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.