Kukla's Korner Hockey

Spit take: Avalanche plan on skipping Seth Jones, taking a forward

by George Malik on 06/19/13 at 12:56 AM ET
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Stunning news per the Denver Post's Adrian Dater:

If the Avalanche keeps the top pick in the June 30 NHL draft, it won't take the formerly presumptive candidate, defenseman Seth Jones.

After a week of internal meetings, Avalanche brass came to a conclusion: Jones won't be their pick. Instead, it could be any one of three forwards: Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin or Alexander Barkov.

"If we do pick first, we're leaning more toward one of those three forwards," Avalanche executive vice president of hockey operations Joe Sakic told The Denver Post.

The passing over of Jones no doubt will come as a shock to many Avs fans and NHL watchers. Jones, 18, is still ranked as the top-rated prospect available in next Sunday's draft on the lists of some scouting services. The Avs have seemingly glaring needs at defense and a surplus of centers — the position at which MacKinnon and Barkov play, while Drouin is a winger.

Continued

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Gretzky talks about the NHL’s future in La Belle Province, knowing nothing about Phoenix’s situation

by George Malik on 06/18/13 at 08:47 PM ET
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Per the Canadian Press:

The Great One firmly believes the NHL will return to Quebec City. The Quebec capital has been without an NHL franchise since the Nordiques left in 1995. But hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said Tuesday his gut feeling is that Quebec City will again have its own pro hockey franchise.

"I think it's only a matter of time before Quebec City is going to get a franchise," Gretzky told reporters at the Joe Carter Classic Golf Tournament. "Listen, I think we all agree it's a good city and it can support an NHL team, especially now with the salary cap rules and the parity we have in the game of hockey. When that's going to be, it's anybody's guess but when they do come back in, it's going to be a strong, solid franchise just like Winnipeg is now and it will be as successful as they are."

And, regarding Phoenix:

"Honestly, I've not followed it at all," he said. "I don't live in Arizona anymore and you probably know more about it than I do. I'd be just guessing if I said anything . . . and probably so would you."

Continued with Cup Final talk and coaching rumor chatter.

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As you might expect, the forecast in Flyer-land is ‘rumor-y’

by George Malik on 06/18/13 at 08:06 PM ET
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This stuff is mostly rumor-based, so as we say in Michigan, please take this stuff with a full 50-pound bag of road salt:

If we are to believe the rumor mill, the Philadelphia Flyers may end up buying out Daniel Briere but not Ilya Bryzgalov...

Continue Reading »

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Kypreos: Coyotes trying to retain Tippett’s services

by George Malik on 06/18/13 at 07:44 PM ET
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Per Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos, the Phoenix Coyotes...Or Seattle whatevers, depending on what the Glendale City Council decides next week, are attempting to retain the services of coach Dave Tippett:

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NHL’s General Managers to meet on Wednesday, discuss possible rule changes

by George Malik on 06/18/13 at 07:41 PM ET
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This hasn't been reported in much detail, save a few Tweets here and there, but the competition committee's recommendations regarding hybrid icing, mandatory visors, shallower nets and goaltending equipment will be either approved or declined in terms of getting okayed by the Board of Governors as the NHL's General Managers meet tomorrow in Boston.

Per the NHL's media website, the meeting's going to be a long one:

10:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. – General Manager’s Meeting

If the GM's approve the rule tweaks, they'll more or less be rubber-stamped by the BoG. If not, the rule changes won't come to pass.

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Hawks expect Hossa to return for Game 4

by George Malik on 06/18/13 at 07:02 PM ET
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Paul wasn't feeling well when this news broke, so, a little belatedly: ESPN Chicago's Scott Powers reports that the Blackhawks believe that Marian Hossa will return from whatever ailed him in Game 3 in time to skate in Game 4:

Other than saying it's an upper-body injury, [Blackhawks coach Joel] Quenneville wouldn't go into detail about why Hossa, who is tied for the team lead with 15 playoff points, was scratched from Monday's game after participating in the pregame warm-up.

"Not going to go exactly where the injury is or [when it] occurred, but I'm going to say he's likely to play tomorrow night," Quenneville said.

Ben Smith, who did not take part in the warm-ups, subbed in for Hossa.

Quenneville maintained the Hawks knew of the possibility Hossa wouldn't play, and that it had nothing to do with anything that happened in warm-ups. Quenneville said he didn't want to tip his hand about Hossa not playing, which is why Smith didn't skate before the game.

"He would have taken warm-up if we wanted him to take warm-up," Quenneville said. "He knew there was a chance he was going to play. So he was getting himself ready. I just didn't want to tip our hand that there was something going on."

Continued

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KK going to roll very slowly over the next day or two

by George Malik on 06/18/13 at 06:22 PM ET
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Paul has been sidelined with what is now a pretty serious health issue this evening, and he's going to be out of the loop for at least the next 24 hours. I will try to substitute as best as I can, but Wings news remains my priority, so we may miss some stories here and there.

Send Paul your thoughts and prayers. He's okay but he's more than a little tired of and frustrated by being sidelined again.

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Afternoon Line

by Paul on 06/18/13 at 04:45 PM ET
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“I think if you probably talk to other owners around the league, they might think that I may spend too much money.  You may hear that or whatever, but that’s my style. … You might talk to some of the other owners around the league, and they’ll tell you, ‘Who’s this new owner? What is he, crazy? Why did you give this guy money or that guy?’ Hey, it’s my decision. It was something I wanted to do.”

-Terry Pegula, owner of the Buffalo Sabres.  Pegula was on WGR radio today and John Vogl of the Buffalo News has more on Pegula.

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Watching The Stanley Cup Final

by Paul on 06/18/13 at 04:29 PM ET
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from Rob Wile of Business Insider,

Tipoff's at 9 tonight for Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

Meanwhile, Boston took a 2-1 lead last night in the Stanley Cup Final.

Who's been watching the games? Mapping data group ESRI has the answer.

The firm has developed developed software called the Tapestry™ Segmentation system that classifies US residential neighborhoods into 65 unique market segments based on socioeconomic and demographic characteristics.

One of their models tracks likely basketball and hockey viewership.

continued with maps...

 

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Kings Extend Voynov Contract

by Paul on 06/18/13 at 04:16 PM ET
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added 4:23pm,

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Kings and defenseman Slava Voynov have agreed to terms on a new six-year contract, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced today.

Voynov, 23, shared the Kings postseason leadership in both goals (six) and total points (13), and he also co-led the Kings in plus-minus rating (plus-9) while appearing in all 18 postseason games for the Kings during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.  The 6-0, 190-pounder from Chelyabinsk, Russia also established new Kings playoff records for most goals scored by a defenseman in one playoff year (six), and most game-winning goals scored in one playoff year (four), while finishing third on the team in average time-on-ice per playoff game (21:54).

Continue Reading »

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