Puck Headlines: Bid bad for Bettman or Balsillie? McCarty to KHL?
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...August 26, 2009
Here are your Puck Headlines: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.
• With Jerry Reinsdorf dropping out, the suitors for the Phoenix Coyotes are down to billionaire Jim Balsillie, the Ice Edge Holdings group that talked about splitting home games with a Canadian city, and the NHL itself. Balsillie’s group is eager to see what the NHL bid holds; but the Vancouver Sun characterizes the turn of events as Balsillie’s odds getting longer. [Sun Media]
• Then again, the National Post Kelly McParland thinks that the team’s still up for grabs, even if the Coyotes are pretty much destitute: "The league’s brain trust now sees the Coyotes as the equivalent of a distressed condo development, hoping they can buy now and find some sucker to carry the load once prices firm up a bit." (McParland also floats the nightmarish scenario of U-Hauls packing up the Yotes in the middle of the night for Hamilton.) [National Post]
• Finally on the Phoenix front, it’s Scotty Wazz has some solid takes on the latest drama. [Wazz]
• Alas, it appears we’re reached the end of Mike Sillinger’s(notes) NHL career. Unless retirement figures out a way to trade him to the Lightning this season. [@KatieStrangNYI]
• Great column by Michael Farber of SI that not only traces the past of Vincent Lecavalier(notes) of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Joe Thornton(notes) of the San Jose Sharks, but questions whether one of the two won’t make the Team Canada cut for 2010. [SI]
• Shawn Horcoff(notes) of Dany Heatley’s(notes) diss of Edmonton: "It’s frustrating to hear that a player doesn’t want to come here." [FanHouse]
• Former Detroit Red Wings tough guy Darren McCarty(notes) is flirting with the KHL. Here’s how Russian hockey takes over the world: a combination of floaters like Zherdev and Radulov, and a collection of over-the-hill NHL pugilists like McCarty and Chris Simon(notes). It’ll be like figure skating meets AWA Wrestling. [Detroit News]
• Alexander Ovechkin(notes) will captain the kitchen at Manhattan’s newest Russian restaurant, Mari Vanna, on either Sept. 8 or 9 as part of a celebrity guest series. What a perfect time to add hot dog to the menu. [New York Times]
• Ted Leonsis opines on why the Washington Capitals want to play in stadium games, and why the NHL in the Olympics is a necessary evil. [Ted's Take]
• This was mentioned in passing during the Nikita Filatov(notes) interview yesterday, but Jeff Klein has more on potential No. 1 overall pick Kirill Kabanov’s trouble with the KHL. In the sense that he won’t sign a contract that bans him from jumping to the NHL. Remember that next time someone plays the "red menace" card. [Slap Shot]
• The Ottawa Senators promote Pierre Dorion to director of player personnel and Randy Lee to director of hockey administration and player development. [Sens]
• Honestly, the more one reads about the Vancouver Canucks, the more one wonders if this could be (gulp) "the year." Would still like to see one more sniper, and what that defense looks like post-Ohlund. But they’ve got a nice mix of players over there. [Globe & Mail]
• That said, here’s an argument as for why Roberto Luongo(notes) should give up the captaincy next season. [Heated Skates]
• Although we’ve had a few ladies participate, our "5 Reasons I Love Hockey" series has been testicle-heavy. So Cameron Frye has some lady puckheads offering their "5 Reasons" and it’s definitely worth a read. Sarah Spain Alert! [Cameron Frye]
• Calgary Flames Coach Brent Sutter gives a pep talk … to the Professional Bull Riders version of Team Canada. [Calgary Herald]
• Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz takes on the state of Illinois over a booze tax. [City Room]
• The new Hershey Bears sweaters are here. Huzzah! [On Frozen Blog]
• Remember that bizarre Patrick Marleau(notes) trade rumor from the other day that was debunked by the San Jose Sharks’ general manager? OC Register writer Randy Youngman explains himself: The rumor was lifted from Pro Sports Daily without attribution, which is itself simply an aggregator of other sources’ reporting; there’s no explanation as to where Marleau’s refusal to waive his no-trade clause originated; and Youngman actually reminds readers that "believe what you want, but remember: A rumor is an unconfirmed report." Based on the original report and the follow-up, our sources confirm that the paper should be pathetically embarrassed right now. [OC Register]
• Mike Chen checks in with his take on the Sharks and Marleau. [Battle of California]
• John Grigg of The Hockey News looks at buyouts, reminding us that Alexei Yashin(notes) is "the second-highest paid New York Islanders skater this season." Steven Ovadia has believes every front office should have someone dedicated to "worst case scenarios" for contracts: "The fact that Toronto will be giving up $1 million per season of cap space to Darcy Tucker(notes) for the next five years tells me that step is probably being skipped in a lot of front offices." [Puck Update]
• The St. Louis Blues were quiet during free agency. President John Davidson explains why: "So why waste time and money to do something that might not be beneficial for us? If we were in a different position where we needed people badly, then it’d be a different world. But we’re not." Snap! [Blues]
• The Oilers rescue Wayne Fleming from a nightmarish gig in the KHL, and immediately the speculation turns to Jaromir Jagr(notes) in Edmonton with two former coaches (Fleming and Tom Renney) behind the bench. [Sun Media]
• Finally, via Kukla, Zack Stortini(notes) of the Edmonton Oilers breaks down the spiffy new NHL 10 fight engine and checking moves. Thought No. 1: He looks like a young Oliver Stone. Thought No. 2: Don’t tell anyone this, but up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A and start will give you 30 hugs during a Stortini fight.
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