Check out Basile.

Check out the Jim Basile interview from thespec.com he is defiantly brash, confident and maybe a little arrogant. Also, when it is all said and done I DON'T think he will be an owner of an NHL hockey team. I think Basile feels he is entitled to owning an NHL franchise and is going about it the wrong way, if the other twenty nine owners don't want him to join the club he isn't going to be in. Keep spending millions Basile, it's good for the economy.

More Blais Speculation.

I saw this story over on Husker Mike's blog. Some interesting speculation on who would be the next coach of UNO hockey team. It would appear that Blais can basically stand back and wait for the best offer, it would appear that he has a few options to chose from. Blais can stay at Fargo, apply for the UNO job, or wait. If Blais takes the UNO job they would be a national contender in after a couple of recruiting cycles. I would rather see Blais at UND or UNO than Minnesota.

QUICK SPECULATION There has been much talk about Dean Blais, just named head coach of the 2010 US National Junior team, being asked to take the reigns at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. However, there has been equal talk that he is waiting for the job at the University of Minnesota to open up.

There is a large, and growing contingent of power players in Minnesota hockey who would like to see Blais, a Gopher alumnus, behind the bench of Minnesota. There is little chance that Joel Maturi would make a move before Don Lucia's contract expires. However with the number of players leaving the program for other schools, leaving for the pros early, poor academic performance, lagging attendance, instability with assistant coaches and a failure to win, there will be increased pressure sooner rather than later and Blais would be a considered a candidate if he is available.

Other primary candidates would be current Hamline head coach Scott Bell or USHL coach Kevin Hartzell. While UNO is thought to be interested in Blais it also unlikely that they can afford what Blais would be used to as a salary. Mike Guentzel, Dave Quinn and Mike Hastings remain the most likely candidates, unless Blais wants back into the college game sooner rather than later. Another option would be if Dave Hakstol has aspirations to move into the ranks of professional coaching and then Blais could move back to the University of North Dakota bench. Pure conjecture, but not out of the realm of possibility considering Hakstol's background in the professional game and the coaches being hired in the ECHL and AHL and as assistant coaches in the NHL currently.

Risebrough to Florida?

More power to the Florida Panters ownership. Hey if the Panters fans want a team that will be poorly managed, a boring on the ice product, a team that is focused on defense first and with a roster filled with a bunch of cast offs, then Doug Riesbough is probably your man for the job. I would hope they Panters would use better judgement than that. If your questioning think I am over stating it look at the Wild and Flames when Risebrough managed them.

Risebrough to Florida?
Former Wild GM Doug Risebrough is expected to be a front-runner for the Florida Panthers' GM position.

Former Panthers President Bill Torrey has been asked to lead the GM search, and it's believed that Risebrough's received support from two of Torrey's confidants -- former North Stars GM Lou Nanne and current Rangers GM Glen Sather.

Spirit Lake nickname supporters not giving up

Sounds like the pro name people at Spirt Lake Nation will not let the name go down without a fight. Stay tuned.

FORT TOTTEN (AP) - Spirit Lake Sioux tribal members who support the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname say they're seeking a resolution from the tribal council.

Eunice Davidson is spokeswoman for the pro-nickname group. She says its members plan to meet with the newly elected council members next week to talk about a formal resolution supporting the nickname.

A tribal vote in April gave strong support to the nickname. But UND plans to retire it unless the Standing Rock Sioux tribe also supports it. Standing Rock tribal council members have been among the opposition leaders.

The State Board of Higher Education voted last month to do away with the nickname unless it gets a 30-year agreement from the state's Sioux tribes by Oct. 1.

A former Gopher to coach the Wild?

First the good news is former Wild assist coach Mario Tremblay is not going to be the Wild's new coach. That should be refreshing and welcome news to Wild fans that want to see the Wild move away from their BORING defense first style of hockey and at least attempt to push the puck up ice. That doesn't mean the Wild play the trap at some point in their games it just means they will be more offensive focused. It would be an interesting scenario to see an American coach that played college hockey in Minnesota coaching in the State of Hockey; if Richards gets the job. To take a phrase from Danny Barriero of KFAN, 'he would definitely be one of us' (from Minnesota)

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune ----- Local boy Todd Richards still appears to be among the frontrunners for the Wild's coaching vacancy.

According to sources, General Manager Chuck Fletcher flew to California last week to interview the San Jose Sharks assistant coach and former Gophers captain.

The two have been in contact since, although it's unclear how close Fletcher is to hiring a coach.

That's because, according to sources, Fletcher also interviewed former Edmonton Oilers coach Craig MacTavish in recent days and at least had a conversation with former Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders coach Peter Laviolette.

It's believed that Fletcher is also interested in Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Paul MacLean, whom he worked with in Anaheim.

'Time to pull the plug' on Phoenix: NHLPA

Paul Kelly isn't going to win any friends in Phoenix with those comments. Also, why didn't anyone see this coming back when they moved the Jets to the desert in the first place? This is a travesty. I wonder if in hindsite; if the City of Winnipeg wished they would have built a new arena for the Jets?

Steve Milton ---- The Hamilton Spectator
The leader of the National Hockey League Players' Association may not overtly support a league franchise in Hamilton, but he's very blunt about what should happen to the one in Phoenix.

"From a players' perspective, it's time to pull the plug," NHLPA executive-director Paul Kelly told The Spectator last night.

Kelly says that NHL owners should not only be doubting that the Coyotes should remain in Phoenix, but that those doubts should have arisen long before now.

Earlier in the day, speaking on Toronto radio station The Fan, Kelly wondered: "How much money must (a franchise) lose before someone says "perhaps they ought not to be there?"

However, Kelly would not go so far as to back Jim Balsillie's bid to transfer the Coyotes to Hamilton: even though he's known to look favourably Balsillie's membership as an NHL owner.

Hockey fans upset with the reffing.

There has been an extensive debate and some whining about the quality of the officiating in these Stanley Cup Finals. As a neutral observer I would say that the officiating has been equally bad on both ends of the ice. Edit: This hockey fans has an interesting take on the Sidney Crosby conspiracy against them. (humor)

The officiating during this spring's playoff run has been fantastically inconsistent, and even when you and I are both swearing at the TV...The players have to deal with it as best as they can. If they want to lobby the refs during or after the game, argue a call--I had no problem with Franzen saying, "He [bleeping dove" when he either hooked Craig Adams or Adams felt a stick and dropped, depending on your point of view, and I have no problem with Mike Babcock mentioning that a certain player who remained nameless got away with four interference penalties...But Babs wouldn't be lobbied into lamenting that his team lost because the refs screwed him over, and he refused to name names.

Hal Gill, cough cough. [Snapshots]

This guys is right about one thing former Bruins defender Hall Gill has looked like a pylon and a human obstruction machine and I can see why the Bruins no long employ him.

Links to the Stanley Cup Finals reffing debacle...

~I don't want to hear about the refs. [Mlive.com]

~Allegations out of the Redwings Dressing Room. [TSN]

~Maltby: Officiating 'blueprint for how regular season should go' [Puck Daddy]

… Just one last comment on the officiating: in Games 1 and 2, I was of the opinion that the officiating was awful both ways. Letting them play is a nice idea in concept, but in practice it just means the players gradually become too loose with the rules. Both teams were guilty of it in the first two games, with rampant interference being the most obvious of the play-to-play stuff. In Game 3, however, the officiating largely turned against the Wings.

Let me be clear: Detroit is not a team of perfect little angels, and I’m sure there were some things they didn’t get called for last night (I freely admit I was paying more attention to what the Pens were doing as far as penalizable offenses), but Pittsburgh truly got away with some really blatant crap last night. From tripping Ericsson in his own zone, to the high hit of interference on Helm in the final minutes, to the kicking of Osgood by Cooke, to the final uncalled trip to any dump-in involving Gill, not to mention the willful collusion on the the too many men situation.* If you’re going to call stuff like the Ericsson interference in the third, call it when the Pens do it too. It’s only fair.

Call it both ways, or don’t call it at all. That’s all I’d like. [read the whole story right here]

My response to this guy would be, the on ice officials have called it both way. Both ways the officiating has been god awful and consistently bad, compared to their performance during the regulars season and the first two rounds. That being said it does remind me of the WCHA games were they let the obstruction go.

Here is my favorite take of the whole reffing mess. [thePensblog]

Linkorama humpday.

~You can cross Detroit Redwing's forward Marian Hossa off the list of possible UFAs [Sports Illustrated]

~The NHL General Managers have voted down a new head shot rule proposal. [TSN]

~Boston Bruin's all star defenseman Zedno Chara is a finalist for the Messier Award. [TSN]

~Apparently the Flyer's are thinking about signing former Senator's sieve Ray Emery It will be interesting to see how this circus unfolds. [CSN Philly]

~Ron MacLean ate Betteman's lunch last night on CBC. Betteman is a bumbling fool. You almost have to wonder if he is running for office? Sounds just like a politician. I can't be the only person that finds him to be mind numbingly boring and uninspiring. [CBC]

~The Vancouver Canucks are going to attempt to sign the exciting Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik Sedin. They aren't going to come cheap, it will be interesting to see if they end up on the same team or if they get spilt up. [Vancouver Sun]

~This is what the Bruin's GM had to say about the subject of signing Bruin's RFA Phil Kessel this summer.

Chiarelli would not even estimate what a deal with Kessel would amount to compared with Krejci’s three-year, $11.25 million contract and would only say that “we value them both a lot.” But salary-cap restrictions, obviously, preclude the Bruins from giving Kessel too much more than Krejci. [The Bruins blog]

Boston signs Krejci to a new deal.

The first part of the puzzle has been solved. Now it's time for the Bruin's management to sign Phil Kessel. In looking at the Krejci deal it would be safe to assume that Kessel will/should get a comparable offer. Krejci will earn $3.5 million in 2009-10, $3.75 million in 2010-11, and $4 million in 2011-12. Comparing the two players Krejci had (22g-51a-73pts) in 82 games while Kessel had (36g-24-60pts) in 70 games so I would think both players would have simular deals.

BOSTON, MA - Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has signed forward David Krejci to a multi-year contract extension. Per club policy, terms of the deal will not be disclosed. Chiarelli and Krejci will be available to the media via conference call on Wednesday, June 3.

Krejci established a career high in games played, goals, assists and points this season with 22-51-73 totals in 82 games. His 51 assists ranked him second on the team behind Marc Savard, and he led the NHL with a plus/minus rating of +36. In 2009, Krejci also received the Bruins Seventh Player Award, given to the player who performs above and beyond expectations.

The 23-year-old native of Sternberk, Czech Republic was originally drafted by the Bruins in the second round (63rd overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He made his NHL debut with the Bruins on January 30, 2007 against the Buffalo Sabres.

In his three-year NHL career, Krejci has recorded 28-72-100 totals in 144 regular season games. He appeared in all 11 playoff games for the Bruins this season contributing two goals and six assists.

More on Huntsville to the CCHA.

Nice to see CHN coming around, this issue has been discussed extensively here. [UAH travel Distances] and here [Why not Huntsville] I think with the landscape of college hockey right now the NCAA can not afford to lose anymore teams. None of us want to go back to the 12 team NCAA hockey tourney.

Also, if some form of conference realignment dose not take place to make the necessary adjustments to the current college hockey landscape, there is a good chance that no one will ever want to start up a division one hockey program. So basically you could rule out the possibility of BTHC or expansion of teams in the NCAA from the CIS ranks. Maybe, that is a little extreme but I think the necessary adjustments must be made for the good of the sport.

Huntsville’s longshot bid becomes a lot more intriguing vis-a-vis UNO, specifically. Huntsville has been labeled a longshot because of the distance from CCHA schools. In this economy especially, flying schools to Huntsville is an expense most schools don’t want.

When the discussion swirled around Bowling Green’s potential demise, replacing BGSU with Huntsville was a costly difference.

But in terms of UNO, there is no cost difference. And this is the huge key.

check of Google Maps shows that the driving mileage distance from Detroit to Omaha, Nebraska, is 732 miles. The driving distance from Detroit to Huntsville, Alabama, is only 663 miles.

True, the airport situation may be trickier, but the end result may be no more expensive for CCHA teams.

So perhaps UNO to the WCHA, while a rough “see ya later” to the CCHA, may be the one scenario that is best for college hockey right now. Let’s face it, everyone’s between a rock and a hard place, but at least there is some semblance of a solution that would benefit everyone, somewhat — and potentially save two programs.
[College Hockey News]

Refs letting them play.

The conversation about the NHL officiating is starting to come up again during the Redwings and Penguins series. The officials have been consistent in this series, however, it's my opinion that the refs have slacked off calling the obstruction. Kind of going back to the philosophy that its a penalty in the regular season but not during the playoffs. That being said both teams are getting away with a lot more obstruction and stick work than they could if they were playing a regular season game. Obstruction or not obstruction if the Penguins don't worry about playing hockey this series will be over this week.

Last year when the Penguins fell behind the Detroit Red Wings, 2-0, in the Stanley Cup final, then-coach Michel Therrien commented on the subtle obstruction and interference that Detroit players were committing against his players.

In addition to the déjà vu element of being down, 2-0, to the Red Wings again in this year's Stanley Cup final, the Penguins are encountering the same type of obstruction and interference by the Red Wings, who, it seems, are being allowed by the officials to toe that fine line between good defense and committing a penalty.

For the most part, the officials in Games 1 and 2 have ignored obstruction and interference penalties. A total of 10 penalties have been called, but five of those were assessed in the waning seconds of Game 2 Sunday night after the altercation between Evgeni Malkin and Henrik Zetterberg. And only one interference penalty has been called during the finals, with Malkin being assessed that penalty in Game 2.

Two non-calls came back to haunt the Penguins in Game 2 when the Red Wings scored goals as a direct result of plays where the referees could have easily sent Red Wings players to the penalty box.

The Red Wings scored their first goal Sunday night when Mikael Samuelsson interfered with Malkin after a draw in the Penguins' zone. That allowed defenseman Jonathan Ericsson to have an open shooting lane from the blue line to tie the score at 1-1.

The Red Wings scored the winning goal when Marian Hossa hooked Pascal Dupuis and then broke the stick as Dupuis attempted to leave the defensive zone. Hossa retrieved the puck, and a few seconds later, Valtteri Filppula threw a backhand over Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for a 2-1 lead.

But if the Penguins are steamed at the quality of officiating through two games, they are not letting on.

"They don't call a lot of the [penalties], but it's fine," defenseman Kris Letang said. "It's both ways. I think [the officiating] has been pretty good so far."
[Read more:]

Reed Larson on the Wild. (college focused)

This is what former Minnesota Gopher Reed Larson had to say about the Wild and their lack of using American, college hockey players and or players from Minnesota. Pretty good points that needed to be said a long time ago.

"I'm sorry; I've got the utmost respect for Jacques Lemaire as a player and so forth, but they did not like (the skill level of) American players," Larson said.

He was speaking of the former Minnesota Wild coach and management.

"Craig Leipold should be a hero; he should get an award for changing the management," Larson said of the Wild owner who recently hired Chuck Fletcher to oversee his team.

"I'm not saying you can't use Europeans and you can't use Canadians, but don't turn your back on Minnesota or Americans," Larson said. "Those guys (Lemaire and former GM Doug Risebrough) came from Montreal, where they had some very good American players when they were winning Stanley Cups.

"What I don't understand about being in management here in Minnesota is that you've got really good Americans, not just in Minnesota, but in Michigan and other colleges, and everybody else is using

them. I'm not trying to cut up Risebrough and Lemaire, but my point is that I don't think they had the best interest in this area as far as American and Minnesota players.
"Nobody wants to say it; everybody's scared."

Larson, 52, is in the insurance business and helps develop young players as a coach in the Minnesota Elite prep hockey league.

"Everybody thinks there's no one around here who knows anything about hockey," he said. [Shooter Now]

I don't know what everyone was so afraid of? I was also shocked that this wasn't brought up sooner. Personally I can think of many Canadian college hockey players, American college hockey players as well as hockey players from Minnesota that would look great in a green and red uniform.

I can also think of a couple players that are free agents right now. I have faith that Fletcher a Harvard grad will be smart enough to figure it out. The Boston Bruins won the Eastern Conference regular season title with, two Minnesota Gophers, one Catamount, two Wolverines, one Boston College Eagle Eagle and a Cornell Big Red. Lastly, Jason Blake an former fighting Sioux hockey player that was a Hobey Baker Memorial finalist was the top scorer for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Oh yeah; Jason Blake is also from Moorhead Minnesota. Maybe he would like to come home and play for the hometown team.

Malkin will not be suspended.

Evgeni Malkin will not be suspended for game three. I believe this is the right move.

DETROIT (AP) - Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin won't be suspended for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals despite drawing an instigator penalty in the final 19 seconds of a 3-1 loss to Detroit in Game 2 on Sunday night.

Under NHL rules, any player drawing an instigating penalty in the final five minutes is to be suspended for the next game, but the rule allows considerable flexibility depending on the circumstances.

"None of the criteria in this rule applied in this situation," NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell said in a statement issued by the league about an hour after the game ended. "Suspensions are applied under this rule when a team attempts to send a message in the last five minutes by having a player instigate a fight. A suspension could also be applied when a player seeks retribution for a prior incident. Neither was the case here and therefore the one game suspension is rescinded."

Malkin snap.

Check out the Penguins super star Malkin as he absolutely loses it at the end of game two. Like the announcers for CBC said why not? I don't think it should cost Malkin a game but he did get an instigator penalty inside of 5:00 left in the game. Eklund of hockeybuzz.com said over on his twitter that he heard the NHL will rescind the instigator penalty. I think it would be the right choice.

How did this all happen? Evgeni Malkin went after Henrik Zetterberg during a scrum in front of the Detroit net. The scrum started after Max Talbot game Osgood a little shot with his stick and Osgood acted as if the had been shot. This is what I told my buddy that I was watching the game with anyways. Some will call for Malkin to be suspended but if Campbell suspends Malkin Campbell owes a few teams an apology, plain and simple. The most egregious act of the playoffs was the Walker sucker punch on Ward that went un punished and this incident isn't even close.

Here is what a Detroit newspaper had to say about the incident.

Frustration boiled over for Pittsburgh with 18.2 seconds left, when Max Talbot stuck his stick in goalie Chris Osgood’s midsection after he made his 31st save. That led to a fight between Evgeni Malkin and Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg that left both players’ jerseys torn on the ice.

CBC is the best for NHL hockey coverage.

If you live in a border town (Grand Forks, ND is 75 miles from the Canadian border) your probably lucky enough get CBC on your television dial (channel 16 on MIDCO). Recently Paul Kelly was talking about how he was unhappy about the Versus and their TV coverage for the NHL playoffs. If you're a hockey fan you were probably watching CBC because it is a better channel for hockey coverage than Versus and NBC. That being said you probably watched the pregame show because you were really excited about the finals. You can almost bet that last night pre-game was an instant classic, at least in my opinion it probably will be. If you didn't see it enjoy.
(props)

Here goes nothing.

This is it, the series of the NHL hockey season till October. My prediction for the Stanley Cup Finals is Penguins in 6 games. Not that it matters since I picked none of the series right in the third round. I believe the injuries will finally derail the Redwings, as as one of their big time players Pavel Datsyuk is out with a a foot injury. Also, the Redwings will be without veteran center Chris Draper who is out with a groin injury.

I also think the play of Pens super star Evgeni Malkin has been Hart Trophy like scoring (6-3-9) in the Eastern Conference finals.

Bruins next season?

The Owner of the Boston Bruins Jeremy Jacobs addressed the media and said the Bruins were going to spend to the salary cap. This is what I like to hear. The young UAF's listed below are the key to next season's sucess and the Bruin's managment needs to find a way to get them signed.

If the Bruins want to make a deeper run at the Cup next season, they'll have to re-sign their restricted free agents David Krejci, Phil Kessel (Minnesota), Matt Hunwick (Michigan), Byron Bitz (Cornell), make decisions on their unrestricted free agents (P.J. Axelsson, Stephane Yelle, Steve Montador, Shane Hnidy), perhaps trade away some core players to clear cap space, and build depth to withstand injuries.
(read the whole article here)

More from the new Wild GM.

Wild Blogger Brad Ratgen from HockeyBuzz had the text of a recent press conference with the Owner Craig Leipold and Chuck Fletcher that was held in St. Paul, I picked out a couple of things that Wild fans might be happy about.

Q&A Session with Owner Craig Leipold and New GM Chuck Fletcher
May 25, 2009,----- Regarding the big name free agents, “we have everything to offer them here. I think the system in the past might have held them back. I believe Chuck feels that way. The people that came through felt that way. And so I think this may be the missing piece and they will look at us in a different light and will want to come play here.”

Leipold pointed out that Fletcher is GM and (Leipold) is president of the Wild.

Regarding players wanting to play in Minnesota, “you would think everyone would be knocking on our door to play here. Hopefully now the word gets out that this is a place to play up tempo and score goals.”
--------------
Regarding Minnesota players and/or American players, “we are going to get the best person available. Being from Minnesota and playing in Minnesota won’t be looked upon any longer as a negative.”
--------------
“I love physical hockey (up tempo, fore checking, on pucks, separating the defender from the puck). It doesn’t have to be fighting. I certainly believe fighting as a necessary element of a good club. Toughness to me is mental, it’s physical, it’s winning battles, it’s having your best players go to the net knowing they’re going to get cross checked. That’s toughness. Those are the type of players we want. You need a physical element and a mentally tough element. Pace of play, forcing play. Those are all elements of physical, up-tempo hockey.”

“Any team can play this style. You need skill and intelligence. We want an identity of being an up-tempo, hard working, difficult team that’s tough to play against.”

ESPN going broke? Probably not.

Tip of the hat to Buddy Pass for this little nugget. Seems like everyone has been effected by the financial problems, so why not Television? In the comments to this article someone suggested just cutting Chris Berman's job, then everyone wins including the cafeteria. They could always cut Barry Melroses position then college
hockey fans wouldn't have to listen to Barry call college hockey games.

BRISTOL, Conn.— ESPN has notified about 100 employees that they will be losing their jobs.

The layoffs are part of a plan announced by ESPN Chief Executive George Bodenheimer in January, when he told employees the sports television giant would be reviewing its entire operation and also would cut about 200 jobs, leaving about 100 vacant positions unfilled.

Company spokesman Josh Krulewitz says ESPN plans to replace the jobs that have been cut with others that "more effectively grow our company, and our head count number, ultimately, will remain consistent with current levels."

ESPN, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Co., employs about 5,400 people worldwide, including about 3,400 at its Bristol, Conn. campus.

Injury updates for the Redwings.

Here is the injury update for tomorrows game on of the Stanley Cup Finals. Looks like Lidstrom is going to be a go.

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings expect star defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom to play in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said on Thursday he's encouraged by how Lidstrom's lower-body injury has recovered after he was forced to miss two games.

Holland said the team won't know until Saturday, when the series starts, if MVP finalist Pavel Datsyuk (foot) and Jonathan Ericsson (acute appendicitis) will be available.

Kris Draper (lower-body injury) is doubtful for Game 1, but Holland expects him to play later in the series.