ESPN: Kessel's Draft Combine wasn't pretty.

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Phil Kessel's Combines; "It wasn't pretty."

I wanted to dust this blog post off so other could read it. From time to time this article is linked on various fan message boards and web pages. This article was posted on USHCO.COM Kessel Discussion I find it kind of interesting.

"This weeks ESPN Magazine written by Gare Joyce, has a very interesting article where ESPN followed around Columbus Blue Jacket player personnel director Don Boyd and GM Doug MacLean as the NHL conducted fitness testing and interviews with the top prospects for the NHL draft. Phil Kessel has quite a bit spoken about him, most of it very unfavorable."

What follows are some excerpts from the famous article in question...

May 29th Toronto

Kessel- At 17, the forward starred for the US team at the 2005 world juniors. He would have gone No. 2 behind Sidney Crosby in last year's draft if he'd been eligible, but his stock has since plunged. He spent last season on the U of Minnesota's third line.

"Strenght?" Boyd asks.

"Speed" and "scoring" go up on the board.

Then the minuses pour out. Says Brian Bates, the Minneapolis scout who saw him the most: "I wonder about his game awareness sometimes."

"There might be some selfish play there sometimes," Boyd adds.

June 2nd Toronto

Kessel walks into the room. The Blue Jackets are the first of 20 interviews on his schedule. He is barely in his seat before Boyd says, "Teammates."

Silence.

"Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"No," Kessel says.

He most certainly does. Kessel has a reputation for being disliked by teammates wherever he's played. Jack Johnson, 2nd overall in last year's draft, called him "a dirtbag" during one of his combine interviews.

Silence.

"I don't have a problem with my teammates."

More silence.

"I don't have a problem with Jack Johnson."

More silence.

"I had lunch with him practically every day."

What about the TV report about that bar serving underage Gophers?

"Happens everywhere," Kessel says.

Only 18 goals last season when you were compared to Sidney Crosby the year before?

"I was on the third line...we rolled four lines."

Kessel's time is up. He leaves, seemingly aware that his was a less-than-stellar performance.

June 2nd Toronto- Physicals and Fitness testing

"What you get a look at here," Boyd says, "is just how willing the kids are to work on their own and what their work ethic is like."

As if on cue, Kessel comes in. He looks around nervously. A few minutes later, Kessel looks gassed on the bike, stopping at seven minutes.

June 23rd Vancouver

Kessel walks in holding an empty water bottle. He shakes hands, sits on the couch and starts tapping the bottle against his palm, a drum beat...

Boyd jumps in. "Phil, I watched you test at the combine. How do you think you did?"

I think I did pretty well. It was tough. I just came back from the world championships. Didn't have that much chance to prepare for it."

"You walked around that room," Boyd says. "You saw the conditioning level of other guys. Where do you think your conditioning is? A lot of guys look like they've been in the gym longer than you. I'm not talking about the past few weeks. I'm talking about the past year, year and a half."

"I doubt that."

"You train pretty hard?" Boyd says.

"Yeah. I mean, I didn't have a chance to work out for practically a month and a half."

There are other questions. About his relationships with teammates. About his rep as a party guy. Then Boyd goes directly to the scouting report. "How would you respond to this: 'A little bit immature, needs to work a little harder in the gym, practice a little harder, needs to learn some social skills, people skills.' We'll leave it at that."

Kessel's voice falls to a whisper. "I'd say, okay...yeah a little bit...some of that stuff...it's a little hard...work on some of that stuff, I guess."

It's over soon after that. Kessel looks disheartened as he leaves. MacLean looks sad. "If what they're saying about this kid isn't true, it's criminal. Because I don't know if I ever heard the negative stuff like I have with this kid."

Goon's Perspective on the Matter

I think that Gare Joyce's article is a good illustration of one side of the Phil Kessel's story. Nothing more. Some people have said that Phil Kessel is a prima donna, others have said that he's self focused. He's also shy.

Online, people say many things when they hide behind the anonymity of the Internet. Most times, without the fear of retribution. That's life. But when an athlete says something about another athlete that's different. Right?

Let's try looking at it from this angle. Maybe, some of this stuff is actually true? It's possible, right? Yep, it is. Why would people make it up? If not, it's blatant character defamation.

Read the comment below. Are we to believe also that Jack Johnson is an pompous, self serving ass, and just making stuff up about Kessel? 

Kessel walks into the room. The Blue Jackets are the first of 20 interviews on his schedule. He is barely in his seat before Boyd says, "Teammates."

Silence.

"Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"No," Kessel says.

He most certainly does. Kessel has a reputation for being disliked by teammates wherever he's played. Jack Johnson, 2nd overall in last year's draft, called him "a dirt bag" during one of his combine interviews.

There has been a lot of discussion ad nauseam about Phil Kessel's attitude and whether he's is a cancer in the locker room. There is also the much discussed childhood tiff between Kessel and Jack Skille, when they played youth hockey together in Wisconsin.


Jack Johnson's Character

Johnson is hardly a hack. He's an upcoming star in USA hockey and the NHL. If Johnson is flawed, why does the Carolina Hurricanes want him to leave the University of Michigan and sign a professional contract? The Hurricanes must have seen something in Jack Johnson that they like.

So what,  right? I guess we are all entitled to our own opinions, however, I am still going to take  two professional athletes Jack Johnson's and Jack Skille's word over some random anonymous fan from a message board. 

In conclusion...

I have nothing against Phil Kessel. I think he has amazing offensive talent and has a very big upside.   In the NHL team goals are always going to come first, before individual goals. Its about working as a team and buying into a system, personal stats come second.

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The Pens to make push for Parise and Suter

Apparently, the Pens have cleared a bunch of cap space and are going to take a serious run at signing Ryan Suter and Zach Parise.

This is an emerging story line that I first heard  on XM Home Ice today. 

I really hope that this does not come to fruition - the Pens with Evgeni Malkin, Zach Parise, Sidney Crosby and Ryan Suter would be the nucleus of a pretty solid hockey team. Adding Parise would give the Pens a legitimate shot at winning a Stanley Cup.

Rob Rossi, Tribune-Review Sports --- Their plan is to pursue the two top players on the market, Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter and New Jersey winger Zach Parise, sources told the Tribune-Review this weekend at the NHL Entry Draft.

Team sources said Crosby soon will sign a new contract in the range of 10 to 13 years with an average annual salary of between $9 million and $10 million and will try to recruit Parise, his longtime friend, and Suter.

The Penguins’ pitch will focus on the standard set by Crosby with his current deal, which is set to expire after the upcoming season. Crosby took less than market value — for him, the league maximum (20 percent of the salary cap) — to provide the Penguins room to build a championship nucleus.

That worked once, with the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup in 2009. They will try to make it work again by using Crosby’s willingness not to max out on salary as a benchmark for future contracts.

In the wake of the Jordan Staal trade Friday, the Penguins have identified their nucleus as Crosby, reigning league MVP and scoring champ Evgeni Malkin, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, winger James Neal and defenseman Kris Letang.

Pen's Sidney Crosby to get 10 year deal

The NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is probably doing cartwheels knowing that one of his favorite players is now locked up with a long term deal with his favorite hockey team, it probably also means that the NHL on NBCSN will be all Penguins all of the time. Personally, I think this contract is a bit of a risk – based on Crosby’s concussion issues.

Austin Pollack, NESN --- Sidney Crosby has been one of hockey’s most exciting players since he entered the league as the first overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft. At the same time, he’s been the face of the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise.

It looks like Penguins fans have their man for another decade. Crosby is expected to get a 10-year, $90 million con tract extension, according to CBSSports.com. He is lined up to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season.

I also wonder, how many of these signing we will see before the current CBA expires? There seems to be a feeling that the NHL is going to definitely have another work stoppage this season. Under the current CBA, the NHL Players currently are taking 57% of the revenues. The NHL owners want a 50-50 split agreement and the players don’t seem to be in a hurry to take another pay cut like they did seven years ago after the 2004-05 lockout so there is a good chance that we could see a second lockout in the last seven years.

The State of the NHL Officiating Corps.

English: NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman in 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have to be the guy to agree with a lot of what has been said regarding officiating but I also am going to be the guy to pose a theory to the masses for public consumption.

And, yeah, it is going to sound a lot like an apology for Brenden Shanahan but it isn't.

Brenden Shanahan is in a position no one wants to have but everyone has an opinion of what should be done by a person in such a position.  However, he's not done a good job or even an ok job with the position.  He has been inconsistent and unsatisfying in his performance.  It's just presented all glitzy with videos and bulleted lists.  But looking at it from afar, there's a lot that doesn't add up.

Look at the inconsistency and the double standards of Shanahan's actions doesn't appear to me that the decisions regarding whether or not to suspend players was actually being made by Shanahan.  His actions this year seemed almost identical to that of Colin Campbell's Wheel of Justice system.  There were a few times during Campbell's administration of this position and during Shanahan's administration where they went against the trend (such as suspending Ovechkin and perhaps you can argue that it was the case for Giroux and Backstrom but I'll get to that shortly) but that may only be to prevent appearance to the players that they are playing favors.

Add onto the fact that no matter what, when a fanbase sees their guys suspended for a hit they get mad and point out flaws in previous decisions and also when a fanbase sees their guys get hit and even injured they point to it as justification for the hitting player to get pummeled with the book.

It becomes a mess.

So where does Shanahan come in?  He comes in having never served in such a level of authority.  He only comes in as a face.  People know who he is.  That's about it.  So, when thrust into the limelight like this you have to sink or swim.  And here's where it gets interesting:

Can you improve the quality of a weakness when the primary weakness are the people above you on the chain of command?

Can Shanahan even suspend players like Malkin even if he wants to?  There is no secret that Bettman and Campbell's love children are Malkin, Crosby, and the Pittsburgh Penguins (to a certain extent).  Bettman has certain placed the emphasis on the PR marking campaign on the shoulders of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin by extension.  So would it do for the NHL to see either suspended?  I'm sure not.  So, I doubt Campbell would allow Shanahan to suspend either player (even though Crosby really has yet to administer an illegal or even questionable hit). 

As for Giroux and Backstrom being exceptions, I argue not so much.  I truly don't think that anyone other than Malkin and Crosby are truly exempt from suspension if the situation is right. 

But in the end, all it comes down to is Shanahan's bosses.  They truly do seem to be calling the shots and simply use Shanahan's player profile to deflect all the criticism away from Campbell and onto Shanahan.  Therefore, if it does fail (which it appears that it is so) Bettman can step forward and say "Look, we listened to you and we tried your idea and it failed.  Campbell knows what he's doing and we're just going to go back to the old way and try to hammer out some of the troubles through traditional channels."  Bettman still doesn't look bad that way and the only harm done is Shanahan's image being obliterated.  Shanahan never was a Crosby type so why would Bettman care. 

If this season was a first run test and next year is the real test for Shanahan, I'm betting he fails again because I don't think Shanahan truly has the autonomy necessary for Shanahan to live up to what he talks about.  He can suspend anyone with impunity (provided the situation and circumstances warrant it). 

I claim that Shanahan is nothing more than lipstick on a pig when it comes to the NHL Front Office.  It looks nice and he tries hard but in the end, you're not going to improve on officiating and Shanahan's job description with the likes of Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell still in positions of power.

What says you?

Flyers are in Penguins' heads

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. San Jose Sharks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Another good article that I found this evening.

BRUCE ARTHUR, POSTMEDIA NEWS ---- “We’re playing playoff hockey,” Crosby said. “They’re doing the same things we are.”
Laughable assertions, in this game. Only one team was clearly headhunting. This was the franchise whose star player, Crosby, is the face of the league’s concussion issues, and whose owner, Mario Lemieux, wrote a letter deriding the New York Islanders for doing just this in 2011.

“I don’t think they’re calculated, but there are some guys running around that usually don’t do that,” said Flyers defenceman Kimmo Timonen, who was thrown out for fighting Kris Letang in the wild first period. “I don’t know why you change your game for the playoffs, I don’t like that. But if they think they’re going to win that way, go ahead and do it.”

Underlying all this is the fact that the Penguins, who compiled the league’s fourth-best record in the regular season, have come apart at the seams. Before Game 3, defenceman Letang had said, “We’ll see the true face of our team. And I think we’ll see if guys have character, and we’ll prove a lot.”

The author Bruce Arthur does have a point, the Penguins don't hold the moral high ground and I think the rest of the league is getting to the point where they are tiring of the Penguins antics, they are kind of the Vancouver Canucks of the east. This was highly evident last week with the rant by John Torttorella's on the Penguins and their star players being a bunch of whiners. Torttorella was fined for his comments but his message was received by the fans around the NHL.

Related articles

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Don't clean the garage when the game is on, you might miss something

I stepped out to clean the garage and I missed this fight between Sidney Crosby vs Claude Giroux and this bout between Kris Letang vs Kimmo Timonen. The moral of the story is that you can clean the garage some other day.

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Colin Campbell feels the Pen's Pain

The NHL front office is not happy that their linesmen blew a pretty obvious call last night. I suppose that means that the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is probably worried that the face of the NHL, Sidney Crosby's team will get eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Flyers can expect the games to be called closer from here on out.

TORONTO - Colin Campbell feels the pain of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The NHL's senior executive vice-president of hockey operations acknowledged Thursday that linesman Tony Sericolo erred in not whistling the play dead prior to Danny Briere's first goal in the opening game of the Penguins-Flyers series.

"There's no other way to explain it but a missed call," Campbell told The Canadian Press in an interview. "We're as upset as Pittsburgh almost. It's a mistake."

Briere scored Philadelphia's first goal on Wednesday night after being sent in on a breakaway by teammate Brayden Schenn. The long pass came immediately after a neutral zone turnover and replays showed that Briere was a couple feet offside.

First off lets be clear, the refs blew this call, it's pretty obvious even to the untrained eye. I am also going to agree with the Penguins head coach. ''That's not why we [Penguins] lost the game,'' coach Dan Bylsma said immediately afterward. The Penguins lost the game because they stopped playing after going up by three goals.

Daniel Briere goal - offsides

The Penguins announcer and the Pens fans aren't very happy about Flyers forward Danny Briere as you can see by the video he was clearly off-sides. It's a true fact, the video evidence proves that point.

Danny Briere was off-sides and he was in fact over the blue line before the puck crossed said blue line. That being said, the Pens lost the game because they stopped moving their feet and the Flyers keep clawing away and chipped away at the Penguins 3 goal lead and scored three more goals. The Pittsburgh Penguins had no answer for the Flyers tonight.

Related articles

• Penguins Prepare for Battle with Familiar Foe (insidehockey.com)
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Don Cherry gives Sidney Crosby some free advice

The conversation in question starts at about 4:27 of the video. No one questions that Sidney Crosby is an awesome hockey player, but John Tortorella is right, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are two of the biggest whiners in the NHL. There is more than enough evidence to prove that point.

Ok! Granted, it's no mystery that Torts was upset with Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik for his dirty, bush-league knee on knee hit on Rangers forward Derek Stephan, last Thursday night. I think Tortorella is right, can you imagine if that hit had been put on Malkin or Crosby, there would be a lot of complaining and whining coming out of the Penguins locker room and you would expect a maximum fine and or suspension handed out by the NHL.

Frankly, I would like to see Don Cherry give the Sedin twins in Vancouver the same lectures as well as these two super stars spend a lot of time diving, flailing and flopping around on the ice a throwing their heads back whenever they're hit.

ProSportsDaily Staff ---- Don Cherry joined a growing number of hockey personalities who are publicly taking issue with Sidney Crosby.

After New York Rangers coach John Tortorella labeled Crosby a whiner, Cherry spoke out against the Pittsburgh Penguins captain during his weekly "Coach's Corner" segment on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.

"A long time ago when Crosby was coming out, I tried to warn him (to) 'quit diving, quit whining.' (Then) I was the worst guy in the world ... and all I was trying to do was help him," Cherry said.

"All I said was stop whining, stop diving and snapping the head back."

Related articles

• Don Cherry tells superstar Sidney Crosby to 'stop whining' (thestar.com)
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• Don Cherry the latest to blast Sidney Crosby (theglobeandmail.com)

Flyers rough up the Pens

Malkin not disciplined

Another questionable hit on a Boston Bruins by a Pittsburgh Penguin and another Penguin escapes punishment by the NHL. So basically, don't expect a player to get suspended if they hit a Boston Bruin with a questionable hit.

I could see how Boston Bruins fans might question the NHL and their judgement. Also, I think that Brendan Shanahan is basically a fraud and no better than Colin Campbell, there are one set of rules for star players and there is another set of rules for tough guys and goons. One could also make the argument that, if Milan Lucic or Brad Marchand had hit Malkin or Sidney Crosby with a hit like this, they would've been suspended or at least fined by the NHL. 

Mike Cole, NESN --- The Bruins have been the victim of some suspect hits over the years in Pittsburgh, and once again, the league has allowed the Penguins to skate without punishment.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the league will not discipline Pens star Evgeni Malkin for his hit on Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk which came in the third period of the Penguins' 5-2 win over Boston on Sunday.

While the hit was not nearly as bad as the hit Matt Cooke leveled Bruins center Marc Savard with two years ago, there were some that thought Malkin would be looking at least a fine.

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Mark Fistric hit on Shea Weber

Right now there is a major debate by the hockey pundits to ban fighting in hockey but as Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy mentioned, none of the players Sidney Crosby, Jeff Skinner, Simon Gagne, Shea Weber are not out of hockey because they were hurt in a fight. They were hit in the head, some of them were hit with dirty hits like this. Ironically, the above embedded video didn't result in a suspension but it probably caused a concussion to Shea Weber.

Also, Shea Weber is out with an apparent concussion and his agent Jarrett Bousquet is less than pleased that Mark Fistric wasn't suspended for this hit. In watching the video, it find it puzzling as well.

“We want what’s best for Shea long-term. We want to get it right and make sure it doesn’t happen again, and Nashville wants to exercise on the side of caution, as do we. From my point of view I’m surprised that there’s not been more about this Fistric hit. I’m surprised he’s not suspended. I’m surprised that it has not been reviewed. If the NHL wants to protect their stars, then they have a chance here to right the wrong and get some consistency. If they do want to protect their players, then hits like that have to be suspensions.

“To me it looked like Fistric jumped. The puck had clearly gone past (Weber), because he was ready to look back for the puck. I can’t believe that this hasn’t been looked into closer and examined closer.” [The Tennessean]

I am confused, and I am not sure what is even worthy of a suspension anymore? Isn't Weber's head the the principal point of contact in this check? I have watched the video a few times and it would appear that the head is the principle point of contact. According to Stu Hackle there have been 28 concussions during the month of December.

Tuesday Morning Links

Image via WikipediaThere is a lot of news today in the hockey world. Sidney Crosby made his much anticipated return to the Penguins after missing over 10 months with a concussion. Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron is glad to see Sidney Crosby back in the Penguins line up as well.

“I am happy to hear that not just for him as a hockey player but for him a person first and foremost,” Bergeron said. “I think his health is the most important thing and I’m very happy to hear that. It’s obviously a good thing for the league and good for him.”

The Boston Bruins with their ninth win in a row actually vaulted to the top of the North East Division. Chris Kelly is the Boston Bruins of the week with his solid play. [the Bruins Blog]

Good news for the Fighting Sioux Women's team -> WCHA Offensive Player of the Week Jocelyne Lamoureux Junior, Forward North Dakota. Congrats to Jocelyn Lamoureux.

From the WCHA press release --- The Tigers (7-2-0, 5-2-0 WCHA) and defending WCHA/MacNaughton Cup-champion Fighting Sioux (4-7-1, 2-6-0 WCHA) will hook up at Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,634) in Grand Forks on Friday evening at 7:37 pm CT and Saturday night at 7:07 pm CT. This is the only regular season series between CC and UND.

Chris Peters of the United States of Hockey had this to say about the Fighting Sioux.

North Dakota – North Dakota is on this list for all the wrong reasons. The Sioux lost a bunch of firepower from last year’s club, but I don’t think anyone saw this coming. North Dakota is tied for 10th place in the 12-team WCHA with a 2-6-0 conference record to go along with an ugly 4-7-1 record. Adding insult to injury, the Sioux have been swept by rivals Minnesota and Wisconsin already this year. Making matters worse, they’ve just lost freshman phenom Rocco Grimaldi (who’s been hampered by injury all year) for the next 6-8 weeks. More on that in a bit…

Overall, there have been a lot of intriguing things happening in college hockey. Part of that may have to do with the ever-increasing parity. Save a few teams with tremendous records, everyone else has been pretty average. Typical powers like Boston University, Denver and Michigan haven’t been exactly dominant. In fact, each has mostly been average. Perhaps that’s good for college hockey. The fact that any team can win on any given night makes for some exciting match-ups. Expect this season to heat up even more, just in time for it’s national debut on VERSUS (featuring two of the best teams in the country in BC and Notre Dame) on New Year’s Eve.

Apparently the Badgers center Mark Zengerle was less than impressed with the WCHA on ice officials and got a 10 minute misconduct penalty for chirping at the refs. Looking at the box score from the game reveals that Derek Shepherd, Matt Ulwelling were the on ice officials for that game. I can't say that I blame Zengerle, most of us have been upset with the WCHA officiating from time to time.

Sophomore center Mark Zengerle compounded the first episode when he was assessed a 10-minute misconduct penalty for chirping at the officials, a misdeed that resulted in him sitting on the bench 10 minutes once he got out of the penalty box.

"I hope it's a lesson that (Zengerle) remembers," Eaves said.[Madison.com]

Did Zengerle learn his lesson? I was thinking that maybe the quality of the on ice officials could improve. This season the officiating in the WCHA has been confusing, inconsistent and I could see how the players get confused and upset. As a fan, you never know what the referees are going to call from game to game. There is no consistency from the various on ice crews.  What is a penalty one game; isn’t the next weekend.

I hope when the Big Ten Hockey Conference and the NCHC form that the NCHC can start over and acquire new on ice officials, it would be a good time to start fresh in the on ice officials department. Enough is enough, after watching the WCHA on a regular basis since 1993; I have to say that the quality of officiating has degraded to a very low level.

I would caution the newly formed NCHC from entertaining the idea that the current band of WCHA officials will suffice as on ice officials for NCHC play. I don’t care if a certain WCHA official lives in Colorado, let’s pay the extra money as a league and fly someone else in to officiate games in Denver or Colorado Springs.

There are other competent official’s currently officiating hockey games in other levels of hockey, one idea would be to recruit officials from the USHL who have a higher standard of quality than the WCHA.

The referees in the WCHA remind of a bunch of Keystone Kops or a bunch of bumbling buffoons, making stuff up as they go.  College hockey deserves better and it’s time we took action and demand better. The status quo is no longer acceptable.

Related articles

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He's back... Sid blows the door off of the Islanders

The face of the NHL is back and what a start for the Penguins Sidney Crosby; talk about coming back with a vengeance, two goals and two assists and eight shots on goal and Crosby logged 15:54 of ice time.

I think most of us will realize that the game of hockey is better off with Sidney Crosby in the line up. Crosby had been out of the lineup since January 5th, 2011 when he suffered a concussion after being driven hard into the boards by Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.

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Will this hit warrant a suspension or Not?

Check out this hit by Penguins Kris Letang on the Jets Alex Burmistrov during last night's game in Winnipeg. I don't think this boarding call is worthy of a suspension and I don't think the NHL needs to suspend every player that commits a questionable play/penalty.

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Sidney Crosby on headshots

Image via WikipediaThis is what Sidney Crosby the face of the NHL had to say about headshots. Unfortunately the face of the NHL hasn't played a game since January 5th of this year.

Bill Beacon; Globe and Mail--- (Sidney) Crosby has been out of action with concussion symptoms since early January after taking shots to the head in consecutive games. While the Pittsburgh Penguins centre is optimistic he will be able to play again, no date has been set for his return.

The 24-year-old urged the league to take action on shots to the head when he met with the media Sept. 7 in Pittsburgh.

“As a league, as a union, I think we've all educated ourselves a lot in the last six or seven months,” Crosby said. “I think it can go further. At the end of the day, I don't think there's a reason not to take (headshots) out.”

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Frattin talks about playing college hockey...

Toronto Maple Leafs prospects Matt Frattin and Jake Gardiner explain the benefits of playing US Division I College Hockey. Listening to these two young players talk about hockey and the more I think about it; if you're one of these hockey players that is a bit of a late bloomer; maybe you don't develop as fast as other players, Division I college Hockey would probably be a better option than Major Juniors. Not everyone is going to be like Sidney Crosby and play one or two years in Major Juniors before making the jump to the professional ranks.

The reality is that if you’re good enough to play hockey after you college hockey days are over, more than likely than not you're going to start out in the ECHL or the AHL and then “maybe” transition to fighting for a spot on the third or fourth line on an NHL club, if you’re lucky. Very few players are going to play in the NHL and the college education gives players an option to fall back on after they are done playing hockey.

Here is an awesome story on former Fighting Sioux forward Matt Frattin and how he has learned from his past mistakes. Apparently Frattin has a "decent chance" of making the Leafs out of training camp as well.

TORONTO — The rookie wants to be a role model.

He wants young people to know his story and how it changed him, made him a better hockey player and — ultimately — a responsible adult. Wants them to know that as a sophomore at the University of North Dakota, he made foolish decisions that resulted in him being kicked off the hockey team and working a blue-collar construction job.

And how it made Matt Frattin who he is today.

“It was a life experience that I kind of needed to happen,” says the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect, who is among those competing at a four-team rookie tournament in Oshawa, Ont., this weekend. “I wasn’t really living my life as though I wanted to be a professional. I was more a college kid. It happens. But it was probably good that I got caught in a couple of situations and it changed the way I am today.”

Related articles

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A few links on hump day...

As I woke up this morning around 9:30 the news of the air disaster in Lokomotiv Russia was just breaking on twitter and on the internet. I had to look twice because I thought my eyes were fooling me. In today’s world where flying is consider relatively safe a whole KHL hockey team the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl had perished in a aviation disaster. 

Some of the dead were well known former NHL players; former Boston Bruins  defenseman Brad McCrimmon, former Wild, Blues and Canucks forward Pavol Demitra, Ducks defenseman Ruslan Salei, former Hurricanes forward Josef Vasicek, former Senators defenseman Karel Rachunek, former Devils forward Alexander Vasyunov, former Predator, Avalanche, Stars, Panters, defenseman Karlis Skrastins just to name a few were among the confirmed fatalities.


If this horrible summer does anything it puts life into perspective and reminds us that we only have very short time on this earth and we need to enjoy our loved ones and family members every chance we get. If anything when you go to bed tonight give your love ones a hugs and let them know that you appreciate them. I know it sounds cliché but no one really knows what tomorrow will bring or how life is going to shake out.

Western Michigan Broncos still haven't decided where they are going... 

The Western Michigan Hockey beat writer had this blog post on his Western Michigan media blog today. This might shed some light and explain why WMU hasn't accepted the WCHA bid for membership from the WCHA yet. It's no mystery that Western Michigan would like to get into the NCHC and I don't blame them. I think Western Michigan is a hockey program that is on the way up.

David Drew; Mlive.com --- WMU athletic director Kathy Beauregard said Wednesday no developments have come about regarding the Broncos’ future.

On Aug. 25, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association invited WMU, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State and Alaska-Fairbanks to join its league in 2013-14 and stated each program had 30 days to accept or decline the offer.

FSU, Lake Superior State and UAF have accepted the invitation while BGSU and Western Michigan have not yet announced a decision.

It is believed the National Collegiate Hockey Conference is still an option for WMU, but the new league has been quiet about potential future members and the qualifications for membership.

Brought to you from the huh department.

The Roman Empire formerly known as Goal Gophers posted his pre-season prediction on his blog and his selections have cause a bit of discussion. Does anyone think that the WCHA will shake out this way during the season? Personally, I don't see how Wisconsin finishes in 10th place. Personally do any of you think the Wisconsin Badgers will fall that far in the standings this season?

1. Colorado College

2. Denver

3. North Dakota

4. Gophers

5. UMD

6. Nebraska Omaha

7. Alaska Anchorage

8. Bemidji State

9. St. Cloud State

10. Wisconsin

11. Michigan Tech

12. Minnesota State Mankato 

Will Sidney Crosby return this season?

There has been a lot of rumbling about Sidney Crosby's health with him still suffering from post concussion syndrome symptoms almost nine months after his injury. There have also been rumors that Crosby might retire or not make a return to the NHL this season. Check out what Sidney Crosby had to say on the matter.

Bruce Arthur: National Post --- Sidney Crosby will not retire, though he intimated the thought did at least flit across his mind. When asked Wednesday if there was a chance he would never play again, Crosby said, “A pretty slight one. I wouldn’t bet on it.” When his doctors were asked if the Pittsburgh Penguins star would make a full recovery from the concussions which have sidelined him since early January, they almost made it sound as if he would return better than ever.

It all seemed very encouraging, given the vacuum of information that has swirled around the 24-year-old Crosby all year. Still, he is “not even close” to being cleared for contact; no timeline for a complete recovery exists. It sure could be better, even if it could have been worse.

But on the day Crosby broke his four-month silence, he also found his voice in a way he rarely has before. Crosby took his first media training classes at 14; he is careful, when he speaks. In March he had expressed cautious support for banning targeted hits to the head, but said he was not sure about accidental contact. He seems sure now.

Related articles

• 43 Dead After Plane Carrying KHL's Lokomotiv Crashes; Ex-NHL Locals On Team Roster (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• This Summer Continues to Suck for the Hockey World (slog.thestranger.com)
• Plane Carrying KHL's Lokomotiv Crashes; Ex-NHL Locals Among 43 Confirmed Dead (preprod.cbslocal.com)
• A Tragedy For Hockey (kymx.radio.com)
• Farewell Brad McCrimmon, Ruslan Salei, and Stefan Liv. You will be missed... (detroithockeyreport.com)
• Plane crash kills 'majority' of Russian KHL Hockey team Lokomotiv' - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports (gjoneto.wordpress.com)

Boston Bruins set up to repeat?

Image by slidingsideways via FlickrI would say that the Boston Bruins based on who they lost and who they retained during the offseason; would have to be “one” of the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference and repeat as Stanley Cup champions. That’s not to say that the Bruins won’t be challenged by the other teams in the Eastern conference because they will, I would also put the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburg Penguins if Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are healthy as teams that will also compete for the Eastern Conference crown as well.

NHL.COM --- Unlike the mass exodus from Chicago last season, and even the losses Pittsburgh incurred two years ago, the Bruins will return much of their Cup-winning club intact. They have three key players to replace: Mark Recchi, Michael Ryder and Tomas Kaberle.

Recchi defied time in the Cup Final, authoring a vintage performance and finishing the 2011 postseason with 5 goals and 14 points. He embraced the role of steady, veteran leader and spent much of the season on the second line. He slumped early in the postseason, but came on strong to help win the Cup for the third time in his career before announcing his retirement on the ice after Game 7.

Ryder was one of several Bruins who elevated his play during the Cup run. He had only 18 goals in each of the past two regular seasons, but racked up 8 goals and 17 points in the playoffs and earned a hefty contract from the Dallas Stars.

Kaberle struggled for much of his time with the Bruins after arriving in one of the marquee deals of the 2011 trade deadline. The power play was awful during the postseason, and that was expected to be the one area where he helped. He did finish the postseason with 11 assists, but was mostly a third-pairing defenseman in tight games. Had Boston not won the Cup, the trade would be considered a huge disappointment. Kaberle signed with Carolina as a free agent.

Boston also lost depth defenseman Shane Hnidy, and the future of center Marc Savard remains uncertain -- he only played 25 games for the Bruins last season while recovering from a concussion.

Related articles

• NHL Injury Report: Boston Bruins' Marc Savard Not Likely to Play in 2011-2012 (bleacherreport.com)
• Boston Bruins: Will David Krejci Get a New Contract by the Start of the Season? (bleacherreport.com)
• You: 5 Reasons Tyler Seguin and the Boston Bruins Will Be Better in 2012 Than 2011 (bleacherreport.com)
• Boston Bruins: Six Reasons They Are Better Without Tomas Kaberle (bleacherreport.com)
• Boston Bruins: Will Marc Savard Get His Name Engraved on the Stanley Cup? (bleacherreport.com)

Time for Gary Bettman to go?

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeMy buddy Redwing77 would probably agree with some of the things written in Ken Gray’s Ottawa Citizen Newspaper article; Gary Bettman must go. Of course I am also in favor of the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stepping aside; I have never been a fan of the man because I find him to be a very unlikable person, he is smug, arrogant, condescending and a very pompous person. Whenever I hear Bettman talk he reminds me of a Washington D.C. Politician that talks in circles, never answers direct questions and says very little in the way of substance. We can only dream that some day we will have an NHL without Gary Bettman.

Ken Gray; Ottawa Citizen --- Bettman has orchestrated a league that has absolutely glorified violence to the point where the players are being irreparably harmed. Concussions from head hits and fighting would have normal business owners concerned. Sutcliffe would do something about it in his workplace. The pads are too hard. Bettman should have acted.

Furthermore, the game is basically flawed. The players are so big, so fast and so well trained that even legal hits are causing brain damage. Something fundamentally needs to change in hockey or players will face brain disease later in life. Why Bettman could not protect the game’s biggest asset, Sidney Crosby. The NHL should be examining how the game can be basically changed to protect the players and provide a good life lesson on Saturday night instead of fighting.

Bettman has failed horribly in his southern U.S. franchise strategy and failed when Fox TV tried to make NHL hockey a national U.S. sport. He failed so badly that he had to bring Winnipeg back into the NHL and will probably do the same for Quebec City in the near future. There is room for new teams in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. In fact, you could probably put a NHL club in Dawson City and draw better than Atlanta.

The reason Bettman signed a big TV contract recently is because networks and cable companies are trying to secure programming as sports in the increasingly diverse broadcasting universe is one of the few places where people (and advertisers) continue to gather in one place. It had little to do with Bettman. At least he didn’t screw it up.

No it’s time for Bettman to go. Perhaps it has always been time for Bettman to go.

Related articles

• Gary Bettman Earned $7.5 Million Last Year; Do You Care? (sbnation.com)
• Bettman's salary tops $7.5-million (theglobeandmail.com)
• SBD: NHL czar Gary Bettman's compensation reaches $7.5 million (aol.sportingnews.com)
• Bettman's salary skyrockets (thestar.com)