Snow to name the next coach of Islanders soon.

Don Lucia's favorite NHL GM Garth Snow is expected to name his new head coach this week. This has turned out to be quite the drama and I am dying to find out who it is going to be. That being said I expect the Islanders to be cellar dwellars this season.

Source: Snow has narrowed his list to three
BY GREG LOGAN
----(snip)-----
After a painstaking interview process in which he spoke with eight known candidates and contacted a few others, an NHL source indicated Snow has narrowed his list to three finalists. Former Atlanta coach Bob Hartley, former Toronto coach Paul Maurice and current AHL Providence coach Scott Gordon still are in the running, and Snow is expected to name one as the Isles' next coach early this week.

Although former Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella and former Colorado coach Joel Quenneville were regarded as the most high-profile candidates when Snow's search began because of their consistent winning records, any handicapper judging by the criteria set by the Isles' GM probably would have picked the same three finalists Snow settled on. When he parted ways with Nolan, Snow cited "philosophical differences" over the direction of the franchise as the reason.

Snow made a firm commitment last season to a patient, long-term approach to fashioning a championship contender by developing the top young prospects in the organization and building through the draft as opposed to relying on free agency to provide a quick fix. The coach he chooses must share the same, and he must be able to communicate equally well with management and players.

P.A. and Dubay back at full strenght.

Jeff Dubay was back on the P.A. and Dubay show today after being gone for about 3 1/2 weeks. This is not a direct quote, Jeff Dubay said, "that he was battling a problem for the better part of a year, he tried to take care of problem himself and he flat out couldn't, checked himself in somewhere before it got ridiculous". Dubay also said, "that he has taken care of those personal issues and he is feeling a lot better now."

Nuff said as far as I am concerned. Mark me down as being cool with that answer. I understand what he is getting at. Also, some of the crap that has been written over on the KFAN Rube Chat really borders on bad taste.

I am just happy hear Puffy back on KFAN again today. So P.A. and Dubay are back to full strength. Goon's world would like to wish our favorite Gopher homer all the best.

Five ways I would change the NHL

I saw this over on Puck Daddy and it got me thinking about 5 things that I would like to see changed about the NHL. The NHL is a great league but these are the things that I would tweaked.

1.) Get rid of the instigator rule... There are too many of the "agitators" out on the ice cruising around taking liberties on a team's skilled players. If the instigator rule was taken out there would be a less of this because they know they might have to fight for taking a run at a Crosby, Malkin or Gaborik. I would love to see thugs like Matt Cooke and others of his ilk pay for his transgressions on the ice. If the instigator rule is tanked agitators will take less senseless runs at star players.

2.) Get rid of the touch up icing rule... I want to see the no-touch icing rule so we don't see anymore unneeded injuries where people are racing to the puck and end up getting creamed like Wild defenseman Kurtis Foster.

3.) I would like to see the regular season over-Time extended to 10 minutes... It just seems that five minutes isn't enough time to settle a game. Some teams are better than other at the shootout and these teams try to keep the game tied so they can get to the shootout. I would also like to see the shootout extended to 5 shooters as well.

4.) I want to see a team in Winnipeg Manitoba again... Seriously, that way the NHL is 140 miles away from my front door. Hockey should be played in places where it is cold and nothing beats a game in Winnipeg on Boxing Day. There are way too many NHL teams south of the Mason Dixon line in places like Florida, Georgia, Tennessee.

5.) I want the old Norris Division back... Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, St Louis, Toronto. I don't know who we add for a sixth team, maybe the Yotes from Phoenix. This realignment would allow me to see more match ups with the Blackhawks (Kane, Toews) and the Blues (Oshie, Backes).

T.J. Oshie makes the Hot List.

Three former college hockey stars made The Hot List this week, of course not to be confused with the hot or not list. There were the following players; Max Pacioretty, Jeff Frazee's WJC back up Jeff Zatkoff and T.J. Oshie. Good to see the ex-college hockey players getting notice.

With prospect camps in full swing, The Hockey News’ Hot List – our weekly roundup of players we can’t wait to see in the NHL some day - looks at some of the names making early waves this summer.

4. Max Pacioretty, LW – Michigan Wolverines (CCHA): Foes of the Wolverines will be glad to hear they’ve seen the last of Pacioretty. The emerging power forward signed with the Montreal Canadiens last week, meaning he’ll likely play in the American League with Hamilton next season. Pacioretty’s departure leaves Michigan without its entire top line from last year, as linemates Chad Kolarik and Kevin Porter are already in the Phoenix Coyotes system. Drafted 22nd overall by Montreal in 2007.

5. Jeff Zatkoff, G – Miami RedHawks (CCHA): The now former RedHawk turned aside all 25 shots he faced in the Kings’ scrimmage game, including a penalty shot. With Zatkoff, Jonathan Bernier and Jon Quick, the Kings will have their choice of young hot goalies for years to come. Drafted 74th overall by Los Angeles in 2006.

10. T.J. Oshie, C – North Dakota Fighting Sioux (WCHA): It’s not a guarantee he’ll make the St. Louis roster, but it’s pretty darn close. The Blues have been patient with Oshie throughout his college career and the next step begins at training camp for the playmaking pivot. Drafted 24th overall by St. Louis in 2005.

John Tortorella will not be the next coach of the Islanders.

I saw this story over on one of my favorite NHL hockey blogs Puck Daddy, this move doesn't really doesn't surprise me all that much and I think it is a good move.

I personally have never been impressed with John Tortorella. One good thing about Tortorella not being the coach is that Islander fans aren't going to have to listen to Tortorella telling a hockey reporter to eff himself. That is just is not classy.

Tortorella out of Islanders coaching choices
BY GREG LOGAN August 9, 2008
Former Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella, who was viewed by many as the most high-profile and possibly most high-priced candidate for the Islanders' head-coaching vacancy, apparently is out of the mix. Money isn't a major issue for Isles owner Charles Wang, but there always was a question whether Tortorella and a team committed to long-term development plan were the right fit for each other.

Islanders general manager Garth Snow is expected to sharply narrow his long list of candidates over the weekend and reach a decision on a successor to Ted Nolan early next week, an NHL source said. When contacted by Newsday, Tortorella politely declined to comment on his role in the Isles' search process.

Although Tortorella was coming off a season in which the Lightning had the worst record in the NHL, he had a winning record in the previous four seasons, including the 2004 Stanley Cup title.

As a former Rangers assistant who also served as head coach for the final four games of the 1999-2000 season, the fiery Tortorella would have added spice to the local rivalry.

But there also would have been a question about whether his hard-charging style and impatience would have worked with a team planning to fill some major roles with developing prospects from the organization.

Tortorella certainly helped turn the Lightning from an also-ran into a power, but that success also means he can take his time waiting for an opening with a team closer to title contention than the Islanders while collecting the final year of his Tampa Bay contract, valued at a reported $1.3 million.

Doug Risebrough off to Slovakia to try to sign Gabby

All you have to do is watch this video to realize how dynamic of a player Marian Gaborik is. So Doug Risebrough is finally making a smart decision to begin to negotiate a new contract with Gabby before the old one expires. I just hope that Gabby wants to stay with the Wild.

With that being said hopefully the Wild GM Doug Risebrough has learned from this off season that if you don't sign your big free agents before their contracts are up they will get contract offer from somewhere else like Rolston and Demitra did. Gabrik is the face of the Minnesota Wild and they must sign him or the Wild take the chance of upsetting the Wild faithful.

The Wild general manager is scouting a tournament in Slovakia, but he will gauge the winger's desire to stay in Minnesota before making an offer.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Doug Risebrough will leave for Slovakia on Sunday for a trip he hopes "kills two birds with one stone."

The Wild general manager is flying overseas to scout the Ivan Hlinka tournament, an under-18 tournament with several 2010 draft-eligible players.

But Risebrough's real intent, and undoubtedly the most important, is to make a side trip to Trencin, the hometown of Marian Gaborik, for a conversation with the high-scoring right winger.

Gaborik, 26, the Wild's all-time leader with 206 goals and 414 points, is a year from unrestricted free agency. In the coming days, the Wild plans to offer Gaborik a groundbreaking extension in hopes of locking him up for four to seven years.

But the Wild has held off commencing negotiations until Risebrough can sit down with Gaborik, "look him in the eye," and make sure Gaborik wants to commit long-term to Minnesota.

Risebrough said he planned to call Gaborik this weekend to set up the meeting.

"I haven't arranged it yet, but obviously I want to sit down with Marian while I'm over there," Risebrough said Friday from his offseason home in Banff, Alberta. "I just want to make sure we're on the same page."

Gaborik will make $7.5 million in the final year of his contract this season. His average salary cap hit is $6.33 million.

The Wild plans to make an offer averaging in the $8.5 million cap-hit range. As of today, if Gaborik signed any contract averaging more than $7.8 million and less than $8.7 million, he would have the fourth-largest average contract in the NHL after superstars Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and right above Brad Richards and Vincent Lecavalier.

Here is a misconception that some of the clueless fans have. Gaborik is worth every last cent he should be paid to stay with the Wild. Check out these comments.

in no way should Risebrough make this guy the fourth highest paid player in the league. He was totally ineffective in the play-offs and he is due to pull his groin or hammie again and miss about 30 games. And if he gives any vibe that he isn't committed to playing here, get rid of him now. Jagr may have started something by signing to play in eastern Europe. We are no longer the dominant marketplace (USA). Look for more of our talented NHL players to jump ship for more money worldwide.

posted by edholmd on Aug. 9, 08 at 10:15 AM>

Geoff Paukovich inteview

Lets go DU has linked an interview that features former DU Pioneer Geoff Paukovich on a radio show is produced on a Edmonton radio station that conducts interviews on Edmonton Oiler players and their teams up and coming prospects. During the interview Paukovich talks about the Robbie Bina incident on the 2nd interview link at about 4:00 minutes in. and some other RANDOM things. They asked Geoff who the most talented player(s) that he played against; Drew Stafford or Travis Zajac, pretty much anyone that played on the UND team his freshman year. They also asked Paukovich who their rivals were and he said C.C. and UND.

First part of the interview and the second part of the interview

Former SCSU star Hartigan playing for Dinamo Riga

Check out this blog post by former SCSU star Mark Hartigan it kind of reminds me of my days in Europe when you just pointed to something on the menu and ordered. You never know what you are going to get. Their season also sounds like a death march 7 games in 10 days. I could see how a player could wear down fast.

Welcome to my first Insider Blog. I’m writing to you from Riga, Latvia, where I will be suiting up this season for Dinamo Riga of the Kontinental Hockey League, alongside my buddy and former Columbus teammate Duvie Westcott, not to
mention a couple other ex-NHLers.Even though it’s the middle of summer, things
have been real busy for me. I left Minnesota last week, getting on a plane at 7:30 pm and landing in Amsterdam at 11 a.m. the next morning. Duvie and I had a nine-hour layover in Amsterdam, so we rented a hotel room at the airport to get some sleep.

The beds were smaller than a single – I mean, if you roll halfway over, you’re on the floor – and the funny thing was the beds were pushed together, so Duvie pushed them apart and faced them towards the TV. We got comfy and turned on the TV to find the only channel worth watching was CNN – also the only one we could understand. Duvie and I eventually made it to our next flight that had us landing in Riga at 11:30 p.m.

We were met at the airport by the team GM and Dimitri, our European agent. Dimitri took us to the hotel, where we will be staying until Aug. 20. It’s one of the nicest places I have ever stayed. The hotel has only been open for about a month, it’s very modern and all the staff speak English.

The next day Duvie and I explored the downtown (which is where our hotel is). We came to realize that Riga is a beautiful, clean, safe and active city. Riga is on the Baltic Sea, so they get weather very similar to Vancouver; lots of rain in the winter and very little snow, but I will confirm that in later blogs. Riga also has an English movie theater with all the latest films (this will come in handy).

Now about the food...half the time Duvie and I have no idea what we are ordering. We just point at the menu and say "this one please" and sure enough, it tastes excellent. We have not yet had a bad meal. The food is also quite expensive just like everything here.On the ice, so far the practices have been the same as in North America except for the language barrier between the coach and myself. He is Slovakian and can speak Russian, Slovakian and very broken English.

Duvie and I always try starting at the back of the line in practice to get a sense of what to do in the drill. We have already had two games here in Riga. Our team has won both, so I hope this is a sign of good things to come during the regular season. The team has a total of 12 exhibition games in August and will be starting the regular season Sept. 2. The first game is 5,000 miles away from Riga (against Amur Khabarovsk, 45 miles from the Chinese border) completely on the other side of Russia. We will be playing seven games in 10 days on that trip, I believe.

Duvie and I arrived on July 29 and I am happy to say my wife Melissa and daughter Ava arrived Aug. 5. And, of course, the first thing the two of them did was sleep. Well, time to wake up the family and go out to some more restaurants in this neat city. Maybe next time I will talk a little about the old city, which is more than 800 years old.

This is where all the action is downtown. Time to go and explore. Goodbye from Riga,
Mark.Mark Hartigan won the past two Stanley Cups with Anaheim and Detroit and
has also played for Atlanta and Columbus in his NHL career. He is beginning his
first season in the KHL with Dinamo Riga.

Obsession?

Are Sioux fans obsessed with the Gopher's hockey team?

There has been an on going discussion on Gopher Puck Live and Siouxsports.com how Sioux fans are obsessed with the Gopher's hockey team and on the flop side of this argument; that Gopher fans have an unhealthy obsession with the Sioux hockey team.
My first question to those fussing about this is; does it really matter? Why are some Gopher fans so upset about the Sioux fans talking about their favorite squad? All you have to do to make most Gopher fans mad is say 7 > 5 this is usually responded to by some silly comment about the Sioux using over aged Canadian players or the Gophers having more Hobey Baker Memorial trophies winners. All I can say is big hairy deal, I would rather win a national title than an individual award.

Sure the Gophers are easy to make fun of. Up until Alex Kangas, the Gophers hockey team has had a long line of illustrious sieves, that have been very easy targets, This list includes Debus, Hauser, Briggs and Jeff "Long Island" Frazee... It is fun to make fun of them and it was all done in fun. Now on various message boards Sioux fans can’t even make a comment about the Goofs without one of their fans coming over to retort it and taking a thread hostage discussing their beloved Gophers and how they are such a great program not worthy of undeserved scorn.

(From Siouxsports.com--QUOTE: (brianvf @ Aug 6 2008, 06:42 PM)I might be wrong here, but I thought it was universally known that Gopher fans come on here regularly to make sure that their beloved Gophers aren't being talked about. And, if they are, they are required to immediately report back to GPL and tell their fellow Gopher fans the exact details of the situation. That seems to be how it goes down from what I've seen.

The truth of the matter is, that yes, the Gophers do get talked about here. Why? Because they are our biggest rival for hockey. So obviously they will get mentioned (and ripped on occasionally...but that's just in good fun ). IMO, they get brought up a bit too much, but maybe that's just me. Everyone is entitled to post what they want.

The funny thing is though that I notice the exact same thing over on GPL whenever I happen to head over there to see what's going on. There will be a thread talking about some Gopher-related subject, when someone will just throw in a Sioux-bash without being provoked. Same situation.

The only difference that I can see between the two situations is that I don't remember ever seeing a Sioux fan on ss.com posting "you guys should go to GPL and see what is being said about the Sioux in this thread". Apparantly that is the norm for the GPL folk though, as that appears to be quite common over there.

Tattling = The Gopher Way

It is a known fact that the Gophers are the hated rival of every team in the WCHA. Every WCHA team marks the date their team plays the Gophers on their schedule/calendar. When their team beats the Gophers it is good. The Sioux fans like seeing the Golden Gophers being beat by the Sioux and or any other team in the WCHA. Sioux fans also take pride in any misfortune the Gophers suffer. It is part of the rivalry. Rivalries are a lot of fun and can get people charged up and excited.

Also, the FSN hockey broadcaster “the rug” Frank Mazzacco and the FSN support crew also play a big part in this animosity between the two programs fans. Frank Mazzacco probably is one of the more one sided sports announcers we have ever seen in our time and should be given a set of pom-poms while he is doing the Gopher hockey broadcasts. Thank God Wooger keeps him from going off the deep end.

To many Sioux fans FSN is seen as the Gopher propaganda ministry and they do a good job stirring up the fans of opposition teams through their one sided homer commentary. Last season after a heated game between the Sioux and the Gophers the on ice (between the player benches) reporter Kevin Gorg did nothing but complain about the Sioux hockey even calling out big Joe Finley. The man was beside himself calling the Fighting Sioux a bunch of cheap hacks and goons, while failing to see any of the transgressions the home town team had did on the ice. I guess someone forgot to tell Gorg that the fight/scrums aren’t one sided and happen as the result of two players being upset with each other. Well unless you’re a Gopher player feeding a smaller player punches has he lays on the ice, all the while not seen by the refs or the announcers in the both. I guess The Rug, Dubay and Gorg are a lot like their fan base can’t see anything through the maroon and gold goggles. It is probably more like a maroon and gold welding mask.

Adding fuel to the fire is FSN/KFAN personality and super fan Jeff Dubay. Dubay aka "Puffy" is able to enflame the opposition masses because he has the power of a microphone but also the gift of gab and the ability to get various team fans charged up from his daily radio broadcasts during the hockey season on KFAN. Also, Duaby is able to stir fans up with the pre/post game analysis on FSN.

During his radio broadcasts on the PA and Dubay show Jeff Dubay never misses an opportunity to take a shot/swipe at the Fighting Sioux and their players. Last season during a broadcast Dubay basically called the Fighting Sioux a bunch of goons and thugs after the heated series between the Gophers and the Sioux in Minneapolis. Does Dubay get fans charged up you bet, but you can also drink beer with him because he is a stand up guy and will answer up to the things he says on the air. I give him credit for that. After a remote during the Final Five Jeff posed for pictures and answered questions with all of the fans that stayed after the radio broadcast.

It is the rivalry and it breaths heated emotion, hey the opposite of love is hate and both are strong emotions. While I hate the Gophers hockey team and what they stand for I do like a lot of their fans, most of them are pretty cool and fun to drink beers with, however some of them are jerks. So what! Sometimes I think fans forget that hockey is just a game. Have fun with the rivalry but don’t let your emotions get the best of you. When it is all said and done were all human beings.

Hard to make NHL bonuses (Phil Kessel mention)

I found this article while reading the Boston Globe on-line. Seems that is tough sledding when it comes to making bonuses on an NHL contract. So when you read that player X will be paid so many of millions of dollars including when his bonuses (if he reaches it) be aware that it is harder than it looks.

Earning incentive bonuses is often a bit of a reach

Last Tuesday, No. 1 overall pick Steven Stamkos signed a three-year, entry-level deal with Tampa Bay. Stamkos will earn a base salary of $875,000, but his annual cap hit will be $3.725 million because of potential bonuses, giving the forward a cap number greater than all but seven Bruins.

Stamkos, however, will likely have a hard time attaining all of his bonuses, given how difficult reaching those incentives can be.

Case in point: Phil Kessel and his $2.2 million cap hit. Kessel, who earns a base salary of $850,000, is entering the final season of his entry-level deal. Through two NHL seasons, Kessel has not qualified for any of his bonuses.

In 2008-09, Kessel could reach some of the incentives. He can earn an additional $212,500 if he scores 20 or more goals, a bonus he came one goal short of earning last season. Kessel can also make $212,500 if he records 35 or more assists, and another $212,500 if he scores 60 or more points. Naturally, Kessel is no longer eligible for the $212,500 bonus for making the All-Rookie team. While Kessel is in range of hitting the previously mentioned bonuses, it's unlikely - although the Bruins certainly wouldn't mind if he proves the contrary - that he will earn a $500,000 bonus by being named the Selke Trophy winner as the league's best defensive forward.

Conclusion: Under the collective bargaining agreement, high-end rookies carry significant cap numbers. But other than exceptions named Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, the bonuses can be hard to reach.

The Fighting Sioux roster is set (hopefully)

Running with the Dog's favorite Herald hockey beat writer Brad Elliott Schlossman has the UND Fighting Sioux roster up on this blog for this up coming 2008-2009 season. One question was answer today as it was announced that Graeme Harrington is going to be one of the back up goalies and more than likely will compete with Walski for the number two goalie position (JHMO).

2 Joe Finley, sr, d
3 Derrick LaPoint, so, d
4 Corey Fienhage, fr, d
5 Chay Genoway, jr, d
6 Zach Jones, sr, d
8 Ryan Martens, sr, f
9 Mario Lamoureux, fr, f
10 Andrew Kozek, sr, f
11 Darcy Zajac, jr, f
14 Brad Miller, sr, f
15 Brent Davidson, so, f
16 Ryan Duncan, sr, f
17 Jason Gregoire, fr, f
18 David Toews, fr, f
19 Evan Trupp, so, f
20 Matt Watkins, sr, f
21 Matt Frattin, so, f
22 Brad Malone, so, f
24 Ben Blood, fr, d
25 Jake Marto, so, d
26 Brett Hextall, fr, f
29 Chris VandeVelde, jr, f
30 Aaron Walski, sr, g
31 Brad Eidsness, fr, g
35 Graeme Harrington, fr, g

Changes to the NHL goalie equipment...

I have always thought that the size of the goalie equipment in the NHL was way to big. This is a good thing, if scoring is down in the NHL it seems only logical to look at the size of the goalie equipment. I like many fans in the NHL do watch a game to see a goalie stand on their heads, scoring and hard hitting make the games exciting in my opinion. The 2008 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs show cased how great the sport of hockey truely is.

The part that amuses me is Don Lucia's favorite NHL GM Garth Snow is on this comittee, Snow used to have some of the most over sized goalie pads in the NHL and now he is on a comittee to look at reducing the size of pads in the NHL. If you think I am kidding check out Garth's picture enclose in this blog post, those are some really big leg pads, while the picture doesn't show it, Snow also had some really big shoulder pads as well. Hell even I can stop the puck with pads that are that big. Look for scoring to go up this year in the NHL.

Addressing the goalies Clavicle protectors and pads trimmed
By Fluto Shinzawa
Globe Staff / August 3, 2008
Last season, when the NHL rolled out new Reebok uniforms, the "upgrade" flopped. They were too tight. They ripped. Sweat rolled off the jerseys and drained into gloves and skates.

This year, the NHL is hoping the next round of equipment tweaks will be more successful.

On June 11, the Goalie Equipment Working Group - general managers Doug Risebrough (Minnesota), Garth Snow (Islanders), Jim Rutherford (Carolina), and Brett Hull (Dallas); goalies Martin Brodeur (New Jersey), Rick DiPietro (Islanders), and Ryan Miller (Buffalo); and skaters Dany Heatley (Ottawa) and Mike Cammalleri (then Los Angeles, now Calgary) - convened in Toronto to address what could be done to shrink goaltenders, without resorting to hunger strikes.

The result? Knee pads and clavicle protectors will be trimmed for the 2008-09 season.

Because most goalies play the butterfly style, shooters would see the following: a netminder standing tall with his legs spread, inviting them to go five-hole. But as soon as a player shot the puck, the goalie would drop into the butterfly and close the opening, aided by 6 or more inches of knee protection on top of 38 inches of pads, all to protect a net that is only 6 feet wide.

"A lot of goaltenders wear extraneous flaps," said Glenn Healy, the director of public affairs for the NHL Players' Association. "It's like an airplane wing. You push a button and, 'Whoop.' It all accordions down so there's no room to score down low. Take a pad that's 38 inches. Put two of them back to back and you're covering the entire bottom part of the net plus 4 inches."

The group concluded that the knee pad could be limited to 2 1/2 inches in length without compromising goalie safety. With less blocking area low, skaters have a better chance of scoring five-hole.

"Particularly with goaltenders, the cardinal rule is, 'Don't get beat five-hole,' " said Healy, a former goalie. "You get beat once, fine. If you get beat twice, you're done. You're sitting on the bench. If you can plant a seed of doubt in the goaltenders that you can get beat there and you're vulnerable in that spot, the head worms start going. And once they start going in a goaltender's game, he's in big trouble."

Meanwhile, torso protection will be contoured. The clavicle protector, previously allowed to be 7 inches long, will become smaller, although Healy didn't have exact dimensions of the new piece. All goalies have been apprised of the changes and equipment manufacturers are making the alterations so net minders will have their new gear for training camp in September.

The reduction of the Michelin men won't be the only advantage for shooters in 2008-09. In the next few weeks, more than 100 NHLers will test the Thermablade Elite II, the heated blades that were introduced in February to a 10-player group. Four Bruins are taking part in the trial run. Marc Savard, who had expressed interest in the system previously, is expected to be one of them
<-read the rest of the article here->

Is Marian Gaborik is next to move on?

Bruce Ciskie poses a good question(s) on this subject. Marian Gaborik is the face of the Minnesota Wild and if they lose them they become even weaker. Signing Gabby must be a top priority, this can not end up the same way some of the other free agents non-signings went. If they lose Gabby the fans will probably revolt, unless they can get a replacement that is the same or better than Gaborik. The chances of that happening is slim and none. Also, with Hossa only signing a one year contract with the Redwings I would hope the Wild GM Doug Risebrough would take another shot at signing Hossa.

Time to waive Johnsson and Skola?

I have another suggestion for freeing up cap to sign Gabby and possibly Hossa, get rid of Kim Johnsson and Martin Skoula because if the Wild aren't going to be contend for a division title why not develop some younger defenseman and free up more cap to get better offensively.

Now that the Minnesota Wild have made the moves they're going to make in free agency, and they've bought out the contract of forward Mark Parrish, there is only one thing left to do this off-season.

Sign Marian Gaborik to a contract extension.

It's probably the biggest move the Wild will make, because it makes it perfectly clear that he's the player the Wild are going to build a championship contender around.

Gaborik is coming off a 42-goal season. It would be very smart to sign him now and keep him from entering free agency (we all saw how well that worked with Brian Rolston).

But can the Wild make it happen?

This isn't going to be about cap room. The Wild are in good shape there. After the Parrish buyout, the website nhlscap.com says the Wild have over $4 million in cap space. Gaborik's cap number will be a shade over $6 million this season.

Working off that figure, it stands to reason that Gaborik will need an annual average in the neighborhood of $8 million to $9 million before he'll sign an extension. Assuming another $2 million jump in the salary cap next year, the Wild will be left with around $10 million in cap space for the 2009-2010 season if Gaborik's annual average jumps to $8.5 million. Again using nhlscap.com, the Wild appear to have eight players to deal with in free agency after the upcoming season, including goaltender Niklas Backstrom.

So while the Wild could afford to make the move, it appears it will cause a pretty tight cap for them next summer if they do extend Gaborik.

They can't let that stop them.

Random thoughts:

I found this poll on Homersota.com

on which Minnesota Broadcasters are the biggest homers? Frankly, I would have thought that Wooger and the Rug would have been higher, one thing they are not is objective. Pot, kettle black. It also looks like they forgot to include Paul Allen for Vikings football...

Which team of broadcasters are the biggest homers?
Blyleven/Bremer (Twins) - 23% / 95 Votes

Hanneman/Peterson ( Wolves) - 5% / 19 Votes

Lee/Mona (Gopher Football) - 21% / 87 Votes

Grimm/Lynch (Gopher Basketball) - 0% / 1 Votes

Allen/Bercich (Vikings) - 23% / 96 Votes

Terhaar/Greenlay (Wild) - 17% / 70 Votes

Mazzacco/Woog (Gopher Hockey) - 12% / 49 Votes

I was re-reading a post from Brad Elliott Schlossman's blog on incoming goalie Brad Eidsness and I am predicting that will Brad Eidsness be the starting goalie for the Fighting Sioux this season. While I am sure Walksi will probably get a look, however, Eidsness will end up being the starter and Walski the back up. Just my HMO, I do not have any inside information.

Seriously, if Eidsness is not the man; why didn't the Fighting Sioux coaching staff pick up one more goalie recruit to compete for the number one position? They have two unproven goaltenders to start the season. Does the Fighting Sioux coaching staff feel this strongly about Eidsness? They must have a lot of confidence in Eidsness? Not to slight Walski I have seen nothing has led me to believe that Walski is a legitimate division one starting goaltender, or Walski would have played more than one and half game during his three year college career. Sure he shut out BSU but that does not prove he is a full time starter. You heard it here first. Prediction: Brad Eidsness will be the starting goalie.

Brad Eidsness, an Alberta native, said he came to UND early because he felt it was an important step in preparing to battle for the No. 1 goaltender spot. Eidsness said his goal is to take the reins in the net.

He'll have strong competition from senior Aaron Walski, who also is spending the summer in Grand Forks in order to prepare for the season. Walski came to UND as a walk-on and has since earned a scholarship.

Check out this post by Sprig on siouxsports.com in response to the Gopher skippies on Sioux sports.

The Blais reputation for having bad goaltending came entirely from the year when Kollar struggled as a starter, Siembeda was obtained, played two good games, then couldn't stop the puck, which lead to the mad scramble of trying to find a tender that year. The reputation was mostly embellished by the plethora of Gopher fans that began posting about it. It seems funny in retrospect that the history of Sioux goaltending starting with the Gino era and continuing with Blais and Hakstol, is that the Sioux have, except for one year, had excellent goaltending, which is in total contrast to the almost constant stream of sieves that have run through the Gopher program (with just a couple arguable exceptions). The words Gopher, good, and goaltending will seldom appear in the same sentence, except for the die-hards that follow that team.

Watch for Goon to post about good gopher goaltending, which will occur immediateley before hell freezes over.

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.