Breaking down the sanctions

The Penn State Nittany Lions American football team takes the field (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The NCAA has spoken – Penn State will play a $60 million fine – they will face a four-year postseason ban – lose a total of 10 scholarships for four years. Lastly, all of Joe Paterno’s team’s victories from 1998 to 2011 have been vacated and he loses 111 career wins. So by deducting the  111 career wins from Joe Paterno's win total he is no longer the all-time winningest coach in NCAA football history.

Penn State has signed off on the agreement with the NCAA to accept these harsh penalties.

With the correction, Paterno goes from number one all-times winningest coach to eighth on the all-time wins list. Paterno is fifth among FBS coaches.

Here is a breakdown of the NCAA Penalties – while it’s not the death penalty the sanctions are harsh.

$60 million fine. The NCAA imposes a $60 million fine, equivalent to the approximate average of one year's gross revenues from the Penn State football program, to be paid over a five-year period beginning in 2012 into an endowment for programs preventing child sexual abuse and/or assisting the victims of child sexual abuse. The minimum annual payment will be $12 million until the $60 million is paid. The proceeds of this fine may not be used to fund programs at the University. No current sponsored athletic team may be reduced or eliminated in order to fund this fine.

Four-year postseason ban. The NCAA imposes a four-year postseason ban on participation in postseason play in the sport of football, beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year and expiring at the conclusion of the 2015-2016 academic year. Therefore, the University's football team shall end its 2012 season and each season through 2015 with the playing if its last regularly scheduled, in-season contest and shall not be eligible to participate in any postseason competition, including a conference championship, any bowl game, or any postseason playoff competition.

Four-year reduction of grants-in-aid. For a period of four years commencing with the 2013-2014 academic year and expiring at the conclusion of the 2016-2017 academic year, the NCAA imposes a limit of 15 initial grants-in-aid (from a maximum of 25 allowed) and for a period of four years commencing with the 2014-2015 academic year and expiring at the conclusion of the 2017-2018 academic year a limit of 65 total grants-in-aid (from a maximum of 85 allowed) for football during each of those specified years. In the event the total number of grants-in-aid drops below 65, the University may award grants-in-aid to non-scholarship student-athletes who have been members of the football program as allowed under Bylaw 15.5.6.3.6.

Five years of probation. The NCAA imposes this period of probation, which will include the appointment of an on-campus, independent Integrity Monitor and periodic reporting as detailed in the Corrective Component of this Consent Decree. Failure to comply with the Consent Decree during this probationary period may result in additional, more severe sanctions.

Vacation of wins since 1998. The NCAA vacates all wins of the Penn State football team from 1998 to 2011. The career record of Coach “Joe” Paterno will reflect the vacated records.

Waiver of transfer rules and grant-in-aid retention. Any entering or returning football student-athlete will be allowed to immediately transfer and will be eligible to immediately compete at the transfer institution, provided he is otherwise eligible. Any football student-athlete who wants to remain at the University may retain his athletic grant-in-aid, as long as he meets and maintains applicable academic requirements, regardless of whether he competes on the football team.

There is no doubt that the NCAA hammered Penn State – hard - to quote Brandon Noble a former PSU football player that was on ESPN the morning and he said, “The NCAA has opened up a can of worms.”

There are many that have asked the question, why act now? Why not wait for the investigations to finish before the NCAA acted against Penn State University.

Ed Ray, the president of Oregon State and chairman of the N.C.A.A.'s executive committee, said the case, and the sanctions imposed, represented a declaration by university presidents and chancellors that “this has to stop.” By that he meant a win at all costs mentality with respect to intercollegiate sports.

“We’ve had enough,” he said. [New York Times]

Penn State is also not done being punished – they still have to face the Big Ten who is also set to announced that they are going to take away their share of the bowl revenue for the next four seasons and they won’t be able to play in the Big Ten Conference championship for the next four season that means Penn State will suffer about a 13 million dollar hit – that’s a huge loss for PSU.

Penn State failures draw unprecedented NCAA sanctions

The NCAA throws the book at Penn State...

Official Statement

By perpetuating a "football first" culture that ultimately enabled serial child sexual abuse to occur, The Pennsylvania State University leadership failed to value and uphold institutional integrity, resulting in a breach of the NCAA constitution and rules. The NCAA Division I Board of Directors and NCAA Executive Committee directed Association President Mark Emmert to examine the circumstances and determine appropriate action in consultation with these presidential bodies.

"As we evaluated the situation, the victims affected by Jerry Sandusky and the efforts by many to conceal his crimes informed our actions," said Emmert. "At our core, we are educators. Penn State leadership lost sight of that."

According to the NCAA conclusions and sanctions, the Freeh Report "presents an unprecedented failure of institutional integrity leading to a culture in which a football program was held in higher esteem than the values of the institution, the values of the NCAA, the values of higher education, and most disturbingly the values of human decency."

As a result, the NCAA imposed a $60 million sanction on the university, which is equivalent to the average gross annual revenue of the football program. These funds must be paid into an endowment for external programs preventing child sexual abuse or assisting victims and may not be used to fund such programs at the university.

The sanctions also include a four-year football postseason ban and a vacation of all wins from 1998 through 2011. The career record of former head football coach Joe Paterno will reflect these vacated records. Penn State must also reduce 10 initial and 20 total scholarships each year for a four-year period. In addition, the NCAA reserves the right to impose additional sanctions on involved individuals at the conclusion of any criminal proceedings.

The NCAA recognizes that student-athletes are not responsible for these events and worked to minimize the impact of its sanctions on current and incoming football student-athletes. Any entering or returning student-athlete will be allowed to immediately transfer and compete at another school. Further, any football student-athletes who remain at the university may retain their scholarships, regardless of whether they compete on the team.

To further integrate the athletics department into the university, Penn State will be required to enter into an "Athletics Integrity Agreement" with the NCAA. It also must adopt all Freeh Report recommendations and appoint an independent, NCAA-selected Athletics Integrity Monitor, who will oversee compliance with the agreement.

Effective immediately, the university faces five years of probation. Specifically, the university is subject to more severe penalties if it does not adhere to these requirements or violates NCAA rules in any sport during this time period.

"There has been much speculation on whether or not the NCAA has the authority to impose any type of penalty related to Penn State," said Ed Ray, Executive Committee chair and Oregon State president. "This egregious behavior not only goes against our rules and constitution, but also against our values."

Because Penn State accepted the Freeh Report factual findings, which the university itself commissioned, the NCAA determined traditional investigative proceedings would be redundant and unnecessary.

"We cannot look to NCAA history to determine how to handle circumstances so disturbing, shocking and disappointing," said Emmert. "As the individuals charged with governing college sports, we have a responsibility to act. These events should serve as a call to every single school and athletics department to take an honest look at its campus environment and eradicate the 'sports are king' mindset that can so dramatically cloud the judgment of educators."

Penn State fully cooperated with the NCAA on this examination of the issues and took decisive action in removing individuals in leadership who were culpable.

"The actions already taken by the new Penn State Board of Trustees chair Karen Peetz and Penn State President Rodney Erickson have demonstrated a strong desire and determination to take the steps necessary for Penn State to right these severe wrongs," said Emmert.

Redwing77's Perspective on the Penn State Debacle

There's a lot going on and a lot have been discussed by Goon or by commentators on the posts and at large by any and all media members even on an international scale (BBC is covering it).  And the truth is, this situation has gone beyond simply a bad man doing bad things.  It's become a blemish on collegiate sports in general... even though bad stuff has been happening for a long time now.

Some say it is cultural

I had a discussion (still ongoing) over Twitter with a Ira Socol who wrote a very interesting and well researched blog post. He states that Penn State be allowed to play... but they should play the entire season with empty stands.

This is not an unprecedented thing.  In his article, he cites 3 soccer teams that had to play 5 games (2 teams played 1 game each and one other played the last 2 games) without fans in attendence.  However, he cites the reasoning behind this and all of the reasons stem from actions of the FANS with relation to the team.  One was racial abuse to a player.  Another was due to physical violence where a fan ran onto the field and attacked a visitng player.  All of this is caused by violence.

But what of Penn State's situation?  He argues that the culture that surrounds Penn State football is of such blind devotion that it basically produced an environment where this act would seem not permissable but certainly capable of being covered up.  He argues that without this societal and cultural smokescreen, Penn State would not have gotten away with such an act for as long as they had.

I believe he's partially correct.  Society did not cause Sandusky to molest those boys.  It didn't stop McQueary from stopping the abuse (which he did not) or prevent him from notifying Paterno.  It did not cause the wheels to stop turning.  The prestige and power that those in the know had was threated by the Sandusky thing and couple that with their corrupt need for such power, they did not act.

THAT is the prominant issue with this affair.  Society may act like an enabler but it takes corruption and bad ethics to become enabled. 

There is no excuse for what happened at Penn State.  And they should pay.  The problem is:  Why punish the fans?  They did not perform 45 acts of sexual abuse.  They did not smear the name of Penn State, really.  They did not commit any violent act or any racially motivated abuse of the caliber that those European soccer teams were punished for.

The truth is that we have to be careful with this line of thought.  It is perilously close to saying that Penn State was merely abiding by the tolerances of society rather than trying to save their own power and prestige by covering up a heinous atrocity.

So what is the Price to be paid?

Since I do not believe in punishing the fans, I think that I would do the following:

1.  SIGNIFICANT reduction of scholarships for more than 4 years.
2.  No bowl games for the same time period that there are reductions of scholarships
3.  Asterisks by all of Paterno's records
4.  Joe Paterno's name and likeness should be removed from all signs, visual aids, and media in and around Beaver Stadium and other PSU athletic facilities.
5.  For the entire season, box seats will be closed and all general admission seats will be issued at the discretion of the Penn Statue AD and Administration at the price of FREE.  The students will still get their section or sections.
6.  All institutional support for the team is suspended for 1 year.  No band.  No cheerleaders.  No halftime shows. No fundraisers that would raise money for athletics at Penn State.
7.  All money that would normally be gathered for the athletic department that comes through on-site merchandise sales, concessions, and any items sold at the Stadium be immediately forfeited to either go towards general scholarship funding, a University sanctioned event or organization not related to the Athletic department, or to a charity. 
8.  (This one isn't possible but I can dream)  A media blackout.  NO Penn State Home Games will be televised locally, regionally, or nationally for one year.  If you don't go to Beaver Stadium, you don't see or hear the game.  PERIOD.

All academic services provided to athletes, such as tutoring and the like, will continue as normal. 

The NCAA says there is no Death Penalty but I argue that there is.  If Penn State does not get the Death Penalty, which I believe they won't, I believe that the NCAA has doled out the last death penalty ever:  to the Death Penalty.  There is no situation, therefore, that would warrant it so the threat of a Death Penalty becomes null and void.  It no longer exists, folks.  No need to fear.

The true debate is:  Where do the NON football athletics and Penn State fit into this?

Judgement day for Penn State

What I have read today - the sanctions that Penn State University is going to experience - is going to be more punitive than if the Penn State University football program had suffered the death penalty.

I am not sure how that is possible? According to all of the reports, "Unprecedented," said one NCAA source. "This is just unprecedented."

So just what is it that we will see tomorrow in the way of punishment that is so unprecedented? It will be something we have never seen before.

If there is no death penalty for Penn State University - what penalty would be unprecedented that we have never seen anything like it before? There are some that aren't happy about the NCAA deciding to punish Penn State without even so much as a hearing and it appears that Mark Emmert was the lone arbiter on this mater as well. Some are going to ask as well - what actual NCAA violation was violated?

(ESPN.com) --- NCAA president Mark Emmert has decided to punish Penn State with severe penalties likely to include a significant loss of scholarships and loss of multiple bowls, a source close to the decision told ESPN's Joe Schad on Sunday morning.

But Penn State will not receive the so-called "death penalty" that would have suspended the program for at least one year, the source said.

The penalties, however, are considered to be so harsh that the death penalty may have been preferable, the source said.

The NCAA will announce "corrective and punitive measures" for Penn State on Monday morning, it said in a statement Sunday. Emmert will reveal the sanctions at 9 a.m. ET in Indianapolis at the organization's headquarters along with Ed Ray, the chairman of the NCAA's executive committee, and Oregon State's president, the news release said.

It is expected the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and/or the NCAA Executive Committee has granted Emmert the authority to punish through nontraditional methods, the source told Schad.

This begs the question - what stops the NCAA to just punishing schools without so much of a hearing? Who is the arbiter? Who decides the punishment? Where is the due process? I have no problem with the NCAA giving something in the way of punishment to Penn State - however - do they not have the benefit of at least being heard?

According to Rival.com Penn State is going to have 10-plus [scholarships stripped] for four years or five years - plus a multi year bowl ban.

Fehr gets next move in labor talks

I have been reading some of the articles about the CBA discussions and the Blue Jackets Extra has had an interesting article about the on-going CBA discussion.

You have to wonder what the players are going to do next in the CBA talks. I am a little anxious, because Donald Fehr is involved in the talks on the side of the players - that being said, Fehr was successful in 1990, as he won a negotiated settlement worth $280 million against the MLB owners over free agency collusion when he was the executive director of the MLBPA.

It will be interesting to see what the players come up with in the way of a counter proposal. None of us want to see another work stoppage.

Aaron Portzline, Bluejacketsxtra.com --- If whispers around the league are any indication, and if union executive director Donald Fehr’s reputation still holds true from his days atop major league baseball’s union, it will include aggressive, creative ideas to dramatically increase the NHL’s level of revenue sharing.

It will pit not just owners vs. players, but owners vs. owners.

“Knowing Donald Fehr, I will be shocked if that’s not part of his proposal, and a big part of it,” said Gary Roberts, dean of the Indiana University School of Law. “Salary caps do not work very well — or for very long — if you have a great disparity of revenue between clubs.

“You either set the cap so low that some teams make enormous profits — that doesn’t sit well with the players — or you set it so high that the clubs in smaller markets just can’t keep up.”

Here is one proposal that the players are kicking around according to the Columbus Dispatch beat writer for the Columbus Blue Jackets Aaron Portzline.

One source told The Dispatch that Fehr “has considered lots of creative ideas.” One idea, the source said, would allow small-market clubs to “trade” their salary-cap space to wealthy clubs for draft picks or cash.

“The mechanism isn’t hard to come up with,” Roberts said. “It’s the internal politics of it that make it difficult to put in place. You have the most wealthy, most powerful owners in the sport who are going to rise up and fight this. “But before you label them as greedy, and unwilling to share for the good of the league, you have to consider their perspectives. They bought those franchises and paid a price that was based on the expected revenue stream. Now, all of a sudden, you’re telling them they have to take a big chunk of that stream and give it to somebody else.”

This is definitely a creative proposal and it will be interesting to see if the owners accept this idea or not because it will pit the big market owners against the small market owners.

NCAA source: "Unprecedented" penalties against Penn State

Sounds like "judgement" day is coming for Penn State University tomorrow. It sounds like the sanctions are going to be unprecedented. It will be interesting to see what the sanctions are and how much teeth they actually have to them.

(CBS News) CBS News has learned that the NCAA will announce what a high-ranking association source called "unprecedented" penalties against both the Penn State University football team and the school.

"I've never seen anything like it," the source told correspondent Armen Keteyian.

NCAA President Mark Emmert will make the announcement Monday morning at 9 a.m. at the organization's headquarters in Indianapolis.

The penalties come in the wake of the independent report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh that chronicled repeated efforts by four top Penn State officials, including former football coach Joe Paterno, to conceal allegations of serial child sex abuse by Jerry Sandusky over a 14-year period.

The NCAA had been awaiting the school's response to four key questions pertaining to the sex abuse scandal, including issues involving institutional control and ethics.

UPDATE: Also, the Joe Paterno statue that was erected in front of Beaver Stadium to honor Paterno, has been taken down today by Penn State University. Here is what former FSU football coach Bobby Bowden had to say about the statue.

Kane apologetic over drinking escapade

It's been quite the summer for the Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane. Also, the Chicago Blackhawks are concerned about Kane's off the ice behavior. Apparently, the club suggested the young star seek help, as well. 

Kane apologetic over drinking escapade Kane made his first public appearance Friday since photos of him attending the Mifflin Street Block Party in Madison, Wis., on May 5 were published on deadspin.com showing the seemingly intoxicated 23-year-old cavorting with college students, apparently passed out at a bar and, in one, appearing to walk away after a confrontation with a police officer.

"We all saw the photos, they're pretty embarrassing," Kane said before the opening ceremony of the Blackhawks Convention. "It was the offseason and you're trying to have a good time but you have to realize the spotlight you're in no matter where you are. For me, the situation I'm in now is you always have to act like someone is watching you.

"I was looking for a good weekend with my friends and things probably got a little bit out of control. From seeing the pictures to the stories, it's not fun to see but hopefully it's something that can make me better as a person."

Kane has had well-documented incidents — including a confrontation with a Buffalo taxi driver in 2009 that led to his arrest and photos of him with teammates in the back of a limousine in Vancouver in '10 — that apparently involved alcohol. But the forward set to enter his sixth NHL season doesn't believe he has a drinking problem.

Now we can all rest better, knowing that Patrick Kane doesn't have a drinking problem. I like many are hoping that Kane doesn't in fact have a drinking problem and can have a great season going forward, next season. Kane is one of the rising young American hockey stars, that will hopefully be representing the US soon - especially if the Olympic allows the NHL stars to play in the 2014 Olympics again. 

Players perspective

Here is a players perspective on the present labor dispute... I think he is right the players could really stand to lose a lot if the owners don't budge on their demands - it's possible they might not budge at all. I also think that the owners are trying to break the players union or at least make it less powerful...

CBC Sports --- ally, what can players do? If owners want to stand pat, eventually players would be forced to cave, or take their chances with another league. (Not going to happen. Ever.) We are hockey players, and that’s all we really want to do.

Players aren’t trying to gouge anyone. Really, how can they? There is nothing to be gained from a player’s perspective. At least nothing that is worth arguing over given the shape our game is in. Players were raked over the coals in the last CBA negotiation and we came out with our heads above water. The NHLPA membership as a whole, has survived and thrived under the resulting labour system. The owners had every opportunity to do the same.

Let me pose this question: When was the last time a player held out? Not once in the last seven years has a player under contract to an NHL team held out for more money (CBC note: Nick Boynton missed five games in 2005 and Kyle Turris missed the first two months of the 2011-12 NHL season). It’s not about greedy players. Players just want to play and be compensated fairly in accordance with the money our services generate.

What else can we do? Our careers do not span very long, so why not make as much as you can while the time is right? Contracts are offered by team general managers and honoured dutifully by players. No one holds a gun to anyone’s head during negotiation. So, why now, do we find ourselves in the same boat as 2004-2005?

Will the Preds match Philly?

Will Shea Weber stay a Predator or will be in the city of brotherly love next season? Do the Predators match the offer sheet or take the four first round draft choices and rebuild their defensive corps?

The Predators have until Wednesday to match the Flyers offer sheet. What would you do if you were the Predators general manager? If the Predators don't match the Flyers offer sheet they could run the risk of alienating their fan base. The Predators have already lost Ryan Suter to the Minnesota Wild so their defensive corps are not as good as they were before July 1st.

Shea Weber tests Nashville Predators' commitment

It will be interesting to see if the Nashville Predators match the Philadelphia Flyers ridiculously high offer sheet or not. Also from reading various blogs and news stories the last couple of days, it also doesn’t really sound like Weber wants to stay in Nashville anymore.

I think this is a situation where the big market teams can absolutely bury the smaller market teams like Nashville. While it’s true that the teams all have the same salary cap – not all things are equal – teams like New York, Chicago and Philly have an advantage that some teams don’t have – these are teams with established histories that other teams are not able to match. These glamorous teams have more to offer than other teams that in some cases have never won much of anything.

If you add to that equation a team like Philly -  who in this case is able to give a lot of upfront money – it’s going to be hard and expensive for Nashville to match that offer sheet. The Predators could chose not to match the Philly’s outrageous offer and take the four draft picks and improve their team.

Josh Cooper, Tennessean.com --- Nashville has until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday to match the Flyers’ offer, which, according to a source, is $110 million over 14 years.

It does not sound as if Weber wants to return to Nashville. His contract will be second only to the $124 million deal signed by Washington’s Alex Ovechkin.

“I don’t think you sign an offer sheet unless you’re pointing in that one direction,” Jarrett Bousquet, Weber’s agent, told AM-1050 in Toronto. “He would like to play with the Philadelphia Flyers because we all feel he’s just another piece in the puzzle to take them to the next level, and he doesn’t want to go through a rebuilding process again.”

The first four years of the contract include $52 million in signing bonuses, according to a source. It’s unknown whether the Predators will be able to match the offer.

If Nashville matches the offer, Weber must re-sign with the Predators.

If the Predators don’t, they will lose their second top player after All-Star Ryan Suter signed with Minnesota on July 4.

After reading this story from Philly.com - it appears that Shea Weber would like to be a member of the Philadelphia Flyers and really doesn’t have any intention of staying with the Predators. The offer that Weber signed is also lock-out proof.

This $110 million offer is lockout-proof, meaning that Weber will earn $26 million between now and next July 1 whether a single puck is dropped in the NHL. He is due $56 million in the first 4 years of the deal.

Is the Big Sky and the WAC merging?

This is a story that is beginning to emerge on Big Sky Conference fan message boards and now the newspapers out west are beginning to pick up the story as well. Since UND is now in the Big Sky Conference, this could potentially affect North Dakota sports. The WAC was blown up last summer during conference re-alignment and is left with 4 remaining schools - NMSU, Idaho, Seattle, Denver - Boise State is headed to the Big West.

Jason Groves, Las Cruces Sun News - The Big Sky Conference has emerged as a potential lifeline for the dwindling Western Athletic Conference.

In a radio interview with a Boise radio station, Big Sky commissioner Doug Fullerton said his league is exploring a merger with the Western Athletic Conference that could save the WAC as a non-football league in 2013-14 while keeping two automatic qualifiers for the NCAA basketball tournament in the west.

"There may not be anything but it's something we need to look at before it (the WAC) goes black," Fullerton said.

WAC commissioner Jeff Hurd said on Thursday that a merger between the Big Sky and WAC is realistic, but still extremely preliminary.

"Doug and I led a commissioner's meeting in June in Chicago and it was an idea that originally he brought to my attention well before that," Hurd said. "I re-approached him in June with a different version. We both feel there is some merit to it."

Fullerton said New Mexico State has been slow to join the discussion in hopes of securing Mountain West, Conference USA or Sun Belt membership, whereas Idaho has had in-depth conversations with the Big Sky about merging certain Big Sky teams with the WAC for Olympic sports while Big Sky teams remain under the Big Sky umbrella for football - currently at the FCS level.

NMSU, Idaho, Seattle, Denver and Boise State are the remaining WAC schools for Olympic sports in 2013, but Boise State is expected to join the Big West before school starts in the fall.

NCHC ticket prices

s/t to Joe Paisley for posting this on his blog. David Drew the Beat writer for the Western Michigan University Bronco’s has the ticket prices for the future NCHC teams.

NCHC Season Ticket Prices for 2012-13
•Denver: $360 - $624
•Miami: $275 - $565
•Nebraska-Omaha: $235 - $415
•Colorado College: $149 - $409
•Minnesota-Duluth: $400
•St. Cloud State: $325 - $400
•North Dakota: $390
•Western Michigan: $190 - $210

The ticket prices for the UND season tickets also requires a donation to the Champions Club.

Season Tickets
Regular price UND faculty/staff price
$390 $315
North Dakota Men's Hockey season tickets require a Champions Club membership. Find out more information about the Champions Club contact Josh Morton, executive director of the Fighting Sioux Club, at 701-777-4216.

We currently have a waiting list to get Men's Hockey season tickets for the 2012-2013 Hockey Season. To get on the Waiting List for Season Tickets contact Dexter Albrecht, Director of Ticket Sales & Promotions at 701-777-4582, or e-mail at dexter.k.albrecht@athletics.und.edu.

Blues sign T.J. Oshie to five year deal - avoids arbitration

St. Louis Blue fans can rest easy, now that the Blue have signed "one" of their leading scorers former Fighting Sioux forward T.J. Oshie to a new five year deal. Last season, Oshie tied for the team lead with 54 points.

With the signing, Oshie also avoids having to go to an arbitration hearing that was scheduled for Friday.  According to Andy Strickland, beat writer for the St Louis Blues, Oshie's salary is worth 4.175 a season for five years for 20.875 million dollars. That's a pretty healthy raise for Oshie who had signed a one year deal last summer that paid him $2,350,000.

Hockey Prospectus on Brock Nelson and Danny Kristo

Corey Pronman a writer that has a NHL prospects page did a review on Former Fighting Sioux forward Brock Nelson and current Fighting Sioux forward Danny Kristo. Here is what Pronman had to say about Brock Nelson.

---

3. Brock Nelson, Center
2010-11 Ranking: Unranked
Date of birth: 10/15/1991
Age: 20
Height: 6'4''
Weight: 192
Shoots: Left
Statistics: 42 GP, 28 G, 47 P (Univ. of North Dakota-WCHA)
Acquired: First round, 30th overall in 2010 by New York Islanders

The Good: According to many scouts, Nelson was one of the best players in college hockey this year after taking big steps forward in his development. He really grew into his frame and projects as a legit high-end physical player due to his size, strength level, and willingness to use his body. He's a smart defensive player who showed very advanced awareness in his own end. Nelson's best offensive trait is his hockey sense, as he has good vision and overall offensive instincts to combine with solid puck skills. He looks like a do-it-all forward who can play center or wing, log tough minutes, and still score at the top level.

The Bad: His skating has improved, at times flashing pro-average but more improvement in that area could help. Nelson has no glaring hole, but he also lacks any true wow-caliber tool.

Projection: He could be a good second-line center who can also check top players.

---

Here is what Pronman had to say about Danny Kristo – based on what he has said here I do believe that it’s a pretty accurate assessment.

---

4. Danny Kristo, Right Wing
2010-11 Ranking: 7th
Date of birth: 06/18/1990
Age: 22
Height: 5'11''
Weight: 188
Shoots: Right
Statistics: 42 GP, 19 G, 45 P (University of North Dakota-WCHA)
Acquired: Second round, 56th overall in 2008 by Montreal

The Good: Kristo rebounded from a disappointing sophomore year with a much stronger junior season, looking much more reminiscent of the player scouts saw during his U-20 years. Kristo arguably is a high-end skater, although I didn't always see that level this season, with a great stride and an effortless ability to hit a dangerous top gear. He's also a good puck-handler who on occasion shows plus ability, but this year the extra element I saw from Kristo was making a lot of above-average if not high-end passes. He's also a gritty player who works hard in the physical areas and can be effective as a penalty killer.

The Bad: Kristo's body is his major issue, as it hasn't developed as one would hope and he needs a boat load of strength to excel as a pro. He also forces bad plays still but not as much as prior years.

Projection: He could be a decent second-line winger.

---

Shea Weber agrees to offer sheet from Philly

Reminiscent of the Toronto Maple Leafs general Manager Brian Bruke making an offer sheet to former Boston Bruins forward Phil Kessel –the Philadelphia Flyers have made an huge offer to Nashville Predator defenseman Shea Weber which he has accepted. Now the ball is in the Predators court – If I was them I would take the four first round draft choices.

ESPN.com --- The Philadelphia Flyers have signed star defenseman Shea Weber to a 14-year offer sheet worth upwards of $100 million, a source confirmed to ESPN.com. The Flyers also confirmed the offer sheet, although the team didn't disclose terms.

A restricted free agent, Weber has spent his entire career with the Nashville Predators, who have seven days to match Philadelphia's offer, which was first reported by TSN.

If the Predators decide not to match the offer, they would receive four first-round draft picks from the Flyers, according to TSN.

Weber's departure would be a devastating blow to a Nashville team that already lost All-Star defenseman Ryan Suter, who signed a 13-year, $98 million deal with the Minnesota Wild.

Now; is anyone besides me rolling your eyes? Seriously – the owners claim they need to reel in expenses and that they are bleeding money and then the Philadelphia Flyers go out and pull this bush league move. I just don’t take the owners seriously anymore or think that they have a leg to stand on. First they want to limit contract to 5 years – Weber’s deal is for 14 seasons – who knows what else is in this deal. The Nashville Predators have 7 days to match the Flyers offer sheet. You have to think that they won't be able to match this one.

If I was the Predators GM, I would take the four first round draft choices, while the Flyers won’t pick that high in the first round it could end up giving the Predators some decent players in the future and could give them something to trade if they want to move up in future drafts.

Here is a breakdown of the contract from Frank Seravalli Philly.com

According to Kypreos, the Flyers have structured the deal in a way that it may be impossible for Nashville to match. The breakdown would be as follows:

2012-13 (age 27): $1 million salary + $13 million signing bonus (league maximum $14M)
2013-14 (28): $1 million salary + $13 million signing bonus (league maximum $14M)
2014-15 (29): $1 million salary + $13 million signing bonus (league maximum $14M)
2015-16 (30): $1 million salary + $13 million signing bonus (league maximum $14M)
2016-17 (31): $4 million salary + $8 million signing bonus (total $12 million)
2017-18 (32): $4 million salary + $8 million signing bonus (total $12 million)
2018-19 (33): $6 million salary
2019-20 (34): $6 million salary
2020-21 (35): $6 million salary
2021-22 (36): $6 million salary
2022-23 (37): $3 million salary
2023-24 (38): $1 million salary
2024-25 (39): $1 million salary
2025-26 (40): $1 million salary
TOTAL: $110 million

Blast from the past... Parise's college choice

Today started out a little rough for me – it seemed like everything that could go wrong – did go wrong. So after sitting down for a few moments to collect my thoughts and while I was sitting on my couch monitoring twitter  this tweet (that is posted below) came across my twitter feed. Just for disclosure, the tweet in question was from a person that happens to be a Gopher hockey that I follow on twiter.com.

Being Johnny on the spot and not even really thinking about it very much, I replied back with this tweet, "You're not going to win a lot of friends with that tweet."

After thinking about it for minute – I typed "Herb Brooks told Zach Parise to go to UND” and then I did a search on Google.com – the article below written by John Gilbert was one of the results that came up during my search.

After thinking about it for a while – I decided that this was pretty much how I remembered the story. I would be willing to bet that others probably remember the same story from back in the day when Zach Parise was deciding on going to the University of North Dakota to play for the Fighting Sioux.

To be honest it's been a long time since Zach Parise played his collegiate hockey at UND, so time might have blurred the story line just a bit.

John Gilbert, Duluth Reader --- With them sitting up on the stage, I couldn’t resist asking them: “Have you two thought about the irony that right here, in the backyard of Gopher hockey, it’s taken a Fighting Sioux and a Badger to create the biggest press conference in Minnesota Wild history?”

They got a good laugh out of that. “Hopefully everyone can forget both of us didn’t go to play for the Gophers,” Parise said. “That was about 10 years ago...I’ve moved on, obviously; hopefully everybody else can.” A decade ago, in their college days, Parise was a star center for North Dakota, and Sutor was a defensive stalwart for the University of Wisconsin.

There was a bit of a Twin Cities controversy about Parise, who played for a prep-school program run by his dad, J.P. Parise, at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, and was pursued by all sorts of colleges. The word out of Grand Forks was that Herb Brooks had recommended Parise go to North Dakota. Brooks thought that was a bit of Sioux-boosterism, and told me that he discussed the matter with J.P., the popular former North Star who served as Herbie’s coach for that one long and injury-filled season with the North Stars. Brooks was less than thrilled that the Gophers had veered away from the all-Minnesota solidarity he had helped generate, but he said he advised the Parises that there were a lot of good colleges out there. Brooks told me he added something to the effect that, “if you want to go into business, go to Harvard; if you want to be a hockey player, go to North Dakota...”

None of this really matters any more because Zach Parise is back in the "State of Hockey" and ready to start his career with the Minnesota Wild – but at least for Sioux fans we can beam with pride because we know that Parise was one of us – for two seasons.  

Cory Schneider, 'we’re not panicking right now'

This is what former Boston College Eagle All-American goalie Cory Schneider had to say about the current CBA negotiations. Schneider is part of the 30+ members of the players' bargaining committee.Things haven't changed Cory is still cool as a cucumber.

“I think the only thing I can say is it’s a first offer,” Schneider told Papp via phone from his offseason home near Boston. “It’s a starting point. We’re going to consider it and figure out what our counter-proposal is going to be. Yes, it is a little shocking when you first look at it but, again, that’s how negotiations work. You aim high and then try to move back from there.

“There is going to have to be a lot of give and take for us to come to an agreement. So we’re not too worried and we’re not panicking right now. We’re just going to take it one meeting at a time.”

Schneider added that it was far too early to assume another lockout was inevitable based on the league’s first proposal, with training camps not slated to open for another two months and the regular season almost three months away. “There is still plenty of time,” he remarked. “I mean, we’re not thinking in those terms yet. I think we’re both trying to get a deal done here, but it takes time and it takes negotiations.” [Elliot Pap, Vancouver Sun]

T.J. Oshie going to arbitration

Former Fighting Sioux forward T.J. Oshie looks like he will be going to salary arbitration this Friday if he is unable to agree to a new contract with the St. Louis Blues. Oshie is coming off a career year (19g-35a-54pts) where he tied for the team lead in points with former Minnesota State University Mankato Maverick David Backes (24g-30a-54pts).

Jeremy Rutherford, stltoday.com --- In a sign that the Blues aren't expecting to reach a contract extension with forward T.J. Oshie before Friday's arbitration case, general manager Doug Armstrong is headed to Toronto on Tuesday three days in advance of the hearing.

"We're going to Toronto to work with our counsel on preparing for the case," Armstrong said Monday.

Oshie was one of 16 restricted free agents who filed for salary arbitration July 5, but since then seven players, including the Blues' David Perron, have re-signed extensions with their current club.

The Blues and Oshie's agent, Matt Oates, could still reach a resolution before Friday's hearing, but are now down to just three days of potential negotiations before an arbitrator hears the case.

In a text message to the Post-Dispatch on Monday, Oates indicated that he was gearing up for Friday's hearing but added that he was "open and looking to continue talking."

With the Wild picking up Ryan Suter and Zach Parise - some fans have suggest to me that the Minnesota Wild should go after T.J. Oshie and try to sign him to a contract.

While I do think that Oshie would look really good in a Wild uniform, I don't know if the Wild could afford to lose a bunch of draft picks if they signed Oshie to an offer sheet. It would be counter productive - based on how good the Wild have drafted lately. The Wild are also up against the cap with the signings of Parise and Suter. I also don't see the Blues wanting to lose Oshie, who is one of the faces of their organization.

Labor talks to resume Wednesday

There is still time to work things out and not time to panic yet - this is just the beginning of the negotiations. The regular season doesn't start until October 11, 2012.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The NHL and the NHL Players' Association are set to resume labor talks on Wednesday at the league offices in New York.

Total revenue of the league's operations is the biggest sticking point right now, and it's an important one. The players like their cut right now. The owners don't.

The two sides met last Friday in another round of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement before the current one expires on Sept. 15.

There were multiple reports coming out of the last round of talks that the owners' offer included players' hockey-related revenues get slashed from 57 percent to 46 percent. It also was reported that players would be forced to wait 10 years before becoming unrestricted free agents and that contracts would be limited to five years -- a major change considering Zach Parise and fellow blue-chip free agent Ryan Suter decided to sign matching 13-year, $98 million contracts with the Minnesota Wild.

NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly are among those meeting Wednesday. The two sides have regularly met since opening talks June 29 in a bid to reach a new collective bargaining agreement.

The Kitchener Rangers sue the Michigan Daily

Well the big bad Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League have finally sued The Michigan Daily newspaper. Wow!

Sunaya Sapurji, Yahoo! Sports --- Herschel Fink, the lawyer representing the University of Michigan student paper and reporter Matt Slovin, confirmed to Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday that his clients had both been served with libel notices.

“It’s really disturbing to me what the Rangers are doing and it’s bullying,” said Fink. “It’s bullying a student newspaper and student journalists who are reporting on a legitimate subject of public interest, particularly in the public interest of those who follow hockey.”

The Rangers are suing The Daily over a story published on July 2 in which Slovin reported - based on an anonymous OHL source -- that Winnipeg Jets prospect Jacob Trouba had been offered $200,000 in lieu of an education package to play in the Ontario Hockey League this season. Such a payment would contravene the OHL’s rules pertaining to impermissible benefits. The Rangers hold the Canadian Hockey League rights to the standout defenceman, though he has been steadfast in his commitment to attend the University of Michigan and play hockey for the Wolverines.

On July 13th, Herschel Fink the lawyer that is representing The Michigan Daily and Matt Slovin in this frivolous lawsuit was on Toronto's Sports Net 590 the fan and you can listen to the interview by Matt Brown on this link provided. [Click to listen]

The Kitchener Rangers must really be proud of themselves.

Really! I am being serious, the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League have sued a college newspaper because they disagreed with a story that The Michigan Daily wrote and published in their newspaper. So what is the message here? When you don't like the story that was written in a newspaper you sue the author of the article? Why? I do think this law suit is about getting the CHL's honor back and that the Rangers are a proxy in this fight against the NCAA- especially after last summer when the former head of College Hockey INC Paul Kelly told the Boston Globe that the CHL offered players that had committed to College Hockey teams large sums of money to de-commit and have their kid come play for their team.

“As much as the CHL denies it, there are still instances where money is being paid to the family to lure kids away and de-commit from colleges,’’ Kelly said. “It’s off the books, under the table, whatever you want to call it. If your dad is a fisherman, an out-of-work machinist, or a farmer, and a CHL program comes along and offers you $300,000 in cash, it’s tough for these families not to accept that type of proposal.’’

It will be very interesting to see where this story ends up - Chris Peters of the United States of hookey has a good run down of the situation.