Kukla's Korner

2013 Oilers Draft Speculation

Blog: Oil Patch By Lisa McRitchie

06/18/13 at 10:15 PM ET | Comments (2)

Oh Oiler fans, what are you to do? The 2013 NHL entry draft is fast approaching and you have no idea, at all, who your team will take, and your team isn't even drafting first overall! Quel dommage! Fear not, the end of June through beginning of July can still be exciting.

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  Tags: 2013+nhl+entry+draft

Grand Rapids Griffins win Game 6, capture Calder Cup

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

06/18/13 at 09:35 PM ET | Comments (21)

It was close and sometimes a harrowing experience to watch, but the Grand Rapids Griffins rallied from a 1-0 deficit and took a 2-1 lead, surrendered a tying goal in the 3rd, and received the game-winner from stay-at-home defenseman Brennan Evans (and some ridiculous saves from Petr Mrazek)...

And Tomas Tatar and Joakim Andersson's empty-net goals sealed the deal, giving the Griffins a 5-2 win, capturing Grand Rapids' first Calder Cup championship over the course of 6 games against the Crunch and a total of 24 playoff games played (out of a possible 26!).

The Jack Butterfield Trophy, the AHL's playoff MVP award was given to Tomas Tatar, who scored 16 goals over the course of 24 games played (and registered 21 points).

Mrazek stopped 17 shots in the Griffins' win.

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

Blog: KK Hockey By George Malik

06/18/13 at 08:47 PM ET | Comments (0)

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’

Blog: KK Hockey By George Malik

06/18/13 at 08:06 PM ET | Comments (1)

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...

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Kypreos: Coyotes trying to retain Tippett’s services

Blog: KK Hockey By George Malik

06/18/13 at 07:44 PM ET | Comments (0)

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

Blog: KK Hockey By George Malik

06/18/13 at 07:41 PM ET | Comments (0)

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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Red Wings GM Ken Holland talks about SCF, Datsyuk, etc. on Fan 590

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

06/18/13 at 07:23 PM ET | Comments (0)

Red Wings GM Ken Holland addressed the team's re-signing of Pavel Datsyuk, other personnel issues and the Stanley Cup Final in an 11:49 interview with the Fan 590's Bob McCown and Stephen Brunt on Tuesday evening:

Update: Holland says that he and Datsyuk agreed on a 3-year contract extension in terms of, well, term, during their exit interview, and they just got it done.

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Hawks expect Hossa to return for Game 4

Blog: KK Hockey By George Malik

06/18/13 at 07:02 PM ET | Comments (0)

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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Red Wings evening news: Wings move on to other free agents, will send Helm to Traverse City

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

06/18/13 at 07:01 PM ET | Comments (3)

Red Wings GM Ken Holland's still borderline giddy about the team's ability to retain Pavel Datsyuk's services for the next four seasons, and his praise for Datsyuk's skill, talent, leadership and longevity while speaking to MLive's Ansar Khan is must-read material in itself...

But Holland also gave Khan something of a blueprint as to what the Wings' next moves may involve, and it sounds like he's going to do much more than simply attempt to retain Daniel Cleary, Valtteri Filpula and the complicated situation that is Damien Brunner:

Holland said he is continuing talks impending unrestricted free-agent forwards Daniel Cleary, Damien Brunner and Valtteri Filppula, but roster space is scarce.

“We have big decisions to make,'' Holland said. “We got a push of kids. We got 14 forwards under contract now (including restricted free agents Gustav Nyquist and Joakim Andersson). We'll only carry 14.

“We know we have compliance buyouts at our disposal. I'll explore trades.

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Howe family wins civil suit against former business manager

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

06/18/13 at 06:31 PM ET | Comments (1)

Via RedWingsFeed, the Oakland Press's Ryan Felton reports that a jury ruled in favor of the family of Gordie Howe in a civil suit filed against Howe's former business manager, Del Reddy:

A jury found Hockey Hall of Fame member Gordie Howe sustained $3 million in financial damages when former business managers destroyed sports memorabilia that was supposed to be returned under an agreement made to settle a previous lawsuit.

The 85-year-old Howe of Bloomfield Township was in attendance at Oakland County Circuit Court Tuesday in Judge Leo Bowman’s courtroom with his son Mark. The Howes, along with Power Play International Company, the company that handled Howe’s merchandise, sued Del and Michael Reddy, Aaron Howard and Immortal Investments, the former business partners.

Continued

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