Canada Deserves More NHL Teams

Hard to argue with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who would like to see more NHL teams in the land of the maple leaf.

Canadian fans watched two franchises relocate to the U.S. -- Quebec to Denver and Winnipeg to Phoenix (now Glendale, Ariz.) -- in the mid 1990s, and BlackBerry mogul Jim Balsillie was thwarted in his attempts at bringing an American franchise to Hamilton, Ontario.

You probably could build a hockey rink in the middle of nowhere in Canada, and the team would sell out every game.

Of course, a fan base has never been the problem in Canada. The Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets did very well, thank you, drawing fans to their respective arenas.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Thrashers Need to Sign Kovalchuk

If the Atlanta Thrashers ever hope to make serious inroads in Georgia's sporting landscape -- is it even possible to compete with the Braves, Falcons, college football and NASCAR? -- they can't afford to lose their most exciting players.

Hockey is a tough sell in the South as it is, which is why the Thrashers had better find a way to keep star left wing Ilya Kovalchuk in town. Either that, or trade him for a bushel of talent.

Of course, you might ask why the talented Russian would want to keep playing in a city that doesn't really appreciate hockey and for a team that has missed the playoffs six times in his first seven NHL seasons.

At any rate, Thrashers general manager Don Waddell, who somehow manages to hang onto his job despite the club's ineptness just about every year, is trying to sign Kovalchuk to a new contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Young Avs NHL's Biggest Surprise

So what's the deal with this young bunch of Colorado Avalanche?

Who would have thought these guys would be 5-1-1 through the season's first seven games, with a 3-1-1 record in the first five games of what could have been a disastrous seven-game road trip?

Not me, and probably not anybody else, either.

The Avalanche was coming off a last-place finish in the Western Conference; team president Pierre Lacroix fired just about everybody in the front office and coaching staff; longtime captain Joe Sakic retired; and co-scoring leader Ryan Smyth was dispatched to Los Angeles.

So much for expectations.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Laraque in Hot Water over Ad

Georges Laraque usually gets into trouble on the ice as an enforcer with the Montreal Canadiens. The 6-f0ot-3, 253-pound right wing began his 12th NHL season this year with 52 goals and 1,098 penalty minutes in 667 career games.

Now, the 33-year-old is in hot water with the league and women's groups for appearing in a commercial for an alcohol drink that shows him playing street hockey with several scantily-clad women.

The commercial has no dialogue and can be viewed at 33mag.com.

According to Article 25.1 of the league's collective bargaining agreement: "No player shall be involved in any endorsement or sponsorship of alcoholic beverages (excluding malt-based beverages such as beer) and/or tobacco products."

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

No Rocking Chair for Chelios

Gordie Howe did it, so why not Chris Chelios?

Chelios, age 47, is hoping to continue his playing career with the hometown Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League, possibly with the intention of eventually returning to the NHL.

Howe -- Mr. Hockey -- was 51 when he scored 15 goals in 80 games for the NHL's Hartford Whalers in 1979-80, so anything is possible.

To say that Chelios is a workhorse in the gym would be quite the understatement. He's still a rock solid 6-foot, 190 pounds and probably would embarrass plenty of players half his age when it comes to workouts.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Loose Lips Cost Leafs a Fine

Score one for the Vancouver Canucks ... well, sort of.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were fined an undisclosed amount today by the NHL because, league deputy commmissioner Bill Daly said, coach Ron Wilson violated a league by-law "relating to inappropriate public comments by speaking generally to his club's potential interest in negotiating with Daniel and Henrik Sedin" before the Canucks forwards had officially become free agents.

The Sedins eventually re-signed with the Canucks, getting five-year contracts worth $6.1 million a season.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Too Early to Panic in Vancouver

Hey, what's the deal with the Vancouver Canucks? Picked by many -- but not me, I like Calgary -- to finish first in the Northwest Division, the Canucks have lost their first three games and haven't looked very good while doing it.

The biggest problem: subpar work by star goalie Roberto Luongo, who was yanked in Monday's home opener against Columbus after allowing goals on three consecutive shots to begin the second period.

Luongo actually played OK in Saturday's 3-0 loss in Denver, but he was medicore at best in Vancouver's season-opening defeat in Calgary and awful against the Blue Jackets.

Luongo is the Canucks' best player -- at least, he should be -- and he's just too talented to keep playing the way he has. Vancouver has outshot the opposition by a wide margin in each of the first three games, yet has nothing to show for it.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Avs Make a Shrine for Sakic

The Colorado Avalanche certainly did it up big Thursday night for former captain Joe Sakic, whose No. 19 jersey was officially retired at the Pepsi Center before the season-opening 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks.

A banner with the digits was raised to the arena's rafters to conclude the 45-minute tribute, joining those of Patrick Roy (No. 33) and Ray Bourque (No. 77).

"To see it up there with Patrick and Ray, it's a tremendous honor," said Sakic, who was accompanied by his parents, his wife Debbie and their three children.

Not only that, the Avalanche surprised Sakic by creating a shrine at his old corner locker.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Rob Blake to Wear Sharks' 'C'

Good move by the San Jose Sharks today, naming Rob Blake team captain.

"(Blake) has experience captaining a team and will give us everything he has,” coach Todd McLellan was quoted as saying on the Sharks web site http://sharks.nhl.com. "He will hold his teammates to the highest standard.”

Blake, who turns 40 in December, has been captain of the Los Angeles Kings and won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001. Perhaps he can show his teammates what it takes to win in the playoffs, something the Sharks haven't managed to do even after successful regular seasons.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Fleury Released, But Still a Winner

Well done, Theo Fleury.

No, the comeback kid's attempted comeback didn't pan out with the Calgary Flames, but he did himself proud nonetheless.

Fleury was released by the Flames today, but he performed a lot better than anyone could have anticipated with four points in four preseason games, along with a winning shootout goal.

Not bad for a guy who is 41, has been out of the NHL for six years and is a recovering alcoholic. He's been sober for some time and will continue to fight the good fight, so kudos to him.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Gretzky Quits the Coyotes

Super athletes rarely develop into super coaches, as Wayne Gretzky discovered during his four seasons behind the Phoenix Coyotes bench.

The greatest player in NHL history? You won't get an argument from me.

I had the pleasure of covering Gretzky during his time with the Los Angeles Kings, following his blockbuster trade from the Edmonton Oilers in 1988, and he was as gracious and approachable off a sheet of ice as he was great on it.

But Gretzky, who owns virtually every league scoring mark imaginable, stepped down today as head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes after four seasons with a record of 143-161-24, with two fifth-place finishes in the Pacific Division, two fourth-place finishes, and no playoff appearances.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Say It Ain't So, Foppa

Brett Favre, and now Peter Forsberg?

The 36-year-old forward and former NHL most valuable player is attempting yet another comeback, this time with his hometown team Modo in the Swedish Elite League.

The oft-injured center has experienced problems with his right foot for several years and didn't play at all last season, except for three games with Modo, when the chronic foot ailment forced him to give up the comeback attempt.

A great one in his prime and one of hockey's most entertaining players, Foppa as he's affectionately known in Sweden and by his legion of fans (especially in Colorado, where he's still revered), has undergone several foot surgeries and experimented with various skates in an attempt to return to the ice.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

An Avalanche of Teens

It's beginning to look like the Colorado Avalanche could have a couple of teen-age phenoms on the roster for its Oct. 1 season opener against San Jose.

First-round pick Matt Duchene, 18, should be a lock to start the year in Denver, even if new head coach Joe Sacco is reluctant to say as much. The final 23-man roster, he's said, won't be determined until after the Avalanche plays its final three exhibition games.

Matt Duchene (left) and Ryan O'Reilly have been impressive in Avalanche camp.

"I think he's made some progress every day, and that's what you're looking for," Sacco said of Duchene, who was taken third overall in the 2009 NHL entry draft after collecting 31 goals and 48 assists in 57 games last season for the Brampton Battalion in the Ontario Hockey League.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Senators Get Edge in Heatley Swap

OK, I've had a week to digest the first blockbuster trade of the NHL season, which involved two underachieving teams -- the Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks.

At first glance, I'm tempted to say the Senators, who lacked scoring depth behind the Big Three of Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley, the latter of whom was shipped to the Sharks (along with a fifth-round draft pick) in exchange for forwards Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek, and a second-round pick.

Heatley, for reasons he has yet to explain -- maybe he never will -- wanted out of Ottawa, and it's never a good thing to keep an unhappy player around, no matter how talented.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Preseason Hockey ... Zzzzzzz

The official start of fall is fast approaching, which can only mean the following:

• Baseball pennant races are in full swing.
• The NFL and college football seasons have started.
• Here comes NHL exhibition hockey.

Yawn.

Don't get me wrong. I love hockey, have played the game (though not particularly well) and have been covering it for parts of three decades, on both the NHL and collegiate levels.

I just wish it was somehow possible to skip training camp and preseason games, and get right to the good stuff.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Theo Fleury on Comeback Trail

You have to feel good for Theo Fleury, who has been cleared by the NHL to return to league play, even if his chances of actually sticking with a club at this point in his life would seem to be pretty remote.

He's 41 years old and hasn't played in the NHL since 2002-03 with the Chicago Blackhawks.

A terrific player in his prime -- he scored 30 or more goals eight times -- hockey's little big man at 5-feet-6 and 180 pounds was troubled by substance abuse, a problem that wrecked an otherwise tremendous career.

I was covering the Colorado Avalanche for the Rocky Mountain News when then-general manager Pierre Lacroix made another of his blockbuster trades by acquiring Fleury from the Calgary Flames in February 1999 for the playoff stretch.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Coyotes Showdown Heating Up

Call it a Duel in the Valley of Sun, the fight to see whether the Phoenix Coyotes remain in Arizona or wind up in Hamilton, Ontario.

On the one side we have the NHL, led by commissioner Gary Bettman, who wants the Coyotes to keep playing at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz.

On the other is Jim Balsillie, whose Research In Motion company makes the popular Blackberry -- and has made him a fortune.

If money talks, and if judge Redfield T. Baum allows Balsillie to bid for the Coyotes in bankruptcy court, the league might have an impossible chance to compete.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »

Violence on Ice? See You in Court

Should violent behavior on the ice result in prosecution in court?

It's a question that's been debated for years.

Legal wrangling is ongoing in the wake of the much-publicized 2004 on-ice attack by then-Vancouver Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi against then-Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore.

Moore suffered three fractured vertebrae, facial cuts and still suffers from post-concussion syndrome. He never played another game after the incident and his hockey career is over.

(Continue to Through the 5 Hole)

Read more »