The Week That Was

It's been a crazy week in the NHL; Crosby got cleared for contact, the Leafs lost a key component, a legend was honoured in Pittsburgh, the Bruins sign an insurance goalie and much more. Crazy week so I'll wrap it up for you!

The big news Sidney Crosby was cleared for contact!!!
This is big news for the Penguins and the NHL, especially with the fact that Crosby could play as soon as Sunday! Not only was he cleared for contact, he participated in a full practice on Tuesday and another one Wednesday. Crosby has been out since his concussion symptoms resurfaced back in December but will hopefully be back in the Pens lineup before the playoffs in start. One thing for sure with Crosby, he takes his time; he doesn't rush things, he makes sure he is healthy and more than ready to return. This time it's especially crucial for Crosby and the Pens to take this slowly, Crosby can ill afford to take another hit to the head. Oddly enough it will be tough to find a fit for Crosby in the lineup, with Malkin and his linemates playing extremely well you don't want to break up chemistry. Crosby will likely find himself on the 2nd line when he returns! (What an awesome problem to have, huh!)

Joffrey Lupul out 3-4 weeks with separated shoulder!
This is major blow to the Leafs playoff hopes, as their "2nd" best player goes down with an injury! This injury will likely be the end to Lupul's and the Leafs season. Lupul was 2nd in scoring with the Leafs with 25 goals and 42 assists and was a big part in elevating Phil Kessel's game.
Carter Ashton (remember him, he was picked up on trade deadline day) was called up to fill the void.

Sean Avery is done in New York

Sean Avery the guy everyone loves to hate, you sure as heck hated to play against him but at one point or another you've wanted him on your squad. He's a pesky little player know for getting under peoples skin, and it would appear he pushed it a little far in New York with coach John Tortorella. It's never a good thing when your head coach is asking management to send you to the minors, but that was the case with Avery. Avery received the message on Tuesday and was told that he was no longer expected or needed to show up to games and practices with the Rangers AHL team as he was cut from their postseason roster.

It had been a rough season for Sean Avery with New York; he was waived twice by the Rangers then sent down permanently to the Whalers, he's been a healthy scratch since January 27th.

One thing is still for sure though, wherever Sean Avery goes controversy will not be far behind!

The Bruins have signed veteran goaltender Marty Turco

Bruins fans held their breath when Tuuka Rask went down and did not get back up in a game earlier this week. Unfortunatetly for Rask he will be out 4 to 6 weeks with a grown strain, good news for Bruins fans is Rask will be back for the playoffs. So to fill the void until then the Bruins went and got Marty Turco as some insurance. However, because Turco was acquired post trade deadline he will not be eligible for the playoffs with the Bruins. The Bruins ultimately had no choice to make this move as they are coming up to a stretch of 18 games in 33 days and were expecting Rask to bear a lot of that workload so they could rest Thomas. Turco is a solid veteran who has played 11 seasons between the Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks. This was a smart necessary move by the Bruins.

Grabovski gets his new contract

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Mikhail Grabovski have come to terms with a 5 year $27.5 million dollar contract, which breaks down to a cap hit of $5.5 million a year! The deal also includes a modified no trade clause, Grabovski can choose 10 teams every year that he would except a trade to. Despite not playing on the first line, he is easily the Leafs best centre, due to the lack of cheap first line centres that will be on the market this summer Brian Burke had to over pay to keep Grabovski in Toronto. Oddly enough the Leafs have no cap space left to resign UFA's and RFA's at the end of the season nor to go out and get a veteran netminder, look for Burke to be busy this offseason.

Mario Lemieux is honored with a bronze statue of ..... Mario Lemieux

The Pittsburgh legend and Pens owner had the great honor of watching his former team unveil a statue in remembrance of his outstanding career. Lemieux was famous for always finding a way to squeeze by defenders, and now that skill is showcased forever standing outside the Penguins arena.
Lemieux was and is a huge part of the Pittsburgh organization; he spent 17 years as a player, scoring 650 goals and winning consecutive Stanley Cups (1971-1972) as well as being a 3 time MVP. Now he is the owner, and really savior of hockey in the "Burg", of his beloved Pittsburgh Penguins, it is evident Mario has a special place for Pittsburgh in his heart and Pittsburgh has a special place for Lemieux.

Grabovski gets his new contract
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Mikhail Grabovski have come to terms with a 5 year $27.5 million dollar contract, which breaks down to a cap hit of $5.5 million a year! The deal also includes a modified no trade clause, Grabovski can choose 10 teams every year that he would except a trade to. Despite not playing on the first line, he is easily the Leafs best centre, due to the lack of cheap first line centres that will be on the market this summer Brian Burke had to over pay to keep Grabovski in Toronto. Oddly enough the Leafs have no cap space left to resign UFA's and RFA's at the end of the season nor to go out and get a veteran netminder, look for Burke to be busy this offseason.

Brian Burkes other son starts: If you can play, you can play.
It's been 2 years since Brian Burke's son Brendan Burke was killed in a car accident. A couple of years before the accident the elder Burke found out Brendan was gay. Now in memory of Brendan, younger brother Patrick came up with an equality project for hockey: If you can play, you can play. Getting people to relize it doesn't matter what or who the person is, if you can lace up the skates, skate around the ice and score goals you can play hockey. The YOU CAN PLAY project was announced Sunday during the first intermission of Bruins vs. Rangers and has several hockey players promoting it; Rick Nash, Joffrey Lupul, Dion Phaneuf, Duncan Keith, Claude Giroux, Daniel Alfredsson, Scott Hartnell, Corey Perry and Henrik Lundqvist.
Patrick Burke, a scout for the Flyers, said "If he can win a Stanley Cup with 22 gay guys than so be it" Right now 20 players have joined up with the You Can Play project but not all have been unveiled yet.
This is a big step for the NHL, and professional sports in general, Ultimately the right one, the NHL needs equality, if you can play you can play.

Steve Yzerman to head up the 2014 team Canada Olympic project


Ryan Miller was the first star this week, after recording back to back shutouts and single handily getting the Sabres back in the playoff hunt!


That's the kind of week it was around the NHL folks, this will be an exciting next 30 days as the playoff races heat up and teams start to get eliminated from the race. We'll see which teams are contenders and which are pretenders, see players rise to the occasion and teams put it all on the line for the holy grail of sports---- the Stanley Cup!

Crosby goes soft in the neck

Ladies and gentleman we finally got a meaningful update on Sidney Crosby. If you recall, Crosby had just returned from a 10 month layoff period after a concussion, he was on top of the world; 12 points in 8 games had everyone believing that Sid the Kid was officially back! But on December 5th it all came crashing down for Crosby, during a game against the Boston Bruins he was butt-ended in the face and then later in the game ran into one of his teammates. After the game his concussion "like" symptoms resurfaced and the Penguins put Crosby back on injured reserve. Everyone started freaking out, sports analysts and bloggers alike were all saying Crosby should consider retirement and think about his long term health, stories surged about Crosby possibly having his 3rd concussion in 1 year, some bonehead even said the Penguins were planning on replacing him as the captain. No matter where you looked there was a story about the NHL's most prized player. But during a press conference held yesterday, news broke that Crosby may in fact not be suffering from a concussion or concussion "like" symptoms, but rather a soft-tissue injury in his neck. This sounds very similar to what happened with Tim Connolly when he was out for a year earlier in his career with a "concussion."


The news came a few days after a report that Crosby may have fractured the C1 and C2 vertebrae in his neck. But after being fed up with his slow progress, he flew to Los Angeles to get a second opinion. Multiple doctors ruled out the possibility of a fractured vertebra, but rather a soft-tissue injury that was causing swelling in the top two vertebrae. Crosby learned of the diagnosis after meeting with neck specialist Dr. Robert S. Bray. After looking at the CT scan and MRI, Dr. Bray gave Crosby an injection to help bring down the swelling in his neck. This is good news, or at least Crosby thinks it is; "The biggest thing I can take from this is this is something I can work on. I can come in and get my neck worked on" Crosby said Tuesday night. "From what I've been told, this is something pretty commonly linked with concussion symptoms, and in a way that's encouraging, there's no magic to get rid of it but, if this is contributing, this is something we can obviously treat and work on and hopefully it will go away."


But where does this leave Crosby and the Penguins? The sad thing is, this new diagnosis doesn't really improve his position right now, Crosby and the Penguins are still in limbo. Crosby has to get treatment and see if his symptoms will go away, there is no guarantee they will, and there is still no timetable for his return. The fact that it's "just" a soft tissue injury doesn't guarantee Crosby will return any time soon, so in a way its good news but bad news at the same time. 
So whats next for Crosby? Unfortunately it's still a waiting game at this point, neck/head injuries are very serious and need to be treated that way, which is why Crosby will not get the "green light" to return until doctors are fully confident there is no risk of further injury for Crosby. You have to feel for Crosby everything he has gone through in the last year, he must be frustrated and perhaps a little upset at the Penguins medical staff that hasn't done much to help him. 


As much as it would be a horrible fate for the NHL, Sidney Crosby should consider retiring. Although the 24 year old Crosby claims he's "never thought of that" it is ultimately something he has to have thought about and something he should seriously consider. Now it would be really sad to see the best player in the world retire but it may be his best option. Think about it; Crosby has nothing left to prove; He's won a Stanley Cup, a Gold Medal and an Olympic MVP and NHL MVP. Heck, hes won just about every other NHL trophy, he was the first overall pick, scored 50 goals in a season. He is one of the best to ever play the game, he's changed the status quo of all-star hockey players. But think about the message Crosby would be sending to the youth if he walked away from the game; knowing that Sidney Crosby had to end his career due to concussions, would make kids a lot less ashamed of suffering a concussion and taking a prudent approach. Not to mention the NHL would actually have to take the issue of concussions seriously, or at least more seriously. Crosby would be the perfect spokesman for head injuries. Furthermore, why chance your long term health if another injury could happen in a split second? If he does come back, he's going to have to work his butt off to be the best player in the league, I know he did it once but who's saying he can do it twice, plus can he afford to be hit again!?
The C1 and C2 vertebra that was thought to be fractured are the same vertebra that break when a person is hung, another body check could have left him paralyzed or worse...... dead! Looking at it from that angle makes me sort of happy that his symptoms came back, because they likely saved him from a much worse fate. 


But the question still looms, how could the Penguins medical staff miss this; If you think about it, it's not that hard to miss, with all the talk about concussions, and how bad they are and how the greatest player in the game is suffering from one and that the NHL needs to take it seriously. With all the focus on concussions it's pretty easy to say, "well it must be a concussion, considering he has all the right symptoms". Doctors after all, are human they make mistakes, they assume things, and sometimes they just flat out screw up! But this begs the question, if the Penguins medical staff got it wrong with Crosby, are some of the other players around the league on Injured Reserve "mis-diagnosed"? 
I wish Crosby all the best in his recovery but, and I hope to see him back on the ice soon. (Heck I got tickets to see the Sabres vs Penguins in Buffalo) so we could see Sidney Crosby play, so it would be nice to actually see him play. 


Miller on top in Buffalo
Congratulations to my favorite player and Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller, for winning his 234th game the other night against the Canadians. Miller had been sitting on the milestone for a few games and just couldn't notch the win, but after a 3-1 victory over the Habs, he tied Dominic Hasek's record for most franchise wins. This was also the first time Miller won two straight games since back in October! Miller set the record in 430 games while it took Hasek 491. Although in Haseks day they played to ties and I think everyone would agree "The Dominator" would have been a great bet against anyone in a shootout. Another reason I dislike living in the Leaf crazy market of T.O is there was hardly even a mention of Miller hitting this milestone! He deserves little props for reaching an amazing milestone. 
"I knew I was close because I've been sitting on it way too long, considering where I was at the start of the season," said Miller, who is 13-15-2 with the struggling Sabres this season. "It's nice.""It'll be something to smile about looking back on my career later on. I'm going to take it for what it is because I think Dom would have won a few shootouts in his day, so I think we can safely say Dom would have had a few more wins. I'll keep plugging away for the regulation wins."

Head Shots

Its an age old problem that has been haunting the NHL for a while now. It just wont go away, its that nightmare you had everyday for a month when you where 6 or the notion that there were always monsters hiding under your bed, these things don't go away without effort. Effort was something the NHL was not willing to put in to stopping head shots; they came out with excuse after excuse; The games to fast, players are bound to get hurt. It took the NHL's number one player Sidney Crosby to go down with a concussion in order for the NHL to act, and now their doing everything to stop head shots! At a time when concussions and head injuries are growing both in the big leagues but also with little kids!! The NHL needs to step up and let fans know that hits targeting the head are not permitted!

The NHL has replaced Colin Campbell (who thought anyone in a bruins jersey was exempt fro the rules) with long Time Nhler Brendan Shanahan. His first real impact was changing rule 48 to add that any hit targeting the head, not just a east to west moving hit, can be given a major penalty and be subject for suspension!

Now Shanahan will have 2 opportunities to put his new rule variation into practice!
1 Illegal Check To The Head — A hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted. However, in determining whether such a hit should have been permitted, the circumstances of the hit, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit or the head contact on an otherwise legal body check was unavoidable, can be considered.1) a hit delivered from behind to leafs Darryl Boyce from flyers rough guy Jody Shelley. The hit broke Boyce's nose.
2) a hit delivered by Flames Letourneau- LeBlond on Canucks Matt Clackson this hit confused me a bit, but I will post video evidence of both hits.
I am not making this up for a story; Nick Kypreos, has tweeted that Shanahan will be having a meeting with both players.

The first one will be the Shelley hit on Boyce, since this hit is more clear to me :)
First off there is no doubt that this is a cheap shot. Boyce had just gotten rid of the puck and was totally defenseless. Second Shelley could have hit Boyce without driving his head into the boards. The hit was late and was absolute vicious, without a doubt Shelley was trying to hurt Boyce. I am fairly confident that Shelley will be suspended for this hit likely to sit the rest of preseason action, and some regular season games, Shelley just made himself the "poster Boy" for Shanahan's new rule.

Some other factors that go against Shelley; Its a preseason game and Shelley will likely not be playing in the NHL next season, Philly fans can't stand Shelley and want him off the roster immediately. Shelley did not do himself any favors with this hit. Shanahan has said he plans on giving stricter penalties for head shots, so now is the time for him to step up or shut up.
Right now Shanahan can set the tone for the rest of the season, if he lets Shelley go with no or minimal consequence, it will be another head hunting every man for himself type of season. If Shanahan lays down the law, guys just might think twice about hammering someone if their going to sit a good 10-15 games.

 The next hit with Letourneau-LeBlond, I don't 100% understand, I'll try to find a video, but most people were most interested in his marathon fight. Now if you look right at the BEGINNING of the video there is a little bit of a head contact hit, but I don't believe the hit was delivered by Letourneau- LeBlond, the person delivering the hit is #45 while the guy fighting is #24.
I did not see this hit in actual game circumstance, I saw it on hockey central when they said Letourneau- LeBlond, would be meeting with Shanahan for possible suspension. So this one I'll just wait for a verdict.



But I have uncovered a 3rd hit which I can hopefully offer more insight into :)
Unfortunately no public video evidence, But Red Wings Dan Cleary hit Penguins rookie Philip Samuelsson from behind with an elbow; Cleary was given a 5 minute misconduct penalty and is likely to meet with Shanahan at some point before the end of the week.

SO like I said earlier its time for Shanahan to Step up and make an example of players who target the head or are cheap shot artists (Matt Cooke) or shut up! Set the tone for the whole season right here right now. Help keep hockey a clean and exciting game for people to play and watch.
I'll have my Firday blog tomorrow with any updated punishment for the players if anything was handed out.

What You Need To Know

Welcome back to another Friday edition of "What You Need To Know", I'm actually writing this bog on a Thursday due to me being away this weekend. Any who, with training camp starting tomorrow there have been lots of RFA signings this week, and quite a few stories to talk about.. so lets dive right in.

There will just be a quick summary of a lot of the stories as, I will be further blogging about some next week.

The Buffalo Sabres have locked up top defenceman Tyler Myers for the next 7 years. The sabres and Myers have agreed upon a 7 year deal worth 38.5 million dollars! The sabres selected Myers 12th overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. The new contract will not kick in until July 1, 2012; when the Myers current contract ends. Myers won the Calder trophy in 2009, for having an outstanding rookie season; in which Myers put up respectable numbers for a rookie defenceman; 11 goals and 37 assist, but also had amazing positional play and was a great "shut-down" defenceman for the sabres.This is a great signing for both teams... as Tyler Myers will turn out to be an amazing player once he fully matures. "We had two sides that wanted to stay together," Myers' agent, J.P. Barry, told the Buffalo News Wednesday. "Tyler wanted to remain a Sabre, and having this done at an early stage was something that he wanted. He's happy that the club approached him about wanting to do this early."



The Bruins were not about to let forward Brad Marchand run away for nothing. The Bruins snagged this gritty forward at a huge discount; A 2 year 5 million dollar contract, which will see Marchand earn 2 million this coming season. Despite being a 3rd round pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Marchand has made it to the NHL and put up very respectable numbers last season scoring 21 goals and adding 20 assists as well as gaining the major feat of being a plus player, with a plus-25 last year in his first full season with the Bruins.But despite the regular season stats, he really stepped it up in the post season and was a major contributer to the Bruins clinching the cup. With unheard of rookie post season numbers-11 goals and eight assists in 25 playoff games. Marchand was threatening to be a no-show at the start of camp on Friday if there was no deal in place; “I was very, very excited to get this over with,” said Marchand on a late-afternoon conference call. “Now I have the opportunity to focus on camp. I’m very excited and very prepared for this season and very proud to be back in a Bruins uniform.” Marchand would not state any predictions for the Bruins in the upcoming season; but stated how he is looking to improve his defensive play and keep his emotions in check a little better; “I’m still a young player,” Marchand said. “I’m still trying to learn every day.”
This will turn out to be a great deal for both sides, Marchand wont have to deal with to much money hanging over his head and can just focus on hockey. I believe this 71st overall draft pick will turn into quite a nice 3rd line player, that other teams quickly come to envy. The young rookie was already in the public eye of the NHL with his reputation of being a "rat" or a scoundrel, Well now he is a very rich and Stanley cup winning rat.

And yet another signing to report; The New York Islanders have agreed to terms with the former number 1 pick at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, John Tavares. The two sides agreed to a 6 year deal worth 33 million dollars. "I'm thrilled to show the organization and loyal Islanders fans that I want nothing more than to win on Long Island," said Tavares in a statement. "This is an exciting team to be a of part right now. We have a group that I feel will contend every year for a championship and I'm privileged to be a part of the Islanders' future." Tavares, has put up very respectable numbers 29 goals and 38 assists last season. Unfortunately the rest of team hasn't been able to follow suit and the Islanders consistently find themselves near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings year after year. Tavares could very likely wind up being the next Islanders captain, in the near future.

The last signing story to talk about today; The Winnipeg Jets and Zach Bogosian have agreed upon a new 2 year deal worth 5 million dollars. Bogosian the 3rd overall pick in the 2008 entry drat has been with the Thrashers/ Jets his entire career and will most likely remain a Jet for the rest of his career.
But enough of guys signing extensions... the number game with new signings is extremely unsatisfying soo lets get onto the interesting news;

We all remember the hit on Steve Moore delivered by Todd Bertuzzi, well it wasn't exactly a "hit" more of a sucker punch. For those who need to refresh their memories I will post the video, sorry for no sounds, but you can basically see what happened. Well Steve Moore has filed for a lawsuit and it will be ready for the supreme court in late 2012. Moore is after nearly 40 million dollars! On the sucker punch from 2004 Moore suffered, Moore suffered three fractured vertebrae and a concussion and has not played since. Now the question on when the injuries occurred in the sequence of events will determine a lot. You can argue that the broken neck happened when Moores teammates jumped on Bertuzzi and he then fell on Moores head. Now there is no doubt the Moore and his agent have a case against Bertuzzi, the Canucks had vowed to "get Moore" due to the hit Moore laid on the Canucks captain and leading scorer Markus Näslun. Now the Moore his on Markus Näslundwas deemed a legal hit by the NHL and Steve Moore did not receive a penalty or a suspension. Bertuzzi had it out for more calling him "a piece of S***" after the first incident between Moore and Näslun. I believe like I said earlier Moore has a case but going after 40 million? that a bit out there, he could have had 20 Million and been just fine. I suspect Bertuzzi will try to settle outside of court. The lawsuit is not sitting well with the NHLPA and is making it nearly impossible for Moore to become involved in any way with the NHL in the future.Moore and his lawyer have been trying to sure various members of the Canucks and Bertuzzi since 2005



As per last Friday's blog Drew Doughty and the Los Angeles Kings have still not settled on a deal. Doughty wants to become the highest paid player on the Kings, ahead of forward Anze Kopitar at 6.8 million dollars. But the Kings have made it clear to Doughty and his lawyer saying they will not make him the highest paid players on the team. Right now it is a game of who blinks first. It is suspected that the Kings will pull their previous offer off the table by Friday if Doughty does not agree to terms with the previous offer.

One more story to throw in to this Friday edition of "what you need to know" and we'll end with the story of Kostitsyn and the Canadians head coach Martin. Rumors spread this summer that Kostitsyn was un happy with his role last season and with Martin's coaching.
"I can't guess about next season," Kostitsyn was quoted as saying on the website. "My relationship with the coach is not too good.

"It wasn't me who started to play badly," he said. "It's just that I was being put into (the) third and fourth line. I've tried talking to (Martin). But he doesn't seem to care."But it was different kind of not Kostitsyn was singing on Wednesday, he had nothing but praise to say about his coach;
"I've never had any issue with Andrei," said Martin. "He's a player that brings a lot to our hockey club."
Kostitsyn echoed Martin's sentiments.
"I think we're good for the season," said Kostitsyn. "Coach Jacques is a good coach."
Kostitsyn was not happy with only being signed to a 1 year extension this offseason and say's he want to play for montreal for longer than 1 season.
The only thing that will determine where or what Kostitsyn's role with the team will be for the 2011/2012 season is Kostitsyn himself, if he starts well he'll be amongst the Canadian's top goal scorers and see time on the 1st or 2nd line, but if he does not produce and play well he will stay on the 3rd or 4th line.

Well that will do it for this Friday edition of "what you need to know" stay tuned for upcoming blogs next week