KK Members Blog

I remember after the lost season we fans all wanted a way to follow the salary cap around the league. Before I ever heard about Capgeek I learned about http://www.nhlnumbers.com. I was reading Spector's Hockey at the time, and that was the first source he used. Later, Capgeek surpassed the simple chart provided by NHL Numbers, and from what I can tell, many forgot about the site or only started following the cap with the creation of Capgeek and its algorithms.

I am sorry Mr. Wuest's health has forced him to shut down his internet opperations, both at Capgeek and Red Wings Central. His controbutions to Wings fans and NHL fans at large will be greatly missed. I know many of us have expressed our thoughts and prayers for his reocvery regardless of whether or not he is able to restart site opperations again in the future.

It is on that note that I am writing this blog to remind our community about NHL Numbers. Yes, it's only a simple chart, and any trades will have to be personally calculated, as well as potential buyouts. But the charts are easy to follow and they do have a separate free agent list. So at least that's something, right?

-Bradley97

Hello fellow Kukla's Korner Readers,

I'm writing you regarding a dear friend of mine. She is the single mother raising an autistic child.

His lifelong dream is to play for the Detroit Red Wings. She has spent her life providing for her son, often working several jobs to fund his passions. She has little, if any outside financial support. She posted on her Facebook that her son would no longer be able to play hockey due to financial restrictions. I know this is crushing her, and I know that he will be devastated if he can't play. I'm asking for your support in helping Nassim achieve his dream, if nothing else, help keep him playing the game we all love.

I know how much my family sacrificed to make sure I could play, and it breaks my heart to hear of someone who does everything for her son realizing she just can't make his dreams come true because of money. I am asking all of you, if you can, just to give a little bit to make sure Nassim can play hockey. Thanks!!!

Here is the campaign I started: http://www.gofundme.com/fu9gyc

P.S. Paul and I communicated regarding this matter, and he deemed it a worthy cause to post on Kuklas Korner. Thanks Paul, and Go Wings!!

For those of you that don’t know already, because you hate awesome things or are just waking up from baseball season hibernation but Hockey is back, finally.

WE waited patiently all summer, just getting by with May’s highlight re-runs from the season just passed or ESPN’s occasional trade talk but now after nearly six months of summer, where for most of us after the first month, we were praying for frozen ponds and snow.

We're back! After a successful return to fantasy hockey last season, we are up and running again for 14-15. There are only 3 spots currently open in a 10 team league, and I would love to fill those spots with KK members instead of the random Yahoo yahoos.

Some of the league setting:

• 10 team Head to Head league
• Live Draft on October 5, 2014 @ 7:45
• 5 Max Aquisitions per week
• 3 Minimum weekly Goalie Appearances
• All Trades Reviewed by League
• Roster Add/Drop Deadline is Daily, and Changes Take Effect the Next Day
• Positions: C, C, C, LW, LW, LW, RW, RW, RW, D, D, D, Util, Util, G, G, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, IR+, IR+, IR+
• Scoring: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, Wins, SV%, SHO

For those looking for some live hockey in August.

The Champions Hocley League is kicking off today. This is what used to be known as the European Hockey Trophy. http://europeantrophy.com/

Eleven different European Leagues are represented. With strong representation from SEL and Liiga.

http://www.championshockeyleague.net/

There are a few different ways to stream the action.

The CHL, AHL, NHL are still comepting for championships. As such, championships from around the world have been determined in the past few weeks. Many of these league

Switzerland - ZSC Lions are National League A Champions

From a Pete Weber Tweet.

In the words of Bruce Boudreau, "We’re in position with three good goalies. I don’t think I can screw it up too bad whoever I choose.”

How would you like to be a SCP coach, and have this trio of goalies as a luxury. This does not even include Victor Fasth who started the season with the Ducks.

The complete story, which actually features Jonas Hiller at the link below

From "The Atlantic", one of the most comprehensive articles I have seen on Finnish Goaltending. It discusses, the heritage, the difference in approach versus North America, and the fear that the Swedes have overtaken the Finns as the leading producer of elite goaltenders.

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/02/the-puck-stops-here/360079/

Today is shaping up to be a relatively busy day with some rather surprising moves. Here is a re-cap of todays moves, as well as what each move means for the teams involved.(Trade details found at TSN.ca)

Montreal trades 5th round pick in 2015 to Florida in exchange for Defenseman Mike Weaver

A minor deal where Montreal acquires some defensive depth that they lost when they traded Rafael Diaz. This deal will have little effect on both teams.

Washington trades 4th round pick in 2014 to Anaheim in exchange for Forward Dustin Penner

This trade came as a bit of a surprise to me. Penner returned to his first NHL team last summer when he signed a 1 year contract with the Anaheim Ducks. The last time he played there, he won his first Stanley Cup and had his best regular season to date. Since than, he has been an enigma to say the least. Things started off very well this season with the Ducks, and although his inconsistency can be frustrating, his point production was still pretty good. Unless Anaheim has a deal in the works to bring in another top 6 forward, this one confuses me and I think that Washington wins the deal. But, time will tell if Washington gets 20 goal scorer Penner, or the Penner that shows up to play when he feels like it. Either way, a 4th round pick is not much to surrender.

Not the Griffins, even though, you know, they are leading everyone else in terms of point percentage. We'll says it's Abbotsford because, you know, they've played 4 more games than the Detroit Red Wings affiliate. Arbitratily, we'll rate the Griffins at third becuase there's another team tied with them in points, the Monarchs, even though they've played two more games than the Griffs.

This public service announcement brought to you by SNARK.

Phil Davies, a former International Hockey blogger for Kuklas Korner (until teaching took over his life;), has entered CBC's Hockey Night in Canada's "Next Great Hockey Song" contest.

CBC has asked Canadians' to write a stadium-sized rocker to accompany HNIC's opening montage for Hockey Day in Canada.

I was hoping someone would mention the Dave Bolland breakaway in OT that sent the Leafs over the Oilers, 6 to 5. The goal itself was pretty, but the means to set it up were quite goonish. Take a look at the punch to the back of the head on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and explain why there wasn't a call. Getting mugged in front of 20,000 plus an international audience with absolutely no consequence is pretty amazing.

(the mugging comes 5 seconds in)

I'd love to hear your comments on this one.

GDT: Detroit Red Wings (2-1-0; 4 pts) vs. PhoenixQuebecSeattleArizona Phoenix Coyotes (1-2-0; 2 pts)

[When] 7:30pm EST, 4:30pm Coyote Time

[Where] Joe Louis Arena (Detroit, MI)

[Catch It] TV: NHLN-US, FS-D; Radio: AM1270

The first week of the NHL's regular season has provided plenty of "buzz" fodder, be it good, bad, or otherwise. But in the interest of objectivity, let's let the numbers do the talking. Here are the cold, hard stats behind week 1 in the Pacific Division:

11 - teams in the NHL with as many or fewer goals than San Jose's Tomas Hertl

46.2 - Hertl's shooting percantage, with 6 goals on 13 shots

15/20 - players on San Jose who have tallied points through the first three games

2 - point total of Los Angeles Kings' leading scorers Jeff Carter, Jake Muzzin, Matt Frattin, and Anze Kopitar

28 - teams with fewer goals against than the Edmonton Oilers

For its 20th birthday, the Pacific Division got a few new playmates as the NHL's geographic realignment meant out with the East and in with the new. After jettisoning the Dallas Stars, the Pacific added former Northwest Divisioners Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton to its existing tenants: Phoenix, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and San Jose. As the season gets under way, here are a few storylines worth following among the NHL's West-coast contingent.

1) Will Jonas Hiller stay a Duck?

This is sort of an aside to the more obvious storyline in Anaheim: Teemu's "last season." Hiller has never known any other home since the Ducks signed him as a free agent in 2007, but there are plenty of places that would welcome him with open arms. With Victor Fasth proving to be a more than capable 1A goaltender and white-hot prospect John Gibson waiting in the wings, one has to wonder if Hiller wouldn't be the perfect expendable asset to help GM Bob Murray fill some gaps in the reigning Pacific Division Champs. Hiller's stock isn't quite where it was before his bizarre, vertigo-shortened 2010-11 campaign, but he has still proven he can be a dependable backstop and could probably challenge for a starting job with any number of organizations. There’s no immediate pressure for Murray to make a move, nor is there any guarantee he will, but Hiller represents a very playable chip if the Ducks need some pieces later in the season.

The American Hockey League is apparently looking to build on the hockey connections between Sweden and North America, and build a little rivalry in the process.

The league has announced that this year's AHL All-Star Classic in St. John's NL will feature an inter-league game between a team of AHL stars the SHL's Färjestad BK.

This is a really cool idea, and one that will probably get tongues wagging about increasing the integration between North American and European pro-leagues. No word on any reciprocation by the AHL - but one has to assume that something could be in the works that will see an AHL team head to Sweden at some point.

Bobby Ryan took on the role of a 'Sens TV' reporter, and asked some Sens fans what they know about...Bobby Ryan.

If there's been good news about the Senators in the media this off season, it's mostly been about the deal the Senators made to bring in Ryan, and the positive attitude he's shown since he arrived. One of the first questions that usually gets asked when a player comes in from a place like Anaheim, where there's no natural ice, to a hockey-first Canadian market is whether they'll be able to handle the increased media attention.

Bobby doesn't seem to be shrinking from it. He may even have a lucrative ice modelling career ahead of him.

As some will be aware, the Senators, Maple Leafs, Penguins and Blackhawks recently conducted their annual rookie tournament in London Ontario.

I had a chance to attend Saturday's games - including the Sens 4-3 shootout win over Chicago, and the Leafs 4-3 shootout win over Pittsburgh. I also paid attention to the other games, but most of my impressions come from seeing all four teams play on Saturday.

Here are one Sens fan's impressions of individual players (completely un-professional impressions, heavily biased towards the Sens, natch). Unfortunately, I didn't get to see Sens prospects Derek Grant, Matt Puempel or Shane Prince as they did not play Saturday. Prince had a great tournament despite not being in Saturday's lineup, including scoring a pair in the Sens 6-2 win over the leafs on Sunday night.

Since Bettman has decided to grace all of us fortunate hockey fans with a full year of NHL hockey, I've decided to bring my long running 5Hole Fantasy Hockey League out of hiatus. After taking a break last year, we're looking to fill some spots for the upcoming season, and I wanted to offer those spots to KK members first. We've had members in the league in the past, and they have been some of the most active and competitive GMs to date.

Some of the league details are:

• 10 team Head to Head league
• Live Draft on September 26, 2013 @ 9:00pm EST
• 7 Max Aquisitions/week
• 3 Minimum Goalie Appearances
• All Trades Reviewed by League
• Roster Add/Drop Deadline is Daily, and Changes Take Effect the Next Day
• Positions: C, C, C, LW, LW, LW, RW, RW, RW, D, D, D, Util, Util, G, G, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, IR, IR
• Scoring: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, Wins, SV%, SHO

It was on July 5th when the Edmonton Oilers traded their captain Shawn Horcoff to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a 7th round pick in 2016 and Philip Larsen. Since then, there has been some wondering as to who will be wearing the C for the Edmonton Oilers this season. One of the names that's been thrown out there quite a bit has been Taylor Hall's, who would be a solid choice, but no the best.

It was last Wednesday when reports came out of Edmonton saying that'll Sam Gagner wearing the C for the Oilers this season. Nothing has been confirmed, nor has there been anything ceremonies to happen since the reports came out. If it is true that Sam Gagner is the next captain, that, would be the right decision.

Connor Murphy is a 20 year old who has spent his last two years with the Sarnia Sting of the OHL. In those two season, Connor Murphy tallied 40 points with a +11. He was drafted by the Coyotes at 20th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft. The scouting report on Murphy from Hockey's Future:

A rangy blueliner who is a very mobile skater, Murphy is still growing into his size and high potential. He is a smooth skater who gets around the ice and plays a smart, confident gamewith and without the puck. Plays with some good physicality and is very effective with a long reach and wing span.

At some point on Thursday, the Ottawa sports media will be stirred from the sleepy doldrums of summer to meet with the man who was, until recently, the longest serving captain in the NHL and the dominant face of the Ottawa Senators franchise. They'll get to question him on why he chose to break the hearts of his faithful and leave for the apparently greener pastures of the Motor City.

The thing is, in the Ottawa media, questioning Daniel Alfredsson is not exactly the natural state of things. Alfie's word has been held to be gospel truth, his actions sacrosanct, his motives pure. Even when he might have seemed to have mispoke, it would be considered the height of blasphemy to do anything less than rush immediately to his defence. A lack of faith in the cult of Alfie was enough to prove one was (at least) out of touch with reality (or worse still, a Leafs fan). Little wonder, to those in Ottawa, that I-Phone's helpful homonculus, Siri, famously confused Alfie with God.

By now, most with any interest in the drama surrounding Daniel Alfredsson's departure from Ottawa will be aware of most of the story. Paul has linked to James Gordon's great piece in Senators Extra where he interviewed Sens owner Eugene Melnyk (insert CSI joke here...and now that that's out of the way). Gordon attempted to get some answers, and ended up with a story that was a bit different from the one that the team put out in the immediate aftermath. It was also chronicled in a fullsome and thoughtful way in the pages of the Malik Report, from the perspective of one Wings fan who happens to have a Senators' jersey with Alfredsson's name on it hanging in his closet. I thought I'd offer one Senator's fan's perspective on the evolving drama, and the evolving explainations that have come from the Sens management and ownership.

Florida has a number of excellent up and coming players, an area of promise but also an area of potential disappointment. These include the just drafted Barkov, said to be ready to step into an NHL lineup right away and likely to center at some point the the Calder rookie winner Huberdeau, who has the skill to be a star player for years to come. Headlining the promising young defensemen are Kulikov and Gudbranson, both developing into solid top four or even top two defensemen and both still young, especially for defensemen. Markstrom has been widely touted as a top goalie prospect for a few years and is likely to be given a legitimate shot at starting from the get go this season. Other promising young players are Shore, Bjugstad, Howden, Matthias, Matheson, and Petrovic.

In 2011 Dale Tallon stepped in as GM and made a number of moves and signings that brought in a number of overpaid players, partly to get above the cap floor. Tallon brought in and then resigned Versteeg, as well as trading for Campbell, whose contract has been criticized widely as being too much for his value. Other signings included Jovanovski, Upshall, Kopecky, and Bergenheim, and each of the aforementioned players have arguably or certainly failed to play up to their contracts. This may be due to injury, but regardless, these contracts will cripple the team's ability to spend especially through the 14-15 season and also through the 15-16 season.