NOTE: The IIHF formally acknowledged after the game that Koistinen's shot had, indeed, entered the side of the net and should not have counted, and the video-goal judge will not be working for the rest of the tournament.
At the end of the game there was a melee with players getting into physical confrontations, including a fight between David Backes and Anssi Salmela, who was bloodied. Both received match penalties.
"It's a hockey game you can't expect not to get hit out there," said Gilbert.
Matt Greene and Antti-Jussi Niemi both received leaving the bench penalties and game misconducts. Teemu Selanne was assessed roughing minors; Dustin Brown was assessed a checking to the head and neck minor and a misconduct.
For Jokinen, Backes, and Salmela, their match penalties draw an automatic one-game suspension. All three will miss their team's next game, and their actions are subject to automatic review which will take place on Tuesday, the day before the quarter-finals.
Jokinen and Salmela will be lost for Finland's next game against Canada to decide the winner of Group F. Backes will be lost for Team USA's game against Norway.
ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Blues President John Davidson announced today that the team has signed 2005 first round draft pick, T.J. Oshie.
“I am happy that the Blues have been patient with me over the past couple of years,” said Oshie. “I am now ready and proud to wear the Blue Note next season. I would like to thank my family, who have supported me all these years. I would also like to give a special thanks to all the programs, coaches, and all of my teammates who have made an impact on my life and hockey career.”
Oshie, 21, was the Blues first selection, 24th overall, in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. A native of Everett, Washington, Oshie has spent the last three seasons at the University of North Dakota, leading the Fighting Sioux to three consecutive NCAA Frozen Four appearances.
The 6-0, 192-pound center was a first team All-WCHA selection and Top 10 Hobey Baker Award finalist this past season, finishing with a team leading 45 points (18 goals, 27 assists) in 42 games played.
Oshie finished his three-year career at North Dakota, registering 142 points (59 goals, 83 assists) in 129 career games. His 142 career points ranks him 30th all-time in North Dakota history.
The Blues have finalized entry level deals with 2007 first round pick Lars Eller and 2005 first rounder TJ Oshie.
Oshie arrived in St. Louis on Monday and is expected to finalize his deal on Tuesday as well.
An official announcement will be made by the club on Tuesday and the players will be introduced to the local media on Wednesday.
Oshie has been working out with Blues prospect Chris Porter at Shattuck St. Mary's prep over the last few weeks.
Versus might take shot at puck tracking for NHL telecasts
By Michael McCarthy, USA TODAY
The NHL and cable TV partner Versus are talking about introducing "puck-tracking" technology as early as the 2008-09 season, executives from the network and the league told USA TODAY.
Tracking would make it easier for TV viewers to follow the fast-moving puck. But the idea brought back memories of Fox's "glowing puck" experiment from 1996-98. It got mixed reviews, with some players and coaches complaining the internal electronics of the "FoxTrax" puck made it play differently. When ABC picked up the NHL's broadcast rights in 1998, the idea was junked.
Marty Ehrlich, executive producer at Versus, has been pushing for a new puck-tracking system with NHL executives. If Versus gets the OK, it would test puck tracking on its studio show before trying it during a game, he says. There would not be any computer chips embedded in pucks, at least at first.
"We're looking to track the evolution of a play," says Ehrlich. While puck tracking is on his "wish list," he admits it's still a "sore subject" with hockey purists. "There's people who looked at it as a great success at Fox. A lot looked at it as a dismal failure."
Marc Fein, Versus' senior vice president of programming, says puck tracking could be a great tool to trace the pinpoint passing of NHL stars. "You could see how they thread the needle," he says. NBC and other networks employ tracking technology to trace the flight of shots on golf telecasts. The Golf Channel, Versus' sister Comcast network, recently won its first Sports Emmy for its AimPoint technology, which predicts the break of a putt, Fein notes.
John Shannon, the NHL's senior vice president of programming, says the league's open to another attempt at puck tracking — as long as it doesn't compromise the integrity of the game. "The one thing you have to admire is Fox's ingenuity at the time. It was great promotion for the game," he says.
Wheeler set to become a dealer
Blake Wheeler, a 6-foot-5-inch defenseman chosen fifth overall by Phoenix in the 2004 draft, served the Coyotes with a 30-day notice Friday, formalizing his intention to become an unrestricted free agent, as allowed by the CBA.
According to Wheeler's Boston-based agent, Matt Keator, the Coyotes have the next four weeks to sign Wheeler, who has chosen not to return for his senior year at the University of Minnesota, or he'll be free to sign with any of the other 29 NHL teams.
The new CBA, signed out of the 2004-05 lockout, allows clubs to retain a player's draft rights for only four years. Under typical circumstances, unsigned US college players can become free agents as of Aug. 15 in their senior years. But in cases such as Wheeler's, in which a player was drafted four years earlier and has chosen not to return to college, the 30-day notice provides the out.
"Part of what makes this a bit different is the fact that Blake played in Green Bay [USHL] his first year after the draft," explained Keator. "He's been a bit of a late bloomer physically, too. But now he's 6-5, 210 pounds, a man ready to play in a man's game. He's a smart, two-way defenseman with some upside on offense.
"It's the right move for him. And, hey, he could still end up signing with Phoenix, or they could decide to trade his rights. This sort of speeds up the process, that's all."
Wheeler, 21, is eligible to sign a two-year entry-level deal, one that likely will pay him the maximum $875,000 per year. He played on the Gophers' 2005-06 squad with Phil Kessel, who turned pro after being drafted No. 5 overall by the Bruins in June 2006. In 127 games with Minnesota, Wheeler scored 42 goals and collected 96 points.
Wheeler's departure brings to 10 the number of Gophers to leave college early since the end of 2005-06. Just this past season, Kyle Okposo bolted in December to join the Islanders, and Jeff Frazee hooked on with New Jersey upon the completion of his college season. Kessel packed up after his freshman year.Co
Could Irish lose recruit?
STEVE WOZNIAK
Losing committed recruits is usually reserved for teams that have just had a woeful season or dismissed a coach, not teams that have just played for a national championship.
But that may be the case with Notre Dame hockey and the strange saga of Cam Fowler.
Fowler, a defenseman who was recently pegged by The Hockey News as the likely No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, committed to the Irish back in the fall of 2006, when he just 14 years old. At the time, Fowler spoke glowingly of Irish coach Jeff Jackson and his staff, and the potential for greatness that there was for the Windsor, Ontario, native on the South Bend campus.
Now 16 and playing with the U.S. National Team Development Program — Fowler has dual citizenship — the defensive wunderkind has been pulled in a number of directions, most recently by Canadian junior teams convinced they could steal his services for a year or two.
Last year, it was the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League that took aim at Fowler, picking him in the first round of that league’s draft. For a year, Fowler held steadfast, restating his commitments both to the USNTDP and Notre Dame.
Kitchener last week returned Fowler to the draft pool in exchange for a compensatory pick. Then Fowler’s hometown Windsor Spitfires took Fowler, confident that they could convince Fowler to abandon the NCAA for an NHL-bound trek through Canadian juniors.
So far, no go. Fowler is staying in Ann Arbor with the USNTDP for next season. Beyond that, though, his camp has refused to say what will happen.
If Penguins keep this up, Flyers will be cast aside quickly
It isn't too early to talk sweep
Saturday, May 10, 2008
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Is it too late to pick the Penguins in three games?
OK, enough with the wise-guy stuff, but, really, is there any reason to think the series with the Philadelphia Flyers will go more than four?
I don't see one.
Reality hit the Flyers hard at Mellon Arena last night when the Penguins swarmed them with their world-class talent and won Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, 4-2. It will rock 'em even harder this morning when they wake up and realize it won't be any easier in the three games ahead without their best player, defenseman Kimmo Timonen.
Talk about your one-two punches.
It's hard to imagine the Flyers getting back up
(Jim Mone, Associated Press)Jacques Lemaire has decided to come back for an eighth season as the coach of the Minnesota Wild. The Wild have become stale and boring to watch and have had trouble beating the elite teams in the NHL.
Lemaire, 62, announced his decision to return behind the Wild bench in a news release Saturday.
"When you are younger, it's a lot easier to make a decision. At the end of the year, I said I wanted to ask questions of [general manager] Doug Risebrough. I wanted to make sure my boss is happy with the work I am doing and with the way I manage the team. This is what we talked about in our meetings. I am reassured of my work and I want to coach again," said Lemaire.
"My satisfaction behind the bench is getting the team to play the best it can, individually and as a group. Success will come with that."
Lemaire, the only coach in the franchise's history, has been in charge of the Wild since 2000.
Under Lemaire, Minnesota posted a 44-28-10 record during the 2007-08 regular season en route to winning the Northwest Division and finishing third overall in the Western Conference.
But that success did not carry over into the playoffs, as the Wild were eliminated in the first round by the Colorado Avalanche.
(Read the rest of the story here)
Trial set for troubled former U hockey standout
By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune
One-time Minnesota hockey phenom Nate Hagemo, whose fast track to the NHL crumbled with a career-ending injury, goes on trial Monday for one of three criminal incidents in a four-month stretch in Minneapolis.
In the meantime, felony drug possession charges loom over Hagemo, 22, involving the discovery of suspected heroin in his car early this year, and police say he ran a red light in another incident last November that seriously injured a bicyclist.
Barring a last-minute plea, Hagemo, of Edina, will be tried from the incident in September, when he allegedly drove his pickup truck into a parked car on Lyndale Avenue in south Minneapolis, appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs and fought paramedics as they tried to put him on a gurney.
He was charged with refusing a sobriety test (a gross misdemeanor), and careless driving and disorderly conduct (misdemeanors).
According to the criminal complaint:
Police at scene said Hagemo "had bloodshot and watery eyes, and appeared unsteady in walking." Paramedics also told police that he had track marks on his arms, possibly from using needles. Medical staff at the hospital where Hagemo was taken said he had taken heroin three days ago. On advice of counsel, he refused blood and urine tests.
A search of Hagemo's vehicle uncovered a drug kit that included a rubber hose, cotton swabs and an alcohol wipe.
Minnesota junior forward Blake Wheeler has withdrawn from the university to pursue a career in professional hockey. Wheeler, who was a 2004 first-round draft pick by the Phoenix Coyotes, has 30 days to sign with the team. Following the 30 days, if the two parties do not reach an agreement, Wheeler will become a free agent. He is the 10th Minnesota player to leave college early for the professional ranks since the end of the 2005-06 season. Wheeler is also the third Gopher this season to leave the program after Kyle Okposo signed with the New York Islanders in December and Jeff Frazee signed
NEW YORK (May 9, 2008) -- Left wing Jason Blake of the Toronto Maple Leafs, defenseman Chris Chelios of the Detroit Red Wings and right wing Fernando Pisani of the Edmonton Oilers are the finalists for the 2008 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, the Professional Hockey Writers' Association (PHWA) announced today.
The award, under the trusteeship of the PHWA, is presented annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
In October, Blake was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a rare but treatable form of cancer. Nonetheless, the Hibbing, Minn. native completed the season as one of only three players to appear in all 82 Maple Leafs games. Blake hosted a leukemia awareness night at Air Canada Centre in January and donated $1,000 per goal and $500 per assist during the month to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada.
First, the Plum native had six goals and 11 points in the eight 2007-08 regular-season meetings between the teams and has eight goals, 18 points in 23 career games against the Penguins.
"More than anything, it's the amount of emotion you have inside," Umberger said of playing against the Penguins, a team he grew up watching and rooting for, particularly Hall of Fame center and now team owner Mario Lemieux.
Here is a interesting picture that I found over yardbarker.The Flyer's [sic] have always played dirty and it starts with Clark's [sic] mentality. Maybe it's just a coincidence that the league has had it with them, too."
And this: "Once again old time hockey Neanderthals Holmgren and Clarke will find out that talent and toughness beats the cowardly dirty play of a bunch of knuckle-dragging hacks."
Several e-mailers suggested that Philadelphia fans deserve that 25-year championship drought because of their lack of class. There is a curious blend of self-righteousness - the Flyer's are thugs! - and aggressiveness - our team can beat up your team! - at work here.
If the Flyers knock someone down, they're Broad Street Bullies throwbacks. If Georges Laraque or Gary Roberts does it, then it's part of the game.
Gopher hockey beat writer Roman Augustoviz has a picture posted of the new Bemidji regional events center and also discusses the BSU and UMD arena. Maybe we can get a UMD fan to come up with a new picture or plans for the UMD arena.
Bemidji, home of Bemidji State the proposed arena for the university's Beavers will be off campus, on the undeveloped south shore of Lake Bemidji. It will be part of a regional events center expected to stimulate economic development. State dollars for the project: $20 million.
Duluth, home of the University of Minnesota Duluth. The Bulldogs play in the WCHA's oldest arena, the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center. The first green or environmentally friendly arena anywhere will be built beside the DECC. State dollars: $38 million.
Picture hasn't cleared up yet, but WCHA network's in play
Conference Commissioner Bruce McLeod confirmed "we are relatively early in the process but are investigating a WCHA television network." The venture was a topic of discussion at the league meetings last month in Marco Island, Fla.
The mention of such a channel is sure to draw comparisons to the Big Ten Network, which has yet to get significant cable distribution in Minnesota and has upset many fans of Gophers football and men's and women's basketball teams.
But McLeod said a WCHA channel would not be "a Big Ten thing," adding, "we are approaching it very differently." The league -- home to four Minnesota universities in men's hockey -- has had talks with several cable companies, including Comcast, Charter and Mediacom, the three largest operators in Minnesota. No discussions have taken place with DirecTV or Dish Network.
Gerbe signs with Sabres
by John Vogl -- News Sports Reporter
Nathan Gerbe has decided to leave college and has signed with the Buffalo Sabres, the team announced late this afternoon.
Gerbe, the Boston College junior who led the Eagles to the national championship last month, is in Buffalo today for a physical.
"As of yesterday, we really weren't sure which way it was going to go," said Jordan Neumann, Gerbe's agent. "We really had a flurry in the late afternoon."
The 20-year-old Gerbe told The News last week he was "50-50" on whether to turn pro or finish school. But he held his own during his first stint with NHL-level talent, and that may have convinced him to make the jump. He trained with the United States' world championship team, and he had a goal and an assist during an exhibition against Sweden.
"Toward the end of the year [with Boston College] and during his time with the World Championship team he really felt he was ready to go," Neumann added.
