Olympic question dominates Hockey Summit

Redwing77’s favorite NHL commissioner said that no decision has been made on the 2014 Olympics as of yet. That’s refreshing. I am hoping that by 2014 Gary Bettman is no longer the NHL commissioner.

Bettman stressed that no decision has been made on the NHL’s participation at Sochi in 2014 and, really, there’s no rush. He noted there were issues, a litany of them, to be addressed by both the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) before the matter is even considered by his league’s board of governors and a decision is made in conjunction with the NHL Players’ Association.

“We haven’t said, ‘No.’ Anybody who suggests that we’ve made a decision or that I’m anti-Olympics doesn’t get it,” Bettman told the gathering of delegates.

“What we’ve been simply saying is, it’s a mixed bag and it has been all along. We need to evaluate and re-evaluate and we’ll decide at the appropriate time.”

Shake-up coming in college hockey?

Some one posted this article over on Sioux Sports.

LSJ.COM --- Depending on which hockey source you talk to, Penn State will have a varsity hockey team by 2014, and the Nittany Lions' presence could turn the college world as we know it upside down. Penn State has a sole donor ready to ante up $80 million for a 6,800-seat arena.

For sure there will be a six-team Big Ten league at that point. What is unknown is what will happen to the CCHA and WCHA. The NCAA has restricted regular season schedules to 36 games and most believe that number will not increase.

Can Big Ten schools also play for other league titles? Michigan State, Michigan and Ohio State are in the CCHA could come in as the 12th member. Minnesota and Wisconsin are in the WCHA. So, are enough games available to determine two titles? No one knows at this point but many are convinced Penn State will add Division I hockey. I don't see how the CCHA can flourish without a Big Ten presence and what happens with Notre Dame? The school will soon complete a gorgeous 5,400-seat arena and needs quality teams to help fill it for home games. Would Notre Dame remain in a CCHA without a Big Ten presence? Stay tuned.

It seems like we have heard about the Big Ten Hockey Conference forever. Personally; I am tired of hearing about it, time to put up or shut up. This was one reasons UNO gave for wanting to move to the WCHA; in case there ever was a Big Ten Hockey Conference, UNO felt at least they would be in a viable hockey conference. More than likely the WCHA could stand on it's own without Wisconsin and Minnesota. The CCHA minus Michigan and Michigan State isn't that attractive, you would have Miami and Notre Dame.

I believe that College hockey is eventually going to have to discuss these issues. To the self serving narcissists that think College hockey is all about the Big Ten Schools are wrong; the Big Ten Schools are just one piece of a very big puzzle but not an end all to be all.

One option I could see is the Big Ten schools playing all of their non-conference games against the Big Ten Schools. Wisconsin and Minnesota already play Michigan and Michigan State so they could just have their show case tourney on steroids during non conference play.

Also, while I think that Damien Cox is a great NHL beat writer who's beat covers the Toronto Maple Leafs he should stick to covering the Maple Leafs.

Penn St. is starting a program in September 2011, Indiana University is considering doing the same and there’s hope that some of the 421 U.S. colleges that have club teams in the American College Hockey Association may consider converting those to full-scholarship, Division I programs.

Penn State is "talking" about starting a college hockey program, there is a big difference between starting a hockey program and talking about having one.

Devils and Kovalchuk need to go back to work again

This has really turned into a mess. This mess could drag well into training camp and beyond. I think the NHL opened a can of worms that is going to cause another lock-out.

Fire and Ice --- According to multiple reports, the NHL did not approve the latest contract framework the Devils and Ilya Kovlachuk’s agent, Jay Grossman, presented at Monday’s meeting at league offices in Manhattan.

The Devils and Grossman have been working on a new deal since arbitrator Richard Bloch upheld the league’s rejection of the Devils’ 17-year, $102 million contract with Kovalchuk in his Aug. 9 ruling. Monday’s submission—not an actual contract—was not the first the Devils/Grossman made to the NHL since then. This has been a continuing process over the last 16 days as they have been trying to put together a contract structure that they are certain the league will approve before officially signing it and submitting it for approval. Apparently, their latest attempt also was not good enough

Now I feel much better...

Well I feel much better now knowing that Tiger didn’t have a nine iron taken to his head by his estranged ex-wife. Wow! Now we know that Tiger can at least be truthful once in a while.

ESPN Sports Center --- Nordegren told People that she never hit Woods on the night of the car crash. "There was never any violence inside or outside our home," she said. "The speculation that I would have used a golf club to hit him is just truly ridiculous." Nordegren said Woods left the house that night and when he didn't return after a while, she got worried and went to look for him. She said that's when she found him in the car. "I did everything I could to get him out of the locked car," she said. "To think anything else is absolutely wrong." The magazine said the interview was conducted over four visits lasting a total of 19 hours at the rented Windermere, Fla., home where she now lives with their two children.

"I've been through hell," she said. "It's hard to think you have this life, and then all of a sudden - was it a lie? You're struggling because it wasn't real. But I survived. It was hard, but it didn't kill me."

In an interview on NBC's "Today" show on Wednesday morning, People magazine reporter Sandra Sobieraj Westfall said Nordegren and her team approached the magazine. Westfall said Nordegren wanted people to know three things: she's not violent and never hit Woods; she had no idea this was going on; and it was a real marriage for her.

In the interview, Nordegren would not disclose the amount of the divorce settlement but did say "money can't buy happiness or put my family back together. I'm so embarrassed that I never suspected - not a one. For the past 3.5 years, when all this was going on, I was home a lot more with pregnancies, then the children and my school."

Nordegren said she would eventually come to forgive Woods but that she is still working on it. "Forgiveness takes time," she said. "It is the last step of the grieving process." In the meantime, the Swedish-born Nordegren said she is excited to start the next chapter of her life and intends to stay in the U.S. with her children. She said she hasn't watched a minute of golf.

While I usually don't cover golf on this blog, I must admit that I am was a Tiger Woods fan and I am disappointed with his antics this past year. Being a married family man myself I am disappointed in Tigers choices, because he is a role model for others and I feel that he let us down. It also sounds like Woods has had sex with more porn stars and hookers than Charlie Sheen. I mean seriously, look at his ex-wife she is definitely a looker and then Google the women that Tiger cheated on her with. I don’t understand it. Something doesn’t add up…

I guess he thought that marriage vows mean only while you’re at home. It almost sounds like Tiger took the line what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas and ran with it. You have to wonder if Earl Woods is rolling over in his grave.

Having watched the trials and tribulations of Woods this summer you have to wonder if Tiger’s tough austere persona on the golf course was just a façade? The cat is out of the bag I guess. Tiger has looked more like a weekend duffer than a major champion. Seriously! Personally, I hope that Tiger can get his act together and resume being a dominant force on the golf course, because frankly I am getting bored with some of the guys that have won on the PGA tour this summer.

Summit turns deaf ear to NCAA

Damien Cox a sports writer with the Toronto Star has a really interesting article about the World Hockey Summit and how Paul Kelly of College Hockey Inc was snubbed World Hockey Summit.

Toronto Star --- You’ll have to forgive Paul Kelly for feeling a tad radioactive.

But then, you might feel that way, too, if you held the position that the former NHL Players’ Association boss does today, but still found yourself persona non grata at the event that bills itself as the World Hockey Summit.

Kelly, in case you didn’t know, survived the disgraceful coup d’etat at the NHLPA with his reputation intact, so much so that he was quickly snapped up by the NCAA and hired as the executive director of College Hockey Inc., the nine-month-old organization that acts as the information and marketing arm of U.S. college hockey.

Given the heated battleground that is the relationship between the NCAA and Canada’s junior hockey system, with both competing furiously for the same players, you might think Kelly would be a useful speaker at the summit.

Well, you thought wrong, and it’s not hard to guess that it was the CHL, one of the organizations behind the summit, that didn’t want him involved.

“If the summit is truly what it says it is, you’d think they’d want to hear all views,” said Kelly. “You’d think they’d welcome the chance to heard from an NCAA perspective and from someone on the front line. But for whatever reason, they didn’t want me there.”

Of late, the bodies have been flying between the NCAA and CHL, mostly one way. Last year, it was Leaf draft pick Kenny Ryan bolting Boston University at the last minute and joining the Windsor Spitfires. This summer, Habs first round pick Louis Leblanc left Harvard for the Montreal juniors, while Jerry D’Amigo bolted RPI for one of several possible destinations, including the Leafs, Toronto Marlies or Kitchener Rangers. Then, Jarred Tinordi, after committing to Notre Dame and even taking summer classes, left to play for the London Knights.

What Kelly would have told the summit, had he been invited. Is that, in his opinion, the “relentless” recruiting of players who have committed to U.S. schools by CHL teams is both unseemly and destructive to the sport. U.S. colleges are powerless to reverse the flow by luring players from Canadian major junior teams because those players have already forfeited their NCAA eligibility.

Kelly would also argue that allowing CHL teams to draft players as young as 14 is forcing the NCAA to find ways to recruit at ever younger ages, as well. Again, not particularly good for the game.

Even if the NCAA and CHL were to sit down and talk, the NCAA really has nothing to bargain with. The CHL can steal the NCAA hockey players and the NCAA Hockey can’t steal the CHL’s players because the NCAA incorrectly considers CHL hockey players to be professionals. Seriously, If I was on the NCAA oversight committee, I would lobby to have that rule to not allow CHL hockey players to play in the NCAA would be the first thing that I would change, it’s a stupid rule.

IIHF President Rene Fasel a fan of the small ice

I must say that I agree with Mr. Fasel, I hate Olympic sheets of ice, first I think facilitate taking hitting out of the game of hockey. Second I think they look God-awful. I really liked seeing the Olympics on the regulation NHL size ice. Bravo!

NHL.COM - IIHF President Rene Fasel was bowled over by the Vancouver 2010 Olympics it seems.

Vancouver was best-ever tournament for me," Fasel said Tuesday during a formal Q and A session at the World Hockey Summit. "It was just incredible."

In fact, the best-on-best national team tournament, featuring NHL players for the third-straight Olympiad, was so good that it changed Fasel's opinion about the small ice surface, which was used in Vancouver.

Generally, Olympic hockey tournaments are contested on the larger ice surface prevalent throughout Europe, but the 2010 Games were played on the 200 by 85 sheet used by the NHL's Vancouver Canucks.

"After the Vancouver Games I will tell you I like the small ice very much," he said. "What I saw was that the intensity of the games, for the hockey fan, was just incredible."

Despite that, it is unlikely he will push too hard to unify the playing surfaces in North America and Europe. He admits the big ice question is a political one in Europe that will not be easily decided.

He also said that concerns about figure skating and speed skating, sports that use the same ice surfaces as hockey throughout Europe, will further muddy the issue.

Mike and Mike: A boon for UNO's Blais

Here is a nice story on former Fighting Sioux hockey head hockey coach Dean Blais. All the coaches on the UNO staff have some kind of a connection to the Minnesota Golden Gophers hockey team. Dean is going to yell Mike and two people are going to answer, Mike and Mike…

World-Herald Staff Writer --- During his more than 30 years in hockey, Dean Blais has put together his share of talented coaching staffs.

But never before, Blais said, has he been surrounded by a pair of assistants with such an impressive combination of talent and experience.

It was big news last year when Blais brought in Mike Hastings to be UNO's associate head coach. Now, by adding assistant Mike Guentzel to the Mavs' bench this summer, Blais appears to have assembled the college hockey equivalent of a rock ‘n' roll supergroup.

“It's almost like we have three head coaches,” said Blais, who's gearing up for his second season leading the University of Nebraska at Omaha hockey program. “I think that will really help us. If I have to be gone recruiting, it's not going to bother me at all to miss practice. Because I'll know either one of them (Hastings or Guentzel) can run practice as good, if not better, than I can.”

When you add up the career numbers and accomplishments on the résumés of Blais, Hastings and Guentzel, the results are eye-popping.

Together, they boast 60 years of experience coaching at the NCAA, USHL and international levels. They've spent a combined 32 seasons employed as a head coach, compiling 1,015 victories.

Between the three, they've had a hand in six NCAA titles and five USHL Clark Cup championships. Blais was USHL coach of the year once and a two-time winner of the NCAA national coach of the year award. Hastings and Guentzel, both former head coaches with the Omaha Lancers, each was named USHL coach of the year twice.

And consider this nugget: Hastings never experienced a losing season as a head coach, while Blais and Guentzel only endured one apiece.

Pirri leaving RPI for shot at AHL

The mass exodus of players at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute continues, as they have now lost two great underclassmen hockey players. Seems a little late to me and almost borderline unethical for professional teams to be signing college players this close to the beginning of the school year. Like another hockey blogger mentioned, there is probably no way that RPI can adequately replace this player without pulling a recruit that may or may not be ready to play this season in college.

Yahoo Sports - Less than two weeks after losing forward Jerry D’Amigo, another crack in the foundation is looming for the RPI Engineers.

Sources tell Yahoo! Sports that star centre Brandon Pirri is set to play with the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL this season and that he has already agreed in principal to a three-year entry level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. Like D’Amigo, the signing would end his NCAA eligibility after one season with the Eastern College Athletic Conference school located in Troy, New York.

The news comes less than two weeks after RPI lost ECAC rookie of the year D’Amigo—who left the school after signing a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Right-winger Jordan Watts also left the program recently over ice time and transferred to Division III Adrian College.

According to sources, Pirri has already told RPI head coach Seth Appert of his intention to leave school and sign with the Blackhawks.

Appert did not reply to an email request for an interview.

Meet Mr. Timely (T.J. Oshie Story)

I found this on line and thought I would pass it along to Fighting Sioux Hockey fans. Also, for the people that always wondered what T.J. stands for, now you know.

Hockey Independent --- Born Timothy Oshie Jr., TJ Oshie is developing into a big time playmaker for the Saint Louis Blues.

Drafted 24th overall by the Blues in 2005, Oshie played his high school hockey in Warroad, Minnesota. During his senior season at Warroad High School, the 23-year-old forward lead his team to an undefeated season and a Class A state title. That season Oshie put up 37 goals and 62 assists, en route to earning the title of state scoring champion and a spot on the AP All-State first team.

After high school, Oshie spent a short time in the USHL with the Sioux Falls Stampede before enrolling in the University of North Dakota.

In his first season with the Fighting Sioux, Oshie scored 24 goals, the most of any first year player in the entire NCAA. That same year he was also selected to Team USA for the World Junior Championships (that team lost to Finland in the Bronze medal game).


After a prolific first year in the Western Collegiate Hockey League, Oshie was selected in the 1st round, 24th overall in the 2005 NHL Draft by the Blues. That ’05 draft was loaded with big name NHL players including Sidney Crosby, Bobby Ryan, Jack Johnson, and Jonathan Quick.

Oshie went on to play two more seasons at North Dakota putting up 52 points his second season and a team-high 45 points in his third and final season. During his final year with the Fighting Sioux, Oshie was a Top 10 Hobey Baker Award finalist and earned all-tournament honors at the WCHA Final Five and NCAA Midwest Region Championship. He was also selected to the American Hockey Coaches Association first team West All-American and the All-Western Collegiate Hockey Association first team


Oshie played a pivotal role in the Blues’ 2008-09 playoff run putting up 39 points (14 goals, 25 assists). His goal against the Vancouver Canucks on March 25 earned him the NHL’s 2008-09 Goal of the Year honors and his hits against Rick Nash late in the season energized both his teammates and fans and earned him a spot in Urban Dictionary.

Last season, the young Blues forward showed improvement from his rookie year putting up more goals, assists, and points.

While he may not become a big-time scorer, Oshie does posses the ability to create plays and score goals in the clutch.

“Is he ever going to be a 35 goal scorer? He hasn’t shown any signs to make you think that he will be, but it’s going to be real interesting,” said HockeyBuzz writer Andy Strickland. “He’s a hard player to figure out. There’s so much value to his game outside of his offensive production. He kills penalties, relentless worker, responsible in all 3 zones, creative offensively, he can score, he’s an all-around player.”

New way to make comments on Goon's World.

I have gotten a few messages from folks that said, 'Hey you killed the comments section of your blog.' I said, "what you can still comment on Goon's World." Actually; I have made a few changes to the blog and I have changed the system for making comments on Goon's World. Starting last week, we are no longer accepting comments under blogger. For now; I have decided to use the Intense Debate system; which in my opinion is a better system for accepting comments on my blog. You can get an account by logging on to this web link.

Intense Debate is a commenting system which is designed to inspire conversation. Including such features as threaded comments (allowing readers to reply to each other in comment threads), avatars and a voting system, many Blogger users are now choosing this as an alternative to the default Blogger commenting system.

From time to time I have had a few internet trolls post questionable and disgusting comments on this blog, they were deleted. Now I have the ability of blocking said IP addresses of the people that act like moron/trolls. While you can post anonymous messages, I still have the option of deleting them and or blocking the IP address of the person making the comment.

Report: Huet to Switzerland

Redwing_77's favorite NHL sieve might be headed to Europe this season. That would be a good move for the Chicago Blackhawks because they wouldn't have to pay the dead weight his huge salary.

According to a report on the Swiss site 20 Minutes Online, Cristobal Huet will be loaned to Fribourg-Gotteron for the 2010-11 season by the Chicago Blackhawks. Loaning Huet will save the Blackhawks over $5 million.

Huet's agent, Stephen Bartlett, told ESPN the signing was not official.

"We've talked, but it's not definitive at this point," Bartlett said. "We'll know if it will happen probably in the next couple of days."

With Marty Turco signed to replace Antti Niemi and Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman a backer of Corey Crawford, a move of Huet to Europe or the minor leagues had been expected.

Huet appeared in 48 games for the Blackhawks last season, starting the season as the No. 1 goalie. He was 26-14-4 with a 2.50 goals-against average and .895 save percentage. He appeared in just one game, in the Stanley Cup Playoffs playing 20 minutes in relief of Niemi.

Midcontinent launching new sports network

This is good news.

Midco Sports Network (MidcoSN), a new all-local sports TV network, will be delivering college, university and high school sporting events in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Midcontinent Communications is launching the sports network because Midcontinent’s customers are asking for more local and regional sports coverage, as well as sporting events in the three-state region not being broadcast on televisions.

The new network will focus on the region’s college, high school, and youth sporting events, as well as sports-lifestyle programming in standard and high-definition. Most events will also be available on Video On Demand.

A complete schedule of game coverage and more information is available at Midco sports net. [Link to the Story]

SCSU's Eddy Ineligible To Compete This Fall

When I saw this the first question out of my mouth was, "how in the hell can you become ineligible taking freshman classes?" Come on! SCSU isn't Harvard or Cornell. As a College athlete you have one job; go to school, workout, study a couple of hours a night and play hockey. Not that tough people. They should put Eddy's picture in the front window of the SCSU athletic department with the title moron of the semester.

KVSC Radio 88.1 FM has learned that sophomore forward David Eddy is ineligible to compete in athletic competition this fall. This was confirmed by St. Cloud State Athletic Media Relations.

Eddy scored 12 goals and added 13 assists in 35 games last season. The Woodbury native found a home playing on a line with Garrett Roe and Tony Mosey, and had one of his biggest games when he scored two goals for St. Cloud State in the WCHA Final Five Championship game on March 20th.

No further information on Eddy’s status is available at this time. St. Cloud State’s official team roster is expected to be released sometime in the next week and KVSC will follow this story as it continue to progress.

I mean Seriously folks, it's hard to become ineligible in college sports, unless you're going to an Ivy League school or taking rocket science. You can get a "C" by reading the assignments from the professors, attending lectures and taking the tests. WOW!

Voiding Roberto Luongo contract would be ‘in complete violation’ of CBA: prominent agent

If you haven't seen this article it's worth taking a look at. I don't see how the NHL could void the contracts of players that have already played a season under their current deals.

VANCOUVER — Prominent player agent Kurt Overhardt doesn’t figure the National Hockey League will void the registered, front-end loaded contracts of Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo and three other players.

Overhardt, who possesses 20 years experience in contract law, employment law and intellectual property law, noted that arbitrator Richard Bloch’s decision on the Ilya Kovalchuk deal was “subjective” and that the 17-year contract should have been upheld.

As a consequence, Overhardt cannot see the NHL throwing out the Luongo, Marian Hossa, Chris Pronger and Marc Savard contracts. On Monday, Bloch ruled in favour of the league’s decision to void Kovalchuk’s $102-million deal with New Jersey, agreeing with the NHL that the contract “has the effect of defeating” the league’s salary cap.

“What basis did [Bloch] give?” Overhardt said in an interview from his Denver office. “What did he hang his hat on? The decision was completely subjective. There was no bad faith found between the parties, There was nothing within the collective bargaining agreement that he found was actually in violation of the document. So, therefore, logic and law and the facts dictate the contract should have been upheld.”

This, of course, leads to the already registered contracts for Luongo, Hossa, Pronger and Savard. Hossa has played one year on his contract while the other three will see their deals kick in for the 2010-11 season.

“Any and all speculation that the league is going to claw back these other contracts ... would be in complete violation of the collective bargaining agreement and it would be a complete infringement of the players’ rights under the CBA,” Overhardt continued. “Any attempt to do so would be absolutely predatory behaviour by the league, would be in bad faith and not in the spirit of the CBA.”

Source: NHL to change tiebreaker

This is good news for the hockey purists that don't like shootouts deciding tie breakers. I also think it his is the first step in the NHL backing away from the shootout.

ESPN - The NHL plans to finalize a change to its regular-season tiebreaking system for 2010-11 at a Sept. 14 Board of Governors' meeting, a league source said.

Under the new plan, the first tiebreaker will be a combination of regulation time and overtime victories, with shootout wins excluded. In the past, the first tiebreaker had been total wins of any kind.

Bad Boy Josh Birkholz makes his CHL debute.

Good for him. This article was over on Goal Gophers, one thing that stuck out was if the CHL is such a superior development league to the NCAA, how is Josh Birkholz a top 6 forward? That makes a person go hum. Seriously; what line was Birkholz projected to be on with the Golden Gophers this season? If I am not mistaken; wasn't Birkholz a top 9-12 forward last season with the Gophers (third or fourth line player). With the talent they have coming in this season I would imagine he would have been about the same this season.

Shortly after the Silvertips signed Birkholz, Doug Soetaert, the team's vice president and general manager talked about him. "Obviously we look for Josh to come in and be a top six forward for us during the coming year," Soetaert said.

"We develop these players. They all have aspirations to move on to the NHL as fast as they can. If they are here one year, that's great. If two, so be it. But that's our sole purpose, to develop players as fast as we can."

Birkholz will be on a team with only two other Americans. Eighteen of his teammates on the major junior hockey team are Canadians, two are Finns.

"With Josh, he wants to continue his education online at the University of Minnesota and we respect all that," Soetaert said. "But he will have the opportunity to play a lot and develop to a high level."

Birkholz was taken in the third round of the 2009 NHL draft by the Florida Panthers.

The Silvertip Vice President Doug Soetaert's statement sounds like a recruitment advertisement for the CHL...

CHL wants to discuss feud with NCAA

Yawn! Does anyone ever get tired of the never ending debate, feud, pissing contest between the CHL and the NCAA? Bruce Ciskie has a good blog post on the discussion at his blog. Over at Western College Hockey Chris also has a pretty good post on this subject as well. I am not sure what the two sides are going to talk about unless they are going to call a truce and not act like warring parties.

It may not be on the official docket, but the recruiting war between the NCAA and the Canadian Hockey League is still expected to produce some lively discussion at the World Hockey Summit in Toronto.

"It's not on the agenda, but we've certainly indicated to Hockey Canada and USA Hockey that we think there is an opportunity to sit down," said Ron Robison, a CHL vice-president and commissioner of the Western Hockey League.

"We're committed to continuing to try to improve relationships with USA Hockey, NCAA Hockey and so forth. We have a responsibility in North America to the development system to do that in the best interest of the players. Our goal is to attempt to sit down (with them). Whether we can do that at the summit or soon thereafter, that will be our objective."

The feud between the CHL and NCAA has turned bitter since the hiring of former NHL Players' Association boss Paul Kelly as executive director of College Hockey Inc. Working on behalf of the NCAA, Kelly has attempted to discredit the CHL, along with elements of its programs, practices and policies.

Based on some of the fireworks to date, Hockey Canada president and CEO Bob Nicholson wouldn't be surprised if there's more discussion during the summit.

"I'm sure through it all there are going to be comments on it," he said. "I think we should be real clear from (the perspective of Hockey) Canada: We want to improve our system, we want to make sure that what we control in our country is the best it can be. It doesn't mean players don't have the option to go NCAA. We certainly aren't saying negative things about NCAA. We're just trying to make the Canadian system better because that's under our umbrella.

"I think the key thing is, everyone should promote the things they're doing well. We're seeing bashing coming from NCAA and I don't like that. I think NCAA has some very positive things and that's what they should stick to, as the CHL does. The CHL has done a good job in their scholarship program. I would love to see the CIS jump more to the forefront and look at development using their universities and even the Canadian colleges to help players that want to go to school in Canada and play hockey."
[Windsorstar.com]

Like I have said before, “I think both leagues have a lot to offer and have their strong points as well as their not so good points.” NCAA and the CHL are both proven paths to the NHL and professional hockey. I do like the idea by Chris Dilks of having a gentleman’s agreement with the CHL like the WCHA does amongst its coaches.

NHL shootouts being killed off?

Here is an article that I found interesting over on Yahoo.com, it’s also a flash point issue with many college and NHL hockey fans. Many of these hockey fans are also passionate about the shootouts, both for and against. Personally, I think the shootout is exciting part of the post lockout NHL and I think it’s a very good way to end a game during the regular season, however, I would never endorse it for ending/deciding a game in a league champion.

TORONTO – Two-on-two? Not gonna happen. But three-on-three? Now that’s something we could see in NHL overtime someday.

Of all the ideas being tested this week at the league’s Research, Development and Orientation Camp, the most realistic ones with the biggest potential to impact the game involve overtime. The league is looking at two-on-two and three-on-three concepts, as well as four-on-four with teams switching ends to create long line changes.

Most everyone agrees the shootout has become too common. The debate is over what to do about it.

”I’d like to look at anything that reduces the number of games that are decided by a shootout,” Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke said. ”I mean, basically we’re deciding an astonishing percentage of games with a shootout. We never envisioned that when we approved that rule.”

When the NHL introduced the shootout in 2005-06, the thought was that teams would go all-out in the five-minute, four-on-four overtime period, trying to earn two points in the standings.

It will be interesting to see where the NHL goes with this. While some hockey fans like ties in hockey, personally I can't stand a hockey game that ends in a tie, I call them sister kissings. A tie feels like a loss to me in some instances.

NHL gives Hybrid icing rule second look

It's a good first step in the right direction. I would actually like to see the NHL go to the no touch icing rules like the Olympics and college hockey. Everytime I see two players reach for the puck I think back to the Kurtis Foster incident during the 200

TORONTO — A hybrid icing rule aimed at reducing dangerous collisions received some extra attention at the NHL's research and development camp.

Organizers decided to extend the rule to Wednesday's second session because they felt they hadn't seen enough of it in the first one. The proposed change gives linesmen the ability to make a ruling on whether a play will be called an icing based on which player reaches the faceoff dot first.

It's designed to eliminate violent crashes into the end boards that have resulted from players chasing the puck. A number of NHLers have been injured in that manner — including former Minnesota Wild defenceman Kurtis Foster, who missed most of the 2008-09 season after breaking his leg while racing back to touch the puck for an icing.

Ken Hitchcock, who is coaching one of the teams at the development camp, liked what he saw from the hybrid icing rule.

“It's a competitive and safe way of playing,” said Hitchcock. “You would almost completely eliminate those big injuries that come and yet you're still creating the competition for (the puck). ... For me, it's a real good idea.

Wilson will help the defense.

I found this blog post over on MVN.COM ; first off I wouldn't call it a rift but a smart hockey move by the Minnesota Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher. Hiring Former Fighting Sioux defenseman Rick Wilson who is a proven assistant coach in the NHL was an awesome move and his defensive philosophy can help a team that was horrible defensively last season. I don’t think it it’s a stretch to say that last season the Wild defense looked like a bunch of orange pylons or road cones and it was almost like they had forgot everything that the previous coach had taught them.

Is the hiring of defense-guru Wilson a sign the team has lost a little faith in Richards' and his system to win games? Mike Ramsey, who was the outgoing defensive guru noted philosophical differences as part of the reason for deciding to step away as part of the Wild's trio of coaches. So far nothing public has been stated that really points to a rift but Fletcher clearly is willing to place who he wants above the desires of the head coach. I know that many Wild fans steadily began to question Richards' decision-making especially after holding an optional practice after a particularly paltry effort the night before. So could upper management be wanting Richards to be on the hot seat unless the team shows some real improvement? Maybe, because the franchise is finally feeling a bit more pressure from hockey-mad fans as demonstrated by the struggles to sell season tickets, especially in the lower bowl where you can now purchase 10, 20 and 30 game season ticket packages for the first time in the history of the team. The best cure for those sorts of woes is winning and I think Richards would be foolish to think he would not catch some flak from the ownership if the team again finds itself mired in a mediocre season. The fact of the matter is the team is spending near the cap ceiling, and Wild owner Craig Leipold is going to want to see some return on that investment. I think many Wild fans are wanting the same thing, and they're hoping to avoid a complete rebuild even if that really may be the best solution in order to achieve long-term success.
[State of Hockey]

I think we need to give Chuck Fletcher the benefit of the doubt here and I also think Wild fans need to be a little patient when it comes to the Wild Coach Todd Richards, the former general manager Doug Riesbrough left the Wild hockey in shambles and it’s going to take a long time to correct the mess that was left behind.