Kukla's Korner

Two Points

Blog: Abel to Yzerman By Kate from Pa.-made in Detroit

01/29/15 at 07:00 PM ET | Comments (131)

Traveling down to Florida, relaxing on the beautiful beaches, chilling. We can put the vacation fun behind us now. Even after the win against the Panthers, the Wings, like most every Team in the league, are still shaking off the rust from the break.

The Lightning bested us at The Joe in our first meeting winning it in OT, so, let's return the favor and take it to them on their pond, and get a two point regulation win.
 

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | Abel to Yzerman | Permalink
 

Plymouth Whalers to hold Military Appreciation Nights on January 30 and 31

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

01/29/15 at 06:49 PM ET | Comments (0)

From the Plymouth Whalers:

TEN-HUT! PLYMOUTH WHALERS MILITARY APPRECIATION WEEKEND COMING

Whalers, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare Systems join forces to aide veterans January 30-31

PLYMOUTH – The Ontario Hockey League’s Plymouth Whalers have supported the military in a big way over the years and continue the tradition on Friday, January 30 and Saturday, January 31 in the team’s second annual Military Appreciation Weekend at Compuware Arena.

Both games can be seen live on CN-900 television starting at 7 pm.

The Whalers will be wearing specially designed jerseys with a military theme against the Belleville Bulls on Fri. Jan. 30 and the Windsor Spitfires on Sat. Jan. 31.  The proceeds of the jerseys will be auctioned off, with Whalers ticket sales over the weekend and 50/50 fundraisers to be donated to VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | The Malik Report | Permalink
 

Slava Fetisov talks about ‘Red Army,’ Wings on SiriusXM NHL radio

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

01/29/15 at 06:44 PM ET | Comments (0)

The documentary Red Army is slowly but surely going to be released to theatres slowly but surely during February and March--it won't air in Metro Detroit until February 27th--but its producers have been relatively quiet about the fact that the documentary didn't earn an Oscar nomination, which is surprising given its incredibly warm reception by just about everyone who's watched it.

Fetisov appeared on the SiriusXM NHL Network Radio show on Thurdsay afternoon, speaking with Scott Laughlin and Matthew Barnaby about the film and his tenure as a Wing, and the 20-minute interview's worth your time:

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | The Malik Report | Permalink
 

Red Wings will send Gustavsson to GR for conditioning when he heals; whither Xavier Ouellet?

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

01/29/15 at 06:37 PM ET | Comments (2)

I'm scratching my bald head about this little ditty. Yesterday, Jonas Gustavsson practiced with the Wings, and he told MLive's Ansar Khan that he's more than willing to head to Grand Rapids to play with the Griffins to get his conditioning in order...

"Today I had more work than I did in the past, so it felt pretty good," Gustavsson said. "Still take it day by day, but I feel like I'm getting closer. I feel like I'm pretty strong in the shoulder, but just got to get the motion back. Then get more pucks and get back to game shape overall, too."

He'll head to the Grand Rapids Griffins for one or two games on a conditioning stint once he's cleared.

"It's not only to get the shoulder to work, it's to get my game overall back," Gustavsson said. "That's a good option, especially when they're so close to Detroit."

But even though the Free Press's Helene St. James reported that Xavier Ouellet's at least being told he'll be up with the Wings long enough to bring his dad on the Fathers' Trip, Fox Sports Detroit's Keith Gave had this to say about the balance of Ouellet's 2014-15 campaign:

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | The Malik Report | Permalink
 

Future Hall Of Famer Martin Brodeur Retires

Blog: The Puck Stops Here By PuckStopsHere

01/29/15 at 04:54 PM ET | Comments (0)

Today Martin Brodeur announced his retirement in a press conference.  He is a player that I consider a future Hall of Famer and as such I am writing his career retrospective.  Brodeur has been at Hall of Fame level for so long that I do not have a post where I first considered him a Hall of Famer.  I have been blogging for over nine years.  That is a long time for him to remain in the NHL as an active future Hall of Famer.  Only one player remains who has been an active Hall of Famer longer than I have been blogging.  He is Jaromir Jagr.

Brodeur was born on May 6th, 1972 in Montreal, Quebec.  His father Denis was a longtime Montreal Canadiens photographer, so he grew up around NHL hockey.  He first became noticed by NHL scouts in 1988/89 playing with the Montreal-Bourassa Canadiens in the Quebec Amateur Athletic Association.  His success there got him into the QMJHL where he played for the St Hyacinthe Laser.  There he played behind a poor defence and was constantly bailing out his team when they allowed odd man rushes.  He made the QMJHL All Rookie Team.  He was seen as a strong enough goaltender prospect to be selected in the first round of the NHL entry draft by the New Jersey Devils, 20th overall.  He played two more seasons in the QMJHL.  He was called up on an emergency basis for four games when the other Devil goalies were injured in the 91/92 season.  He made the QMJHL Second All-Star Team in his final CHL season.

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
 

Sabres, Oilers Can Prove A Point About Pride

Blog: The Sabres Observer By @DaveDavisHockey

01/29/15 at 04:43 PM ET | Comments (1)

The McEichel Bowl is upon us.

Buffalo is in Edmonton tonight as the two worst teams in the NHL meet in what is being hyped as a monumental game for both teams, for no other reason than finishing 30th in the standings guarantees you Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel in the draft.

But for those who still don't get it, this isn't about the players on the ice.  There's a difference between not trying and not being good enough.  It's difficult not to cringe every time a reporter asks a guy like Josh Gorges or Ben Scrivens about the theory of throwing games.  Players will bite your head off and lecture about pride until they're blue in the face.  In the process, they'll even take a shot at fans who want them to lose.

Which leads to something interesting to look for tonight.  If these players are half as angry as they seem when questioned about tanking, should this not be their golden opportunity to throw it back in everyone's faces?

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | The Sabres Observer | Permalink
  Tags: sabres+oilers+mcdavid

The New Pacific Division In The AHL

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

01/29/15 at 04:05 PM ET | Comments (4)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews announced today that the league’s Board of Governors has formally and unanimously approved the steps necessary to create a Pacific Division within the AHL beginning with the 2015-16 season. 

The Board has approved the following: 

Continue Reading »

Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, Minor League, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: ahl

A Weird Retirement Day For Martin Brodeur

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

01/29/15 at 03:54 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Jeff Blair of Sportsnet,

It seldom ends in a nice, neat package any more, because we are in sports Viagra era.

We live longer and our idols tend to perform at passable or better levels for longer periods of time because of better training, nutrition, medicine, travel — and, drug-testing often being half a step behind the cheaters, sometimes chemical intervention.

Go hard, don’t worry about going home.

It’s still said that if Wayne Gretzky can be traded, than anyone can be traded. True. The addendum is that if Gretzky can play out the string with the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues, than anyone ought to be able to play out the string for whomever and for however long they want.

Still, watching Martin Brodeur retire from the NHL on Thursday surrounded by the logo and colours of a team for which he’s played all of seven games seemed a little much, even by todays standards of disposability.

He’s a New Jersey Devil — no, he IS the New Jersey Devils.

continued which includes an interview Elliotte Friedman did with Brodeur today...

Filed in: NHL Teams, New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: martin+brodeur

Daily Bracket Giving Away $7,500 On Sunday

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

01/29/15 at 03:45 PM ET | Comments (2)

To celebrate the end of football season — a time when we can finally focus all our energy on the sport that really matters — Daily Bracket (register via mobile device) is giving away up to $7,500 on Sunday. They’re adding $5 to the prize pool for every new follower they get on Twitter; $3 for every share they get of their new explanatory video…

Continue Reading »

Filed in: Fantasy Hockey and Gaming, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: daily+bracket

Babcock talks about mental illness and coaching philosophies with St. James

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

01/29/15 at 03:18 PM ET | Comments (2)

I'm not trying to milk this issue until it's blood-from-a-stone dry, but in addition to Mike Babcock's radio interviews yesterday, he spoke with the Free Press's Helene St. James about Bell Let's Talk day and mental illness...

"You say to yourself, maybe there is something I can do," Babcock said of his involvement. "To me, it's one of those things that, it's a scary, scary thing when you think of people going through it. If you're sitting at home, suffering in silence because you've got no one to talk to ... talk to someone who cares about you.

"I've never asked anyone for help in my whole life, where they didn't want to help."

For every text message, wireless and long-distance call made by Bell Canada and Bell Alliant customers and for every tweet using #bellletstalk today, Bell will donate 5 cents to Canadian mental programs.

Asked about trying to eliminate -- or at least reduce -- the stigma surrounding depression and mental illness, Babcock said, "I don't know why there's a stigma. We all got something with us that's a little screwed up, let's be honest. That's what makes you human. The essence of people are good. They want to help you. I believe that 100%."

And this video from St. James will...Well, Babcock's 5:51 worth of talking about his philosophies, admitting that he really does care about his players, his discussion about mental illnesses versus "character issues"...It's *#$%@& moving. As somebody who deals with severe depression and an anxiety disorder, this nearly got the room "dusty":

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | The Malik Report | Permalink
 

« Previous        < 1 2 3 4 5 >  Last ›      Next »