last year and the Buffalo Sabres did nothing in response. After the non-response to Lucic running over Ryan Miller, the Sabers were seen as being a weak and gutless team by the rest of the NHL.

UND recruit Christian Evers drafted by the London Knights

With the 99th overall pick, the London Knights are pleased to select Christian Evers in the 5th Round of the 2013 #OHLDraft!
— The London Knights (@GoLondonKnights) April 6, 2013

Being a high profile program, the University of North Dakota Hockey team has had some of their highly sought recruits decommit and go a different route.

It’s been highly documented as of late.

In August, right before the 2011-12 season, J.T. Miller decommitted from UND, and signed a signed with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League. Miller’s decommit put UND in a precarious situation. Without Miller, UND immediately became a different type of team.

In 61 games with the Plymouth Whalers, Miller scored (25g-37a—62). After his season with the Whalers was over, Miller played in eight games during the Calder Cup playoffs for the Connecticut Whale of the AHL.

This season, Miller was called up to the New York Rangers and scored two goals, leading the Rangers to a 4-1 victory.

Last January, USDT U18 recruit Stefan Matteau, who had originally committed to play at the University of North Dakota, decommitted from UND, and decided to play for the Blainville-Boisbraind Armada of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Matteau had a strong start to the season with the Armada (18g-10a—28pts) in 35 games and was invited to the New Jersey Devils camp once the NHL lockout was settled.

Matteau ended up playing in the Devils first five games of the season before being a healthy scratch for the next four games in a row.

The New Jersey Devils could have sent Matteau back to Blainville-Boisbraind, but instead he remained with the New Jersey Devils and last night he was skating on a line with former Fighting Sioux forward Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk to start the game.

Matteau has played 17 games with the New Jersey Devils this season, scoring (1g-2a—3pts). On the March 17, 2013, Matteau was returned to his junior team Blainville-Boisbraind Armada and has scored (1g-4a—5pts) in 6 QMJHL playoff games.

In April of 2012, Miles Koules announced that he had decommitted from the University of North Dakota and was going to be a member of the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL. In his first season with Medicine Hat, Koules recorded (19g-21a—40pts) in 69 games for the Tigers.

This past November, Brendan Lemieux, son of former NHL pest Claude Lemieux, left the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL, decomitted from the University of North Dakota, and decided to play with the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League. In 42 games with the Colts, Lemieux scored an unimpressive (6g-8a—14pts).

We’re not done yet!

UND has two other recruits that have been drafted by the OHL clubs. Nick Schmaltz brother of current defenseman Jordan Schmaltz was drafted by the Windsor Spitfires last spring. Nick has not ruled out going to the Spitfires.

Also, today, UND recruit Christian Evers was drafted in the 5th round by the London Knights in the OHL Draft. Lets just say, UND fans are a little worried, based on past experience, if Evers will ever make it to UND. Evers is an impressive kid who is 6’4” and 200 pounds who will turn 16 on May 25, 2013. So you have to think, that the London Knights, will be hard after Christian Evers, to sign with them.

Evers had an impressive year with the Omaha AAA Hockey Club 16U team, scoring (17g-42—59pts) in 67 games. Evers tweeted this on his twitter account today.  So, only time will tell.

Can't wait to be apart of UND in a few years. That's what I mean when I said "Can't wait for things to play out." #SorryForTheConfusion
— Christian Evers (@CEvers97) April 6, 2013

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine.

Related articles

• UND recruit Christian Evers drafted by the London Knights (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND Recruit Evers Drafted by Knights (insidehockey.com)

Martin Brodeur falls getting his goalie stick

s/t to the Score. I got a chuckle out of this while I was watching this game yesterday. For a guy that's 40 years old Martin Brodeur can still move really good, and with all that equipment on. If the puck had actually gone in, it wouldn't have counted because the Pittsburgh Penguins were off-sides on the play.

UND: what could have been

New Jersey Devils (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now that the NHL is back in full swing, a few young players are starting to make their NHL debut with their clubs. Some of the names are kind of familiar. There are two that might stick out for North Dakota Hockey fans.

During the last two seasons, the University of North Dakota Hockey team had two highly coveted recruits (J.T. Miller and Stefan Matteau) decommit from the team and decide to go a different route.

Obviously, UND fans were a little miffed at these two young men for changing their mind and going a different route.

While I was disappointed at first, that neither of these two kids honored their commitment, I am not longer upset about it. Here’s why. Neither of these kids would’ve been here that long anyways, and in the long run it ended up working out for the best anyways.

In August, right before the 2011-12 season, J.T. Miller decommitted from UND, and signed a signed with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League. Miller’s decommit put UND in a precarious situation. Without Miller, UND immediately became a different type of team.

Because Miller changed his mind at the last minute, UND wasn’t able to just go get another player of Miller’s skill set. Players like that aren’t just a dime a dozen.

In response to the last minute defection, UND picked up a walk-on recruit named Connor Gaarder from the Coulee region Chill of the NAHL.

In 61 games with the Plymouth Whalers, Miller scored (25g-37a—62) and after his season with the Whalers was over, Miller played in eight games during the Calder Cup playoffs for the Connecticut Whale of the AHL.

This past week, Miller was called up to the New York Rangers and scored during last night’s game against the New York Islanders. Miller scored the first two goals of his NHL career leading the Rangers to a 4-1 victory.

In retrospect, Miller would have been at UND for a single season, while losing him last summer was as setback and he would have been a great addition to UND’s depleted lineup. UND found a way to win without him.

Last January, USDT U18 recruit Stefan Matteau, who had originally committed to play at the University of North Dakota, decommitted from UND, and decided to play for the Blainville-Boisbraind Armada of theQuebec Major Junior Hockey League.

This was the second high profile player in as many years to decomitt from UND and go to the Canadian Hockey League.

Of course the UND fan base was upset. But UND nation was not alone; these defections have also happened to the University of Michigan and Miami University as well.

Matteau had a strong start to the season with the Armada (18g-10a—28pts) in 35 games and was invited to the New Jersey Devils camp once the NHL lockout was settled and has started the season.

Matteau ended up playing in the Devils first five games of the season before being a healthy scratch for the next four games in a row.

The New Jersey Devils could have sent Matteau back to Blainville-Boisbraind, but instead he remained with the New Jersey Devils and last night he was skating on a line with former Fighting Sioux forward Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk to start the game.

Looking back, I think it’s safe to say that Matteau is another player that wouldn’t have been here very long, in the end his decommitment to UND might not be such a bad thing.

During a recent UND hockey media day, I had a conversation with someone about the makeup of the current North Dakota hockey roster and how it could have looked if these two players had actually made it to North Dakota. It’s something to think about.

Cross Posted at the Hockey Writers Combine... 

Brayden Schenn is the first player suspended

Well that didn't take lone. Just three days into the lockout shortened 2013 season, Philadelphia Flyers forward Brayden Schenn is the first player suspended by Brendan Shannahan. Actually, I have no problem with the suspension and this suspension should set the tone going forward.

After 247 days, the @nhlshanahan account is back in use. The lockout is officially over!
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) January 23, 2013

Travis Zajac's new deal.

Former Fighting Sioux forward and current New Jersey Devil Travis Zajac is the first player to sign a big contract under the new CBA.

Here is the break down of the deal:
2013-14 $3.5 million (includes $1 million in signing bonus)
2014-15 $5 million (includes $1 million in signing bonus)
2015-16 $6.5 million
2016-17 $6.5 million
2017-18 $6.5 million
2018-19 $6.5 million
2019-20 $5.75 million
2020-21 $5.75 million

What’s Travis Zajac worth?

Former Fighting Sioux forward Travis Zajac will be looking for a new unrestricted free agent deal when his current deal expires next summer. Zajac over the course of six seasons he has played in 423 NHL games has scored 91 goals and 164 assist for 255 career points.

According to Cap Geek, Travis Zajac has one more year of a deal that is worth $3,887,500. While Zajac was injured this past season and only played in 15 games during the regular season scoring (2g-4a—6pts), he did pick up his game during the New Jersey Devils run to the Stanley Cup Finals scoring (7g-7a—14pts) during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Zajac was pretty good through much of the playoffs – tieing Bryce Salvador for third in scoring  on the Devils - much like the rest of his Devils teammates - Zajac ran into the Los Angeles Kings buzz-saw during the finals and his game cooled off and he was pretty much held in check like the rest of his team scoring (0g-2a—2pts) in the last five games that he played in.

For comparison sake, former Wisconsin Badger’s and current Ottawa Senators forward Kyle Turris recently signed a contract extension for 3.5 million dollars per year for five years’ worth 17.5 million dollars. Based on the Turris signing I would have to think that Travis Zajac is going to be due a substantial pay raise.

Breaking it down further, Zajac is currently making only 300,000 more a season than Turris and yet has been substantially more productive on the ice than Turris, this is why I think that Zajac is due is a pretty big raise. Here is the line on Kyle Kyle Turris, he has played in the NHL for parts of five season and has a modest line of 186 NHL games played, he has scored 31 goals and 41 assist for 75 points.

When Zajac’s line mate Zach Parise signed a big unrestricted free agent deal with the Minnesota Wild some suggested that the Minnesota Wild also make an attempt to sign Zach as well. Others have suggested that Zajac will try to sign with the Winnipeg Jets during the offseason next summer.

Matteau impresses Devils signs deal

When a loss really isn’t a loss at all – it’s beginning to look like UND hockey team wouldn’t have had Stefan Matteau very long – if at all – even if he had actually honored his original commitment come to UND instead of deciding to go to Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the QMJHL.

Matteau who was drafted 29th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft by the New Jersey Devils really impressed the New Jersey Devils during their prospect development camp so the Devils signed him to an entry level deal.

Tom Gulitti, Fire and Ice --- “We felt very good about him at the rookie camp and we wanted to get him under contract and just get his professional career started, not with any knowledge of where he’ll be playing yet, but so we have the options of doing whatever we think is necessary,” Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said.

Matteau is slated to play for the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the QMJHL in 2012-13, but said at the Devils’ prospect development camp last month that he’ll be aiming to make the NHL roster at training camp in September. His father, former Rangers Stephane Matteau, is an assistant coach for Blainville-Boisbriand.

Lamoriello did not want to discuss the idea of Matteau starting the 2012-13 season in the NHL.

“I don’t even want to talk about that,” he said.

Lamoriello was impressed with what he saw from Matteau at the team’s development camp and said he also played well at the Team USA camp last week.

Will hockey go to a luxury tax like the MLB

This is an idea that would run counter to Redwing77's contraction idea that he threw out there yesterday in be the NHL Commissioner for a day. I kind of like the idea too - if your team goes over the salary cap, then that team would pay a luxury tax like Major League Baseball has. I don't know if you could get the more successful and more lucrative teams in the NHL to sign off on a deal like this.

Joe Haggerty, CSNNE.COM --- Instead the NHLPA is sitting, waiting and taking measure of which way the wind is blowing before releasing its own counter-proposal. One would expect that counter-move is coming sooner rather than later, and that it’s going to include creative ideas about revenue sharing.

After all, Fehr is the same union head that oversaw the change to a soft salary cap in Major League Baseball that essentially boils down to a luxury tax with heavy revenue sharing controls. The New York Yankees spend like drunken sailors and poverty-stricken teams like the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates end up the beneficiaries of the extra funds.

Fehr and the NHLPA have designs on something similar in the NHL where teams like the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs have seemingly endless reserves of cash they could call upon when needed. That would make things more manageable for teams like the New Jersey Devils and Phoenix Coyotes that are facing economic difficulties. That system could help the “struggling” small market franchises that are driving the owners to a “we are losing money” argument despite a record $3.3 billion in revenues last season.

But it would also be a large departure for teams like New York, Toronto, Chicago and Boston that don’t want to bankroll the rest of the league based on their own successful business models. It’s not the business that any owners signed up for when they joined the NHL, but it might just be the best solution to get everybody what they’re seeking.

One thing that proposal will do: get the small market and big market NHL owners fighting among each other given the very different situations they’re each facing.

What do you think? Also, do you think the NHL is going to have a prolonged work stoppage or are the two sides going to be able to work out their differences quickly. Some have said that the NHL has a lot to lose if they don't have their winter classic and wouldn't like to have a long drawn out work stoppage.

More bad fan behavior - Parise draws the ire of the moronic fans

This is my second installment of morons of the twitter-verse. One of my favorite Twitter feeds is the Angry NHL fans @LOLVancouver  I am going to apologize for the coarse language right off of the bat - most of the stuff that I posted here is down right moronic - some of it borders on the realm of what I would consider anti-social behavior. Reading these posts  you have to really question some of these people's their sanity. Some of the tweets I read were silly as well.

You have to wonder if some of these people realize that everything that you put on the internet is out there for all to see? If I was in human resources and one of these people were one of my potential recruits I would think twice about hiring these people. These are just a sampling of some of the worst ones that I have seen today.

Here are a few that twitter poster that don't know how to spell the word traitor... I didn't know that Zach Parise was a trader?

If anything Zach Parise has been loyal and was a New Jersey Devil for seven seasons. Actually, if we are counting the lockout season, it would be eight seasons in the the seasons in the New Jersey Devils organization. I am not sure how this clown and others came to this conclusion.

Wow! You want a sports figure to die because he didn't sign or resign with your favorite team. I am sure this guy's mother would be proud.

Parise could still sign with the Devils

July first at 12:00 eastern time the NHL teams can start negotiating with Unrestricted Free Agents. Former Fighting Sioux All-American and current New Jersey Devil forward Zach Parise is set to make a lot of money.

Rich Chere/The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger --- Days from unrestricted free agency and the chance to be romanced by other NHL clubs willing to pay big bucks for his signature on a contract, Zach Parise insisted the Devils are still very much in the picture.

Parise said today that his agents, Wade Arnott and Don Meehan, have been talking to Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello the last few days. However, he acknowledged it is very possible there will be no deal before Sunday’s noon (ET) deadline for the start of free agency.

“If that does happen, my agents have done a really good job of doing the best they can to prepare me for it. But first and foremost, we want to try to get things worked out with New Jersey,” the 27-year-old left winger told The Star-Ledger.

Michael Russo said on KFAN this past week that the Minnesota Wild are going to offer Zach a lot of money maybe even in the ‘ridiculous money range.’ Also, don't count the New Jersey Devils out just yet but if Parise signs with the Devils it would probably be after the July 1st.

You can listen to what Michael Russo had to say on Tuesday's P.A. show podcast – it sounds like the Wild are going to have their work cut out for them if they are going to do a successful sell job if they’re going to convince Parise to sign with the Wild with the Pittsburgh Penguins being in the mix.

Parise tight lipped about where he's going

This is one of those stories that aren’t going to go away, until we know where former Fighting Sioux All-American forward Zach Parise is headed. Zach Parise hasn’t tipped his hat where he is going either, only to say that he wants to re-sign with the New Jersey Devils. You can rest assured that Parise and his agent are going to get a bunch of offers from a lot of teams.

Joan Niesen, FSN.COM --- Parise said he treats his impending free agency as something he can take advantage of, but it would seem that balancing his sanity with the desire to get the most out of this summer is something he's grappling with daily. Talk to Parise for five minutes and who knows how many times he'll say he wants to minimize the stress of the process. However, coming home to Minneapolis this offseason, though a natural move, is unlikely to mitigate the constant scrutiny.

Parise grew up in Bloomington, Minn. His father, J.P., played for the North Stars, and Parise still keeps a house in the Twin Cities, which he returned to last Friday from New Jersey. That's why he made an appearance Wednesday at the Defending the Blue Line game on the University of Minnesota campus, where he signed autographs and watched from the bench. As an unsigned player, Parise did not compete with the local hockey stars who took the ice. Instead, he subjected himself to the barrage of questions he's mostly unable to answer.

On Tuesday morning Paul Allen had Michael Russo beat writer of the Minnesota Wild from the Minneapolis Star and Tribune on the KFAN 100.3 and the two of them discussed the Parise free agency story and where they think that Zach might go. Russo seems to think that if the Wild get Parise that they might have a good chance to get Predators’ defenseman Ryan Sutter. You can listen to P.A.’s interview of Russo from the podcast that is embedded below in the blog post.

Parise, "No way I'll sign with Rangers"

I know this is an old story, actually it's about half a week old,  but I just found the video for Parise's comments that he made last week while being interviewed by the media.

The now famous comments by Parise, when he said, "No way I'll sign with Rangers."

As a Bruins and Wild fan, nothing pleases me more than to hear Parise say that.  So going forward, we can probably scratch the Rangers off of the list of teams where Zach Parise might end up in the off season.

After reading this article it looks like the Boston Bruins aren't going to be making any big moves either in the off-season - so I think we might be able to cross off the Bruins off the list as well, as a place where Parise will not end up during the free agency signing period.