Chara on Orr.

#TMLtalk image: Jaw dropping twitter.com/MapleLeafs/sta…
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) May 14, 2013

Tuesday at the Links… The No Hockey League and "Sloppy Seconds"

Good morning and there are now roughly 32 days until the University of North Dakota plays it’s first exhibition game against the Manitoba Bison.

Former Maine Star and current Tampa Bay Lightning forward Teddy Percell says that the lockout is going to hurt the players. [CBC.CA]

"Sloppy Seconds"

Here is a story that is just too good to pass up. Toronto Maples Leafs defenseman Dion Phaneuf is now engaged to former 24 actress Elisha Cuthbert– in case anyone has forgotten, Cuthbert was the center of a crude and disparaging comments that Sean Avery made about her while he was a member of the Dallas Stars.

"Uh, I'm really happy to be back in Calgary, Avery said. "I love Canada."

"And I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about. "Enjoy the game tonight."

Avery was suspended indefinitely by the NHL for those comments and after his suspension he was traded to the New York Rangers and he has since retired from the NHL.

Here is all you need to know about the star studed engagement - Exclusive: Elisha Cuthbert Engaged to Dion Phaneuf: All the Details!

Lockout Talk

If this doesn’t sink for you - The Ottawa Senators have begun preparing their fans for the strong possibility of an NHL lockout.

Former Minnesota Duluth Bulldog and current Vancouver Canuck defenseman Jason Garrisonis growing a beard and he says that he'll keep the beard until the National Hockey League and its players sign a new CBA. Garrison might have to trim that beard or it could get pretty long.

The on going saga that is the Phoenix Coyotes; deal with Glendale in flux .

Misc stuff

While we are on the subject of the Phoenix Coyotes; Though ownerless, Coyotes have shown signs of staying power...

Apparently, Wayne Gretzky 'dreamed' of second Summit Series... [The Observer]

From ESPN yesterday - Bloomberg Businessweek has its annual ranking of the smartest spenders in sports. Check out the Smartest and worst spenders...

Smartest spenders:
1. Detroit Red Wings
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Boston Bruins
4. Chicago Blackhawks
5. San Jose Sharks

Worst spenders:
1. Toronto Maple Leafs
2. Edmonton Oilers
3. Columbus Blue Jackets
4. Calgary Flames
5. Minnesota Wild

Here is the defending Stanley Cup Champions National TV schedule "if" there is a season. [LA Kings Insider]

University of North Dakota Defenseman Andrew MacWilliam made the latest Hot List.

Andrew MacWilliam, D – University of North Dakota (WCHA) Never to be confused with an offensive dynamo, MacWilliam has nonetheless been a sturdy, physical presence on the UND blueline during his first three campaigns. Entering his final year in college, the Calgary native will don the green sweater as captain, with Habs prospect Danny Kristo as one of the assistants. Drafted 188th overall by Toronto in 2008.

No where but up for Tomas Kaberle...

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

EDIT: This blog post was lost in hyperspace and reappeared today. I have never really been a very big fan of Bruins defenseman Tomas Kaberle, he is an offensive defenseman that refuses to hit or play a physical game in a contact sports. In my opinion I don’t think Kaberle is a very good defensive player either and to top it off Kaberle’s price tag is way too high for a one dimensional hockey player, if anything I believe that he may have played himself out of Boston, especially with the emergence of Dennis Seidenberg.

The Hockey News --- Speaking of room for improvement, another burr in the sides of B’s fans has been blueliner Tomas Kaberle. Since coming over in a much-ballyhooed trade from Toronto, the stoic Czech has underwhelmed. That same Boston power play floundered under his influence, which is strange, since that was so much of his game with the Maple Leafs.

But don’t complain, Bruins faithful. Kaberle may not have been remarkable so far in the playoffs, but he too has room for improvement and his ceiling is higher than any of the other options. Think about it: you have a No. 1 defenseman playing the fifth-most minutes (18:06 per game) among Boston blueliners. If he can up his game, all of a sudden the pressure is alleviated from minute-munchers Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg, both of whom are dangerously close to playing 29 minutes per contest.

As for the price Kaberle came at - specifically big prospect center Joe Colborne and a first round draft pick, plus a conditional pick - it will all be worth it if Boston wins the Stanley Cup. Yes, Colborne is starting to round into form as a dangerous pivot in the Toronto organization, but the Bruins aren’t starved for young talent (Brad Marchand being the latest breakout star). Plus, that draft pick will be in the No. 27-30 range thanks to the Bruins’ march to the conference final and potentially beyond.

Ending nearly 40 years of Stanley Cup starvation is worth paying a high price for. Kaberle is an unrestricted free agent this summer, but if his presence in any way helps the Bruins lift the chalice, Boston can say “see ya” on July 1 with a clear conscience

Kessel: ‘I love Toronto, I want to be here’ Edit Video added

Aaron Lynett/National Post

This story has really taken off and created a fire storm around the blogsphere, if you haven’t seen it, the story is worth a read. It seems like wherever Kessel goes he is either misunderstood or maybe he really is part of the problem. Kessel is an amazing offensive talent but you won’t see him going over the boards to kill a penalty very often.

TORONTO — Nobody in the audience seemed to be listening as intently as Tyler Bozak. He nodded at some answers, grimaced at others and shook his head in bemusement at the tenor of the questions facing the man one stall over, inside the Toronto Maple Leafs dressing room.

Phil Kessel, his friend and teammate, was the reluctant star, holding an unwanted media conference after Monday’s pre-game skate to clarify his comments from a day earlier and dispel any notion that he was demanding a trade. It got a little awkward, and Bozak smiled.

“I kind of just give it to him a bit, bug him about his interviews,” he said with a smile not long after the lights dimmed. “I love it when he gets interviewed, because I like watching him after, cracking jokes to him about it.”

Kessel does not do interviews very often, and he generally does not do them very well. It is a source of humour for some of his teammates, but it became a source of alarm Sunday afternoon, when he hinted at friction with his head coach and stumbled in explaining how he felt when Ron Wilson demoted him to the third line.

The 23-year-old said, flatly, that “me and Ron don’t really talk.”
[Read the Whole Article]

Maybe it's him? (Kessel)

Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images North America

This seems to be a reoccurring theme wherever the young Kessel goes. Seems like Phil Kessel is in the proverbial dog house in Toronto now, oh that can't be. To Bruins fans Kessel is the gift that keeps giving for the Bruins. The Leafs traded two number one draft choices away to get Phil Kessel and the Bruins are set to get another great player of Tyler Seguin's quality in this years draft because the Leafs are at the bottom of the league again.

Toronto Sun ---- Much to the displeasure of Phil Kessel, Maple Leafs’ coach Ron Wilson has finally broken up his second and third lines.

With the season down to 30 games, a huge chasm in the standings between Toronto and the playoff pack and Kessel goal-less in his past 10 starts, Wilson is splitting up the right winger from centre Tyler Bozak, at least for the start of Mondays’ game against the Atlanta Thrashers. Kessel appeared with centre Darryl Boyce and regular left winger Joey Crabb at Sunday’s practice, while Bozak is now between Colby Armstrong and Kris Versteeg.

After practice at the MasterCard Centre. Kessel took the unusual step of sitting in full equipment waiting for reporters at his stall to talk about his woes. Separation from his good pal Bozak is clearly gnawing at him.

“Maybe it’s just not working out here I guess, I can’t get anything going,” Kessel said. “Maybe it’s time for a change or something. I’m not sure if that (putting him with Boyce) is it. Who knows? I’m trying.”

When asked if he and Wilson have discussed the skid off the ice, Kessel replied “me and Ron don’t really talk...that’s all I have to say about that.”

Wilson replied that Kessel is not one to share many thoughts on scoring.

“He doesn’t want to talk about it or even work on it in practice, it’s kind of a touch thing,” Wilson said. “He comes and goes with cold streak and hot streaks. Just be patient and change up the line. This is a different look, it makes you think a little bit.

“At the end of the day, he’s getting the chances (averaging more than four shots per game) and he has to figure a way to put he puck in the net. But a scoring chance that fails, should not shut you down the next five or six minutes.”