(Source:YardBarker.com

I had a rant all ready for this week. But then, a few things happened:

1) Earlier today, Susan Lee posted on the topic I had in mind: Women’s hockey. Catch it here.

2) Also earlier today, the NHL and the NHLPA agreed to extend the deadline for a decision on whether to accept the latest version of the contract the New Jersey Devils are offering Kovalchuk (say that three times very fast).

3) Larry Brooks of the New York Post appears to have uncovered an ultimatum that the NHL has given the NHLPA.

A decision could be made tonight, tomorrow, next week. The NHL could accept the contract, refuse the contract, refuse the contract and get to work on the Luongo, Hossa, and/or Savard deals. The NHLPA could file a grievance. Kovalchuk could end up in the KHL. Luongo could end up not getting all those dollars he has yet to prove he deserves (don’t. even. bring up the Olympics). Hossa could end up on Dancing With The Stars.

No matter how this little saga ends though, it’s already set the stage for The Thing We Don’t Like To Talk About. No, I don’t mean a hockey rumour blog. I’m talking about the next lockout.

There are far, far, far more knowledgeable people than myself on how and when the next lockout will happen, so I won’t even try. I will say we’ve been waiting for it for years, maybe not since we found out there would be a salary cap but definitely since the teams started playing fast and loose with the CBA loophole and front-loading everything in sight from their employment offers to their grocery bills.

With the front-loaded contracts, the General Managers decided they weren’t going to stand for a salary cap. With the rejection of the original Kovalchuk contract, the NHL decided it wasn’t going to stand for the GMs not standing for the salary cap. With their grievance, the NHLPA decided it was … well, you get the idea.

Eventually, though, this stops becoming something we’re sick of hearing about and an issue the players refuse to go to work over. And to be honest, I can’t say I can blame them. A salary cap would have been fine if, as the league promised, it had brought parity to the league so that every season could be anyone’s season. Off the top of my head I can name three teams that haven’t been or come close to the playoffs since after the last lockout, and many more teams that have been there every year or four out of the five years.

A basic summary of what happened is: the players got screwed out of money, and the fans are not any better off… but the owners are happier than they used to be.

I don’t expect the players to just sit back if things don’t balance out in their favour. Couple the salary cap with the Olympics issue and you’ve got yourself some form of a strike on your hands. So we can get bored of this now, but we need to be ready to be plenty bored sometime in the next few years.

Following the blow-out women’s hockey games at the Vancouver Olympics – in which Canada and the United States steamrollered everyone in sight – the International Olympic Committee’s president, Jacques Rogge, said that women’s hockey “cannot continue without improvement.”

With games as lopsided as 13-0 and even 18-0, who can blame Rogge’s frustration?  When there’s no competition, the game not only ceases to be entertaining to watch, but can you imagine being on the losing team?  I think I’d throw myself on my own skateblades just to get off the ice.

The problem is that the budgets for the Canadian and U.S. teams are so far out of proportion than any of the other countries.  Most other countries are completely focused on developing their male players which means the ladies teams are left with less time to practice, inferior equipment, lack of pro-level coaching and the unspoken stigma of being a girl playing a man’s game.

And that’s not just hockey. That applies to just about all professional team sports.  If you were a tomboy who grew up playing co-ed sports, you became painfully aware pretty quickly that there was only so far you could go.  If you were lucky, college level and if you were really talented, the Olympics. But that’s pretty much it.  The closest thing we have here in the States to pro-level female sports is the WNBA and I don’t know anyone who watches the games.

If the NHL and the international community could foster a similar program – beginning at the college level or possibly earlier – women’s hockey could become something we don’t watch just during the Olympics, but games we look forward to seeing on a regular basis.

To further put this in perspective, Canada and the U.S. have tens of thousands of registered female players, whereas most countries have no more than 5,000 and some only number in the hundreds.

At the World Hockey Summit, Haley Wickenheiser (regarded by many as one of the greatest female players) met with the NHL and all the stakeholders in women’s hockey in a concerted effort to get the project started.

“[The NHL is] looking at it right now from a sponsorship level to get it off the ground,” Wickenheiser said. “We’re not talking about big salaries, just sensible steps to get it on the ice to entertain people and see where it can go, and then down the road having elite, WNBA-type league, which I think we could do.”

Wickenheiser also proposed the creation of a league composed of the best post-college players from North America and Europe, which would produce more balanced and competitive teams to compete in the Olympics.

So far, the Toronto Maple Leafs has been the first NHL team to announce they would fully support the idea of a competition that would foster the development of women’s hockey.

If the NHL doesn’t step it up and give the girls the support they so rightly deserve and have earned, women’s hockey will go the way of the dodo or worse, the way of Olympic softball.

Bobby Ryan brings some old school toughness out to the West Coast and the Anaheim Ducks. He’s not a thug though, as he can definitely put the biscuit in the basket.

• 2007-2008: 23 – 5 -5
• 2008-2009: 64 – 31 – 26
• 2009-2010: 81 – 35 – 29

He’s not exactly a top notch playmaker, but you can rely on him to score some big goals.  In his lone playoff appearance, he chipped in 5 goals and 2 assists in 13 games.

Profile:  Ryan had a pretty accomplished resume before he hit the NHL.  In 2006, the Jersey boy was part of the USA team that finished 4th in the World Junior Championships.  The Owen Sound Attackof the OHL convinced him to play major junior in Canada after he’d committed to the US National U-18 program.  Turned into a pretty good career move for him, as he significantly improved throughout his 4 seasons there.  He went from 22 goals and 39 points in his first season, to 43 goals and 102 points in his final season.  The Ducksdrafted him in 2005, after his first 2 OHL seasons.  When he’d finally finished up in the OHL, Anaheim assigned him to the AHL for the final 8 games of the 2007-2008 season.  He was impressive, netting 3 goals to go along with 6 assists.  The following season, he was at a point per game pace through 48 games when it became clear that he was ready for the NHL.  As you can see in the stats above, he has become a solid NHL player.  He was the first rookie in Ducks history to get a hat trick, and he set a franchise record for points by a rookie.  He was name a finalist for the Calder Trophy.  Also, in the 2010 Winter Olympics, he once again wore red, white and blue for the team that lost the gold medal to Team Canada.

What makes him special?:  Oh man, where do I begin with this guy.  First, as you’ll see in the highlights below, he can score a few different ways.  He’s got a tricky shot and some solid accuracy.  That alone is enough to light the lamp quite a few times.  Unfortunately for opposing goalies, he’s got some sick stick handlingability as well.  If he decides to cut or dangle, good luck taking the puck away.  He’s fairly tall (6′2″), but plays lower to the ground, making his center of gravity low, which of course makes him hard to knock off of the puck.  It’s a good trait to have for a guy the plays on the edge, who goes into corners, and likes throwing his weight around.  He’s a bit of a pest, throwing a late shove here and there to get under people’s skin.  They become more concerned with rendering him unconscious, rather than trying to win hockey games.  And while doing all of this, he doesn’t sit in the penalty box thatoften. On a team that’s always near the top in fighting majors, he’s also not too shy to fight his own battle.  He’s the perfect mix of skill and toughness than every GM dreams of.

Hate Factor: Pretty damn high actually.  Talk to any fans of teams he plays against on a regular basis, and they pretty much hate him.  He gets away with some late hits, and a few punches from time to time.  It’s all a part of his game, but it’s annoying is shit to anyone he faces. 

Jersey Worthy: He’s a great player to cheer for, but I’m not sure how much longer he’ll be a Duck.  There were rumors this summer that the Flyers wanted him, and I’m sure other teams as well.  He might turn into a Bill Guerin type gun for hire, that floats to different teams every few years, bringing a mean stream and consistent offensive ability to whoever wants him.  He strongly wants to remain in Anaheim, but is in the midst of a contract negotiation that’s gone nowhere. If he does sign, go ahead and buy the jersey.

Previous Features

• Intro
• PK Subban
• Drew Doughty
• Carey Price
• John Tavares
• Steven Stamkos
• Dustin Byfuglien
• Tyler Myers
• Paul Stastny
• Niklas Backstrom
• Tuukka Rask

Thanks for reading!

You can follow me on Twitter by visiting www.Twitter.com/BroadStreetBuzz

Also, be sure to check out Broad Street Buzz for my views on the Flyers!

August is almost over thank goodness and pretty soon we’ll be able to put the long, hot and boring summer behind us as training camp will be starting in about 3 weeks!  That said, here’s some of the top stories that appeared around the FanSided NHL network last week.

Leading off, and following along with my eagerness for training camp to begin, here’s some observations that have been made by Causeway Crowd  regarding the Bruins.

Tim Redinger from Sabre Noise  chimes in with 5 reasons why he loves hockey.  Have to say, you can’t go wrong with any of those selections.

A Winning Habit makes a strong case for the Montreal Canadiens to acquire free agent forward Bill Guerin.  Guerin may be old, but he’s still got the desire and the ability.  Someone’s going to grab him.

For all you gamers out there, Blue Line Station sems to be pretty excited about the new version of NHL 2011 that’s coming out as he took a “test drive” of the demo recently.

The Ottawa Senators may have questions marks in goal this season, but the future appears to be bright with Robin Lehner.  SenShot gives us a look at the youngster.

Broad Street Buzz feels that there’s been two versions of Daniel Briere since his arrival as a free agent.  Which one is the real one?  And is he worth it?

Arron Asham recently signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins as a free agent to help bolster their third line and add some toughness.  Pens Labyrinth agrees with the move.

Former first round draft pick Matt Lashoff has been added to an already croweded Toronto Maple Leaf blue line.  Editor In Leaf  feels it’s a depth move, and that Burkie probably has a few more up his sleeve.

Capitals Outsider describes the “fighting days of GM George McPhee as a player.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are getting ready for the start of training camp as are the other NHL teams.  Fire That Cannon takes a look at some of the summer moves by the Jackets.

Oil On Whyte has his take on the big news story last week about bloggers getting press credentials allowing them access to the dressing room and to be able to interview players.

The L.A. Kings have signed free agent defenceman Willie Mitchell.  Rink Royalty thinks it’s a good move as long as Willie can stay healthy. 

The fans in Nashville all breathed a sigh of relief when forward Partic Hornqvist signed a multi year deal last week.  Predlines joins in the relief exercise.

As we know summertime during the past few years gives NHL execs time to review and look at changing rules and finding ways to improve the game.  Here, Bleedin’ Blue  takes a look at some of those proposed changes.

And that wraps up another addition of our best of NHL recap.  Stay tuned as things heat up as we get closer to training camp, as we certainly will be ramping things up each and every day.

As for me, you can see me daily (usually) on The Rat Trick.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers

Thank You. Please Be Seated!

With the NHL offseason coming to the home stretch, everyone knows that there hasn’t been too much news to report on.  Yes, the Ilya Kovalchuk situation has had about as much drama as Brett Farve and Tiger Woods.  Also the trade, or no trade of Tomas Kaberle has also occupied our minds as well.  And of course the RDO camp and potential rule changes that the league is considering, to go along with playing in the Olympics or not.

Yesterday however, a subject came about regarding bloggers, or as I prefer to call us, writers.  The matter at hand was in regard to individuals like us getting press credentials which would give us access to the press box, dressing room, and other media outlets.  This would enable us to interview players after games both for the home team that we cover, and potentially the visiting road team.

There were two excellent articles written yesterday covering the matter.  One by the very well known and respected Greg Wyshynski known as Puck Daddy, and the other by up and coming writer Justin Goldman, who writes for his own site called The Goalie Guild. Both articles give the bird’s eye view of what it is like to be in the position that we as writers have chosen to be in, and how difficult it sometimes is to not only be taken seriously, but also how hard it may be to gain the respect that many of us are looking for.

In reading both, I think you’ll find that there is a fine line that some writers feel they need to walk, and a decision needs to be made on whether or not your goal is to get press credentials or not.  The stigma that’s out there about us is that we are a bunch of guys sitting in our basements, or a local Starbucks, forming opinions, and or making brash and biased statements about the teams we cover.  In addition some feel that our statements or coverage of the team is done in a way to be comical, sarcastic and degrading.  Hey if it gets us readers, then why not?

In actuality, and I speak for myself, but I know that I also speak for other (not all) writers as well,  is that we do this because we feel we have something to say.  We feel that we are intelligent enough to make our statements and cover our teams in a way that the normal media outlets don’t.  Or should I say won’t.  We don’t get paid to do this.  We love the game, and are passionate about it and want to talk about it.  While I can’t speak for every writer out there, I’m sure many agree and would be on the same page with me on this.

The real issue is whether or not credentials mean anything to us. Before I answer that, and before you do if you’re a writer yourself, ask yourself the following question.  If I am granted press credentials to games for the team that I cover, does that now change the way that I write for that team?  Also, will I then be compromising myself, and changing my style of writing because I now am at the mercy of the team?  I can’t answer this question for all of you, but I can give you my response as it pertains to me.

Personally, I enjoy the fact that I am in the background.  That my identity is a bit of a secret, and that of all the 6 people who show up for the Florida Panther games, are not aware of who The Rat Trick is.  Well, except for one of the former majority owners, but I have always been respectful of him.  So you see right there, I feel an obligation to not say derogatory comments or make fun of or joke around about him, or anything that he did.  If I now get press credentials, my purpose for my readers becomes “infected” with how I am now “supposed” to write.

I’m not saying I wouldn’t love the chance to meet players after the games and ask them questions about their performance, and watch all the attention that they get.  However, if I were to ask Little Stevie why he went off for a line change instead of joining the rush, therefore missing out on a scoring chance, the little bugger would probably try to wrap his stick around my head.  Therefore most likely ending my access to the dressing room.  Now, getting credentials for the All-Star game, or a playoff game (in Florida?), or the Draft is something completely different.  That opportunity I would love.  I will never forget one year when I was in Toronto on a business trip and staying at a hotel that many players and NHL big wigs were at prior to the NHL Awards show.  I sat in awe of all the people that I saw coming and going, and that I saw around the city.  One thing, though is that I was extremly respectful and didn’t “bother” anyone, but was able to impress my colleagues of how many people I knew and who they were.

Bottom line is that writing for FanSided Sports has given me on a daily basis an outlet to voice my opinions, and interact with my readers.  You don’t have to agree with me, but I hope that you at least like what you read, and that I can you you a different perspective.  Candid, true, and sometimes sarcastically on the money!  I would never disrespect Fansided if I was granted the chance to get in front of any player as a representative of this network.  However, I’m not so sure I want to change the way that I write.

So for now, I think I’ll just stay mysterious.  I like it that way!

Thanks for reading.

You can check me out daily at The Rat Trick.

The Rat Trick is also on Twitter @TheRatTrick and we have a Facebook Fan Page as well.

Cheers

It seems in college football the annual discussion centers around how much better the SEC is than everyone else, and fans from all conferences come bowl games like to stand up for their own. Likewise in college basketball, a pretty major point of discussion is which conference has the most teams come the Sweet 16, or if one can get multiple teams into the Final Four.

In college hockey it is no different. Although Hockey East owns the last three national titles, WCHA fans still claim their conference is the best due to the overall depth and amount of NHL talent that plays there.

Here is how I see the conferences stacking up in 2010-11:

5. Atlantic Hockey

Atlantic Hockey is a conference on the rise. Their champion has won an NCAA tournament game in 3 of the last 5 seasons, and come very close in the other two years, with Alabama-Huntsville losing in 2 OT to Notre Dame, and Air Force taking Minnesota to the wire. Last year RIT made it all the way to the Frozen Four, but this year the conference is a little low on talent. RIT has lost some of the engine that took them to Detroit, and while Air Force has Jacques Lamoureux, a dazzling scorer who would be at home in any conference, there isn’t much else accompanying him. Watch for Robert Morris, who swept Miami in a weekend series last year.

4. ECAC Hockey

ECAC Hockey, for some reason, doesn’t get a lot of respect nationally. Although it is a very good league most years, this year it looks to be of the one bid variety. Yale is the type of team that could win the national championship if it finds some goaltending, but with the recent departures of Jerry D’Amigo and Brandon Pirri at RPI, the league probably loses out on its second NCAA team. Look for Cornell, who is young but talented, and Union to make runs.

3. CCHA

The CCHA has two elite teams in Miami, who has been to two straight Frozen Fours, and Michigan, who might have one of the best offenses in America. Michigan State is the only CCHA team to win a national title this millenium (2007), but Miami and Michigan could each join them this year. Alaska is another team to watch, as the program is coming off it’s first ever NCAA Tournament trip. The Nanooks are led by Andy Taranto, who was my CCHA Freshman of the year last year. Notre Dame was thought to have a lot of talent coming into the year, but the losses of Kyle Palimieri, Riley Sheahan and Jarred Tinordi have rocked the program.

2. WCHA

Although the WCHA is probably the deeper league, only North Dakota looks like they should be a definite national title contender. Minnesota-Duluth has a ton of scoring back, but has some questions defensively. St. Cloud State has the best duo in the league (and maybe the country, other than Miami) with Dan Dunn and Mike Lee, but they will have to get some non-Garrett Roe scoring to go far in the NCAA tournament. If Bemidji State, who is in their first year in the league, can do even remotely what they did in the CHA, the WCHA will probably be the best league.

1. Hockey East

Not as deep as the WCHA, but they have the best player in the country in Gustav Nyquist, the defending national champions (Boston College) and 4 teams who could make a deep run (BC, Maine, New Hampshire, Boston University).

The Black Bears will have to overcome the loss of Scott Darling, who left the team for personal issues, while UNH will have to replace Bobby Butler, the NCAA regular season goals leader. BU is a bit of a sleeper pick as they will be very young but very talented. Sophomore Alex Chiasson had a rough Freshman year, but I think he will rebound very well. Adam Clandening and Charlie Coyle are two highly touted recruits, but don’t sleep on Matt Nieto. He could put up huge numbers in college.

I’ve heard enough about whether or not the NHL will allow its players to participate in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Not that I don’t think this is an extremely important question, and likely to be almost as big of an issue as the salary cap during the next CBA negotiations. I’m just sick of hearing people talk about this, because whenever they talk about this, they inevitably start asking Gary Bettman about this.

And that’s where I have a problem.

It’s understandable that, as Bettman often says, a decision has not been made yet, that there are many things that need to be addressed before such a decision can be made, that the NHL wants certain concessions if they are to participate.

He has argued that the past few Olympics have been held in locations that make it easier for the players and league to fit the Olympics into their season, and that Sochi’s distance from North America may pose difficulties for the players in terms of scheduling, fatigue, etc.

All valid points.

I seriously doubt, however, that Bettman’s intentions are to let any chance to grow the game globally slip through his fingers. There are a lot of issues to be addressed, of course, and he has to continue to stand up for the team owners’ concerns about player injuries, and so on, but ultimately, it’s unlikely that NHL players will not be at Sochi in 2014.

It’s also possible that he’s holding off on making a decision because he wants to use Olympic participation as a bargaining chip for the next CBA negotiations.

Either way, Bettman is not about to tell us what’s go to happen this early in the game, so we should stop asking him about it.

I’ll worry if he ever comes out and gives us a definitive “No.”

What do you think?

Tuukka Raskwas just a young back-up to reigning Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas. The Bruins were coming of a great regular season, and a disappointing playoff exit.  Fortunately for Tuukka, all of that unraveled, and they needed a change.  He proved to be the right man for the job.

Career Stats (Wins – Losses – SV% – SO)

• 2007-2008: 2 – 2 – .886 – 0
• 2008-2009: 1 – 1 – 1.000 – 1
• 2009-2010: 22 – 17 – .931 – 5

His third season still counts as his rookie year because he didn’t play enough games in the previous two.  He pretty much came out of nowhere to take the top spot in Boston, and continue his stellar play midway into the 2nd round of the playoffs.

Profile: Rask is part of a growing trend in the NHL right now, Finnish goalies.  He spent a few seasons in the minors in Finland, before playing one season for the pro club, Ilves. In 2005 he was the top ranked European goalie heading into the draft, and was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1st round, 21st overall. The Leafs felt that they had a stockpile in net, and shipped him to Boston before ever giving him a chance. He spent a pair of seasons with the Providence Bruinsin the AHL, with a few brief call ups to the big club. In 2009-2010, with the B’s struggling, they made a change in net, giving him the starter’s job.  It was a shock, as the man he replaced, Tim Thomas, had won the Vezina Trophy the previous season. The Bruins salvaged their season, and rolled into the playoffs.  While some worried about his inexperience, he quieted the doubters as Bostonwon their first round matchup against the favored Buffalo Sabres.  They held a 3-0 series lead against the Philadelphia Flyers, before a historic collapse ended their season.

What makes him special: He’s a very calm goalie that doesn’t get rattled too much. He’s the type of guy that gets better and better as he faces more shots.  His rebound control is solid, as is his positioning. Sometimes he get’s caught out of the net trying to handle the puck, a skill he’ll need some work on. Still, because of his solid angles, he doesn’t give up many soft goals.  To beat him, you’d better have a screen, and have many, many players crashing the net on a consistent basis. He’s good down low when he drops to his knees, and he’s got some size, helping him cover a lot of ground.  The Bruinshave had a history of good goalies throughout their existence, will Rask be able to carry the torch, or is he just another flash in the pan?

Jersey Worthy: Goalies are generally a risk, so he’s a medium for this one. He took the top spot last season, but let’s wait and see how he does in 2010-2011. There’s not too many franchise guys around the league anymore, so unless he proves to be consistent, hold onto your wallet.

Hate factor: Eh, low. Not much a goalie can do unless they take a ton of cheap shots or dive a lot.  I haven’t seen much of that from him yet.

Previous Features:

• Intro
• PK Subban
• Drew Doughty
• Carey Price
• John Tavares
• Steven Stamkos
• Dustin Byfuglien
• Tyler Myers
• Paul Stastny
• Niklas Backstrom

Thanks for reading!

You can follow me on Twitter by visiting www.Twitter.com/BroadStreetBuzz

Also, be sure to check out Broad Street Buzz for my views on the Flyers!

The summer of the 2010 free agency? That is old news now. Seen it, heard it, read about it plenty. So I decided that we should go ahead and look forward to next summer and who might be on the free agency market in the summer of 2011. Forget about Kovalchuk. Who cares anymore about this summer’s crop, we have been talking about it since the spring. From first glance, this could be a really good summer for free agents. But the problem will be who actually makes it to the market, and who resigns a new contract with their respective teams during this season or before next July. So I want to take a quick look at some of the guys who I think really could hit the market next summer. Here is your first glance at the 2011 free agents:

Joe Thornton, C: Big Joe is nearing the end of his contract, with one year left on it at $7.2 million. San Jose has seen plenty of success with Joe during his seasons there, but the lack of playoff success and the age of Joe might cause the Sharks to think about letting Thornton depart from the team. He is considered one of the top centers in the league, and other centers like Brad Richards and Jeff Carter will probably be offered nice new contracts from their teams, so if Joe does hit the market it will be a big splash. Does someone go after him for just 2-3 years? Or maybe a team offers the then 31 year-old Joe a 4-5 year deal for big money. But the Sharks have Pavelski and Marleau on the roster and may look for a change if the season again ends without some real playoff success.

Tomas Kaberle, D: The Leafs may not have moved Tomas before his no-trade clause kicked back in, but you can be sure he is now planning his move out of Toronto. Sure he claims that he loves being there and would like to stay. But when you are not wanted by the new management and they have constantly been trying to build up interest around you to ship you out, you probably will not want to stay around too long. He is going into his last year at $4.25 million, and a strong two-way defenseman who will still have probably 3 good years left will be a sought after player on the open market. Then he will have the chance to choose where he wants to go.

Craig Anderson, G: Anderson may not hit the market or get close to it. If he puts together another good year in net and can get a young Avalanche team to the postseason again, he might get a nice pay raise. He is going into the second season of a 2 year deal for $3.6 million, and another good season might see Anderson get a nice 3-4 year deal since he will only be 30 by the time his contract is up.

Other big names that are on their last year of a contract: Brad Richards is in his final year for about $7.8 million in Dallas. Dallas is going through an ownership change and the hope is that it can be complete by sometime this fall so that the team will have to power and money to offer Brad a new deal to stay in Dallas as he is the new fan favorite. Zdeno Chara is also hitting his last year at over $7 million a year, but the beastly defender will be 34 and might take a little bit of a pay-cut to stay in Boston for a couple more years. Another big name D-man that will be looking for a new deal is Shea Weber, and if Nashville does not resign him then I will be surprised completely. He is still young, has a powerful shot, and in my opinion is one of the top 10-15 defenders in the NHL right now. He will be a RFA next summer and I don’t expect him to be going anywhere else. And finally, the top goalie that could possibly be a free agent is Ilya Bryzgalov. Ilya would be 31 and coming off a deal in which he made $4.25 million a season. But if he plays anything like he did last year and Phoenix is not completely messed up financially, then I expect him to stay in Arizona for the next few years.

For more possible UFAs or RFAs, check out NHLnumbers.com as that is a nice site that I used to look up the numbers on some of these guys and their free agent status if they do hit the market.

Photo Source TSN.ca

The NHL spent this past week testing potential changes for the game.  It’s research and develpoment camp involved 33 top rated junior players with veteran coaches Ken Hitchcock and Dave King leading the way on the ice, while more coaches, general mangagers and league executives watched closely from the stands.

In it’s attempt to search for ways to improve the game (I read: ways to find more scoring), there are a number of initiatives that are being looked at.  Among them:

Faceoff changes, no touch icing, no line changes after a team is called for a penalty, and the second referee being located off the ice surface.

If I were to make any changes I’d find a way to eliminate the shootout and or change the point system.  I’d personally leave the faceoff situation alone.  It’s one of the real skill parts of the game that adds a certain dimension to it.  Especially during the playoffs.  Enough of me though.

Two of our FanSided writers took a very in depth look at these changes and voiced their opinions on them as well.

Mike Hirsch of Blue Line Station,  our New York Rangers writer and Gavin Humes of  Rink Royalty our Los Angeles Kings writer give their views on these changes.  While I would say that some are needed, yet need to be refined, some rules should just be left alone.

What changes would you like to see if any?  Are you happy with the game as it is, or is there something that you feel needs to be fixed?  Let us know in the comments section.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers