So the NHL wants us back... (RW77)

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

So the NHL is back with pretty much a joke of a season...but wait!

They have to get all those players back...  Will they succeed?  I'm not sure everyone will return.  There has to be concern that injuries may take control and there is no room to develop talent and anything that makes a team a team.  It's basically the ultimate scramble tournament format.  Who can get started fastest and play the best the quickest.  That's the test.

What does the NHL need to do to get the fans back?

Barry Melrose talks about how the fans always come back after a work stoppage, but I am hoping that they do come back... next season.  I think the fans should sit back and watch what the teams and the league does to try to earn our support back.  Here's a list of things that should be done:

1.  You know NHL Center Ice?  Yup.  Free for the season, playoffs, and ALL of preseason next year.  If they do anything for the offseason, that's free too.

2.  NHL Network - Free view for the same period of time NHL Center Ice is free (if possible... this might be more on the cable providers than NHL Network itself).

3.  The Players become available more than ever before.  ENDLESS autograph signings, school visits, community outreach programs, volunteer sightings.

4.  Promotion nights fall on EVERY GAME IN THE SEASON.  Teacher in the metro area?  Show us your ID and get $5 tickets!  Military?  FREE tickets to you and $5 tickets for one friend or nonmilitary family member with the display of a Military ID.  Civil Servant Night (see Teacher Night).  Got a hockey team of 12 year olds or younger?  Call ahead for seating and your entire team gets $1 tickets (Coach goes free) when they show up wearing their jerseys!

5.  Radio promotions - Give away ticket packs to the local radio stations

6.  The average ticket prices for NHL games (per Hooked on Hockey Magazine) for the 2011-12 season ranged between just under $30 (Dallas) to just over $123 (Toronto).  Well....  Dallas residents can look forward to $15 tickets.  I can see a Detroit game in Detroit for $25 (regularly $53.28).  Toronto residents still overpay at $61.50 per ticket but still...  Season tickets would be restructured to accommodate for the loss of games either by making this season tickets cost less than 50% of normal cost or discounting next year's season tickets by, say, 40% (I don't know....  either way it should be SIGNIFICANTLY discounted).

You cannot change existing TV contracts so unfortunately there is no free TV showings outside of what's mentioned but if it was possible, I'd do it.

I'd love to say Gary Bettman resigns but the smug so and so survives yet again to pull another work stoppage in 8 years.  You can market Sidney Crosby all you want but Gary Bettman is the face of the NHL and NO ONE outside of the ownership likes him.  What a better image saver than to offer Bettman early retirement?  The owners will never fire him, but surely Bettman could take the golden parachute and have roses pave his way back to obscurity if the League really cared about fan opinion (but they don't).

In any case, we'll see how things pan out but...  It's now or never for Columbus' Stanley Cup hopes.  :D

Matt Greene Caption?

Here is something that has become a weekly occurrence. Fill in your own caption, for former Fighting Sioux defenseman Matt Greene as he barks at the once ice official during the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"Why I oughta..."

Lockout will hurt NBCSN

You have to wonder what NBCSN is going to show if the NHL doesn't start on time - I suppose that some of the sports networks could show AHL games to keep NHL Hockey fans semi-interested until the lockout is ended.

Sept 5, (Reuters) - NBC executives are hoping that the National Hockey League and its players union reach a new labor agreement and avoid a lockout that could leave the network scrambling to find a replacement for one of its sports programming mainstays.

Hockey is a linchpin of NBC Sports programming - the network signed a new $2 billion, 10-year contract with the league last year. A strike or delay in the upcoming NHL season would throw cold water on the momentum it built up from the London Olympics, which nightly averaged 31.3 million viewers for the network.

Labor talks between the NHL and the union representing its players broke down last week over economic issues such as revenue sharing. The league's owners have said they would lock out players if a deal is not reached by a Sept. 15 deadline. As of Wednesday afternoon, talks between the two sides had not yet resumed.

The worst case scenario for Comcast-owned NBC, which holds the exclusive national broadcast rights to NHL games, is for the entire upcoming season to be canceled. That's not without precedent. The NHL and its players union scrapped the entire 2004-05 season after failing to achieve a labor deal.

A better, but not ideal, scenario for NBC would be a delay to the NHL season, similar to what happened to the National Basketball Association last year. The first regular season NHL game is scheduled for Oct. 11, but exhibition games start about two weeks earlier.

I haven't seen anything official, but you have to wonder if there is a alternative plan? I know I enjoyed watching some of the AHL playoff games this past June, when the Stanley Cup games were over and those minor league hockey games did manage to fill the hockey void. Sometimes you wonder if the owners have thought this out.

Bill Daly: "It is obviously becoming increasingly unlikely that NHL training camps will start on time."@sbjlizmullen @sbjsbd
— Chris Botta (@ChrisBottaNHL) September 5, 2012

Video NHL - 'Together We Can' #nolockout (HD)

This is an awesome video that's making it's way around the Internet - lots of good memories on this video.

As a Boston Bruins fans that watched Ray Bourque play many games with the spoked "B" on his chest, I can still remember that day that Bourque "finally" lifted Lord Stanley's Cup above his head, Gary Thorne with the call - it seems like it was just yesterday, "after twenty two years...RAYMOND BOURQUE!"

Bruins extend their head coach Claude Julien

The Boston Bruins have signed their head coach to a new contract. Julien lead the Boston Bruins to the Stanley Cup championship during the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. There is a news conference scheduled for today at 12:00 noon eastern time.

BOSTON, MA – Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today, July 23, that the club has signed Head Coach Claude Julien to a multi-year contract extension. Chiarelli and Julien will speak to media about the extension on Tuesday, July 24.M

Julien, named the 28th head coach in Bruins history on June 21, 2007, led Boston to the club’s first Stanley Cup Championship in 39 years in 2011, following a 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7. In five seasons behind the B’s bench, Julien has led the club to an overall record of 228-132-50 (.617 win percentage). His 410 Bruins games coached rank third all-time in club history and he is fourth all-time in Boston wins, trailing only Art Ross (361), Milt Schmidt (245) and Don Cherry (231). During his tenure, Julien’s squads have never missed the postseason, registering a career playoff record of 36-27 (.571 win percentage) to rank first all-time among B’s bench bosses in post-season victories.

In January, Julien was named head coach for Zdeno Chara’s team at the 2012 NHL All-Star Game, making his second appearance, having served as head coach at the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal.

In 2011-12, Julien led the Black & Gold to its fifth consecutive season recording 91 or more points with 102, and the second straight season above 100, after reaching 103 points in 2010-11. Under Julien, the B’s did not suffer a regulation loss in the month of November with a 12-0-1 record and recorded the most points (25) in a single month since a 25-point March in 1978. It also marked the first full calendar month without a regulation loss since finishing January, 1969 with a 10-0-4 mark. Boston’s 10-game win streak from November 1-23 tied for the fourth-longest streak in team history and was their longest win streak since a 10-game stretch from December 12, 2008-January 1, 2009. Within that same span, Julien led the Bruins to a 15-game point streak (14-0-1) from November 1-December 5, the club’s longest such streak since 1983.

The 2011-12 season for Julien also marked the first time his Bruins swept Toronto since the Maple Leafs joined the Eastern Conference in 1998-99, in addition to registering the best single-season shootout record (9-3) recorded in team history. The ability to keep his bench composed late in games led the Black & Gold to record a +42 third-period goal differential this season, which was higher than the overall differential of all but four NHL clubs. Julien’s B’s also posted a league-best overall goal differential of +67.

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.

UConn Men's Ice Hockey To Join Hockey East for the 2014-15 season

STORRS, Conn. - The University of Connecticut has been offered and has accepted an invitation to join the Hockey East Association in the sport of men's ice hockey in a joint announcement made on Thursday. Connecticut will join the league for men's ice hockey in 2014-15 and is already a member of the league in women's ice hockey.

Connecticut's membership in the men's league will put the conference at 12 teams for the 2014-15 season, including: Boston College, Boston University, Maine, Merrimack, UMass-Lowell, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Notre Dame (beginning in 2013-14), Providence and Vermont.

The Huskies will continue to compete in the Atlantic Hockey Association for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

"This is a historic day in the history of the University of Connecticut and its Division of Athletics," said Director of Athletics Warde Manuel. "Hockey East is the premier men's ice hockey conference in the country and we are proud to say that the Huskies are now part of it. I would like to thank Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna and the Athletic Directors at the institutions that comprise Hockey East for providing us this special opportunity.  We are committed to developing a men's ice hockey program that can and will perform successfully on the national level and compete for Hockey East and NCAA championships.

"I would also like to recognize Commissioner Robert DeGregorio and our fellow Atlantic Hockey institutions for their support during this decision making process."

The Hockey East Association was founded in 1984 and league teams have won eight NCAA championships in the past 20 years. Hockey East teams have made 37 appearances in the Frozen Four and 21 appearances in national championship games in the 28-year history of the league. Since 1999, Hockey East has won six NCAA Championships and has placed 20 teams in the Frozen Four, along with 53 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Thirty-two Hockey East alums have won the Stanley Cup with their respective NHL teams.

"This is one of the most historic and significant days in the history of our conference," said Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna. "We have enjoyed a terrific relationship with the University of Connecticut for more than a decade through our involvement with its women's hockey program. Today we start a new chapter in this relationship and we couldn't be more pleased.

"Warde Manuel and his staff did a commendable job in preparing for this moment and I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the role played by the state's biggest hockey fan, Governor Dan Malloy. Our directors have always said that we would welcome growth through any institution that brings value to our conference. No other school was better positioned to do this than the University of Connecticut."

UConn plans to play its home Hockey East conference games at the XL Center in downtown Hartford and will continue to play non-conference games in Storrs at the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum. The XL Center is the longtime off-campus home of both the UConn men's and women's basketball teams.

"The State of Connecticut is very excited that UConn is joining Hockey East and will be bringing the passion of college hockey to downtown Hartford," said Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy. "I have been a longtime fan of college hockey and believe that this is an incredible opportunity for the University. It is also a great opportunity to bring more top-flight events to the XL Center and further enhance the quality of life in downtown Hartford."

"We are thrilled with the University of Connecticut's decision to join Hockey East," said Chuck Steedman, AEG Management CT/XL Center Senior Vice President and General Manager. "AEG is extremely excited about the opportunity to play host to UConn Hockey at the XL Center and will support UConn's program in a variety of areas.

"We commend the forward-thinking vision of both the University of Connecticut and Governor Malloy, as Hockey East represents a major win for the state of Connecticut and the capital region will see the direct impact of these games being played downtown."

Connecticut currently does not offer athletic scholarships in men's ice hockey, but plans to elevate to the NCAA maximum of 18 scholarships as a participant in Hockey East. UConn will also add additional athletic scholarships to women's sports to ensure compliance with gender equity regulations.

UConn joins an elite group of seven other schools that compete on the national level as a member of the BCS Conference in football and play college basketball and college hockey in a national elite conference. Those other schools with their future conference hockey affiliation are: Boston College (Hockey East), Michigan (Big Ten), Michigan State (Big Ten), Minnesota (Big Ten), Notre Dame (Hockey East), Ohio State (Big Ten) and Wisconsin (Big Ten).

"It is a very exciting time to be part of the University of Connecticut and the joining of Hockey East is a reflection of the continuing efforts to advance our great university," said President Susan Herbst. "UConn is one of the top 20 public research institutions in the country, and our athletic prowess has been a terrific part of our overall success.  I would like to thank Governor Malloy for his support of our membership in Hockey East.   I am also extraordinarily grateful to the leadership of Hockey East, and to the university presidents of the league.  We are honored to stand alongside such excellent institutions and look forward to meeting them on the ice." 

The University of Connecticut first fielded a varsity men's hockey team in 1960-61. UConn elevated its program to Division I status in 1998-99 as a founding member of both the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and Atlantic Hockey in 2003-04.

"The entire UConn men's ice hockey family is very excited about this announcement," said UConn head coach Bruce Marshall. Marshall is a 1985 UConn graduate and former men's ice hockey student-athlete. He has been the head coach of the program since 1988 and is the winningest coach in program history as he enters his 25^th season in 2012-13. "We are very grateful to the administration of the University and to the entire state for bringing Connecticut into Hockey East. From our current student-athletes to our dedicated hockey alumni base, there is great anticipation about this move. I believe that there is a strong appetite for this level of college hockey here in Connecticut and that Husky fans will embrace our entry in Hockey East."

L.A. Lakers Victory parade? Yikes no respect for the Kings

Wow! Nice slight to the Los Angeles Kings and their Stanley Cup victory.

"We will probably be over the Laker's victory parade, Mark Kriski said.

Jonathan Quick's Awesome Victory Speech

s/t to Chuck Schwartz for having this gem on his twitter feed. I am not sure that Jonathan Quick will be getting any requests for him to do any public speaking engagements anytime soon but I can understand getting caught up in the moment. Again, congrats to the Kings for winning the Stanley Cup Championship.

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Nanne on Barreiro's show

Dan Barreiro had former North Stars General Manager Lou Nanne on his radio show bumper to bumper on Tuesday and was talking about the Stanley Cup Playoffs and hockey and of course Zach Parise.

It would appear that Nanne seems to think that Parise and Sutter have a good chance on being members of the Minnesota Wild. I think we will have to wait and see...

(Video) 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs Montage

There are a lot of story lines from the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs - the defending Stanley Cup Champions went out in the first round with hardly a whimper. The Bruins found out that their all world goalie Tim Thomas had probably played his final game with the Boston Bruins.

The unlikeable team in the NHL the Vancouver Canuncks were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs - that was the second year in a row that the Canucks were beaten by the Stanley Cup Champion during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

An American team captain Dustin Brown accepted the Stanley Cup from the commissioner of the NHL Gary Bettman.

The last three Conn Smythe Trophy winners (Jonathan Towes (UND), Tim Thomas (UVM) and Jonathan Quick (UMASS) all played Division I college hockey.

Matt Greene became the 12th former Fighting Sioux hockey player to get his name on the Stanley Cup, here are the other 11 former Fighting Sioux hockey players to get their name on the Stanley Cup. s/t @UNDSID

UND's Stanley Cup Champions
Craig Ludwig, Montreal, 1985-86
Geoff Smith, Edmonton, 1989-90
Jay Caufield, Pittsburgh, 1990-91
Jay Caufield, Pittsburgh, 1991-92
Troy Murray, Colorado, 1995-96
Ed Belfour, Dallas, 1998-99
Tony Hrkac, Dallas, 1998-99
Craig Ludwig, Dallas, 1998-99
Rick Wilson, Dallas, 1998-99 (assistant coach)
Brad Bombardir, New Jersey, 1999-00
Mike Commodore, Carolina, 2005-06
Jonathan Toews, Chicago, 2009-10 (Conn Smythe Trophy winner)
Matt Greene, Los Angeles, 2011-12

The Stanley Cup Finals featured three players that played their college hockey at the University of North Dakota - Matt Greene L.A. Kings, Zach Parise and Travis Zajac New Jersey.

Stanley Cup Playoffs Tribute 2012

While my favorite team didn't win the Stanley Cup this season, the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs was an exciting championship. The Los Angeles Kings steam rolled the opposition and were a miserable team to play against. The New Jersey Devils were persistent, disciplined and played physical hockey and they didn't let the opposition goad them into silly unnecessary penalties.

Going forward, lets hope there isn't a work stoppage and that they NHL season can start on time, I am not very positive about this happening but I am not going to give up hope. I am not sure the sport can afford to have another season off - there are as many as six teams that might not survive is there is a lock out.

Nanne – ‘Good chance Parise’ signs with the Wild

First off, color me cynical, if not almost suspicious that Lou Nanne is on record after conveniently talking to the Wild Wild owner Craig Leipold that he believes that Parise is going to sign with the Minnesota Wild.

Judd Zulgad, 1500ESPN.com --- Former North Stars president and general manager Lou Nanne confirmed as much on Tuesday during his weekly appearance on "Reusse and Mackey" on 1500 ESPN. Nanne said that after talking to Wild owner Craig Leipold last week he believes, "the Wild are going to throw the kitchen sink" at the winger in order to land him.

Nanne said he thinks the fact the financially strapped Devils lost in the Cup finals make it less likely that Parise will stick with that organization. Parise has spent his seven-year NHL career with New Jersey and served as the team's captain.

"I was under the belief that he would have to win the Cup to come to Minnesota until I talked to Craig Leipold last week," Nanne said. "I've gotta tell you, the Wild are going to throw the kitchen sink at him. I think there's a good chance he ends up in Minnesota, because I don't see anybody in the National Hockey League willing to give as much to Parise as the Wild are going to be willing to give. So I would not be surprised if Zach Parise came home."

Nanne went on to say that the Wild will pursue Parise and Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter, who also will be a free agent on July 1.

When Parise asked about his future the Devils captain wasn’t ready to talk about the issue.

“I’m not going to talk about that,” the Devils captain said. “I’m not going to talk about that.”

Now that the Stanley Cup Finals are over the six-10 million dollar question is where is former Fighting Sioux All-American forward Zach Parise is going to sign after the July first? I have seen where the Rangers, Redwings, Wild, Bruins and Kings as potential teams where he might end up. I wouldn’t rule New Jersey out either; apparently the New Jersey Devils made 32 million dollars into their coffers off of their Stanley Cup Playoff run.

Where's Zach Parise going - Is it The L.A. Kings?

English: Zach Parise (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So it's begins - the push by 29 NHL teams to convince former Fighting Sioux forward and current Devils star Zach Parise to sign a multi year, multi million dollar contract.

Parise is soon to be unrestricted free agent and is going to draw a lot of interest from many teams. This question is how much cap space to the Los Angeles Kings actually have? According to Cap Geek, the L.A. Kings have four guys (Mike Richards, Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter and Drew Doughty) locked up in about 24 million dollars in salary.

Steve Simmons,Toronto Sun --- Up next for the Los Angeles Kings: First, a parade. Then, the pursuit of free agent Zach Parise come July 1.

These Kings have no intention of winning just one Stanley Cup. They want more. And they are not in any kind of salary cap conundrum, the way past winners have found themselves . They won’t have to dish off quality players - or any players really - the way the Chicago Blackhawks did after winning two years ago.

And while they won’t say so because they can’t legally say so, the captain of the New Jersey Devils is No. 1 on their off-season shopping list.

They want Parise, as do many teams, and they want him badly.

Parise fits perfectly into the Kings’ ultra-competitive philosophy, led by general manager Dean Lombardi and his able assistant, Ron Hextall. What they determined on their way to the Stanley Cup was what so many have known already. But until you witness it up close, experience it with your players - that fine line between success and failure often comes down to little more than effort

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are over and now comes the question - where is Zach going to sign - it seems like very day there is another rumor or pontification by a blogger or hockey writer on where Zach is going to sign when free agency begins.

Matt Greene goal against the Devils game 6

Congratulations to former Fighting Sioux defenseman Matt Greene and the Los Angeles Kings as they won the Stanley Cup four games to two over the New Jersey Devils  - with the Kings win tonight Greene became the 12th former Fighting Sioux hockey player to have his name inscribed on the Stanley Cup.  Greene was able to put some icing on the cake as he scored an unassisted goal at the 16:30 mark of the third period to push the lead to 6-1.

Dustin Brown Drops the F-Bomb

You never know what's going to come out of someone's mouth at the moment of extreme excitement. Dustin Brown you earned it and it was funny to see that Pierre McQuire didn't even blink and continued on with his interview.

Brown exclaimed, "You never know, that's why we F'N play."

Bernier's ill advised CFB on Scuderi

This is the shot heard round the hockey world tonight. This check from behind by New Jersey Devils forward Steve Bernier on Kings Defenseman Rob Scuderi that lead to a five minute major and a game misconduct for Bernier - the Kings pounced on the opportunity and they were able to bury the Devils on the major power play as they got three goals in five minutes - in essence putting the game out of reach for the Devils before the game was 20 minutes old.

There were some on twitter that said Scuderi took a dive go back and watch the video - there is no way that Scuderi dove on that play, he missed the rest of the period and was in the Kings locker room.

Monday Links - hockey almost over for the summer.

There are a few stories of interest today on the internet about Stanley Cup Finals.

There is one thing that we know – the Stanley Cup Playoffs are going to last one or two more games and then the NHL will be in full summer mode. This season Stanley Cup Finals has been one of the most uneventful playoff series in a very long time. There has been nothing in the way of big hits that need extra scrutiny or villains like the Canucks Alex Burrows that need to be vilified.

Can Devils captain Zach Parise heat up?

After checking in with seven goals and 14 points in the first 17 games of this postseason, the production has dropped off for Parise. He doesn't have a point in five games and has a plus-minus rating of minus-five in this stretch.

"Zach's game is so much more than the stat line," Devils coach Peter DeBoer. "He's the heartbeat of our team. He's the identity of our team. He forechecks, he back-checks, he kills penalties, plays in all situations. He really is our barometer. He's the guy that makes us go, whether he's scoring or not. "Again, I don't measure his game on goals and assists. He's creating opportunities. They're eventually going to go in. He's had these type of situations before. It's tough out there right now for anybody to score. But I'm not concerned about his game. I know it's going to come." Parise twisted his left ankle in the third period of Game 4 and briefly missed some time. But he practiced on Friday and will play. DeBoer will not make any changes to his lineup. That means veteran defenceman Henrik Tallinder and forward Petr Sykora will suit up again. [Tim Wharnsby,CBC.CA]

With the win on Saturday night the Devils All-World goalie and future hall of famer added to his already
impressive total. In my opinion Martin Brodeur is one of the best goalie in my lifetime.

Brodeur has won three Stanley Cups, two Olympic gold medals, four Vezina Trophies and a Calder Trophy. He is the only goalie to put together eight 40-win seasons and no netminder has played in more games (1,191), won more (656) and recorded more shutouts (163).

With his victory on Saturday, Brodeur recorded his 17th win in a Stanley Cup final to move into a tie with New York Islanders great Billy Smith on the all-time final wins list.

25 - Jacques Plante, Montreal
24 - Ken Dryden, Montreal
21 - Turk Broda, Toronto
19 - Terry Sawchuk, Detroit (17), Toronto (2)
18 - Patrick Roy, Montreal (10), Colorado (8)
17 - Martin Brodeur, New Jersey; Billy Smith, N.Y. Islanders [Tim Wharnsby,CBC.CA]

Here is a good article by Mark Spector - Kings a distracted team

It would appear that the Phoenix Coyotes are going to be staying in Glendale, Arizona. I know, I know, we have heard this one before – it will be interesting to see how this story plays out and if the Yotes are finally going to stay in Phoenix area.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Phoenix Coyotes' long wait for an owner might finally be over.

Glendale's City Council approved a 20-year lease agreement for Jobing.com Arena on Friday, clearing the last major hurdle in the sale of the Coyotes to a group led by former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison.

The council ratified the 20-year, nearly $325 million agreement by a 4-2 vote after a sometimes-contentious six-hour meeting attended by Jamison, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly.

"We've been doing this a long time," Bettman said. "We believe this team, the Coyotes, can be here with a new ownership in place and should be here."

One of the questions facing the Kings and Devils is fatigue - Kings Fighting Fatigue, as Well as Devils

Apparently Jaromir Jagr is coming back for another season in the NHL and is close to resigning with the Flyers...

The New Jersey Devils Power Less Play went 0-15 before Parise scored on Saturday night for the Devils to give them a 1-0 lead in game 5.

Stanley Cup finals hot topic: Give 3 reasons why Devils will win Game 6

The New Jersey Devils are still in a tough spot being down three games to two.

Tom Gulitti, Fire and Ice --- “I don’t see any reason why we should be overconfident or satisfied,” Devils captain Zach Parise said. “We’re still down 3-2. We’re still in the same spot we were. One loss and we’re done. I think just having gotten a couple wins, we’re playing with more confidence, but I don’t think that’s making us feel overconfident.

We still know how great of a team they are and how much better we need to play to make this thing even go further.

Parise finally scores after six game drought

The sound you heard was a sigh of relief from New Jersey Devils forward Zach Parise has he scored his first goal in six games for the New Jersey Devils.

That being said, it's not just Parise that has found the sledding to be tough, the New Jersey Devils top forward line of Zach Parise (1g-0a-1pts), Travis Zajac (0g-2a-2pts) and Ilya Kovalchuk (1g-0a-1pts) has been stymied by the Los Angeles Kings and the Devils top line has scored a grand total of two goals and two assist for four points between the three of them during the Stanley Cup Finals. Kovalchuck's goal was a empty net goal at the end of game four to keep the Devils hopes of extending the series alive.

Rich Chere, The Star-Ledger --- Devils captain Zach Parise ended his goal-scoring drought in the Stanley Cup finals when he scored his first goal against the Kings and first in six games going back to the Eastern Conference finals.

But he got help from Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, who shot the puck off the end boards to Parise at the right post. Parise beat Drew Doughty to the puck and scored inside the post.

“I made a not-so-great pass across the ice. I wasn't looking,” Parise explained. “I just saw Quick go out of the net. Just went on the normal forecheck route that I've gone on a thousand times this year. He just happened to misplay it and put it on my stick. You got to get lucky sometimes.”

If the New Jersey Devils are going to extend the series and send it back to Newark, New Jersey for a game seven the Devils top line is going to have to  become a factor on the score sheet. The Devils top line is going to have to make some space and break through the Kings defense and get behind the Kings defenders.

The record favors the Devils as they have a 10-1 record in games 4, 5, 6 and 7.  They also have future Hall of Fame goalie in Martin Brodeur who has won three Stanley Cups (1995, 2000, 2003) and seems to be getting better as the series goes along and you have to think that Marty is saving the best for the last series of the season.

Zach Parise game five goal

Here is New Jersey Devils and former Fighting Sioux All-American forward Zach Parise's goal in game five against the Los Angeles Kings. That was the first goal of the Stanley Cup Finals for Parise who had been held scoreless in five games for Parise how had been (0g-0a-0pts) and a minus 4 in the last five games going back to the Division Finals against the New York Rangers.

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