Archive for August, 2010
No Tag Day Needed For Niemi
In what has been a whacky NHL summer it appears the craziness hasn’t stopped. It has been reported by Hockey Buzz that Antti Niemi is close to agreeing to terms with a new team. Unless something goes upside down the story appears accurate. More important, and somewhat of a surprise is that my whispers indicate [...]
Fehr of the Unknown
A fractured and fragmented National Hockey League Players Association has- apparently- found their man to lead them. Donald Fehr, the former head of the Major League Baseball Players Association agreed to accept the position of Executive Director of the NHLPA pending a vote of the Player Association representatives. So, what does this mean for the Player’s [...]
DAILY RUMORS: Rejection of the Bruins Trading Savard to the Kings
We at HockeyIndependent.com want to be your resource and filter for what is going on in the NHL. We try to disseminate the noise in the blogosphere. We don’t look to to attack those sources, but to question the veracity of the rumor with cold logic, hockey smarts and knowledge. To do that… we have [...]
Muž za Maskou (The Man Behind the Mask)
Born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia and drafted late in the 2003 NHL draft by the Montreal Canadiens, goaltender Jaroslav Halak has been a brick wall between the pipes wherever he has played.
ANALYSIS: Solid brainstorming, no firm commitments at World Hockey Summit
One question that was repeatedly asked by many fans in the lead-up to last week’s World Hockey Summit was, “Will they or won’t they?” as in: will the NHL, NHLPA and IIHF come to an agreement during the four-day event in Toronto on further NHL participation in future Winter Olympics? The answer was neither ‘yes’ nor ‘no’. [...]
Meet the Defense
Meet the Defense… After last season, General Manager Garth Snow could not have been happy with the performance of his defense. He lost Radek Martinek, one of his reliable defenseman to another season ending injury just 16 games into the season. It was the 4th time in his 8 seasons he failed to play in [...]
Crimes of Fashion
Mercifully September is right around the corner, and as I prepare to flip my calendar from Christopher Higgins and Sean Avery to Henrik Lundqvist, I’m looking forward to finally having something to talk about. Today several of the New York Rangers participated in pre-training camp workouts. The Traverse City tournament starts on September 11th [...]
Blues Q&A 8 Results: Pietrangelo vs Halak
Blues Pre-Season Q&A wrapped up question number 8 last week. Thanks to all that voted on Facebook and Twitter. Question: Pietrangelo or Halak? Who are you more excited to see in a Bluenote? Pietrangelo – 50% Halak – 50% I’m Excited to See? I have a soft spot for offensive defensemen. Which would lead you [...]
World Hockey Summit ends, steering committee hopeful for future
The World Hockey Summit in Toronto came to a close last Thursday evening with pledges from the steering committee to continue to “work together” to “grow the game”. The four-day conference brought together global hockey leaders and public stakeholders from North America and Europe to discuss pertinent issues currently challenging the growth of the game. [...]
Preseason Power Rankings: Western Cellar Dwellers
“Is it hockey season yet?” The quote repeated (and re-tweeted) daily by the faithful fans from Vancouver to Minnesota to Carolina to New York. Everyone is ready for training camps, preseason games and another opener in Europe. All three are still close to a month (or more) away. How do hockey fans find their fix [...]
The Analysis of the First Line.
Well, the greatest debate I am hearing here in Calgary is: Do the Flames have a good first line? I have heard from one extreme to another, each just as passionate as the other. One saying they are a, bunch of has-beens, the other saying they are motivated and ready to turn their careers around. [...]
Paul Kariya Out for the 2010-11 Season
A few days ago I cut a trade in my keeper league to acquire Luca Caputi and Paul Kariya for a 2nd and 3rd round pick in our 2011 Entry Draft. I insisted that the trade be conditional to Kariya signing by November 1st. Little did I know that those conditions would be met so [...]
Is Quebec City ready to welcome back the Nordiques? Part Trois
There is a bug buzz in town these days as things start to move faster towards the return of an NHL franchise back in Quebec City. Last week, Radio hosts Denis Gravel and Jerome Landry of CHOI Radio X, launched a Quebec Nordiques fan club called Nordiques Nation, a Website dedicated to show political authorities [...]
10 Tidbits on Kings dman Willie Mitchell
Get to know the LA Kings newest defenseman, Willie Mitchell. It’s a story featuring pickles, long sticks, Don Cherry and the value of endorsements. All made possible due to injuries to Matt Greene and several blueline prospects.
World Hockey Summit Day 4: PM session: Growing the Game
The World Hockey Summit in Toronto is officially over but delegates, panellists and the steering committee were in agreement that the hard work begins now. Maintaining or achieving excellence in national programs and encouraging youth to continue pursuing hockey in the face of competing sports and recreational interests will be vital in growing the game at the amateur and professional level.
NHLPA’s Ouellet denies Don Fehr has been confirmed as new leader
Despite several reports indicating that former Major League Baseball Players’ Association leader Donald Fehr has been named executive director of the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA), Mike Ouellet, chief of business affairs at the NHLPA, called the reports “a little premature given the process. No recommendation has been made to the executive board yet.” He also refused to comment on whether Fehr was the leading candidate for the union’s top job.
World Hockey Summit Day 4: AM session, audio from Wickenheiser, Ruggiero
Under clouds of concern for the viability of international women’s hockey due to the huge competitive disparity between North America and the rest of the world, Canadian star and featured speaker Hayley Wickenheiser described the frustrating challenges in growing women’s hockey outside North America while American star and panellist Angela Ruggiero was more hopeful about the future [...]
World Hockey Summit Day 3: Gary Bettman media conference
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman did a public Q and A session on Day 3 of the World Hockey Summit hosted by TV broadcaster Pierre McGuire then took more questions from the media for an additional ten minutes, covering predictable topics such as NHL involvement in the 2014 Olympics, the Kovalchuk case and the potential for placing a franchise back in Quebec City. The full audio of the media conference is inside.
World Hockey Summit Day 3: PM session, audio from KHL Pres. Medvedev
Brian Burke’s legendary temper boiled over during contentious discussions on the hot-button issue of whether the NHL will send its players to Sochi, Russia for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The Toronto GM, who has also been involved with USA Hockey for many years, was adamant that all factors must be carefully considered instead of making an “emotional issue” out of the Winter Games.
Interview With Michael McKinley, Author Of Hockey: A People’s History
When I was approached to conduct an interview with Michael McKinley about his 2006 book, Hockey: A People’s History, I was excited for the opportunity, but slightly hesitant about reading the book. Most of us, as hockey fans, think we know anything and everything there is to know about the sport we like to call our [...]
