Kovalchuk deal close: Report

I'm hearing reports from Atlanta that a five-year deal for Ilya Kovalchuk to return to the Atlanta Thrashers will be signed shortly. All of the major players — including GM Don Waddell, Thrashers ownership representatives and Kovalchuk's agent Jay Grossman — are meeting at the moment in Washington and are working on negotiationing the contract.

I'm-a-rich!

Kovalchuk himself will arrive in New York next week, perhaps even in time for Atlanta's first regular season game on the road against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.

Perhaps not surprisingly, this whole "I'm staying in Russia" charade was a bargaining ploy — and Kovalchuk's not the first to have employed it this offseason. The unfortunate thing is that the ploy has worked, as Kovalchuk's side has received an offer in excess of $28-million, making it the largest ever deal for a player coming off of his entry-level contract. Expect to see more of these pseudo-holdouts next season.

In any event, the landmark contract will surely buy a lot of diapers for the 22-year-old phenom, who will become a first-time father later this year.

Sept. 28: A day when good things happen

As The Battle of Alberta pointed out today, yesterday was the anniversary of Paul Henderson's goal to give Canada the win over the Soviets in the Summit Series.

Indeed, then, it is the day when good things happen, as yesterday was my birthday. Me and Grant Fuhr. And Hilary Duff.

OK... maybe it's not so much a landmark day.

Happy 43rd, Mr. Fuhr!

Sports Illustrated picks the Flames to win the Cup

So says The Globe and Mail's Eric Duhatschek today.

"Why Calgary? Because they have the most dynamic player in the game in Jarome Iginla," Sports Illustrated senior writer Michael Farber said in an interview. "Because they seem to be able to win without a true No. 1 centre. Adding [Roman Hamrlik] will boost the power play, which should make goal scoring easier. And we're taking a leap of faith on goalie Miikka Kiprusoff — that he isn't a one-year wonder.

"Let's face it. We struggle with this, too. It's a tough year to pick a winner."

Fine by me. Of course, Farber offers up a few other gems:

Sports Illustrated is also picking a quartet of traditional powers -- the Montreal Canadiens, Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars -- to miss the playoffs.

Only Dallas is in jeopardy of missing the playoffs.

They have Colorado at 18, two places behind the Chicago Blackhawks and Leafs at 20, just behind the New York Islanders.

Wait a minute — the Blackhawks are 16th? I think not.

The most controversial choice might well be the Florida Panthers, who were rated No. 10, after missing the playoffs for the past four years.

Replace Duhatschek's 'controversial' with imbecilic and I'll agree.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about this whole thing is that there's hockey coverage in Sports Illustrated. Who knew?

---

On a related note, I ordered my long-overdue subscription to The Hockey News today. The magazine is having quite the giveaway promotion at the moment, and with the start of the season a week away (as of tonight!), it's a good time to be getting the weekly copies. It's $50 for a year-long subscription, so you can't go wrong.

A thought on the shootout

Does anyone know whether or not the winning goal from the shootout will count towards a player's statistics? Or as a game-winning goal? Logic dictates that it won't, but in the NHL's ever-present desire to increase goal totals, it could forseeably happen.

Speaking of which, with the shootouts, goal scoring in the league is going to go up simply because a shootout goal will be added to the final score of tie games. How's that for finding an easily solution to your mandate?

I still hate these things.

UPDATE For those still stopping by this post, no, shootout goals do not count in statistic totals as game-winning goals. Online stats packages are going to have to start publishing shootout stats, however, as a handful of guys have three or four goals in them already.

Who has been the top shootouter so far? Scrollover to the right to see: Jussi Jokinen, Dallas (3 for 3)

The Grim Reaper

The Battle of Alberta has a neat little post about enforcer Stu Grimson, whose career was ended in 2001-02 at the hands of Georges Laraque. One of the few NHLers born in Kamloops (just like moi), Grimson kept fighting till the ripe old age of 36 and was always quite a character. Grimson sits in 40th spot on the all-time PIM leaders list.

And he was always quotable, too.

A sportswriter goes behind the bench

Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News did something I've rarely seen in hockey journalism when he went behind the bench for one of the Stars' preseason games against the Oilers over the weekend. The results give readers a small glimpse of what it's like behind an NHL bench, at least in terms that make sense to even fringe fans:

As the national anthems play, the players can't stand still. They shift their weight from skate to skate, they fumble with their sticks or helmets. They exude the nervous energy of a greyhound in the starting gate.

"You spend two hours getting ready to play, and it is pretty tense to wait a couple more minutes," veteran forward Stu Barnes said. "You don't want to be at all disrespectful, but all you're thinking about is the game."

Granted, it's not landmark stuff, but my guess is any hockey fan or pundit would certainly like to read more pieces like this as opposed to another line-by-line game story.

The piece also reminds me of something venerable Globe and Mail hockey columnist Eric (Duha) Duhatschek talked about recently: going through the Calgary Flames first-ever training camp as a 20-something, fledgling sportswriter (a dream gig, to be sure). Here's the link to his reminisce (scroll down to the Where have all the great nicknames gone? section):

I take credit for nicknaming only one NHL player in 26 years and it happened in my first three weeks on the job of covering the Calgary Flames.

That year, I was assigned by the Calgary Sun to "try out" for the team and then write a series of articles on the experience. It involved a two-day on-ice stint to the first-ever Flames' training camp in 1980 and one time, I found myself lined behind Kent Nilsson in a drill. Up to that point, it had been a "so far, so good" experience — or until I had to follow Nilsson up the ice on a rush. The way he exploded out of a standing start, the way he accelerated, the way he shot the puck left me in awe — and feeling hopelessly, woefully out of place.

Great stuff. Being in the sportswriting industry myself, if only as a small fry, an anecdote like this is really a relic from a forgotten sports journalism era. How many sports editors nowadays would cook up a scheme that sent their young reporter out onto the ice? And, I guess more importantly, would a team let them?

The funny aside, of course, is that Duhatschek went onto become become one of the most widely respected hockey reporters in the world and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001. With a career of anecdotes like that, however, it's not hard to see why.

OK, back to sitting at the desk for me.

Dan Blackburn retires

New York Rangers goaltender Dan Blackburn, still just 22 years old, announced his retirement today. Rumours of his retirement were surfacing in March, but only today, after spending time at the Rangers training camp, was it made official.

Back when Blackburn was making his comeback attempt in the ECHL playing with two blockers, I had the first story and interview with him while I was at the National Post. I talked to a number of people for the story, including Dan's agent, and there was a lot of skepticism that he would ever play in the NHL again, given the limitations he had from a freak injury to his shoulder. In spite of it all, Blackburn worked tirelessly to get to the Rangers camp this year, where he unfortunately suffered another injury.

He'll get an insurance payout reported to be in the $6-million range, so it's not the end of the world for the former phenom. What it is is unfortunate for a guy who told me playing in the NHL was always his dream, and that he'd never thought of doing anything else with himself.

Saturday mini-roundup

I've been out sick for a few days, which has meant a lot of surfing and reading in my attempt to recover. Here's what I've found interesting today:

• Another hopeful from the CBC's 'Making the Cut' reality TV series — a show I've rebranded: Making the ECHL — failed to make the real cut on Friday, when the Leafs sent Dominic Noel to an AHL tryout. How have other reality TV winners fared? The Oilers moved Jordan Little onto their AHL club (and likely to the ECHL after that), the Senators — loaded with goaltender prospects — released Michael Mole (also ECHL bound), James Demone was sent to the AHL Moose by Vancouver, Matt Hubbauer was sent to Omaha by Calgary, and, finally, Kevin Lavallee was demoted by the Habs.
  
  
• Couldn't agree more with Damien Cox's assessment that the NHL's shootouts this year are going to be far too short. Since when has a hockey shootout ever had only three shooters anyway? That's not to say I agree with him that we should have shootouts at all, but I digress.
  
  
• Two differentSun chain writers offer us different looks at Brantt Myhers, a former NHL tough guy given a second chance at a playing career by Flames GM Darryl Sutter after numerous battles within the NHL's substance abuse program. Myhers had his face caved in by the Oilers Georges Laraque early in Friday night's game (a 3-0 win by the Flames).
  
  
• Eric at Offwing Opinion and Tom Benjamin both weigh in on a silly tiff that has arisen out of the NHL's new Bettman's NHL ad campaign. My opinion was recorded here on Wednesday.
  
  
• The National Post's Mark Spector is hanging out with Brian Burke... and I love the column he's got on the guy. Then again, I think I just miss hearing from the big lug (and seeing him skate in the Canucks charity games back in Kamloops).
  

  Does anyone look twice at Burke out on Katella Avenue, the street that fronts the Arrowhead Pond?

  "Not a soul," Burke admits. "But if you'd have said to me in Vancouver, 'You can win a Stanley Cup but you can never do an interview and you can't be in the parade,' I'd say, 'Where do I sign?' My ego's a lot smaller than people think."

  Dreamy sigh... "Thooooose were the dayyyys." Come to think of it, the NHL's ad campaign would benefit from having a helluva lot less buxom babe and a helluva lot more Brian Burke. "It's time!," the burly GM would scream at robo-player, "so get out there and play or 25 cents and a phone booth, and this team is gone."
  
  Refer to this compendium of Burke one-liners, lest you be confused.
  

• I've got more to say on this one, but if you haven't read it yet, have a look at the Toronto Star's own hockey blog, The Hockey Page. I think it's the first real blog on hockey by a mainstream media outfit, so good on them, even if they are 'the competition.' As I said, more on this some other time.
  
  
• Why Gilbert Brule slipped to sixth pick in the draft this summer, I have no idea. Brule netted the overtime winner for Columbus over Detroit last night in exhibition play.
  
  
• The Nashville Predators, who are going to surprise a lot of people this season as one of the top clubs in the Western Conference, look to get stronger when they sign pint-sized faceoff dynamo Yanic Perreault. If you need a solid 50-point player in your hockey pool, Perreault never disapoints when I pick him (I didn't pick him last year).
  
  
• Jes Golbez talks about the hard-to-find preseason statistics and a little about Andrew Hutchinson, the current preseason scoring leader. Before you go taking him in your pools, however, take Jes's bet on the cheese dog as Hutchinson was one of the best defencemen on one of the AHL's best teams last year.
  
  
• Speaking of preseason statistics, here are the players trying to punch their way to a roster spot this season (except for ex-Blazer Scott Upshall, who just plain likes high-sticking penalties and couldn't punch his way to anything). Don't bet a cheese dog on Upshall, or you'll be paying out double.
  
  
• After soundly thrashing EA Sports latest entry into the NHL video game saga two weeks ago, Cousin BJ has mysteriously disappeared, likely to play said video game he said he disliked. Me know better.
  
  
• TSN offered a neat little roundup yesterday on the week in hockey.
  

McGill hazing makes headlines

A disturbing story of ritual hazing on the McGill University football team is what's making waves in the CIS this week.

"Hazing is inconsistent with the university's values and it will not be tolerated," the university said in a statement.

Two suspended players, reached by phone yesterday, said they had retained lawyers and had been advised by the university not to comment.

The football recruit, whose father is a former CFL player, said he began to hear ominous warnings from team veterans about "Dr. Broom" on the second day of training camp in August.

I trust my readers know where this story is headed. The unfortunate thing is that the only time the CIS is really being written about, it's for something like this.

More on more of Keith Tkachuk

The last thing blogdom needs is another not-so-witty, Tkachuk-is-fat pun as a headline. In case you missed it, however, the National Post's Mark Spector offered today a scathing inditement of the now over 260-pound power forward.

As was the case with Todd Bertuzzi after he attacked Steve Moore, Tkachuk's unpopularity with the media is one of the things at play here. Would, for instance, a played like, say, Joe Sakic be the brunt of so many jokes had he shown up to camp overweight? No.

Tkachuk's weight struggles are nothing new — this team press release from 2001 talks about him being at 16 per cent body fat the year before. His playing weight last season was 231 pounds, an acceptable weight given his body type and playing style.

That said, should Tkachuk be blasted for the current situation he's in now? Absolutely.

Let's just keep in mind that a lot of the venom being spent is tinged with other grievances against the big winger. In Canada, namely that of Tkachuk's role in the demise of the Winnipeg Jets (for which he is still seen as a 'bad guy' by folks in Manitoba). His current bloated salary with the St. Louis Blues, who will likely be one of the Western Conference's worst teams this year, also isn't doing much to endear his critics.

But when teammate Doug Weight says enough is enough, he's probably right. A bit of humble pie was probably in order for Tkachuk anyway, but the ubiquitous 'Fatchuck' catcalls have gotten a little ridiculous.

My guess is that the formerly skinny 18-year-old kid from BU rides this out, starts the season with the Blues and puts in another unremarkable 70-point campaign.

And never reports to camp overweight again.

Rem Murray's comeback attempt

Al Strachan is at the Detroit Red Wings training camp, and today he's penned a story about former Edmonton Oiler Rem Murray — last seen with the Nashville Predators — and his struggles with a rare disorder.

"Fortunately enough," he said, "a doctor on call was the leading expert in movement disorders. He diagnosed me with what's called cervical dystonia."

But a diagnosis is not a cure. The doctors knew what was wrong with Murray, but they didn't know what to do about it.

The situation worsened until his head slumped over to the left and rested on his shoulder.

I knew Murray had had injury problems last season, but this was one of the lockout stories I missed completely. Best of luck to him.

'My NHL' ... is having problems

Does anyone have the foggiest idea how this is supposed to sell the NHL?

Watch the commercial, stare in awe at its absurdity and bury your head in your hands. That, unfortunately, is the only appropriate response to what is, unfortunately, a "five-part story" that will capture "hockey's intensity, drama and power."

Unfortunately ... and there's that word again ... what we have is 15 seconds of garbage portraying hockey players as samurai warriors (or some other such nonsense). All we need is a Tom Cruise cameo, complete with Scientology-based musings.

The clip begins with a quote from Sun Tzu, author of the Art of War (now there's a message for the kiddies). And we've got the battle music, lifted straight from Lord of the Rings... although I'm guessing this Hollywood extra they've got strapped into his Reeboks — my mistake, RBKs — wouldn't fare so well against any Robyn Regehr-like orcs.

At least he's got his trusty equipment manager, a svelte knockout who apparently doesn't mind sharpening skates in her undergarments. She also makes a whooshing noise and appears to fly, making me think parts three through five will involve some sort of an exorcism.

"Ready," she coos to her dough-headed hulk of a player, which apparently is what flicks the on-switch for robo-skater to spring into action. Well, that and a candle-lit dressing room to set the mood.

And didn't we agree after Sept. 11 that we wouldn't call pro athletes heroes anymore?

he·ro )Pronunciation Key (hîr)
n. pl. he·roes

1. In mythology and legend, a man, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, and favored by the gods.

Sounds like Jaromir Jagr to me.

I bet the league dropped $10-million on these re-damn-diculous things — which means it's time for a ticket increase!

Just drop the puck already Gary.

UPDATE: Here's the full video here, courtesy of Andrew's Stars blog.

A new, higher-scoring NHL

Well, they do say you can't argue with results. Looking at the scores from last night's preseason games, I would be hard pressed to say the NHL's 'more goals' initiative this season isn't working.

In recent years, hockey games have averaged in the neighbourhood of just under 5.5 goals per game. Last night, game's averaged a whopping 8.17 goals. Granted that's a small, small sample size but, my, is that a considerable jump.

Through all 24 preseason games so far, that number is at 7.04, a level not seen since the early 1990s. NHL goal scoring reached its peak in 1981-82 at 8.03 goals per game.

Of course, much, if not all, of the increase in scoring is directly due to the increase in penalty calls — all part of yet another NHL crackdown on interference (or obstruction).

Reporter Bob Ford from the Philadelphia Inquirer addresses the penalty barrage in a piece from yesterday:

In Sunday night's exhibition game between Montreal and Atlanta, 37 penalties were called. Los Angeles and Anaheim had a 36-penalty game. These weren't unusual.

Through the first 16 exhibitions, there were a total of 306 power plays, an average of more than 19 per game. During the 2003-04 regular season, the average was 8.5.

"A whole year on the power play? This is what we're going to get?" Anaheim goalie Ilya Bryzgalov said to reporters.

Perhaps the better question is: Is that better than the alternative?

Brett Hull, King of the Zingers

Just when the NHLPA / hiring of Ted Saskin fracas was starting to die down, the one and only Brett Hull decided to weigh in with a zinger (not the Capitals defenceman) on his new union head:

"It's crazy that we'd fire Bob and want to hire his right-hand man," Hull said. "It's like firing the Lone Ranger and hiring Tonto."

Oh hockey blogging wasn't the same without you, my always-quotable, goal-scoring pal. Let's just say The Golden Brett won't be calling Saskin his kemosabe any time soon.

Yes, I went there.

Ken Dryden as Canada's next Prime Minister?

USA Today thinks so. Or at least they must, considering the ink they devoted to the subject in today's issue.

It's somewhat oddly timed, considering Dryden entered politics 15 months ago and since then there hasn't been a ton of talk of him assuming a leadership position. That said, the piece reads well — at least on this side of the border.

Roy MacGregor knows Dryden well. The general columnist for The (Toronto) Globe and Mail is co-author of two of Dryden's four books and a friend for more than 30 years. Does Dryden aspire to the highest office? "He won't like my saying this," MacGregor says, "but I think he does."

Dryden doesn't say either way.

"It's something I genuinely don't think about," he says. "That's for some other time. That's not where I am. That's not what I'm doing. And time will tell.

"I don't know whether I'm good enough to do it. I don't know whether it suits me. I don't know whether others think it might suit me. I don't know that — but I don't have to know that now. ... I always figure if you do what you're doing well enough, you'll get a chance to do the next thing."

I'm always curious to get an idea of what Americans think of this country, and it's not a bad way to do it by looking to their media (which I do a lot of).

A goalie as prime minister? I'm sure those down south don't have a hard time imagining that.

Around the CIS, Week 2

It's been a lot of work getting things off the ground with my piece, but already, in only the second edition, it's coming together. Here is the text only copy from yesterday's paper at theglobeandmail.com.

In addition to reporting and writing on all things CIS, I'm also designing and laying out the section. At right you can see a thumbnail example of what the page looks like (click on it to see a larger version of the page).

The idea is to provide a snapshot of the league on a week-to-week basis and to do so in a way that is going to interest people who may not know much about the Canadian university sports scene. The Globe has been revamping its visual look recently, and in the sports section, things like this section and the baseball page are evidence of what I'll call a more magazine-like format.

Hear that buzzing?

One of the first things I did when I got this site was to install a hit counter, simply because it's the best way to find out what people are saying about you. And, thus far in this blog's short history, a lot of what I'll call 'poppycock' has been written about me. Take this recent entry in another blog:

James Mirtle: A professional sportwriter in Toronto, his stuff has been excellent, although he has just recently began commenting on other sports. He has a lot of links, as does PuckUpdate. He is contracted for Hockey articles on the new Hockeybuzz.com, paysite. Future hockey at his own site may suffer.

No, friends, I will not be near Mr. Eklund's latest endeavor, much less writing for it. I'm sure longtime readers would find that suggestion laughable, considering I was critical of the old incarnation of his rumours site.

Eric at Offwing, who has been putting my blog to shame lately with his mass posting abilities, commented on Eklund's ever-changing back story.

As Eric says, it's interesting so many mainstream hockey people are associating with this fellow when in the past he has clearly been fabricating all sorts of credentials. I never had a problem with Eklund reporting 'rumours' on his site; it was the fact he claimed to be a hockey journalist when he clearly wasn't that bothered me.

I'm friends with a few of those writing blogs on the site, and I'm not in any way condemning them for doing so. I imagine with the traffic levels Eklund generates, doing so is simply good for business. Had they asked me beforehand, however, I would have advised against it.

As it stand now, nothing on the site has really struck me as must-read material. So far, the most interesting thing I've read on the site is a bizarre quibble between Inside Hockey's Kevin Greenstein and Stan Fischler that they are continuing on their blogs — both on the same site.

As I said, it's interesting, but only in a sideshow sort of way.

Canadian Interuniversity Sport

This is what's going to consume a lot of my time from now on.

Apologies to my non-Canadian readers for bringing up a sports scene they likely don't know (or care to know) much about, but I'm going to be expanding my horizons, as they say, from talking exclusively about hockey on the site.

The Globe has assigned me to write a weekly piece on the CIS, Canada's version of college sports, and right now, football is king for CIS fans. My column is just getting off the ground, but I wanted to put the invitation out there for those involved with the CIS to contact me: jmirtle [at] globeandmail.ca

Coaches, fans, players... whoever, can feel free to run something by me. I'm of the belief that amateur sport needs a higher profile in this country, and this is certainly a good place to start. McMaster University grad Jesse Lumsden's (pictured) recent attempt at jumping from the CIS to the NFL shows the level of talent that is in these leagues; it's just a matter of mining for those stories that haven't yet been told.

Don't worry — I'll still be blogging about hockey. When I get the time, that is.

Covering Crosby

Let's say you're an editor at a major Canadian newspaper, and it's August, 2005. NHL hockey is coming back and, like any other publication in the country, you want to get an edge on the coverage, show you're the paper to read for hockey.

And it just so happens to be the year a kid they're calling 'The Next Gretzky' is coming into the league.

Granted, there will be a lot of coverage of this kid. And every paper will be running nearly every wire story that comes in.

You could do that. Or, you could do what The Globe and Mail is doing this year and send a reporter to live in Pittsburgh and get any and all Crosby-related stories there are.

Shawna Richer, last seen as a reporter out of the paper's Atlantic bureau in Halifax, wrote her first story from Pittsburgh for today's paper. Being that she has been reporting from Halifax, minutes from the young phenom's hometown of Cole Harbour, Richer has penned more than a few Crosby stories the past few years.

I'll keep my opinions to myself, but I'm curious to hear what others think of the move. How much Crosby is enough?

Can these Penguins fly?

There's a ton of optimism surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins heading into this season, and why shouldn't there be? Sidney Crosby, Mark Recchi, Zigmund Palffy, Sergei Gonchar, John Leclair, Jocelyn Thibault... the list of incoming 'stars' is seemingly endless.

From today's Toronto Sun:

By adding No. 1 overall pick Sidney Crosby to a team already restocked with talented free agents, the Pittsburgh Penguins feel they've turned back the clock to the early 1990s -- when they were two-time Stanley Cup champions and perennial contenders...

"It's like it was back in the early '90s when we were coming to camp with a chance to win a championship every year," general manager Craig Patrick said of Crosby's signing yesterday.

I'm just as interested as anyone to follow the Penguins this season, as Patrick has assembled an intriguing array of talent. I can't help but think, however, that his 'team building' strategy strangely resembles that of Glen Sather and the New York Rangers, circa the last 10 years.

This, after all, is a Pittsburgh club that had 65 points last season and finished 29th in a 30 team league last season. To expect that a team whose nucleus was so awful to suddenly be reborn as a contender, to me, seems farfetched.

I don't doubt Crosby will eventually be a fantastic player and, yes, Patrick has added a few dependable — if not a few years beyond their prime —— snipers up front. And despite the fact Thibault's talents have been squandered the past few seasons in Chicago, he is, barring injury, a very good NHL goaltender.

Aside from Gonchar and lead-footed Lyle Odelein, however, Pittsburgh's defence —— ranked dead last in 2003-04 with 303 goals allowed —— has not significantly changed. Comprising the remaining four members of the team's top six grouping will be a mix of Josef Melichar, Richard Jackman, Brooks Orpik, Ryan Whitney, Rob Scuderi and Dick Tarnstrom (who, as McKeen's Yearbook notes, has a "hard act to follow" after leading the team in scoring in 2003-04).

To be sure, the championship Penguins teams of old won their games with combination of a lethal offence and dazzling speed, and that appears to be the model Patrick is emulating (although, aside from Crosby and youngsters Ryan Malone and Konstantin Koltsov, speed is in short supply on this club). Pittsburgh will also not have the services of Aleksey Morozov, Kris Beech and Milan Kraft, three of the young building pieces that could have nicely complemented the incoming players. We all know how well the Rangers built chemistry by buying up the best available talents.

McKeen's Yearbook predicts the Penguins will finish the season with 83 points and in fourth place in a fairly weak Atlantic Division, a position that will likely put them well outside of a playoff spot in the East. Considering how injury prone much of the team's core is — expect Lemieux, Palffy and Thibault to all miss considerable time —— even that low total may be out of reach.

That's not to say the Penguins won't be a great team to watch this season. They'll take part in their fair share of nine and ten goal games —— they just may be on the losing end of more than a few of them.

(I should add that, personally, I think Patrick's moves will have the desired effect of filling Mellon Arena this year. Hopefully the club will also be get a new arena built using the newfound optimism around the team as its foundation)

'Tis the season...

Things are ramping up in a lot of senses right now, and that goes for the sports media. I've been very busy lately, and from what I hear, that will only get worse once the hockey season starts (a problem I welcome).

The first piece I've written for The Globe will appear in Monday's paper (it's not about hockey), so keep your eye out for it.

NHL training camps set to begin

ESPN lists the when and where for the opening of team's training camps, the majority of which get underway on Monday (Sept. 12).

It's good to see quite a few teams are holding camps outside of the team's normal rink, opting to perhaps increase their fanbases by relocating to a nearby city. Although, in the case of the Islanders, the town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, may not quite be 'nearby.' I can only imagine the excitement in Yarmouth, population 8,000, at seeing NHLers lace them up (and it should be quite a step up from the Junior A MotorMart Mariners).

Isles coach Steve Stirling says the team is making the move to help team chemistry:

You're absolutely correct in your assessment about the importance of team chemistry, and it's the number one reason why we're taking the guys to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia for the first week of camp. Yarmouth will give us seven straight days on and off the ice bonding through workouts and team events.

We will also be away from our homes, which can be helpful when you're coming together as a team. And the forming of chemistry will not end when we return. We'll be doing lots of things throughout the season to address the issue of chemistry and teamwork.

The Canucks regularly held their training camp in Kamloops when I lived there, and I think it always generated a lot of interest in the team back home. If teams are also seeing the benefit in the practice, all the better.

UPDATE Do any readers know what the Islanders connection to Yarmouth is?

The NHLPA mutiny scrutiny

You can say a lot of things about Al Strachan, but you can't say he's not well connected within the NHLPA. So when he says there are serious, as-yet-unresolved divisions in the NHL's union, my advice is to believe the veteran columnist.

The unanimity that had served the PA so well for more than a decade has vanished, and now, there is serious division. On Wednesday night, against the wishes of a sizable segment, some members of the executive ran roughshod over the PA's own constitution to support the executive director of their choice.

So while Spector takes issue with the terminology, the thing hockey fans should take out of this is that the bitterness and in-fighting that led to the league's new CBA is far from forgotten. To be sure, many players aren't enamoured with a deal in which Vincent Lecavalier pulls in $27.5-million over four seasons and third- and fourth-line players fight for one-way contracts. The sort of clandestine approach that was used to bring in Ted Saskin is only going to further alienate these players from their union.

After all, when previously loyal union foot soldiers like Leafs defenceman Bryan McCabe are voting against the incoming PA head, that indicates a serious divide. How that plays out over the next four-plus seasons to be played under this agreement remains to be seen.

It's that time again...

Hockey pool time that is. Yesterday I received an email from Iain Morrell, publisher of McKeen's Hockey Yearbook, saying that this year's edition would be hitting my mailbox soon.

I've always been a hockey pool junkie, and as any such aficionado knows, the arrival of the pool books is the start of hockey season.

When I was a young guy, living back in Kamloops and thinking I'd perhaps like to get into the sports media, I contacted Iain because, well, I just really liked his book. McKeen's magazine has never been the flashiest one on the news stand, but in terms of content, it has always been the best read. It's one thing to make point predictions, but quite another to provide in-depth player analysis.

It was about four years ago, I believe, that I started putting together bits and pieces on the Kamloops Blazers and the WHL for McKeen's extensive online scouting database. Things have obviously changed quite a bit on my end since then, and I really haven't been able to contribute much — I only saw a handful of junior hockey games in person last year. Even still, I've got nothing but great things to say about the people there, and I'd recommend talented hockey people to get on board and contribute.

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see this year's magazine.

Filling out your roster, NHL style

Tom Benjamin's latest post has the Vancouver Canucks roster listed almost as it will look when games get underway in a month's time (Oct. 5 to be exact). Mr. Benjamin has an interesting point in that most NHL squads are nearly entirely established already, aside from the fourth lines and sixth and seventh defenceman.

What I don't agree with him on is how teams like the Canucks should go about filling those spots. What follows is Tom's rather biting reply to something I put in his comments section:

I don't think it makes a dime's worth of difference which two $450,000 a year defensemen win the spots number six and seven. I don't have a clue which ones will make it and I don't care.

Once it was clear a cap was coming in, Tom found a favourite shlub to stick on the Canucks roster, Jonathan Aitken, a 27-year-old who has played the bulk of his career in the minor leagues (and hasn't actually been Canucks property for a while).

Now, as many of you may know, TB and I don't particularly get along all the time. He hates the media — something about 'sycophants in the Gary Bettman owned hockey media' — and, well, I'm in the media.

That said, I'm not out to pick a fight with the guy, I just candidly disagree.

Here's the response I posted in the comments section on Tom's site:

"It doesn't matter whether they play a 27-year-old career minor leaguer who has no future with the team or if they play a Tomas Mojzis, a 23-year-old who was fantastic in the WHL and could blossom into a real asset for the team? How does that not matter? Isn't that how the team brought along a guy like your beloved Sopel, giving the late-round pick progressively increased minutes with the big club as he improved?"

Maybe Tom's right... maybe a guy like Jonathan Aitken does benefit from the cap being in place, even over more-talented, younger players (I'm unsure how). Although, considering established NHLers like Steve Thomas and Bryan Marchment both are professing they'd play for the league minimum in today's National Post, I have to think teams will find more attractive options to round out their rosters.

I suppose we'll see in the next month. Either way, no hard feelings, Mr. Benjamin.

Ovechkin itching to prove his worth

The Globe's Tim Wharnsby scored an interesting interview with soon to be 20-year-old Washington Capitals phenom Alexander Ovechkin, and it offers some early insights into what we can expect from the young Russian:

"If the National Hockey League was in Russia, I would be getting the attention," Ovechkin said [in regards to all of the talk about Sidney Crosby]. "I don't mind. It takes the spotlight away from me and maybe I will have less pressure to produce.

"Let's wait and see [who will receive more attention] at the end of the season."

As vanilla as the 18-year-old Crosby can be when discussing his expectations and NHL future, Ovechkin can be colourful and brash.

In trying to sell the NHL to many Americans, colourful and brash really isn't a bad thing. Ovechkin led Russia in scoring at the world championship in May, so here's hoping he can back up his words with goals while playing on a Capitals team that will be one of the worst in the league.

With Jeff Carter in the mix, the Calder trophy race this season should be one of the best ever.

Stars contribute to hurricane Katrina relief

The Dallas Stars are just one of the pro sports franchises that have contributed to relief aid. Eric at Offwing also has a post detailing how people can help.

I've been on the news desk for all of August, and as you can imagine, it's very busy right now. With NHL news at a low point, I may not be posting all that often until things slow down.

On a brief personal note...

I'm pleased to announce I've accepted a permanent position with The Globe and Mail. It's been a blast to work with some of the best in the business through the summer and now, well, I'm there to stay. Journalism is a pretty transient profession — and it certainly has been during my time — but it's good to know I've found a home.

The plan is also to have my name in print more than it has been this summer, so if you're a reader, keep an eye out for me.