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[hockeygod]

The tale of a 19-year-old beer and an organization that finally got it right

The Canadian Press, 2012-06-13

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The bottle of unopened Budweiser was delivered to the Los Angeles Kings dressing room the night they lost the 1993 Stanley Cup at the old Montreal Forum.

It then travelled back to an office in the Great Western Forum, made the move to Staples Center along with the Kings in 1999 and eventually found a resting place on top of a tool box in Pete Demers' garage. And after 19 years, the former Kings head athletic trainer finally found a reason to drink it.

Out of the Stanley Cup, no less.

"The players poured it down the hatch and on my suit while they chanted 'Pete! Pete! Pete!"' Demers said Tuesday, a day after the Kings captured their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. "How about that? And that old rotten beer tasted great."

A rotten beer? In the Stanley Cup? Only someone tied to an organization as colourful and crazy as this one would even dream about such a celebration.

It wasn't the first time the Kings prompted Demers to make a dubious drinking decision. The man who worked a Cal Ripken-esque 2,632 consecutive games for Los Angeles between 1972 and 2006 kept an Olympia beer for more than a decade while waiting for the team to advance past the first round of the playoffs.

But, just like the organization itself, he eventually started aiming higher.

You can only imagine how proud Demers was standing in the dressing room with his son Tom on Monday night after the Kings' Cup-clinching win over New Jersey. After all, this was a man who got inducted to the trainers' wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame for a career that saw him treat Rogie Vachon, Marcel Dionne, Wayne Gretzky, Dustin Brown and every other Kings player for more than a generation.

"I am lost for words," said Demers. "What a win."

One thing that stood out about the Kings march to their first Stanley Cup title is the number of alumni that started flocking to the games. It felt like the band was getting back together and this championship chase had become about something more than just the 20 players wearing black and silver each night.

Gretzky emerged from the shadows to drop the puck on a ceremonial faceoff before Game 3 at Staples Center. Dionne and former owner Bruce McNall showed up, too. The team's first captain, Bob Wall, was shown on the scoreboard. Daryl Evans, Kelly Hrudey, Mike Murphy and Rob Blake were all around in various professional roles, but provided an ever-present reminder of where this franchise has been.

And, naturally, Luc Robitaille was at the centre of it all.

The Hall of Fame left-winger who is now a team president is the quintessential King. Drafted in the ninth round by Los Angeles in 1984, the Montrealer was unable to speak English when he first came west. From that point, he and the organization could never agree on the terms of a break up as Robitaille had three separate playing stints in Los Angeles and decided to become an executive because he didn't want the Kings to one day win a Stanley Cup without him.

"For 47 years we've tried really hard," said Robitaille.

How do you measure all of that pent-up frustration? Start with 3,708 regular-season and playoff games, 592 players, 24 head coaches, 13 captains and eight general managers.

The Kings were born in time for the heady 1967-68 season when the NHL doubled in size to 12 teams. Eccentric Canadian businessman Jack Kent Cooke was the first owner and aging goalie Terry Sawchuk was the first selection in the expansion draft. That would offer a hint at some of the bad decisions to come.

The team arrived with more of a thud than a bang, playing its first two games at Long Beach Arena on back-to-back nights with almost as many tickets unsold (11,088) as sold (11,312).

But it eventually became clear that hockey could work in Southern California. Crowds rose steadily over the first decade of the Kings existence and Vachon, Dionne and Dave Taylor gave the team some flash to go with those distracting gold and purple uniforms—colours officially dubbed "Forum blue and gold" by the team.

It was about that time when a young boy named Jeff Ohara made a decision that would bring plenty of pain into his life. He became a diehard Kings fan. Years later, the first words out of his mouth after being introduced to a stranger prior to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final were "I've suffered."

Ohara grew up in suburban Los Angeles and played street hockey under the warm California sun. He has a unique perspective on the organization's course through the '70s, '80s and early '90s—lamenting the team's seemingly endless cycle of trading away top draft picks and chasing stars. He was even among the minority that didn't like the August 1988 trade that brought Gretzky to Los Angeles and took the Kings to a level of popularity they may only have reached again this spring.

Suddenly, tickets were tougher to come by and everyone professed to being a Kings fan. It was trendy. They became the Lakers on ice. Naturally, Ohara stayed loyal to his team but he found no parallels between the 1993 run to the final and this one.

"This is totally different," he said from a booth at the Redondo Beach Cafe, a Canadian-owned hockey hotspot. "This is organic. We've watched them grow."

There was still plenty to like about the high-flying McNall Era, when the Kings were brimming with characters: coach Barry Melrose and his flowing mullet, Hrudey's heroics and signature bandana, Marty McSorley, Jari Kurri, the Great One and McNall, the free-spending owner who would eventually end up spending time in jail for conspiracy and fraud.

That period certainly held plenty of appeal for a kid named Tigran Nersesyan, who immigrated to Los Angeles from Armenia with his parents as a boy. The 1993 Kings had him at hello and he remained a believer during the rocky two decades that followed.

Nersesyan was so excited after a summer that included a trade for Mike Richards that he laid down a $700 bet on the Kings to win the Stanley Cup—an audacious play that would make McNall proud. With 25-1 odds, his payout stood at $17,500.

That potential haul left him with no qualms about shelling out $80 for a red Devils sweater. He spread it out on the ground in the plaza outside Staples Center and invited fans to stomp on it.

By that point the team was closing in on the impossible dream and Nersesyan's friends had taken to calling him Nostradamus.

"I can't wait to lift Lord Stanley's Cup and go cash my cheque at the MGM, baby!" Nersesyan said outside prior to Game 4.

Then he became Nostradamus again: "We might not win it tonight, but I'm still going to have fun. There's no way they'll beat us four in a row."

He was right. The Kings hoisted the Cup after a 6-1 win in Game 6.

The first call Robitaille made to Richards after Los Angeles stunned the former Philadelphia Flyers captain by trading for him last June included a discussion about having the chance to do something special.

This was an organization starved for a championship. It was noteworthy that only six hockey-related banners were hanging above the ice at Staples Center—five for the franchise's retired numbers (Dionne's No. 16, Taylor's No. 18, Robitaille's No. 20, Vachon's No. 30 and Gretzky's No. 99) and one for finishing first in the Smythe Division in 1990-91.

But there was reason to believe the Kings were getting incrementally closer to adding the most coveted one of all. General manager Dean Lombardi had patiently waited for forwards Brown and Anze Kopitar, goalie Jonathan Quick and defenceman Drew Doughty to grow into impact players before swinging for the fences and reuniting the former Flyers duo of Jeff Carter and Richards.

Those two allowed themselves to have a quick "can-you-believe-this-is-happening" chat in the dressing after Los Angeles took a 3-0 series lead over New Jersey. It seemed like the Kings were an unstoppable force of nature at that point, which is why most expected Game 4 to be nothing more than a long-awaited coronation.

Well, most people other than Bob Miller. He's a local icon that has been calling Kings games on television since 1973 and he didn't need a refresher course on why nothing is a sure thing with this franchise.

"A lot has gone wrong over the last 45 years," Miller quipped to a couple reporters in the press box.

When he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame six years ago, Miller said his biggest fear was that he would retire and the Kings would win the Stanley Cup the following season. Initially, he and partner Jim Fox found themselves without a spot in the booth once NBC started broadcasting the games in the playoffs.

And then a compromise was struck. With angry Kings fans petitioning on their behalf, it was decided Miller and Fox would call any potential clincher—they did it for Games 4, 5 and 6—so people could eventually hear the voices of hockey in Los Angeles describe the most important game in franchise history on a DVD released afterwards.

Miller's call in the delirious closing minute on Monday?

"Former Kings players and Kings fans, wherever you may be, all the frustration and disappointment of the past is gone. The 45-year drought is over, the Los Angeles Kings are indeed the Kings of the National Hockey League, the 2012 Stanley Cup champions!"

It was not only a victory for the current Kings, but also one for former players who proudly wore sweaters that touched various points of the rainbow.

And don't forget the dedicated trainer and his awful beer, Nostradamus and his insane bet, the announcer who finally got to call his Cup and the kid who grew up in a climate too warm for water to become ice yet learned all about pain and suffering from a hockey team.

This was truly something special and different.

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

[hockeygod]

MINOR HOCKEY: Youth bodychecking myth dispelled

HAYLEY MICK, The Globe and Mail, Jun. 13 2012

Hockey players who learn to bodycheck at a young age have the same risk of serious head and neck injuries as those who start checking later, a new study from the University of Alberta has found.

The study, published this month by the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicinein an early online release, adds to a growing body of research that counters the popular theory that children who learn to bodycheck sooner will learn to be more skilled at it, reducing their risk of injury as they advance through minor hockey.

“There are circles out there who would say that if you introduce bodychecking earlier, such as atom [ages 9 and 10], it's more of a learned skill and bodychecking becomes more instinctive, and therefore there are less injuries as you go on,” lead author Andrew Harris said. “But with our study we didn't find that. There was no significant difference.”

In an analysis of emergency room visits by Edmonton-area hockey players, the researchers showed that the group who started bodychecking as young as 10 were just as likely to suffer fractures, concussions and other serious head and neck injuries as those who started checking one year later.

After receiving the new study, Hockey Edmonton general manager Dean Hengel said the association would not be increasing its bodychecking age-limit from the peewee level, (11 and 12).

“Our programs are running in compliance with the Hockey Canada bylaws, and the rules of hockey as defined and accepted by Hockey Canada. As it sits today, we will have bodychecking in peewee hockey,” he said.

Red flags raised by similar studies have influenced policy changes in minor hockey leagues across North America. Calgary's 24 minor-hockey association presidents will vote on June 23 on a proposal to ban bodychecking at the peewee level. Quebec does not allow bodychecking in peewee games. Ontario has eliminated it from all levels in house league programs and some B.C. regions have banned it from recreational leagues.

Last year, USA Hockey banned bodychecking in peewee games nationwide.

Some critics have called for Hockey Canada to amend its rule, which says peewee is the youngest age that bodychecking is allowed. With age limits varying between regions, they argue a national standard must be set.

That way, it would avoid run-ins between players who are used to bodychecking and those who are not – possibly including peewee players from Calgary and Edmonton, starting in September.

However, Hockey Canada's vice-president of hockey development, Paul Carson, said a change is not in the works – and it's up to individual associations to decide whether to increase the age limit. ”Everybody has to take a look at the information that is available,” he said.

The Alberta study gathered injury emergency room data from Edmonton, Le Duc and St. Albert spanning 13 hockey seasons from 1997 through 2010. They split them into two groups: one before and one after a 2002 policy change which lowered the age requirement for minor hockey levels by one year. In some jurisdictions, this resulted in the introduction of bodychecking for players as young as 9 and 10.

Harris pointed out that other studies have shown that injury rates surge when bodychecking is introduced to the game – regardless of age group. They include a 2010 study by University of Calgary researchers, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, who found bodychecking more than triples the risk of concussion and other serious injuries in peewee hockey.

Donald Voaklander, study co-author and director of the University of Alberta's Centre for Injury Control and Research, said he would like to see bodychecking introduced at the bantam level, partly because there is less variation in the body sizes of 13 and 14 year olds. But, he said he would expect some pushback, particularly as it pertains to elite athletes.

“It's hard with the Double-A and Triple-A, because every parent and every coach think they're going to be the coach that coached that guy who's the next Wayne Gretzky, ” he said. “You don't get a lot of parents and coaches at that level saying you need to reduce injuries.”

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

[hockeygod]

Canadiens name Gerard Gallant and Clement Jodoin as new assistant coaches

The Canadian Press, 2012-06-15

MONTREAL – Gerard Gallant says it was tough to leave a powerhouse junior team in Saint John, but he could not resist the lure of getting back into the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens.

Even as an assistant coach.

The 48-year-old Gallant was named along with Clement Jodoin on Friday as assistants to Michel Therrien, who was tabbed for a second stint as head coach in Montreal last week.

Gallant spent the last three seasons at the helm of one of the strongest major junior teams ever. His talent-laden Sea Dogs had a record three straight 100-point seasons and reached the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League finals each year, winning twice. They won a Memorial Cup in 2011.

In three seasons, Gallant's Sea Dogs had a stellar 161-34-9 record.

''That's the tough part, Saint John was a good situation,'' Gallant said on a conference call from his home in Summerside, P.E.I. ''It's hard to leave.''

But his goal was to return to the NHL, where he starred as a power forward for 11 seasons and later worked as an assistant with two clubs and as a head coach for parts of three seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2004 to 2006.

''As a coach, it's no different,'' he said. ''You want to be part of the best hockey in the world. To come back with a franchise like Montreal is incredible.''

He said he had talks about an assistant coaching job with two other NHL clubs, which he declined to name, but Montreal was the first to make an offer.

Therrien now has Gallant, Jodoin and two holdovers goaltender coach Pierre Groulx and video coach Mario Leblanc, on his staff.

It is part of a flurry of moves made by Montreal after the team finished last in the Eastern Conference in 2011-12. Assistants Randy Cunneyworth and Randy Ladouceur were fired last week, a day after Therrien was hired as head coach.

Marc Bergevin replaced the fired Pierre Gauthier as general manager and has added Scott Mellanby, Martin Lapointe and Patrice Brisebois to the management team, while keeping on assistant GM Larry Carriere, director of hockey operations Patrick Boivin and amateur scouting head Trevor Timmins.

He also named Sylvain Lefebvre as coach of the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs to replace Jodoin.

Gallant and Bergevin were teammates during his final two NHL seasons in Tampa Bay and were among a group that drove together to the rink each day from their homes at a nearby golf resort.

He also knows Lapointe, and is acquainted with Therrien from coaching against him in junior and the NHL.

As a coach, Gallant is know more for being a motivator than a tactician. He said what specific job he will be given, will be decided when the coaching staff meets for the first time next week.

He said he wants to bring "hard work and a lot of fun'' to the job in Montreal.

Gallant had offers for AHL jobs while in Saint John but said he was only interested in returning to the NHL. He worked as an assistant in the NHL with Columbus before he was named head coach, and from 2007 to 2009 with the New York Islanders.

Jodoin also coached in the QMJHL. He led the Rimouski Oceanic for four seasons before joining the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs last year.

He won the CHL's Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award in 2007 after leading the defunct Lewiston MAINEiacs to the President's Cup and a berth at the Memorial Cup.

The 60-year-old native of St-Cesaire, Que., will be in his second stint with the Canadiens. He worked for the club from 1997 to 2003 in various capacities, including as an assistant coach during Therrien's first stint with the club.

As a player, Gallant spent nine with the Detroit Red Wings and two with the Lightning. In 615 games, he recorded 480 points with 1,674 penalty minutes.

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

[hockeygod]

JETS RE-SIGN ASSISTANT COACHES AND ADD PEARN TO STAFF

Canadian Press, 6/14/2012

WINNIPEG — It's a bit of a homecoming for new assistant Winnipeg Jets coach Perry Pearn, who cut his NHL teeth with the old Jets just before they left for Phoenix in 1996.

"I didn't want to leave when I left the last time," Pearn said Thursday at a press conference to announce his hiring. "I really enjoyed the year I coached there."

He was an assistant to head coach Terry Simpson in 1995-96 but left for the Ottawa Senators when the Jets headed south.

He admits that at the time, returning to Winnipeg within the NHL was something he thought would never be in the cards, with the way things were heading in the league for smaller-market teams.

"I always knew the fan base was there and the city loved the team but financially, the way the league had gone . . . smaller centres, even a team like Ottawa when I was there, were going through problems.

"To see where the league has come and to see what happened last year in Winnipeg was absolutely fantastic."

Pearn, 61, lost his assistant coaching job early last season with the struggling Montreal Canadiens, although he remained with them as a scout for the remainder of his contract.

It still rankles a bit, although he says coaches know what to expect.

"Obviously I was really disappointed with how things ended there. I felt like the first two years as a staff we had done a very good job as of maximizing the talent we were working with.

"The biggest disappointment for me was the lack of patience, eight games in the kind of decision that was made just seemed to be a bit premature."

But he was happy at the chance it provided for him to see a lot of teams he hadn't seen much of in the West.

"One of the teams I got a chance to see a number of times was the Winnipeg Jets. . . When you coach in the East as long as I have, you start to lose contact (with the West)."

He already has lots of connections to the Jets and Winnipeg.

His daughter lives in the city and he once coached Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff. He has remained friends with assistant GM Craig Heisinger.

Head coach Claude Noel says he's pleased to add someone with Pearn's extensive experience to his staff, although his exact role hasn't yet been determined.

"To me it was very simple to make the decision this would be a smart addition to our staff," he said.

"At the end of the day this gives a better opportunity to win and his experience is very valuable."

The Jets also announced they had extended the contracts of their other assistant coaches — Charlie Huddy and Pascal Vincent, as well as goaltending coach Wade Flaherty and video coach Tony Borgford.

They also extended the contract of St. John's IceCaps assistant coach Mark Morrison.

In the NHL, Pearn has been an assistant coach with the Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers and Canadiens. He spent three seasons with the Canadiens alongside Jacques Martin and worked as an assistant to Martin with the Senators from 1996-2004.

He also spent almost two decades at the university level, in the Western Hockey League and with Hockey Canada, as a gold-medal winning assistant coach and head coach with junior teams.

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

[hockeygod]

Former Flames forward Martin Gelinas back in Calgary as assistant coach

The Canadian Press, 2012-06-14

CALGARY – Former Calgary Flames forward Martin Gelinas is back with the team as an assistant coach.

Gelinas will join new head coach Bob Hartley, assistant coach Jacques Cloutier and goaltending coal Clint Malarchuk for the 2012-13 season.

He was director of player development for the Nashville Predators for the past three seasons.

"When this came about and I had this opportunity, it was a tough decision because I'm leaving a franchise where in Nashville I was treated very well where David Poile (Predators GM) is a great man and treated me like family," Gelinas said on Thursday.

Gelinas played 20 seasons in the NHL for the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Vancouver Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Predators and Flames. He won a Stanley Cup with the Oilers in 1990.

He spent two seasons with the Flames from 2002 to 2004. During Calgary's run to the Stanley Cup final in 2004, Gelinas scored three goals that clinched a playoff series win, including two in overtime.

"After the 2004 run, it was a dream of mine to come back and work for this organization," said Gelinas. "Calgary's home for me. It's always been since I left."

It was Craig Conroy, the special assistant to general manager Jay Feaster, who recommended his former Flames teammate for the job.

"Inside I'm doing backflips," said Conroy. "I'm thinking, wow, this is great. I was just so happy. I thought that this is a great fit. He's exactly everything that we're looking for. I'm just happy he decided to take the job."

Feaster says he expects Gelinas to be work closely with Hartley on power-play strategies.

"I know that (Hartley) has already spoken to him that he wants him heavily involved in the special teams both on the power-play and the penalty kill," said Feaster.

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

[hockeygod]

Oilers should consider AHL’s Jon Cooper for coaching job

Jim Matheson, Postmedia News, Jun 14, 2012

Jon Cooper used to stand before the bench as a lawyer, now he stands behind one.

And if he used to defend people, nobody has to defend his record as a hockey coach.

Everywhere he coaches, he wins. Midget AAA in Michigan, junior in two different leagues, in the pros with the Norfolk Admirals in the American Hockey League. He’s a rising star.

Would the Edmonton Oilers ever hire Cooper? Who knows?

He grew up in Prince George, went to school in the U.S. on a lacrosse scholarship, worked on Wall Street, then got his law degree and opened his own practice, before hockey took over his life and he decided to do it full-time about nine years ago.

At the least, the Oilers should be interviewing the young bright coach.

The Oilers are keeping their coach search ultra secret, although one of the leading candidates, Brent Sutter, has not had an interview with Oilers since working the bench for Canada at the world championship in May. Oilers team president Kevin Lowe was Canada’s general manager.

Oilers associate coach Ralph Krueger, who could very well be the front-runner because he knows the team and the players, is still waiting for a decision, too.

As for Cooper, his team just won the AHL championship in Norfolk, Va., — 28 wins in a row in league play from Super Bowl Sunday on, and they finished it off with 10 straight wins in the playoffs, winning 43 of their last 46 games. He hasn’t been told that another team wants to talk to him, but, while he loves working for the Tampa Bar Lightning and is grateful for the opportunity to coach their farm club, surely an NHL feeler will come. If not the Oilers, then the Washington Capitals, also looking for a head coach.

“My name is hot right now because of what we’ve done and how we did it, but I haven’t formally been contacted by anybody,” Cooper said.

Cooper, 44, is one interesting study, though. He went to Notre Dame College in Saskatchewan for three years at 15 in the mid 1980s. Two years of midget hockey, one of juvenile.

“I was a pretty good player when I left my town (Prince George), then got to Wilcox and found out I wasn’t so good,” he said, laughing.

“It was long enough ago that there was no Zamboni. We would scrape the ice … we’d get eight scrapers, making circles around the ice, then the other guys would come and shovel the snow out, then the rink manager would come out with a huge tub of hot water and spray the ice.”

Cooper went back to Prince George and got a lacrosse scholarship to Hofstra University, on Long Island, N.Y., playing NCAA Division 1. After graduating with a business degree, he went to Wall Street, working for Prudential Securities for 2-1/2 years. Then he decided he was going to law school in East Lansing, Mich.

“I actually thought I might want to be an agent,” said Cooper

“That’s where the coaching started. I was coaching for free (while a lawyer),” said Cooper.

One year of high school, one year as a part-time assistant on a Tier 11 junior team, then a head coach in junior B, then a head coach for the Detroit Honeybaked midget AAA team, coaching current Buffalo Sabres forward Nathan Gerbe and Ottawa Senators forward Erik Condra.

“My law practice went from going, going, going, making some money to coaching all the time. I was barely practising law and the passion got shifted.”

He got an opportunity to coach and be a GM in the North American Hockey League (Tier II junior) for a team owned by Kelly Chase and Brett Hull and others that was first in Texarkana, Texas, then moved to St. Louis. He won two titles in his five years there going 223-93-17.

He then got a job with the Green Bay Ramblers, in the United States Hockey League, usually a stepping stone for kids going the U.S. college route. He loved his time there, in the football-mad city, going from rock-bottom 32 points to 82 in his first USHL year. He was 84-27-9 there.

Then, out of the blue, the Lightning phoned late in the summer of 2010.

Steve Yzerman had just come on board as Tampa Bay GM. He’d hired Julien Brisebois as his assistant and Guy Boucher as his coach — both from the Montreal Canadiens organization. The AHL farm job was open, they were scrambling, and somehow Cooper got an interview.

“Somebody put my name up to them because they didn’t know who I was. I got a resume together. Next thing I get a call, I interview for a day and 24 hours later they called back and offered me the job. That’s when I nearly fell over. I was like ‘what?’ ” said Cooper.

“I’ve learned so much as a coach (Norfolk, two years, 94-44-10-8). Pro is a completely different animal. In pro hockey you go in and throw a newspaper on the locker-room floor and the older guys grab the financial section, the younger guys grab the comics and all the other guys grab the sports,” he said jokingly.

The Norfolk team stormed to this spring’s AHL title like a runaway train, virtually unbeatable from February on.

“What was unreal to me was in that 28-game streak, we won 20 straight games in regulation,” he said.

The players bought in, the wins started coming, and it amazingly never stopped. They beat St. John’s IceCaps (Winnipeg Jets farm club) four straight in the Eastern conference final and the Toronto Marlies (Maple Leafs affiliate) four in a row in the AHL final to capture the Calder Cup.

The Lighting have some very good talent coming — Cory Conacher, Mike Barberio, Mike Kostka, Ondrej Palat, Richard Panik, Tyler Johnson and Dustin Tokarski in goal. According to Cooper, they should all play in the NHL.

“It was hard to describe. Yes, we lost on Super Bowl Sunday and we had a closed-door meeting, with video, with the players not getting undressed. It was a reality check to decide what we were. But I’ve had those (coach getting mad) things before and we didn’t go and win 28 straight after that,” he said.

Now Cooper is the hottest thing since Boucher when the Lightning beat out the Columbus Blue Jackets to hire him. His team celebrated with a $10,000 bar tab at the Madison Avenue Pub in Toronto, and the Calder Cup’s been on display in Norfolk since.

“On the beach, by the Atlantic Ocean. Doesn’t get much better than that,” said Cooper.

Cooper has time left on his Tampa Bay contract, either one or two years, and the Lightning would have to let him leave. But, they probably wouldn’t stand in his way. The Oilers have said they’d like to have somebody hired around the June 22-23 draft weekend. But, really, there’s no hurry on any coaching hire.

“Look at Peter DeBoer, he didn’t get hired (New Jersey) until right before the season started. He made the finals,” said Cooper.

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

[hockeygod]

Difficult to side with owners in new labor war

Adam Proteau, The Hockey News, 2012-06-14

I’ve got bad news and I’ve got worse news: The bad news is NHL fans are now stuck in the sticky-haze days of summer, far from their natural habitat of ice-cold arenas and innards-soothing hot drinks. The worse news is those same fans are about to be barraged by a torrent of transparent propaganda as the league rolls closer to another labor war with its players.

Anyone who paid attention during the league’s last lockout – which robbed fans of the 2004-05 season and left an indelible black mark on the legacies of all involved – should know what’s coming. Owners will claim they’re unable to make a profit and demand major monetary concessions from the NHL Players’ Association (most notably in terms of reducing the amount of overall revenue players receive from the current 57 percent to 50 percent or lower); players, meanwhile, will do their best to hold hard to the previous collective bargaining agreement and ask for more say in big-picture operations (including rule changes, supplementary discipline and expansion/relocation).

But this time around, fans and the hockey media who are supposed to represent them have reason to be much more skeptical than they were nearly eight years ago. This time, there is no overriding principle worthy of shuttering the league’s doors for a full season.

This time, you believe what you hear at your own risk.

Personally, I’m not buying anything coming out of the league offices and their faithful water-carriers in the press. That’s not to say I’m locked arm-in-arm with the NHLPA; if you’ve read my work before, you understand I’ve criticized them for putting profit over player safety and on many other issues – including their aversion to the salary cap and preference for untenable disparities in roster quality.

However, I also recall all the snake oil the NHL massaged into our collective dermis during the ‘04-05 lockout. Remember the Levitt Report? Neither Shakespeare nor Mel Brooks has penned such a grand work of comedy. For what I think is the definitive debunking of the Levitt Report, look here – but make sure you’ve got a good hour to spare.

That said, the truth of the Levitt Report can be summarized this way: The NHL paid a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman to put out a disingenuous, sleight-of-hand version of the league’s finances and alleged it was losing nearly $300 million per season. It couldn’t go on, the owners cried, and most of the media and Average Joes agreed with them. The notion of player greed was sold extensively as the reason the NHL might have to relocate every Canadian team except bulletproof Toronto and why small-market teams couldn’t compete for talent with the Leafs, Rangers, Red Wings and Flyers. And most of the media and Average Joes agreed with them.

The players, burdened by a myopic NHLPA leadership under Bob Goodenow, never stood a chance. They were millionaires trying to stare down billionaires – billionaires who regarded their teams as their toys – and in defeat, they gave the NHL the two actual victories they were seeking: the PA fired Goodenow (loathed by the owners with the intensity of 100,000 John Tortorellas) and allowed the league to more or less write a new CBA itself.

Yet somehow, the utter thrashing the players took in that labor pact is about to be held up by the owners as another instance of the players manipulating the system to their advantage. Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz has come out recently and tried to get people to believe his franchise still wasn’t making a profit despite more than 200 consecutive sellouts of Chicago’s home dates. If this is some type of Sacha Baron Cohen satire of sports owners, then bravo, Mr. Wirtz.

But how can that be? How can the players have lost a labor negotiation – as clearly acknowledged here by Lightning management member and former NHLer Dave Andreychuk – yet still hold the owners upside down by the ankles and shake them free of all their money?

Maybe it’s not that way at all. Could it be that it’s actually the owners and their GMs who take each CBA and exploit whatever loopholes (such as the front-end loading of contracts) they can find? Why do the players have to keep financing bad business decisions like the money pit in the Arizona desert when it’s Bettman and the owners who are responsible for that strategy? If the owners can’t control themselves, handing out contracts such as the first one Ilya Kovalchuk tried to sign with New Jersey, why should the players have to pay? If we want to talk about how many cars and mansions Sidney Crosby has, why aren’t we including Ted Leonsis’ personal lifestyle in the discussion?

These are the questions that should have been asked more often in 2004 and I take full responsibility for my role in the NHL’s disinformation campaign at that time. But you can learn your lesson and I believe I’ve learned mine, which is why I believe this next labor clash won’t be about making ticket prices affordable for working class families or giving a team like the New York Islanders a better chance at winning. It will be about the ultimate goal of the last lockout: increasing franchise values. A recent Forbes NHL franchise value report pegged the average NHL team’s worth at an all-time high of $240 million, or 47 percent more than it was before the lockout. Another mission? Tightening the noose on athletes with a very limited earning window.

Most of all, I believe the idea you’re going to hear quite a bit in the months to come – namely, that if there’s another work stoppage, the NHL’s owners and players are equally greedy and as much at fault – is nothing short of false equivalence bunk. Sometimes, one side is setting a new standard for avarice. And I think we’re approaching those times.

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

[hockeygod]

Rick Nash's potential suitors, plus 30 Thoughts

Elliotte Friedman, CBC.ca Sports, June 18, 2012

As the hockey world begins its descent on Pittsburgh (with a short stop in Vegas for some), all eyes are on the two teams at the top of the draft.

Edmonton and Columbus exert great control over the weekend activities, with the Oilers holding the number-one selection. Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets own both the second pick and Rick Nash, who will be at the centre of the trade rumour storm.

Scott Howson's always maintained he will be patient and not deal Nash until he gets what he wants. He proved that at the trade deadline. He's going to be tempted here, though. One rival executive (a non-GM) says he's heard Howson's "been flooded" with phone calls over the past two weeks.

But, those two teams can't have all the fun. There are plenty of clubs looking for defencemen and others with an excess. Through an incredibly informal poll of NHL front-office types, here are those to be watched:

SAN JOSE: Doug Wilson loves Canada, but is no fan of July 1. He's called it "inflationary" on several occasions. However, Wilson knows his team needs improvement. The Sharks struggled to make the playoffs, only to be wiped out by St. Louis.

San Jose's got a good fan base, but the organization knows it must be a contender. The average ticket price is just below $50 US (according to Team Marketing Report) and the last time the Sharks missed the playoffs, season subscribers dropped by about 3,000. Reloading is essential for competitive and financial reasons.

They love Nash, but aren't willing to trade Logan Couture to get him.

Wilson is one of those GMs who likes to kick tires. He makes a lot of calls. But his peers think he's seriously interested in some roster surgery.

PHILADELPHIA: Paul Holmgren turned the 2011 draft on its ear with the Mike Richards/Jeff Carter deals. Don't know if they will be in on the Nash derby at the end, but the GM with "the biggest, brassest ones in the NHL" (according to one compatriot) is worth keeping an eye on.

Holmgren told reporters Monday he's "fairly certain" he can re-sign Matt Carle, but Chris Pronger's future remains uncertain.

"Philly is looking for a defenceman," said one exec.

PITTSBURGH: Hometown team+playoff unhappiness=GM ready to move. Sidney Crosby's contract and Jordan Staal's future are sexy topics, but what Ray Shero wants to do on defence may dictate things. Matt Niskanen declined his qualifying offer, so there's one necessary negotiation. Other teams believe the Penguins think Simon Despres and Robert Bortuzzo are ready for duty, which creates the possibility of an extra body or two.

In a league where many teams are looking for defensive help, how will Shero alleviate this logjam?

CAROLINA: Jim Rutherford is stepping up to the plate like Mark McGwire circa 1998. He wants to create buzz around a team he thinks has something brewing under Kirk Muller's core of Cam Ward, Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner. There are other names to include — Brandon Sutter, Jamie McBain, Justin Faulk among them — but if improvement happens via trade, Rutherford's going to have to give up something to get something.

Jordan Staal is the obvious name, but there's no guarantee Pittsburgh is dealing him yet. You could certainly see Carolina making a play for Nash. If there's an impact forward available, Rutherford will try to get him.

RANGERS: If Nash ends up in Manhattan for a big price, the Blue Jackets should buy Zach Parise a new Tourbillon every Christmas. Parise's declaration he won't go to the Rangers eliminated Glen Sather's biggest bargaining chip against Columbus. Even if New York decides not to go the Nash route, it will be in the market for a scorer.

This team is close. Nash would be expected to play to his Olympic level for a new team. If he delivered that, are the Rangers good enough to win? You could make a very convincing case.

30 THOUGHTS

1. Three other teams received several votes: Minnesota, Detroit and Chicago. But, the guess is they will wait to see what they get in free agency before making serious cap commitments. Everyone's expecting the Wild and Red Wings to jump in with both feet, but it's interesting that opponents consider the Blackhawks a player, too.

2. One CBA note: The NHLPA's Executive Board (30 player reps and alternates) meets next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Chicago. At that meeting (or shortly thereafter) the Negotiating Committee will be revealed. And that's when negotiations will start — finally.

3. Holmgren's comments about Matt Carle stand out because there is a lot of talk the player's preference is to move closer to his western-based family, barring the Corleone offer he can't refuse. His twitter account (@mattcarle25) is the best Alaskan tourism ad in existence and brother David works for the University of Denver's hockey program. (Congratulations to David on his graduation, four years after his playing career ended due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.)

4. Ryan Suter's agent, Neil Sheehy, denied similar reports, that his client is not interested in the Eastern Conference. Do think Suter wants to go somewhere relatively quiet and Philly does not qualify. Not everyone is built for daily cross-examination. Some larger markets with good hockey fans and less intense coverage (Detroit, for example) do fit.

5. If you're Nashville, your best hope with Suter is looking at him like he's about to get an offer sheet. Whatever someone gives him on July 1, you want to believe, "We're going to get a chance to match." It's a difficult position to be in, because, sometimes a player gets such a good pitch that he just decides to go.

6. Darren Dreger reported that Jaromir Jagr will test free agency. He had a very good season and exposure to him benefitted the Flyers' young players. The only drawback may be that both Detroit and Pittsburgh found negotiating with him last year to be an excruciating experience.

7. The Toronto Star's Damien Cox reported the Maple Leafs are no longer on Nash's trade list. Can't confirm that, but do believe this: the two teams discussed a trade, but realized there was no match.

8. Think other teams may be asking George McPhee if he's interested in trading the rights to Evgeny Kuznetsov.

9. Asked a couple of GMs if they'd heard Evander Kane is available. Both said no. Is it possible the relationship is strained? Yes sir, but trading a 20-year-old 30-goal scorer is risky business. Both GMs did say they would absolutely be interested if Kane got to the market.

10. While all of the attention in Edmonton is on the number one pick, the organization is very curious to see how Taylor Fedun fares at the team's summer development camp. If he gets back to the level showed before his serious leg injury, he's an important piece of the defensive puzzle. The returning Craig MacTavish gets credit for finding Fedun, but two others should be mentioned: head scout Morey Gare and assistant GM Rick Olczyk. Olcyzk, who played at Brown, was a big believer in Ivy League hockey and tracked Fedun during the latter's freshman season at Princeton. That helped the Oilers as Philadelphia closed hard. How can anyone cheer against a Fedun comeback?

11. Curious to see where MacTavish's role takes him. He'll have significant input in a lot of areas, so this could be a path to being GM. And, if you ask others what his greatest strength is, it's recognizing who can play and who can't. He's got a great eye for that. But, one exec made a very interesting comparison between him and Larry Robinson. Robinson's gone back behind the New Jersey bench a couple of times (now as an assistant) because he's comfortable there. Would MacTavish eventually do the same thing in Edmonton?

12. As this is written (Sunday night), I have no idea who the Oilers will take first. But, the best policy is always this: take who you think is the best player, regardless of position. Before the 1984 NBA Draft, everyone knew Houston was taking Hakeem Olajuwon first. Portland, picking second, felt it had no room for Michael Jordan because Clyde Drexler was already in the lineup. The Blazers needed a centre, and Bob Knight (who coached Jordan at the Olympics) blew up at their GM, Stu Inman, saying they should take His Airness anyway and play him at centre if they had to. They didn't, and it's arguably the most spectacular draft blunder ever. If it's Nail Yakupov, take him. If not, take Ryan Murray or whoever else. Always make sure you get the guy you want.

13. At this point, there seems to be more interest in trading down than up. That may change as things unfold Friday night, but there don't seem to be a ton of guys who can help now. Therefore, teams may try to get multiple picks later in the first or during the second.

14. That's basically what David Poile did in securing two 2012 second-round selections as part of the Anders Lindback trade with Tampa. There was at least one other serious suitor, which allowed Poile to drive up the price and include Kyle Wilson. Wilson had a two-way contract in 2011-12 that morphs into a one-way next season (value: $550,000). The Predators can use that flexibility.

15. Steve Yzerman ended a lengthy pursuit of Cory Schneider in getting Lindback. You never know how a backup is going to handle getting a starter's job, but there is consensus this is a good bet for the Lightning. "He watched another tall goalie [Pekka Rinne] up-close the last couple of years. He worked every day with a great coach in Mitch Korn," said another team's goalie instructor. "The European goalies aren't as technically oriented as the Canadians, but they do have a great mix of technical skill, competitiveness and instinct. He knows how to use his [six-foot-six] body to make a save…He's ready to prove he's a number-one guy."

16. There is no doubt Zach Parise's first choice is to stay. However, when he talked about his future, he was two days removed from the disappointment of a Stanley Cup defeat. In that time, you're understandably emotional. Before making his final decision, he's going to need assurances the Devils' financial situation will not prevent them from being a serious contender. He badly wants to win, and, if New Jersey can't convince him that's possible, how can he remain?

17. The toughest interviews are always with a team/individual that loses a championship final because the longer you play, the harder it is to fall. Kelly Hrudey once said the only thing he remembers about the 1993 playoffs is the defeat by the Canadiens. Think about that: all the terrific things that happened to Los Angeles that year — including maybe the greatest game of Wayne Gretzky's career — and all you take from it is the pain of losing. That's very hard.

18. That's why Steve Bernier's willingness to show up as soon as the Devils' dressing-room door opened should never be forgotten. Ejected from the game, he refused to watch. But the crowd's eruptions told him the Kings scored three times on his penalty and he had to sit there a couple of hours before answering for it. Brutal.

19. Jarret Stoll really impressed with his post-season performance. He's a UFA, but one team that likes him assumes he stays in LA and doesn't make it to the market.

20. One of the major reasons Dean Lombardi thought a Carter/Richards reunion would work: they probably thought they'd never get a chance to play together again. "You could see how excited they were about being back together," the Kings' president/GM said. "We felt they'd be determined to prove they belonged on the same team." Good call.

21. Lombardi told a great story about how things have changed in a decade. "When we were in San Jose, we had two rules for our players if they went out: No driving and no fighting. Even if someone challenges you, it's your responsibility to walk away," he said two weeks ago. "You don't want to prevent your guys from going out once in a while and having a good time. But those were our conditions. Now, you have to add, 'No photos.' It's hard on them because cameras are everywhere, but nothing good comes from pictures."

22. The Kings will get questions about Jonathan Bernier's availability. Don't think anything happens with him until Jonathan Quick's extension is done. Lombardi didn't tip his hand, but you do get the sense the Kings believe they have a group that wants to stay together.

23. Darryl Sutter and Ron MacLean know each other very well and the Kings coach spent some time telling the HNIC host how, 33 years apart, life came full-circle for him. The summer/fall of 1978 was tough on Sutter. Disappointed that he'd fallen to the 11th round of the NHL Draft, he went to play in Japan. He told MacLean that, on Christmas Day, he sat down on the beach and decided to return to North America. On Christmas Day 2011, given a fresh start in Los Angeles, he sat on the beach in California, marvelling at everything that happened in between. If Ron was writing this blog, he'd point out how author Henry Beston said, "The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach."

24. Sutter's son Brett was probably as excited about the Kings' victory as his father. He's getting married this summer and the stag was last weekend. Can't imagine it would've been much fun if New Jersey came back and won the series.

25. Some final insight into Martin Brodeur's post-season: can anyone else find a 40-year-old goalie who's won 14 playoff games in one year? (He hit that age on May 6.) Jacques Plante won eight in 1968 and four in 1969. Gump Worsley went 11-0 at age 39 and grabbed five more wins the next year, but Rogie Vachon was the guy in the Final. Pre-expansion success for 40-year-olds is pretty slim, too. Johnny Bower won two games in Toronto's 1967 victory, and probably was older than 37 when the Maple Leafs won in 1964.

26. Couldn't help but watch Rob Scuderi and think of Filip Kuba. Both men are paired with stud defencemen, Drew Doughty and Erik Karlsson. Those guys are great players, but need an egoless partner who recognizes how to be a perfect complement. Scuderi/Kuba are exactly that. UFA Kuba appears ready to leave Ottawa, and it'll be interesting to see who the Senators view as Karlsson's next mate.

27. Can't imagine Mason Raymond is too happy with Vancouver right now, but even though history shows losing to the Kings isn't so bad, you have to look at this as a shot across the bow from management to the players. It was a disappointing end to a hopeful season. Trying to "cut down" Raymond's salary lets everyone know status quo is not going to be tolerated. Raymond probably isn't thrilled to be the example, though.

28. Same goes for Chris Stewart in St. Louis. His actual salary for 2012-13 is down by $250,000 and you have to wonder if the Blues considered the same route. The new deal was announced Friday, hours before the filing deadline for the kind of arbitration Vancouver is using. Undoubtedly, the Blues and Canucks hope this will motivate these two players.

29. Barret Jackman took a lot of abuse during the second-round defeat to LA, but his three-year, $9.5 million extension is a very fair contract. The cap hit is hardly unmanageable. One of the biggest things I've learned is that it's hard to replace players who get 20-plus minutes. Unless you know you're bringing in someone who can fill that time, you're changing roles for several guys. You have to be very careful because not everyone can adapt.

30. Garry Galley once told a story about Ray Bourque's injury during the 1990 Hartford/Boston series. Bourque went down in Game 2, not returning until Game 7. Galley said Bruins coach Mike Milbury called him in and said he would be getting all of Bourque's minutes, because he thought it was better to affect a guy he knew could handle it, as opposed to the entire blue-line. Years later, Galley said it was one of the smarter coaching moves he experienced, even though he needed a defibrillator after the series.

31. Thought a lot about Brian Burke's comments to The Toronto Star after the Luke Schenn note last week. I concede that I should have used the word "reports" instead of "rumblings" in my copy. Sometimes, in trying to avoid overuse of one word, I get too cute. I decided to write about it after seeing the Schenn-to-Edmonton note in The Montreal Gazette and The Toronto Sun. Other than that, I stand by everything written: that Burke loves the big stage; that the Oilers like Schenn and have asked about him; that other teams believe he'd be a better player out of Toronto. Burke said, "Some editorial control at Hockey Night would be nice for a change." I recognize he is sensitive about hearing his players' names mentioned in rumours. But, as a long-time GM, he knows that, by participating in the process, he does have some control over what is said, because I'm obligated to report his responses. But, for months now, he has refused to participate in the process, including to a question posed as recently as two weeks ago. It's like an election: If you don't vote, you've got no right to complain.

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

[hockeygod]

CHL summer jobs: Clarke enjoys going bear for work

Sunaya Sapurji, Buzzing The Net, 18 Jun, 2012

In the grand scheme of things most players in the Canadian Hockey League realize just how lucky they are to have the ability to play hockey at least seven months out of every year.

Sure, the pay is terrible, the work is hard and the road trips are grueling — but for many, playing junior hockey is a labour of love and a stepping-stone to either the pro ranks or a free university education.

Summer is when many teenagers make their first foray into the "real world"

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/juniorhockey/blog/buzzing_the_net/post/The-Real-World-CHL-summer-job-edition?urn=juniorhockey-wp324

and those who play in the CHL are no different. Last season, Buzzing The Net, featured players throughout the CHL who were workin' to make ends meet: Doing everything from washing dishes and pounding pavement

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/juniorhockey/blog/buzzing_the_net/post/The-Real-World-CHL-summer-job-edition?urn=juniorhockey-wp324

to grinding out shifts at an IKEA warehouse.

http://sports.yahoo.com/juniorhockey/blog/buzzing_the_net/post/The-Real-World-CHL-summer-job-edition-2;_ylt=AsyPjfgh5Qeee6loKrtorbV.nAY6;_ylu=X3oDMTFkMmFzbGIwBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzQEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ–;_ylg=X3oDMTNkbGFwcTZ0BGludGwDY2EEbGFuZwNlbi1jYQRwc3RhaWQDNzM3ZWVkOTgtZDBjNy0zMGNiLTk5M2EtNDU1OWNhN2Y1ZDgwBHBzdGNhdANqdW5pb3Job2NrZXl8YnV6emluZ3RoZW5ldARwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3?urn=juniorhockey-wp395

So without further ado, here's a look at how some players are spending the summer…

Garrett Clarke (Gatineau Olympiques)
Bear hunting guide – Smith's Corner, N.B.:

Gatineau defenceman Garrett Clarke helps people hunt for bears. This shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone who has followed his career in the QMJHL, because when has the enigmatic Clarke ever done anything conventional?

"Every couple of days I'll do bear baits to keep the bears in the area," said Clarke who works for Field and Fly Outfitters — a side-business started by his dad, Tim, an avid hunter. "I'll cut a trail and then fill a bucket (inside a larger barrel) with rotten meat and bread and then I'll pour molasses over it … and then the bears will come and basically eat it."

Clarke, 19, said he's been working in the outdoors since he was a child and is currently commuting 60 km a day between his family's cabin in rural Smith's Corner, N.B., and Moncton so he can continue training for the hockey season, where he hopes to turn pro. Sometimes, however, he gets his cardio workouts seeing bears in the area — like the day he inadvertently came between a mother and her cubs while trying to retrieve a lost barrel.

"I thought I was having a heart attack," said Clarke, who was at rookie camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs last year. "The mom — the sow — was calling her cubs and I thought, 'Oh, God.' I just dropped my head, picked the barrel up and looked at the ground the whole way back… that's the worst case and the only time I'd really be scared is if you're around the sow and cubs because if she's threatened, she'll attack you. That would be the worst way to go down for sure."

The bear season in New Brunswick is only open during the spring and the fall. Hunters are only allowed to have one adult bear kill registered to their name. Clarke — who has yet to shoot a bear himself — uses tree-mounted cameras equipped with sensors to figure out the feeding habits of the local animals.

"When I was young I was terrified because I thought the bears were just going to chase me and eat me," said Clarke. "Now I don't really mind it at all because it's nice to be out on the four-wheeler just feeding the bears, enjoying the country and the quiet."

According to the defenceman, bears are surprisingly fast, strong and "pretty tasty" with a flavour similar to beef. Sometimes it can take hours to find a bear once it has been shot.

"They're pretty hard to get because they have a huge shoulder on them that protects all of their vital organs," said Clarke. "You hit them in the shoulder and it's like hitting a brick wall. They're just going to keep going, they're tough to figure out.

"But there's one rule my dad's always had — one saying: 'You never outrun the bear, you just outrun the guy you're with.' "

Chris Buonomo (Barrie Colts)
Delivery driver – Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.:

As a four-year defenceman in the OHL, Chris Buonomo is more used to seeing forwards drive the net, rather than doing the driving himself.

That all changes in the summer when he gets behind the wheel of his truck to make deliveries for TopLine Electric his family's electrical and plumbing business.

"I deliver all kinds of things," explains Buonomo. "Steel pipe, PVC pipe, wire — a whole bunch of different stuff."

His day typically begins at 5 a.m., so he can get a workout in before heading to the office where he usually works from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Definitely a different kind of grind than playing hockey with the Colts.

"I'm up extremely early and then by the time I get home I'm kinda beat," said the 20-year-old of his summer days. "I'm in bed by 10 or 10:30 (at night)."

Having grown up in the Soo, the veteran defenceman said he's able to navigate the roads with his truck — a half-ton — without getting lost.

"A lot of it is just running around delivering stuff to all the workers and helping them with whatever they need," said Buonomo, who hopes to return to OHL for an overage season.

He said he enjoys his work mostly because he gets to spend time with his family, his dad, brother, grandfather, and uncles — one of whom owns the business.

"We definitely have a lot of fun."

Kris Grant (Erie Otters)
Garden Centre attendant – Kingston, Ont.:

Erie defenceman Kris Grant does the heavy lifting at Canadian TireErie defenceman Kris Grant does the heavy lifting at Canadian Tire

Listed at 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds, Erie Otters defenceman Kris Grant knows all about growing pains. In the summer, however, the growing he deals with is of a different sort as he works at the Garden Centre of his local Canadian Tire in Kingston.

"I water the plants or the flowers," said the 19-year-old of his part-time job. "Basically everything that's there I move off the transports (trucks) when they come and put them in the back — just the basic stuff."

Most of the time he's also outside helping customers by lifting large bags of soil or fertilizer which weigh in the area of 20 pounds. He said some of the trees he's required to help people with can also get pretty heavy. All the lifting and moving has helped the defenceman add muscle without even being at the gym, where he spends a lot of his free time.

Erie Otters defenceman Kris Grant Erie Otters defenceman Kris Grant

"I can see a difference," said Grant. "When I go to the gym after work it's kind of like a warm-up for the gym, it's nice… it's a good workout for sure because I'm pretty busy when I'm out there."

Grant said the toughest thing about his job is standing outside all day when it's very hot, especially given his fair complexion.

"I'm a redhead," said Grant. "So I have to put sunscreen on every hour. I've been burnt a couple times already."

Still he enjoys the job, particularly the people he works with and the customers he helps. Some days he'll be wearing his Otters hat, which prompts some of the locals to talk a little OHL hockey.

"I'm from Kingston so I know some of the people that will come in and I'll stand there and talk to them about hockey," said Grant. "I played for the Kingston Voyageurs (in the OJHL) two years ago, so people remember me from when I played for them.

"It's kind of nice."

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

[hockeygod]

Hockey’s good critic retires after 58 years

The Globe and Mail, KEN DRYDEN, Jun. 19 2012

More than 20 years ago when Red Fisher turned 65, many wondered if he’d retire. He had covered the Montreal Canadiens for 38 years during which time the team had won 16 Stanley Cups. But the Canadiens were no longer a great team and hadn’t been for several years, and had just one great player on its roster to write about, goalie Patrick Roy. When Red didn’t retire, and when he didn’t retire in the years that followed, I stopped thinking he might. So recently when I got the news, I was surprised.

There shouldn’t be surprise when someone retires at 85. Yet some things seem always to have been and so always will be. Even for those living in Montreal and old enough to have followed the Canadiens before 1955, I doubt they remember it wasn’t Red Fisher they were reading, either in the Montreal Star when he began or, later, The Gazette. Game after game – through 70-game seasons and 82-game seasons; through two rounds of Stanley Cup playoffs, then three, now four; through seasons that ended in April and now end in June. From six teams to 30 teams; from a time when 100 per cent of the NHL’s players were Canadian and the Canadiens were indisputably the best. From when players were 5 foot 10 and 180 pounds, didn’t wear helmets or masks, and played two minutes, not 35 seconds, each time they hit the ice. From when a ticket cost what meat loaf and mashed potatoes cost at a local diner and players were paid like teachers and bus drivers and might live next door.

Red has lived through all this. (I call him “Red” here because he’s “Red” to anyone who knows him or knows of him; he’s “Red Fisher” to those who don’t; and he’s “Fisher” to no one). More difficult, he found something interesting to say day after day, rarely sounding bored or jaded even through the inevitable dog days of any season, of any career, of any life, and without getting himself stuck in the past where nobody’s like the Rocket, Béliveau and Lafleur and never will be.

Other journalists lived and died by the scoop. Red’s scoop was in being smarter than anyone else.

Red can be prickly. He likes to sound arrogant, though he rarely wrote that way. One time he got his comeuppance. He was reviewing Hockey Night in Moscow, a book about the 1972 Summit Series. He had good things to say about it but was disturbed by its large number of typos. The name of a former Chicago Black Hawks star was written as “Max Benley.” “That’s Bentley, Frank,” Red thundered at the author in his review. Unfortunately the author’s name was “Jack.” I thought this was hysterical – the insufferable Red caught at being insufferable – and I couldn’t wait to see him. No one had pointed out his error. I read it out to him and laughed. He has never forgotten. In his funny, cranky way, he has never forgiven.

He likes to sound cranky because he knew he was good enough and old enough to get away with it; and he likes to be cranky. But nobody can write with the freshness he did for over half a century and be truly cranky. It was his schtick. It backfired on him a bit in recent years. The best way to deal with him – for Red’s sake and for everyone else’s – was to laugh at his crankiness, to get him to laugh at himself, which if you pushed him hard enough he would – crankily. But in these later seasons he travelled with the team less often, the players and other journalists didn’t know him as well, and certainly not well enough to challenge the legend he had become – which made it even harder for them to get beyond, and for him to escape, the role he’d created for himself.

But most importantly, he was the best. It might be only a game he reported, but how he reported it wasn’t only anything. He owed it to his readers and, at the risk of sounding naive, he owed it to hockey to put all that he’d learned in those more than 5,000 games he would come to watch into everything he wrote. And he owed it to himself. He is Red Fisher. During the Canadiens’ championship years of the late 1970s, before we’d head onto the ice for a decisive playoff game, to ease the tension one player or another would say: “We gotta play it. We might as well win it.” Red’s duty, he knew, day after day was the same: “I gotta write it. I might as well do it right.”

Teams win once for sometimes random reasons. Teams win often over many years because there’s a need to win. It comes from players, coaches, managers and owners pushing, supporting, learning from each other; developing an appetite together. It comes from fans. It weakens first in players, coaches, managers and owners. They move on in their lives. It weakens last in fans.

Red spoke to the players, coaches and the rest, but most importantly he spoke to the fans. He made them smarter; they made us better. He was the keeper of the standard. He’d never let us forget the purpose of what we were doing. He’d never let us forget the best that was in us – as a player, as a team; in a game and a sport. Okay, we were lousy, but we won. So I blew that shot. It happens to everyone. That didn’t impress him. He judged you against the present, made you compete against the past and challenged you to redefine the future. He haunted you.

When I was playing poorly, pretending I wasn’t, and hoping no one would notice, Red noticed. Before a time when every game was televised, Red was also the colour commentator on radio. For road games, my wife, Lynda, listening at home always believed that as Red was speaking to the thousands of others, he was speaking directly to her. He was letting her know – the goal Ken let in that you couldn’t see really was bad. Be warned. That’s the mood that will be arriving home tonight. When finally I couldn’t find my own answers to my slump I’d wait for the morning paper and wonder what Red said. I’d argue with what he wrote; I resented what he wrote. I couldn’t escape what he wrote.

Everybody needs a good critic. Broadway theatre is better than Buffalo or Calgary theatre in important measure because of the historical memory, the standards and expectations of the good critic. A good critic won’t stand for less; in time, his or her audience won’t either. A good political critic or sports critic has the same effect. When that challenging level of criticism isn’t there, we all lose.

It’s harder for a good critic to be heard today. There are many more voices – mainstream news and sports, all-sports, all-business, all-politics and opinion channels; bloggers. The volume is louder; the tone nastier. Commentary is often abusive without being clarifying, its purpose to punish not improve. For those who are the subjects of the criticism, it’s harder to listen. For an individual, it hurts too much. For a sports, theatre or political producer, it puts at risk all that they’ve invested. They fight back with promotion and spin, and things get muddier.

“The play’s the thing,” Prince Hamlet said, but today everything that can be made the thing is the thing. Red loved to be noticed. He loved to be the best. He loved to deliver the sharp, cutting phrase. But he knew that the game was the thing. The Canadiens were the thing. He mattered but he was not the thing. He knew it was his purpose to make the next game better.

The local voice matters, the voice we don’t always agree with but that we turn to when we just don’t know. Red will not be writing any more, but what he did for 58 years is stuck in our heads. He was the good critic.

I wonder what Red thinks.

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

[hockeygod]

Draft clichés

Adam Proteau, The Hockey News, 2012-06-20

The NHL draft is fast approaching and with it comes a familiar assortment of phrases and clichés that are heard each and every year. Which ones are the best? That’s the focus of this week’s THN.com Top 10.

10. “We’d like to congratulate the (recently crowned championship team) on winning the Stanley Cup.”
This is one of the first things management members say when they step to the podium and on a phoniness scale of 1-10, it registers a 700,000. No NHL team employee says that to a competitor unless it’s through gritted teeth and prayers that it never happens again.

9. “He reminds me of a young (NHL legend).”
There’s nothing young players hate more than being compared to a present-day star NHLer or Hall of Famer, as it does little but set the prospect up to disappoint those who watch him. Remember, soul singer R. Kelly once said a woman reminded him of his jeep. Comparisons are completely subjective, often ridiculous and rarely worth the breath expended on them.

8. “My goal is to make the NHL next year.”
It’s a laugh-and-a-half watching a 160-pound teenager in a loose-fitting suit talk semi-confidently about knocking heads with 220-pound NHLers in just a few short months. While there always will be exceptions to the rule, the rule is you won’t see that player skating for the team that drafted him for quite a few years.

7. “In junior/college last season, he was a man among boys.”
This phrase is supposed to convey that a player dominated at his amateur level, but considering some are openly questioning the ages of certain players, it’s even less of a compliment than before and on the verge of being downright creepy.

6. “We’d like to say hi to all our team’s fans watching from our draft party at Billy Jim Joe Bob’s Crabshack, Nail Salon Emporium and Driving Range.”
This is another time-wasting exercise that pleases only a few hundred people at most. Unless the GM is prepared to pull out his Romper Room Magic Mirror (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td1KAgrYUGA), point it at the camera and tell us exactly which fans he sees through his magic lens, nobody cares. Do us a favor and thank them via your Twitter account!

5. “He’s got the most upside of anyone in the draft.”
If there’s one thing we know about the draft, it’s that we don’t know who eventually will demonstrate the most upside. Some top prospects already have reached their peak by draft day; others who aren’t drafted at all (think Martin St-Louis) will someday show they were the ones whose games could grow the most. In other words, upside, schmupside.

4. “We have a trade to announce…”
When commissioner Gary Bettman announces those six words, a hush falls over the crowd in attendance. But for every blockbuster trade that gets made, there are usually 100 minor deals (involving draft picks in future seasons and/or players nobody has heard of) that serve as a massive disappointment. Just don’t get your hopes up too much and you’ll be fine.

3. “We’re taking the best player available.”
The apparently revolutionary idea of a team choosing the player who it believes is better than any other player is held up every year as a honest-to-goodness strategy. Until a team publicly admits to choosing a player it doesn’t think is the best or until it attempts to choose the best unavailable player – say, by attempting to re-draft the No. 1 pick that season with the 145th pick – this should be considered the standard selection method.

2. “We’d like to thank the (host organization and host city) for their hospitality.”
Even if each GM or team member who said this (along with cliché No. 10) at the draft podium only took 30 seconds to get it out, that’s a good 15 minutes of time wasted once all 30 teams repeat it. Why not let Bettman speak that sentiment at the start of the draft and save everyone else the time?

1. “We couldn’t believe he was still available when it was our turn to pick.”
The Queen Mother of draft clichés is all about blowing smoke up the behind of the player drafted and giving fans and media the impression the organization committed a heist of criminal proportions. We get it, GMs – all the other GMs are out of their minds for letting your newest player drop.

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

[hockeygod]

THN at the NHL Awards: Europeans reign supreme

Matt Larkin, The Hockey News, 2012-06-20

Ironic that in Las Vegas, the epicenter of American excess, the big winners at the NHL Awards had a distinctly European flavor.

The Hart and Vezina Trophies, respectively, were a long time coming for Russia’s Evgeni Malkin and Sweden’s Henrik Lundqvist. As thrilled as both players were to win the top honor for a skater and goalie, they saw the night as more of a win for the NHL than Europe.

“We don’t really take any pride in Europe against the U.S. or Canada,” Lundqvist said. “We’re in this together. We just try to promote the sport. Especially this week, it’s all about having fun, meeting the guys, getting the sport out there as much as possible.”

FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE

For Malkin – who took home not just the Hart as league MVP, but the Ted Lindsay Award for MVP as voted by the players and his second Art Ross as scoring champ – winning the night’s big prize was the culmination of his gradually adjusting to North American life in his dominant six-year career.

“Every year I’m a little bit more comfortable, more English, watch TV,” Malkin said. “I have more friends in Pittsburgh and go out with friends and teammates and I’m really comfortable right now. I enjoy to play.”

Though he said he didn’t think about winning the Hart much, he felt his game elevate this season and credited the Penguins’ handling of him for it.

“I had a great line this year beside James Neal and Chris Kunitz,” he said. “And (coach Dan Bylsma) believed in me. Power play and I play 20, 25 minutes, I know that’s a lot for me.”

On a night when international players were front and center, it was only fitting to hear ‘Geno’ was thinking ahead to the Sochi Olympics in his homeland in 2014.

“I want to come to Russia and play the Olympics and I hope NHL says yes and all best players go,” Malkin said.

KING’S LANDING

Lundqvist, the New York Rangers’ backbone, has been the NHL’s most consistent goaltender since the lockout, ranking in the top five in wins, shutouts, goals-against average and save percentage. His first Vezina was almost a pat on the back for so many years of sustained excellence. No wonder he was on Cloud Nine.

“I’m so happy right now,” Lundqvist said. “To be selected to win. To be on that list with a couple of my heroes, Patrick (Roy) and Dominik (Hasek) – Marty (Brodeur) had a great career. It feels good. It’s been a goal for me and a dream for a long time. “

Of course, ‘King Henrik’ stayed true to Swedish modesty by saying he was happy Malkin beat him for the Hart.

KARLSSON COLLECTS TROPHY, TORCH

Is 2012 Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson already on the path to challenging the seven trophies belonging to Nicklas Lidstrom, the freshly retired legend to whom he’ll endlessly be compared for years to come?

“I don’t like to look too far ahead,” Karlsson said. “I’m here right now, it’s a great feeling and something I know I want to be a part of again and I’m going to work very hard to try and do that.

It’s easy to forget Karlsson is still just 21 years old – but seeing how wide-eyed he was on awards night was a good reminder.

“I’m happy to be here, but when I got nominated I don’t really think I understood how it works and how big it was until I came here,” said Karlsson, who described himself as the most nervous he’s ever been in his life. “Once I came here and sat down and saw the first prize was mine, I didn’t really know what to do. I’ll probably have to take a look at the tape a couple of times to figure out what really happened.”

Young and green? Sure. But not immature. Karlsson sang the praises of fellow Norris finalists Zdeno Chara and Shea Weber. “I still watch them on TV like I did a couple years ago and (the award is) something I know is very rare and special and I’m very humbled,” Karlsson said.

KEN HITCHCOCK, RENAISSANCE MAN

The double-take stat of the night: hearing “first,” “Jack Adams Award” and “Ken Hitchcock” in the same sentence. Somehow, a man with a Stanley Cup, seven division titles and a .595 career points percentage had never been named the NHL’s best coach before.

Maybe ‘Hitch’ was simply evolving to this moment – the pinnacle of coaching, not just in terms of his famously tough, taskmaster style, but also his deep understanding of the space between his players’ ears.

“I study people,” Hitchcock said. “I pride myself in staying current. I like their music, I listen to their music. I like the things they think and do. I study them to understand what they’re doing. I’m not sitting and resting on my laurels.

“Five years ago, if you dealt with the players the same way you do know, you would have no success. They’ve changed a lot and you’ve got to adapt. “

Listening to Hitchcock’s goalies, Jennings Trophy winners Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak, made it clear how appreciated his progressive approach is.

“He’s genuine,” Elliott said. “What you see in the media is how he is. He’s making jokes. You’re not afraid to walk by your coach in the locker room because you lost a game. He’s been around long enough to know everything will be all right.”

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

[hockeygod]

Oilers take Yakupov with first pick, rest of night filled with surprises

PITTSBURGH — James Mirtle, The Globe and Mail, Jun. 22 2012

In a night full of drama everywhere else, the Edmonton Oilers went the safe route and stuck with the consensus first overall pick on Friday at the NHL draft.

Tell us: Who will come out strongest from the NHL draft?

Their prize for bottoming out in the standings this time around is Nail Yakupov, a slick Russian winger who scored 80 goals the past two seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Sarnia Sting and is believed to be a Pavel Bure type in the best case scenario.

“I’m excited and I can’t believe it,” Yakupov said shortly after putting on an Oilers jersey for the first time. “My parents are excited – they’re crying… I wanted to cry, too.”

Yakupov joins a growing cast of elite young talent in Edmonton that’s led by Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – all of whom were taken in the first round in the past four drafts.

Both Hall and Nugent-Hopkins – the first overall picks in 2010 and 2011 – stepped into the NHL immediately after they were drafted, something Yakupov believes he is prepared for.

“I think yeah, why not?” he said, doing little to dispel his reputation as somewhat cocky. “I have lots of time for work in the summer and work with Edmonton [to] try to make the team. I think I’m ready for the NHL.”

“I love the confidence,” Oilers GM Steve Tambellini said of his latest addition. “With that comes the courage to back it up.”

Yakupov’s selection at No. 1 was widely expected in the weeks leading up to Friday’s first round, although there had also been plenty of speculation the past two days that the Oilers could take Everett Silvertips defenceman Ryan Murray in order to fill a positional need.

Instead, Murray went to the Columbus Blue Jackets at No. 2, allowing the Montreal Canadiens to take the player they had coveted in Sting centre Alex Galchenyuk.

It really wasn’t until the Toronto Maple Leafs pick at No. 5 that the first real surprise came.

Widely expected to be looking for a forward, Leafs GM Brian Burke instead went with Moose Jaw Warriors defender Morgan Rielly, who some scouts have compared to Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson.

“We had this player rated first overall,” Burke said. “I wouldn’t say that if it wasn’t true.”

That pick, along with the New York Islanders taking Griffin Reinhart at No. 4, started a run of seven defencemen in a row – which combined with Murray’s selection set a new NHL record with eight blueliners in the first 10 picks.

While this was a draft considered deep on blueliners, many were expected to go in the middle of the first round. Instead the streak meant forwards like Filip Forsberg, Mikhail Grigorenko and Teuvo Teravainen – all projected to potentially go in the top five – were in for an uncomfortable wait in the stands.

Forsberg fell to 11th to the Washington Capitals followed by Grigorenko to the Buffalo Sabres one pick later.

Teravainen, whose size was likely the issue, dropped to the Chicago Blackhawks all the way at 18th.

Those top prospects sliding – along with three high profile trades that saw Jordan Staal, Mike Ribeiro and Lubomir Visnovsky all change teams before the first eight picks were made – will make this one of the more intriguing drafts to look back on in the years to come.

After all the night’s wheeling and dealing on the draft floor, Tambellini’s choice to simply stick with Yakupov may have seemed rather mundane, but it was likely the correct one given his skill set.

Just as Staal fetched three quality assets in the Penguins deal with the Carolina Hurricanes, the Oilers can now always move one of their talented forwards for help on the back end in the hopes of finally exiting the league’s basement.

“We know and the players know that expectations are higher,” Tambellini said. “And they should be. You’re starting to hear some of the young players talk about they want to compete for a playoff spot. And that’s what they should be talking about.”

Later in the night, two of the other Canadian teams followed the trend with the Leafs and took blueliners. The Winnipeg Jets went with big American blueliner Jacob Trouba at ninth while the Ottawa Senators selected a hometown favourite in Ottawa 67s defenceman Cody Ceci.

The Calgary Flames, who had the 14th overall pick, traded down to 21st with the Buffalo Sabres in order to nab Mark Jankowski and get back a second-round pick.

The Vancouver Canucks then took Belleville Bulls centre Brendan Gaunce at 26th as one of the final picks on Day 1 of the draft.

Canadian team picks

1. Edmonton: Nail Yakupov, LW, Sarnia Sting (OHL)

3. Montreal: Alex Galchenyuk, C, Sarnia Sting (OHL)

5. Toronto: Morgan Rielly, D, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)

9. Winnipeg: Jacob Trouba, D, U.S. Under-18 (USHL)

15. Ottawa: Cody Ceci, D, Ottawa 67s (OHL)

21. Calgary: Mark Jankowski, C, Stanstead College (MPHL)

26. Vancouver: Brendan Gaunce, C, Belleville Bulls (OHL)

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

[hockeygod]

Don’t count on there being an NHL season next year

ROY MacGREGOR, The Globe and Mail, Jun. 22 2012

Don’t get too excited, Saskatoon.

Or you, Regina. Or you, Barrie, Ont., for that matter.

NHL fans in Regina have circled Sept. 27 as the day the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Islanders meet in a preseason exhibition season. Two days later, the Winnipeg Jets and Boston Bruins are to play in Saskatoon. And next night the Islanders and Ottawa Senators are scheduled to meet in Barrie.

But don’t count on it.

The NHL long ago cancelled any plans for heading off to Europe or Japan for any preseason games leading into 2012-13. Now the minimum-travel North American exhibition schedule can be cancelled with a couple of phone calls – which is now considered likely to happen.

As for the regular season, announced this week to begin Thursday Oct. 11 – Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames, Ottawa at Montreal Canadiens – you’d be foolish to bet on that, as well.

For the better part of a year, the hockey world was convinced the Mayans were cockeyed, that the NHL wouldn’t dare repeat in 2012 what it had risked in 2004-05 and gambled halfway back in 1994-95. Owners had survived the lost half-season in the prosperous mid-1990s and had been considered to have thrived following the entirely lost season eight years ago, when they came out of the lockout with “cost certainty,” a salary cap and a reinvented game.

The popular thinking was they wouldn’t dare try that again – risk offending a fan base that might not come back as readily as fans had in 2005. Nor would the players – richer in revenue sharing than they had ever been in individual negotiation – want to bring an end to what was clearly a very good thing for them.

The NHL brags about its record revenues of $3.3-billion (all currency U.S.), but floods of money didn’t stop the NFL or the NBA from holding things up last year until rich owners could strike a better deal.

It’s well known that NHL owners are keen to rejig the split – currently 57/43 in favour of players – to something closer to 50/50, as the other leagues have managed.

They’d also like to do something about long-term contracts – entirely a situation of their own making, by the way – and come up with some mechanism for breaking free of the many that go sour. And, of course, they’d always like more leverage regarding entry-level contracts and unrestricted free agents.

But there is one area of potential conflict that gets little talked about. It has to do with the salary cap the owners fought so hard for last time around and the players eventually capitulated on in what was widely considered a triumphant romp for the owners.

Surprisingly, the owners’ concern isn’t at the top end, where the cap is expected to exceed $70-million a team in 2012-13 – shockingly up from the $39-million it was in the first year of the salary cap, 2005-06.

It lies, instead, at the lower end, the bare minimum teams must spend. This is expected to rise to $54-million this year, $15-million more than the top of the salary cap was when the current collective agreement began.

The reason this is of such concern to a number of owners is that, surprisingly, many of the more established owners are actually keener on bringing their stumbling partners in line than they are the players.

It is common knowledge that the league has had to bail out the Phoenix Coyotes and New Jersey Devils, but there are several other teams either in, or close to, serious red ink. The successful owners are tired of hearing about the struggles of the weak and sick of bailouts.

It’s time to get the stray ducks in line, they say.

To that point, there is a movement to go after the minimum. Some clubs would like it abolished outright. Weaker clubs say they don’t care how much the New York Rangers or Philadelphia Flyers spend so long as they aren’t trapped by a minimum that, they believe, forces them to spend on players they’d rather not take on and can be a severe cramp on rebuilding.

They want the latitude baseball teams have. Sell off the big assets for what you can get and start over with a more sensible economic model for the franchise.

A lowered minimum – let alone no minimum at all – is sure to fire up the players, now being led by a hard-nosed negotiator who came over from baseball, Donald Fehr.

There is, says one, “a fear of Fehr” among owners who are determined to address the minimum salary-cap issue.

And that, of course, can only ignite a far greater fear among those fans who haven’t the slightest interest in how high or how low a salary cap might to.

The fear of no season at all, once again.

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

[hockeygod]

Cut twice last summer, Flyers’ pick Anthony Stolarz goes from NAHL to NHL

By Sean Leahy, Puck Daddy, June 23 2012

PITTSBURGH — A year ago at this time Anthony Stolarz was on the hunt for a new home after being cut by two Eastern Junior Hockey League teams. One year and a long journey later, he was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round of the 2012 NHL Draft.

Stolarz landed with the Corpus Christi Ice Rays of the North American Hockey League after attending an open camp and played 50 games for them this past season. From there he was ranked No. 4 among North American goaltenders on Central Scouting's final rankings and was the only player from NAHL to be invited to the NHL Combine. That opportunity was the best marketing campaign for him.

"I think it helped," he said. "It was an honor to be invited. I just wanted to help me anyway I could. I just tried my hardest in the interviews. It looks like everything worked for me."

The goal for Stolarz wasn't an eye on the NHL. He was aiming for a college scholarship instead. You can have all the confidence in the world in thinking someday you might reach the big time, but after getting cut from two Tier III Junior A teams right before your draft year, reality does tend to take over.

Did Stolarz even think last summer that he'd be at the NHL Draft today? "To be honest, no."

Stolarz is currently committed to the University of Nebraska-Omaha next season under the tutelage of Dean Blais. After the combine, he flew from Toronto to Omaha to start his training.

The 6-foot-5, 200 lbs. netminder idolized Martin Brodeur growing up as a New Jersey Devils fan, but says he likes to model his game after Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators.

"I'm a big goalie and I like to use my size to my advantage," he said. "By challenging out, you take off more of that angle, so by coming out more there's less room for them to shoot at."

Stolarz grew up in Jackson, N.J., which isn't a far drive from the Flyers' practice facility in Vorhees. After 18 years of Devils fandom, as of this morning that's all changed.

"Looks like I'm a Flyers fan now," he said.

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

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