Raffi Torres, "I just felt like it was a hockey play"

I was watching the Phoenix Coyotes game last night and like most was shocked to see that Raffi Torres wasn’t kicked out of the game for his check on Marian Hossa. The even more puzzling thing was the fact that Torres wasn't challenged to a fight later in the game by one of the Blackhawks players. Now the Chicago Blackhawks have to depend on the NHL’s Department of Player Safety to see if they respond to this hit.

True to form Raffi Torres saw nothing wrong with the hit in question, of course Sociopaths never do, so none of us should be shocked by the lack of remorse, shame or guilt from Torres.

"First off, I hope he's alright. As far as the hit goes, I just felt like it was a hockey play, just trying to finish my hit out there," said Torres. "The last thing I'll say is a I hope he's alright."

Did he leave his skates? Does he think he'll be suspended?

"I'm not gonna answer that," he said, before leaving the postgame interviews. [Puck Daddy]

Most of us have no idea what transpires out of this hit and it will be interesting to see if Torres is suspended by the NHL or not. Some have predicted that Torres could get a very long suspension and could be suspended into next season for his efforts on the ice last night. Personally, I would be shocked based on some of the rulings that Shanahan has come up with in the playoffs up to this point. One thing hanging over Torres’ head is that he a repeat offender and has been suspended twice in the past 13 months. Ironically, this hit took played one year to the date of his hit on the Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook.

Ice Edge pulls out of Coyotes deal ahead of City Council vote

Here is the latest in the never ending saga...

PHOENIX - Ice Edge Holdings has withdrawn its minority interest in the proposed purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes ahead of a Glendale City Council vote that would put off finalizing any deal by as long as a year.

Ice Edge CEO Anthony LeBlanc said Tuesday that his organization had been involved in the process with the Coyotes "long enough."

Ice Edge once had tried to buy the team as the majority owner but accepted minority status when Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer entered the picture.

Hulsizer's efforts to buy the team from the NHL have stalled in the face of a threatened lawsuit by the conservative Goldwater Institute watchdog group over terms of a lease agreement worked out with Glendale for the team to continue to play in Jobing.com Arena.

LeBlanc said his company would concentrate on its minor league hockey operations in Thunder Bay, Ont. He also plans to run for political office there, he said.

The move has no serious implications for the bid by Hulsizer, whom LeBlanc said would be "a terrific owner."

But Hulsizer's efforts have hit a logjam that may be impossible to break, since he has indicated he has made his last, best offer and the Goldwater Institute vows to sue if the city follows through on the deal. The institute is concerned that the generous terms of the lease violate the state's constitutional ban on subsidizing private enterprise.

Glendale pays NHL $25 million for Coyotes losses

The city of Glendale should send Gary Bettman the bill for the Coyotes losses.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) The NHL has exercised its option to take $25 million from the city of Glendale to cover losses by the Phoenix Coyotes this season.

The city had placed the money in escrow a year ago at the NHL's insistence to cover such losses if the sale of the team had not gone through by the end of this season.

The city says the NHL took the funds on Monday.

The NHL bought the team out of bankruptcy in September 2009 with the intention of finding a buyer to keep the team in Arizona.

The proposed sale to Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer has been stalled by the threat of a lawsuit by the Goldwater Institute, a conservative watchdog group.

So is Brett Hextall the next one to sign?

Brad Schlossman tweeted this last night on Twitter...

Re: Hextall rumors. Been working for two days to get something confirmed, but haven't gotten anything. I know PHX is after him.

Here is a postcast and at the 12:00 minute mark of the interview with Brad Treliving,
Vice President of Hockey Operations and Assistant General Manager for the Phoenix Coyotes said that they are trying to get a deal done with Brett Hextall. [click to listen]

Phoenix Coyotes Update

This could be good news for the city of Winnipeg.

Bob McCown & David Shoalts ----- Sportsnet Radio FAN 590's Bob McCown has learned from sources that the $100M public bond issue which was a requirement to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix has failed. The future of the Coyotes in Phoenix is now in question and once again the possibility of the club returning to Canada has resurfaced. McCown discussed the story with the Globe and Mail's David Shoalts, who has been covering the Coyotes story intimately.
[click for the audio]

Martin Hanzal's Goal (Redwing77)

Ok, here's another one for you hockey pundits.

I saw this goal live (on TV) and I was completely blown away with the call. So were the fans. So was the commentators... and so was LA GM Dean Lombardi, who blasted NHL Review official Mike Murphy. And Lombardi is paying $50,000 for doing so.

My Opinion

This is a NO GOAL. Every angle has the puck being hit when it was, at best, even with the crossbar. I can't find an angle where his stick wasn't above the crossbar until after the puck was headed to the net. And, no, I'm not trying to defend LA Kings defenseman and former UND stud Matt Greene (#2 pictured).

As for Lombardi, his comments were ridiculous! He stated, in effect, that the reason why Toronto (and Mike Murphy) didn't overrule the on ice officials was because Lombardi got the GM position instead of Murphy! That's dumb. However, complaining because it was a bad call was dumb, but justified. In other words, had Lombardi come out and said that Toronto made a bad call, and gotten fined for saying so, I'd be defending Lombardi. Saying what he said was just stupid.

The NHL, however, responded by saying, in effect, that the job of Toronto isn't to overrule the officials, but to get the call right. Well, that's nice, but I've never seen the on ice official get overruled to get the call wrong. The instant replay system is designed to ensure that, true enough, the correct call is made, but also to ensure that the officials are calling the reviewed play correctly. Whether or not the on ice official is overruled is irrelevant. If overruling the officials on every single replay in a game results in the right calls being made, then who the hell cares about the on ice officials?

Sources: Hulsizer to bid on Coyotes

Here is the latest in the Coyotes debacle. It appears that a buyer has stepped up that will keep the Coyotes in Phoenix.

ESPN.COM ---- Matthew Hulsizer, CEO of PEAK6 Investments is in the final stages of negotiating a new arena lease agreement with the City of Glendale after which Hulsizer is expected to make an offer to purchase the Coyotes from the NHL, multiple sources have confirmed to ESPN.com.

The emergence of the Chicago-based financier and former collegiate hockey player comes at a time when negotiations between Ice Edge Holdings, a group of Canadian and American investors who have been pursuing the team for more than a year, and Glendale officials have stalled.

Although Hulsizer could not be reached for comment, sources familiar with the businessman and situation in Phoenix believe he may be the answer to the NHL's search for a viable owner.

In fact a number of sources said he represents the last, best chance to keep this team in Arizona.

"He has an unbelievable financial mind," one source that has known Hulsizer for years told ESPN.com.

"He's exactly the kind of guy that the league needs. He's a legitimate hockey guy with a lot of money."

Glendale OKs Deal To Keep Hockey Team

I am beginning to wonder if the city of Winnipeg wasn't used a pawn to get the city of Glendale to cover the Coyotes losses up to 25 million dollars? We will see in the coming weeks where this is heading. Here is another interesting perspective on this matter from on Frozen Blog.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Glendale City Council unanimously agreed to cover up to $25 million in operating expenses for the Phoenix Coyotes during the 2010-11 season during its meeting Tuesday night.

Council members agreed to create user fees in their sports and entertainment district to cover the hockey team's costs.

The city will only instate the fees if the National Hockey League fails to find a new owner for the franchise by September.

The city said it is still negotiating with two potential owners for the hockey team.

Glendale and NHL officials said they were optimistic they would secure a new owner this summer.

If Glendale did not agree to cover the team's operating costs, NHL officials were considering moving the team back to Winnipeg, Canada.

Dozens of fans showed up to Tuesday's city council meeting to support the team