John Buccigross (@Buccigross) tweeted his college hockey top 10.
1-Minnesota
2-N.Dakota
3-Colgate
4-BC
5-Providence
6-Miami
7-St Cloud
8-Michigan
9-Ferris St
10-N'Eastern
Dave Feschuk, Toronto Star – At least, such was the gist of an anecdote Spott shared at a coaches’ clinic at which he was a guest speaker last month, this according to interviews with three minor-hockey coaches who were in attendance.
“Spotter said that when he went to Phil (with the breakout play), Phil said, I’m not doing it,” said one of the attendees, a former professional player.
Said another: “Spott was saying (that) these are the things I’ve got to deal with now that I’ve never had to deal with. In the AHL (where Spott coached last season with the Toronto Marlies), when you’re the coach what you say goes. Whereas now that I’m here (in the NHL), I’ve got a guy telling me: No. I’m not going to do that.”
The 46-year-old Spott told the group that he made Carlyle aware of the pushback he’d received from Kessel, 26, who signed an eight-year contract extension worth about $64 million last season.
“Spott said Carlyle’s attitude was that we’re fired before (Kessel is) out of here, the hierarchy doesn’t want to deal with Phil. He scores 30 (goals) a year and that’s all they want,” said one of the attendees. “(Spott said) Phil hates coaches. He hates Randy. He hates me and I don’t even know him yet.”
Laurence Heinen, Calgary Herald -- And the Calgary coaching staff is looking forward to seeing whether the former Okotoks Oiler can live up to his words.
“He’s got all the tools,” noted assistant coach Martin Gelinas. “He’s a good skater. He’s got a good shot. He’s a centreman that can take draws and win draws. Everything is there for him. He’s shown nice progression, so we’re excited to see him at camp.”
With a host of other players also vying to earn a coveted roster spot, Knight knows he’s going to have to be ready to compete once the players hit the ice.
“You look at the guys they’ve brought in and the guys they have returning, it’s going to be really competitive,” said Knight, who turned 24 on Sept. 10. “There’s not many spots open and there’s a lot of guys working for those spots. I think it’s good though. It’s a healthy competition where it’s going to push guys to be better. It’s definitely a good problem to have for training camp.”
DIVE RIGHT INI am serious about this, college and professional hockey have a problem with players that embellish calls to draw a penalty. It's time to expose the fraudsthat flail all over the ice and act like soccer players. Diving cheapens the game and is a form of cheating.
Daly, the NHL’s deputy commissioner, told the Daily News via email on Friday that the NHL’s new fines for players and coaches for excessive diving will be determined after each game by video review, regardless of the call on the ice. In other words, just because a player isn’t called for embellishment in a game doesn’t mean the league can’t charge him for it later. The NHL hasn’t determined whether it will publicize its decisions, Daly said.
Dan Rosen - NHL.com -- Nyquist, a Swede, figured out English is the only language players are allowed to use in the Red Wings dressing room.
"Yeah, and I learned that pretty quickly because sometimes I would ask something in Swedish and they would always answer me back in English and make sure I knew," Nyquist said. "I think it's a good rule. It's just respect for other guys. I think it's a big plus for our leadership. That's how they handle things. You learn pretty fast as a young guy what it means to be a Red Wing."
Nyquist, though, said he quickly felt at home in the Red Wings dressing room last season because he was surrounded by so many Swedes (defensemen Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson; forwards Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Daniel Alfredsson, Mikael Samuelsson, and Joakim Andersson; and goalie Jonas Gustavsson).
"It's in English only, though," he said. "When we're at the rink it's always in English. If I say something they'll be like, 'Hey, English.'"
Dan Rosen - NHL.com -- The players in the session, including Ottawa Senators center Jason Spezza, Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa and Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman John-Michael Liles, led an impassioned discussion on enforcing the diving/embellishment rule (Rule 64.1), [Colin] Campbell told NHL.com. He said the players want to distribute a list of divers around the League so it can be posted in all 30 dressing rooms and be delivered to the on-ice officials.According to Elliott Freedman of SportsNet.ca the NHL seems to be moving away from exposing the divers and frauds. Again, diving to draw a penalty is cheating and poor sportsmanship.
“They want to get [the list] out there,” Campbell said. “They want the player to be caught, whether it’s on the ice by the referee or by us on video. They are all tired of diving. The object is to make them stop eventually and, by doing that, they can get it out there around the League, embarrass them. The referees will know it, too, so the divers don’t get the benefit of the doubt.”
The first example the NHL showed in its diving video was Tomas Plekanec’s head-snap in the Eastern Conference Final. The league wasn’t so sure about publicly naming those warned or fined, but the players pressed for it. Montreal’s centre is going to be closely watched at the start of the season
Scott Cruickshank, Calgary Herald — They liked him. They liked him a lot.
So they wanted to avoid tipping their hand. No easy thing in a world as small as hockey’s.
To keep their degree of admiration hidden, they didn’t approach the player — not even once — leading up to the 2011 National Hockey League draft. And they took secrecy one step further by not talking to the boy’s junior coach, either.
Why? Because they knew that Peter Chiarelli, general manager of the Boston Bruins, had an ownership stake in the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints and, should they pick the brain of skipper Jim Montgomery, word of their interest could trickle back to Beantown.
But the Calgary Flames, with stealth, did their homework on Johnny Gaudreau.
Repeated viewings, of course. Also casual discussions with opposing coaches. These chats, by design, were kept lighthearted.
As NHL training camp approaches I want to suit up for the HABS so I can fight Chara & Lucic...
— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) September 15, 2014
Tony Gallagher, the Province -- Take, for instance, the changes on diving infractions. A player will now be fined $2,000 for his second infraction and $3,000 for the next one until a maximum is reached of $5,000 per dive. Getting this blight out of the game is a noble endeavour. It has become a total stain on soccer and hockey was beginning to get into that arena, at least with some players. But the cynic will clearly ask how any official can be certain a player is diving. For starters, some of these guys are great at what they do, and even in watching some of the alleged examples of diving that TSN showed to illustrate the problem, you couldn’t be dead certain something was a dive or simply a player getting his feet tangled up as he tried to turn.
And an official will have to determine this on the fly, sometimes from as far way as 50 feet or more.
Redskins' DeSean Jackson will not return vs. the Jaguars after suffering a shoulder injury. http://t.co/EqtjTOSuwb https://t.co/jENi9xJYpq
— theScore (@theScore) September 14, 2014
Ouch! RGIII looks like he going to be out for a while after he dislocated his ankle. As you can see, RGIII wasn't the only one that was injured this weekend. The list keeps growing as the day evolves.
The @Redskins announce @RGIII is being evaluated for a left ankle injury and his return is questionable.
— FOX Sports Live (@FOXSportsLive) September 14, 2014
Rams' Tavon Austin exits game vs. Buccaneers with a knee injury. His return is questionable. http://t.co/ZOZFCeBuGr pic.twitter.com/LH4N4NIxqS
— theScore (@theScore) September 14, 2014
Buccaneers' Gerald McCoy exits game vs. the Rams with a hand injury and will not return. http://t.co/cZNxtW7CMa pic.twitter.com/AeWQ31rqFv
— theScore (@theScore) September 14, 2014