Kukla's Korner

Some GMs Relieved

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

12/12/05 at 11:51 AM ET | Comments (0)

from the Globe and Mail,

That sound you hear is a collective sigh of relief from at least a dozen National Hockey League general managers. Because of stronger-than-expected revenue from broadcasting and good planning in basing the $39-million cap on a conservative revenue forecast, there will be good news delivered to the NHL governors at their two-day meetings this week in Scottsdale, Ariz. The Devils were one of three teams over the cap when the season started. They led the parade at $43-million, with the Detroit Red Wings at $40.8-million and the Atlanta Thrashers at $40.7-million. Under the new collective labour agreement, it is where a club finishes the season in respect to the cap that matters, not where it started. Thanks to a trade and a demotion, Lamoriello is just under the cap now, but he has a problem looming when forward Patrick Elias and his $4.1-million salary are cleared to play. However, Lamoriello may get a break there, as Elias is now thought to have an abdominal tear on top of his recovery from hepatitis, which could push his return back to the end of January.

Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Andy Murray Turns To NHL Book For Advice

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

12/12/05 at 11:46 AM ET | Comments (0)

from the Long Beach Press-Telegram,

Jeremy Roenick's production, or lack thereof, probably doesn't merit him getting major minutes on one of the Kings' top lines, but who will play up there if not Roenick? And then, what to do with Roenick? Hoping for some answers, Murray turned to a book by New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick for guidance. "It's part of role definition," Murray said. "You get to a position with players, and how do you deal with them? I'm reading Belichick's book for the second time right now and going over the transition from (quarterback Drew) Bledsoe to (Tom) Brady and how difficult that was for everybody at that time. "It's about maximizing strengths at this point. It's great to hope that a player will do what he's done in the past, but you have to deal in the now."

Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Around the NHL

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

12/12/05 at 05:07 AM ET | Comments (0)

-Gleen Murray was not in the Boston lineup Sunday when the Bruiins played Phoenix. -Left wing Oleg Saprykin injured his left knee early in the first period Sunday and did not return to the game. Saprykin likely will be sidelined for at least two weeks. -Martin Biron set a Buffalo record by winning his 10th straight start on sunday.

Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Spezza Out With Hip Flexor

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

12/12/05 at 05:05 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, Just when you thought the news couldn't get much worse for the Senators ... Centre Jason Spezza, the team's leading scorer, confirmed yesterday he needs some time off to rest an aggravated right hip flexor that has hampered him for the past week. That means Spezza, who has 11 goals and 32 assists in 27 games, won't play tonight against the Colorado Avalanche and he's doubtful for Thursday night, when the red-hot Dallas Stars visit the Corel Centre. read on

Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Legace Admits He Came Back Too Early

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

12/12/05 at 05:02 AM ET | Comments (0)

from the Macomb Daily,

"I lied to the coaching staff and everybody else just to play. I should have just tried to wait. It was selfish and it probably hurt the team a little bit. "This time, I'm going to wait until it's 100 percent," Legace added. "It's getting there. I'm not going to know until I get back on the ice. Walking around, it twinges here and there, but as a goalie you never put yourself in that position off the ice." Legace is hoping to return to the ice by the end of this week to take some shots and just get a feel for the hockey puck again. The timetable for him going down to make saves has yet to be determined.

Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Florida Fighting Uphill Battle

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

12/12/05 at 04:42 AM ET | Comments (0)

from the Sun-Sentinel,

They didn't fathom losing 18 of their past 21 games, having 48 days pass since their last road win, allowing the tying or winning goal in the final minute of six losses and having to deal with problems still unresolved after 31 games. "We're going to continue to work at it," center Joe Nieuwendyk said, "but we shouldn't be talking about the same thing night after night." And there's "a long list" to address, defenseman Sean Hill pointed out after Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Kings. Coach Jacques Martin insisted the Panthers, who didn't practice Sunday, "have to keep building on the good points."

Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Blues Set To Unload Lalime

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

12/12/05 at 04:39 AM ET | Comments (0)

from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

The Blues' 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Rangers Saturday night may have been goaltender Patrick Lalime's last game in a St. Louis uniform. The team is expected to make a move regarding Lalime as soon as today. The Blues have a few options, including trading the seven-year veteran or placing him on waivers. General manager Larry Pleau would not confirm Sunday that one of those transactions was about to take place.

Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Watching The NHL On OLN

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

12/12/05 at 03:00 AM ET | Comments (0)

from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer,

Anyway, it had been a long time since I had watched the NHL, so I decided I'd give it another shot. First I had to find OLN. It turns out to be Channel 608 on my DirecTV -- right next to ESPNU! The studio show had all the zip of a tax audit. With no Terry Bradshaw or Charles Barkley in sight, studio commentator Neil Smith, analyzing the Boston Bruins, offered, "I don't think they have good puck management." There was a "Mic'd Up" feature in which the only audio I heard was the Islanders' Mark Parrish saying, "Nice pass, Yorkie, atta boy." The two games I watched were quite good, but the same problem arose that I always bring up to the disgust of hockey aficionados: You all have one intermission too many. Maybe two 15-minute breaks are fine for beer sales at the arena, but, from the comfort of our couches, it gives us one extra chance to surf away to other programming.

Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Quite A Collection For Ovechkin

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

12/12/05 at 12:28 AM ET | Comments (0)

via the Washington Post ( reg. req.),

After the Capitals' loss Friday, Alex Ovechkin sought out Pavel Datsyuk, a fellow Russian and former teammate on Moscow Dynamo. After the two spoke for a few minutes, Ovechkin returned to the Capitals' locker room with Datsyuk's hockey stick, which the Detroit star autographed and wrote "Good Luck" on the blade. Ovechkin said he planned to add it to his collection of hockey memorabilia, which includes 2,000 hockey cards and about a half-dozen sticks from Russian players he admires. He already has autographed sticks from the New York Islanders' Alexei Yashin, the Atlanta Thrashers' Ilya Kovalchuk, the New Jersey Devils' Viktor Kozlov and the Buffalo Sabres' Maxim Afinogenov, among others. Asked why he only has sticks from Russians, Ovechkin smiled and said: "I don't know. I like how we play."

Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Multicultural Coach

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

12/11/05 at 04:29 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Mlive,

Jim Paek was born in Korea, raised in Canada, played hockey in the United States, and has a daughter born in England. He started playing hockey at age 7 and became the first Korean-born player in the NHL and the first to win a Stanley Cup. He was a teammate of both Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. "I'm doing something I love," said Paek, in his first year with the Griffins. "That's the most important thing. Find something and just go for it. It didn't matter at all that I was Korean. We're a multi-cultural family and it's fantastic. We celebrate a lot of different holidays." Paek returns to Korea every summer to run a hockey school and promote the sport.

Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

« Previous       ‹ First  < 6167 6168 6169 6170 6171 >  Last ›      Next »