News Wrapup for 6/10

This is a posting of yesterday's news and things I've missed. Since there is so much, I'll break it down into groups.

Rumors and Trade News

There are some rumors coming out of Calgary that there may be a trade involving Olli Jokinen going to Calgary for Alex Tanguay and others. Story from Five Hole Fanatics.

It seems that Wade Redden will not be an Ottawa Senator and will test the open market. This coming from Garrioch and SLAM Sports. It also seems that the Maple Leafs are interested in Redden. SLAM Sports has that one as well.

Canucks and Beyond is debating on who is going to be Luongo's benchwarmer in Vancouver.

The Denver Post is reporting that the Avalanche and Jose Theodore are close to agreeing to a contract to keep Theodore an Avalanche. In the case of the Avalanche, they really have no other choice.

Vinnie LeCavalier has stated that he wants to stay in Tampa. Story from St. Petersburg Times.

Howard Berger reports that Darcy Tucker will not accept a trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs and the only way to get him out of Toronto is to buyout his contract.

The Anaheim Ducks have sent Marc-Andre Bergeron to the Minnesota Wild for a third-round draft pick. Story from OCRegister and analysis from Bleacher Report.

Micheal Leighton has signed a two year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes today. Story from Lord Stanley's Blog.

Sundin's agent says that he will most likely return to the Maple Leafs next season. Story from the Toronto Star.

With Hasek gone, we take a look if Jimmy Howard will get a chance as the Red Wings backup. And if not, its time to start to fire up those Ryan Miller rumors. Story from Fanhouse.

Retirement Annoucements

Hasek annouced his retirement on Monday. Responses coming from Fanhouse, Red Wings Corner, Slapshot, and Melt Your Face Off.

Dallas Stars defenseman Mattias Norstrom annouced his retirement on Tuesday. Story from Star-Telegram. Follow-up from Star-Telegram as well.

Trevor Linden from the Vancouver Canucks is expected to announce his retirement today. Story from Canucks and Beyond.

Coaching News

The Leafs announced Ron Wilson as their new head coach yesterday. Stories from Howard Berger and San Jose Mercury News.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has a possible list of candidates for the Thrashers. The Ice Man from the AJC throws in his two cents as well.

The Rest of the Stories

The Hockey Song controversy has finally ended. Since it was CBC's story to tell, we'll let them tell you how it ended.

Dion Phaneuf is going to be the cover boy for NHL 09. Story from Fanhouse.

The Panthers are putting a $25 surcharge on premium tickets mirroring essentially what a gold game is in Buffalo. Story from Palm Beach Post and reaction from On Frozen Pond here and here.

According to Barry Melrose Rocks, you too can be the owner of your very own arena. Story here.

Canes Country takes a look at the National Post article referring to the contraction of the league.

Bob Wojnowski from the Detroit News has a good piece on the healing powers of the Stanley Cup.

The Toronto Star has a good story on Jim Balsillie's lawyer and how he may be hindering Balsillie's chance at an NHL team.

The Montreal Gazette has Jarome Iginla's reaction to being a Hart Trophy nominee.

News Wrapup for 6/9

I have realized that it is hard to keep up with the blog when your enjoying the nice weather outside. So I wil try and keep this updated. Here is the news for today.

Brian Burke will be the general manager of the 2010 US Olympic Hockey team. His assistant general manager will be Nashville's GM David Poile. LA Times has the info with Burke and Bleacher Report with Poile.

Detroit assistant Todd McClellan is meeting with the Thrashers this week for their opening. Here is the link from the AJC.

The Boston Globe has a good writeup about what may be the next big thing in the NHL, puck moving defensemen.

Ron Francis is being honored by Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Story from the News Observer.

Hasek is planning on retiring today at a news conference today at 11. Story from the Boston Globe.

The Detroit News has a good story about the Wings fans who don't have a chance to get Wings tickets.

On Frozen Pond has some info on the coaching situation in Florida.

Apparently Willam DelBiaggio still has ties with AEG, the group that owns the vacant arena in Kansas City. Story from Mirtle.

The National Post has an opinion piece on how the NHL should shrink. On the other hand, On Frozen Blog has a piece on how the league should realign and where teams would fall with expansion.

Nashville should be fine even with DelBiaggio's financial troubles. Story from the Tennessean.

The Nashville City Paper has a good piece on how the Predators have too many people for too few spots.

Fanhouse has a quick piece on how Hossa is toying with the Penguins.

Damien Cox at the Toronto Star has a warning for new Leafs coach Ron Wilson.

Mirtle is tracking the UFAs and has a compiled the list of how many each team has. I am grateful to say that I am not a Penguins fan.

The Cumberland County Sentinel has an article that explains the possible reasons for the spike in viewership.

The biggest story from this week is the decision by the CBC to drop the Hockey Night in Canada theme. Here are a couple opinions from Sabres Edge, Hockey Nation, Dennis Kane's Excellent Montreal Canadiens Blog, and Five for Smiting.

Some News for 5/21

Ryan at the Goose has a good overview of the NHL Draft that is coming in a month.

Amy at Shots off the Crossbar had a link up to an article written about why women should not be hardcore fans of sports. Good reading if you ask me.

The Blueland Blog has a good post on the pros and cons of keeping your coaching search secret.

Notes from Bruins Blog on the extension of Aaron Ward from Ward himself and GM Peter Chiarelli

Fanhouse found an article from the Sporting News based on an interview with the Carolina Hurricanes current dentist. Definitely not for the lighthearted.

The Blackhawks have signed deals with three restricted free agents, Adam Burish, Dustin Byfuglien, and James Wisniewski. Story from the Daily Herald

Adrien Dater at All Things Avs is feeling good about the ratings news and publicity that the NHL has gotten in the last few months. Knowing Dater, he's going to say something about it too.

Mike Modano is looking to come back for at least one more season with the Stars with a little help from co-GM Brett Hull. Overview from Fanhouse.

Bettman was on a Detroit radio station today saying that the NHL's scheduling conflicts between the Finals in Detroit and Pistons/Celtics series is less the NHL's fault as compared to the NBA. Honestly, you screwed up, just admit it. Just like you screwed up when you made us wait a week for the Finals to start. Story from Red Wings Impact

The Panthers seem to be interested in Penguins assistant Andre Savard. Story from the Palm Beach Post

The rest of the league should come tommorrow along with a Finals preview.

The Rest of the Cleanup of my Feed Reader 5/20

This is the rest of the things I think that are newsworthy for today. I will try and keep these going everyday with some other posts that I promise are coming tommorrow. So now, here's the rest 0f the story.

Aaron Ward signed a 2 year. $5 million dollar extension with the Bruins today. Brief coverage by Bruins Blog.

The Sporting News has announced its players of the year, with Ovechkin getting Player of the Year, Patrick Kane getting Rookie of the Year, Mike Babcock with Coach of the Year, and Bob Gainey getting Executive of the Year. Press release seen here.

The Star-Telegram is reporting that Dallas coach Dave Tippett is going to get an contract extension soon. With the deep run that the Stars made this season, this is no shock.

According to Behind the Jersey, the Wings sold 8000 tickets for the Stanley Cup Series in 10 minutes. 5 hours later there were 100 tickets left. Nothing like the 8 minute run on tickets that Buffalo had in 1999 but just as impressive.

According to the CBC, Wayne Gretzky is not going to be leaving the Phoenix Coyotes for the President job for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Scott Mellanby is going to be joining the Vancouver Canucks organization as a consultant. Mellanby played for 20 seasons after finally retiring with the Thrashers. Story from the Province.

NBCSports.com believes that with Crosby being in his first Stanley Cup Final may bring more attention to the Finals. So far the playoff ratings have increased and with a dream final matchup for the league, Finals ratings can only have high hopes.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette takes a look at the cap issues that the Penguins will have during this offseason trying to keep as many players as they can from this playoff run.

Johan Franzen is improving for the Red Wings and may be ready to play in Game 1. Story from the CBC.

Finally, it seems that the Rangers and Jaromir Jagr are starting negotiations for a new contract. With the issues in consistency that the Rangers have seen out of Jagr, it would not shock me that these two parties split ways. Jagr has been all right as of late, but the Rangers seem to focus all of their plays with Jagr being the finisher. Hence why the Pens made quick work of them. Story from the CBC.

Some Things from around the League 5/20

Apparently, a Russian blogger who was live blogging the Russia/Canada World Championship final mentioned that he would eat Kovalchuk's skates if he scored two goals in the game. And now Kovy's mother is making sure he eats his words. The story from Fanhouse.

John Grahme has signed with Omsk after not seeing a lot of time with the Carolina Hurricanes. The story from Lord Stanley's Blog.

Lowetide believes that Edmonton could be a front runner in the case that Boston decides to deal Phil Kessel. If this is the case, i would not be heartbroken one bit. Kessel seems to be a Sabre killer especially in the shootout. Sending him to the Western Conference would be another relief.

Story from the Star-Tribune on where Chris Simon's signing a contract in Russia.

Ryan over at the Goose has a rant about Page 2 at ESPN and their treatment of hockey.

Kevin over at Bfloblog has a story about a Lions season ticket fan who was told "Fuck 'em til next year" after having a dispute over season tickets. It shows what the mindset of the Lions front office and why Lions fans still have to deal with Matt Millen.

Finally, there is a story out in the Canadian Press on the likelihood of Pat Burns to become the next Senators coach and his newest supporter, Dany Heatley.

News Wrapup for 5/6

I should really do these things during the day but here is yesterday's news:

The big Sabres news was the signing of Nathan Gerbe. The 5'5 forward from Boston College became a phenom during his amazing Frozen Four. He has since tried out for Team USA in the Worlds and now has decided to opt out of his final season at BC to go pro. He will be paid the rookie maximum of $850,000 if he makes the Sabres. Here is the wrapup from the News.

The AHL was set to vote on the change in ownership of the Rochester Americans and subsequently Rochester Knighthawks. Curt Styres is set to become majority owner of both teams by holding a 60 percent share which he acquired from Walter Turek and Randall Latona. While this is a step in the right direction, Steve Donner is still the other part owner, though it is not known whether he is going to continue with day-to-day operations. Here is the article from the Democrat and Chronicle.

Pavol Demitra has most likely decided to leave the Minnesota Wild since he is a pending UFA this season. He visited Vancouver yesterday and scoped out the organization and the city. New Canucks GM Dave Nonis was Demitra'a agent before signing on with the Canucks. Article from the Star Tribune

The Florida Panthers resigned Wade Belak yesterday. This is a head scratcher to me because Belak I thought was nothing more than a pain in the ass for the Panthers after he was traded there from the Leafs. Apparently, the two parties have reconciled their differences. Article from the Palm Beach Post.

The Predators set an attendance goal of 15,000 for next season after reaching the 13,500 mark for this season. After the Predators went on a save our team campaign last season, the team is still showing signs of not being able to hold their fanbase. While the attendance increased in the latter half of the season, it needs to continue whether the team is going to excel or not. Only time will tell if the Predators and new ownership are going to make a lasting relationship in Nashville. Article from the Tennessean.

Good article from the Phil Sheridan and the Philadelphia Inquirer about Danny Briere's training habits with a World's Strongest Man. Article

Great post from the guys over at Bfloblog about the Bucky Gleason article from Sunday about the Flyers. You can reference their comments here and my comments here.

Article from the San Jose Mercury News on whether Ron Wilson should stay with the Sharks after another early exit from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. For what its worth, Wilson has won the most games since 2003 but the Sharks just cannot seem to get over that hump. Something needs to change there, whether its going to be the coach or the style the players play.

Top Swedish free agent Fabian Brunnstrom has narrowed down his search to four teams according to the Toronto Star. These teams include the Leafs, Canadiens, Red Wings, and Stars. Is it any shock that a top prospect would only want to sign with the best?