According to a source, the Bruins and Wild are talking trade, with a defenseman coming to the Bruins and a forward and a defenseman going to Minnesota. The source said that it would be partially a salary dump for the B’s. Attractive defenseman on the Wild would be Brent Burns or Nick Schultz. No word yet on who would be going to the Wild in return [Boston Herald]
With tonight's first round approaching and picks remaining in play, the Bruins are expected to continue fielding inquiries for Marc Savard. However, the Bruins have yet to inquire with Savard about waiving his no-trade clause, which is a significant hurdle they must clear. [Boston Globe]
LOS ANGELES – A passionate debate about hits to the head that has lasted the better part of a year was officially settled Thursday night when the NHL Board of Governors approved a new penalty for next season.
The penalty for a lateral, blindside hit to the head, which will be called "illegal check to the head," is a five-minute major penalty, as well as an automatic game misconduct. The League also will consider supplemental discipline.
t was unanimously approved by the Board of Governors during Thursday's meeting, the first for the body since last December. The rule was proposed during the spring edition of the General Managers' Meeting in Florida after several controversial hits during the season.
"I think we are really pleased with where it is," Columbus GM Scott Howson told NHL.com. "But I also think it is something really fluid and we will have to continue to work at it if we see the need."
Cam Neely, the freshly minted president of the Boston Bruins, also stressed that vigilance would remain necessary, but was happy to see a mechanism in place to protect the League's players.
"I think it was important for the League to try to address this as quick as possible," Neely told NHL.com. "The GMs got on board, the Competition Committee got on board. Obviously, for the health of the players, it is good to get a rule like this in place and try to get it out of the game and get to a situation where you are going to have fewer concussions because of it."
Three members of the BC hockey team, which had just won the national championship, were passengers in the Jeep, and detectives found the vehicle strewn with beer cans and a bottle of vodka. “These students should be held accountable for their reckless and dangerous behavior,’’ railed the MBTA police chief the day after the crash.
All of which turned a relatively minor incident into national news, splashed across the pages and websites of The New York Times, USA Today, ESPN, and the Huffington Post, as well as every major media outlet in Boston. The hockey team not only failed to receive the customary White House invitation that national champions receive, it hasn’t gotten so much as a congratulatory sign on the Massachusetts Turnpike.
But since then, the story has taken several striking twists, far from the glare of the cameras. In May, with no fanfare, the MBTA suspended the trolley driver for two weeks after the agency’s investigators determined he was driving 35 miles per hour at the time of the crash, well over the 10-mile-per-hour speed limit, T officials confirmed yesterday.
Then, in a closed-door hearing in Brighton District Court last week, the most serious charges against Jane Stanton, the BC student driving the Jeep, were abruptly dismissed. Her toxicology tests showed she had not been drinking, her cellphone records showed she had not been texting, and she faced only three civil traffic infractions, officials and her lawyer said. [Boston Globe]
LOS ANGELES – Goalie Tim Thomas is 36 years old and would cost $5 million a year in cap space, “if” someone decided to make a trade with Boston.
Sources at the Board of Governors confirmed on Thursday that Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren and Boston’s Peter Chiarelli have spoken about the netminder, who has three years left on his contract and has been replaced as a starter by Tuukka Rask.
Chiarelli is trying hard to unload Thomas and has spoken to a number of clubs. Neither Holmgren nor Chiarelli would comment.
Flyers’ sources say, however, they consider Thomas “too expensive,” despite his 2.56 goals-against average and .915 save percentage in 43 games last season.
Outside sources say, however, the Flyers are willing to move two players “if” they decide to go the Thomas route and “if” it’s the right players to move. Those sources added the only untouchable Flyers are Mike Richards and Jeff Carter.
That said, these sources have the impression that, in the end, the Flyers may end up re-signing Michael Leighton...
Two days after announcing they wouldn't bring back unrestricted free-agent goalie Evgeni Nabokov, the Sharks came to terms with the two forwards they targeted that money for, re-signing unrestricted free agent Patrick Marleau and restricted free agent Joe Pavelski.
San Jose general manager Doug Wilson had told reporters earlier in the week that getting both men back in the fold would be "a home run," and he actually might have hit a grand slam. Wilson signed two of the team's most important players to four-year deals -- the Sharks are steering clear of the extra-long-term deals that are now hampering teams like the Blackhawks.
It appears he got particularly favorable terms with Pavelski, a rising star who will make $4 million per year on average. Many had thought it would take at least $5 million per year; Ryan Kesler's six-year, $30 million extension in Vancouver often has been the comparison point.
"You look at a lot of things, and the structure of our team is a lot different than Vancouver's, different forwards all making different amounts," Pavelski, 25, said on a conference call Thursday morning. "There are some areas you have to cut back, and if this helps, that's a good thing. This is a decent deal and I'm really excited to be here for four years. The biggest thing is winning."
Wilson won't talk specific financial terms, as per the Sharks' policy, but there's little question that San Jose is happy about how things worked out from a payroll perspective. [NHL Fan House]
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- An NCAA committee wants to prohibit scholarship offers to recruits before July 1 of their junior season of high school.
Under the proposal, coaches would need to acquire five semesters or seven quarters of a high school transcript before making an offer.
It is the first recommendation to come out of the Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Issues Cabinet, which has been looking into recruiting conduct and would apply to all sports.
Committee chairwoman Petrina Long said Thursday that recruits and their families told the cabinet they felt pressured to make early decisions. Coaches also said they were under pressure to make the offers to "keep up" with competitors.
The Legislative Council will not vote on the proposal until at least January.
CSNNE.com CSNNE.com has confirmed that the Bruins have signed 26-year-old defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who would have become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, to a two-year deal. The agreement was first reported by New England Hockey Journal.
According to sources that spoke with CSNNE.com, the deal is for $3.75 million (with Boychuk set to make $1.75 million next season and $2 million in 2011-12) and doesn't have any no-trade provisions within the deal. The cap hit for Boychuk over the term of the two-year deal is for $1.875 million and keeps the physical, easy-going blueliner in the Boston fold for another two seasons.
The defenseman won a starting job with the Bruins over the second half of the regular season, and deftly stepped into the No. 2 defenseman role alongside Zdeno Chara once Dennis Seidenberg went down with a forearm injury. Boychuk averaged over 26 minutes of ice time during the 13 games he played during the playoffs, led the Bruins with 39 blocked shots and authored the "statement hit" of the postseason for the B's when he decked Buffalo Sabres forward Matt Ellis during Game 3 of the opening round.
Prelude to another deal?
By landing Nathan Horton, the Boston Bruins had to punch a hole in their blueline by including defenceman Dennis Wideman in the deal with the Florida Panthers. This move has sparked speculation that the Bruins may not be done - and some believe Boston may now zero in on Toronto's Tomas Kaberle.
Now Leafs GM Brian Burke and Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli thought they had a trade involving Kaberle and Phil Kessel at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, but the deal was scuttled over confusion as to whether or not draft picks would be included.
Burke has publicly stated he wants a scoring winger as compensation for Kaberle, but according to league sources, star centre Marc Savard is available.
Boston and Toronto have yet to re-open talks involving Kaberle, but it's likely the Bruins will express interest and if Savard is in play, why wouldn't the Maple Leafs consider reuniting him with Phil Kessel?
TSN - Dustin Byfuglien, one of the breakout players for the Stanley Cup-winning Blackhawks last season, is in the process of being traded to the Thrashers, pending league approval.
Byfuglien, along with Brent Sopel, Ben Eager and Akim Aliu, will be headed to Atlanta in exchange for the 24th overall pick at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, the 54th pick, Marty Reasoner and Jeremy Morin.
The picks that Chicago get in the deal were acquired by Atlanta in the trade that sent Ilya Kovalchuk to New Jersey last February.
The 25-year-old forward had 17 goals and 17 assists in 82 games with the Hawks last season.
At 6'4, 257 pounds, the Minnesota native will bring his thunderous size and strength to the struggling Thrashers franchise.
Byfuglien was originally selected 245th overall by the Blackhawks in the eighth round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
Less than 24 hours after making his first trade of the offseason, Sharks General Manager and Executive Vice President Doug Wilson announced a major shakeup in the Sharks lineup: goalie Evgeni Nabokov will not be returning to the team after Wilson declined to offer him a UFA contract.It would appear that the Sharks by not resigning the free agent goaltender Evgeni Nabokov; former Bulldog goalie Alex Stalock will be the one that benefits from this decision.
“We’ve made a decision to go a different direction on the goaltender,” explained Wilson in a meeting with Bay Area media on Tuesday at Sharks Ice. “I had a conversation with him this morning because he deserves that respect and he’ll get nothing but great reviews on what he’s meant to this organization."
According to Wilson, Nabokov’s reaction to the news was “professional” and “the type of emotion that would be expected.” The Sharks General Manager delivered the news at Sharks Ice in a face-to-face meeting prior to sitting down with the media.
“He’s been a big part of our successes and I have a great respect for him as a player, as a man, as a teammate and a guy who gets involved with his community. We’ve got some very good, young goaltenders that are trending up and Nabby certainly deserves credit for their growth.”
Wilson explained that after examining trends in the National Hockey League over the last three or four years --- in particular, the dollars that are spent on goalies --- the organization has decided to put their faith in 24-year-old Thomas Greiss, 22-year-old Alex Stalock and possibly a veteran goalie from the free agency market. [NHL.COM]
Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - The Pittsburgh Penguins and left wing Matt Cooke have reportedly agreed to terms on a three-year contract.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Tuesday that both sides agreed to the deal on Monday and that it will be made official once the NHL gives its approval.
Cooke could have become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He has spent the past two seasons with the Penguins, posting 28 goals with 33 assists for 61 points.
The 31-year-old veteran has also played for Vancouver and Washington in 11 NHL seasons. He has 114 goals and 157 assists for 271 points in 738 games.
Cooke may be best-known for a hit he put on Boston's Marc Savard on March 7. Savard suffered a concussion on the play and did not return until the second round of the playoffs.
There was no penalty called on the play, but Cooke's shoulder hit to the head prompted the NHL to craft a new rules proposal regarding hits to the head area. A five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct has been proposed to any player who delivers a lateral, back-pressure or blind-side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted. [TSN.COM]
Seis: It'll be interesting what Chicago does this week. Patrick Sharp, Dustin Byfuglien and/or Kris Versteeg could be cap casualties. The Blackhawks were over the cap about $2.5 million this year, and Jonathan Toews had a $1.3 million bonus for winning the Conn Smythe. And since they were already over, all this will be charged to next year's cap. So while the official number hasn't been released, the Blackhawks cap could be about $4 million lower than everybody else's next year.I still to this day can't figure out why the Boston Bruins sent the Chicago Blackhawks Kris Versteeg for Brandon Bochenski? That trade is a really head scratchier. No offense to former Fighting Sioux forward Brandon "Bucks" Bochenski but Kris Versteeg has scored 101 points in two plus seasons in the NHL and Brandon Bochenski has played with six NHL teams and never played more than 40 games in a season.
In essense, a bunch of sportswriters' votes (Toews) cost the Blackhawks $1.3 million of cap space next year. Not that Toews didn't deserve it, but you know what I mean.
The Wild would love Sharp if he's available, but I'm sure so would about a dozen other teams. They'd like Byfuglien, too, but as his mom told me in that feature I wrote on Big Buff before the Finals, she doesn't think the Wild would be a good place for him. As she said, "too many relatives, too close by." I'm sure the Wild like Versteeg, but I just don't see it being "the fit."
I think Stephen Weiss is somebody the Wild would love, but I just don't know if Florida trades him. I've mentioned Carter before.
The Wild again is looking for a big center, but as I mentioned above, any significant trade that would include somebody like Burns I would guess has to be for somebody that's in his 20s with a good chunk of contract left. [Russo's Rants]
TORONTO (AP)—The NHL’s competition committee recommended that the league’s referees will be given the power to hand out major penalties for hits to the head next season.
The 10-man group on Friday agreed on the new penalty during a meeting at the NHL’s Toronto office on Friday and passed it along to the league’s board of governors. The board meets next week in Los Angeles and must give final approval to the recommendation.
The specific wording of the new penalty wasn’t disclosed but NHL executive and former player Brendan Shanahan(notes) says head hits will be subject to a major penalty and game misconduct, as well as supplemental discipline.
[Yahoo Sports]
4. Matt Cooke(notes) (2009-10 Cap Hit: $1.2 million)I am interested in reading what others think? Do you think Cooke is a disgusting waste of skin or someone you could tolerate?
As insufferable as this idea might be, fans should be smiling if their team signs one of the NHL's best agitators.
"Best" in the sense that, well, he's a total pain in the ass -- although one wonders if the new ban on blindside hits means he'll need to alter his game a little. But also "best" in the sense he'll give you around 15 goals in a solid season; and, in the last two playoff campaigns with the Penguins, he has 13 points in 37 games.
The Penguins wouldn't mind him back, but signs are they aren't closing in on a new deal. The whole "you hate him as an opponent but love him on your team" thing can fall into hockey cliché sometimes, but it applies to Cooke. Hate him, but acknowledge he's a momentum changer.
A resolution passed by the Standing Rock Tribal Council took aim at Ralph Engelstad Arena and other off-reservation groups that have been “disruptive and divisive” influences on discussions about UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.
Jesse Taken Alive, the council member who made a motion for Thursday’s resolution, told the Herald on Friday that statement was included in the resolution because it puts everyone “on notice” that the nickname issue has been settled at Standing Rock.
But REA General Manager Jody Hodgson said the statement shows tribal officials are “frustrated by people who try and tell the truth” about the nickname issue.
Taken Alive made a motion Thursday for a vote on the resolution, which says that it shall be the final decision of the tribe that the nickname and logo are retired and no further discussion is necessary on the matter. That resolution was passed by the council 10-4.
It’s a decision that could remove the final obstacle to the retirement of the Fighting Sioux name.
‘False information’
Thursday’s 1½-page resolution included, among other things, a statement that the tribe “recognizes that off-reservation influences, including the Ralph Engelstad Arena, have proven to be disruptive and divisive to our people, are not necessary and will not be tolerated within our homelands.”
Taken Alive said it was included because tribal officials learned about a year ago that a nontribal member paid by REA was holding invitation-only meetings on the reservation.
“If it involves the majority of our people, which this does, we didn’t think that was appropriate to have those kinds of meetings,” he said.
The resolution’s language, Hodgson said, shows the tribal council is “frustrated by people who try and tell the truth.” He said anti-nickname people have spread “false information” about the issues — including the idea that UND is an “unsafe” and “terrible” place for American Indians because of its “racist environment.”
“They’ve scared the citizenry who haven’t had an opportunity to visit Grand Forks or visit the University of North Dakota,” Hodgson said. “That’s the campaign they’ve created. That’s the perception they’ve created.”
When asked about American Indian students at UND who have said the nickname has caused issues for them on campus, he said there are people “on both sides” of the issue.
“Those are their experiences and their perceptions,” Hodgson added.
The REA remains “strongly supportive” of the nickname and logo and “committed” to seeing the process through, he said. [Grand Forks Herald]
he big debate about Boogaard is putting a price on his limited ice time and role. Coach Todd Richards values the intimidation Boogaard provides, but he hasn't scored since 2006.
Asked if it's a necessity to possess an "enforcer" in today's game, Fletcher said, "It's a necessity in today's game to have grit and toughness in your lineup. Philosophically, if we can get to a team that could be a little bit more of a four-line team and be a team that had more depth and speed and grit throughout the lineup, that's where we'd like to get to eventually."
That could conceivably cost Boogaard his Wild job. Fletcher noted "there are several gritty players available" in free agency.
If the Wild goes the team toughness route over traditional enforcers such as Boogaard and fellow free agent John Scott, some gritty free agents include Manny Malhotra, Ryan Johnson, Arron Asham, Adam Burish, Colby Armstrong and Jamal Mayers.
Fletcher said he'll likely meet with Salcer during next weekend's draft in Los Angeles.
"Maybe we'll make a trade, maybe we won't, which could impact what holes we need to fill and how much cap space we have," Fletcher said. "So your reality can change between now and July 1."[startribune.com]
