by Ken Campbell - July 12, 2010 1:10 PM EDT
The Kings and Kovalchuk continue to talk to make sure the marriage will work; and what changes are expected in the NHLPA.
Some summertime Monday observations for your dining and dancing pleasure:
NO KINGS RANSOM FOR KOVALCHUK
The Los Angeles Kings might be putting their fans through the wringer when it comes to their negotiations with Ilya Kovalchuk, but they’re actually playing out the situation very well.
by Ken Campbell - July 5, 2010 1:21 PM EDT
There's been many players on the move and lots of cash being thrown around since July 1, but the vast majority of the signings have just replaced lost assets.
Let’s start with the premise that, with very few exceptions, every team overpaid every player it signed during the first days of the free agent frenzy.
by Ken Campbell - June 28, 2010 2:30 PM EDT
All reports indicate former MLBPA boss Donald Fehr will remain as interim executive director of the NHLPA, so what will this lead to?
Unless we’re seriously misreading the tea leaves here, Donald Fehr will be running the NHL Players’ Association’s affairs through the next round of collective bargaining agreement talks in 2012.
by Ken Campbell - June 22, 2010 5:55 AM EDT
In a somewhat weak first-year class, it may be time to put in a couple other players who have already been passed over before.
Given some of the bizarre (Dick Duff) and self-serving (Jim Gregory) decisions it has made in the past, it’s impossible to predict what the Hockey Hall of Fame’s selection committee will do when it meets Tuesday to determine the 2010 inductees.
by Ken Campbell - June 14, 2010 3:25 PM EDT
Outside of 2006, the Cup final has been full of big-market teams... and Daniel Briere got ripped off.
Remember back when the new economic order was established in the NHL, how the league trumpeted it as a new era of promise for franchises that operated on a budget?
Well, we’re not about to say that has always been a bunch of hogwash.
by Ken Campbell - June 7, 2010 5:35 PM EDT
On the road, Ken Campbell has a few thoughts about the Stanley Cup final, chief among them: Why Pronger should win the Conn Smythe Trophy.
PHILADELPHIA – Random thoughts through the first five games of the Stanley Cup final:
PRONGER FOR MVP
Much was made of the fact Chris Pronger of the Flyers was minus-5 in Game 5, but when you play as much as Pronger does, you’re bound to be victimized when your team plays as badly as the Flyers did.
by Ken Campbell - June 4, 2010 3:30 PM EDT
Brett Connolly, expected to go in the top five of this summer's draft, only played 16 games this year, but he claims his injury woes are behind him.
PHILADELPHIA – Brett Connolly welcomes the opportunity to be poked, prodded and grilled over the next three weeks leading up to the NHL draft in Los Angeles.
by Ken Campbell - May 10, 2010 3:20 PM EDT
With the Phoenix situation still in flux, there's talk L.A., St. Louis, Nashville, Carolina and N.J. could also see ownership shifts in the coming months.
Gary Bettman earns about $8 million a year as commissioner of the NHL. That’s as much or more than roughly 98.6 percent of the players earned last season.
by Ken Campbell - April 29, 2010 9:22 AM EDT
After blowing a 3-1 lead to Montreal, there are plenty of questions that need to be answered in Washington, including if Boudreau is the right coach.
Conventional wisdom suggests that before a team wins a Stanley Cup it must, for some reason, suffer a crushing, heart-wrenching upset somewhere along the way.
by Ken Campbell - April 26, 2010 9:35 AM EDT
Notes to various players and teams around the NHL in regards to the incredible – and despicable – first round action we've seen.
With the best first round of the playoffs in years coming down to the short strokes, I thought I would take time to write some letters to people in the hockey world.
by Ken Campbell - April 19, 2010 3:02 PM EDT
With referees willing to call penalties in overtime and let the game breathe, this post-season has been great even if the extra frames don't last as long.
It’s safe to say, after five days and 20 games, the 2010 post-season has been outstanding, isn't it? Not a single dud game in the bunch so far, all the first round series were tied 1-1 for the first time since the league expanded to 12 teams in 1967, almost half of them have gone into overtime and if you’ve PVRed the Detroit-Phoenix series you’d be forgiven if you double-checked that you weren’t playing the games on fast forward.
by Ken Campbell - April 12, 2010 10:45 AM EDT
THN.com's unique stat that puts weight on how important the goal or assist was in a game's outcome puts a new slant on the Hart, Norris and Calder race for MVP, best defenseman and rookie of the year.
Sidney Crosby’s decision to become an elite NHL goal scorer not only resulted in the first Rocket Richard Trophy of his career, but it might have made him the most valuable player in the league for the second time as well.
Advertisement
This Week - Subscribe NowWill the Blackhawks come back from a 2-1 series deficit to win the Stanley Cup?
Advertisement
“I think when you’re at home the first two games, sometimes you get a little bit too comfortable at home. Then you come on the road, maybe it’s like a rude awakening…We’ve had three series to figure that out, learn it. We definitely want to be better (Monday), especially in the first game on the road.”
- Chicago's Patrick Kane. The Blackhawks are 0-3 in Game 3s this playoff.
A TC Media site, Consumer Solutions
