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[hockeygod]

Slap Shot – News From the World of Hockey
NBC Brings “Science of N.H.L. Hockey” to TVs and Classrooms

CHRISTOPHER BOTTA, New York Times, January 25, 2012

NBC News and NBC Sports have produced a series of 10 educational segments called “Science of N.H.L. Hockey” that will make their debut during the NBC Sports Network’s coverage of the All-Star festivities this weekend.

The videos, which feature the N.H.L. players Matt Moulson, Pekka Rinne, Brenden Morrow, Erik Johnson and Jaroslav Halak, were made as a learning tool for teachers and students to use in the classroom. Created in conjunction with NBC Learn (the educational arm of NBC News), the N.H.L. and the National Science Foundation, the segments, which will be aligned to lesson plans and national and state education standards, are available to the public free of cost.

“Hockey is my lifelong sport of passion,” said Sam Flood, executive producer of NBC Sports. “To be able to help people understand how a slap shot takes off, that really excites me as a producer and as a hockey player. The segments have frame-by-frame breakdowns so viewers can really see and understand the science behind the movements.”

During the broadcast of the All-Star Skills Competition on NBC Sports Network on Saturday night, Flood plans to show the segment on the science of the slap shot before Zdeno Chara and the rest of the players take part in the Hardest Shot competition.

“Every kid wants to know how to get his or her slap shot in the upper right-hand corner,” Flood said. “They’ll see these pieces and say, ‘Oh, so that’s how you do it.’”

The video above features Moulson, the Islanders’ leading goal scorer, on Kinematics and the science of positioning, velocity and acceleration.

“We talked a lot about the game of hockey and how I thought things worked from my perspective in relation to different parts of science,” Moulson said. “Then when I got on the ice and filmed shots, I got to see a wide range of different cameras and results. Seeing everything in the slow-motion HD cameras, like the ice chips flying up from my skates in super slo-mo right after I shot it, was pretty neat.”

Other videos focus on passing the puck, making a save and stopping abruptly on the ice and analyze the science behind reflexes, reaction time and linear motion.

In each video, a scientist with the National Science Foundation explains a principle. The scientists are Edward Burger of Williams College, Irene Fonseca of Carnegie Mellon, Jim Gates of the University of Maryland, Robert Gehrz of the University of Minnesota and Patricia Shewokis of Drexel University.

Moulson and the other N.H.L. players describe how the principle applies to their respective positions. The videos also include game footage provided by the N.H.L. The lesson plans accompanying the videos will be provided by the National Science Teachers Association.

“Wayne Gretzky once said, ‘The only way a kid is going to practice is if it’s total fun for him… and it was for me,’” said Morris Aizenman, senior scientist for the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences. “This project with the N.H.L. and NBC continues our effort to make science total fun for students. We hope that students, after watching these videos, will also want to learn and practice science.”

The segments will be available on NBCLearn.com, NBCSports.com, Science360.com and NHL.com and will be broadcast on NHL Network and on arena scoreboards throughout the league.

“Science of N.H.L. Hockey” follows “Science of N.F.L. Football” and “Science of the Olympic Winter Games,” collections produced by NBC in recent years.

“The feedback on the Olympic and N.F.L. segments was through the roof,” said Soraya Gage, executive producer of NBC Learn. “We received so much great feedback, including letters from teachers and students, about the impact they made. With the recent launch of the NBC Sports Network and this weekend’s All-Star coverage, we believe the N.H.L. work is going to be our most successful collection yet.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

It’s time to kill the All-Star Game

Beverley Smith, Globe and Mail, Jan. 27, 2012

All across the country, hockey fans will be taking out the trash, moving furniture, walking the dog – anything but watching the NHL All-Star Game.

It’s a game that means nothing and puts people to sleep faster than a warm cup of milk. It features no slap shots, no hitting, no speed, nothing. Just don’t get hurt, is the motto. The passion of players is gone. It’s an exercise, nothing more, not even a skills contest. A skills contest would be better.

It’s time to kick the All-Star game to the curb.

And the Fantasy draft on Thursday night? Why on God’s icy earth would it be called a Fantasy draft when real people are picking real teams that will play in a televised game? Isn’t a fantasy draft a thing that fans do for fun, picking imaginary teams for themselves?

All over Canada, hockey fans will twiddle their thumbs through this weekend, with no real NHL fixes, and not even any NFL football. The All-Star break is a break in the action for spectators as well.

Give it up.

The “Fantasy” draft was a snore, as well, and not exactly riveting television. Bruins Captain Zdeno Chara picked a team of skill, including the controversial Tim Thomas, the spiciest part of the night. Ottawa Senators chief Daniel Alfredsson picked a host of fellow Swedes and Senators. The draft, for heaven’s sake, was modeled after kids picking teams in a road-hockey game, with all the favouritism and potential spitefulness that entails. Phil Kessel isn’t enamoured of it, suggesting it was time for a change of format.

Choosing teams is nice for fans, Kessel said, but not for players. Still, the hour-long show should have been half an hour. Perhaps they were trying to create suspense. It didn’t work.

And worst of all, the game is missing the league’s top two players: Sidney Crosby, who is still fighting concussion syndrome and a pouting Alexander Ovechkin, who took a three-game penalty for an illegal hit, and said his heart wasn’t in playing the All-Star Game.

His game is an aggressive one. It’s not All-Star material.

Nicklas Lidstrom, captain of an All-Star team a year ago, and popular Finn Teemu Selanne also declined invitations.

Isn’t that telling us something?

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Oilers plan to grow own success

TERRY JONES, QMI Agency, Jan 26 2012

OKLAHOMA CITY – Anybody can take Taylor Hall or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with a No. 1 pick in the draft.

The trick is to produce quality NHLers with the subsequent selections. And the trick to that is not only for Stu MacGregor and his team of amateur scouts to draft well, but for the organization to develop well, too.

The early Edmonton Oilers drafted unbelievably well, leading to five Stanley Cups, picking future Hall of Famers who bypassed the minors entirely. But the team has never excelled at development in all its years since in the NHL.

Now they're diving head-first into farming and growing their own.

So how is it working out so far?

Great, if you look at the standings, with the Oklahoma City Barons going into the weekend at 59 points, sitting first overall.

So-so if you dig a little deeper.

"As far as I'm concerned, we've done nothing yet," said senior director of development Billy Moores.

"But I'm hopeful. Very hopeful."

You could look at second-round draft choices and first-year pros Tyler Pitlick and Curtis Hamilton, and come to the quick conclusion that so-so is sugar-coating it.

Last year, it looked like head scout MacGregor may have hit home runs with those two as well as second-round pick Martin Marincin and Ryan Martindale, first pick of the third round.

First, let's deal with Pitlick and Hamilton.

Pitlick was the next best thing to a first-round draft pick, first in the second round in 2010 after Taylor Hall was selected first overall.

He has a mere four goals and nine points with a minus-seven on a first-place team of mostly plus players.

Hamilton was also selected in the second round of 2010, with the 48th pick. He has exactly the same stat line Ñ 34 games, four goals, five assists and nine points. Only difference is that he's a plus-one.

TRACKED WELL

These are two players who both were tracking very well in their final year of junior before making the jump to pro.

Pitlick, the 6-foot-2, 195-pounder produced 27 goals and 62 points in 56 games with the Medicine Hat Tigers last year. Hamilton finished fifth in the WHL in plus-minus with plus-48 and ranked tied for eighth in assists with 56 in a season that also produced 26 goals.

Both started slowly as pros, finding themselves as healthy scratches on occasion. But there is some evidence they're just now starting to make the adjustment to the AHL, with increased ice time lately.

" 'Push Up' is our organizational philosophy now," said Barons GM Bill Scott. "No one is getting ice time because they were picked in the first round or the second round. There's no entitlement.

"They both started with eight to 10 minutes a game and have been healthy scratches for games. Now they're up to 10 or 12."

Coach Todd Nelson believes they'll get there. And when they do, he hopes they'll be ready to stick and click.

"The Detroit Red Wings keep players in the AHL for two or three years. They let them mature here, so when they get them up there they stay there.

"These are two players projected to help the Oilers in the future. It might take them two or three years. They're making a lot of adjustments to a lot of things. They're living together, doing their own cooking, doing their own laundry for the first time in their lives."

They don't lack in skill.

"Pitlick, he's so fast. The way he can skate …

"He's had his ups and downs. But the last game he did a very good job supporting the puck.

"Hamilton is still a young player trying to figure out the league. He's our youngest player. He just turned 20.

"He's very intelligent and has a big body. He's starting to win battles on the walls. Before he was not," said Nelson.

"My perception is that they're making good progress now, earning their ice time, learning to train off the ice like pros and being away from their junior billets looking after themselves,” said Moores.

“It’s been tough,” said Pitlick. “It’s a difficult adjustment, playing against better players. It’s definitely a change from junior, where every chance they had, they’d get you out there. You expected to score and get points every night. Now it’s more that you’re hoping …

“But now it’s starting to go pretty well. Now I’m starting to have fun and enjoying the game. And the coaches have been awesome. They’re really good working with you. They’re really hands-on, more than in junior.”

Hamilton said it’s definitely an awakening.

“When you come out of junior, you’re a high-point guy. All of a sudden you’re not getting points. But it’s good for you. At the start of the year it was tough. Now I understand how hard this league is. I’ve learned a lot. And I’m in the lineup a lot more now.”

Marincin isn’t here. He’s still in junior, his point production having tailed off somewhat from a 14-goal, 56-point season last year to six goals and 22 points.

“Marincin is a very good example of discovering what we needed to get better at,” said Moores.

MORE RESOURCES

The Slovakia world junior defenceman who seemed to be regressing from his start to the season last year after he’d been drafted, was not only in a new country, he couldn’t speak English and was getting no help.

“We found two ladies in Prince George, Teresa and Linda, and they made some real good gains. We went to his billet with a nutritional program we felt he needed. They were wonderful. We met with his junior coach and set up a strength and conditioning program he needed,” said Moores of the player recently traded to Regina.

“He’s 6-foot-5 and 185 pounds. He needs to get stronger. He needs an off-season conditioning program. He’s an example of needing more resources.”

Then there’s Martindale, the 6-foot-3, 207-pound centre picked first in the third round who had 83 points including 34 goals and a plus-38 last year in junior. He should be here but is down in Stockton, with five goals and 14 assists, a definite disappointment. The Oilers are waiting to see him show them he’s hungry and that he wants it.

Philippe Cornet is the example of working for it.

Picked 133rd, the 21-year-old fifth-rounder found out Wednesday he’s been named a starter for Monday’s AHL All-Star game in Atlantic City.

“He wasn’t a big part of the team at the start of last year, But this is a guy who put in the work,” said Scott.

“His speed is at a much different level than last year. He didn’t have the speed to get there last year. Now he has another gear to his game. And he’s going to the tough areas of the ice,” added the Barons GM.

“He was in and out of the lineup a lot last year. But he grew as a player in February and March,” said Nelson.

“At the end of the season, we sat him down and talked to him about what he had to do in the summer, that he had to get an extra step and an extra gear. He worked hard to get that extra step. To get to the NHL he needs another step.”

Cornet said while they didn’t dress him for the first game this year, a 7-0 loss, they’ve kept their word about earning ice time and opportunity since.

“Since that first one, I haven’t missed a game,” said the team’s leading scorer with 20 goals.

“The ice time is good. I’m getting power-play time.

“This year I’ve improved a lot. It’s a huge improvement from where I was last year. I’m not at the level I want yet, but they can see I want to get better.”

He’s not likely to be Nugent-Hopkins or Taylor Hall. But he might get to play with them.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Councillor: Glendale flirting with financial disaster over Coyotes

David Shoalts, Globe and Mail, Jan. 27, 2012

If Glendale city council follows through on its plans to cough up yet another $25-million (all currency U.S.) to help finance the Phoenix Coyotes next season, it will be flirting with financial disaster, according to a dissident councillor.

Phil Lieberman, who opposes the subsidy for the NHL, which owns the Coyotes, says the city of 250,000 simply cannot afford it. Glendale has already paid the NHL $50-million over the last two years to cover some of the financially crippled team’s losses.

Lieberman is also skeptical about NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s statements on Thursday that there is a third party interested in buying the Coyotes and keeping them in Glendale. The only parties known to be interested at this point are two groups led by former San Jose Sharks president Greg Jamison and local Republican political fixer John Kaites. Glendale council is supposed to get an in-camera update on the negotiations Tuesday night but no progress is expected.

If the NHL cannot sell the team to someone willing to keep it in Arizona, the Coyotes will probably be moved this summer, with Quebec City as one of the candidates. However, Glendale council wants to head off a move by paying the NHL another $25-million. But there is a twist to the latest payment.

This time, the $25-million the NHL gets will be called a management fee for running Jobing.com Arena. However, Lieberman said it still amounts to subsidizing the Coyotes’ losses because it is an excessive payment compared to what other managers would charge to operate the arena.

Lieberman noted the city is already carrying a total debt of $1.13-billion “and I’m not going to vote for millions and millions we would hand away on top of that.” But the councillor noted Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs wants to give the $25-million to the NHL and has three votes she can count on among the seven-member council so the payment will likely be made if Bettman decides to keep the team in Glendale for the 2012-13 season if he cannot sell it.

Glendale is already in some financial difficulty because of the $50-million it’s paid out to the NHL. Moody’s Investors Service recently downgraded Glendale’s bond rating on $680-million of it total debt and blamed it on the NHL payments. This will make it more expensive for the city if it follows through on plans to refinance its debt.

Also, the city has to contend with a large drop in its general fund from $38.8-million in 2010 to $11.7-million in 2011. This fund pays for a large number of city services and Lieberman said by law, given the size of the city’s debt, the fund cannot legally remain that low.

Bettman brought up the alleged third party during his weekly radio show, which was broadcast from Ottawa, the site of Sunday’s NHL all-star game. He would not identify the group. Lieberman and NHL sources were skeptical about the prospects of another buyer surfacing this late in the game.

Lieberman said it’s his personal assumption “the NHL has not accepted the two [prospective buyers] I know of, Jamison or Kaites, because otherwise they would have been after us to lease the arena to one of them. They have not made any attempt to do that, so the only obvious conclusion is [Jamison and Kaites] do not qualify.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

The NHL is becoming a crazy business

ERIC DUHATSCHEK, Globe and Mail Update, Jan. 27, 2012

Last June, in a rational and thoroughly convincing explanation of why he was so anxious to land Jeff Carter from the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets’ general manager Scott Howson noted that there’d only been two No. 1 centres traded in the six years since the NHL lockout ended (Joe Thornton, from the Boston Bruins to the San Jose Sharks; and Brad Richards, from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Dallas Stars) before two more were moved on a single day before the 2011 entry draft. That shattered the NHL peace in a big meaningful way.

The Los Angeles Kings got the other one, by the way – Mike Richards, who was signed to a 12-year, $69-million contract by Philadelphia. Howson, by comparison, got off comparatively lightly in terms of the overall cash outlay – Carter’s contract was for a mere 11 years and $58-million, a reasonably cap-friendly number, even if it was a significant commitment in terms of the overall dollars.

Of course, the reason the Flyers were so anxious to move out all that money was so they could hand a lot more of it over to goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, who received $51-million from them spread over nine years. If you factor in the money Philadelphia paid Daniel Briere (eight years, $52-million), Kimmo Timmonen (six years, $38-million), Scott Hartnell (six years, $25.2-million) and Chris Pronger (five years, $31.25-million, to a player past the age of 35 when he signed), you can genuinely conclude that the Flyers contributed more to the NHL inflation rate than OPEC ever did to the general economic malaise back in the high-interest eighties (hey, if Tim Thomas can mix sports and monetary policy, so can we).

Now, some eight months after making the Carter deal, there is talk that the Blue Jackets would consider moving his rights, if they could find someone willing to take on the contract (and give up something of consequence in return, since Columbus surrendered two top-10 NHL entry draft picks to land his rights in the first place).

With the NHL about to start new collective bargaining talks with the players association some time after the all-star break, it bears asking the question: Is anybody really getting their money’s worth on these mega-year, mega-bucks contracts that commit team to player in a long-term relationship that invariably seems headed for the rocks sooner if not later?

Not that the NHL all-star game should act as the perfect referendum on money well spent, but consider this: Eight players are earning over $8-million this season, according to capgeek.com. Only two – Evgeni Malkin and Zdeno Chara – are playing in the all-star game. Alex Ovechkin would have made it three, had he not bowed out; and you’d have to think a healthy Sidney Crosby would be there as well. But think of some others: Brad Richards ($12-million), Vincent Lecavalier ($10-million), Bryzgalov ($10-million), Christian Ehrhoff ($10-million). Dany Heatley didn’t make it, nor did Duncan Keith nor Thornton nor Henrik Zetterberg nor Eric Staal nor Scott Gomez nor Rick Nash nor Anze Kopitar. What do they have in common? All are signed to contracts seven years or longer and earn $7-million or more on average. And the conundrum is, if the players underperform, or simply just aren’t a good fit, or by their play, give you a strong message that they’d really like to be somewhere else, how do you move all that money when so many teams are capped out?

Worse still, those sorts of forever-commitments put ownership in the awkward position that Washington was in this week when both the owner, Ted Leonsis, and the general manager George McPhee, came rushing to Ovechkin’s defence when he decided to drop out of the All-Star game, after a perfectly legitimate decision by the NHL’s player safety department, to suspend the Capitals’ captain for three games for leaving his feet to hit Pittsburgh’s Zbynek Michalek in the head.

Hello.

Didn’t the Caps get the memo? Half the league is currently missing in action because of concussions. Hits to the head are bad. They damage brain cells. They may cause significant health issues down the road.

The league is trying to minimize these blows so that its star players are actually in the lineup on a more regular basis, instead of being on the sidelines, seeing stars, and otherwise not functioning properly. If everybody exempts their own players from the new standards that the league is trying to impose, nobody wins – and everybody loses. But with so much money committed to Ovechkin, the Caps are not about to hurt his hurt feelings any further by noting that everything else about the hit on Michalek was fine, but Alex – please, please, please – don’t leave your feet to launch yourself like a missile into him. That’s a no-no in 2012. That would be the right message to send. But right now, the desire to keep Ovechkin happy trumps all, a function of committing too many dollars for too many years to a player, so you end up coddling them, and do whatever it takes to prevent the sort of week-long pouts that has the Blue Jackets thinking about what to do with Carter after going to such trouble to land him in the first place. What a crazy business the NHL is becoming.

DUCKS QUACKING: The Anaheim Ducks entered the all-star break on an 8-1-1 run and have been one of the most dangerous teams in the league ever since general manager Bob Murray read his players the riot act and threatened to move everybody but Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu (both of whom are protected by no-trade clauses).

The problem with the Ducks is that they dug themselves too big a hole early, so that they look like this year’s version of either the 2010-11 New Jersey Devils or the Calgary Flames – two teams that were red hot in the second half of last year, but were so far gone early that even their big push didn’t result in a playoff spot. But the Ducks are true believers, at least Selanne is. And by the way, he has no interest in moving to another team – pretender, contender or the Winnipeg Jets – at the trading deadline, under any circumstances. Selanne said that in a conversation the other day, and then went on to assert: “The thing is, I still feel we can make it. This is a great league when we play well.” Selanne went on to note that past the all-star break, “there are still 30 games left. That’s a lot of hockey if you can stay hot and healthy for a while.

“This is almost like a very familiar situation. We are always behind the eight-ball at Christmas and we start climbing. Hopefully, this is the case too. If this type of team makes the playoffs, that confidence, that building … who knows? You never know. That’s a new world. That’s a new hockey world then.”

In 11 games in January, the Ducks offence roared to life, scoring 37 goals, the second-highest goals-per-game average in the NHL behind Boston, at 3.83. Selanne, meanwhile, has already this season passed Mats Sundin, Guy Lafleur, Brendan Shanahan, Johnny Bucyk and Mike Modano on the NHL’s all-time points-scoring list, and now sits at No. 22 overall, six points behind Brett Hull, who is at 1,391.

Barring injury, he should be able to reel in Luc Robitaille and Jari Kurri before season’s end. Passing Kurri, an idol of his growing up, would be a big deal and also enable him to get to 1,400 career points, something Kurri just failed to do (1,398). The way Selanne, 41, Nick Lidstrom, 41, and Daniel Alfredsson, 39, are all playing this year, you’d have to think there’s a chance all three will play on beyond this season, when many believed the trio might all be in their final seasons.

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT ALFIE: The all-star weekend marked the return to Ottawa of Zdeno Chara, who was a popular figure in his four seasons (2001-02 to 2005-06) with the Senators, before leaving to join the Bruins as an unrestricted. Chara has delivered more bang for Boston’s free-agent bucks than perhaps any high-profile, high-priced unrestricted free agent in history, after the Sens chose to keep Wade Redden instead of him when it became clear they couldn’t afford to pay both.

As captain, Chara shared the spotlight Thursday with Alfredsson, a former teammate, when selecting their respective teams for Sunday’s game. An while Alfredsson stuck with the script that Eric Staal followed as the hometown captain last year in Carolina, picking teammates and countrymen first, Chara got off to a great start by grabbing Pavel Datsyuk, then a teammate (Thomas) and then Evgeni Malkin with his first three picks.

Of course, Alfredsson got the de facto equivalent of Datysuk and Malkin by selecting the Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel much deeper in the draft, and did what every smart fantasy manager does – which is delay for as long as possible before making his good sleeper picks. Because of Boston’s history with the Canucks and Sedins, it was highly unlikely that Chara was going to take either of them, which meant they (and Alex Edler) would come to Alfredsson anyway.

It’s remarkable how much fantasy sports drives the real thing these days. Alfredsson isn’t into it himself, but is only too aware of how fixated some people can be on picking hockey pools and the like. This year, with 38 points in 46 games, he would have been a shrewd pick for anyone who took him. Coming off an injury-filled 2010-11 season, in which he managed 31 points in 54 games and then required back surgery, there would have been some thought his numbers would tail right off.

Instead, he’s got a chance to finish with 70 points for the 10th time in 11 years and says he hears about his production all the time, “mostly, when you’re out and about in Ottawa, with the younger crowd. The older crowd doesn’t do it much, but the younger crowd does. It’s all about the fantasy – and the betting. Sometimes, it becomes a little bit skewed. It’s too much the statistics behind the way you play. But it’s something, as you get a little older, I’ve been around a long time in the league, so you know when you’re playing good or not.”

What the older crowd does like celebrate is that players such as himself and Selanne and Lidstrom are striking a blow for the Zoomer generation, in an era when youngsters are so celebrated and coveted by teams.

“It becomes a challenge,” acknowledged Alfredsson. “You break into the league, you have to prove yourself. Then you have to prove yourself again – that you are an elite player, over many years. Then when you get older, you got to prove that you can keep up with the young guys again. So it never ends. I think that’s what it is to be a pro athlete, that challenge, to always strive to be better all the time, and never be satisfied. That’s what drives me. I can tell you that’s what drives Teemu and Lidstrom as well. Don’t just go out there and go through the motions because that’s not how we function. That’s not in our DNA. It’s fun to try to keep up with the young kids – and show them once again that you still can.”

As for his health, Alfredsson says that’s the single biggest difference between last year and this year: “I’ve been struggling the last few years with my skating. Today, I felt really strong on the puck and in the battles. That’s what I enjoy. You can forecheck, you can backcheck, you can do everything. last year, obviously, I had my questions. Is this it? I can’t go on like this. If the surgery hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.”

CHI TIME: Vancouver’s rivalry with Boston is second only to Vancouver’s rivalry with the Chicago Blackhawks, and both can be traced back to great recent playoff series. After the all-star break, the Blackhakws embark on a massive three-week road trip that starts Tuesday in Vancouver which could make or break their attempts to win the West this year.

Chicago plays, in order, the Canucks, Edmonton, Calgary, Colorado, San Jose, Phoenix, Nashville, the Rangers and Columbus (on a Saturday afternoon) before finally returning home for a Sunday afternoon date with the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 19. In all, 20 of their final 32 games are away from the United Centre, and they go into the break without two of their top forwards, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp, both out with wrist injuries, though both are expected back at some point on the Western Canada swing of the trip, good news considering how much Toews, an MVP candidate, has meant to their success this year.

AND FINALLY: After playing just 60 and 62 games the last two years, and scoring 57 points in each of them, the Senators’ Jason Spezza is healthy and having a productive season, even with that nasty looking black eye. Surprisingly, Spezza has only played in one All-Star Game in eight years, which is another reason he is looking forward to this one, one that’s being played so close to home. Thankfully, as Sens fans booed all things related to Toronto during the televised fantasy draft, they developed amnesia about Spezza’s birthplace.

“I’ll have a lot more people in town than I normally would,” said Spezza, “so it’s extra special this year with family and friends. It’s real close to home for me, so I can get everybody down – and that’ll probably never happen again, so it’s a good opportunity to include everybody; and the city’s really excited about it. It’s a great hockey town.

“Maybe having it in a Canadian city, it’ll be more appreciated than when it’s in other places that maybe don’t understand the relevance of the game. Nobody’s expecting an intense game. They’re just excited to see all the stars and to interact with them.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

OKC: From worst to first

TERRY JONES, QMI Agency, Jan 28 2012

OKLAHOMA CITY – It’s a trip from near-worst to first, a trip from the bottom of the standings to the top that 10 players have taken this year, some on more than one occasion.

The Edmonton Oilers hit the NHL All-Star break sitting 29th with potential for a three-peat at drafting No. 1.

But here, the Oklahoma City Barons farm team is No. 1 — first overall — in the 30-team AHL.

For the first time in the history of an Oilers AHL farm team, the Barons will almost certainly win 40 or more games in consecutive seasons.

Last year, Oklahoma City was 40-29-11. The Barons head into games here this weekend with a four-game winning streak and a 27-11-5 record.

Prior to last year, Oilers AHL teams have managed only three other 40-win seasons in their entire history, and one of those was while sharing the Hamilton Bulldogs with the Montreal Canadiens.

It’s remarkable how well this Oklahoma City team has done, considering the things they’ve had to deal with, especially the number of injuries to the Oilers and to their own club.

“Most of all it’s a testimonial to the Oilers scouting staff in drafting players and bringing in the right free agents, and our coaching staff,” said GM Bill Scott.

“On defence here this year we had to bring in five or six players for tryouts and we haven’t missed a beat.

“The coaching staff brought in a system that guys have really bought into. There were adjustments last year but it took off right away this year.

“We want to develop players here, but we want to win at the same time. Winning develops players. You get into the playoffs, you play more games. Nellie really brought in a culture of winning.”

Nellie is head coach Todd Nelson.

“What we’re trying to achieve here is to have our players graduate and bring a winning attitude up to the Oilers,” said Nelson.

“I believe winning is a form of development.

“If we’re able to play in the Calder Cup final, that experience would be unbelievable for these guys.”

The ups and downs with all the injuries hasn’t even been a speed bump for the Barons.

“They’ve had injuries. We’ve had injuries. But it’s different this year. We have a lot of depth,” added Nelson, whose team is coming off a three-wins-in-three-consecutive-nights road trip.

“The players they’re sending here can all play here. My biggest problem right now is not finding personnel, it’s finding ice time to develop them all. There’s a lot of depth with this group, and good depth.

“We haven’t just been given good players, they’re good people. All 20 guys are competing hard every night. Last weekend the Rochester Americans, in back-to-back games, and Lake Erie Monsters, before 17,000 fans in Cleveland, tried playing us physically and we pushed back.

“We have a team where somebody rises to the challenge and the guys are playing hard for each other.”

While the rebuild of the Oilers has begun to test the until-now rather remarkable patience of the Edmonton fan base, here there’s evidence the Oilers plan is progressing positively.

Creating a new AHL farm team here was a big part of the plans to begin an era of drafting and developing.

When Oilers’ president of hockey operations Kevin Lowe came here to announce the new franchise, he spoke about a focus on providing OKC with a top team, instead of the usual Oilers’ bottom feeder, and to develop that winning culture throughout the entire organization.

Lowe promised the Oilers would spend unprecedented funds on development going forward.

But Lowe and GM Steve Tambellini aren’t going around patting themselves on the back because Oklahoma City is in first place overall.

“It hasn’t started to translate into victories for the big club,” says Lowe. “The fans paying the freight probably aren’t too excited about having a first-place team in the AHL when they’re watching a 29th-place club in the NHL.

“A year and a half ago, all three of our teams — the NHL team, the AHL team and our junior Oil Kings — were either last or second last in their leagues. We have two of those teams up there now but with the Oilers it’s going to take a while to finally unfold.”

Edmonton’s farm club history has been horrid. But in a year and a half, it’s gone from a discombobulated mess into a top-of-the-tables team.

The unadulterated disaster of the farm system hit rock bottom when, after moving the farm team to Edmonton to play the lockout year as the Roadrunners, the Oilers went without an AHL affiliate the following year.

Before a 40-win, plus-11 for-against first year in OKC last year, the Oilers affiliate in Springfield, Mass. had 24- and 25-win seasons with minus-70 and minus-89 for-against.

Most Edmonton fans don’t really understand what the Oilers are attempting to put together with their development. And the team hasn’t gone out of its way to completely outline it because of how they hope to make it something beyond what has existed to this point in hockey.

Having a concept is one thing. But until you build it, there’s not much percentage in telling the world about it.

Hiring Scott as GM is a big part of it, too.

The former director of hockey for the AHL is an Oiler employee. He’s part of hockey operations.

“Only five or six NHL teams provide a hockey operations general manager,” said Scott, who not only looks after all the logistical details associated with the team travel, etc., and is the communications link with Oilers GM Steve Tambellini for player movement, but is also in charge of scouting the AHL and ECHL for tracking free-agent players.

“It really helps the organization to have another set of eyes,” said Scott.

“Coaches are so focused on doing things from their point of view, it really helps to have that set of eyes looking at the big picture and being down here, doing it full time.”

But there’s a bigger picture and that’s where the bigger picture man — Billy Moores — comes into play.

Three years ago, the Oilers hired former NHLer Mike Sillinger for the traditional role of director of player development. Last year, they quietly added former U of A Golden Bears coach and New York Ranger and Oiler assistant coach Billy Moores as senior director of player development, running the entire evolving project.

“Kevin and Steve already had Mike in place doing a good job,” said Moores.

“The idea hiring me was to put something in place which was more sustainable and would give more direction to the players.

“What we’re trying to do is build a relationship with our prospects and develop communication giving them information and giving them more resources,” said Moores, who has visited OKC for weeklong stretches at least once a month as does Oilers skating and skills coach Steve Serdachny.

But it’s more than having that connection with the Barons GM, coaching staff and players, it’s about having that kind of connection with players throughout the organization.

“We have 10 players in junior, three in college and five in Europe,” he said.

That’s a lot of future Oklahoma City Barons.

“We’ve never done anything like this with this kind of depth before,” said Moores.

Eventually the Oilers want to have their own ECHL club, preferably somewhere near OKC. Currently they share a working agreement in Stockton with the San Jose Sharks.

The idea is to have constant pressure from below, with players competing for ice time and moving themselves upward in the organization. While you can only have 50 players on NHL contracts there is no limit to how many you can have on AHL contracts. With a new downtown arena, they’ll have the money.

That’s all coming soon. But for the moment, there’s this. An Edmonton AHL farm team, first overall!

OKC is better than OK!

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

NHL Notes: Owner stunned by plummeting Blue Jackets

By QMI Agency, Jan 28 2012

Columbus Blue Jackets owner John P. McConnell may not be angry enough to fire his general manager, but he is stunned that his team is dead last in the NHL.

After some off-season moves sparked hope that the Jackets would be a playoff contender, the team managed just one point through its first eight games and never recovered. At the all-star break, Columbus had a 13-30-6 record.

"It has been crappy," McConnell told the Columbus Dispatch in an interview published Friday.

"It has just not turned out as we'd hoped or planned. Everybody wants to blame somebody when something goes wrong, and sometimes there's nobody to blame.

"To me, I think everybody in the organization has a little bit of blame."

After trading for centre Jeff Carter and signing defenceman James Wisniewski the Jackets were on a high. Then the puck dropped.

"Everybody was looking forward to this season, myself included," McConnell said. "I think that makes the fall even worse."

McConnell said team president Mike Priest and GM Scott Howson were safe, but that roster moves were pending. Carter, for one, is on the trading block.

McConnell said a decision would be made within two weeks whether to tweak the lineup or make major changes.

"When the 'nuclear' option is mentioned, I cringe less now than I did two months ago," he said. "That doesn't mean that's what we're going to do, but it certainly becomes a more realistic choice."

COYOTES HAVE THREE SUITORS?

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has media scrambling in Arizona to determine what other group might be interested in buying the Phoenix Coyotes and keeping them in the desert.

"There are probably three different groups that are taking a serious look at buying the Coyotes to keep them where they're located," Bettman said on his weekly radio show.

Two groups have been in the news for months: One is led by former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison; the other by Arizona lobbyist John Kaites and Chicago sports magnate Jerry Reinsdorf.

As for the third group, well, note that Bettman did say "probably."

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Coyotes saga drags on

David Shoalts, Globe and Mail, Jan. 27, 2012

If the NHL cannot strike a deal with a potential owner willing to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Arizona, the franchise will probably be moved this summer – with Quebec City one of the possible landing sites.

However, Glendale city council could finance the league-owned team with another $25-million (U.S.) payment, keeping it in place at least temporarily. The city has already paid the NHL $50-million over the last two years to subsidize losses.

City councillor Phil Lieberman is against an additional payment from the working-class city of 250,000, where the Coyotes play in Jobing.com Arena. He is also skeptical about NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s statements last Thursday, about the existence of a third party interested in buying the team.

Former San Jose Sharks president Greg Jamison and local political operative John Kaites lead two groups known to be interested. Glendale council is to receive an in-camera update on the negotiations Tuesday.

This time, the $25-million payment to the NHL would be characterized as a management fee for running Jobing.com Arena.

Lieberman said it amounts to a subsidy as other managers would operate the arena for less. The city is already carrying a total debt of $1.13-billion, “and I’m not going to vote for millions and millions we would hand away on top of that,” he said.

But Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs supports such a payment and can count on three other votes among the seven-member council, so it is likely to be made if the NHL decides to keep the team in Glendale for the 2012-13 season, according to Lieberman.

Moody’s Investors Service Inc. recently downgraded Glendale’s bond rating on a portion of its debt, roughly $680-million, citing the NHL payments.

“The NHL has not accepted the two [prospective buyers] I know of, Jamison or Kaites, because otherwise they would have been after us to lease the arena to one of them. They have not made any attempt to do that, so the only obvious conclusion is [Jamison and Kaites] do not qualify,” Lieberman said of the prospect of a third, unidentified-yet-interested party.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Leafs boss furious at Don Cherry: Source

Joe Warmington, QMI Agency, Jan 28 2012

TORONTO — Has Toronto Maple Leafs boss Brian Burke had enough of Don Cherry?

An insider told QMI Agency Burke is tired of Cherry criticizing his team — in particular, his coach — and he is contemplating asking for a meeting with CBC brass to complain.

“He is furious at the comment Cherry made about Ron Wilson not applauding for the troops and for other things too,” said an insider. “He is fiercely loyal to his guys.”

On Jan. 14, Cherry mentioned during a broadcast that visiting New York Ranger coach John Tortorella applauded when the troops were introduced at a recent Armed Forced appreciation game at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

He also called a clapping Leafs assistant coach Rob Zettler “a good Canadian boy.”

But he said Wilson and other coaches “couldn’t have cared less.”

The Leafs president responded to an e-mail asking him if there had “been a formal complaint,” but chose to not get into the fray.

“No comment,” Burke said in a return e-mail. “All-star weekend (is) hardly the time or place for a beef like this.”

For his part Cherry agreed with Burke that he did not want to take anything away from the all-star NHL weekend in Ottawa, where both are scheduled to attend.

But when told Burke was not happy with his most recent comments on Wilson, and that there are rumours of a potential meeting with his bosses, he laughed.

“If it’s true, he’s got to get in line to get me because there are lots of people who seem to want to,” Cherry said.

It was not the first time Cherry has mocked Wilson.

In the past he has called him “Napoleon” and criticized his handling of players such as former first round pick Nazem Kadri.

The on-going feud has also seen Wilson fight back — once saying, “I don’t even listen (to him). It’s irrelevant. It has no affect on what I do as a coach. Honest to God, I don’t listen to it.

“Whatever Don Cherry wants to say — I’ll compare my record with Don Cherry. He can call me whatever he wants. I’ve got a job to do and whatever people think of the job I’m doing, has no impact on what I have to do. I keep counsel with my bosses and they’re pleased with what we’re doing. I don’t have to worry about what anybody else who’s not in the actual cauldron and doesn’t know what’s really going on.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Datsyuk tops among his all-star peers

Tim Wharnsby, CBC Sports, January 27, 2012

OTTAWA — Pavel Datsyuk is not the sort of elite athlete to shun a White House visit with his teammates because of his politics, nor would he opt out of the NHL all-star weekend if he disagreed with a three-game suspension.

Instead, the Detroit Red Wings' talented centre is known for his on-ice exploits and has become one of the most respected by his peers. That's why Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara made Datsyuk the first pick in the fantasy draft on Thursday. Chara has long admired Datysuk's quiet and efficient ways and believes Datsyuk has been one of the most difficult opponents to go up against.

Many felt that Chara would take goalie Tim Thomas with the first pick, but Chara asked his Bruins teammate beforehand if they would be offended if he snatched Datsyuk first.

"I was fine with it," said Thomas, the reigning the Conn Smythe Trophy winner. "He's a great player."

That has been the consensus for some time now in the NHL. Datsyuk does not possess the determination of a healthy Sidney Crosby, nor the goal-scoring touch of a Steven Stamkos, nor the physical game of an Alex Ovechkin, but Datsyuk is considered the best two-way player in the game.

"He's a great competitor and a guy who always plays hard," Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla said. "He's extremely skilled. He's not dirty, yet he's a fierce competitor.

"He's one of the hardest guys to knock off the puck or knock off his skates. You wouldn't know it when you see him in the dressing room. But he's strong, and with all that skill, that combination makes him one of the best players."

Another attribute his fellow all-stars admire is Datsyuk's ability to steal the puck and his eye-hand coordination to knock down passes. When current Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa, also considered one of the game's best two-way players, was a teammate of Datsyuk's in Detroit, the two would often play a must-see game of keep away against one another.

"He's just one of those players who is special, especially he is sick defensively," Hossa said. "I think he's the best in the world at stealing the puck. To watch him is fun. Sometimes when you have the puck and he steals it from you, you just have to laugh because of how easy he made it look."

The 33-year-old Datsyuk is a four-time Lady Byng Trophy winner, three-time Selke Trophy recipient and a two-time Stanley Cup champion. But he still remains hungry.

His Red Wings sit first overall in the standings and he entered the all-star break third in the NHL scoring race.

"Am I playing some of my best hockey? I hope not," Datsyuk said. "I think I'm playing somewhere in the middle. I hope to have more energy in my game. I have another level as I get older and get more experience. I can be better and I will."

Iginla remarked that one of the reasons Datsyuk is so popular among the other players around the league is because he is so humble.

His modest ways stem from his early days playing in Russia. Datsyuk was considered too light at 145 pounds, but he caught the eye of Red Wings scout Hakan Andersson, who was watching defenceman Dmitri Kalinin in a game in Russia.

The Buffalo Sabres wound up taking Kalinin with the 18th overall selection in the 1998 NHL entry draft. The Red Wings waited until the sixth round (171st overall) to grab Datysuk.

He made an immediate impact for the Red Wings and won a Stanley Cup in his second NHL season in 2001-02 playing on a line with Brett Hull and Henrik Zetterberg.

A decade later, Datysuk still has the fire to be among the game's elite.

"When you win one Cup or any awards you get so hungry you want to win every year," he said. "But when you miss a year not winning you get more hungry. You want to do better. You think it's yours and you try to get it back again."

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

THN at the All-Star Game: Bettman, Fehr play down CBA doom

Adam Proteau, The Hockey News, 2012-01-28

OTTAWA – After the NHL Board of Governors meetings finished up late Saturday morning, league commissioner Gary Bettman was more than willing to share the good news – namely, that the league is heading toward record revenues and attendance and that the city of Columbus was awarded hosting duties for the 2013 All-Star Game – but was less willing to talk pessimistically or aggressively when it came to some of his business’ tender areas.

Sure, Bettman said in a press conference before a throng of media the Phoenix Coyotes still-unresolved ownership situation may yet become untenable, but the league still is pursuing talks with three different groups to keep the team in Arizona. Sure, he said the financially strapped New Jersey Devils are in the midst of a feud between principal owners Jeffrey Vanderbeek and Ray Chambers – and that the league has been advancing the franchise money to help pay its bills – but characterized the team’s situation as “stable” and said he’s working on mediating a solution that would see one of the two men step up and take control of the team.

And sure, Bettman said the league was facing an unsettled labor situation with the collective bargaining agreement expiring this September, but he is leaving the NHL Players’ Association to decide when to begin formal negotiations and would rather everybody just enjoy the rest of the current season.

“My guess is, at least informally, we’ll have some discussions in the not-too-distant future," Bettman said. “The union has had some work to do. Don Fehr, obviously being somewhat new to the job, is going through a bit of a learning curve and wants to make sure he understands what his constituents want. So we’re patient. I'm not concerned about the time frame.”

It shouldn’t be any sort of shock that Bettman will never acknowledge the game’s sore spots. As the owners’ representative, he is paid to do exactly that. Heck, Bettman wouldn’t even acknowledge the optics that the league was throwing the money-losing Blue Jackets a bone with the cash-injection an All-Star Game provides.

“(The All-Star Game) is a request they’ve had on the table for years,” Bettman told THN.com. “Every time I go to Columbus, I’ve been asked the question. The stars aligned in terms of the calendar and we think this would be a terrific place for us to go next year. If it serves a greater level of interest, but this is something we’ve been focused on and they’ve been requesting for a number of years. We were there for the draft, and the city did a great job on that.”

Similarly, NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr, who spoke to reporters after Bettman’s press conference, was equally hesitant to say much to challenge the commissioner or tip his hand regarding labor talks.

“There will obviously be some preliminary discussions to set things up,” Fehr said of formal negotiations. “My preference will be when we get to the real significant sessions to do it at a point in time which is rather more likely to have players present easily than less. But we'll know sometime in the next few weeks how that’s going to play out.”

Fehr once again raised the notion of revenue sharing as a solution that worked in his past job running the Major League Baseball Players’ Association, but didn’t talk like a man who was gearing up for a heavily rhetorical public brawl. Neither did Bettman, who noted the union and league were able to settle the contested issue of hockey-related revenue without a protracted, negative battle.

Those black clouds might yet appear on the league’s horizon. But for now – and as a mild weekend in Ottawa shut down the famous Rideau Canal from All-Star Game events-interested skaters – both Bettman and Fehr were content the NHL’s ice was solid enough for the game to continue skating on.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

NHL, union leaders keep mum on negotiation timeframe

David Shoalts, Globe and Mail, Jan. 28, 2012

Though union leader Donald Fehr and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman plan to meet next week, neither of the parties involved wanted to say when serious labour negotiations will begin between the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association.

Fehr said Saturday he meets regularly with Bettman and their next get-together should not be seen as the formal commencement of talks about a new collective agreement. Before the serious talks begin, Fehr said, a series of preliminary discussions about logistics and an informal list of issues need to be held. He thinks that will happen in the next couple of weeks but did not want to say when the major talks will begin.

The current agreement expires on Sept. 15 and there is much speculation serious talks between the owners and the players will not start until then or later. However when Fehr was asked if the negotiations would not start until the current season ends he said, “no, I wouldn’t say that.”

Neither Fehr nor Bettman would discuss what each felt were the major issues. Bettman said he only hopes they can reach an agreement quickly once the talks begin.

“My hope is that we can reason together and that collective bargaining will be painless and quiet and quick,” Bettman said following an NHL board of governors meetinf. “That would serve everyone’s best interest.”

Union sources say a quick resolution is possible but only if the players present a united front to the owners. That might be enough to convince the owners to avoid a lockout, which could severely damage a league that is still recovering in some markets from the season-long lockout in 2004-05.

The two biggest issues involve revenue sharing. The owners want to reduce the players’ take of hockey-related revenue from the current 57 per cent to less than 50 to mirror the agreements recently reached in the NFL and NBA. The players want the owners to radically change their system for sharing revenues between richer and poorer teams and increase the amount of shared revenue.

Fehr said just because the NBA and NFL players agreed to reduce their overall share of league revenue it does not mean the NHL players will follow suit.

“From my own standpoint? Obviously I hope we don’t go down that road because we saw what happened in the other sports,” Fehr said.

He also pointed out Major League Baseball still does not have a hard salary cap like the other three major professional leagues in North America, which could be taken as a hint the NHL players could push for the elimination of the salary cap. This, too, could be an ominous sign a lockout or strike could happen but Fehr did not want to go that far.

“I’m simply going to point out there were three negotiations,” he said. “The third one was baseball. There are no caps [in baseball]. There is much more sophisticated and detailed revenue sharing. They went through the third negotiation in a row without a stoppage, the second one without even a hint or suggestion of it, without deadlines being set by anybody. Baseball is far and away, on a labor-relations standpoint, the most stable of the four. There’s no question about it at this stage.

“So if you’re going to look for role models of what you might want to emulate, I’m suggesting not to eliminate it from the analysis. It’s easy to say they did this in football, they did this in basketball. Gary [Bettman] came from basketball so obviously that’s what he’s going to do.”

Fehr also said it is difficult to compare the four professional sports because the economics of each one are different.

“The ownership is different, the nature of the sport is different, the economics of the four sports are different,” he said. “We use the same words like free agency, arbitration, revenue sharing, but they don’t mean the same thing between sport to sport or even contract to contract. So let’s be a little careful.”

Fehr also said formal talks cannot begin until the players get more financial information from the league. He said the information they do have, which is mostly about hockey-related revenue and the owners’ player costs, appears to be accurate but the union still needs more information about the league’s other expenses.

“There’s significant information we don’t have,” Fehr said. “Profit, loss and those kinds of things rest on the overall operation. You can segregate the player costs as if that was everything.

“All I can tell you at this point is when you get into bargaining and you try and figure out what the issues are going to be and how you frame responses and make proposals, one of the things you’d like to have is a comprehensive understanding of the money flow on all the issues. That makes things vastly easier”

In other league business, the Columbus Blue Jackets were awarded the 2013 NHL all-star game and Bettman gave the owners an update on the ownership situations for the New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues and Phoenix Coyotes.

Bettman said the league is trying to get either co-owner of the Devils, Jeff Vanderbeek and Ray Chambers, to take complete control of the financially-troubled team. He also said the NHL is not directly subsidizing the Devils so the team can make its payroll, but implied they are receiving advances on their share of league revenues such as television and merchandising. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly later confirmed the league is giving those advances to the Devils.

There is still no sale of the Coyotes in sight. Bettman said the situation remains “a work in progress.” He also took a shot at Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs, who recently complained the NHL is making the sale difficult because it will not drop its asking price of $170-million (U.S.). Bettman has promised the governors they will recover all the money the league put into the team since buying it out of bankruptcy in October, 2009.

“The mayor's not really well informed on the status of transactions,” Bettman said.

The governors were also told the sale of the St. Louis Blues to a group led by minority owner Tom Stillman is expected to close in a couple of months.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

A look at NHL collective bargaining issues

David Shoalts, Globe and Mail, Jan. 27, 2012

REVENUE

At present, the NHL players receive 57 per cent of all hockey-related revenue. That number rose from 54 per cent in the first year of the current collective agreement. The team owners want to cut that back to less than 50 per cent, in light of the recent 10-year labour agreements reached in the NFL and NBA. The NFL players agreed to a minimum of 47 per cent of all league revenue (which can rise to 48.5 per cent depending on revenue growth). The NBA players agreed to 51.2 per cent of basketball-related income this season, and a range of 49 per cent to 52 per cent in the remaining years. Some NHL owners want to remove the revenue-growth accelerator that increased the players’ share each year. They want a constant rate or only a small increase over the life of the contract. The NHL Players’ Association will push for more revenue sharing between the rich and poor franchises.

ESCROW

As the NHL’s actual revenue for a season is not known until the Stanley Cup playoffs are over, the players’ share is estimated prior to – and re-estimated again four more times during – the season. Payments are deducted from the players’ salaries every two weeks and placed in an escrow account. The payments are calculated by the league and the union and are usually around 10 per cent, but have gone as high as 18 per cent. Once the revenue is established in the summer, and the players’ share is determined, the escrow accounts are settled. If revenue grew, the players usually get most or all of their deductions back, with interest. But the recession caused flat or declining revenue in the last few seasons, as the players gave back 10.4 per cent of their salaries in 2009-10 – although they managed to lower that to 2.3 per cent last season. This is a hot issue for some players, who would like to see a different system, although the NHLPA has not publicized its stand on this.

SALARY CAP

The salary cap is based on the NHL’s hockey-related revenue and the percentage given to the players. This season, each team can spend $64.3-million (all currency U.S.) on its player payroll. There is also a minimum spending requirement, known as the floor, which is also based on revenue. This season’s floor is $48.3-million, which is more than $9-million higher than the $39-million cap in 2005-06, the first season after the lockout. Several small-revenue teams say the floor is no longer affordable and will push to have it lowered.

CONTRACTS

Some owners are not happy with the length of some player contracts, which can run for 10 years or more. They will fight for limits on the term, which will make it easier to overcome bad contracts or compete with other teams for a player. The players may push for changes to contracts for players over the age of 35. Right now, the entire length of over-35 contracts count against a team’s salary cap, even if the player retires before it’s up. This means teams can be reluctant to sign older players.

PLAYER SAFETY

The epidemic of concussions in the NHL in recent years will be part of the collective bargaining. While the players have long resisted regulations on their equipment, such as mandatory visors or thicker helmets, both sides appear willing to hammer out an agreement on this issue.

REALIGNMENT

The NHLPA scuttled the league’s plan to abolish the current Eastern and Western Conferences and create four conferences that were roughly geographically-based when it refused to sign off on the new look. The idea was to reduce the travel burden on the more-spread out western teams while preserving traditional rivalries. But the players’ union said there were still too many travel problems. The union also did not like the fact two conferences had eight teams and two had seven, as it feels teams in the bigger conferences had a lesser chance to make the playoffs. Realignment will happen, but now it will be done in labour negotiations.

OLYMPICS

Both the owners and players have to agree if the NHL is to participate in the 2014 Winter Olympics and beyond. A lot of owners don’t like interrupting the regular season for what they see as limited marketing value. Almost all of the players love playing in the Olympics, so the owners will probably use this issue as a carrot to get them to agree to something else.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Jason Pominville: Before I Made It
Jason Pominville has 17 goals and 47 points in 49 games this season.

With Kevin Kennedy, The Hockey News, 2012-01-28

When I was young I really didn’t have many hobbies outside of hockey. In the winter we’d be on the outdoor rink and in the summer we’d be playing road hockey. I did play baseball and soccer, but they never really stuck with me.

I was a big Wayne Gretzky fan and I’d watch him whenever I could. I used to wear No. 99, but as I got older I realized what the number was about and switched. I didn’t choose the number I wear now (29). It was just given to me when I made the team and they asked me if I wanted to switch later on, but I just decided to keep it.

As a kid my eating habits were much different then they are now. I was just happy to get three meals and I didn’t really care what I ate or when. Now we eat set foods like pasta and chicken at set times. We usually eat right after the morning skate and then just a little snack a couple hours before the game.

I had a little boy a year ago, so most of my free time is spent with him. I don’t want to push him into hockey, but I’ll try and guide him there, for sure. I definitely would like to see him play, but that will be up to him. If he does decide to play, I’d love to coach him if I had the time.

My best minor hockey moment would have to be the Peewee Quebec Tournament, for sure. We first had to win a little tournament in our area to get into the big tournament and after we won we got to practice with the Montreal Canadiens at the old Montreal Forum. We also got to play at Le Colisée in Quebec City, which was awesome.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Morrison will be missed in Flames locker room

STEVE MACFARLANE, Calgary Sun, January 28, 2012

CALGARY – In the big picture, it’s a small deal.

Rarely, though, does an athlete make the kind of impact in less than 100 appearances with a team as Brendan Morrison did with the Calgary Flames.

Not so much on the ice, where the 36-year-old played 94 games in the Flaming C uniform — interrupted by a serious knee injury suffered last March that contributed to his struggles this season.

But in the locker-room, he was a key character both to his teammates who could count on him keeping his head during the ups and downs of a season, and members of the media who visited his stall daily for a dose of honesty, insight or casual conversation.

His class endeared him to the fans, who quickly forgot he was once a member of the hated Vancouver Canucks.

Morrison hasn’t seen the Twitter response to Friday’s trade that sent him to the Chicago Blackhawks but has heard about all the support for him second-hand.

“You never really, I guess, fully comprehend it until you actually move on,” he said of the impact he had on the fans in Calgary. “I’ve had some friends going, ‘Twitter’s going crazy.’

“To be able to have a positive impact on people, I think that’s a good thing. I’ve always tried to treat others the way I like to be treated and be respectful. It’s just how I was brought up and raised.”

For the Flames, sending the veteran centre to the Blackhawks for 25-year-old defenceman Brian Connelly does very little in terms of affecting their own present. It’s created a much brighter one for Morrison, though.

“I don’t think I could have picked a better team to go to. In my opinion, they’ve got as good a chance as anybody team to win,” he said.

“I’m nervous. I’m excited. All these kind of emotions rolled up. It’s good to get into these things right away.”

With four goals and 11 points in 28 games this season after pressing to come back from his ACL surgery a little too quickly in the fall, Morrison hasn’t been able to live up to his impressive debut season with the Flames, which saw him post nine goals and 43 points in 66 games before the knee injury in March during a game against the Blackhawks in Chicago.

Morrison would love to prove he can still contribute offensively.

He’ll get a chance to show the Flames first-hand Friday when he comes back to the Saddledome with his new Blackhawks teammates.

“There’s no bitterness on my end. It’s just kind of the evolution of the game. But on the other hand, for sure, I still believe I can play at a pretty high level and contribute on a nightly basis,” Morrison said. “It looks like I’m gonna get an opportunity to do that.”

Regardless of what happens on the ice, you can guarantee he’ll be visited by his former teammates who didn’t get to wish him luck in person, and every member of the media he connected with during his time in the city.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

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