Subban Remains Unsigned

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P.K. Subban is still a restricted free agent without a contract. The Hab’s defenseman isn’t saying anything about his contract negotiations either.

“I’ll answer one question about the negotiation,” Subban told a media scrum at Royal Montreal Golf Club.“It’s been kept pretty quiet the whole time and it’s going to remain that way until a deal is done.” (Brenda, Branswell, Habs Inside/Out)

“As of right now today I’m sitting here and trying to just enjoy the day. Just not thinking about anything,” he said. Apparently, Subban wants to remain a Hab for life.

"Obviously I remain adamant on remaining in Montreal and being a Montreal Canadien, and not just for a long time but hopefully for the rest of my career, and be a lifer there," Subban told Breakfast Television in Toronto earlier this week. "I really enjoy playing there." (NHL.COM)

It looks like Subban could get one of the most lucrative contracts in the Montreal Canadiens history.

We're talking, of course, about P.K. Subban and what's sure to be the most lucrative deal in franchise history. One that will likely bring the defenseman $10 million a season—or more—at some point during the agreement. (Allan Muir, Sports Illustrated)

How much is P.K. Subban worth?

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That's the question of the summer, how much is P.K. Subban going to get paid. Show him the money. I am thinking between eight and 10 million dollars. All we know is, Subban is going to get paid, that's a fact Jack. I think he's going to be filthy rich. Whether you like him or not, Subban is the face of the Montreal Canadiens. In my opinion, he's also the best player on their team.

Allan Muir, Sports Illustrated -- A crazy amount of money? Sure is. But then Subban is a crazy, unique talent.

The 25-year-old blueliner is coming off a bridge deal that earned him $3.75 million last season with a $2.875 million cap hit. It was an absurd bargain won by Bergevin at a time when cap issues—as well as concerns about Subban's defensive play and propensity for being a loose cannon—were used to deflate the price.

Those issues aren't in play now. A Norris Trophy winner in 2013, Subban has emerged as a player without peer. A master of possession, he can take control of a game at will with his speed, courage and creativity, and in a fashion that no contemporary can match.

Subban's talent makes him the heart of the Canadiens, but it's his swagger that makes him the team's soul. He's not just a player. He's an entertainer, a throwback to the days of Yvan Cournoyer, Guy Lafleur and Steve Shutt. Subban may be Ontario-born, but he's a Flying Frenchman through and through.

Look who showed up at the office today. Think he would rather sign something else this week. @PKSubban1 pic.twitter.com/fs3uUbMBUf
— Scott Moore (@MooreScottmoore) July 24, 2014

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2015 Frozen Four Logo

Not a big fan of this one. Looks like NDSU is hosting the Frozen Four. Thoughts on this logo?

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Nick Schmaltz impresses Chicago Blackhawks

Schmaltz leaves strong first impression http://t.co/cnmgh786tP
— ESPN Chicago (@ESPNChiHawks) July 24, 2014

While he may not be the second coming of Jonathan Toews, not many are, soon-to-be UND freshman forward Nick Schmaltz impressed the Chicago Blackhawks brass with his efforts during a recent development camp.

Scott Powers, ESPNChicago.com --- To eliminate that risk, the Blackhawks could look to sign those college prospects earlier. They could attempt to sway their top top-tier college players to leave after their sophomore or junior seasons and sign them to entry-level contracts. They have done this before with players such as Jonathan Toews and Nick Leddy.

The Blackhawks already appear to have a handful of players whom they might consider signing prior to their senior seasons. Forwards John Hayden, Vincent Hinostroza and Anthony Louis are coming off productive freshman seasons and continued to impress at last week's prospect camp. Tyler Motte didn't attend the camp, but he also had a strong freshman season. Nick Schmaltz, the Blackhawks' 2014 first-round pick, also played well in the camp and will be a freshman next year.

That being said, it doesn't appear that the Blackhawks are going to rush him to sign an NHL contract, either.

Scott Powers, ESPNChicago.com --- Blackhawks amateur scouting director Mark Kelley did a majority of the evaluating of the 6-foot, 172-pound Schmaltz and had him high on the list of the offensively-skilled players in the NHL draft. One of Schmaltz’s skills especially stood out to Kelley.

“His hands, they’re fast,” Kelley said at the NHL draft.

Schmaltz isn’t a finished product, and that also attracted the Blackhawks to him. The Blackhawks weren’t looking for someone in the first round they could rush to the NHL. They sought someone with a high ceiling, but who would need time to get there.

New York Times, N.C.A.A. Players’ Winning Streak, Off the Field

This article is a must read, the last paragraph should make things a little more clear for you. The big school in division I athletics are going to be making their own rules. It will be interesting to see if this has any effect on college hockey.

Marc Tracy, New York Times -- The N.C.A.A., the Big 5 conferences and a few other universities have seemingly begun to retreat.

In April, weeks after the star point guard Shabazz Napier of Connecticut complained during the Final Four that there were “nights that I go to bed and I’m starving,” the N.C.A.A. changed its rules to allow universities to provide unlimited meals to competing students. (The N.C.A.A. said the change had been in the works for some time.)

The N.C.A.A.’s president, Mark Emmert, testified this month before a Senate committee investigating student-athletes’ well-being. While defending the current model generally, Emmert acknowledged several concerns expressed by the senators. He said he supported guaranteed four-year scholarships.

Last week, the N.C.A.A. released a revised governance proposal that, if approved by its board of directors in August, would make it easier for the Big 5 conferences — the A.C.C., the Big Ten, the Big 12, the Pac-12 and the Southeastern Conference — to make their own rules.

New York Times, Spartan Hockey Helmets Going Under Microscope

Casque de hockey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is an interesting read about hockey helmets.

Jeff Z. Klein, New York Times — Hockey helmets may be on the verge of a radical makeover, as scientists and engineers at Virginia Tech prepare a rating system that measures each brand’s and model’s ability to reduce the risk of concussion.

“After football, hockey is the sport that produces the highest rate of concussion,” said Dr. Stefan M. Duma, a Virginia Tech professor and the head of the university’s biomedical engineering department. “We want to produce a mechanism to try and reduce that risk of concussion.”

That mechanism is a five-point rating scale called the STAR system, which the Virginia Tech football team began applying to its helmets in 2011. While there is still disagreement on whether concussions can be reduced by improving helmets, the football rating system quickly became influential, leading manufacturers to substantially increase internal padding. Sales for five-star football helmets have soared, and those for low-rated helmets plunged.

As a former football player, I have always often wondered about difference between football helmets and hockey helmets. It's obvious that hockey helmets are a lot thinner and lighter than football helmets. Both sports (hockey and football) are extremely physical and both sports have a lot of high impact collisions. It will be interesting to see how the various hockey helmets are ranked.

Virginia Tech engineers cut a hockey helmet and a five-star football helmet in half to show the contrast. The hockey helmet contained two thin layers of relatively rigid padding, but the football helmet had three thick layers of soft padding. The greater cushioning inside the football helmet is designed to slow the acceleration of the brain after a strong impact, thus lessening the risk of concussion.

NCAA Hockey: Expanded video replay criteria approved for men's, women's hockey

An ice hockey referee signals a penalty for high sticking. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here are some of the changes to come down from the NCAA Ice Hockey Rules Committee.

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved several changes to the criteria for allowing video replay in men’s and women’s ice hockey, effective for the 2014-15 season.

The replay changes were recommended by the Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey Rules Committee during its meeting in June as part of a number  of recommendations intended to improve the game and were circulated to coaches and conferences for comment prior to PROP’s approval.

The added scenarios are:

• Goals may be reviewed to determine if they are scored before a penalty occurred.

• If an offsides or too many men on the ice penalty is missed and a goal is scored, the play may be reviewed if the puck remains in the offensive zone after the missed infraction. If the puck leaves the attacking zone, the offsides or too many men on the ice penalty is no longer reviewable.This replaces the previous wording that only allowed a review if the missed play directly led to a goal.

• It was clarified that the video used for replays may come from any source that is available to the game officials. Previously, the video used was required to come from a television broadcast.

Former NHL Tough Guy confesses to robbing two banks in Quebec

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This is one of the stories that's making rounds right now. I guess you never know who's playing on the home town team. Cote played in 105 NHL games and scored (1g-2a—3pts). Cote's last season in the NHL was 2000-01.

Trudie Mason, CJAD News -- A former NHL player has been sent to prison for 30 months after confessing to a pair of bank robberies on the South Shore.

39-year old Patrick Cote caught the eye of police in May when the car he was driving broke down in Candiac. When the patrol officers realized the car had been reported stolen in Ontario, they took Cote to the station for questioning.

That's when he admitted to investigators that he'd robbed a CIBC branch in Brossard in May and a Laurentian Bank in Saint Constant a few days later.

Former Predators enforcer Patrick Cote sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to two bank heists. http://t.co/1ghMbtgk33
— Jason Kay (@JKTHN) July 23, 2014

Minnesota Wild's NBC TV Schedule.

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The Minnesota Wild are going to have 11 games broadcast on NBC Sports Network this season. 

Full Wild National Broadcast Schedule (all times CT):
Oct. 9 — vs. Colorado, 8pm
Oct. 28 — at Boston, 6pm
Dec. 17 — vs. Boston, 7pm
Jan. 6 — vs. Sharks, 7pm
Jan. 11 — at Chicago, 7pm
Jan. 13 — at Pittsburgh, 6pm
Feb. 3 — vs. Chicago, 7pm
Feb. 22 — vs. Dallas, 7pm
Feb. 26 — at Nashville, 7:30pm
Apr. 7 — at Chicago, 7:30pm
Apr. 11 — at St. Louis, 2pm/6:30pm*

UND Hockey: Popular anthem singer Lindquist retained full-time (Video)

This is very good news and a smart move by UND. Mark Lindquist sang a few national anthems last year and he was simply amazing.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – UND Athletics and the Ralph Engelstad Arena are pleased to announce that Mark J. Lindquist has been retained as the full-time national anthem singer at UND men’s hockey games for the 2014-15 season. 

Lindquist’s talents were on display at multiple UND Athletics events during the 2013-14 season and his rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” has become an anticipated portion of the North Dakota hockey game experience. With a significant amount of positive feedback from fans, as well as the desire to add to the unique experience of UND men’s hockey games at “The Ralph,” the decision was made to ensure a consistent performance of the national anthem.

Lindquist is a nationally-recognized speaker and world-touring entertainer who has performed live for over a half-a-million people throughout his career. As an actor, he has appeared in ABC’s “Lost,” CBS’ “Hawaii Five-O” and the Universal Studios movie “Battleship.” 

Currently, Mark travels the country performing the national anthem for collegiate and professional sports teams, delivers keynote addresses for businesses, associations, conferences and school assemblies, as well as educational financial seminars in cities across America. 

This summer, Mark has performed at the College World Series and will be performing at Fargo Redhawks and Minnesota Twins games in July, as well as for the Los Angeles Dodgers in August.

“It's such an honor to become a consistent part of such a storied hockey program. The national anthem is my favorite song to sing and I am proud to bring my rendition to UND Athletics and the Ralph Engelstad Arena,” said Lindquist.

Lindquist makes his home in Fargo, N.D., and co-founded Breath Is Limited Motivational Speaking LLC as his way of bringing a message of hope, passion, perseverance and joy to people all over the world (www.BreathIsLimited.com). He is also a partner at The 7 Mindsets out of Atlanta, Ga. 

Lindquist is a former sergeant in the United States Air Force and an Afghanistan war veteran who grew up in Ortonville, Minn.

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Vanek connected in federal gambling investigation

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This story just broke this afternoon. I hoping this turns out to be nothing.

Russon's Rants --- WHEC-TV in Rochester, N.Y. is reporting (and has video) that recently-signed Wild winger and former Buffalo Sabre and Rochester Amerk Thomas Vanek was in federal court today in upstate New York as part of an ongoing gambling investigation.

According to the station, Vanek's appearance stems from the June arrest of three owners/managers of the Marina Restaurant and Bar in Charlotte, N.Y. on gambling and money laundering charges. The three men were allegedly conducting an illegal gambling business out of the bar since January 2012 (see above links and this article).

The TV station reports, "Vanek is not charged with any crime and he voluntarily came to the federal court building with his lawyer."

In a statement sent to me by Vanek's agent Steve Bartlett, Vanek said, "Representatives of the U.S. Federal Government have asked for my cooperation in an investigation. I am not the subject of any investigation or prosecution. I will fully cooperate with the U.S. Federal authorities in their investigation or in any proceedings arising out of it."

Red Wings to get $650 million arena

If you're a Detroit Red Wings fan, you've got to be pretty happy today. They're getting a shiny new arena. They will begin constructing it this September, with the ground breaking.

$650 million Detroit Red Wings arena and district plan is out and I found out @yingyangtwins are coming to Hamtramck in September! #bonus!
— Eric Lacy (@EricLacy) July 21, 2014

Detroit Red Wings arena plan could save two historic, blighted Cass Corridor 1920s-style hotels http://t.co/trJXufmMKc via @mlive
— Eric Lacy (@EricLacy) July 20, 2014

Grand Forks Herald, 'UND moving gingerly toward a new nickname'

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I would have commented on this story earlier, but I have been on vacation and I just finished up a project that I was working on.

So it begins. We knew that this day was coming. I am leery, and I am also worried that my favorite college teams are going to end up with a stupid nickname that none of us can really embrace. My head is going to explode "if" UND becomes the Sun Dogs.

Anna Burleson, Grand Forks Herald -- UND is allowed by law to pick a new moniker after January 2015, but after several racially charged incidents on campus, President Robert Kelley has been pressured to take concrete steps and move away from the Fighting Sioux nickname.

“In the minds of many, many people it’s still an issue, it’s still problematic, and I understand that,” Kelley said in May. “I’m not blind to it and I get it. But it is retired officially, so now we’ve got the next step.”

This next step will mean consulting with stakeholders — students, children, residents, faculty, staff and alumni — and laying out the steps the university will take in picking a new nickname.

“We don’t have a process yet but what we’re doing is preparing to create a process,” UND spokesman Peter Johnson said.

I also don’t know if the legislature will be able to extend the deadline to 2017, that will be a story all by itself. If UND can’t be the Fighting Sioux, which they can't, I would rather have no nickname at all. The past season, having no nickname, at all, kind of grew on me. I do like the fact the alumni are going to be part of the process in picking the new nickname. Now, lets just hope the right alumni are selected.

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Oshie sporting the #CAWLIDGEHAWKEY shirt

Hey, @OSH74. I used my anchoring powers to get your shootout goal on Sportscenter tonight #Ferda #NOW #saucypaws pic.twitter.com/ZpRLJbir8M
— John Buccigross (@Buccigross) July 18, 2014

Tyler Seguin goes golfing

s/t to Puck Daddy. Don't try this at home folks. Tyler Seguin let a fan hit a golf ball off of his groin.

After a year I'm back on twitter just in time to share my golf tournament coming up on Thursday. Visit http://t.co/KtohxRFtEc for more
— Tyler Seguin (@tseguinofficial) July 15, 2014

Score, Six players who will never win a Stanley Cup

Jarome Iginla and 5 other players who will never win a Stanley Cup. http://t.co/OjqYATTn0U pic.twitter.com/MQIWcT8y12
— theScore (@theScore) July 17, 2014

Interesting list by the Score. Noticed Phil Kessel and Alex Ovechkin are part of this list.

Gabe Guertler leaves Minnesota for the OHL

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Would be sophomore forward Gabe Guertler has left the University of Minnesota Hockey team for the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL. In 24 games with the Gophers, the Plantation, Florida native scored (2g-3a—5pts).

Last September, Guertler was arrested for driving will impaired, while operating his moped, by the University of Minnesota Police Department. Because of this incident, Guertler was suspended for by the Gophers coaching staff and didn’t play his first collegiate game until the November 8, 2014, game against Notre Dame. This is the second players in two season to leave Minnesota for the CHL.

EDIT: Per Jason Gonzalez of the Startribune, A tumultuous first year likely didn’t help in determining how Guertler fit into the Gophers’ future plans and he was given the option to take a release. That has dismissal  written all over it.

Drake Caggiula out to prove himself

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Soon to be junior UND forward Drake Caggiula recently attended the Buffalo Sabres development camp. From all accounts that I have read, it appears that the diminutive forward turned some heads in Buffalo. 

Last season, Caggiula was one of the more physical players in the UND lineup. During one of the media days, I asked Caggiula how much he weighed. Caggiula told me, that he weighed about 175 pounds. Of course I was skeptical. Looking at him, Caggiula looks more like he weighs 150 pounds. Though Caggiula is a small framed player, he plays more like he weighs 190 pounds.

Joe Ray, Beyond the Boards  – Because I didn’t get drafted, it adds a little more fuel to the fire as motivation for myself. I kind of use it to prove people wrong, like, ‘Well, maybe you should have drafted me.’ At this point, it’s over and free agent life isn’t too bad. And here I am at a development camp anyway. It all works out. I’ve just got to keep working hard to get better.

Being small, you’ve got to be strong and you’ve got to be heavy on the puck and all that. Going to college, that definitely gives me a little extra time to develop physically. Being a free agent right now and being a little bit smaller gives me more time to develop and set me up for a bit of a different future.

My freshman year was kind of up-and-down, and I thought last year – my sophomore year – I kind of stepped it up and became a lot more consistent. Obviously I want to do a little bit better than that this coming year and step into a big leadership role there, whether it’s with a letter or not.

Caggiula’s comments should excited UND fan’s going into this season. I think there's a good chance that Caggiula will have a breakout season this year. There were times last year that he was one of the better players on the ice. Caggiula is one of those players that has a lot of offensive imagination and he's able to free defenders with his speed and moves. I don't think a 20-goal season is out of the realm of possibility.

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Matheson to return to the Boston College Eagles

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The Boston College Eagles received some good news when Michael Matheson announced that he’s returning to the Eagles for his junior season. The Pointe-Claire, Quebec native played in 38 games for the Eagles last season, scoring (3g-18a—21pts).

Alain Poupart - NHL.com --- The Fellow defenseman Michael Matheson, the Panthers' first-round pick in 2012 (No. 23), had a strong outing in the same game, although he didn't score. He won't be in training camp with the Panthers two months from now, though, because he'll be preparing for his junior season at Boston College.

For Matheson, waiting one more season is simply part of the process.

"I have to go back there and work hard and make sure I develop my game so that I can get it to this level," Matheson said. "I just felt that I could develop more at BC and that I have some more developing to do there.

Crosby "might" need wrist surgery

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During the NHL Playoffs, people were asking what is wrong with Sidney Crosby. Especially, after th All-Star player underperformed during the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This revelation would explain a lot of things. Also, if Crosby is out for any amount of time this season, it could prove costly for the Penguins

Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -- Sidney Crosby isn't having arthroscopic surgery on his injured right wrist, after all.

Not yet, anyway.

But if the injections he has decided to receive in lieu of an operation don't have the desired effect, Crosby still could undergo surgery before training camp opens in September.

"If this treatment works, you avoid surgery and move on," Pat Brisson, who is Crosby's agent, said Tuesday. "If it doesn't, he will have to go that [surgical] route."

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, citing a source who requested anonymity, reported last Wednesday that Crosby was going to have surgery on his injured wrist "within the next few days."

Brisson confirmed that, as of July 8, "a couple of doctors [had] recommended the surgery," but said Crosby sought another opinion the next day and received yet another -- this one, from the doctor who suggested the injections -- Monday.