CALGARY, AB – The Calgary Flames announced today that they have acquired and signed defenceman Dennis Wideman from Washington in exchange for Jordan Henry and a 5th round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft.
Wideman, a native of Kitchener, Ontario, has played over 500 career games with 67 goals, 184 assists for 251 points over the course of seven NHL seasons with time spent in St. Louis, Boston, Florida and Washington. Last season with the Capitals, Wideman had his second best offensive season tallying 11 goals along with a team high 35 assists for 46 points in 82 games which tied him for third in team scoring and lead all blue-liners with the Capitals.
Contract terms: 5 year contract with an Average Annual Value of $5,250,000
Jim Parker, Windsor Star --- At the NHL Draft Combine in Toronto, the 18-year-old Sieloff, who opted for the Spitfires over Miami of Ohio University, was asked if now he would try to convince fellow prospect Jordan Schmaltz to join him in Windsor.
"Yeah, I'll get on that," Sieloff said. "Definitely, (Schmaltz) would help. That would be a huge pairing for us."
Sieloff and Schmaltz were both NHL picks last week.
Schmaltz was taken in the first round with the 25th overall pick by the St. Louis Blues and Sieloff was selected in the second round with the 42nd pick by the Calgary Flames.
Schmaltz seems adamant he'll play for the University of North Dakota.
"One hundred per cent committed to North Dakota, I think it's going to be great for me," Schmaltz said at the NHL Combine.
Spitfires president and head coach Bob Boughner knows not every player drafted by his club will wind up coming.
"Again, North Dakota's the place for me. I just don't think I'm NHL-ready right now, so I think it's that year or two, or maybe even three, to develop that's going to help me."
Redwings Front–Defenseman Justin Schultz hasn’t played a game in the National Hockey League, but that’s not stopping the Wings from all but guaranteeing the soon-to-be free agent a spot on their roster.If Schultz goes to the Detroit Redwings he would be one of the few players names that we can pronounce and or spell correctly.
“He’s close to being an NHL defenseman,” Wings general manager Ken Holland said. “He’s a young player. We’re prepared to give him the opportunity to be on our team.”
Schultz, who turns 22 on July 6 and played three seasons at Wisconsin, was drafted by Anaheim in 2008 prior to starting college, 43rd overall, but couldn’t reach a deal with the Ducks, who had until Sunday before he could begin talks on a contract with any other team.
And the Wings seem prepared to get a deal done.
CHICAGO -- The head of the NHL players' union said Monday that negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement will begin "very quickly" -- perhaps as early as this week.
New NHL Players Association executive director Donald Fehr said negotiations will begin after Wednesday's meeting of the NHLPA's executive board, though he did not specify a date.
Fehr was asked if a work stoppage was inevitable. He said nothing like that was coming from the union, and note that the NHLPA has not yet made a formal CBA proposal. He said the union had not yet "heard" a proposal from the league.
The NHL canceled the 2004-05 season before a labor deal was reached that included a salary cap for the first time. That agreement expires on Sept. 15.
Commissioner Garry Bettman said during the Stanley Cup finals last month that he believes the labor scene is different this time around. One big change is that the players are now being led by Fehr, the former head of the powerful baseball union.
Paul Rovnak, Gopher Sports --- The University of Minnesota men's hockey team will once again partake in Hockey Day Minnesota in 2013. Minnesota's participation in the seventh-annual statewide celebration of hockey was announced earlier today by FOX Sports North and the Minnesota Wild.Just for the record, the game can be seen on DirecTV 668.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013, and will showcase the Golden Gophers against WCHA rival North Dakota at Mariucci Arena. It will be the last WCHA regular-season meeting between the longtime rivals. A start time for the game will be announced in the future.
Minnesota's game will be one of five hockey games shown on FOX Sports North on that day.
The Gophers are 4-2 in Hockey Day Minnesota games and beat Colorado College 2-1 last season at Mariucci Arena. This will be the first time that Minnesota will play North Dakota on Hockey Day Minnesota.
Tom Miller, Grand Forks Herald --- As has been the case for the past few seasons, Midcontinent’s UND broadcasts will be available for Fox College Sports to broadcast nationwide.I know not having the UND hockey games on a national television level is a going to cause a problem for many, because I know a lot of people that watch UND Fighting Sioux hockey games on DirecTV and or Dish Network.
That will change in the 2013-14 men’s hockey season when UND joins the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The NCHC’s television contract with CBS College Sports gives CBS national exclusivity for national broadcasts.
UND’s other sports could still be aired on FCS, but UND and FCS will have to renegotiate a contract after the 2012-13 season.
Midco Sports Network has three channels at its disposal in case of scheduling conflicts, although UND is expected to be primarily carried on MSN’s main channel. In the past, MSN has aired programming from schools such as South Dakota State, South Dakota, Augustana and a few others, as well as high school games from North and South Dakota.
Forwards: Darik Angeli, Anthony Camara, Colin Campbell, Daniel Carr, Justin Courtnall, Brian Ferlin, Justin Florek, Seth Griffith, Colton Hargrove, Alex Khokhlachev, Jared Knight, Cody Payne, Ben Sexton, Wayne Simpson and Ryan Spooner.
Defensemen: Matt Benning, Chris Casto, Tommy Cross, Matthew Grzelcyk, Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug, Robbie O’Gara and Zach Trotman.
Goaltenders: Zane Gothberg, Parker Milner, Adam Morrison, Malcolm Subban, Niklas Svedberg, Lars Volden.
Doug Harrison, CBC Sports --- [Justin] Schultz, 21, and his representative, Newport Sports Management in Toronto, found a loophole in the soon-to-be-expired collective bargaining agreement that allows the player to test free agency because he played an extra year of major junior hockey in British Columbia Hockey League before attending the University of Wisconsin.So if you’re an NHL hockey fan where would you like to see Justin Schultz land? If I was a betting man – I would say that Schultz is going to end up with the New York Rangers or the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Schultz is considered an elite offensive defenceman who many observers believe could step into the NHL next season as a top-four blue-liner. He reportedly will be in Toronto on Tuesday and can begin to field offers Wednesday.
“The competition for Schultz will be every bit as intense as the competition for [unrestricted free agents Ryan] Suter and [Zach] Parise,” former NHL forward-turned broadcaster Ray Ferraro told a Canadian sports radio station recently.
Schultz is a six-foot-two, 185-pound right-handed shooting defenceman fresh off a strong season with the U. of Wisconsin Badgers in which he scored 16 goals and 44 points in 37 games. In three seasons, he has posted 40 goals and 73 assists for 113 points in 121 contests.
It’s been said the native of West Kelowna, B.C., would like to play closer to home or with former Wisconsin teammates. He reportedly also wants guaranteed playing time on a NHL roster.
That would put the Maple Leafs in the running as Toronto rearguard Jake Gardiner, acquired from Anaheim along with forward Joffrey Lupul for defenceman Francois Beauchemin in February 2011, was Schultz’s defence partner at Wisconsin.
Tim Tolley , Victory Bell Rings --- What Jerry Sandusky has been accused of is much, much worse. Legally. He is facing over 50 charges and some 500 years of jail time. Nothing he is accused of will result in NCAA violations. At least, it shouldn’t. Nothing Sandusky did, however terrible the offenses are, affected the on-field product. No cheating or tampering of any kind is involved.First off, I think that Jerry Sandusky is a disgusting and vile P.O.S. and should rot in hell to what he has done to the victims – most of the victims of Sandusky will suffer the effects of their abuse for the rest of their lives. That being said, can the NCAA hold a whole university culpable for the sins of one of their football coaches? If PSU was given the death penalty would that be just? Or heavy handed?
But what if he did it on Penn State property? That’s awful and disgusting. Is it an NCAA violation? If so, who is responsible for it? It’s not the football team. I repeat. It’s not the football team. The athletic director granted Sandusky entry to the facilities. Will the NCAA bring penalties on the entire athletic department because an ex-coach was allowed on campus? Doubtful. Regardless of what he was doing there.
What if the AD (Curley), Police Chief (Shultz) and the President (Spanier) knew about Sandusky’s crimes and even covered it up, as it appears may be the case? Now we might have something. I was asked last week by a hopeful Ohio State fan: “Isn’t that the definition of lack of institutional control?” Probably not, because they didn’t have THIS situation in mind when they wrote the rule, I assure you. Still, a cover-up from administrators is a big deal. Legally. I’m not sure that the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has any real jurisdiction in the matter. It’s not a cover up of players breaking rules or skipping class or doing drugs. I’m not positive it’s athletically related.
Of course, the NCAA has proved to be difficult to predict with their rulings, but I’m not sure where they’d begin. There are sure to be charges doled out, following the Sandusky verdict. Curley and Shultz have already been charged and Spanier may face some of charges of his own. Is that something that the National Collegiate Athletic Association can/will concern themselves with?
Rob Rossi, Tribune-Review Sports --- Their plan is to pursue the two top players on the market, Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter and New Jersey winger Zach Parise, sources told the Tribune-Review this weekend at the NHL Entry Draft.
Team sources said Crosby soon will sign a new contract in the range of 10 to 13 years with an average annual salary of between $9 million and $10 million and will try to recruit Parise, his longtime friend, and Suter.
The Penguins’ pitch will focus on the standard set by Crosby with his current deal, which is set to expire after the upcoming season. Crosby took less than market value — for him, the league maximum (20 percent of the salary cap) — to provide the Penguins room to build a championship nucleus.
That worked once, with the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup in 2009. They will try to make it work again by using Crosby’s willingness not to max out on salary as a benchmark for future contracts.
In the wake of the Jordan Staal trade Friday, the Penguins have identified their nucleus as Crosby, reigning league MVP and scoring champ Evgeni Malkin, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, winger James Neal and defenseman Kris Letang.
With the 181st pick in the sixth round the Kings selected defenseman Paul Ladue. Ladue, who will turn 20 on Sept. 6, played the 2011-12 season with the Lincoln Stars of the USHL, recording 34 points (9-25=34), 27 penalty minutes and a plus-36 rating in 56 games. The 6-1, 186-pound native of Bemidji, Minn. led all USHL defensemen in plus-minus (second overall), while ranking tied for sixth among league defensemen in points.
Brad Elliott Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald ---[Jordan] Schmaltz interviewed with 24 of 30 NHL teams at the NHL Combine last month. He said almost all of the teams asked if he would be attending UND or if he would bolt to the Ontario Hockey League after the draft, like UND recruit J.T. Miller did a year ago.This past week I have gotten a few questions about Schmaltz’s status – from everything that I have read and heard is that he is going to be here – you read where he told Brad Schlossman that he is committed to coming to UND. Personally, I am not worried.
“I just told them honestly that I am 100 percent to UND,” Schmaltz said. “They were fine with that. They’re happy I’m sticking with my commitment.”
Schmaltz said he’s looking forward to working with new UND assistant coach Brad Berry and arriving on the campus where his father and two uncles played college football.
“It’s an unbelievable atmosphere,” he said.
Weston Hodkiewicz, Green Bay Press-Gazette --- When Brendan Lemieux was little, he didn’t With Claude’s successes at a young age in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, there were some questions about which direction Brendan would go in his development after being drafted by the Ontario Hockey League in April.Since Lemieux is a the son of a former NHLer Claude Lemieux who is also a former QMJHL alum there will probably always be questions or rumors about Lemieux going to the Majour Junior route - we heard it with other players that were high end recruits. I doesn't look like we need to worry about Brendan Lemieux.
However, Lemieux’s mother, Deborah, was a big proponent of going the college route and Brendan concurred, especially after taking a visit to North Dakota. The day after he signed with Green Bay, Lemieux committed to UND, where he’ll play alongside fellow Gamblers forward Nick Schmaltz.
