N.C.A.A. Penalizes Princeton for a Major Rule Violation

Here is my candidate for knucklehead(s) of the week. Think about this, Princeton University, an Ivy League school was caught cheating in men tennis. Wow!

New York Times --- Princeton University committed a major rule violation when a booster paid $33,000 toward the educational expenses of a tennis player, the N.C.A.A. announced Wednesday. It was the first time in 36 years that the N.C.A.A. found an Ivy League institution guilty of committing a major infraction.

The case involved a Princeton alumnus and former member of the men’s tennis team who helped pay a female tennis player’s tuition in the 2007-8 academic year and the fall of 2008. The alumnus and the student were not named. In addition to being publicly reprimanded, Princeton is required to vacate all tennis matches that the student won, in either singles or doubles, during the 2007-8 academic year and through part of the 2008 fall semester, when the violation was discovered.

Kaip signed by the Houston Aeros

s/t Hockey Wilderness. Former Fighting Sioux hockey player Rylan Kaip has signed a contract with the Minnesota Wild's farm team the Houston Aeros.

Just a quick note. The Aeros have announced today the signing of former San Antonio Rampage goalie Josh Tordjman to a one-year contract. Along with Tordjman, the team also signed center Rylan Kaip to a one-year deal. Kaip spent the past two seasons with the Chicago Wolves.[The Third Intermission]

ATV accident knocks out Wild's Sheppard

Actually, I want to give props to Fire Helmet Guy 26 for bringing up this little news nugget on my facebook page today. As many of you know I am not a fan of Wild forward James Sheppard and I believe that he is a first round bust and a waste of a uniform and a roster space and that the Wild have held on to him way too long and have given him way too many chances and should have cut their ties with him after last season. It’s like someone in the Wild management believes one day Sheppard is going to wake up and become a star player in the NHL. Sheppard has scored an unimpressive 11 goals - 38 assists for 49 points in 224 career games. If I was the Wild GM for even one day I would trade his worthless ass for a bag of pucks and a dozen Christian Brothers hockey sticks.

To me Sheppard is a brutal reminder of the previous general manager and uber buffoon Doug Risebrough, who was a complete and utter failure as a general manager for the Minnesota Wild. Because of Risebrough’s incompetence he has single handedly ruined the Minnesota Wild and it will take years for Fletcher to dig out of the mess that Risebrough has created.

Star Tribune ---- Less than two weeks before the most pivotal training camp of his NHL career, Wild center James Sheppard was in an all-terrain vehicle accident Saturday and could miss up to four months.

Sheppard, in Vail, Colo., to train at high altitude in preparation for the Sept. 17 opening of training camp, broke his left kneecap and underwent surgery Saturday night.

The circumstances of the incident were being investigated by the Wild on Tuesday, as well as the next course of action. An exact timetable won't be known for a few weeks.

Sheppard's agent Mark Guy said that during a "guided tour" with other NHL players after training, he swerved to avoid a truck on the path and hit his knee.

"Personally, we're really disappointed in what happened," coach Todd Richards said. "I met him before he went out. It looked like he was in great shape. It looked like he had done everything physically to get himself ready for this camp, and then something like this happens.

Johnson to leave Force for St. Cloud State

Wow! This rumor had surfaced last week and now is finally coming to fruition. That means that the Force will have their third coach in their three year existence. That also means that the Huskies will have a much better coaching staff this season. While I have never been impressed with Motzko's finesse style of hockey, Johnson ads credibility and a great coach to the Huskies coaching staff. Here is the link to the official press release.

Fargo Forum---- A St. Cloud State spokesperson said this morning an announcement regarding Fargo Force head coach Steve Johnson should be coming in the next few days.

Johnson is expected to leave the Force, a little more than a year after being hired by the team. He was hired in July 2009 to replace Dean Blais, who resigned to become the head coach at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Should Johnson leave, the Force would have to find a third coach in its three-year existance.

Tale of Two Goaltenders: One stops Goals, the other Stops Dreams

Recently, three things happened in the NHL:

1. Kovalchuk finally signed with the Devils. Yawn.

2. Antti Niemi signs with the San Jose Sharks

3. Carey Price Gouged the Canadiens.

#1: Who cares. At least it is finally over. Now the Devils can start dismantling other key assets to try to make cap space. Probably Salvador, Rolston, and who cares. The only weird rumors revolve around Travis Zajac and Zach Parise. One rumor is that the Devils will try to trade or waive Zajac. That's ridiculous because he's much better than Rolston and younger to boot. The other is more plausible. Kovalchuk's signing may mean the end of the Parise era in NJ once Zach's contract is up.

#2: You can just hear Antero Niiitttiiimaaaakiiiii collapse in somewhat sad state. On one hand, Antero's gonna make some $$$ sitting on the bench. On the other hand, he comes skipping into Southern California singing "Zippadedoo dah!! Zippedi-AY! I finally get the #1 job hoo-ray!" only to have Niemi rain on his parade. So, oh well. At least most fans won't have to guess how many double vowels Antero's last name has. It's obvious I'm beyond caring. The only thing I don't understand is this: Niemi signs for 1 year, $2 million. If he offered that kind of a contract to Chicago, do you think they would have walked away? Admittedly, it's only $750K less than the arbitrator awarded him but it could have made a difference.

#3: Carey Price signed a 2 year, $5.5 million contract with the Canadiens. Wow. Hopefully that's $5.5 million in Canadian currency otherwise, the Habs seriously overpaid. Price is only Right when it amounts to about $1.5 million a year. The only positive Price brings to the table is his age. He's young. He could turn into a good goaltender someday... but he has to mature yet. Something he's shown time and time again that it's not possible. The good news for the Habs is that they didn't pull a Huet and signed Price long term. There is NO WAY IN HELL Price is worth as much as Halak is getting in St. Louis or what Niemi would have gotten in Chicago had Chicago not walked away. NO WAY.

It's a sad day when all Niemi can get is $2 million over 1 year and the most overrated goaltender in the NHL gets $2.75 million each year for 2 years.

CHN Preseason Top 10

College Hockey News has released a preseason poll. No surprise that B.C. is number one and UND is number two. I don't think that Yale is the number 5 ranked team in the country. I know we are going to hear; but, but, Goon Yale beat UND in last season’s playoff game, I think that fact is irrelevant because Yale is going to have to score a ton of goals to make up for their very bad goaltending and they got lucky in one game. What's also interesting is traditional powers Wisconsin, DU and or Minnesota are no where to be found in the preseason top ten. I am not surprised that more WCHA teams aren't in the top ten. As the season gets closer the NCAA round up will look at the preseason top ten.


1. Boston College
2. North Dakota --- “I feel like I let my teammates down a little bit last year, not having the opportunity to be out there with them,” senior Chay Genoway said when he announced his return to the team May 6. “I have a lot of high expectations for myself and for the team, and I'm pretty excited about this team, and there's a lot of motivation for this team.”

This is virtually the same team that won the WCHA postseason in 2010, minus seniors Chris VandeVelde and Darcy Zajac — and the lone early departure, 4-goal scorer David Toews. Those losses should be offset by the re-addition of Genoway (whom North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol called one of the top-5 players in college hockey last season — and that was before the exodus of talent across the NCAA this summer), who recieved a medical waiver after dealing with a concussion last season, as well as the continued development of Danny Kristo and Jason Gregoire, the second- and third-leading scorers from 2009-10. Junior Brad Eidsness will continue to be a force in net, and the D-corps — last year’s third-best squad (2.12 goals/game) in the country — should continue to be strong.

3. Miami
4. Michigan
5. Yale
6. St. Cloud State
7. Maine
8. Alaska
9. Minnesota-Duluth
10. New Hampshire

Kovalchuk deal OK'd by NHL, NHLPA

While the holiday weekend was taking place the NHL finally approved Ilya Kovalchuk's contract. Yippy Skippy. Now the Devils have to figure out how they are going to fit Kovalchuk's salary in under the 59 million dollar cap. I can see a few players from New Jersey getting traded soon.

CBC Sports --- Ilya Kovalchuk's contract ordeal is over.

The NHL and NHLPA have reached an agreement to revise the rules that regulate long-term contracts as part of a global settlement on Friday, allowing Kovalchuk's contract with the New Jersey Devils to pass.

Jay Grossman, Kovalchuk's agent, confirmed the news in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Both parties agreed to extend the 5 p.m. ET deadline in order to complete the formal paperwork, which was finished in the early Saturday morning hours according to a report on NHL.com.

The agreement means Kovalchuk's revised 15-year, $100-million US contract with the New Jersey Devils will be approved by the league.

The agreement comes after more than a month of disputes between all parties. Kovalchuk agreed to a monstrous 17-year, $102-million deal with the Devils on July 19.

The NHL quickly moved to reject the contract, claiming it circumvented the league's salary cap. An arbitrator upheld that decision on Aug. 9 after the union filed a grievance on July 26 in response to the league's rejection.

The new deal will put a $6.67-million annual hit on the Devils' salary cap and put the team roughly $3 million over the league limit ($59.4 million) with only 21 players under contract, two under the league limit.
[Read the whole article]

You have to be kidding me...

Does anyone see a problem with this paragraph or this news story? I would if the comments were being made by a Fighting Sioux hockey coach or came from a Fighting Sioux beat writer.

Seriously! I don't get this entitlement mindset. Good teams beat who ever they are scheduled to play and they don’t care where their scheduled takes them to play. I am surprised that Lucia would allow these types of comments to be printed in a newspaper blog post. Not to blow UND’s horn but they start the season by playing in the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage Alaska then travel to Maine to play the Black Bears. So UND will play half of their non-conference games on the road.

On favorable schedule:

* The Gophers only play four series this season outside the state of Minnesota. They play at CC Oct. 29-30, at Michigan Tech Nov. 19-20, at North Dakota Jan. 14-15 and at Wisconsin Feb. 18-19.

All six non-conference games are at Mariucci Arena as well as an exhibition game on Jan. 7 against the under-18 U.S. national development team.

Lucia joking around: "We go to Grand Forks, that's in another country. ... We don't have a real heavy travel schedule. All of our non-conference games are at home. So we have a real good schedule this year. It's hard to believe that basically in a month and a day or two we will be starting hockey season."

The Gophers' first official practice is Saturday, Oct. 2.

Of Minnesota's 34 regular-season games, 20 are at home. The Gophers also play two exhibition games at home, the first on Oct. 3 against British Columbia. [Goal Gophers]

To top it off the Gophers are loading up on cup cakes to play in the Dodge Holiday Cup Cake classic as well, when they play Union College and Ferris State University. To their credit the Gophers do play Michigan and Michigan State, albeit at home. I know the University of Minnesota doesn’t like to travel from the friendly confines of “the John” but playing non conference games in hostile arenas build character.

Teaser - Preliminary prediction of the final WCHA standing.

Here is my preliminary prediction...

1 UND - Return the most players and Genoway, pre-season favorites
2 SCSU - Lost Ryan Lasch, David Eddy ineligible first 1/2 of season. Good Recruting class.
3 UMD - Return dynamic forwards Connollys (x2) no they aren't related.
4 DU - Lost All American goalie, Goaltending a question mark.
5 WISC - Lost a ton of talent from the 2009-2010 team but great defense remains.
6 UMN - Only have to finish 6th to get home ice.
7 UNO - Blais returns to the WCHA, Dark horse team.
7 BSU - Will fight for home ice in the WCHA.
7 C.C. - Could finish higher, too many question marks.
10 MSU-M - Nope!
11 UAA - 19 underclassmen and lost both experienced goalies.
12 TECH - They won 4 games last season

Repost - A new way to make comments

Lets Go Mavs of Goon's World was complaining about my new commenting system here on Goon's World. So I thought would re-post this message. Just for the record the post she made had 27+ comments.

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.

BSU hockey prospect Franko backs out of commitment

This isn't even funny anymore this is actually getting really silly. Another day, another defection of an NCAA hockey player/recruit to the CHL.

Bemidji Pioneer---- Zach Franko backed out of his commitment to play at Bemidji State and has opted to play major junior hockey in the Western Hockey League according to a report Tuesday from the radio broadcaster covering the Kelowna Rockets

h/t to the College Hockey Blog and Western College Hockey.

Sioux football against Idaho on Channel 27 in Grand Forks, ND...

This is good news.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The University of North Dakota athletics department is pleased to announce that Thursday's football game between UND and Idaho will be televised live on the Midco Sports Network.

The game will be available on channel 27 in Grand Forks and on Midco Sports Network stations throughout North Dakota.

Thursday's broadcast is a production of the WAC Sports Network and features Doug Anderson on play-by-play and Brant Boyer providing color analysis.

Sources: Hulsizer to bid on Coyotes

Here is the latest in the Coyotes debacle. It appears that a buyer has stepped up that will keep the Coyotes in Phoenix.

ESPN.COM ---- Matthew Hulsizer, CEO of PEAK6 Investments is in the final stages of negotiating a new arena lease agreement with the City of Glendale after which Hulsizer is expected to make an offer to purchase the Coyotes from the NHL, multiple sources have confirmed to ESPN.com.

The emergence of the Chicago-based financier and former collegiate hockey player comes at a time when negotiations between Ice Edge Holdings, a group of Canadian and American investors who have been pursuing the team for more than a year, and Glendale officials have stalled.

Although Hulsizer could not be reached for comment, sources familiar with the businessman and situation in Phoenix believe he may be the answer to the NHL's search for a viable owner.

In fact a number of sources said he represents the last, best chance to keep this team in Arizona.

"He has an unbelievable financial mind," one source that has known Hulsizer for years told ESPN.com.

"He's exactly the kind of guy that the league needs. He's a legitimate hockey guy with a lot of money."

Favorite 3 players of UND fans/players to lead the Huskies

While I am a Maverick fan, I just couldn't help to come out of hiding to write a blog post about the SCSU Huskies choices in captains. It's been announced that three of the most LOVED players by UND fans and players will lead the Huskies. The Huskies have announced that Aaron Marvin is the captain and that the alternates will be Chris Hepp and Garrett Roe. SQUEEEEEELLLLL!!! I'm not going to lie, it makes me giggle at the rage all three spew from UND fans. I can't wait for the rants and nasty comments to come from the UND community about the leaders of the SCSU hockey team. It'll be great entertainment.

I think everyone knew going into this season that Marvin would get the "C". I'm going to be honest here. I think it's a GREAT choice. While UND fans/players hate the kid he is a strong leader, a good player, and (gasp!!!) a good guy. Yes, I know many of you would disagree with me but I've had several chances to talk to Aaron Marvin in person and he was very polite and nice. Heck, the one time I was wearing a Maverick jersy and had a pack of Maverick fans with me and he sat across from us and was nothing but respectful. I'll go on the record and say that I like the kid and that he got a raw deal last season. Yes, his hit on Genoway was brutal but it is time to put that to rest. He's apologized numerous times and has taken responsibility. When Lammy wanted to fight him he practiced hockey etiquette and dropped his gloves to fight. It's not HIS fault that the refs jumped on both of them right away. Perhaps the crappy refs should have just let them duke it out (like they let Bruess and Kaip duke it out) so it could all be over. I could go on and on about this all but I'll just leave it at the fact that I think Marvin is a solid choice to wear the "C" and that I can't wait to see the outrage from UND fans:)

As for the alternate choices? Well, those really surprised me. I do like the style of hockey that Hepp plays (he's gritty, just like a Maverick) and he totally won me over last year when he was doing what I call the "running man" to get into the fight at the UND/SCSU game. It was priceless to watch him being held back by his arms by teammates and his feet going a mile a minute. That makes for good times people!

As for Hepp, I guess time will tell on wearing the "A" since he has such a temper in my opinion. Generally a team chooses a more calm player to deal with the officials, so that could be interesting.

Speaking of tempers and dealing with the officials, that would lead to my concern on Roe. I think he'll run into the same issues. Let's be honest, it's not easy to deal with the officials or talk sense into them so I think Roe's frustrations will really build with that added responsibility. He's a passionate player who'll need to reign it in to wear the "A". Again, I'll go on record saying I like the kid. I always refer to him as "Little Kalinski" because his jawjacking reminds me of my favorite Maverick player ever, Jon Kalinski. Granted, Roe has tamed down the jawjacking in the past year. That's really too bad though because I miss it! I love the instigators that jawjack to no end and annoy the opponents and their fans.

So....there you have the Husky leaders for the year. I think it'll prove to be interesting and will really stir up the UND fans! Let the spewing begin!! :)

That's all I have for now folks. Nothing new to report on the Mavericks really. Pretty sad when I have to post about a team other than my own!

To Comment or respont to Lets Go Mavs on the article click on the [link to the article]

Khabibulin going to the crowbar hotel.

Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin is going jail for thirty days for being found guilty of driving under the influence. I think this is the right decision. I am glad that the Bulin wall was wasn't able to use his celebrity status to weasel out of the DUI charge.

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was sentenced to a month in jail on Tuesday for driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding.

He must also complete an alcohol program and pay fines and surcharges of $1,507.60.

His lawyer says an appeal of the conviction has been filed so Khabibulin's sentence is put on hold and he is free to go.

On Aug. 27, Khabibulin was found guilty of three charges: driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol count of .08 or more, excessive speeding and extreme driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol content of .15 or more.

A minimun 30-day sentence is standard for extreme DUI.

Khabibulin was arrested at 12:35 a.m. on Feb. 8, 2010 near his home in Paradise Valley, a town in the Phoenix metropolitan area, after he was tagged for speeding in a black Ferrari. Khabibulin's speed peaked at 70 miles per hour (112 kilometres an hour) in a 45-mph (64 km/h) zone, court heard.

The arresting police officer noticed Khabibulin's eyes were bloodshot and watery, and his speech was slow. Khabibulin agreed to perform field sobriety tests and eventually consented to a blood test, which revealed his blood alcohol content to be .164 — more than twice the legal limit.

Bemidji State announces hockey ticket plan; no single-game seats available for opening series

The ticket situation for the opener between the BSU Beavers and the UND Fighting Sioux is going to be really tight, in other words tickets are non-existent. In other words if you don't have a ticket for the game you're going to have either listen to the game on the radio, watch it on T.V. (if you live in the area that gets the BSU hockey on T.V.) or watch the game at a Bar in Bemidji,MN.

Bemidji Pioneer ---- Bemidji State University men’s hockey fans will not be able to purchase single-game tickets for the first two games Oct. 15-16 at the new Bemidji Regional Event Center.

Bemidji State Athletic Director Rick Goeb announced ticket information Monday for the Beavers’ inaugural season in the Robert H. Peters Rink at the BREC.

Single-game tickets for the upcoming hockey season will go on sale to the general public beginning Oct. 18 at the BREC ticket office and online at www.ticketmaster.com.

In addition to the BSU men’s team moving to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) in 2010-11, the teams are set to officially open the state-of-the-art Bemidji Regional Event Center Oct. 15-16.

The men will play North Dakota in night games and the women will face Mercyhurst in afternoon contests.

Fans can get an early look at the new facility during two events Oct. 5 and 7.

Bemidji State, in conjunction with VenuWorks and the Bemidji Regional Event Center, is planning two opportunities for hockey fans in the area to get a look at the 2010-11 edition of the Beavers and a sneak peek at the new facility.

Bad boy Birkholz feeling at home with the Silver Tips

I guess you could say that this is an interesting spin to this story. I guess this is one person's opinion.

LYNNWOOD -- Josh Birkholz has only been skating with the Everett Silvertips for two days, but already he's feeling reassured about his change in paths.

Birkholz left the University of Minnesota in July to join the Tips, a decision he wrestled with for months. But after just two days of training camp Birkholz is already feeling more comfortable, both with his new setting and his decision.

"It's everything I expected and more," Birkholz said following Friday's veterans practice at Lynnwood Ice Center. "The guys have all been really good at making me feel a part of the team and helping me get into the swing of things right away. Being far away from home, it makes it easier."

Birkholz, a 19-year-old right wing, is Everett's latest recruit. The 6-foot-1, 182-pound native of Maple Grove, Minn., was a third-round pick in the NHL draft by the Florida Panthers, and he's expected to have an immediate impact with the Tips.

But his route to Everett was circituitous.

Birkholz's first encounter with Everett came roughly a year-and-a-half ago when Tips director of player development Scott Scoville spotted Birkholz playing in the USHL for the Fargo Force. Scoville was impressed with Birkholz's abilities, and the Tips added him to their 50-player protected list.

And that's where Birkholz remained. He and the Tips had little contact after that as Birkholz realized the childhood dream of every hockey player growing up in Minnesota, receiving a scholarship to play for the Golden Gophers.

However, the dream didn't exactly play out the way Birkholz pictured it in his head. As a freshman, he found himself buried on Minnesota's depth chart, receiving just a handful of shifts each game and finishing with just five goals and one assist in 36 games.

When I see stories like this one on this kid it kind of illustrates the difference between generations. When I was in high school and college and sports if you were unhappy with your playing time and you felt that you weren’t getting enough playing time you might sit down with the coach and discuss what you needed to do to get more playing time. It was a simple conversation; your coach might tell you that it's simple play better in practice, work hard and you'll earn a spot in the lineup or get more playing time.

Fast forward to today; now players just go find another team to play for. Heck even if you’re facing disciplinary action and a possible suspension, instead of taking your medicine that you deserve, now that player just finds another team. I do not like this entitlement mentality.

Personally, I think it's a character flaw and speaks volumes to the type of people these players are. I would also bet money that this kid never ends up playing in the NHL.

Paul Kelly wants NCAA to relax stance on CHL

H/T Junior Hockey Paul Kelly wants the NCAA to relax the rule that says once you play major junior you can't play in college. I think it's a good idea. I would shoot for more than 10 games though.

Boston.com --- Education is just one tool Kelly and other college hockey proponents have to promote the game. One change the NCAA could consider is its hard-and-fast eligibility rule. Currently, once a player signs with a major junior team or even appears in one game, he is not eligible for college hockey. Like other college advocates, Kelly supports a grace period. If a player appears in 10 or fewer junior games and decides it’s not the right fit, he could still play NCAA hockey.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing the NCAA move in that direction,’’ Kelly said. “You hear a lot of horror stories about a kid who played eight games, left his CHL team, and now he’s lost. He can’t go to college, but he’s still a talented kid. But right now, I don’t think there’s a big appetite for that. The overwhelming majority of college coaches agree with the current NCAA rule that all major junior hockey is like a pro league.’’

I think the NCAA’s stance on the CHL is misguided and wrong and I think the NCAA should reconsider its stance against the CHL because frankly I think It’s hurting NCAA hockey. Let's think of it this way. What if a kid played in the WHL while he was 16 up until say his 18 birthday and then decided that he wanted to go to college and play US college hockey. Why not let that kid play division I hockey. I think that kids should be able to play in the NCAA if he wants to. Just my humble opinion.

World Cup ready to pick up hockey mantle

With the NHL not being very excited about the 2014 Olympics the World Cup of Hockey could fill the Olympic hockey void nicely. Also, I would like to see more world championship type hockey on a more frequent basis. Personally, I am a big fan of the World Cup of Hockey and excited for it's return. In 2004 the last time the World Cup of Hockey took place it was the only hockey we had from the NHL hockey players during the 2004-2005 season. The World Cup of Hockey will return during the 2011 season or during the off season leading up to 2011-2012 season. You can bet there will be a couple of ex-Sioux hockey players on team USA and Canada as well.

Calgary Sun --- Bettman isn’t keen on Sochi given its remoteness, time of the games and the fact the NHL has absolutely no say or control of the event. The NHL and its owners stand to gain nothing financially with the five-ring circus despite taking all the risks by shutting down mid-season and providing the talent.

It makes far more sense for all stakeholders — including the fans — for the best players on the planet to focus on the World Cup of Hockey, formerly the Canada Cup.

The owners will get their piece of the action, the players will get theirs, North American fans can see every game in primetime, and all the host cities will generate tremendous buzz and money for every game. People will watch.

An even bigger bonus will be the timing of the event. While the players and the owners are at odds over when the event should run, common sense suggests the owners will win and it will once again be staged in the fall, when every player is healthy and available.

Could there be a better way to grab the sports world’s attention than by opening your season with a marquee event?

Ideally, the world’s best players would face off against one another every two years — at the Olympics and at the World Cup. The reality is it’s likely only going to happen every four years, and while the obvious sentimental choice for many Canadians is the Olympics, the World Cup serves the game and its fans better.

Besides, the Olympics will be fine on its own, without hockey.

Now more notes, quotes and anecdotes from a sports world that must finally be ready to ignore the Calgary Stampeders’ light schedule and finally believe they’re for real.

This is not good for Winnipeg

This is not good for the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. This also clarifies the rumor that a professional hockey team is coming to Thunder Bay, Ontario soon. It's time to get a deal in place in Phoenix or move on. Personally, I still think there will eventually be another NHL team in Winnipeg in 2-5 years.

Phoenix Business Journal ---
A mystery buyer has stepped to the forefront in efforts by the National Hockey League and city of Glendale to sell the Phoenix Coyotes to a new owner who will keep the team in Arizona.

An undisclosed wealthy buyer is leading a new ownership group that is interested in buying the Coyotes from the NHL. The league has owned the team since October when it bought the Coyotes via Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

Details of the new ownership group are very limited, though Glendale and the NHL could announce details and developments soon, according to sources familiar with the situation. The ownership group has asked for the city and league to keep negotiations private. The new buyer would keep the Coyotes in Glendale and is not a household name. In addition, sources say progress on the purchase is serious and substantial.

As the new group has moved forward, another group, Ice Edge Holdings LLC, is taking a backseat in the Coyotes ownership saga.

Ice Edge announced Monday it was focused on bringing an ECHL minor league hockey team to Thunder Bay, Ontario. Ice Edge CEO Keith McCullough said in a statement Monday his investment group could have some involvement with the new Coyotes ownership group...