NHL Owners can't claim they're poor - not after the latest free agent signings

I touched on this in the last blog post... The battle lines are being drawn up. The good news is, the two sides are talking to attempt to avoid another lock out. I doubt either the players or the NHL owners want another repeat of the lockout that cost the NHL the entire 2004-05 season.

Scott Burnside, ESPN.com --- Never mind the spreadsheets and the pie graphs breaking down the NHL's revenue streams, all union head Donald Fehr needs to do when the NHL and its players sit down to try to hammer out a new labor deal is to bring the clippings from the first four days of free agency.

Zach Parise and Ryan Suter combining for $196 million over the next 13 seasons.

Forty-year-olds Ray Whitney and Jaromir Jagr combining to bring in a hair more than $9 million next season.

Matt Carle, 20th among NHL defensemen in point production last season, was lured back to Tampa by a six-year deal that will pay him an average of $5.5 million annually.

Jiri Hudler struck it rich with a four-year, $16 million contract after a career-best 25-goal campaign in Detroit.

Brandon Prust -- seriously -- got $10 million over four years to bring toughness to the Montreal lineup.

Every time a new contract was added to the list of bloated contracts that came before, commissioner Gary Bettman must have given a grim shake of his head.

When the NHL announced that they had a record breaking $3.3 billion in revenue this past season and then they turned around and said that the NHL owners we're hurting is going to fall upon deaf ears. I don’t believe it and I am sure most of the fans don’t as well.

Seriously! The NHL Owners are going to have a hard time convincing most sane people that the NHL owners are suffering financially. Sure, there is no doubt that certain teams are not as well off as financially as others – that’s life.

I also don’t doubt that are probably a half dozen NHL teams that would fold tomorrow if there is another lockout, but the owners made this bed for themselves. I don’t blame the players in this mess, the owners are the ones that signed free agents for astronomically high contracts and then turn around and say we want to reel in player contracts and that we’re broke.

The players and owners get to work and try avoid a work stoppage.

Parise and Suter signings didn't go unnoticed

I don’t think that anyone one is going to feel sorry for the NHL owners during the upcoming CBA negotiations when they say we’re broke and we can’t afford to play these big exuberant salaries anymore… Seriously! No one is going to feel sorry for the owners – especially after the Minnesota Wild’s owner signed two players for a total of 196 million dollars. I just don’t see there being a lot of empathy – especially for the Wild owner Craig Leipold.

I would imagine that the players have been watching these players’ signings as well.

Michael Russo, Star Tribune --- Leipold responded Monday, saying, "Listen: We've been losing money and the way we were going, we were going to have another year of 'keep losing more money and more money and more money.' So if I'm going to make the kind of financial commitment to keep this team and move this forward, I'd rather do it growing it.

"Ultimately that was the decision. As a result of this move, it's not going to cause us to be financially stable. I believe it will be within a year or two. This is a move to get us out of the hole that we've been digging. And as I spoke with some other owners in the league as to why I did it, they totally get it. They understand it. At some point you have to make that kind of commitment in order to turn your franchise around. If we didn't, then we would just keep losing more going forward without any plan of changing it."

Ironically, the day after the spending spree, Leipold was one of the owners who sat in the bargaining session between the NHL and NHL Players' Association in New York. The league has moved to terminate the collective bargaining agreement and negotiate another. The current agreement expires Sept. 15, and the league is in danger of a lockout. In 2004-05, the season was wiped out because of a lockout.

The hockey world has been a buzz since the big signing in Minnesota and you can bet that executive director of the National Hockey League Players Association Donald Fehr took note of the signing as well.

The owners want to move to a 50/50 revenue split; currently the players are at 57-43 revenue split. If the players are to accept the 50/50 number would mean that means the players are going to have their salaries rolled back. This could end up being a long fight especially with the recent signing in the NHL during free agency.

Zach Parise on ESPN 1500

Check out this segment on ESPN's A.M 1500 with Jim Souhan and Tom Pelissero the two hosts talked about the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter signing in Minnesota and then they talked with the Minnesota Wild's newest star forward Zach Parise yesterday morning.

The Second hour is where Parise talks to the hosts. [click to listen]

Zach Parise on defining success in Minnesota – “In New Jersey we hadn’t won a round… I think it was since 2006, we hadn’t won a playoff round for a long time, we missed the playoffs the year before going to the finals; the league is so even right now,” Parise said.

“If you look at the Stanley Cup Finals this year you have a sixth seed with us [Devils] and the eight seed with L.A. – it’s so even that you just want to get in. The team that seems to get hot for two months always does well.”

“I think when you through in a defenseman of the caliber of Ryan Suter and mix him in with the defensemen they already got and put him on any team, that immediately makes the team much better and the appeal of having him there with me… I was… I thought it was a great fit. Like you said, I know they haven’t won a playoff series in a while and that is a challenge that everyone is going to face and hopefully we can get into the post season this year and progress and develop and get to the ultimate thing.”

Idalski lands 2-year contract extension

Good news for UND Women’s hockey, head women's hockey coach Brian Idalski has been re-upped for another two years. Since taking over the Women’s hockey program from former UND women’s head coach Shantel Rivard, Brian Idalski has taken a program from the ashes and turned UND into a national power. Apparently, Idalaski’s base salary is $116,777. Goon’s World would like to congratulate Idalski on his new deal.

[Official Press Release]

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - University of North Dakota Athletics Director Brian Faison announced today that head women's hockey coach Brian Idalski has received a two-year contract extension that will keep him at the helm of his program through the 2016-17 season.

Idalski guided his team to the most successful season in program history in 2011-12, his fifth year behind the UND bench. UND went 22-13-3 to set a program record for victories while securing its first NCAA postseason berth. Junior forwards Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux became UND's first women's hockey All-Americans, while Jocelyne Lamoureux became the school's first top-3 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given annually to the top player in NCAA Division I women's hockey.

"Coach Idalski has a great understanding of the game of hockey and what it takes to be successful," said Faison. "That success is evident in all facets of his program, from assembling a top-notch staff to recruiting to community service to a strong emphasis upon academics to on-ice results. Coach Idalski has positioned our program to be amongst college women's ice hockey elite."

Idalski, who inherited a program that had gone 0-27-1 in 2006-07, has led UND to 20-win seasons in each of the last two years. UND finished the 2011-12 season ranked sixth in the final USCHO.com poll and was named the 2011-12 North Dakota women's college team of the year by the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscaster and Sportswriters Association (NDAPSSA).

Jocelyne Lamoureux, who set a program record for points (82), goals (34) and assists (48), was named the NDAPSSA Female College Athlete of the Year, the WCHA Most Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year, and a Capital One Academic All-American.

Both Lamoureuxs were named to the All-USCHO First Team, while freshman forward Michelle Karvinen was named to USCHO's All-Rookie Team.

UND's milestone season was also reflected in the stands at Ralph Engelstad Arena, as the program ranked second nationally in average (1,485) and total (28,218) home attendance.

QMJHL having trouble with recruitment of American players

s/t Cam Charron, Buzzing The Net... s/t to Kathleen Lavoie, Le Soleil... Note the article is in French, so you have to use Google Translate to read the article. This is good news for Division I college hockey, I am also sure that the QMJHL isn’t going to get a lot of people to feel sorry for them.

Aiming to favour its smaller markets, the governors* voted in a new rule concerning "special arrangements" with players. This new rule, starting now, puts an annual limit of $10,000 on scholarships/bursaries allotted to Americans, for a maximum total of $40,000.

This amount is in addition to the one already outlined in the QMJHL's scholastic policy, which puts an annual limit of $5,000 on bursaries awarded to these student athletes, for a possible total of $60,000.

And yet, one year's tuition in colleges such as Boston University, Boston College or Cornell University can easily cost anywhere between $25,000 and $40,000, depending on the program. As such, it's not uncommon for an American player to be offered a full scholarship ranging from $100,000 to $150,000.

"The League's message is paradoxical", according to Jean Gagnon. "On the one hand, for the last year we have been forcing teams to draft two American players, but on the other, we're preventing teams from making competitive offers to these players."

If you’re a college hockey fan and one of your recruits is being perused by the QMJHL, this is good news.

I am not anti-CHL by any stretch of the imagination; I think that the CHL route is a good way to make the NHL if you’re one of the “top” blue chip hockey players. If you’re a late bloomer or a player that takes longer to develop the NCAA route is going to be a better path to take.

Let’s not kid ourselves, I do favor the NCAA Division I college hockey route... I have been around college hockey for a very long time and have seen some really good hockey players make the NHL from the NCAA route. All you have to do is watch the AHL or the NHL on a weekly basis to see that there are very talented players making their way to the AHL and or the NHL from the NCAA hockey ranks. This season’s AHL Calder Cup playoffs were a perfect example of this. This year's Stanley Cup playoffs also featured many former NCAA alumni.

I do also think that the NCAA is on par with the major junior route when it comes to players making the NHL. Contrary to some in the thump your chest with everything that is CHL Hockey - there is more than one route of the NHL and I don't think that any one fan base can claim that their route is better than another route. Finally, I also look at the revelations of this article as a positive for the NCAA route.

Another $900,000.00 Question – Does Nick Bjugstad sign with the Florida Panthers?

I’ve been monitoring the Twitter traffic the past couple of weeks and one of the main topics of discussion amongst Gopher fans is; will Golden Gopher forward Nick Bjugstad sign an entry level contract with the Florida Panthers? From everything that I have read, it appears that Bjugstad wowed them in South Florida this past week and was a man among boys.

Bjugstad "if" he signs will get the rookie max - money probably isn't' the concern - the big decision is whether he wants to leave college two years early and begin his professional career - which according to Michale Russo of the Star Tribune, will probably be in the AHL, because the Panthers are stacked with forwards.

I think Bjugstad is a great hockey prospect and doesn't have a lot to prove in college so I wouldn't be surprised if he signed a professional contract. So we wait, just like we did with the past few summers. I am sure we will hear which way he is leaning in the next couple of weeks. 

Harvey Fialkov, Sun Sentinel --- Panthers prospect Nick Bjugstad firmly denied that the Panthers had made him any contract offers or that he had turned down any (that a source told me yesterday). He will talk to his family about his decision in the coming days and hopes to decide over the next two weeks. Bjugstad has looked like a man among boys at this camp. Ditto for Jonathan Huberdeau who wowed the fans and teammates with a spectacular shootout goal today in which he turned his back on the goalie before switching from backhand to forehand and backhand for a score between the five-hole.

Could the NHL kill the Coyotes

I have seen this idea bandied about the internet the last few days - can you imagine if the NHL decided to just fold the Phoenix Coyotes and hold a dispersal draft?

David Shoalts, the Globe and Mail --- Bettman has long refused to consider moving the Coyotes. Doing so now would be difficult but not impossible. But the only candidate with an arena that could be whipped into NHL shape quickly is Quebec City and Bettman has never shown enthusiasm for that move.

In some NHL circles, a more drastic solution is envisioned. The Coyotes could simply be folded, its 23 players sent to other NHL teams through a dispersal draft and the league would operate with 29 teams next season.

This would allow the NHL to collect expansion fees of $200-million or more each from Seattle and Quebec City, the top candidates for NHL teams, rather than a single relocation fee of $60-million or so for the Coyotes. That is a gain of at least $200-million if a total loss of $200-million is assumed on the NHL's investment in the Coyotes.

However, this would create legal headaches with lenders holding the Coyotes franchise as collateral and probably the NHL Players’ Association. So the NHL’s longest limbo dance will continue for now but a nasty choice could be coming quickly.

It would appear that the NHL and the city of Glendale are running out of options, there are only three options.  1.) Find a buyer that wants to keep the Coyotes in the Phoenix area - they have a potential buyer but there seems to be a few sticking points that could slow up the sale. 2.) move the team out of the Phoenix area to another city that wants to have a NHL team. 3.) Fold the team.  

A few things - Zane Gothberg goes to camp

What a difference a couple of days make. Since the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter watch is over the summer is basically officially started.

Future UND goalie Zane Gothberg attended the Boston Bruins development camp and he is in a few of pictures on the Bruins Hockey Blog. [The Bruins Blog], [The Bruins Blog]

Check out this picture. [Click to open] If you look closely you will see that Zane is wearing Fighting Sioux hockey pants.

I haven’t been able to find anything on Zane Gothberg’s development camp with the Boston Bruins and I don’t expect him to be a very early departure at UND because the Boston Bruins have a stable full of goalies.

James Murphy, ESPN.COM --- In late May, the Bruins signed Swedish free-agent goalie Niklas Svedberg. At the draft in Pittsburgh last week, they used their first selection on another goaltender in Belleville Bulls (OHL) goalie Malcolm Subban with the 24th overall pick. They also decided to invite Boston College star goaltender Parker Milner -- who is a free agent and has one more season left at the Heights after helping the Eagles to a national championship last season -- to development camp. In addition to Svedberg, Subban and Milner, goalies Zane Gothberg, Adam Morrison and Lars Volden are also attending camp. Sweeney sees nothing but positives out of the sudden logjam between the pipes.

Here is a nice article on Zane Gothberg - [Zane] Gothberg ready for the next level

One thing that you can’t deny is that Zane Gothberg is a confident kid – the young goalie wants to come into camp and prove his worth to the UND coaching staff. Quote courtesy of the Hockey Writers Bob Mand.

Both Hargrove and Gothberg will be attending colleges in the fall: Zane will patrol the crease for the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux while Colton will lace ‘em up for the Western Michigan University Broncos.

Speaking of his goals as a freshman at UND, Gothberg said he wants to, “… Come in, put my best foot forward and try and get the starting job there….It’s the competition that brings out the best in you and it’s only going to make myself and my other goalie partners at North Dakota better. I just want to step up and prove that I can take the full bulk and be the starting goalie.”

Recently, I have watched the Goalie thread unfold on Sioux Sports and I have found some of the comments to be interesting – I predict that if Aaron Dell returns to the UND for his senior season he will be the starting goaltender for the Fighting Sioux next season. Just a hunch and I predict that Dell will get the start in the big games when it matters the most. It takes a lot to unseat a former All-American like Aaron Dell.

Does Penn State belong in the Big Ten?

The Face of Pervert

I found this article while reading the Thank You Terry Hockey Biog. Can you imagine If the Big Ten decided that they no longer could tolerate the scandal at Penn State?

Does Penn State belong in the Big Ten?

The Big Ten’s Council of Presidents voted in 1990 to “integrate Pennsylvania State University” into the conference. PSU began athletic competition in the league in 1993, making the Nittany Lions full-blown competitive members for 19 years.

Though full details aren’t available, the emails released so far and other investigations indicate Paterno and the school’s president, vice president and athletic director learned of Sandusky’s perversion as early as 1998.

In other words, *for at least 74 percent of the time that Penn State has been in the Big Ten Conference, four of the most powerful figures on campus allegedly chose to focus on protecting their institution and positions of authority at the expense of children already abused — with more victims to come because of their inaction.

Is that how the Big Ten does business? And is that the kind of operation the Big Ten wants to associate itself with?

Those are brutally hard questions. But the discussion needs to happen, and at a level far beyond athletics.

The history of major schools getting kicked out of conferences is short.

* This is the sentence that makes my blood boil – Penn State knew – that’s unacceptable.

If the Big Ten decided that they no longer wanted Penn State in their Conference – would cause great turmoil – especially after all of the dominos had already fallen in re-alignment.

In my opinion, Jerry Sandusky is a disgusting P.O.S and deserves to rot in hell for the rest of his life for what he has done to defenseless children. There is no excuse for what Sandusky has done – no matter how you look at it the guy is pure evil.

Going forward, how does Penn State make it right? Is there any chance the Big Ten kicks Penn State out of the Big Ten Conference? What should happen to Penn State? What is a just and right punishment?

In Conclusion; People (Staff, student and visitors) have the right to feel safe on America’s college campuses, what has happened at Penn State is unacceptable especially if they covered it up and kicked it under the rug. Penn State needs to pay some kind of a price for the sins of their football program – but what is an acceptable penalty? Does Penn State deserve to have the book thrown at them? Are NCAA sanctions up to a death penalty an acceptable punishment? What do you think?

Oshie to file for Arbitration

Former Fighting Sioux forward T.J. Oshie is going to file for Salary Arbitration, according to Andy Strickland Oshie is still a restricted free agent so he really isn’t able to rest the free agent market as of yet.

Andy Strickland, TrueHockey.com --- Sources close to Blues forward T.J. Oshie tell me he will file for arbitration before today’s 5:00 eastern deadline.

This is often nothing more than simple protocol to protect a player’s rights. Oshie, who tied Captain David Backes for the team lead in scoring, enjoyed career highs last season in goals, assists, points, penalty minutes, and games played. His 19:31 minutes per game were second among Blues forwards while leading the way with 1:48 per game shorthanded. He also averaged over 2:00 per game on the power play.

Considering Oshie’s versatility it’s hard to put a number on his actual value. He does much more than what you find on the scoresheet and head Coach Ken Hitchcock has referred to him as one of the better defensive forwards in the NHL today. With that being said he’s also among the Blues more talented offensive players as well.

Bruins went after Parise as well

Perusing the internet today it appears that the Boston Bruins also offered Zach Parise a significant contract offer.

Fluto Shinzawa, Boston Globe --- Before Sunday’s market opening, GM Peter Chiarelli said he expected to be quiet. The Bruins have less than $3 million in available cap space.

Had the Bruins signed Parise, they would have exceeded the $70.2 million cap by the allowable 10 percent offseason margin. They could have placed Marc Savard on long-term injured reserve if necessary.

Parise said his final decision came between Minnesota and New Jersey. Parise is a Minnesota native. The left wing had previously played for the Devils his entire career.

Parise, the ex-captain of the Devils, was one of the two high-end free agents available on the market. Ryan Suter was the other. Both signed identical deals with the Wild.

Obviously, the Boston Bruins didn’t have a lot of space to work with and they would have had to makes some moves to get under the cap. Could Bruins fans imagine how he would have looked in the B’s line up skating alongside a couple of the Bruins faster forwards like Patrice Bergeron and say the “Little Ball of Hate” Brad Marchand.

A quick look at the Wild Roster

Michael Russo of the Star and Tribune posted a depth chart of what the Minnesota Wild cold look like this season with their new additions. With the big free agent signing yesterday the Minnesota Wild look to have improved their formally depleted line up.

It would also appear that the Minnesota Wild have a few extra players that they could trade as well if they need to shore up a position.

FORWARDS

Left wing-Center-Right wing

First line: Zach Parise-Mikko Koivu-Dany Heatley
Second line: Devin Setoguchi -Mikael Granlund- Pierre-Marc Bouchard
Third line: Matt Cullen-Kyle Brodziak-Cal Clutterbuck
Fourth line: Darroll Powe-Zenon Konopka- Torrey Mitchell
Extra: Matt Kassian
Potential other extra: XXXXXX


Vying for spots: Stephane Veilleux, Jake Dowell, Charlie Coyle, Johan Larsson, Brett Bulmer, Jason Zucker, Zack Phillips, Nick Palmieri, Chad Rau, Jarod Palmer, David McIntyre, Carson McMillan, Kris Foucault, Justin Fontaine, Joel Broda

DEFENSEMEN

Left-Right

First pair: Ryan Suter-Tom Gilbert
Second pair: Marco Scandella-Jared Spurgeon
Third pair: Clayton Stoner-Nate Prosser
Extra: Justin Falk
Potential other extra: XXXXXX

Vying for spots: Falk, Prosser, Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba, Steven Kampfer, Tyler Cuma, Chay Genoway, Drew Bagnall, Kyle Medvec, Josh Caron, Colton Jobke

GOALTENDERS

No. 1: Niklas Backstrom
No. 2: Josh Harding

In the wings: Matt Hackett, Darcy Kuemper

Note: XXXXXX signifies open spot.

More bad fan behavior - Parise draws the ire of the moronic fans

This is my second installment of morons of the twitter-verse. One of my favorite Twitter feeds is the Angry NHL fans @LOLVancouver  I am going to apologize for the coarse language right off of the bat - most of the stuff that I posted here is down right moronic - some of it borders on the realm of what I would consider anti-social behavior. Reading these posts  you have to really question some of these people's their sanity. Some of the tweets I read were silly as well.

You have to wonder if some of these people realize that everything that you put on the internet is out there for all to see? If I was in human resources and one of these people were one of my potential recruits I would think twice about hiring these people. These are just a sampling of some of the worst ones that I have seen today.

Here are a few that twitter poster that don't know how to spell the word traitor... I didn't know that Zach Parise was a trader?

If anything Zach Parise has been loyal and was a New Jersey Devil for seven seasons. Actually, if we are counting the lockout season, it would be eight seasons in the the seasons in the New Jersey Devils organization. I am not sure how this clown and others came to this conclusion.

Wow! You want a sports figure to die because he didn't sign or resign with your favorite team. I am sure this guy's mother would be proud.

The Minnesota Wild welcome Ryan Suter and Zach Parise

The dawn of a new era is upon us..... One could say that today was a historic day in Minnesota Wild History.

Here are some quotes from today....

Parise: "Every kid who’s grown up in Minnesota would love to play for the Wild. That’s the way it is."

Parise on Koivu: "They've already got a captain, and they've got a great captain.

Suter says toughest call he's ever had to make in his life was to David Poile. "It was so hard"

Parise says, "It was between New Jersey and Minnesota. I'm a loyal person, I love playing [in NJ]."Parise says, "Just the opportunity to play at home, it really meant a lot to me and my family. My parents were so excited, ..."

Parise on playing at home being a part of his decision: "It was a very big part of it."

Suter says they were texting each other back and forth where "we can both work. Last night into this morning it became realistic."

Parise: Ryan and I had talked throughout the year. 'Wouldn't be great to have a chance to play on the same team?'

Parise said that he and Suter talked "throughout the year," in case this didn't already feel enough like the Heat.

Lamoriello confirms Ryan Suter had no desire to play in Eastern Conference.

“I was just waiting to hear the news,” Cullen said a couple hours after the deals were announced. “It was a pretty exciting time just waiting to see what would happen. … I had a really strong idea that we were right in the mix.”

Matt Cullen on today's trade. ”I was ecstatic,” he said. “It’s pretty exciting when you get one guy of that caliber. To get two is pretty unheard of. Strictly from the standpoint of a Minnesotan, it’s unbelievable. We haven’t had a great deal of players at this level. To get two, it changes the look of our team.”

"If we work hard and get some breaks," Fletcher said, "there's no reason we can't be pretty good."

Finally, it can be told: Zach Parise pronounces his name "pah-ree-SEE." Says you'd have to ask his dad how he pronounces it.

Suter: "Nashville is on the rise, but it came down to Zach had a big part in the decision, and my family."

According to Pierre LeBrun, "for Suter, it came down to Nashville, Detroit and Minnesota."

Zach Parise is coming home - Wild sign Suter and Parise

Getty Images

Here is the press release from KARE 11 out of the Twin Cities. While I don’t like to use profanity on the blog, I do think a loud boisterous F-BOMB yeah might be in order for this big signing by the Minnesota Wild. This is definitely a coup d'état for the Minnesota Wild.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Wild appear to be making a splash in the free agent waters.

ESPN's Pierre LeBrun tweeted "Zach Parise has agreed to terms with the Minnesota Wild."

Parise was seen as the top free agent in this summer's NHL class. The 27-year-old forward scored 31 goals and added 38 assists last season for the New Jersey Devils.

A source told LeBrun Parise's deal is worth $98 million over 13 years.

LeBrun also tweeted the Suter signing.

Suter, a native of Madison, Wis., spent seven seaons with the Nashville Predators. Last season, Suter posted a career high in points with 46 (7 goals, 39 assists) in 79 regular season games.

Earlier in the year, I said, "I think that Zach Parise would sign with the Minnesota Wild." I was told by various fans that there was no way that Parise would sign with the Wild. Yeah! Looks like the nay sayers, Debbie Downers, Negative Nellies or whatever you want to call them, were flat out dead wrong this time. Vindication, maybe. It's really not a mystery, that Parise owns a house in Orno, Minnesota so now Zach can sleep in his bed at night when the Minnesota Wild are playing at home.

I said on twitter last night, that the Wild now have more former Badgers (Ryan Suter, Tom Gilbert, Jake Dowell and Dany Heatly) and Sioux (Chay Genoway and Zach Parise) than ex-Gophers on the Minnesota Wild.

The Minnesota Wild just a few short years ago under Doug Risebrough, didn't have many college hockey players now have a good mix on their roster, add to the Badgers and ex-Sioux players that I have already mentioned, you have Jason Zucker Denver University, Nate Prosser and Chad Rau Colorado College, Stephen Kampfer Michigan, Jarold Palmer Miami University (Ohio) and Matt Cullen Saint Cloud State University.

Links to the Story

NHL Free Agency 2012: Minnesota Wild Sign Zach Parise and Ryan Suter [Hockey Wilderness]

Wild Fireworks on the Fourth of July [Russo's Rants]

Report: Zach Parise, Ryan Suter Each Sign 13-Year Deal With Minnesota Wild [NESN.COM]

Wild agree to terms with free agents Suter and Parise [TSN.COM]

Free agents Suter and Parise choose Wild [Flyers Insider]

Minnesota Wild getting both Parise, Suter [Pioneer Press]

Zach Parise, Ryan Suter to Wild [ESPN.COM]

Kitchener Rangers irate over Jacob Trouba report

Apparently, the Kitchener Rangers are none too pleased with the accusations that the Rangers have offered Michigan recruit Jacob Trouba $200,000.00 to sign with the Rangers and forego his commitment to the Michigan Wolverines.

Sunaya Sapurji, Yahoo! Sports --- Steve Bienkowski, the Rangers’ chief operating officer, flatly denied the report and any kind of payment offered to the Trouba family. In addition, Bienkowski said the team has retained a lawyer and will purse the matter legally.

“We’re going to look at every legal remedy we have against the newspaper, the reporter and these so-called unnamed sources in the OHL who need to be held accountable for basically saying lies against our organization,” said Bienkowski in a phone interview from Halifax.

Unlike most OHL teams, the Rangers are community-owned and not a privately held company. As such, an external accounting firm audits their financial statements and those accounts are presented to season-ticket holders each year.

“The reality is there’s nowhere to hide the kind of money people are accusing us of paying,” said Bienkowski, who is a chartered accountant himself.

“But it is what it is, we’ve been targeted before and I’m sure we’ll be targeted in the future.”

This is not the first time an OHL team – or the Rangers – have been accused of paying players large sums of money to play for them. Last summer Paul Kelly, the then-executive director of College Hockey Inc., an arm of NCAA hockey, accused teams of paying players though no proof was ever produced.

I do think it’s funny that the Kitchener Rangers are going to go after a the student run newspaper "The Michigan Daily- I have a hard time believing that the editor of the newspaper would let that story go if the rumor hadn’t come from a reliable source, specially when the author of that story is working at a major newspaper as an Intern at The Baltimore Sun during the summer, I can’t see him jeopardizing his future journalism career with a story that can’t be substantiated.

Somewhere out there is the truth; these stories don’t just present themselves out of thin air. I am sure we will find out more in the coming days.

That being said, the statement from the Trouba family denies that any money was offered and went on to say that Jacob Trouba will honor his commitment to the University of Michigan.

“There is absolutely no truth or merit to the recent media reports that the Kitchener Rangers have..."

"...offered Jacob any remuneration. We have the utmost respect for the Kitchener Rangers and those that choose the CHL as an option..."

So as college hockey fans we wait on pins and needles to see if there are any more stories like this emerge – especially the teams that recruited players from the USNDT.

Make no mistake; the CHL teams isn’t going to back off, commitment to NCAA teams mean nothing to them and they will attempt to lure more of the best blue chip American hockey players with promises that the CHL is a quicker route to the NHL than the NCAA route.

Again, I am not here to say one route is better than the other – in the end both routes are good routes to making the NHL. Also, the college hockey route has proven to be a very good route to the NHL – if you don't believe me – all you have to do is look at the top free agents available during the free agent signing period – a good number of them played NCAA Division I hockey before they made it to the NHL – examples of note- Zach Parise, Jason Garrison, Erik Johnson, Matt Carle and Ryan Suter just to name a few off the top of my head.

Jacob Trouba will attend the University of Michigan

The big story to emerge the past couple of days was that Jacob Trouba was offered 200,000.00 to de-commit from the University of Michigan and play for the Kitchener Rangers who drafted him in the third round of the OHL's 2010 draft. The story cause quite a stir and has since been refuted by Trouba’s family.

Matt Slovin, The Michigan Daily --- "Statement from the Trouba family: 'We have the utmost respect for the Kitchener Rangers and those that choose the CHL as an option ... but Jacob will be attending the University of Michigan next fall as a student athlete.'

Good for the Michigan Wolverines that they aren’t going to lose their 22nd recruit to the CHL, but I get the feeling that more is going to emerge from this story eventually.

P.A. makes his pitch to Zach Parise

KFAN 100.3 out of the Twin Cities is one of the best sports talk radio channels in the upper Midwest. During the past year they decided to take the last hour of their show to the FSN. If you haven’t seen this or heard this on the radio today this is Paul Allen’s sales pitch to Zach Parise, pretty good stuff by Allen on the nine to noon show today.

Suter's agent responds to critics of his client

MLIVE.COM

Looks like Ryan Suter ‘s agent Neil Sheehy has seen and heard enough – Neil does have a point – if we were in the same situation we wouldn’t be rushing through these decisions.

NHL.COM --- Ryan Suter and Zach Parise are in Day 3 of NHL free agency with some wondering why they haven't made a decision on where to play.

Suter's agent, Neil Sheehy, has heard enough. He tells The Associated Press: "When a young man is asked to commit for 13 years, why is it considered extraordinary to take a few days to make a decision?. A deal will happen when it happens."

Parise told reporters on Monday that he was getting closer to a decision, saying he hadn't set deadlines.

The two free agents are both 27.

Is another college prospect being poached by an OHL team?

I wonder if college hockey teams will reconsider taking blue chip athletes from the USNDT it appears that another players from the Under 18 team is considering de-committing from his college commitment and going to the OHL. It appears that this college recruits might have some financial incentive to join said OHL team.

Matt Slovin, Michigan Daily --- An Ontario Hockey League source told The Michigan Daily on Thursday that Jacob Trouba may not be as set on coming to Ann Arbor in the fall as he has stated publicly. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, placed the chances that Trouba, the ninth pick by Winnipeg in this year's NHL Entry Draft, honors his commitment to Michigan at “50/50.”

Trouba's OHL rights belong to the Kitchener Rangers who drafted him in the third round of the OHL's 2010 draft.

Regardless of where Trouba ends up, Kitchener or Michigan, the source says the defenseman will spend two years before progressing to the NHL, where he will be an “elite player.”

Monday night, a different OHL source informed the Daily that Kitchener has presented the Trouba family with a “huge offer” that remains on the table. The source added that he “believes it will happen.”

In place of an education package, the source said Trouba could be compensated to about $200,000.

Prior to last week's NHL Draft, the original source said the odds were stacked heavily in Kitchener's favor. But Trouba's promise that he will be playing for Michigan this season makes it a coin flip.

Based on this Daily Michigan article there is no way that the Michigan Wolverines can match the Kitchener Rangers generous offer – if they did Michigan would end up on NCAA sanctions.

According to The Wolverine, this is would be the 22nd player that the Michigan Wolverines have lost since 2000. This past week the Wolverines lost defenseman Connor Carrick to the Plymouth Whalers. According to Carrick, “it wasn’t about the money.” Yeah, I am sure all of us believe him after reading that the Kitchener Rangers have offered Jacob Trouba $200,000.00 one has to wonder what kind of money he was offered as well.

Since the Matt Slovin article came out Kitchener Rangers president Craig Campbell posted on his twitter page that the Trouba article is, "Utterly false."

Just for the record – OHL teams paying money under the table to incoming recruits is also not legal.