One of the things that the Red Wings preach is that patience is a virtue. For almost 20 years they haven’t had to rush their top prospects.  The last time they played their number 1 pick months after being drafted was way back in 1990 with Keith Primeau.  Primeau had to deal with a typical learning curve in his first couple of seasons as he split time between Detroit and Adirondack (Red Wings’ former minor league affiliate) but he transitioned himself as a solid NHL player until concussions derailed his career.

Since he was drafted by the Red Wings four summers ago, Smith got to hone his skills by playing three seasons of college hockey for the Wisconsin Badgers.  In 95 total games for the Badgers, Smith notched 87 points and collected 177 penalty minutes. Those numbers are decent, but look at his stats from his days with Wisconsin and you’ll see he consistently improved in almost every category. His last season with the Badgers was his best as he was nominated for the 2010 Hobey Baker Award which goes to the best collegiate hockey player in the nation.

Last season, which was his first pro season, Smith played in 63 games for the Red Wings’ minor league affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League (AHL) and had a decent year, especially for a rookie.  He led all rookies in team scoring with 12 goals and 20 assists.  Besides his puck moving abilities, Smth showed a bit of his rough side by spending 124 minutes in the sin bin, which ranked him third on the team.

One thing that Smith will have to work on, like all rookies, is try not to do everything himself.  He’s not going to be Bobby Orr (who is?).  Will he make mistakes?  Sure, but his teammates will be in his ear and tell him what to do and what not to do.  Being on a veteran squad like the Red Wings will be a huge bonus for Smith.

In the next few days, he will be involved in the NHL Prospects tournament held in Traverse City.  This will be a precursor for him because he will be on the Red Wings’ training camp roster, needing to beat out some competition for a spot on the team’s roster.  If he were to be sent back to Grand Rapids, it will probably be the last time that he’ll be taking the ride from East I-94 to Joe Louis Arena.

The next couple of years will be very crucial to the Red Wings as far as Smith’s contract goes.  He will be entering the second year of a three-year entry level contract.  This season could be Lidstrom’s last and Kronwall is entering the final year of his contract.  There will be vultures lurking outside the Red Wings organization and trying to sway soon-to-be free agents.  In five years, the blueliners on the  power play could very well be the tandem of Brendan Smith and Niklas Kronwall.  To Red Wing fans, does that sound enticing, or what?

First off there should have been a night to honor Chelios. But there wasn’t any reason to have the ceremony before a game versus Detroit.

Chelios and his family would have been better off without hearing as many boos and cat calls. If the ceremony would have taken place without Detroit being the opponent the crowd would have been friendlier toward Chelios.

Like a tough Chicago guy Chelios addressed those who booed and didn’t ignore their vocal displeasure.

Not to condemn those who chided Chelios and choose to remember him as a hated Red Wing, but a little context is required. Some of the local media who are quick to say Chelios shouldn’t have been honored or his number should never be retired by the Blackhawks, need to face the facts.

I heard a round table discussion on Comcast before the game. Everyone on the panel except for the only person, who actually covered hockey in the past, said Chelios should not have his number retired by the Hawks. Regardless of the view of some, many of whom never knew until recently the NHL played past April, Chelios deserves to have his number hang in the rafters at the United Center.

The Hawks were late on the scene to retire numbers in general, and I’m not sure if there is list of criteria the franchise follows. …But allow me to point out a few facts.

Chelios played in Chicago for nine seasons, one fewer than his time spent in Detroit. He played for the Blackhawks in the prime of his career.

In those years he was selected as an All-Star even times. Chelios received the Norris Trophy on three occasions, two times while playing for the Blackhawks. There were only three other Chicago defensemen who have won that award. Only Pierre Pilote received the honor more often as a Hawk. The great Pilote received the Norris on three occasions.

Chelios holds the Blackhawks’ single season record for assists by a defenseman (58), which he accomplished twice. He also played in 65 post season games for the Hawks. Chelios has played in the most games of any American born player (1651).

Chelios will be a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee and in my opinion is the greatest US born hockey player.

Chelios did not win a Stanley Cup in Chicago, but neither did Tony Esposito or the late Keith Magnuson and their numbers are retired. Glenn Hall, Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Pierre Pilote did win the grand prize, but they will be the first to tell you winning the Cup is a team accomplishment.

As far as those who want to hold a grudge against Chelios for joining the Wings and winning Stanley Cups, be my guest. You can believe what you want, but a little context is required once again. 

When Chelios was traded on March 23, 1999 the Blackhawks were about to slide into a desperate state. Not only would the franchise soon become an embarrassment around the NHL, but also throughout sports.

Bob Murray was the general manager in 1999 when Chelios was traded, but decisions still had to pass through Bob Pulford. It is no coincidence immediately after assuming leadership of the franchise Rocky Wirtz banished Pulford to another part of town. Once Pulford wasn’t making major hockey decisions for the Blackhawks the Stanley Cup soon followed.

Whether Chelios actually asked for the trade or not, his hand was forced. The Hawks and Chelios were worlds apart concerning his NHL future.

This is from Chelios’ mouth, not my opinion. His version of the story was broadcast on AM 1000 during the Afternoon Saloon show on Thursday.

Chelios met with the Blackhawks brain trust and it was decide it would be best if he was traded. The sticking point probably had to do with money, as was often the case back then. But most important was the Hawks had other plans for Chelios, like retirement and a job in the front office.

So if you want to hold it against Chelios for leaving and winning Stanley Cups in Detroit go ahead. But by the Hawks’ front office estimation his playing days were numbered.

Pulford and company were only off by a decade or so and a couple of Cups.

The Canadiens held their annual golf tournament earlier today where many players answered the questions of the Montreal media brass, but there was no official confirmation on Gionta’s nomination as team captain.

Picture: Nick Wass/Associated Press

Brian Gionta was acquired last summer as a UFA and signed a five year, $25 million contract with the team. Gionta was reunited with former New Jersey teammate Scott Gomez on the Habs first line. Last year, Gionta managed to score 28 goals and 18 assists for 46 points, fourth highest scorer on the team, despite only dressing for 61 games due to various injuries (mainly an ankle injury).

The native of Rochester, NY, would become only the second American captain in franchise history after Chris Chelios, who coincidentally announced his retirement from pro hockey earlier this summer. The other players that were reportedly considered for captaincy were Hal Gill, Mike Cammalleri, Josh Gorges and Andrei Markov.

Gionta, 31, is entering his ninth season in the NHL this year. The five-foot-seven, 175-pound winger has 180 goals and 178 assists in 534 career NHL games.

—————————————————-

Also, the Montreal Canadiens have invited the following 58 players to their annual training camp. Players will report for physicals and medical exams at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard on Friday, September 17.

The list of players invited to training camp includes 6 goaltenders, 18 defensemen and 32 forwards:

FORWARDS
36- Alexander Avtsin
55- Hunter Bishop
70- Jimmy Bonneau
17- Dustin Boyd
13- Michael Cammalleri
82- Andrew Conboy
52- Mathieu Darche
58- David Desharnais
37- Gabriel Dumont
81- Lars Eller
63- Andreas Engqvist
64- Olivier Fortier
73- Brendan Gallagher
21- Brian Gionta
11- Scott Gomez
15- Jeff Halpern
46- Andrei Kostitsyn
40- Maxim Lapierre
71- Louis Leblanc
90- Philippe Lefebvre
80- Dany Massé
61- Ben Maxwell
32- Travis Moen
67- Max Pacioretty
51- Aaron Palushaj
14- Tomas Plekanec
57- Benoit Pouliot
94- Tom Pyatt
49- Ryan Russell
45- Ian Schultz
53- Ryan White
48- James T. Wyman

DEFENCEMEN
78- Sébastien Bisaillon
72- Mathieu Carle
85- Marc-Antoine Desnoyers
74- Morgan Ellis
75- Hal Gill
26- Josh Gorges
44- Roman Hamrlik
24- Alex Henry
56- Kyle Klubertanz
79- Andrei Markov
47- Brendon Nash
20- Ryan O’Byrne
43- Alexandre Picard
6- Jaroslav Spacek
62- Frédéric St-Denis
86- Joe Stejskal
76- P.K. Subban
42- Jarred Tinordi
59- David Urquhart
68- Yannick Weber

GOALTENDERS
35- Alex Auld
87- Nicholas Champion
84- Peter Delmas
65- Robert Mayer
31- Carey Price
30- Curtis Sanford

The Canadiens will play their first preseason game on Wednesday, September 22, against the Boston Bruins, at the Bell Centre.

The first goal he was trying to block an Umberger centering attempt, but angled his stick just right to deflect the puck past Johan Hedberg. Cheli tried to pinch and hold the blue line but failed, leading to a rush that produced the second Jackets goal. So there you have it, the exciting Chelios storyline…

Mathieu Garon played another strong game for the Jackets, who couldn’t muster much offense without Rick Nash in the lineup. While it’s nice having Garon play solid between the pipes, with no chance at a post season birth I wouldn’t mind Steve Mason starting the rest of the way, regardless of how dismal he may perform. Either he finds some sort of rhythm and gets his game back,  or he helps secure CBJ nation the #1 draft pick. A win-win situation, right? (well, maybe “win” isn’t the right word…)

The Jackets are continuing to work hard and make an effort to play as well as possible and try to end the season playing well. RJ Umberger and Rick Nash have both spoken out to the media, and are trying to lead the team with pride down the stretch.

Unfortunately – the team just isn’t very good. They don’t have the talent, coaching, or chemistry to compete, and can’t close out a game to save their lives. They were out shot and out-played horrifically in the 3rd period, and as usual, gave up a late goal to make it a one-goal game with just a couple minutes left.

With the goalie pulled, Atlanta brought the pressure and set up what looked to be a golden chance for Rich Peverly, who fanned on the shot, sparing the CBJ fans another miserable blown lead and letting the home fans see a win.

As a follower of the team it’s hard to not already be looking to the offseason where surely some major moves will be happening.

At this point, I’d just be happy to see any move that brings in a better return than Chris Clark or a conditional seventh round draft pick that we get only if the Los Angeles Kings win the Stanley Cup.

He will have to clear waivers in order to rejoin the Thrashers. He will be available for call-up in case of injury. No immediate NHL plans.

In 1,644 gamese, Chelios, 48, scored 185 goals and added 763 helpers for 948 points. Chelios also boasts an impressive +/- differential of +352.

Below you will find the three groupings for the 2010 Olympic hockey tournament:

GROUP A: Canada, United States, Norway, Switzerland

GROUP B: Russia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia

GROUP C: Finland, Sweden, Germany, Belarus

The countries in bold are the four tournament favorites, without disrespect to the other eight countries.

Tournament format:
Each team will play the round robin portion of the tournament, facing the other three teams of their respective group and the best four records will advance to the quarter-finals.

Then the remaining eight teams will move on to play a qualifying playoff round to decide the other four quarter-final spots. The final eight teams will face each other in the quarter-finals until the Gold Medal Winner is decided.

USA’s schedule will be fairly easy, except they end up their round-robin by facing a powerhouse in Canada. They will play their first game on February 16th against Switzerland, a very underrated opponent that gave problem to the Americans in the past few tournaments.

After that game USA has a day off, before they take on a weak Norwegian team that should be fairly easy to beat. Finally, Team USA will conclude the round-robin portion of their tournament with an emotional match-up against their North American foe, Canada. This game will be a very good test for Sean Burke to assess his line-up and his team’s chances of earning a medal in Vancouver.

Who would you select as Team USA’s captain?
Jamie Langenbrunner?
Brian Rafalski?
Ryan Malone?

I would personnally give the C to Langenbrunner as he is a proven winner with Stanley Cups with the Devils and plenty of experience in the NHL and on the international level. There is a change of guard for the Americans as perennial selections like Bill Guerin, Keith Tkachuk, Doug Weight and Chris Chelios are no longer in the plans.

Potential final line-up for Team USA:
Forwards:
Patrick Kane-Zach Parise-Phil Kessel
Ryan Malone-Paul Stastny-Dustin Brown
Bobby Ryan-Ryan Kesler-Jamie Langenbrunner
Ryan Callahan-Joe Pavelski-Mike Knuble
Jason Pominville as the 13th forward.

Defensemen:
Brian Rafalski-Ryan Suter
Paul Martin-Ryan Whitney
Erik Johnson-Brooks Orpik
Zach Bogosian as the 7th defensemen.

Goalies:
Ryan Miller
Tim Thomas
Craig Anderson

Noteworthy considerations:
Forwards:
Scott Gomez, TJ Oshie, Mike Modano, Tim Connolly, James van Riemsdyk, Brian Gionta, David Backes, Kyle Okposo, Chris Drury, Dustin Byfuglien, David Booth

Defensemen:
Ron Hainsey, Mike Komisarek, John-Michael Liles, Alex Goligoski, Matt Carle, Andy Greene, Jack Johnson

Goaltenders:
Jonathan Quick

Who would you pick on your team as of December 23rd, 2009?

To we Gallof boys, most situations hearken to a movie. Whether it be large or small, parody or tragedy, good news or bad, we tend to come up with some sort of twisted bent with images and other silliness to describe it.

So, in honor of this appreciation of movies, and with a huge hat tip to the boys at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog, we will kick off our first contest here on HockeyIndependent. Prizes are choices from a slew of movies from the Back To The Future Trilogy on DVD, to Blu Ray movies like Full Metal Jacket, Blazing Saddles, V for Vendetta, Ocean’s 11 and much more. Actually, not just one contest but two…so there are a few ways to win…

CONTEST #1

Photoshop your own “NHL Goes Hollywood”. Use you image skills, or complete lack-of, to create some funny NHL-to-movie renditions. Our own to kick this off are below. Points are for creativity, laugh-meter, and concepts. We Gallofs will judge and look for top 3 winners. Send as many images you’d like. We’ll attempt to showcase them (another hat tip to Puck Daddy) as we go along plus at the end.

Deadline for this contest is Friday, December 11th with the winner to be announced that following Monday.

Email your images to bd@hockeyindependent.com and please put in the subject: NHL Goes Hollywood Entry.

What, you don’t do Photoshop or are terrible with images? Your mouse hand hurts from clutching it everytime a team shoots on your poor Maple Leafs? Well, for you we have another contest that is about wit and tweets!

CONTEST #2

On Twitter Follow @HockeyIndie our new Twitter account for HockeyIndependent and help spread the word while also coming up with
your own #NHLgoeshollywood takes of Hollywood meeting the NHL.

Here there are two ways to win prizes!

1. Top three tweets of #NHLgoeshollywood wins a prize!

2. Top three “quality” #NHLgoeshollywood overall twitterers will also win!

Sibling Rivalry will judge both these contests. That means the two Gallof boys decide. Deal with it.

Deadline for the TWEET #NHLgoeshollywood Follow @HockeyIndie contest is this coming Monday, December 7th.

Questions? Concerns? Post them below for clarity. Otherwise, make some excitement as we all gear up for the Holidays and get some loot from HockeyIndependent along with it.

Scott and I have done some of our own to kick this thing off….

Scott Gallof ignores Kyle Wellwood and goes for the other portly punching bag

BD Gallof with the Curious Case of Chris Chelios

Scott Gallof with Patrick Kane playing a petulant Scorcese in the back of DeNiro's taxi in TAXI DRIVER

BD will probably rile Sidney fans as he uses him and Gary Bettman for his version of THE CRYING GAME

BD finds Theo Fleury in the worst bathroom in Calgary with this ode to TRAINSPOTTING

Scott with the new screwball comedy based on Threesome, called Sloppy Seconds!

And, it wouldn’t be a Sibling Rivalry without taking a shot at the Isles or Rangers, so, BD provides some NY Ranger seasonal observations a la Big Lebowski, guest-starring Sidney Crosby…

The new Hall of Famers

Hey puckheads! I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Hockey Hall of Fame Induction weekend. This was a special occasion for me because of the Red Wing flavor of the proceedings. Although I am firmly entrenched in tropical Tampa Bay, I am a native Detroiter and a lifelong Wings fan. So after a flight from Hockey Bay to Hockeytown, I headed across the border, down the 402 for a four-hour drive to the hockey Mecca of Toronto.

For those of you that have never been to this cathedral of hockey lore, it is anything but that. I find it quite cheesy that one must walk through the retail jungle of Brookfield Place Mall, and through the hallowed halls “storefront” entrance adorned with an impotent sign that simply says “HOCKEY,” to visit our ice heroes of the past. But, I digress.

Throughout the weekend I talked with fans and players alike and the question that everyone seemed to be debating was, “Is this the greatest Hockey Hall of

Is this the place?

Fame class in history?” I came away with a simple answer, “You betcha!” Not even the class of 1972 that inducted Gordie Howe, Bernie Geoffrion and Jean Beliveau or the class of 1983 honoring Bobby Hull, Ken Dryden and Stan Mikita comes close.

The 2009 Hall of Fame quartet of Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and Brian Leetch scored a total of 2,348 goals, had 3,320 assists, for a grand total of 5,568 points in 5,419 games over an aggregate total of 73 NHL seasons. In total they have a Lady Byng Trophy, a Hart Trophy, a Selke Trophy, a Masterton Trophy, two Pearson Awards, two Calder Trophies, two Conn Smythe Trophies and seven Stanley Cups on their mantles.

This is, without a doubt the best four players to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame together.

Paint Toronto Red

It certainly was a Red Wing weekend as Yzerman, Hull and Robitaille all wore the winged wheel during their careers. In 2001-02 these three classmates played together on what may be the greatest team ever. This legendary squad was 51-17-10-4, scored 251 goals and allowed just 187 goals on the way to a Stanley Cup championship. They had four confirmed Hall of Famers on the roster (Steve Yzerman, Luc Robitaille, Brett Hull and Igor Larionov) and realistically could end up with five or six more (Nick Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, Dominik Hasek, Sergei Fedorov, Pavel Datsyuk and Brendan Shanahan). They were coached by Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman.

In a question and answer session, the new inductees spoke about that Stanley Cup winning team:

“It was one of the greatest moments of my career and I will be thankful forever,” Luc Robitaille said.

“Ken Holland gave me the opportunity to play for what might be the greatest team ever assembled,” stated Brett Hull.

“It’s funny that you and many others say that the three of us would be a good line. Scotty tried it once and hated it. He split us all up and put us on different lines,” a chuckling Yzerman said.

This group of 2001-02 Stanley Cup champions was only the third group of teammates ever inducted into the Hall of Fame together.

The new kids answer questions

The Class of 2009

Brett Andrew Hull

“The Golden Brett” scored 741 career goals over 19 seasons, third on the league’s all-time list and won two Stanley Cups. But what I will take away from the weekend is his respect for his father, the Golden Jet, Hall of Famer Bobby Hull, and his sense of humor.

Brett was born in Ontario and is a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen. He joins his father, Bobby, in the Hall of Fame with the distinction of being the top father-son duo in NHL history. Bobby and the rest of Hull family were in Toronto for the weekend.

“He gave me giant footsteps to follow,” Hull said of his father. “He taught me to speak my mind. He gave me the best advice that a father could have ever given: “The further you are from the play, the closest you are to it. I am really fortunate that I was able to figure out what the hell he was talking about.” Huh?

Luc Robitaille

I rank “Lucky Luc” as the second best left-winger of all time, behind only Bobby Hull. He is the greatest late round draft pick in hockey history. He was drafted in the ninth round of the 1984 draft by the Los Angeles Kings, and he went on to rank 19th in NHL history with 1,394 points.

I listened as Luc talked to a group of us in the hotel restaurant: “I was on one draft list. There was one person who believed in me. That was Alex (Kings scout Alex Martin). He is the reason I’m speaking English today, the reason I am here in the Hall.” Luc would say much the same thing in his induction speech on Monday.

I caught him later in the evening and congratulated him on a well-deserved honor, and he said, “Thank you, but I’m still in shock.”

Brian Joseph Leetch

I rank Leetch as my third all-time greatest American born player behind Pat Lafontaine and Mike Modano and just ahead of Chris Chelios. He had five, 20 goal seasons and accumulated 1,028 points during his stellar career.

I saw Brian just once during the induction weekend. He was in the lobby of the hotel and was signing autographs for anyone who wanted them. He was truly taking in everything that he could during the weekend. He seemed to be enjoying himself more than any other newly enshrined player.

I asked him how it felt to be a Hall of Famer. Leetch responded with, “It’s hard to put into words. It’s really overwhelming. Bobby Orr and Guy Lafleur were the Hall of Fame. Those are Hall of Famers. Those players belong here. I feel like I am just visiting.”

I asked Leetch if he wanted to continue working in hockey and maybe coaching. He said, “I won’t be a head coach, but I’d work with the young defensemen and share my experiences with them.”

I then asked if he was looking forward to skating in the Legends Game on Sunday. He rolled his eyes, smiled and said, “I haven’t been on skates in over a year, and I’ll probably fall.”

After being around “Lucky Luc,” Leetch and “The Golden Brett,” I can only describe this trio one way…self-effacing. All three of these sports icons considered themselves background decorations to the celebration of hockey in Toronto.

Next up, “The Captain,” Stevie Y enters the hall.

Nobody knows anybody. Not that well.  – Tom Reagan, Miller’s Crossing

Check this blog out on The Huffington Post!

In a large woods of tall trees, another poor soul is on his knees, crying for his life. A dark figure stands in the killing posture, poised.

No, this isn’t the Coen Brothers gem of a movie, Miller’s Crossing. This is what has been happening to heads of the NHL’s Player Association ever since Bob Goodenow stepped down after the NHLPA bowed to the pressure of a NHL owner run lockout that canceled the 2004 and 2005 hockey season.

Ever since then, player solidarity and vision has been splintered as the head of the NHLPA has become like the drummer to Spinal Tap.

And beneath the surface lies a Dashiell Hammet-like caper that is vying to hammer out a battle to different gangs… The old guard and the new class of players. Behind both are player agents who are tied to player rights and contract values like Ahab to the White Whale.

So the lay of the land is tremendously unsettled, and games are played by both sides in what is a tug of war that seems to get top brass of the NHLPA effectively shot in the woods.

Perhaps the only thing missing in all this is the troublesome dame who has emeshed them all deep within a woven web.

Our tale begins as all do, noir style, as bodies fall without much clarity as to why. Those following these goings on the usual mainstream of blog venues are getting their information in drips and drabs, but nothing seems very clear.

In fact the more we seem to know, the more confusing it seems to get.

Is this the new NHLPA  designated meeting place these days?

There was a complaint that ran through the din the other day of why was all this NHLPA rumpus important or even a main news story. This is like asking the same of the Lighthouse Project. Both are important issues and the battles within have great effect on the future. One for a team. This for an entire league, as there are severe undercurrents that will portend either a bloody work stoppage, or just a scattered mess of players under the NHL owner’s foot.

You say you don’t care?

You will when there is another canceled season, ladies and gents.

This is why many journalists and bloggers have been following these goings on with some concern.

For yhose who aren’t privy to the shenanigans,basically, the NHLPA has been about as steady as Michael J. Fox using a jackhammer. Or for those squeamish, Andre Agassi after a few cans of ‘special’ JOLT. Or for even more squeamish, how about any of the Toronto Maple Leaf goalies? There ya go.

Basically, the inmates have done more than just run the asylum. The players have taken out the heads of the NHLPA as if this is Survivor, but with Don Cherry instead of Jeff Probst.

Infighting, politicking, backstabbing, tattling, you name it…it has happened with the NHLPA in the last few years, ever since they bowed to the NHL in the last CBA. So, one would think they rallied and reorganized? Far from it. The politics underneath and subsequent drama mean quite a bit to what amounts to several car wrecks before a looming CBA where two sides must hash out differences under that bargaining agreement. Add in it might be very likely that a recession is still affecting things, make the future even more murky.

Thus, the ripples of what is a floundering NHLPA will have effects to their own strength and positioning when it is high noon. Just as a NHL who had a fiasco in Phoenix as a rogue came in and tried to move them and showed flaws in their own armor which has a few more dents like a non-espn agreement, US clubs in trouble, last few expansion teams in the red, and a few fiascoes like Boots and other embarrassments.

To act like these aren’t important or have effect on what might transpire is almost being willingly obtuse.

Furthermore, the politics beneath the mechanics might be more than even it seems to the naked eye. There might be a battle going on of new players and old with a few agents thrown in pivoting and entrenched on either side.

If there is one person smack dab in the middle of things of all the goings on, it is a player who is not even paying union dues this year as he sits in the AHL hoping a team signs him at the ripe age of 47 years old. Chris Chelios made it his business to topple Ted Saskin back in 2007. He accused player agent Don Meehan of undermining the NHLPA back then as well. Chelios, in fact, has a large part to play in the propping up Paul Kelly as NHLPA head when he had an executive search firm headed by his old buddy, former Flyer’s Captain, Dave Poulin.

Then out went Kelly, taken out by the very rules that Chelios and others ratified, but by a new class of players. Those who helped topple Kelly were of the new school of players who took exception at Kelly’s attempt to find out what players were saying about him in meetings.

Then, suddenly, post-coup, Chelios and others were front and center. Ian Penny, who was someone who had blood on his hands getting Kelly removed, was now in charge as players began to try to investigate on what exactly transpired.

Chelios was part of a committee of vets that were mandated to look into it. Instead, they, led by Chelios and per sources and even Steve Larmer, his former teammate, “exceeded their mandate”.

Exceeding the mandate seems almost an understatement as Chelios, per Ian Penny’s letter of resignation, describing the AHL defenseman as almost a cloddish overwrought Phillip Marlowe on steroids. Chelios was purposely strong arming his way, using someone from the NHLPA’s offices to feed him information, to make the current structure implode on it’s own volition. Either way, wreckage has ensued, because in either case or in-between, Chelios rode in with some leeway to investigate, seemed to carry a Bazooka and an axe to grind, and never seemed to investigate anything at all.

His actions attempted to hamstring the current actions of the NHLPA brass, trying to make them not talk to one another, but nowhere through all this did this committee seem to actually do what it was created to do in the first place. Instead, Mike Ouellet will be acting Executive Director, and the old guard now leads again. Sources cite that Ouellet was the person feeding Chelios piecemeal of every NHLPA email, phone call and meetinginformation, as Chelios was cowboying his way to clean house.

Some say this ‘cleaning of house’ needed to happen. Yet this is the third sweeping post-CBA. The old guard is now back in charge. What is becoming clearer and clearer is the dynamics of old school vs new school. To say that somehow things are solved or cleaned-up are far from accurate. If anything things might be as unsettled as they were earlier this summer. Players and agents seem split on the goings-on, and solidarity seems hard to find, despite overblown words of some thinking that anything is one whit solved. Some feel that Chelios needs to get out of the way, besides retire, so that newer players can put forth their own identity and create some balance. The fact that several agents sit on different sides of all this might be the most dangerous thing of all, as they speak in many a players ear.

Hell, and I am sure it’s far from over, as many cooks seem to have a spoon in the stew.

Chelios, you know the commissioner...

Email me: BD@hockeyindependent.com

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