GMs to blame for heightened player expectations...

I found this story over on the the hockey news when I was surfing the web tonight.
Wow, some really profound words from Wild genius I mean Wild GM Doug Risebrough. I am wondering if Risebrough is laying the ground work for an excuse when the Wild don't perform up to expectations this summer and they drop from 18,000+ screaming fans to 15,000 angry fans.

In a way I kind of feel bad for former SCSU star Mark Parish, because I feel that he was unfairly made the whipping boy and planted in Jacques Lemaire's dog house.

I am predicting a bad year for the Minnesota Wild especially with all of their sub par personel moves during the off season moves, they will be lucky to make the playoff and will be probably be fighting to stay out of the bottom of the Western Conference this season.

THN.com Blog: GMs to blame for heightened player expectations
Ken Campbell
2008-08-01 13:40:47
Kudos to Minnesota Wild GM Doug Risebrough for his refreshing honesty when it came to buying out Mark Parrish’s contract.

Finally a GM in the NHL takes personal responsibility for signing a bad contract. What a concept.

“I looked at Mark’s salary and at what I thought his contributions would be and they were not totally in line,” Risebrough said after Parrish was put on waivers by the Wild. “It’s not Mark’s fault. I negotiated the contract.”

Not blaming the player, the CBA, the marketplace or the rising costs of doing business, Risebrough’s admission represented a willingness to be accountable for a mistake in judging a player’s worth. NHL teams do it all the time and nobody is immune from it, but so few GMs seem to be willing to admit it.

Now the key for Risebrough and other GMs like him is, can they learn from their mistakes? Given the salaries handed out when free agency opened a month ago, the early returns are not good.

When Risebrough signed Parrish on the first day of unrestricted free agency two summers ago, the right winger was coming off a 29-goal season and at the age of 29, had firmly established himself as a player capable of scoring 20-30 goals a season.

But what Risebrough didn’t take into account was the fact Parrish is what many in the industry call a “good bad-team player.” Prior to Minnesota, he had played his career with the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders and Los Angeles Kings and well, somebody has to score the goals on those kinds of teams. With above-average offensive instincts, Parrish was a good fit.

But he was always suspect defensively and where the Wild erred was in thinking he could thrive in a tight defensive system where he’d be held more accountable for his play at both ends of the ice. Not surprisingly, Parrish dropped to 19 goals in 2006-07 and 16 last season.

He’s hardly alone.

The mistakes teams make when they sign players is in creating expectations for them. When Bobby Holik signed a huge contract with the New York Rangers in 2002, he was a great third-line center. The only problem was he was making first-line money with the Rangers. Jason Blake was a 25-goal scorer who had one 40-goal season. Now the Toronto Maple Leafs have a salary cap hit of $4 million for each of the next four seasons for a guy who scored 15 goals for them.

And the list goes on and on…and on.

The lesson to be learned here is that when players sign contracts as free agents, they don’t change, but expectations do. Brian Campbell broke out last season with 62 points, but was essentially a 10-goal, 45-point guy prior to that. People should remember that when they wonder why the Chicago Blackhawks gave him $56.8 million over eight years.

Here's a look at the Bruins' top prospects: Blake Wheeler

Someone had this posted over on uscho.com. Check out what John McGourty had to say about Blake Wheeler; one of the Bruins new players.

Bruins aim to keep young talent flowing John McGourty
NHL.com Staff Writer

WINGS

Blake Wheeler -- The Coyotes drafted Wheeler with the No. 5 pick in 2004. He played three years at the University of Minnesota, then chose not to sign with Phoenix and informed Minnesota he wouldn't be returning. He signed a free-agent contract with Boston on July and will attend both development camp and training camp.

There may be a very good reason why Wheeler wanted to play with the Bruins. He was Phil Kessel's linemate at Minnesota in 2005-06, when he had nine goals and 14 assists in 39 games. Wheeler had 42 goals and 54 assists for 96 points in 127 games with the Golden Gophers in his three seasons. He led the team in scoring last season with 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points in 44 games and was named to All-WCHA third All-Star team. Wheeler also won the team's playoff MVP award.

Wheeler had two goals in seven games for the United States at the 2008 World Junior Championship.

"We felt very fortunate to be in the mix of teams that got to talk to Wheeler," Sweeney said. "That was a unique situation that put him in place to declare unrestricted free agency. He made an independent decision. We had a great, positive meeting with him and he showed a lot of character. He was seeking a team where he felt comfortable. Those were his words.

"Blake is a big guy who is getting bigger and stronger. He said he wants to develop into the player he knows he can become and we will help him do that. We're planning to move him to the wing as a professional. He played center last year in college. We want him to use his size and strength along the wall."

"He was very honest in his self-evaluation, saying he needs more time. But we don't discount any player's chances of coming in and doing the job."

Linkorama: check out this link

60 minutes has a great article on Bruce McLeod, Greg Shepherd
: Portraits in Buffoonery. So if you're good at photo shop send 60 minutes your contribution to his contest. I know some of you guys are going say, "but Goon you guys are unfairly hacking on the officials in the WCHA." Hey it is what it is and I can take the heat, however, I don't think so. I am also tired of the status quo.

Seriously folks the incompetence in the WCHA is well documented. We have heard numerous statments from McCleod and Shepherd on the state of the officials in the WCHA and how the league officals are doing a great job. Almost as as bad as Bush saying, "your doing a hell of a job Brownie" after the Katrina disaster. All you have to do is do a search on YouTube for the WCHA greatest hits. Most of us in fact know that it is not the case WCHA coaches were making statments off the record about how bad the officating is.








Check out this post below by Gandalf I really think it sums up the refs in this league really well. Very accurate picture of the state of officiatiing in our league.

Gandalf has said the following:

Officiating, what can I say about the Sheppard family. Not much in the way of positive things really, which is kinda sad. That is not just for people named Sheppard though, Adams, Schmidt. I can't think of one on ice official who I really like in the WCHA, and by like I mean that I wouldn't want to see fired immediately.

On top of that, the WCHA is lucky enough to have Bruce McLeod, our fearless leader who guides the WCHA from his chair at Denver University. Bruce really doesn't do much, he created a standardized apology letter a long time ago to send out to schools like Wisconsin and St. Cloud when his officials make mistakes that could cost a team an NCAA berth or home ice in the WCHA 1st round.

Why does Bruce continue to allow the WCHA to be officiated by the biggest bunch of clowns this side of Circus World Museum?

Worried about losing control, Bruce McLeod didn't want a WCHA game transferred to the Herb Brooks Foundation who was looking to put the game together. Apparently Bruce missed the 2007/2008 season where he already lost control of several WCHA games including several involving Wisconsin, St. Cloud and Denver.

Embittered hack Jon Hoff is at it again.

Former village idiot and disgraced former Grand Forks city council man "little Johnny Hoff" is back to spewing his disgusting hate rhetoric again. From time to time former Grand Forks Resident John Hoff will surface to take another shot at North Dakota, Grand Forks, UND or Ralph Englestad. This time the unamusing John Hoff is attacking the statue in front of the Ralph Englestad Arena. Oh course Hoff has nothing to back up his claims, nothing. I there was evidence of this being true I am sure the Grand Forks Herald would have covered the story already, it it was true but I digress...

Now our favorite neighborhood moron has come to the conclusion that that “Sitting Bull” statue in front of Ralph Engelstad Arena is from Nazi Germany. Oh really? Please little Johnny what leads you to believe this? I suggest you put down the bong and go to work.

Please John tell us what evidence you have discovered that led you to believe that the 3rd Reich is responsible for the Sitting Bull Statue. Please tell us where you got your evidence? Please provide us with the facts, not innuendo. Also, just because the REA management doesn't have the time of day to answer your silly questions and accusations that doesn't mean you're right.

IN THE MAIL: Engelstad Arena should come clean on statue
By John Hoff, Grand Forks Herald
Published Sunday, August 03, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS — Where did the “Sitting Bull” statue in front of Ralph Engelstad Arena come from? Who is the artist who created it? What specific Native American, if any, was it intended by the artist to depict?

After so many years, and with the UND “swastika scandal” fouling the very air of Grand Forks like the stench of Simplot, isn’t it about time to get the truth and to find answers, no matter where that might lead us?

FACT: No artist or country of origin ever has been revealed in regard to the statue in question.

FACT: Ralph Engelstad liked to collect antique Nazi bric-a-brac.

FACT: It is highly unusual, almost unheard of, for a statue to be installed and for nobody to know the name of the artist or the origin of the statue. Statues might sit around and their origins be forgotten, but newly installed statues are never anonymous. Why has everybody in Grand Forks looked the other way for so long? What shame is lurking in the shadows?

I strongly suspect the statue has origins in Nazi Germany. I am still waiting for management at Engelstad Arena to provide specifics — the name of the artist, the date and place of creation — to prove me wrong.

Check out Rob Port's Embittered Hack article on John Hoff...

Bimbos are us.

I found this on Puck Daddy, maybe it is better to be seen and not heard. Yikes... I like many of my fellow men probably long for the days of babe watch.

The Ralph bids for 2011 WJC

RWD's favorite college hockey beat writer Brad Elliott Schlossman is reporting that Ralph Engelstad Arena has submitted its bid to host the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championship. Personally I am thrilled at the opportunity to watch some more World Junior Hockey and I am hopeful that the REA bid is successful. The the 2005 WJC was one of the most exciting hockey tourney I have ever witnessed as a hockey fan and filled the void left by the NHL lockout of 2004-2005. I was at the championship game and I have never heard the Ralph as loud as it was during the Canada Russia final.

Ralph Engelstad Arena has submitted its bid to host the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championship, a tournament that features the best under-20 players in the world.

Its proposal calls for the Moorhead Sports Center to be the satellite site.

USA Hockey says that 26 entities have expressed interest in hosting the tournament, although it was unsure how many of those would submit bids.

USA Hockey will select an undetermined number of finalists this fall and then visit the potential sites.

The winning city is expected to be announced in late December.

Grand Forks has one big factor working for it: In 2005, the city teamed with Thief River Falls to host the most successful WJC outside of Canada. It was far more successful than the previous three tournaments on U.S. soil — Minneapolis in 1982, Anchorage in 1989 and Boston in 1996.

Its proximity to the Canadian border was key. The tournament is huge in Canada and thousands of Canadian fans made the short drive to Grand Forks to attend the event.

Canada won the gold, beating Russia in a game that featured the last two NHL MVPs — Canada’s Sidney Crosby and Russia’s Alexander Ovechkin.

“Ralph Engelstad Arena learned a tremendous amount from the 2005 event and we’re ready to apply these lessons learned in 2011,” Ralph Engelstad Arena general manager Jody Hodgson said. “Our bid will be different from others in that we have successfully hosted the event before, made a significant financial guarantee to USA Hockey, as well as provided financial opportunities for charitable hockey organizations in Grand Forks, East Grand Forks, Moorhead and the state of North Dakota.”

There also is a big factor working against Grand Forks. The 2011 World Juniors is only the third International Ice Hockey Federation tournament to be placed in the U.S. in the last 12 years.

The previous two — the 2005 World Juniors and the 2009 World Under-18 tournament — were both placed in North Dakota. Fargo will host the Under-18 tournament in April.

So, USA Hockey may want to avoid awarding three straight bids to North Dakota.

Ottawa will host the tournament this winter, 2009, and Saskatoon, Sask., will host it in 2010. Canada also will be host in 2012 at a site to be determined.

Where in the World is Jeff Dubay?

Listening to the PA and Dubay show on the KFAN podcast this past week I have been wondering the same thing myself: where heck is Jeff Dubay? Before I read C.J. article in the Star and Tribune I figured that Jeff Dubay must have been on much needed summer vacation or something, it makes perfect sense, August is a perfect time to go on a summer vacation to the lake to unwind and decompress.

Personally, from an entertainment standpoint I can only hope that Jeff Dubay aka "Puffy" gets back on the air very soon, because the P.A. and Dubay broadcasts aren't the same without him. As most Fighting Sioux hockey fans know Jeff Dubay is a self confessed Fighting Sioux hockey hater/antagonist and enjoys ripping the Fighting Sioux and calling them a bunch of goons and hacks. Joe Finley is also one of his favorite Sioux hockey players. :)

KFAN's Dubay is MIA
"It's personal," is the official word from KFAN on the absence of Jeff Dubay.

The "P.A. & Dubay," morning show co-host has been gone two, maybe two and a half weeks, Gregg Swedberg, programming veep of Clear Channel Minneapolis, told me Wednesday, when conveying the official word on Dubay's whereabouts. "Jeff will be back Aug. 8."

A listener with "Galet" in his e-mail address was first to raise questions with me about Dubay in a July 24 missive: "Last week they explained he had an incurable case of the hiccups. This week he has been gone all week with them saying he's 'out,' not 'on vacation' or other explanation. Seems a bit fishy."

When I talked to Dubay's P.A., as in Paul Allen, Wednesday he told me, "Doobers will be back Aug. 8 for the Vikings' Fan Line against the Seahawks, after that preseason game. Then he'll be back the following Monday at training camp with me. Let's wait for Doobs to come back and I'll mention that you called."

P.A. obviously knows precisely why his friend has been gone but is keeping the particulars confidential. Since talking about the personal problems of professional athletes is part of what they do, Dubay needs to prepare a line of explanation.

I know that Dubay is not too far removed from a divorce.

Former SCSU star Mark Parrish waived by Wild

Mark Parrish was on P.A. and Dubay today discussing his getting waived by the Minnesota Wild yesterday, which in my opinion makes him a stand up guy. Mark didn't have to come on the show and discuss his being waived, it would be painful to do.

After listening to the conversation between Paul Allen and Parrish it makes me wonder if the Jacques Lemaire act is getting stale and it is time for a house cleaning in the Wild organization. My first move if I was the owner would be to get rid of general manager Doug Risebrough like Lemaire his act has become stale and he has done a horrible job maintaining the Wild roster this off season.

While in a previous blog post I has said that Parrish was making a lot of money and not performing to the level of his compensation, I do believe there are other players on the Wild squad that should sent down the road before Parrish, Kim Johnsson and Martin Skoula would have been my first two choices.

WILD BUY OUT THE LAST THREE YEARS OF PARRISH'S CONTRACT

The Minnesota Wild have bought out the contract of veteran forward Mark Parrish.

Minnesota general manager Doug Risebrough said Parrish was simply a victim of the NHL's salary cap. Parrish who had three-years left on his contract is now an unrestricted free agent.

"I had to just look at certain scenarios, including his salary versus his performance," Risebrough told THE CANADIAN PRESS. "I just felt like this is an opportunity to buy somebody out and let the player move on and the team move on."

Parrish scored 35 goals in two seasons with Minnesota, including just 16 in 66 games this past season.

"I can't say it didn't work," said Risebrough. "The unfortunate thing is when you have a big signing like that, people are looking at big production. But the team was successful, and Mark was a part of that. We won a division title and Mark was a part of that."

Jonathan Toews the face of the Blackhawks ticket drive

Check out the Blackhawks season ticket campaign picture and it has a familiar face on it.

Colin Wilson to stay at Boston...

The Rink Rat sent me a heads up on this story. It is the latest Hot List, its the Hockey New's version of hot or not. It had been rumored that Colin Wilson's stay at Boston University would be a short one after the Nashville Predators picked Wilson so high in the draft.

A lot of these pontifications and rumors had to do with Wilson being drafted so high in this summers draft, heck even the experts at INCH predicted that Wilson would be on his way to the Predators during their mid summer podcast. This is a win for College Hockey this is also good new for Boston University. Although I am sure the B.C. Eagles won't be as thrilled as BU. Boston Univesity Terriers coach Jack Parker has to be tickled pinked because now he doesn't have to fill a big hole in his line up... Not at forward anyways...

Colin Wilson, C – Boston University Terriers (Hockey East): He may look NHL-ready right now, but Wilson has reportedly let Nashville know he’ll be hanging out in Boston for at least one more season. That’s good news for the Terriers and bad news for the rest of New England. Drafted seventh overall by Nashville in 2008.

While we are hacking on Bruce M. McLeod...

While we are piling on: this is a must read article that I found over on Sixty Minutes. No Alibis. No Regrets. written by Gandalf The Red and his article hits on a lot of the same things I am hearing from people. Gandalf is right; while opposing fans might have some degree of disdain/dislike for fans of opposition teams (right Amy?), we do have one thing that brings us together, our disdain and disgust for the gong show that is known as the WCHA leadership.

On top of that, the WCHA is lucky enough to have Bruce McLeod, our fearless leader who guides the WCHA from his chair at Denver University. Bruce really doesn't do much, he created a standardized apology letter a long time ago to send out to schools like Wisconsin and St. Cloud when his officials make mistakes that could cost a team an NCAA berth or home ice in the WCHA 1st round. When the WCHA has a chance to really do something spectacular, like an outdoor game at Camp Randall, he squashes it because he is worried about the Herb Brooks Foundation screwing something up. Like Chris posted over on Western College Hockey, "if anybody is going to screw-up a WCHA game...it's going to be the WCHA." Some quotes from Baggot's article linked earlier in the article:

"Maturi said McLeod was concerned about the fact the game would count toward the MacNaughton Cup. Why would that be a problem when NHL teams are playing outdoor games that count in the league standings?

Maturi said he spoke with McLeod, whose reply was that the NHL has an 82-game schedule and the WCHA plays 28 games. In other words, there is a much smaller margin for error in the WCHA."

So if there is a small margin for error, why does Bruce continue to allow the WCHA to be officiated by the biggest bunch of clowns this side of Circus World Museum? Does he not realize that literally every fan in the WCHA thinks the zebras out there are consistently good at doing one thing and that is a horrible job officiating WCHA hockey games? Its funny that while WCHA fans have some bitter disdain toward each other (I'm pretty sure DU fans will leave a lost CC fan for dead on a lonely highway), when it comes to thinking Bruce McLeod, Greg Sheppard and the officials of the WCHA are idiots, it doesn't matter what colors you wear, we all nod our heads in agreement and raise a toast like we are all long lost friends.

One last beef I have w/McLeod, is that he works for a WCHA institution. The WCHA is big enough now, and important enough in the landscape of NCAA Sports, that it should have its own independent league commissioner and staff. The WCHA Final Five alone should be able to pay the wages of these people. I know the Big 10 is gigantic compared to the WCHA, but for the best of the conference, its time for the league to be run by persons not directly affiliated with any WCHA school. Jim Delaney, Big 10 Commissioner, went to North Carolina and was a commissioner of smaller conferences before landing in the Big 10. A little outside opinion and perspective is never a bad thing, and the WCHA really needs that right now in the worst way, along with a whole new set of officials.

Well, let's try to sum this whole thing up. At the end of the day, I still think the teams, their collective traditions and fans that support them, out weigh the idiocy of the WCHA administration and officials, making the WCHA the elite conference in College Hockey. But every season that gap is growing smaller and smaller. How many more games are going to have to be screwed up and how many big events to promote not only the WCHA, but College Hockey, have to be squashed by the people who run this conference before things are going to change. Its hard for the top teams in the WCHA to be wholly prepared for the NCAA tourney, when the officials in other conferences are calling games consistently and well, compared to the side show Greg Sheppard allows to exist every weekend in arenas throughout the WCHA. I'm glad Wisconsin is part of the WCHA, and I'm glad that all the games they play in conference mean something, I just hope that someday that the quality of the administrative heads of the conference catch up with the bodies making it so much money and bringing it so much success.

Is there a bigger moron that Bruce McLeod?

In this weeks verison of Goon's bash the WCHA braintrust; I saw this story on Western College Hockey, Sixty Minutes. No Alibis. No Regrets and Todd D. Milewski's blog the WCHA with their great forethought and wisdom has decided that Wisconsin and Minnesota will not have a conference game at Camp Randall because the league doesn't want control of one of its games transferred to an outside entity, which would have taken place with the proposed Bob Johnson-Herb Brooks Hockey Classic. Yeah not that the WCHA has ever lost control of a game, I can think of a couple of instances where they totally screwed up. By the way league fans are still waiting an announcement by the league office on Randy Schmidt's status for next season.

I think the league office which already is suffering from a credibility issues needs to re-think it's latest decision. Also, if McLeod thinks the WCHA leadership got beat up unfairly last season they are not starting off on the right foot this season.

This latest silly move by the league office has led me to ask the question; what is wrong with these people? My next question is; how do the league member school go about getting rid of league commissioner Bruce M. McLeod and the rest of the WCHA leadership? It is my conclusion that the WCHA leadership is directly responsible for the mess that WCHA is currently in and it is time for these clowns to go. Enough is enough. It is time for a regime change because Bruce Mcleod and Greg Sheppard are holding the league back.

If Camp Randall Stadium hosts a college hockey game as one group has proposed, it won't be a conference game and it won't be in the coming season.

Representatives from the Herb Brooks Foundation approached the University of Wisconsin and University of Minnesota about producing an outdoor game on Jan. 24, 2009, at the 80,321-seat football stadium in Madison, but those talks have stalled after the Western Collegiate Hockey Association balked at the proposal.

Commissioner Bruce McLeod sent a letter to both schools indicating that the league doesn't want control of one of its games transferred to an outside entity, which would have taken place with the proposed Bob Johnson-Herb Brooks Hockey Classic.

That ruling all but eliminated the possibility of the teams playing the outdoor game in the 2008-09 season because both teams' schedules are at capacity under NCAA rules. There are exemptions to the number of games a team can play, but those are already used for the coming season.

The Herb Brooks Foundation is putting together an effort to attain an exemption for its game through the NCAA in time for the 2009-10 season, but executive director Skip Peltier admits that will be tough because the NCAA is trying to reduce exemptions. The foundation also is looking into the possibility of partnering with the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, which has an exempt game every season.

If the group can gain an exemption, it's believed that Madison would be the first location for the group's outdoor game, with a return contest at Minnesota's under-construction TCF Bank Stadium the following season.

McLeod said the league is reluctant to let a WCHA game get into somebody else's hands.

"If they want to take an exempted game or something like that, we'll cooperate and do what we can," he said. "But with a regular-season game and somebody else running it, and you know how those points go -- especially Wisconsin the last few years -- that can be critical. So we're quite concerned about the circumstances under which these games are played."

The Badgers were one point out of a home-ice playoff spot last season and two points out in the 2006-07 season.

Must see NHL games of the 2008-2009 season.

Allan Muir from Sports Illustrated has listed some of the must see games of the up coming NHL season. This is also one of the reason I get NHL Center Ice and got DVR on my digital cable so I can see all of these must see games and watch them at my leisure. I bolded the games I think will be must see games as well. I also added some comments as well.

Oct. 9: Toronto at Detroit -- The Red Wings raise the banner to celebrate last season's Stanley Cup and begin their title defense against the NHL's version of the tomato can. Always nice to get that first win under the belt.

Oct. 20: Pittsburgh at Boston -- The evening should mark the return of Patrice Bergeron to Boston 51 weeks after he suffered a career-threatening concussion. Not that anyone in town will notice, what with the Patriots playing on Monday Night Football.

That same night, the Rangers host the Dallas Stars. You don't suppose Sean Avery will be a factor in that one, do you?

Oct. 25: Here's the day your investment in the Center Ice package and picture-in-picture TVs pay off. All 30 teams are in action for the first time in the post-lockout era. Best bets? Start your night at 7 p.m. Eastern time with Penguins vs. Rangers. Flip over to Capitals vs. Stars at 8, then Sabres vs. Avalanche at 9 before capping off the evening with Flames vs. Coyotes at 10.

Nov. 9: Montreal at Toronto -- Even when one team is riding high and the other is swirling the drain, the NHL's oldest rivalry remains its most compelling. This skirmish has the added appeal of being the annual Hall of Fame game, honoring Igor Larionov, Glenn Anderson and the rest of the class of 2009 that will be inducted on Nov. 11. (Hockey Night in Toronto)

Dec. 8: Toronto at NY Islanders -- Round One of the John Tavares Sweepstakes.
(they should call this the futility game)

Jan. 1: Detroit at Chicago -- It'll be almost impossible to top last year's picture-perfect Winter Classic, but the ingredients are in place to give it a go. Two Original Six teams, a legendary venue (Wrigley Field, home of baseball's Chicago Cubs), the defending champs and a pair of the game's brightest young stars in Patrick Kane and Johnny Toews account for all of the key ingredients, save one: the weather. Here's hoping for the best.

Jan. 12: Tampa Bay at Los Angeles -- Barry Melrose returns to Hollywood. Alan Thicke and Dave Coulier will be spotted repeatedly during the broadcast after scoring comp tickets. Plus, a possible matchup of the first and second overall picks in the recent draft, Stamkos and Drew Doughty. (the return of Melrose Place)

Jan. 25: All-Star Game in Montreal -- If the Habs don't win the Cup, this game could be the highlight of their centennial celebrations. No team has done a better job of maintaining links to its glorious past, so expect them to put on an impressive show.

Feb. 8: Detroit at Pittsburgh -- This will be the second meeting of the year for last season's Cup finalists, but it marks the first time that Marian Hossa returns to Pittsburgh. We're not anticipating a warm welcome. (It will be interesting to see how Hossa is treated by his ex-mates)

Feb. 21: Ottawa at Montreal; Vancouver at Toronto; Calgary at Edmonton -- Hockey Day In Canada returns in its most perfect form: an all-day triple-header featuring the six Canadian teams in battle. (Yes, nine hours of hockey; sweet)

Feb. 25: San Jose at Detroit -- The Sharks have revamped their blueline, but are they ready to compete against the big boys? This late-season meeting should be a good test.

Mar. 6: Pittsburgh at Washington -- Assuming good health, this could be the final meeting of the season between the league's top three scorers, with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin up against Alexander Ovechkin and the Art Ross Trophy up for grabs.

Apr. 11: Pittsburgh at Montreal -- A preview of the Eastern Conference Finals? Could be.

Apr. 12: Blues at Avalanche -- It says here this final game of the season will decide the battle for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

Air rage lands hockey player in jail.

Having worked in and around airports with the TSA for four years I personally could never understand why people get stupid and snap at the airport or on a flight. Let me just say that it is not a smart thing to do and I would recommend against acting up at an airport, especially at the airport security check point. The Federal Government does not have a sense of humor for people that get stupid at the airport. As you can see in this case the federal courts are not going to play around with you and this guy probably has landed himself on the airport watch list for a very long time, which will only make him ever madder; can you say the full grope is coming for him the next time he flies. What a moron, couldn't wait till he landed before he had another drink.

Also; after 9/11 if someone stands up and acts like an ass or makes a move towards the cockpit the passenger are not going to to sit idly by while some deranged moron goes off, he is going to be slammed, restrained and knocked upside the head.

Airline rampage nets Canadian hockey player a year in jail
Monday, July 28, 2008
A Toronto-born hockey player who slapped a flight attendant, head-butted a passenger and exposed himself on an American Airlines flight was sentenced Monday to one year and a day in prison.

David Cornacchia, 27, who plays for the Florida Everblades in Fort Myers, Fla., will also be under supervised release for three years, including substance abuse and anger management programs, and must pay a $4,000 US fine.

Before sentencing in the federal courthouse in Fort Myers, the prosecutor read out details of what the defenceman did on Dec. 27, 2007 while flying to Dallas from his home in Toronto to join his team for a game in Texas.

According to court documents, the player became angry with a flight attendant after he was refused a third alcoholic drink. Cornacchia slapped the male flight attendant with an open hand.

Cornacchia began cursing at other passengers and exposed himself to them, according to an affidavit. Flight attendants and an assisting passenger then secured Cornacchia's hands behind his back with plastic restraints and belted him into a seat. Cornacchia head-butted the passenger who was helping restrain him.

The pilot declared an on-board emergency and was granted a direct approach to Dallas-Fort Worth airport, where the player was arrested.

Cornacchia's lawyer, Michael Hornung, said he had been hoping for a sentence of probation without jail time.

According to a hockey website, Cornacchia has played minor professional hockey for the past seven years. Before that, he played in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997 to 2001, spending time with the Sudbury Wolves, the Sarnia Sting and the Belleville Bulls.

Vintage Brian Rolston

This is a clip of former Wild Star Brian Rolston and now current New Jersey Devil when he was a member of the Boston Bruins.

Wild close to the cap with latest signing

Here is an interesting post on Russo's Rants on the Wild's roster for the up coming season. I think Russo is right the Wild management has been hammered in the past for being cheap and not spending up to the cap, rightfully so, however, Doug Risebrough has made some bad moves in the past year and now they are overspent and tied to players that aren't worth the money they are being paid.

Lets look at it a little closer; the Wild have money tied into players that aren't worth the money they are being paid, for what ever reason they are not worth the money they are singed to and that is poor cap management. Off the top of my head I can think of three (3) players that are underachieving and being over paid way too much money, they are Mark Parrish @ $2.85 million, Martin Skoula @ $1.9 Million and Kim Johnsson @ $5.25 million, these players are being paid a lot of money to under perform and should be traded or waived. Getting rid of one or two of these salaries would free up some room and allow the Wild to get another center which they desperately need. Even after all of the moves in the off season the Wild have one center I consider adequate Mikko Koivu, Belanger is another one I would put in the under performing and James Sheppard and Benoit Pouliot are basically rookies and unproven.

thought I’d throw this up, and this is unofficial but accurate. As you can see, if this roster stands, the Wild is extremely close — probably too close for comfort — to the cap ceiling ($2.13 million under). This includes the cap hits for James Sheppard and Benoit Pouliot if they hit all their bonuses (you have to count potential bonuses in the cap hit).

But still, the Wild doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room to get injured, or for that matter, to make in-season trades for expensive players. So, calling them “cheap” is a complete fallacy.

Kurtis Foster will start the season on IR, but his salary will still count against the cap. That long-term injury (LTI) function in the CBA is only to allow a team at the cap to go over the cap, and the Wild won’t be at the cap (as of today).

Also remember, if the Wild signs Marian Gaborik to an extension, that won’t affect next season’s salary or cap hit.

Here is the Minnesota Wild Roster

Left wings
Andrew Brunette ($2.5 million, $2.33 million)
Mark Parrish ($2.85 million, $2.65 million)
Stephane Veilleux ($862,500, $862,500)
Derek Boogaard ($850,000, $875,000)

Centers
Mikko Koivu ($3.3 million, $3.25 million)
James Sheppard ($765,000, $1.4 million)*
Eric Belanger ($1.75 million, $1.75 million)
Benoit Pouliot ($850,000, $1.7 million)*

Right wings
Marian Gaborik ($7.5 million, $6.33 million)
Pierre-Marc Bouchard ($3.35 million, $4.08 million)
Owen Nolan ($2.75 million, $2.75 million)
Antti Miettinen ($2 million, $2.33 million)
Craig Weller ($575,000, $600,000)

Defensemen
Brent Burns ($3 million, $3.55 million)
Kim Johnsson ($5.25 million, $4.85 million)
Nick Schultz ($3.2 million, $3.5 million)
Marek Zidlicky (3.5 million, $3.35 million)
Martin Skoula ($1.9 million, $1.8 million)
Marc-Andre Bergeron ($1.691 million, $1.254 million)
Erik Reitz ($500,000, $500,000)
Kurtis Foster ($1.025 million, $1.025 million)

Goaltenders
Niklas Backstrom ($3.1 million, $3.1 million)
Josh Harding ($750,000, $725,000)

Totals

$53,818,500 in salary; $54,571,499 against $56.7 million cap

Roster contenders
RW Cal Clutterbuck
LW-RW Colton Gillies
C Krys Kolanos
C Corey Locke
F Petr Kalus
* Cap includes potential performance bonuses.

Just for comparison sake look what the Detroit Redwings have spent.
$56,700,000 Salary Allowed
$52,723,333 Payroll Total
$3,977,667 Cap Room
Here is a perfect example of getting out managed. The GM of the Detroit Redwings got a lot out of their team for the money they spent. Also, they got better with the free signing of Marian Hossa.

Catching up after a long weekend.

I traveled to Lake City, Minnesota to play in a golf tourney at the Lake City golf course this past weekend. I am beat, after 386 miles and 6 hours of driving in the car I am now finally getting back to my computer after being off line since last Thursday @0800. I am suffering from withdrawal symptoms of not having my lap top computer for three and half days, I also didn't watch any news or read any newspapers. After this weekend we can declare that the summer is officially almost over and I am also ready to put the clubs away for the season already. Hockey season couldn't come fast enough.

I must say the golf tourney was fun, however, it was also a very humbling experience, needless to say I did not play very well at all and I carded my first 11 in about 7 years. I had the distinct honor of having the 4th highest score on the golf course for Saturday. I didn't do much better today.

I realized that golfing at Kings Walk in Grand Forks, ND does not prepare you for playing on courses that are line with trees. Also putting at Kings Walk is not the same, the greens are basically flat compared to this course there wasn't a flat spot on any of the greens. Can we say 4 putt? Make that multiple times.

The Lake City Golf Course is lined with a lot of hardwood trees, should we say big oak trees that stop your ball dead in its tracks when you hit a ball into them. I would not be lying if I said that I don't like trees on golf courses, give me a sand trap and tall fescue any day. I hope a big wind storm comes through and knocks a few of these big trees down before I come play the next Lake City Invitational.

Lessons Learned

I learned that some golf courses do not allow you to muscle the ball around the golf course, a smart game strategy is needed. I learned that stuborness and pride do not always work and there is a time and a place for the smart play. This would mean the decision of using your 5 iron is a better option than trying to ram a driver down a tight fairway, can we say double or triple bogey. Chalk one up for the golf course.

Wild sign Bouchard to 5-year extension


While I was gone on my three day vacation the Minnesota Wild signed perimeter player Pierre-Marc Bouchard to a healthy five year contract; I think that Bouchard is going to be over paid in my opinion, I just don't think he is worth 4 million dollars a year. Bochard is a soft player that will not go into the dirty areas to score goals and get most of his posts playing on the perimeter.

The part that irks me is that basically the Wild GM Doug Risebrough say PBM is worth more money than Brian Rolston, what ever. This club is going no where this season and will be hard pressed to make the playoffs. Welcome to mediocrity, I wonder how long the 18,000+ fans will put up with this?

Boston buys out Murray's contract

The Glen Murray's era is over in Boston. This is no shocker as the Bruins are over the cap and need cap room.

Tortorella to interview with Islanders: report

It is confirmed that John Tortorella is going to meet with general manager Garth Snow on Sunday to discuss the team's head coaching vacancy, according to a Newsday report on Friday.

A look at the Bruins Salaries

The Bruins blogger Fluto Shinzawa has a break down of the Boston Bruins salaries for the season. Interesting: former Minnesota Gopher Phil Kessel is due to make 2.2 million dollars this season. The Bruins are right up against the salary cap and don't have any room to add anymore players.

Forwards

Marc Savard, $5 million
Patrice Bergeron, $4.75 million
Michael Ryder, $4 million
Marco Sturm, $3.5 million
Chuck Kobasew, $2.33 million
Phil Kessel, $2.2 million
Peter Schaefer, $2.1 million
P.J. Axelsson, $1.85 million
**Glen Murray, $1,383,333 million**
David Krejci, $883,000
Petteri Nokelainen, $850,000
Milan Lucic, $850,000
Vladimir Sobotka, $750,000
Shawn Thornton, $517,000
Jeremy Reich, $487,500

Defensemen

Zdeno Chara, $7.5 million
Dennis Wideman, $3.875 million
Aaron Ward, $2.5 million
Andrew Ference, $1.4 million
Mark Stuart, $1.3 million
Andrew Alberts, $1.25 million
Shane Hnidy, $757,000

* Matt Lashoff and Matt Hunwick will contend for NHL jobs next year. But for this model, their salaries are not included.

Goalies

Manny Fernandez, $4.33 million
Tim Thomas, $1.1 million

* Tuukka Rask will most likely spend another season in Providence.

Current cap hit: $55,469,999

Notes: If Murray goes unclaimed and the Bruins complete the buyout, they will be $1.23 million below the $56.7 million cap ceiling.

Wild to NOT host game at REA.

Wild Blogger Brad Ratgen from hockeybuzz.com is reporting that there will be no exhibition hockey games at the REA.

Training camp opens September 20, 2008 in Grand Forks North Dakota due to the fact that Xcel Energy Officials will have to put the hockey arena back together again once the Republicans are done trashing it earlier in September for their National Convention.

Pre-Season Games are as follows:

Wednesday, September 24, 2008: Columbus at Minnesota

Friday, September 26, 2008: Minnesota at Chicago

Sunday, September 28, 2008: Minnesota at Buffalo

Tuesday, September 30, 2008: Chicago at Minnesota

Wednesday, October 1, 2008: Buffalo at Minnesota

Friday, October 3, 2008: Minnesota at Columbus

Saturday, October 4, 2008: Minnesota at Montreal

So, 3 home games and 4 away. No "home" games away from St. Paul i.e. North Dakota or elsewhere. Should be interesting. Go Wild!

Former Gopher Jake Taylor signed by Falcons.

Former Golden Gophers defenseman Jake Taylor has signed a professional contract with the Springfield Falcons. The Springfield Falcons are the farm club of the Edmonton Oilers.

Springfield, MA – The Springfield Falcons, proud members of the American Hockey League, announced today that they have signed defenseman Jake Taylor to a two-year standard American Hockey League contract.

Taylor spent the 2007-08 season with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack collecting three goals and 10 assists for 13 points and 129 penalty minutes in 77 games played. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound native of Rochester, Minnesota ranked second on the Wolf Pack last year in games played by a defenseman and he also had a plus/minus rating of +15.

“Jake is a big, strong, physical defenseman who has the reputation of being tough to play against,” said Falcons president and general manager Bruce Landon. “Along with the physical presence he will add to our team, Jake also brings some valuable experience and leadership to our blueline.”

Taylor will be entering his fifth season of professional hockey and he has played in a total of 201 career AHL contests collecting four goals and 25 assists for 29 points and 442 penalty minutes. Prior to turning pro, Taylor spent the 2003-04 campaign with the University of Minnesota where he helped lead the Golden Gophers to a WCHA Tournament Championship. Taylor was originally drafted by the New York Rangers in the sixth round (177th overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

Its Offiicial Wild to REA

From Russo's Rants, it is now official Wild to Grand Forks for training camp.
I am hoping that there will be a game or two at the REA.

Wild officially announces Grand Forks
By Michael Russo
This has been reported, but it’s finally official. The Wild doesn’t know yet how long camp will be in Grand Forks because it hasn’t been told exactly how long it needs to be out of Xcel.

Also, exhibition schedule is still to come. If you play reporter, however, you know at least five games – home and home with Columbus and Chicago, and a game at Montreal — because those teams have released their preseason schedules.

SAINT PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Minnesota Wild President and General Manager Doug Risebrough today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club will open its 2008 training camp presented by Wells Fargo at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. on Saturday, Sept. 20.

“The Wild has had a great relationship with the hockey fans of the greater Grand Forks area for many years and has enjoyed great success in NHL preseason games there,” said Tom Lynn, Assistant General Manager/Hockey Operations. “Ralph Engelstad Arena is one of the finest hockey facilities in the world, and outside of our home in the Twin Cities, we could not imagine a better venue for starting our training camp in 2008.”


The team selected Ralph Engelstad Arena as its location to open training camp as a result of the Xcel Energy Center hosting the Republican National Convention, September 1-4, and the move out from the arena following the event. This will mark the first time in team history the Wild will open training camp outside of the Twin Cities.

“This is exactly the type of elite hockey opportunity that Mr. Engelstad hoped to attract to this community and we look forward to once again hosting the Minnesota Wild in our facility,” said Jody Hodgson, Ralph Engelstad Arena General Manager.

More information on Minnesota’s training camp, including practice dates and times at Ralph Engelstad Arena will be announced at a later date. The Wild has played four preseason games at Ralph Engelstad Arena in franchise history (2002, 2003, 2005 and 2007).

Minnesota will announce its preseason schedule at a later date.

Okposo welcomes the challenge to be a scorer

Here is a story I found on former Gopher Kyle Okposo. It will be interesting to see where this story leads this next season. If Okposo ends up staying in the NHL I think it does lessen the blow of him leaving the Gophers. Then it would prove he was ready to make the next step to the NHL.

Okposo welcomes the challenge to be a scorer
BY GREG LOGAN | greg.logan@newsday.com
July 17, 2008
Kyle Okposo is only nine games into his NHL career and just seven months removed from the University of Minnesota, but when he walks into Islanders training camp in September, all eyes will be watching to see if he can become an offensive force.

As the only two NHL roster players in the prospect camp this week at Iceworks in Syosset, Okposo and Blake Comeau have taken a very business-like approach to leading their opposing teams, but they have yet to hit the net in two scrimmages. There's pressure, but Okposo said he simply views it as an exciting challenge.

"People are looking at you to produce, and you have to fill the void," Okposo said. "I really want to do that. I feel like I have the right mind-set, and I know Blake has the right mindset. He had a good year last year, and he's looking to build on that. We've been working really hard this offseason to prepare ourselves to be those guys and chip in more than we did last year."

In his nine games, Okposo managed goals against the Devils and Rangers and totaled five points. The experience, he said, "helped me a lot. It made me realize I can play with those guys, and have an impact. It's a little bit reassuring to have those first few games under my

Okposo proved he could score at Minnesota and with the U.S. team in world junior competitions, but most consider him as much of a playmaker as a pure goal scorer. Can he become the sniper Isles fans crave?

Embracing the challenge, Okposo said, "The No. 1 thing I've worked on this summer is goal scoring. A lot of it is a mental game. You say, 'I'm a goal scorer, and I'm going to bury every puck around the net.'

"Here in minicamp, it's not going my way, but I still have that mentality. I'm not getting down on myself like maybe I had during previous slumps. I'm still telling myself, 'I'm a goal scorer,' and that's when you get chances. Sometimes, they don't go in, but if you're getting six, seven shots a night, they're bound to go in sometime."

Do the Islanders want John Tortorella as there next coach?

It would appear that this might be the case and Elliot The Rat Lives is also stronly predicting that John Tortorella is going to be the next coach of the New York Islanders. I think Elliot might be right as the Tampa Bay Lighting have also given the Islanders permission to talk to Tortorella about the coaching vacancy in New York.

Tortorella was successful in Tampa Bay as the Lighting won the Stanley Cup in 2003-2004 but they also missed the playoffs twice in his seven season as coach of the the Tampa Bay Lighting.

Links to the story

Fan Nation: Who's next Islanders coach?

Who Will Take the Islander Helm?

Ted Nolan Out As Islanders Coach

New York Islanders announce Ted Nolan out as their head coach

Robbie Bina gets a professional deal

Former Fighting Sioux defenseman Robbie Bina has signed a deal to play professional hockey in either the AHL or the ECHL. This is story has a happy ending as most of us know, in 2005 during the WCHA Final Five Robbie Bina was hit from behind by Geoff Paukovich causing Bina to suffer from a broken neck, putting his hockey career in jeopardy. After taking the next season off Robbie Bina returned gloriously to the Fighting Sioux line up to play a major force in UND getting back to the Frozen Four two more times. Incidentally Bina and Paukovich could now be teammates but don't expect anything to come out of this, the incident has been settled.

Bina signs pro deal.
Brad Elliott Schlossman Grand Forks Herald
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

In about three years, Robbie Bina has made the incredible journey from a broken neck to a professional hockey contract.

Strangely enough, the guy responsible for the serious injury may be there when Bina arrives.

Bina, an all-Western Collegiate Hockey Association defenseman at UND, recently signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Edmonton Oilers organization, which also holds the rights to Geoff Paukovich

Bina’s contract is with Springfield (Mass.) Falcons of the American Hockey League and the Stockton (Calif.) Thunder of the East Coast Hockey League.

Paukovich, who caused Bina’s injury with an illegal hit in March 2005 as a member of the Denver Pioneers, played with Stockton last season.

“I’ve put everything behind me,” Bina said. “I’m just going to go there and play and hopefully have a good season.”

The injury happened during the playoffs of Bina’s sophomore season. He took a year off to recover and became a strong two-way force upon his return.

Bina had 10 goals and 22 assists for 32 points in 43 games as a junior and two goals, 23 assists in 43 games as a senior. He earned third-team all-WCHA honors last season.

“I’m hoping to play up in the AHL,” Bina said. “I’d like to go there and have a good season. Maybe I’ll see some power-play time.”

No matter where he ends up, he may see familiar faces.

Bina’s defensive partner, Taylor Chorney, signed with the Oilers three weeks ago. Chorney will either play in Edmonton or Springfield.

If Bina lands in Stockton, he will be playing under former Sioux defenseman Tim O’Connell, who will be a first-year assistant there.

Bina is the fifth Sioux player from last season’s team to sign a pro deal. Chorney and T.J. Oshie gave up their final years of eligibility by signing with the Oilers and St. Louis Blues.

Outgoing seniors Rylan Kaip (Atlanta Thrashers, NHL) and Kyle Radke (Idaho, ECHL) also have signed.

Check out this story over on Coming Down the Pike.

Bruins resign Dennis Wideman

This seems to me that this might be a case of over playing a player. Wideman is a 3rd or 4th defenseman and went from making 600,000 a year to 3.9 million dollars a year. As far as raises goes that is one hell of a jump. The salaries in the NHL are already getting out of whack after having a work stoppage that cost the NHL a whole season.

Bruins avoid arbitration with Wideman
Monday, July 21, 2008
Dennis Wideman. SPORTSNET.CA

The Boston Bruins and defenceman Dennis Wideman have avoided salary arbitration by agreeing on a new four-year deal worth $15.75 million, Sportsnet has learned.

The 25-year-old, Kitchener, ON native made $600,000 last season.

In 81 games in 2007-08 Wideman scored 13 goals and added 23 assists for 36 points.

He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the eighth round, 241st overall in the 2002 draft. The Bruins acquired him in a trade with St. Louis in 2007.

Pens resign Taffe.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have resigned Jeff "after the Whistle" Taffe to a new contract.

Pittsburgh Penguins re-sign forward Jeff Taffe to a one-year deal
PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Penguins signed forward Jeff Taffe to a one-year contract on Monday, giving him a chance to play a second season with the team.

The six-foot-three, 208-pound forward debuted with the Penguins in December. In 45 games, Taffe had five goals and seven assists.

The native of Hastings, Minn., was originally chosen by the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the 2000 NHL draft.

In 145 career games with the Penguins, the Phoenix Coyotes and the New York Rangers, Taffe has 20 goals and 20 assists.

The Penguins also re-signed forward Jonathan Filewich to a two-year contract on Monday. He played five games with the Penguins last season, but spent most of the season with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he had 10 goals and 21 assists in 71 games.

Defenceman Paul Bissonnette signed a one-year contract. He split time between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and the Penguins' ECHL affiliate in Wheeling, W.Va.

Parise to the EC Red Bull Salzburg

Former Fighting Sioux goalie Jordan Parise is taking his show over seas this winter to play for the EC Red Bull Salzburg. Goon's World would like to wish him good luck and will be following his season closely. Good thing this site also has English because my Deutsch is a little rusty. Also if you look at the roster of the team you will see that they had a couple of former ex-NHLers on their team last season. Josh Green who played on the Red Bulls just recently signed a contract to play for the Anaheim Ducks this season, so it is possible to move from the Austrian Hockey League to the NHL even though a few nay says have said it isn't possible. The Salzburg Red Bulls are also coached by former North Stars coach Pierre Page`

Red Bulls sign new goalie
EC Red Bull Salzburg has announced the signing of Jordan Parise. The 25-year-old goaltender from Faribault, Minnesota (USA), has dual US/Canadian nationality and will play in goal for the Red Bulls this season. Besides his Canadian father Jean-Paul Parise, who enjoyed several seasons in the NHL playing for, among others, the Minnesota North Stars and New York Islanders, his brother Zach Parise is also an NHL player, having spent the last three seasons with the New Jersey Devils.

Pierre Pagé is convinced that Jordan will be an important member of the Red Bulls' squad: "He has an impressive college and professional career to show for himself and after two successful years in the American Hockey League (AHL) he intends to use our programme as a springboard to a place in the NHL next year."

Jordan Parise will join the team in time for training at the beginning of August

Video to the Jonathan Toews being name captain of Blackhawks

Here is the link to the interview with Jonathan Toews.

Puck daddy on Jonathan Toews

Here is an interesting story on Jonathan Toews being selected captain for the Chicago Blackhawks. While I think the Blackhawks are going to be improved from last season I still think they are like 3rd or 4th in the western conference.

The Jonathan Toews Blackhawks’ captaincy backlash begins
By Greg Wyshynski
Is 64 regular season games a large enough sample to determine if Jonathan Toews, the 20-year-old center for the Chicago Blackhawks, has what it takes to be an NHL captain?

The Blackhawks obviously believe so, making Toews the third-youngest captain in League history last week. And I also believe so, because there's not exactly a Mark Messier on that roster and because his beyond-his-years leadership had been evident since last December, earning praise from a guy like Martin Lapointe -- who knows a thing or two about leaders wearing No. 19.

That there's a backlash against Toews's captaincy isn't so much about Toews as it is about hockey ageism. Do "infant captains" like Toews and Sidney Crosby actually have the ability to repel veteran free agents?
----Snip---------
Otherwise, it's a fair point: Giving Toews the captaincy makes him the Yzerman to Patrick Kane's more flashy Fedorov; the face of the franchise and its most dynamic offensive player. You can't beat establishing those franchise pillars this early in the team's maturation.

But even I'm not cynical enough to believe this is about selling jerseys. Toews was born with a 'C' on his chest, so there's no denying the inevitable.

As for other young superstars getting the captaincy, I think both teams and these players have been very careful about it. Sidney Crosby waited. Alexander Ovechkin said he laughed when a teenage Crosby was named an alternate captain for the Penguins, but both stars have carefully approached the captaincy. (In Ovechkin's case, the matter was complicated by the fact that the real captain of the Capitals was a goalie who couldn't wear the 'C'. He may still wear the 'C' one day soon, if he wants it.)

I don't think a veteran player would be dissuaded from playing with a team if its captain is a newbie. But the way a team handles its captaincy can speak volumes about its direction.

In Columbus, I think it's been handled poorly: It's a young franchise that desperately needed a captain symbolic of its slow maturation as a franchise, and the Blue Jackets had a parade of mercenary veterans until Rick Nash got the gig. What, exactly, does naming Luke Richardson captain say about your franchise in 2003?

In Chicago, it's been handled perfectly. The Blackhawks are ready to climb out of the doldrums and contend in the West with their young guns and new identity. Toews is a critical part of that; there's no reason why he shouldn't also be its public face.
<-Read the whole story here->

Rule Changes: The Equipment

Today I was looking a little further into the new NCAA rules and rightfully so the NCAA has banned the cheater pads I mean thigh guards. It is about time the NCAA gets on the same sheet of music as the NHL in the goaltender equipment. Look for more 5 holes goals to be scored this season.

Rule 3-3. Goalkeeper Equipment – Thigh Boards. In the goalkeeper equipment section, the following wording was voted: ―All inner knee/thigh protection, whether attached to the leg pad or not, must be tightly wrapped around the leg. Thigh boards are illegal.
Rationale: When the committee approved new goalkeeper equipment dimensions to coincide with the National Hockey League standards two years ago, thigh boards were not included. The NHL has since determined these attachments to be illegal and the committee believes this is appropriate. In all cases, there is a difference between protection of the student-athlete, which this rule maintains and an advantage in blocking pucks, which thigh boards allow. Additionally, this piece of equipment is an attachment and is easily removed from the leg pad.

Also on the bench all players including back up goaltenders have to wear helmets. I personally think that is a silly rule.

Rule 3-5, Helmet. The committee voted: ―All players, including backup goalkeepers, must properly wear a HECC-approved helmet and HECC-approved facemask to be in the bench area.
PENALTY—Warning and bench minor if not corrected.‖
Rationale: The committee believes all student-athletes in the bench area must wear a helmet and facemask for protection. Backup goalkeepers, in most cases, do not wear a helmet currently.

Nice story on Former Sioux hockey player Jason Blake

Here is a nice story I found on former Sioux hockey player Jason Blake. Jason Blake had what some might call a tough season; Blake was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a rare but treatable form of cancer but was still able to play all 82 games. For his efforts Blake was awarded the Masterton Memorial Trophy for this efforts this season. Blake was also the second consecutive former WCHA to win the Masteron Memorial Trophy.

With the supporting cast that Toronto has on it's roster going to be tough for Blake to get points, especially if Matts Sundin ends up in Vancouver like it has been suggested.

NHL Fantasy Focus: Jason Blake

Jason Blake is a player I have a lot of respect for and one that I enjoy watching. The dude plays like a border collie, bouncing around the ice with boundless energy. It's hard not to like a player that works so hard and seems to enjoy the game as much as he does.

Blake is also a very adept 2-way player, and is the type of guy a coach can feel comfortable about playing in any situation. Blake's hustle makes him a great penalty killer as well as a team picker-upper. Just look at the way he battled back from his cancer!

What Blake is NOT, however, is a big offensive producer. Yes, he once scored 40 goals for the lowly New York Islanders, but one need only look at his career history to see what an outlier that was

The people who got suckered in the most were, obviously, the Toronto Maple Leafs, who inked the diminutive winger to an expensive, long-term 5-year $20M contract.

Blake will be 35 years of age (yes, older than you thought!) when next season starts, and despite getting loads of shots on net, is only going to decline from here on out. Losing Mats Sundin will also be a blow to his offensive chances.

Prediction: 50 points. Age and a lack of support will make times tough for Blake, but he should be able to come close to his average numbers. Just don't take the bait thinking that Blake is going to get 40 goals again, or even 30. It's just not going to happen.

NHL Schedules are out.

The NHL released their schedules. Michael Russo has the Wild Schedule up on his blog. I am very happy to see that the Bruins open up the season against the Wild, the Bruins also travel to the T.D. North Garden on January 6th 2009. Looking at the schedule in October the Wild play 8 games and four of them are against eastern division foes.

Waiting for Sundin I mean Waiting for Stanley breaks down the new schedule.

-Each team will play every team in it's division 6 times (instead of 8 times).
-Each team will play teams from other divisions within their conference 4 times each.
-Each team will play non-Conference teams 18 times.

OCTOBER * REGULAR SEASON
SAT. 11 BOSTON 7:30 P.M.Tue. 14 @ Atlanta 6:00 p.m.
Thu. 16 @ Florida 6:30 p.m.
Sat. 18 @ Tampa Bay 6:30 p.m.
THU. 23 BUFFALO 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 25 COLUMBUS 7:00 P.M.
MON. 27 CHICAGO 7:00 P.M.
Wed. 29 @ Dallas 7:30 p.m.
THU. 30 MONTREAL 7:00 P.M.

NOVEMBER
Sat. 1 @ Phoenix 9:00 p.m.
Tue. 4 @ San Jose 9:30 p.m.
Thu. 6 @ Colorado 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 8 @ Vancouver 9:00 p.m.
THU. 13 PHOENIX 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 15 COLUMBUS 7:00 P.M.
Tue. 18 @ Pittsburgh 6:00 p.m.
THU. 20 VANCOUVER 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 22 ST. LOUIS 7:00 P.M.
MON. 24 WASHINGTON 7:00 P.M.
WED. 26 DALLAS 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 28 TAMPA BAY 1:00 P.M.
Sat. 29 @ Nashville 7:00 p.m.

DECEMBER
MON. 1 COLORADO 7:00 P.M.
WED. 3 ST. LOUIS 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 5 VANCOUVER 7:00 P.M.
Sat. 6 @ Nashville 7:00 p.m.
Thu. 11 @ Phoenix 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 13 @ Los Angeles 3:00 p.m.
Sun. 14 @ Anaheim 7:00 p.m.
WED. 17 CALGARY 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 19 N.Y. ISLANDERS 7:00 P.M.
Sat. 20 @ St. Louis 7:30 p.m.
TUE. 23 CAROLINA 7:00 P.M.
SUN. 28 CHICAGO 5:00 P.M.
Mon. 29 @ Calgary 8:00 p.m.
WED. 31 SAN JOSE 5:00 P.M.

JANUARY
SAT. 3 DETROIT 7:00 P.M.
Sun. 4 @ Colorado 7:00 p.m.
Tue. 6 @ Boston 6:00 p.m.
Thu. 8 @ Philadelphia 6:00 p.m.
Sat. 10 @ Columbus 6:00 p.m.
TUE. 13 PHOENIX 7:00 P.M.
THU. 15 EDMONTON 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 17 ANAHEIM 8:00 P.M.
Mon. 19 @ Chicago 7:00 p.m.
TUE. 20 LOS ANGELES 7:00 P.M.
Sun. 25 ALL-STAR GAME (Montreal) TBA

DAY DATE OPPONENT TIME (CDT)
JANUARY - CONTINUED
TUE. 27 TORONTO 7:00 P.M.
Fri. 30 @ Edmonton 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 31 @ Vancouver 9:00 p.m.

FEBRUARY
WED. 4 ANAHEIM 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 6 NASHVILLE 7:00 P.M.
SUN. 8 EDMONTON 2:00 P.M.
WED. 11 COLORADO 7:00 P.M.
Thu. 12 @ Detroit 6:30 p.m.
SAT. 14 OTTAWA 7:00 P.M.
THU. 19 CALGARY 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 21 DETROIT 7:00 P.M.
Sun. 22 @ Chicago 6:00 p.m.
TUE. 24 LOS ANGELES 7:00 P.M.
Fri. 27 @ Calgary 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 28 @ Edmonton 9:00 p.m.

MARCH
Tue. 3 @ Vancouver 9:00 p.m.
Thu. 5 @ San Jose 9:30 p.m.
Sat. 7 @ Los Angeles 3:00 p.m.
Sun. 8 @ Anaheim 7:00 p.m.
TUE. 10 SAN JOSE 7:00 P.M.
Thu. 12 @ Colorado 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 14 @ Dallas 7:00 p.m.
Sun. 15 @ St. Louis 5:00 p.m.
TUE. 17 COLORADO 7:00 P.M.
Fri. 20 @ New Jersey 6:00 p.m.
SUN. 22 EDMONTON 2:00 P.M.
Tue. 24 @ N.Y. Rangers 6:00 p.m.
Wed. 25 @ N.Y. Islanders 6:00 p.m.
Sat. 28 @ Calgary 9:00 p.m.
Sun. 29 @ Edmonton 7:00 p.m.
TUE. 31 VANCOUVER 7:00 P.M.

APRIL
FRI. 3 CALGARY 7:00 P.M.
Sun. 5 @ Detroit 4:00 p.m.
TUE. 7 DALLAS 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 10 NASHVILLE 7:00 P.M.
Sat. 11 @ Columbus 6:00 p.m.

A few loose ends.

Fomer Sioux defenseman/forward Kyle Radke has signed a professional contract to play with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL. Sounds like the Steelhead management wanted to add some toughness to their line up. It will be interesting to see what kind of penalty minutes Kyle can rack up.

“Kyle is a smooth skater and solid ‘d-man,’” said Idaho Steelheads Head Coach Derek Laxdal. He added, “He’s got a physical toughness that will bode well in our league and we’re excited to get him as Kyle was highly recruited amongst other ECHL teams.”

Yawn, boring, been there done that...

The Redwings and the Blackhawks are going to play in yet another outdoor game this winter. While I am sure that I will watch it, I hope this game does a better job at keeping my attention than the last one. The outdoor game in Buffalo was hard to watch because of the constant stops and starts. Apparently this will be the third outdoor game that former UNH star Ty Conklin who just signed a free agent contract with the Stanley Cup champions the Detroit Redwings could have the unique experience of taking part in all three recent outdoor NHL contests. He was a member of Edmonton and then Pittsburgh for the previous two games

The host Chicago Blackhawks will square off against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Detroit Red Wings, in a 1 p.m. ET game that should not only capture the attention of the entire sports nation on arguably the greatest sports television day of the year, but could also be a key contest in what figures to be a tight Central Division race. It will be the 701st all-time meeting of the clubs. No NHL opponents have played more regular-season games against each other.

The game, the third in an outdoor venue put on by the NHL, will be televised live on NBC in the United States as well as CBC and RDS in Canada. NHL Radio will provide coverage across North America and NHL.com will provide extensive digital video coverage.

"The NHL is delighted to bring its most historic rivalry to one of the most historic venues in sports," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "We thank Rocky Wirtz and John McDonough for their vision. We thank Mike Ilitch and the Red Wings for their cooperation. And we thank Mayor Daley, in advance, for the warm welcome we know the City of Chicago

Former Fighting Sioux forward/star Jonathan Toews will wear the "C" for the Blackhawks this season. This is a huge honor for the young players as Jonathan Toews is (20 years, 79 days) that is barely 20 folks and will not be 21 until after his second season in the NHL. Thanks to the Rink Rat for bringing this too my attention as I had forgotten how old he really was.

Chicago Blackhawks announced Friday that centre Jonathan Toews will serve as the team's captain for the 2008-09 season, making him the third-youngest captain in NHL history.

Only Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby and Tampa Bay Lightning centre Vincent Lecavalier, both while 19, became captains at a younger age than the 20-year-old Toews, who will be heading into just his second season in the Windy City.

"Jonathan deserves this honour," said Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon. "He is a tremendous individual and a wonderful leader on and off the ice.

"He has experience in captaining teams from his world junior appearances and guys follow his lead in our locker room."

Toews led NHL rookies last season with 24 goals and seven power-play markers while ranking third with 54 points in 64 games.

The Winnipeg native was Chicago's first choice, third overall, in the 2006 NHL entry draft.

Pacioretty forgoes eligibility and Signs with Montreal Canadiens

Just in hot off the presses from MGOBlue and the blog that Yost Built Super frosh Max Pacioretty has signed a professional contract with Les Habs. This is a big time loss for the Michigan Wolverines. It will be interesting to see what other big signing will happen as the summer progresses to the fall...

MONTREAL -- Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey announced Thursday the signing of forward Max Pacioretty to a three-year contract (2008-09 to 2010-11). As per club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Max Pacioretty is a young player with a lot of skills who has the potential to play in the NHL. We are very happy to have him under contract for years to come. We feel he is ready to make the jump to professional hockey, and we will make sure to provide him with all the resources which will benefit his long-term development as a player,’’ said Bob Gainey.

Pacioretty, a native of New Canaan, Connecticut, completed in 2007-08 his freshman season in the NCAA with the University of Michigan Wolverines of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). The 19-year-old ranked fourth in scoring with the Wolverines with 39 points in 37 games (15 goals, 24 assists), posting a plus-31 rating along with 59 penalty minutes.

Pacioretty (6’02’’, 199 lbs) finished second on the team in plus-minus (+31) and powerplay goals (9). He also scored three game-winning goals and registered 109 shots on goal. The left winger was named the CCHA Rookie of the Year, and was named to the College Hockey News All-Rookie team and the CCHA All-Rookie team. He finished fifth in U.S. college hockey among rookies in points (39) and points per game (1.05). He was also Recipient of the Mickey and Wally Grant Scholarship for Men's Ice Hockey.

Pacioretty was a member of the US National team which finished fourth at the 2008 World Junior Championship presented in Czech Republic.

At the junior level, Pacioretty played two seasons with the United States Hockey League's Sioux City Musketeers from 2004 to 2006. In his second season, he scored 21 goals and 42 assists for 63 points in 60 games, which awarded him the USHL Rookie of the Year honours and a selection to the USHL All-Rookie team.

Max Pacioretty was a Canadiens’ first-round selection, 22nd overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Canes give Hagemo second chance (Finally good news)

I saw this posted over on Sioux Sports. This could turn out to be a happy ending for a kid that has had a tough time as of late. Now it is time for Hagemo to make something out of it.

Canes give Hagemo second chance
Luke DeCock, Staff Writer
RALEIGH - Nate Hagemo didn't know how badly he needed the game of hockey until he tried to go without it.
This week, hockey is trying to give something back to Hagemo.

The one-time Carolina Hurricanes prospect has had a long string of run-ins with the law since a shoulder injury derailed his hockey career almost three years ago, including an arrest less than two weeks ago while on probation.

This week, he's participating in the Hurricanes' prospect conditioning camp, his first taste of competitive hockey since October 2005 and the first scene in what he hopes will be the second act of his life.

"I got off track when I got hurt," Hagemo said Thursday after an on-ice session at the RecZone. "It was a big shock to me. For a while there, it was looking like I wasn't going to be able to play again. What happened with the shoulder, it wasn't so much what was physically wrong.

"There were a bunch of things I had to change in my life even to have the chance the Hurricanes are giving me now. For them to be giving me this opportunity, I couldn't be more grateful. It's really generous of them. It's great that people would give me a second chance."

Hagemo, 21, once ranked among the Hurricanes' most promising defensive prospects, a second-round draft pick after his freshman year at Minnesota, before a shoulder injury derailed his career and his life.

His shoulder is better. His life still needs some healing. The Hurricanes, who retain his NHL rights until June 2009, agreed at the request of Hagemo's agent, Neil Sheehy, to invite Hagemo to this four-day camp in an attempt to help.

"We got a call from the agent just recently," Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said. "He's had some issues to deal with. ... We just felt we'd give him an opportunity if we can, help him out -- even just going forward with his life in the right direction, that would be good. Give him that last opportunity that he's missed over the last two years."

A humorous look at the Burke and Lowe Feud

Greg Wyshynski from Puck Daddy had this video linked on his site it is pretty funny.

If you haven't check out the Puck Daddy blog I highly recommend it, because it is a good read.

McCloud and Shepherd should take note.

Here is an interesting revelation from former Sioux Jonathan Toews on the difference between college and playing in the NHL. Seems that college is harder to score when you're being hooked and held up and down the ice. It is easier to make plays when you don't have people draped all over you.

Plenty of hype follows Oshie to St. Louis
Oshie admits he's nervous about coming to camp. It has nothing to do with his talent and everything to do with him not being familiar with the NHL game.

"I feel good, but I haven't skated with the big guns yet," Oshie said. "They told me to expect a faster game. The game is a lot different than it is in college. Once I adapt I should be OK. I think I'm just wondering if I will be able to keep up and be able to contribute."

It's not as if Oshie isn't clued in to the NHL game. One of his good friends is Chicago's Jonathan Toews, a former UND teammate. Oshie stayed in touch with Toews, the second runner-up for the Calder Trophy this past season, by picking his brain about the pro game.


"He's been one of the best college hockey players in the country. He has taken his team to the Frozen Four twice in a row as one of the best players on that team. Those are the things that build the expectation and I think he has those expectations for himself. We definitely have them, but it does come down to how he does in September."

Toews told Oshie that he found it to be easier for faster, skilled forwards to make plays in the NHL because of the restrictions on clutching and grabbing, which don't exist in the college game.

"At the college level, clutching and grabbing is a good play for a defenseman," Oshie said. "Johnny Toews was talking to me about how much easier it is to make plays (in the NHL) because you don't have guys all over you. In college, guys were all over him and that's why he didn't put up the big numbers."

Burke and Lowe ordered to play nice by the NHL

This is one of the more interesting stories to appear this summer, it is unfolding like a soap opera. This story also makes you ask is are we in second grade here or what? It is almost like Lowe took Bruke's Tonka truck and he is upset about it.

While I don't care for Brian Burke, mainly because the way he conducted himself after the Wild and Ducks playoff series in 2007, personally I think Brian Burke is a cry baby and does like to make outrageous statements. While this story just proves my point Burke might have a point; Kevin Lowe did over pay Dustin Penner and highly inflated the price of Thomas Vanek. Lets be honest with ourselves folks, there is no way Dustin Penner is worth 21 million dollars, Penner scored 23 goals in 82 games this season. That being said it is time to these two to move-on and stop with the purse fight.

Burke carefully responds to Lowe charges
Brian Burke says he will abide by the NHL's request to end his criticism of Kevin Lowe and the Edmonton Oilers, but the Anaheim Ducks general manager wanted the last word on Thursday.

In a careful, measured statement, Burke took aim at some of Lowe's recent stinging comments about three Ducks players and the Anaheim hockey market.

"There is no question in our mind or defiance about the league's authority here," Burke said in the statement first read to Ducks beat writers on a conference call and then posted on the NHL club's website. "We accept their authority to stop this and we intend to stop it.

"However, several things were said last Friday that I believe need to be addressed."

On Monday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman warned both men to quit taking shots at each other or face significant fines.

Oilers spokesman J.J. Hebert said Thursday that the team would comply.

"We will be respecting the league's request and will not be discussing this matter any further," he said.

The public year-long spat between Burke and Lowe was resurrected on July 3. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the Ducks GM claimed a pair of offer sheets doled out by Lowe last summer set the tone for the madness of this year's market.

Burke's comments referred to Lowe's inking of Buffalo restricted free agent Thomas Vanek to a seven-year, $50-million US offer sheet, which the Sabres matched. Later, the Oilers signed Ducks forward Dustin Penner to a five-year deal worth $21.25 million US offer sheet, which drew Burke's ire based on the potential inflationary ripple effects the offer could have across the NHL.

Former Fighting Sioux Dave Tippett signs extension with Dallas Stars

Former Fighting Sioux hockey player Dave Tippett will be rewarded for his great job behind the Dallas Stars bench as he was signed to a two year extenstion.

FRISCO, Texas - The Dallas Stars rewarded Dave Tippett for another solid season, signing the head coach to a two-year contract extension Monday.

Tippett led the Stars to a 45-30-7 record in 2007-08 and a berth in the Western Conference final, where they fell in five games to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Detroit Red Wings.

"Dave Tippett has done an exceptional job as head coach of this hockey club," co-general manager Les Jackson said in a statement. "We are looking forward to getting back to work in preparation for the 2008-09 season."

Tippett has a record of 235-127-48 in six seasons with the Stars, amassing the best winning percentage of any active coach in the NHL. Dallas has reached the playoffs every year under Tippett, who was named 19th head coach in franchise history May 21, 2002.

Did Snow push Ted Nolan out in New York.

I have been following the antics of Garth Snow since he took over the reigns of the New York Islanders and it would appear that maybe Garth Snow is just a moron and intent on running the Islanders into the ground. Ted Nolan is a good coach and I have to agree with him that the Islanders didn't have the tools to be successful that falls on the shoulders of the GM. Maybe Don Lucia is a good gauge of character?

New York Islanders announce Ted Nolan out as their head coach
UNIONDALE, N.Y. - The New York Islanders fired head coach Ted Nolan on Monday, citing "philosophical differences."

Nolan, who led the Islanders to a 75-68-21 record in his two years behind the bench, had another year remaining on his contract.

"Ted has helped us achieve some success over the last two seasons, however it has become clear that we have philosophical differences and have decided together to part ways,"

general manager Garth Snow said in a release. "Since last season and continuing into the summer, I have realized we do not share the same philosophies."

There had been a growing rift between Nolan and Snow throughout last season when the Islanders failed to make the playoffs. Snow said he felt the team was underachieving while Nolan countered that he lacked adequate personnel.

The NCAA approves proposed changes.

The new rules that were proposed earlier this spring have now been approved by the NCAA ice hockey committee. Seriously, I will believe it when I see it because; it is just like any other rule or law. A governing body can make all the rules they want to, however, for the new rules to be affective, they need to be enforced or the new rules will be useless. I am thinking the latter is going to happen in the WCHA. While some people don't like it when people refer to the WCHA as being the Western Obstruction League (copy right PCM), or complain about the officiating in the WCHA is very poor and is not working anymore. The WCHA and the NCAA hockey have become less watchable. The brutal reality is that the obstruction in the WCHA is so bad that it has caused the WCHA to become the Neutral Trap Zone league or the no scoring league. I don’t go to a hockey game to watch teams obstruct, hack and slash the opposition’s star players up and down the ice I come to watch fast paced exciting action with a lot of hard hitting and an occasional scrap.

Ok, the rules are on the book but the 64,000.00 question is; will the WCHA leader ship be able to put the new rules into action. I believe it can not happen until the WCHA leadership gets out of this incorrect/incoherent mind set that the status quo in the WCHA is half the reason scoring is down last year? A player no matter how skilled he is can not score with a gorilla I mean an opposing player is draped all over him. The laws of physics won’t allow it. An offensive player must be allowed to move freely without being obstructed. Obstruction by the rules books is not allowed and needs to be called.

Lastly, I think the officials in the WCHA are the worst in division one hockey. Personally, I do not believe that the WCHA has enough qualified or quality officials to be able to have two competent officials to ref each game. So it is time for the WCHA to get on board or prepare to hear more complaining and complaints from the fans in the WCHA.

NCAA approves changes to rules
Brad Elliott Schlossman Grand Forks Herald
Published Friday, July 11, 2008

The rules changes in college hockey are now official. There will be two referees and two linesmen on the ice next season and they have been instructed to be stricter in protecting the puck carrier from obstruction, the NCAA announced Thursday.


Not allowing a team to change lines after icing the puck. If a defensive-zone team knocks the net off, it won’t be allowed to change, either.

- Icing will be waved off if the referee determines a pass is attainable by a player on the attacking side of the red line. “Attainable” is defined as a pass on the ice and within a stick-length of the player.

- The NCAA is recommending, but not requiring, all arenas to increase the size of the offensive zone. It is asking arenas to move the goal line 11 feet from the end boards. It is currently 15 feet away. The NCAA wants the offensive zone to be 64 feet.

“The committee believes game officials have held a strong standard of obstruction fouls away from the puck carrier in recent seasons,” the NCAA stated in a release. “In reviewing how the game is being called at other levels, it has become apparent that more emphasis needs to be placed on the puck carrier and allowing players to showcase offensive creativity and skill.”

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association set a scoring futility mark for the fourth consecutive season in 2007-08. But several changes have been made to try to change that trend. Others are:

Adding an “embellishment” penalty.

- Clarifying pucks that go in off of skates. They are to be allowed unless it is controlled, kicked or guided into the net with a skate. If the player is in the act of stopping, it is OK. When in doubt, a goal will be disallowed.

- Delaying an offsides whistle if the goalie plays the puck. In the past, the whistle was automatically blown right away.

- Forcing all players, including backup goaltenders, to wear helmets on the bench