Kukla's Korner

Edmonton Oilers prospect Kristians Pelss confirmed to have passed away

Blog: KK Hockey By George Malik

06/15/13 at 02:20 PM ET | Comments (1)

It's been a sad week in terms of NHL prospect news. On Wednesday, Dallas Stars prospect Scott Winkler was found dead at his parents' home in Norway, and Edmonton Oilers prospect Kristians Pelss was reported missing in Latvia.

Today, the Edmonton Journal's Bruce McCurdy reports that the 20-year-old Pelss drowned after jumping into the Daugava River under what remain uncertain circumstances.

added 3:34pm, The Edmonton Oilers released a statement which you can read below...

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Bruins’ Nathan Horton will play in Game 2

Blog: KK Hockey By George Malik

06/15/13 at 01:46 PM ET | Comments (0)

Per various sources, Boston Bruins forward Nathan Horton will play in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against Chicago tonight:

And Jaromir Jagr missed the Bruins' morning skate, but Bruins coach Claude Julien deemed Jagr's absence to be a sort of "maintenance day" issue:

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Griffins-Crunch Game 5 game-day updates: Nyquist will play, Almquist won’t; Gudas to aid Syracuse

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

06/15/13 at 01:41 PM ET | Comments (1)

The Grand Rapids Griffins will attempt to rebound from a difficult 3-2 loss to the Syracuse Crunch on Friday night when they battle Syracuse in Game 5 of the Calder Cup Final this evening (7 PM EDT, AHLLive.com/WOOD TV8 in Grand Rapids/WOOD Radio), and at the present moment, it appears that the New Holland Sentinel's Alan Babbitt's "insider" report that Gustav Nyquist wouldn't receive a suspension for his "spear" on Richard Panik is in fact accurate.

As the Crunch attempt to force the Griffins to endure another bus ride to Syracuse for Games 6 and 7, the Syracuse Post-Standard's Lindsay Kramer reports that Syrcause will add another physical player to their lineup in the previously-injured Radko Gudas, and he also reports that Adam Almquist remains sidelined with a Panik-induced concussion:

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NHL Notes Before Game 2 SCF

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/15/13 at 11:11 AM ET | Comments (0)

The below information was provided by the NHL PR department...

DID YOU KNOW?
* Teams winning Game 2 of the Final have gone on to win the Stanley Cup in 55 of 73 years since the best-of-seven format began in 1939 (75.3%), including eight of the past 10 seasons.
 
* The all-time record of home clubs sweeping Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is 32-3 (.914), but two of those losses have come in the last four years: Detroit won the first two games at home in 2009 before eventually losing to Pittsburgh in seven games, while Vancouver won the first two games at home in 2011 before eventually falling to Boston in seven games. The only other time the home team won the first two games of the Final but did not ultimately win the Stanley Cup was in 1971, when Chicago won the opening set before losing to Montreal in seven games.
 

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Would You Pay Claude Giroux Over $7M A Year?

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/15/13 at 11:08 AM ET | Comments (3)

from Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer,

Giroux's agent, Pat Brisson, did not respond to phone calls, but he must have smiled when Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin signed an eight-year deal Thursday for $76 million. The deal starts in 2014-15 and carries an average cap hit of $9.5 million.

Giroux doesn't yet have Malkin's pedigree - the Penguins' star has an MVP award and has won two scoring titles - but he is considered one of the NHL's premier players.

If a new deal is consummated, it will undoubtedly make Giroux the Flyers' highest-paid player. Based on the market, he probably will average between $7 million and $8 million per season in a long-term deal.

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  Tags: claude+giroux

TSN’s ‘Insider Trading’ yields NHL Awards leaks, trade talk and a Chara punch to Crosby’s jaw

Blog: KK Hockey By George Malik

06/15/13 at 06:15 AM ET | Comments (6)

ESPN's Pierre LeBrun's Friday night "rumblings" first aired on TSN's "Insider Trading" segment, and I was tipped off to it by a QMI News Agency story noting that Sidney Crosby received a punch to his jaw by one Zdeno Chara during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final (take the fact that the Penguins provided the video to TSN for what you will).

The Insider Trading video isn't available in YouTube format, so here are its highlights, as related by Darren Dreger, Bob McKenzie, James Duthie and LeBrun:

• As the NHL Awards are being held in Chicago, "Insiders" have apparently learned via players' travel schedules who has won certain awards. McKenzie says that the leak about P.K. Subban winning the Norris Trophy is true, and the fact that Jonathan Huberdeau is heading to Chicago indicates that he will win the Calder Trophy; Dreger says that attendance is not mandatory, and neither Crosby nor John Tavares are going to Chicago, but nor is Alex Ovechkin, who will win the Hart Trophy and make a via-video acceptance speech (the awards will be handed out during the CBC and NBCSN's pre-game shows at 7 PM EDT tonight);

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Red Wings overnight report: Griffins drop Game 4; recapping a busy Friday

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

06/15/13 at 03:41 AM ET | Comments (14)

The Grand Rapids Griffins' 3-2 loss to the Syracuse Crunch in Game 4 of the Calder Cup Final is not the end of the world. It sets up a Game 5 on Saturday night (7 PM EDT, AHLLive.com/WXSP in Grand Rapids/WOOD Radio), and to some extent, it was predictable given that the Griffins are such a young team that had never been on the cusp of a championship.

They took the Crunch too lightly, blowing power plays and getting caught up in the rough-and-tumble stuff involved when a team that's accumulated 1 playoff loss in three previous series' worth of play is essentially attempting to defend a title that the majority of its roster captured as members of the Norfolk Admirals a year ago.

But it was incredibly hard to watch.

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Worst Player In The Finals

Blog: The Puck Stops Here By PuckStopsHere

06/15/13 at 01:47 AM ET | Comments (0)

One question that interests me is who is the worst player who gets a regular shift in the NHL and why is that player continues to get a shift.  Usually in the playoffs it is hard to identify such a player because a team playing an ineffective player regularly usually soon gets eliminated but this year there is a clear choice.  That man is Chris Kelly of the Boston Bruins.

Kelly is a "typical" worst player in that he is known for his hard work.  He is a popular player who is well liked because of his work ethic.  The problem is he works hard and is still ineffective.  In this year's playoffs he has played in every game and averaged over fifteen minutes per game.  He has scored a total of zero points and his -9 +/- rating is the worst of any player remaining in the playoffs.  He is hard working and ineffective.  He just isn't a good enough player.

Kelly has one other thing in his favor that is overrated.  He is a good faceoff man.  He has won 56.1% of his faceoffs in these playoffs.  That is roughly one in sixteen faceoffs more than 50%.  I have written many times that faceoffs are an overrated skill.  In Kelly's case it keeps him in the line-up despite being ineffective in general.

Boston is playing Chris Kelly regularly in the playoffs so far this year.  He isn't accomplishing anything with that ice time.  He has been a liability for his team and yet he keeps getting to play tomorrow.  His story is more common than we would like to admit.  Hard working ineffective players often get regular shifts.

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TSN: Alain Vingeault declines Stars’ coaching offer, may become Rangers’ coach soon

Blog: KK Hockey By George Malik

06/15/13 at 01:03 AM ET | Comments (0)

As Paul noted on Friday evening, ESPN New York's Katie Strang was reporting that Alain Vigneault was being heavily pursued by both the Dallas Stars and New York Rangers, and just before midnight, TSN reported that the worm had turned (pun intended, not disrespect):

Alain Vigneault will not be the next head coach of the Dallas Stars.

The former Vancouver Canucks bench boss informed Stars management on Friday that he was withdrawing himself from consideration for their position, opening up the speculation that he could take the vacant head coaching job with the New York Rangers.

Vigneault guided the Canucks to a berth in the 2010-11 Stanley Cup Final, two Presidents trophies and six Northwest Division titles. But he got fired after the Canucks were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight year.

Vigneault posted a 313-170-57 regular-season record over seven seasons in Vancouver, but only had a 33-32 record in the playoffs.

Update at 2:46 AM: Um...

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Signing And Trade Talk

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

06/14/13 at 10:03 PM ET | Comments (2)

from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

• If the Blackhawks are unable to re-sign him, and I’m not saying they won’t, but if Bickell does end up in the market, keep an eye on the Montreal Canadiens. GM Marc Bergevin knows Bickell from Bergevin's days in the Chicago front office and was part of the scouting staff that recruited Bickell. I’m told the Habs covet Bickell, who would bring them the kind of size they’re looking to add for their top-six group, although I don’t think Montreal will overpay, either, with a contract that tips the scales. Still, there’s definitely interest from the Habs. 

• Speaking of contracts, look for the Boston Bruins to sign star center Patrice Bergeron to a long-term extension. Bergeron has another season left on his deal but the Bruins will ink him this summer and very likely to the maximum eight years allowed in the CBA when re-signing your own players. 

• Jonathan Bernier will finally escape Jonathan Quick's shadow in L.A. A source told ESPN.com Friday that the Los Angeles Kings have spoken with about 10 clubs about Bernier’s availability. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s traded before or at the draft. 

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