nhl`s daily clips - Philadelphia Flyers

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SPORT-SCAN
DAILY BRIEF
NHL 10/10/2012
Boston Bruins 641983
Zdeno Chara, Alex Ovechkin square off on ESPN2 Buffalo Sabres 641984
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Hasek retires again; video tribute to Sabres' legendary goalie Sabres express interest in hosting Prospects Game, again Calgary Flames 641986
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Bob Hartley: ‘I will match anyone’s intensity’ Flames brass getting good look at Abbotsford Heat Chicago Blackhawks 641988
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AHL fine, but young Blackhawks would relish roster battles NHL luxury suites just that for cost-conscious businesses Colorado Avalanche 641990
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Blue Jackets: Umberger to help coach OSU hockey Will NHL lockout tarnish Mike Modano's golden moment in
Dallas? Detroit Red Wings 641993
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95 Red Wings legend Budd Lynch dies Fans watch, and fret, as Red Wings skate during lockout Flashback: Budd Lynch was the dean of Detroit hockey Tributes pour in for Budd Lynch, whose voice was
synonymous with Red Wings hockey 'One-armed bandit' Lynch was full of laughs Witty, modest Budd Lynch was a Red Wings fan favorite for
63 years Longtime Detroit Red Wings public address announcer Budd
Lynch dies Red Wings icon Budd Lynch remembered for warm
personality, sharp wit, passion for life Red Wings mourn passing of legendary announcer Budd
Lynch, who spent 63 years with club Former Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek retires yet
again, perhaps for good this time Budd Lynch, Red Wings long-time broadcaster and PA
announcer, has died Pavel Datsyuk has goal, assist in CSKA Moscow's 4-2 loss RED WINGS: Beloved Bud Lynch dies Longtime Detroit Red Wings announcer Budd Lynch dies at
Edmonton Oilers 642007
A virtual reality fix is better than no hockey at all Minnesota Wild 642008
Yeo trying to make the most of idle time during NHL lockout Montreal Canadiens 642009
Canadiens’ Markov at home in KHL Nashville Predators 642010
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NHL says it's trying to look out for small markets Bridgestone Arena to host minor league hockey on Oct. 20 Predators scramble to bring some type of hockey to
Bridgestone N.H.L. Players’ Rivalry Has No Borders NHL lockout update: Donald Fehr reveals players aren't
pleased with salary cap Ottawa Senators 642021
Dallas Stars 641992
A Ranger to Kazakhstan Rangers Roundup: Nash Scores, Hagelin Debuts and
McDonagh Heads to K.H.L. NY Rangers' Ryan McDonagh signs with HC Barys Astana
of Russia's Kontinental Hockey League Ryan McDonagh signs with HC Barys Astana of KHL,
wanted situation to best prepare him for 'when the Rangers
st McDonagh to Russia Rangers' Ryan McDonagh heads to Russia NHL 642019
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Cutthroats assigned two Avalanche goalie prospects Columbus Blue Jackets 641991
New York Rangers 642013
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Ottawa Senators centre Peter Regin hopes to return to
Denmark Philadelphia Flyers 642022
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Donald and Steve Fehr, the NHL Players Association brother
act Snider saves rinks; can he help save NHL season? Parent: Flyers' Snider finds worthy way to fill time in lockout NHL Notes: Sestito to play in England Simmonds fights and wins in overseas game Prospect Hovinen demoted to ECHL Pittsburgh Penguins 642028
Morrow part of full house for Wilkes-Barre defense San Jose Sharks 642029
Healthy Sheppard trying to resurrect career Vancouver Canucks 642030
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Why are Alex Edler and Jason Garrison not practising with
locked-out Canucks? Canucks: Should have been Schneider’s day to shine Bieksa considers an extra Buddies game Winnipeg Jets 642033
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We made some NOISE Original Jets to reminisce about WHA days Jets trailblazers at News Café Thursday ‘It was a great time for hockey’: WHA Jets reflect on 1972 Hit the ice with the Winnipeg Sun Pro Fantasy contest WHA Winnipeg Jets were living the dream SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129
641983
Boston Bruins
Zdeno Chara, Alex Ovechkin square off on ESPN2
By Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff
ESPN, the network where the NHL has been an afterthought, will kick off its
KHL coverage on Tuesday. At 1 p.m. on ESPN2, Zdeno Chara's Lev Praha
club will play Alex Ovechkin and Dynamo Moscow. The game will re-air on
ESPN2 at 8 p.m.
Chara has appeared in one game for his KHL team. Ovechkin has scored
one goal and has one assist in two games.
Steve Levy and ex-Lightning coach Barry Melrose will call the game.
Had the NHL not been locked out, Chara would be preparing for Thursday's
season-opening game against Philadelphia.
Boston Globe LOADED: 10.10.2012
641984
Buffalo Sabres
Hasek retires again; video tribute to Sabres' legendary goalie
Dominik Hasek is done. Again.
One of the two greatest players to wear a Sabres uniform has officially
retired for the third time, Hasek told Czech Republic publication Sport. The
47-year-old was hoping to attempt another comeback this season -- he and
his agent approached several teams, including the Sabres -- but the NHL
lockout has resulted in no interest for the future Hall of Famer.
"It’s very sad,” Hasek told Sport according to a translation provided by the
International Ice Hockey Federation. “But there is nothing you can do. I
realized that it’s time to retire.”
Hasek hung up his pads after winning the Stanley Cup with Detroit in both
2002 and 2008, but he stayed away just one year each time. In 2011-12,
his final season, Hasek played for Moscow in the Kontinental Hockey
League.
He rocketed to stardom while playing for the Sabres from 1992 to 2001.
---John Vogl
Buffalo News LOADED: 10.10.2012
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Buffalo Sabres
Sabres express interest in hosting Prospects Game, again
BY: John Vogl
The original point of the All-American Prospects Game was to display U.S.
kids to NHL scouts. With more than 150 talent evaluators in Buffalo to
witness the inaugural event, USA Hockey scored.
“I think in the end, we could not have been more pleased,” Dave Ogrean,
executive director of USA Hockey, said in a statement regarding the Sept.
29 game. “For an inaugural effort, our feedback has been extremely
positive from fans, players, scouts, media and our sponsors.”
The full impact of the game won’t be felt until June, when NHL teams
decide whether to draft the 38 players who competed in First Niagara
Center. In the meantime, USA Hockey and the Buffalo Sabres will decide
whether to turn the prospect showcase into an annual event.
“We are very interested in hosting again,” Sabres President Ted Black said
Monday via email.
Said Ogrean: “Our staff is in the process of fully reviewing all aspects of the
game, and we’ll make a decision on the way forward likely by the end of the
year.”
Attendance was disappointing for the event, with an announced crowd of
5,519 translating to nearly twice the actual attendance inside the arena.
But from the beginning, the Sabres said the event was not about ticket
sales. It was about building a stronger relationship with USA Hockey and
showing the prospects a first-class time.
A private gathering the night before the game, which included a pep talk
from Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, and a tour of the Sabres’ locker room and
training area connected with the players.
“Going out on the ice in an NHL building was pretty surreal,” defenseman
Ian McCoshen said. “It is a pretty spectacular facility that the Buffalo Sabres
have.”
Buffalo News LOADED: 10.10.2012
641986
Calgary Flames
Bob Hartley: ‘I will match anyone’s intensity’
Officer Don Prentice’s legacy survives to this day on any team coached by
Bob Hartley.
The same can be said for the lessons handed down by four generations of
Hartley men who worked at the pulp and paper mill in Hawkesbury.
At 17, Hartley lost his dad — a foreman at the plant — to a heart attack.
By Vicki Hall, Calgary Herald October 9, 2012
Abbotsford, B.C.
Over the summer, Sven Baertschi launched a Reconnaissance mission, of
sorts, in his native Switzerland.
The objective: to gather any and all intelligence related to incoming Calgary
Flames head coach Bob Hartley.
After all, best to learn everything possible about the new boss before
actually meeting him in the flesh.
“I talked to the guys in Zurich — a lot of the guys on Bob’s old team,”
Baertschi said last week during Abbotsford Heat training camp. “I have a lot
of good friends, and they told me he wants the best out of you every single
day.”
In other words, Hartley is a demanding sort with little patience for anything
less than maximum effort.
Day in and day out.
“My dad taught me to never ask from people anything you’re not willing to
do yourself,” he said. “Yes, I demand lots of hard work from the guys. But at
the same time, I provide hard work. I will not sit in my office when the guys
are in the gym. I will match anyone’s intensity.
“If you’re not prepared to work, you don’t have a chance.”
After his father’s death, Hartley turned down the chance to attend Ottawa
University to stay home with his mother and sister and work at the mill.
Four years later, Hartley found work at a windshield plant.
“I still have my lunch pail,” said Hartley, who coached the junior ‘A’ team in
Hawkesbury before moving to Laval, of the QMJHL. “Maybe I threw them
away, but I think I still have one pair of boots with the toe caps.
“Those eight years in the factory, that was great schooling for me. I learned
some very valuable, key lessons that I use a lot on my teams.”
So if Hartley seems like a demanding sort, well, he comes by it honestly.
“When you play for Bob, you have to come with your work boots every day,”
McCarthy said. “For players who have that mentality, they’ll be successful.
“I think it’s good that way,” said Baertschi, the No. 1 prospect in the
organization. “You’ve got to keep improving as hockey player.”
“You need to come prepared every day and be a pro. If you pay attention to
detail, you’ll be successful. If you don’t want do that, well that’s when
obviously you’re going to run into problems.”
Tales of Hartley’s no-nonsense style began to swirl in these parts from the
moment the 52–year-old accepted the job last spring as head coach of the
Calgary Flames.
Calgary Herald: LOADED: 10.10.2012
The entire organization — heck, the entire National Hockey League — is in
a holding pattern while the owners and the players attempt to hammer out
their differences on labour matters.
The wait means more anticipation, more whispering, about what the players
can expect when the puck finally drops for the 2012/13 NHL season.
Abbotsford Heat defenceman Steve McCarthy — a Hartley disciple from
both the Zurich Lions and, back in the day, Atlanta Thrashers — is the only
player with firsthand knowledge of what to expect from the new Calgary
bench boss.
“He’s very demanding,” said McCarthy, 31. “He wants attention to detail.”
At the news conference to announce his hiring in Calgary, Hartley provided
some insight into his demand for attention to detail by talking about his
years in a pulp and paper mill.
On a quiet afternoon during Heat camp, Hartley shed even more light on his
life — and philosophies — in a wide-ranging interview at the Abbotsford
Entertainment and Sport Centre.
Locked-out Calgary Flames players best take note.
“It’s all about creating a championship mentality,” said Hartley, who has
won the Calder Cup, Stanley Cup and, most recently, a Swiss League
championship. “It’s not about pleasing who I am or what I want. It’s about
the final result. It’s about creating expectations, creating demands and
creating an identity.
“It’s not about me. I have zero ego. It’s about us.”
The bilingual Hartley grew up on in the mill town of Hawkesbury, Ont. near
the Quebec border.
“I had some great coaches in my little hometown,” he said. “I played hockey
for an Ontario Provincial Police officer, and he was tough. At 6 o’clock, we
would be on the ice, and we had to bring our homework and we had to
bring our tests. If the schooling or the off-ice stuff was not good enough —
or if we would be impolite with someone and he would see it — we would sit
on the bench. And in those days, those rinks were pretty cold. You didn’t
want to sit and freeze your toes on the bench.
“You wanted to be on the ice. Win or lose — whether the score was 10-0 or
1-1, we had to go hard. There was no half-speed with him.”
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Calgary Flames
Flames brass getting good look at Abbotsford Heat
Wes Gilbertson, Calgary Sun
Calgary Flames GM Jay Feaster and his scouting sidekicks were regulars
at the rink during training camp.
Bob Hartley and the rest of the Flames coaching staff were paying close
attention to the practice sessions, too.
With no end in sight to the labour stoppage at hockey’s highest level, the
Flames also sent trainers, equipment staff and even a masseuse to spend
some time with their American Hockey League affiliate.
“It’s nice, but it’s also pretty nerve-wracking seeing all the brass around all
the time,” said Abbotsford Heat winger Akim Aliu. “But it’s definitely good for
them to be able to come see what they have down here.”
Truth is, the Flames — and their fans — already know a lot of these guys.
When the Heat host the Peoria Rivermen in Friday’s home-opener (8 p.m.,
SiriusXM NHL Network Radio), half of their lineup could be comprised of
guys who spent some time at the Saddledome during the 2011-12 NHL
campaign.
Defensive-minded centre Roman Horak and smooth-skating rearguard T.J.
Brodie both logged the majority of their minutes with the big-league squad
last season.
Aliu, Lance Bouma, Paul Byron, Krys Kolanos and Greg Nemisz were all
occasionally slotted into the Flames’ forward group.
Brett Carson and Joe Piskula earned a look-see on the blueline.
Netminder Leland Irving was up and down between Calgary and Abbotsford
like a yo-yo.
Even top prospect Sven Baertschi, who’ll make his AHL debut this weekend
when the Heat welcome the St. Louis Blues’ farm club for a two-game set,
has already been tested at the NHL level.
“Two years ago, when I was here (as an assistant coach) with Jim Playfair,
we hardly had any guys go up all year. That’s just kind of the way it worked
out,” said second-year Heat bench boss Troy Ward. “But I think it drastically
changed here last year with the amount of guys that got up and got a taste
up there.
“I think the guys down here can taste it now. It’s one thing to smell a meal,
but it’s another thing to taste a meal. I’ve always said that in life — you can
smell it from far away, but it’s another thing to get an actual taste or get an
invite and get to sit down and eat the meal.
“Those guys got a taste of it last year, and I think they’re really hungry for
more of that.”
Nobody knows when NHL hockey will be served up again.
What is certain, though, is if a new collective bargaining agreement is struck
in time to salvage the season, only a handful of minor-leaguers will be
invited to training camp in each city.
While the Heat are preparing as a group for a Calder Cup quest, you can’t
blame the boys for letting their minds sometimes wander to the possibility of
packing their bags for Calgary.
“I need to be at my best every day, because you never know when the NHL
is going to resume and you have to be at the top of your game when that
happens so you maybe get a chance to go to training camp up there and
make an impression,” Piskula said. “Being in the swing of our season down
here, we have a great opportunity to be in game-mode, be playing hard and
playing well and having the opportunity to possibly step right in there if you
do a good job.
“There is an upside to the lockout for some guys, like down here. Hopefully,
we can make some opportunity out of it.”
Calgary Sun: LOADED: 10.10.2012
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Chicago Blackhawks
AHL fine, but young Blackhawks would relish roster battles
TRACEY MYERS
ROCKFORD -- Andrew Shaw, Brandon Saad and Brandon Bollig were
among the players battling along the boards, going for loose pucks, doing
their typical practice work.
In a perfect not-locked-out hockey world the three would’ve been in
Chicago in late September, vying for a few coveted spots on the Chicago
Blackhawks’ roster. One or a few may have still been there now, having
impressed a coach enough with what they did in camp, what they did last
year during their Blackhawks’ stint, or both.
Instead, those three, among other usual Blackhawks hopefuls, are
preparing for the season with the Rockford IceHogs. They’re playing
hockey, which is ultimately what they want more than anything. And with
the NHL locked out, they’re bolstering the Blackhawks’ minor-league
affiliate.
But make no mistake: they miss not having that tryout opportunity in
Chicago.
“That’s the worst part, that you don’t even have that option to work your butt
off and try to make that spot on the ‘Hawks,” said Bollig, who finished last
season in a Blackhawks’ uniform. “It’s unfortunate the league’s going
through what it is. But on the other hand it’s great to be here (in Rockford).
It’s a class-act organization and the city loves the team. I have zero
complaints. But it’s unfortunate to not have that option to try to make the
NHL.”
No, the NHL lockout has denied those up-and-coming players a chance of
making the Blackhawks’ roster, at least for now. The players said it’s more
odd than anything. But Jimmy Hayes said he maintains the same outlook,
no matter what uniform he’s wearing.
“You have to have the same attitude no matter what,” he said. “This is my
job, so I attack it every day the same way no matter if I’m playing in
Chicago or here in Rockford.”
For most of these guys, Rockford is familiarity. They started here, grew
here and will continue to hone their skills here. For Saad, however, even
the IceHogs experience is new. Saad made the Blackhawks’ squad right
out of camp last season, played most of 2011-12 with the Saginaw Spirit of
the junior-league Ontario Hockey League, then returned to Chicago for the
playoffs. Saad was expected to be a top contender to make the Blackhawks
this fall.
“It’s definitely something you think about,” Saad said. “But this is the best
place to play right now and I’m looking forward to the season.”
Same goes for Shaw, whose gritty style earned him a cult following in
Chicago.
“It is odd. But it is what it is,” Shaw said. “It just gives me an opportunity to
get my game started down here and work on all aspects. The guys down
here are great.”
It’s a familiar scene with familiar faces for a lot of them, and that makes the
Rockford return a happy one. Even for someone like Nick Leddy, who has a
season-plus of NHL experience under his belt.
“It’s a little different but a lot of my really good buddies are here,” he said.
“We have five or six guys who were in Chicago last year who are here, so it
isn’t too strange of a change. We remember how we all play, we know each
other’s tendencies, and that makes it a lot easier.”
So until they get a shot at the NHL again, the Blackhawks prospects are
enjoying their time with the IceHogs. They’ll reignite the BlackhawksVancouver Canucks rivalry – kind of – when they play the Canucks’ affiliate,
the Chicago Wolves, on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
And they’ll be ready for when the NHL opens for business again.
“You have to focus on what’s going on here and hopefully (the NHL and
NHLPA) will get it figured out soon,” Bollig said. “I don’t know if there would
be a mini training camp or something, and hopefully you have that chance
to make it back up to the NHL after getting that first taste last year. It’s good
to have this in our back pocket, but hopefully that gets figured out soon.”
Chicago Tribune LOADED: 10.10.2012
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Chicago Blackhawks
NHL luxury suites just that for cost-conscious businesses
NINA FALCONE
Since the NHL annouced the league would lock out players if a new CBA
wasn't agreed upon by Sept. 15, commissioner Gary Bettman said he is
confident fans will continue to flock back to the arenas once the upcoming
season is actually underway.
But fans' emotional ties to teams can't be the only aspect accounted for.
The league needs to also look at the economy as a factor in whether ticket
sales will fluctuate upon the return of the season. Since the recession
began in 2008, everyone's looked for ways to eliminate any unnecessary
expenses, including corporations that can save a good chunk of change by
getting rid of their seats at sporting events.
Spotlight TMS is a company that helps other corporations maximize their
investments in sports and entertainment tickets. CEO and co-founder Tony
Knopp recently spoke with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and he has a
different view of how the public's return to the NHL will play out.
"This is very different," Knopp said. "Since 2008, I would say that one in
every four customers we talk to, somebody internally is telling them that
they have to drop their tickets. I know (the NHL and its teams) are saying,
'This is what happened after the last lockout, this is how much business you
can expect.' My argument is that's not going to be the case this time.
"These guys are already looking for a way to get out of sports tickets, and
now they're just giving them bullets to shoot themselves with. The reality is,
once budget gets cut, you don't just add budget overnight. You have to
justify why doing business with the St. Louis Blues is better than not laying
off these three people. That's an awful difficult fight to have post-2008."
Every team's ticket base consists of a great number of corporate seasonticket holders. If many of those are in fact cut, teams will lose a great
number of sold-out premium seats and luxury suites.
Chicago Tribune LOADED: 10.10.2012
641990
Colorado Avalanche
Cutthroats assigned two Avalanche goalie prospects
Mike Chambers
Young Avalanche goalies Kieran Millan and Kent Patterson have been
assigned to the new Denver Cutthroats of the Central Hockey League, the
team announced Tuesday.
Millan played four years at Boston University, winning a national
championship as a freshman, and Patterson helped the University of
Minnesota to the NCAA Frozen Four this past season as a senior.
Both are in their first seasons in pro hockey , and they are the fifth and sixth
goalies under contract for the Avalanche. Calvin Pickard is the No. 1 goalie
for the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League, the Avs' top
minor-league affiliate, and fellow prospect Sami Aittokallio is expected to to
compete with Pickard.
Semyon Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere are the Avalanche's top
two goalies. Varlamov is currently playing in Russia during the NHL lockout.
"This is what being a minor-league affiliate is about," Cutthroats coach
Derek Armstrong said in a release. "(Millan and Patterson) are two great,
young prospects for the Avalanche and they have an opportunity to learn,
develop, and improve as hockey players with our team. They make our
roster stronger and we're thrilled to have them."
Millan, 23, was a fifth-round draft choice of the Avalanche in 2009 and
Patterson was a fourth-rounder in 2007.Millan finished his stellar career at
BU with 81-42-12 record, a 2.57 goals-against average and .914 save
percentage. He was 29-2-3 as a freshman, when the Terriers won the
NCAA title with former Avs/prospects Kevin Shattenkirk, Brandon Yip,
Colby Cohen and Zach Cohen.
Patterson, 23, amassed a 44-29-9 record at Minnesota, with a 2.46 GAA
and a .912 save percentage in 88 career games.
"I had the chance to watch both Kieran and Kent in Lake Erie's camp last
week and they played very well," Armstrong said. "They're young and
talented and they both have great careers ahead of them."
Denver Post: LOADED: 10.10.2012
641991
Columbus Blue Jackets
Blue Jackets: Umberger to help coach OSU hockey
By Aaron Portzline
Blue Jackets winger R.J. Umberger could have signed a contract to play in
Europe during the NHL lockout. But with a young family at home in Dublin,
he didn’t feel right about leaving for what might be months.
He found a good solution. Or, rather, it found him.
Ohio State hockey coach Mark Osieki has spent the past year seeking
ways to bridge the invisible wall that exists between this city’s two big-time
hockey teams: the NHL’s Blue Jackets and the NCAA Division I Buckeyes.
“What the NHL’s going through is not good for anybody,” Osieki said. “But it
did make this possible.”
Ohio State announced yesterday that Umberger will join the Buckeyes as a
volunteer coach this season, at least as long as the lockout lasts. The job
will be as much or as little as Umberger and the Buckeyes players want to
make of it.
“We’re part of the same hockey community here,” Osieki said. “We want
what’s good for the Blue Jackets, and they want only the best for us. We’ve
reached out to (Blue Jackets TV analyst and former Miami University
coach) Bill Davidge for ways we can bridge that gap, help the two programs
build off each other.
“This could be a really great experience for our kids and for R.J. They get to
see the sacrifices he’s made to become a great college player and a great
NHL player. They can learn from him, what it takes to prepare for a season,
how you prepare mentally for games … there’s so much they can learn.”
It’s unclear whether Umberger will travel with the Buckeyes. Umberger was
traveling with family yesterday and could not be reached for comment. He’ll
officially join the OSU staff on Monday after games on Friday and Saturday
at Minnesota-Duluth.
“With the NHL lockout in full force, I am looking forward to being more
connected to the Ohio State hockey program once again,” Umberger said in
a statement. “I’m excited to spend time on the ice with the players keeping
myself in shape and hopefully offering any advice and help I can to them."
A three-year letter winner with Ohio State from 2000-01 to ’02-03,
Umberger had 58 goals and 129 points in 112 games with the Buckeyes.
He was a second-team All-American and a Hobey Baker Memorial Award
finalist in 2003.
Last summer, he completed his degree in marketing at Ohio State.
Atkinson cleared
Right winger Cam Atkinson, who suffered eye injuries during a workout
mishap on Sept. 30, was cleared to resume practicing and playing with the
Jackets’ top minor-league club in Springfield, Mass.
“All cleared and ready to go,” Atkinson said.
Springfield opens the season on Saturday against St. John’s.
Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 10.10.2012
641992
Dallas Stars
Will NHL lockout tarnish Mike Modano's golden moment in Dallas?
MIKE HEIKA
When the US Hockey Hall of Fame decided to send their Hall of Fame
induction ceremony onto the road, places like Dallas were just what they
had in mind.
The Hall was built in Eveleth, Minn. to honor Frank Brimsek, considered to
be the first great American hockey player, but it was often tough to stir up
interest by getting people to the tiny Iron Range town. As a result, the Hall
started having its annual induction ceremony down in the Twin Cities.
In 2006, the Hall handed the selection and induction process over to USA
Hockey, and the push came to get the word out across the nation. The
induction ceremony was moved to Grand Forks, N.D., Denver, Boston,
Buffalo and Chicago. It was generally tied to one of the key players being
inducted.
And next Monday, it will come to Dallas, as Mike Modano, Lou Lamoriello
and Ed Olczyk are inducted in as the Class of 2012.
“It seemed like a natural fit, and we’re excited about the opportunity to get
down there,’’ said David Ogrean, the executive director of USA Hockey. “It’s
a great chance to honor someone who has been very important to the city
and state, and also a great chance to let the people there get to know a few
things about USA Hockey and the US Hockey Hall of Fame.’’
That said, there are challenges to bringing the ceremony to a Sunbelt city.
The event at the Marriott City Center at 7 p.m. is not sold out, and with the
lockout keeping the NHL off the ice and the interest in the Stars at an alltime low, there is a chance it might not be sold out. But Ogrean believes it
still will be a success.
“I think that the decision to expand the footprint of the NHL and spread the
word of hockey throughout the United States is one of the best things that
has happened,’’ Ogrean said. “I think if you look at places like Dallas and
see how much hockey has grown there at every level in the past 20 years,
you realize how much the sport has grown throughout the country. That’s a
lot of the same reasoning behind what we’re doing, we believe it will grow
the sport.’’
Modano clearly is one of the greatest American-born players ever, and that
made the decision to hold the event in Dallas pretty easy. He lives here, he
is an icon here, and he clearly has a lot of supporters. While Lamoriello and
Olcyzk are very deserving and will be just as big a part of the induction
ceremony, the fact that USA Hockey would even consider the decision to
come to Dallas is part of the story behind Modano.
“Oh, I definitely think his impact on the sport in Texas is an important part of
the story,’’ Ogrean said. “He’s a fantastic talent and a fantastic player, but
he goes beyond that. He’s got the movie star looks and he’s pretty much a
celebrity wherever he goes, and he taught a lot of people to love the game
of hockey.’’
You cannot buy tickets at the door on Monday night, but you can buy them
online at USA Hockey here.
http://www.usahockey.com/ushhof/2012ticketinfo.aspx
It’s a rare chance to rub elbows with some pretty significant hockey people,
and it gives you a nice hockey snack while you wait for the game to return
and the Stars to get around to finally putting Modano’s No. 9 in the rafters
(we’re still awaiting news on that date).
Dallas Morning News LOADED: 10.10.2012
641993
Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings legend Budd Lynch dies
Over the last 23 years, Lynch helped raise more than $1 million for
children’s programs at the Guidance Center in Southgate. The Budd Lynch
Celebrity Golf Classic was held each summer to help raise money for the
program.
“It’s a sad day today,” Guidance Center CEO Kari Walker said. “Budd is the
kind of guy that was full of life, a jokester. A humble guy.
George Sipple
“He really thought a lot about kids. He wanted his event to raise money for
kids.”
Detroit Red Wings public-address announcer Budd Lynch looks on from the
press box at Joe Louis Arena on May 27, 2009. / ANDRE JACKSON / DFP
Lynch would deliver his signature line — “May we suggest you remove your
hat?” — before the national anthem was played at Joe Louis Arena.
Budd Lynch — a part of the Red Wings’ brand, in the words of Mickey
Redmond — died Tuesday. He was 95.
Fans will have to remember to remove their hats on their own the next time
hockey is played there — whenever the lockout ends and the labor dispute
is resolved.
Lynch, the Red Wings’ longest-tenured employee, began working for the
organization in 1949, hired by then-general manager Jack Adams to do
play-by-play on radio and TV. He never left, and for the last 27 years he
served as the team’s public-address announcer.
“Hockey was his life. It was his passion,” Francey Lary of Livonia said of her
father. “On a funny note, I think part of why he passed away was because
he knew there wasn’t going to be a season, and they didn’t need him.”
He died Tuesday morning after a brief illness at a Detroit-area rehabilitation
center.
Lynch is survived by six daughters, Janis, Valerie, Mary, Francey, Patricia
and Lori; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
“Budd Lynch didn’t just work for the Red Wings, he was part of the brand,”
said Redmond, a former Wings player and current TV analyst. “To me, he
was a walking encyclopedia of not only life but especially the hockey world.
Many people will remember Lynch for being optimistic.
“He made a lot of people’s lives better because of the way he was and the
way he carried on. He had a great demeanor, a great, proud Irishman, and
wore it on his sleeve. A real gentleman.”
Others who worked with Lynch in the press box remembered a cheerful
man who had a passion for hockey. Wings radio play-by-play announcer
Ken Kal said he never saw Lynch angry.
“One of the nicest men that I ever met,” Kal said. “He was a history book,
really, when it came to the Red Wings. He could recall it just like it was
yesterday.
He was kind of like a fatherly figure in a lot of ways to me. If you had a
question about announcing or hockey, you could go to him. In a lot of ways
he was like Ernie Harwell. Well liked, a great ambassador for the Red
Wings.”
Wings TV broadcaster Ken Daniels remembered that Lynch wore a smile
every night.
“I’d walk into the press box every night and see him laughing, always
talking,” Daniels said. “His presence will be missed up there, you know that.
“The recall for him at 95, to talk about the good old days, was priceless.”
Here's Lynch doing the introductions for the 1995 Stanley Cup finals:
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement: “Budd Lynch had
seen so much Red Wings history, had become so much a part of their
heritage, that no visit to Joe Louis Arena for a Red Wings home game felt
truly ’official’ without hearing his voice. The National Hockey League
mourns the passing of a war hero, a Hall of Famer and an outstanding
ambassador for the game. We send heartfelt condolences to his family, the
Red Wings and their fans.”
Frank Joseph James Lynch legally changed his name to Budd after World
War II, when he became a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen. He was born in
Windsor and resided in Wyandotte.
Lynch was a member of the Canadian Army’s Essex Scottish Regiment that
landed on the beaches of Normandy, France on D.Day — June 6, 1944. A
month later, he was wounded in battle, losing his right arm and shoulder.
Sixty-three years ago, GM Jack Adams suggested Lynch call television
games for the Wings starting in 1949-50, after he had called Windsor
Spitfires games on radio at CKLW.
“Budd Lynch was a dear member of the Detroit Red Wings family and
legendary icon of our community,” owner Mike Ilitch said in a statement.
“Hearing Budd’s voice on the radio and over the public address at Joe Louis
Arena was something that every Red Wings fan looked forward to and
loved. …
“Marian and I, and our entire organization, extend our deepest sympathies
to Budd’s daughters, loved ones and the entire Lynch family.”
“That’s the way he was,” Lary said. “If there was a problem, his words to us
girls was, ‘Persevere, you’ll get through it.’
“He was just like that, just a happy-go-lucky person that just treasured life
and people.”
Here are some snippets of an interview he did with the Free Press' Jo-Ann
Barnas in 2009:
• Favorite pastime: Golf. "I drive right and putt left -- it drives my playing
partners crazy."
• Favorite cigar: Churchill.
• Favorite city: "Any of the Original Six. With expansion, I enjoyed
Vancouver. And L.A. was always fascinating to me."
• Favorite road story: "I have so many, but here's one: The train trips
coming out of Montreal were always impressive. We played bridge a lot.
Once I went down to another car, and I came back and my Kleenex box
that I used to stick all my cards in (to hold them up) was on fire. I said,
‘What happened?' Someone said, ‘Gordie took a look at your hand and said
it was horse (poop).'" Gordie as in Howe, of course.
• Bet you didn't know: Lynch has been at the microphone for eight of the
Wings' 11 Stanley Cup championships. He has five rings, beginning with
the 1953-54 season. He plans to give them to his grandchildren.
• Favorite saying: "‘Assess a man for what he has, not what he has not.'
That's a phrase I use all the time from the War Amps (the War Amputations
of Canada, Southwestern Ontario branch)."
Detroit Free Press LOADED: 10.10.2012
641994
Detroit Red Wings
Fans watch, and fret, as Red Wings skate during lockout
Mike Brudenell
Bad news for Winter Classic? NHL brass not visiting Ann Arbor
Red Wings fan Brandon Adams has become a regular outside the Troy
Sports Center on Big Beaver, as he and a couple of friends suffer hockey
withdrawal.
Adams, 23, who lives in Detroit, has camped outside the complex each
morning to make contact with more than a dozen Wings who have been
using the facility as a training site since the NHL lockout began.
The players -- including Henrik Zetterberg, Jimmy Howard, Johan Franzen,
Nicklas Kronwall and Darren Helm -- have stopped to sign posters and
game programs for Adams before heading to the locker rooms and taking
the ice on Rink 4.
Adams and a group of eight or nine other fans watched practice Monday.
"I've been coming here for two weeks," Adams said. "I've had autographs
from Zetterberg, along with Franzen and Kronwall. It's pretty nice ... but it's
not the real thing, of course."
Though Adams, a regular at Joe Louis Arena in good times, said the
players have been in "a positive mood" when they've chatted briefly with
him and his pals, he doesn't think the season will be saved.
"No, I think it's lost," Adams said as he spotted Helm driving up to the sports
center. "I really do think it's over."
Adams believes players like Zetterberg, who will leave Friday to join the EV
Zug club in Switzerland, should go overseas and play where they can.
"I'm 100% with the players," Adams said. "I don't agree with the owners or
the league."
Jesse McElmurry, who has been at the Troy Sports Center each day with
Adams, thought players and owners should share the blame for the lockout.
"It's a 50-50 deal," said McElmurry, 24, of Clinton Township. "There needs
to be give and take on both sides."
Although he wouldn't give his full name, Pat, who described himself as a
63-year-old lifelong Wings fan from Clinton Township, watched practice
Monday with the others.
"This is just sad," he said of the lockout. "This could knock out hockey as
we know it. It's a sad situation for the game of hockey in this country."
Said Zetterberg: "I think it's the fans who hurt most."
641995
Detroit Red Wings
him. I started to ask him all the questions I never had a chance to. It was
one of the greatest four hours I have ever experienced in my life."
Flashback: Budd Lynch was the dean of Detroit hockey
A couple of years ago, after waving off invitations to tell his life story for
years, Lynch penned his autobiography with the help of Bob Duff, sports
columnist at the Windsor Star.
Jo-Ann Barnas
Lynch called it one of the most memorable experiences of his life.
Editor's note: This story originally published May 29, 2009. Lynch died
today.
The Alumni Room was packed with revelers by the time the elevator doors
opened, delivering a smiling Budd Lynch from his perch high above the ice
after three-plus hours behind the microphone as the Red Wings' publicaddress announcer.
His plan -- and Lynch always has a plan because he has remained, at 91,
perpetually organized - was to go in for a drink, maybe one vodka on the
rocks, then head home to Wyandotte after the traffic cleared.
But he needed to reach the entrance first.
Lynch was stopped by a fan, then two more. All because, he would say
later with a gleam in his eye, it was a "night worth sharing."
Longevity is not the reason why Lynch has been among the most beloved
persons associated with the Wings for the last 60 years. Still a fact remains:
No other soul has witnessed more hockey in Detroit.
The Red Wings have won 11 Stanley Cups, and Lynch's river-smooth
baritone voice can be linked to all but the first three.
He was 32 in the fall of 1949 when, five years after losing his right arm and
shoulder to a German shell in World War II, he was hired by then-general
manager Jack Adams to handle the Red Wings' radio and television playby-play duties.
The Wings won four Stanley Cups during Lynch's first six years on the
microphone, beginning in 1949-50.
He did the play by play for the club until 1975, when he left the microphone
to become the team's public-relations director.
Lynch had intended to retire for good in 1985, the year he was honored by
the Hockey Hall of Fame with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award. But Lynch
changed his mind at the request of Marian Ilitch, who convinced him Lynch said - to stay on as public-address announcer during home games at
Joe Louis Arena.
Here's another honor he could win hands-down: The Red Wings Perfect
Attendance Award. Since 1949, Lynch can't recall ever missing a home
game.
On Wednesday night, he was assured of at least two more this season.
Wearing a sport coat over a red-and-white striped golf shirt, Lynch was six
steps from reaching the Alumni Room about a half hour after the Wings'
dramatic, 2-1 victory in overtime over Chicago to clinch the Western
Conference title when he was stopped again. This time he was asked to
describe his favorite moment from the game.
"We sat by the Ambassador Bridge, on the Canadian side, on at least three
different mornings smoking cigars with his tape machine going, " Lynch
said.
The stories - especially of his life before the Red Wings - poured out: of
losing his father in 1919 to the flu pandemic; of his first years in radio, in his
native Canada, in the 1930s; of joining the Essex Scottish Second Battalion
reserves and storming the beach at Normandy, France, on D Day in 1944,
then nearly dying a few weeks later in Caen, France, when he was hit by a
German shell.
Lynch returned home after the war an amputee. He had been so severely
injured that he was given last rites. He survived after doctors removed his
right arm and right shoulder.
Game-day routine
A copy of his book -"My Life: From Normandy to Hockeytown"- is stacked
atop a pile of papers in his kitchen, where he's sitting at a table near a
window offering a gorgeous view of the Detroit River and Grosse Ile.
It's the morning before Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, and
Lynch already is nearly five hours into his pre-game routine.
Up at 6:30 a.m., Lynch has read both Detroit newspapers and has drunk a
half-cup of coffee. He smoked a cigar as he worked the crossword puzzles.
Lynch - and it's a "terrible admission, " he said - has smoked cigars since
he was 15. He said he believes he has never had a health issue in part
because he doesn't inhale.
"Never even laryngitis, " he said.
Asked about his favorite brand of cigars, Lynch said with a laugh: "I always
say I smoke OP's now -- other people's."
His routine on game days includes heading upstairs to his typewriter to
prepare his notes.
Although he receives a script from the Red Wings before games, he said he
never leaves home without a back-up in his canvas bag.
"You have to be prepared just in case, " Lynch said.
This season, the Wings have expanded their public-address team in the
press box to include John Fossen. Ayron Sequeira, recently hired as the
Wings' marketing executive producer/event entertainment, stands to
Lynch's left during games.
But there's no question who's the star of the show.
When Lynch walked through the press box Wednesday night, a voice was
heard coming from the CBC broadcast booth: "Is that him?"
When he reached his spot, Sequeira greeted him with a friendly, "Hi, boss."
"When they shook hands, " Lynch said with a smile.
Part of the reason Lynch, 92, thinks his posture is so good is because he
stands for the duration of every game.
Then he leaned slightly forward in his announcer's pose and began reciting
part of his delivery from that night: "A great performance by two great teams
pleasing all you fans. …"
He has no plans of slowing down. On June 29, he will host his 20th Budd
Lynch Celebrity Golf Classic to benefit The Guidance Center in Southgate.
The event will be held at the Grosse Ile Golf & Country Club.
A 'Budd Lynch moment'
Still, all these years later, he counts his children - six daughters - as his
biggest blessing. He has been married twice. (Both wives are deceased.)
For the last few years, Lynch said he has been grateful for the
companionship of Nancy Tuinier of Grosse Ile.
Ken Kal, the radio play-by-play voice of the Wings since 1995-96, grew up
in the Warrendale area on Detroit's west side listening to Lynch on the
radio. Bruce Martyn joined Lynch in the broadcast booth in 1964.
Kal remembers the enthusiasm with which Lynch called games. He was
impressed with how easily Lynch transitioned from radio to television.
"When Budd was doing the game, " Kal said, "you knew it was Red Wing
hockey."
Kal recently experienced what many fondly call a "Budd Lynch moment."
"A couple of years ago, I was in a golf outing in Windsor, and he joined our
group, " said Kal, 51. "I never had the opportunity to spend four hours with
641996
Detroit Red Wings
Tributes pour in for Budd Lynch, whose voice was synonymous with Red
Wings hockey
Ted Kulfan
Many people in professional hockey fondly remembered Red Wings public
address announcer and broadcaster Budd Lynch, who died Tuesday at age
95.
Commissioner Gary Bettman: "Budd Lynch had seen so much Red Wings
history, had become so much a part of their heritage, that no visit to Joe
Louis Arena for a Red Wings home game felt truly 'official' without hearing
his voice. The National Hockey League mourns the passing of a war hero, a
Hall of Famer and an outstanding ambassador for the game. We send
heartfelt condolences to his family, the Red Wings and their fans."
Mike Ilitch, Red Wings owner: "Budd Lynch was a dear member of the
Detroit Red Wings family and legendary icon of our community. Hearing
Budd's voice on the radio and over the public address at Joe Louis Arena
was something that every Red Wings fan looked forward to and loved.
"His calm, friendly and distinguished voice was symbolic of who Budd was
as a person. He always had a smile on his face, an upbeat spark in his
voice and a kind and encouraging word for everyone he met. The Red
Wings, our fans and the entire hockey world will miss Budd's renowned
voice, but most of all we will miss a dear friend.
"Marian and I, and our entire organization, extend our deepest sympathies
to Budd's daughters, loved ones and the entire Lynch family."
Detroit Sports Broadcaster Association statement: "The Detroit Sports
Broadcasters Association mourns the death of Past President Budd Lynch,
an Honorary Lifetime Member of the DSBA. Budd was a Hall of Fame
announcer, first-class citizen of Hockeytown and a favorite of loyal and
passionate hockey fans here more than six decades. He will be sorely
missed by everyone connected with hockey and Detroit radio and televsion.
The DSBA extends its sympathy to his family and friends."
Ken Holland, Red Wings general manager: "Budd Lynch will forever be
synonymous with the Detroit Red Wings. He experienced it all in his 63
years with the organization — from the glory days of Howe, Lindsay, Abel
and Delvecchio all the way to the championship runs of Yzerman and
Lidstrom. He had a vast knowledge of the game and the stories he could
tell would have anyone who loves the sport mesmerized for hours. Budd
was one-of-a-kind, not only in his talents as a broadcaster, but in the way
he lived his life and the upbeat attitude he always carried. He will be sorely
missed by everyone in the Red Wings family."
Dave Lewis, former Red Wings coach and player, current assistant coach
for Carolina Hurricanes: "A great man with a big heart. He was so
welcoming to every player. I remember in training camps he would stroll
around and ask the new players how they pronounced their names, where
they were from, he would always try to make contact with each and every
one of them. A funny story about Budd would be his difficulty with Russian
names. Sometimes on the bench we'd look at each other after an opponent
would score and ask ' … who was it that just scored? He'll be missed."
Ken Kal, current Red Wings radio broadcaster: "To me, he was right up
there with the great broadcasters, hockey especially. He was just a
pleasure to be around. He was like a history book. You could ask him
anything about Red Wings hockey and he'd remember it like it was
yesterday. I never saw him angry. He was always in a good mood."
Mickey Redmond, former Red Wings player, current television analyst:
"Budd was just a walking encyclopedia for Red Wings hockey. I don't know
of anybody that made people around him feel better about themselves than
Budd did. He never had a bad thing to say about anybody. Budd just went
about his business, day to day. The word professional comes to mind. Just
a professional, in whatever he was doing. We're all better to have known
him."
Alex Delvecchio, former Red Wings player: "Even last year at Joe Louis
Arena, I'd still go to the hockey game and you didn't have to ask who that
was announcing with the great voice. It was Budd. Just a great guy."
Detroit News LOADED: 10.10.2012
641997
Detroit Red Wings
'One-armed bandit' Lynch was full of laughs
Neal Rubin
You couldn't tell a story poking fun at Budd Lynch without Budd coming
back with a better one.
He loved to laugh — the older he became, the louder and more distinctive
that goose-honk was — and he loved to laugh at himself.
Lynch, who died Tuesday morning at 95, lost his right arm in France six
weeks after D-Day. Back home, first in his native Ontario and then in
Detroit, he happily answered to "lefty" or "the one-armed bandit,"
nicknames he at least embraced if he didn't introduce them in the first
place.
Even the judge jabbed him when he became a U.S. citizen in 1950.
The Detroit Red Wings' former publicist, former broadcaster and eternal
public address announcer figured that if he was earning a living and raising
kids here, he should vote and pledge allegiance here, too. He showed up at
the courthouse with some family members and a bunch of friends, prepared
to be solemn on such an august occasion, but then His Honor peered down
from the bench.
"We will dispense," the judge told the clerk, "with raising his right arm."
Budd had a house in Wyandotte, and I'm in Oakland County, but I'd see him
at least once a year, at the Budd Lynch Celebrity Golf Classic on Grosse
Ile. It's a benefit for the Guidance Center in Southgate, and before the 23rd
annual installment in June, someone crunched the numbers and realized it
had just crossed the $1 million mark.
In tribute, the charity surprised him at a pre-event party with an
announcement: it had established the Budd Lynch Endowment Fund for
Children. His six daughters haven't said yet where they would like memorial
donations to go, but if you're inclined to support his work with kids, you can
make out a check to the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan
and send it to the Guidance Center, Development Department, 13101 Allen
Road, Southgate, MI 48195.
Budd wasn't just a name on the title. The planning committee has a meeting
Thursday, and marketing director Al Sebastian says it'll feel strange to not
have him there.
Every year, Budd would help hustle up celebrities and auction items and
gifts for the kids who came to a golf clinic before the outing. It's amazing
how many goodies you can fit in the trunk of a Lincoln Town Car. Into his
90s, he'd play a few holes, swinging right-handed clubs backhand and then
switching to a left-handed putter.
He'd taught himself to be darned good at the game; on his best day years
ago, when he shot an 82 at Plum Hollow Country Club in Southfield, he
beat Gordie Howe.
"Gordie was so steamed he wouldn't talk to me," he said, but at the golf
outing, Budd talked to everyone. First with his late wife, Thelma, and then
with his longtime girlfriend, Nancy Tuinier, he'd hold court in the grillroom or
on a cart, offering welcomes and thanks.
The outing next summer will be a memorial, Sebastian said, a chance for
everyone to imagine Budd's laugh and picture him in his Izod sweater with
the right sleeve pinned down.
He'd shake hands, left to left, and somehow he always made it feel like that
absent arm was pulling you close.
641998
Detroit Red Wings
Witty, modest Budd Lynch was a Red Wings fan favorite for 63 years
Ted Kulfan
You would have thought Steve Yzerman or Nicklas Lidstrom was suddenly
forced out of the lineup and there was no announcement.
But, no, it was public address announcer Budd Lynch whose voice wasn't
heard after a goal during an early season Red Wings game in 2008.
The very next day, emails to the local newspaper came in by the hour.
"Where was Budd?"
That didn't surprise John Hahn, Red Wings vice-president of
communications.
"He's as much a part of this team as the ice on the floor," Hahn said.
Lynch, who died Tuesday at the age of 95, was witty and modest as he
ever was, couldn't believe the attention.
"Don't they know there's a game going on?" Lynch said.
Lynch had been the Wings' public-address announcer since 1985, the
same year he received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey
Hall of Fame for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster. He was
inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 and received the Ty
Tyson Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting issued by the Detroit
Sports Broadcasters Association.
Frank Joseph James Lynch had been living in Wyandotte but was born in
Windsor, Aug. 7, 1917, and raised in Hamilton, Ontario.
"The Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association mourns the death of Past
President Budd Lynch, an Honorary Lifetime Member of the DSBA," The
DSBA said in a statement Tuesday morning. "Budd was a Hall of Fame
announcer, first-class citizen of Hockeytown and a favorite of loyal and
passionate hockey fans here more than six decades. He will be sorely
missed by everyone connected with hockey and Detroit radio and televsion.
The DSBA extends its sympathy to his family and friends."
In 2009, a big crowd at Joe Louis Arena celebrated him with Budd Lynch
bobblehead dolls in hand. The souvenirs were in honor of the icon whose
life had been as resonant as his voice. That November night also marked
the 60th anniversary of the first Red Wings telecast that had as its play-byplay announcer one Budd Lynch.
But, like Hahn said, Lynch is part of the Wings experience going to the
arena. H was been part of the organization for 63 years and watched
everyone from Howe to Yzerman to Datsyuk and Zetterberg.
What was Lynch's favorite memory, he was asked in 2009?
"Watching eight Stanley Cup being won," said Lynch, who was also the
television voice of the Wings for 25 years.
Here were some of Lynch's other favorite memories in the interview:
Best hockey player he ever saw: "There have been a lot of great ones, Jean
Bealiveau, Rocket Richard, (Wayne) Gretzky. But for my money, it was
Gordie Howe.
"I believe it was King Clancy (the former Toronto Maple Leafs executive)
who said Gordie "had the best elbows he's ever seen in hockey". Gordie
could play whatever style you'd like. But he was so darn big and tough,
along with all that skill he had. There won't be another one like him.
"People tend to forget he didn't always wear No. 9 from the start. When he
began with the Wings he was issued No. 17, but when the player (wearing
No. 9) got cut, Howe grabbed it. The lower the number, further up the train
you could move up."
Most unusual moment in the booth: "The night the Montreal Forum was
cleared out (March 17, 1955), fans began rioting after Rocket Richard was
suspened (and commissioner Clarence Campbell attended the very next
game in Montreal, against the Wings). Being a former Army man, I knew
what I was smelling (tear gas). They whisked us out there (after the first
period). We made it to the airport, but we heard reports of what was going
on. It was pretty bad."
Any fond memories from the 1997 stanley cup championship, the first in 42
years : "You know, that was a team that had pecked away, pecked away,
gotten so close, kept getting better and then finally did it. It was fabulous to
see Steve Yzerman finally win the Cup. The goal by (Darren) McCarty, (to
clinch Game 4). It was an exciting evening.
"But, then, to see that team win again the very next year, after the terrible
tragedy involving (Vladimir) Konstantinov (limousine crash left Konstantinov
paralyzed). You just didn't see, and don't see to this day, teams winning
back-to-back like that anymore. To have done that just showed how
talented of a team that was."
The excitement of March 26, 1997 : "You could sense something was going
to happen that evening. (Colorado's Claude) Lemieux had rammed Draper
into the open door (of the dasherboards, the year before in the playoffs),
and poor Draper came out looking like a mess. As soon as McCarty had an
opportunity he took on Lemieux and Lemieux turtled. Never even did
anything. Then, eventually the goalies into it, players were flying around. I
don't know if anybody quite expected all of what occurred to happen, but
there was a feeling something was going to happen."
On Steve Yzerman : I remember early in his career (Yzerman's rookie
season) I took Stevie up to a banquet, I think it was, in Chatham, Ontario
and he was just such a nice kid. Polite, well-mannered, just a great kid. We
got to the function, and the people there were saying things like 'this kid is
so skinny, frail, this kid doesn't look like a hockey player. How is he ever
going to be a professional hockey player?'"
He turned out okay, though, didn't he. What a captain, what a leader."
On the Olympia : "It was a wonderful place to watch a hockey game. I loved
every part of it. Many of those arenas during that era, Maple Leaf Gardens,
the (Montreal) Forum, those were special places with a lot of memories. But
the Olympia, it just felt like hockey."
Any thoughts on Scotty Bowman?: "There probably has never been a better
coach. He was always trying to stay a step ahead of the other guy. Even
when he did some broadcasting for Hockey Night in Canada. He'd come
over to me before the game started and wanted to know who was playing.
He'd ask me every time, before anyone was even on the ice. I wouldn't tell
him until the lineups were announced. But I think he already knew."
641999
Detroit Red Wings
Longtime Detroit Red Wings public address announcer Budd Lynch dies
Charles E. Ramirez, Ted Kulfan and Lynn Henning
Detroit — Longtime Detroit Red Wings public address announcer Budd
Lynch has died.
Officials with the team confirmed Tuesday the Hockey Hall of Fame
announcer died earlier in the day. He was 95.
Lynch also was involved in the Budd Lynch Golf Classic that helped fund
the Guidance Center in Southgate, which provides a host of services for
needy Wayne County children and families.
His involvement with the charity golf tournament raised more than $1 million
during the last 23 years. The golf event's organizers plan to continue it next
year as a memorial to him.
This past summer, the non-profit also established the Budd Lynch
Endowment Fund for Children in his honor.
"It's a sad day," said Kari Walker, the Guidance Center's president and
CEO. "I'm really sorry to hear about his passing. He's meant the world to
the Guidance Center."
Walker said he met Lynch when he joined the nonprofit about 16 years ago.
Lynch had been the Wings' public-address announcer since 1985, the
same year he received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey
Hall of Fame for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster. He was
inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 and received the Ty
Tyson Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting issued by the Detroit
Sports Broadcasters Association.
"He was such a wonderful man," he said. "He was always joking around. A
lot of his humor was self-deprecating. He was very humble and very
genuine. He cared a lot about other people and he cared a lot about kids."
Frank Joseph James Lynch had been living in Wyandotte but was born in
Windsor, Aug. 7, 1917, and raised in Hamilton, Ontario.
"My mother always had an Irish philosophy in life: It's a pleasure to grow
old. Many are denied the privilege," Lynch said back in 2009 at the age of
92.
In 2009, a big crowd at Joe Louis Arena celebrated him with Budd Lynch
bobblehead dolls in hand. The souvenirs were in honor of the icon whose
life had been as resonant as his voice. That November night also marked
the 60th anniversary of the first Red Wings telecast that had as its play-byplay announcer one Budd Lynch.
Lynch often referred to himself as "Budd Lynch, the one-armed bandit," a
moniker he picked up while playing cards on the Queen Mary, bound for
North America after World War II ended.
Lynch began his radio career out of high school. He was hired on with
Windsor radio giant CKLW in 1939, before he headed off to Europe as a
volunteer in the Canadian Army's Essex Scottish Regiment, an infantry unit.
He was on the shores of Normandy at Juno Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Six weeks later, Lynch and a brigadier general were near Caen, just inland
from Normandy, when they decided to check out a hedgerow where
German snipers were at work.
They instead came across a couple German kids, no more than 12 or 13,
hiding in the underbrush and greeting them with hand grenades. They had
pulled the pins. They were ready to toss them — or to be talked out of it.
"The general just said, 'Put those pins back,'" Lynch recalled in 2009. "They
were kids, a lot more scared than we were."
After the boys had given up and been rid of their weapons, Lynch felt his
shoulder get slammed by a titanic jolt. It was the three-inch rocket, fired by
a multi-barreled artillery piece known as a Nebelwerfer.
"Went right through me," Lynch remembered. He ended up losing his
shoulder, scapula and right arm in surgery, but never his resolve.
From CKLW to WWJ; to his broadcast years with Joe Gentile, Van Patrick
and Bruce Martyn; to the "booth" that night 60 years ago at Olympia, when
WWJ-TV decided it would place a couple stationary cameras inside the old
red barn and bring a Red Wings hockey game to a then-tiny Detroit TV
audience. Broadcasting and Budd Lynch had hooked up on a long-term
romance.
The Red Wings televised seven games that first season. Within two years,
they were regular programming as Metro Detroit's TV numbers soared.
Lynch stayed on as Martyn's color man during radio broadcasts until he
moved into the club's publicity office in 1975. He presumably retired in 1982
and headed with his wife for a two-week vacation in Hawaii, courtesy of the
team's new owners, Mike and Marian Ilitch. Retirement lasted about as long
as his vacation.
"You've been with us from the first day," Marian said to him not many
moons afterward. "Why don't you do the P.A.?"
He since then called thousands of goals, penalties, and nearly as many
times has informed the Joe Louis Arena crowd there is "one minute to play
in the period."
Lynch's first two wives are deceased. He had six daughters, eight
grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren as of 2009.
642000
Detroit Red Wings
Former Red Wings forward and long-time radio analyst Paul Woods called
Lynch an irreplaceable legend who was “a man amongst men.''
Red Wings icon Budd Lynch remembered for warm personality, sharp wit,
passion for life
“He was a war hero with a lot of determination,'' Woods said. “Every time I
was with Budd Lynch it was fun. He was a rare person who made sure
everyone was in a good mood. He brought out the best in people.''
Ansar Khan
Woods recalled going on a publicity tour of Original Six cities with Lynch
and long-time Red Wings radio announcer Bruce Martyn.
“Everybody in Boston, New York, Chicago knew him, spoke highly of him,''
Woods said. “He was am ambassador to the game of hockey.''
DETROIT – Budd Lynch was described as a proud Irishman who enjoyed a
good drink and an occasional cigar and had a passion for golf, despite
having only one arm.
Those who knew him well said he lived life to the fullest, with a smile on his
face, a tremendous sense of humor and a warm personality.
He was a Detroit Red Wings icon, part of the organization for 63 years as a
broadcaster, publicist and public address announcer.
Lynch died on Tuesday. He was 95.
“He was a walking institution,'' Red Wings TV analyst Mickey Redmond
said. “His personality was so infectious, it made people around him happier.
He went about his business with a smile on his face. He loved what he did
and it showed.
Lynch was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985 as the recipient
of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award. He was inducted into the Michigan
Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.
Growing up in metro Detroit, Kal learned a lot about broadcasting from
listening to Lynch and Martyn.
“As a young kid doing play-by-play in your backyard with a stick, you mimic
those guys,'' Kal said.
Lynch was a great storyteller, with an incredible amount of knowledge
stored over more than half a century in the game.
“Budd was part of the Red Wings brand.''
Kal recalled Lynch telling him he once hooked up a crystal radio set to listen
to what would be the longest game in NHL history – the Red Wings' sixovertime 1-0 playoff win over the Montreal Maroons on Mud Bruneteau's
goal on March 24, 1936.
Red Wings radio play-by-play man Ken Kal called Lynch a legend in
broadcasting, a great ambassador for the Red Wings and a fatherly figure
to many.
Lynch also shared memories of the St. Patrick's Day riot in Montreal in
1955, when the Red Wings were holed up in the visitors dressing room at
the Forum.
“He was to Red Wings hockey what Ernie Harwell was to Tigers baseball,''
Kal said. “He never said a bad word about anybody. He was a genuine
person.
“He said, 'Smoke started coming in from under the door,' '' Kal said. “He
knew from his days in the war it was tear gas, so they started putting wet
towels under the door so the gas wouldn't get in.''
“Anytime you talked to him you would feel good. He was a real good friend.''
Lynch would play cards on the train with players, using a Kleenex box with
slots cut out to hold his cards. Gordie Howe lit it on fire one night.
Lynch served as a TV and radio broadcaster for the team from 1949 to
1975. He worked in the club's public relations department until 1984, when
he became the public address announcer at Joe Louis Arena.
He would have made a good comedian, too.
“I don't know if it's folklore, but he once told me he was having some issues,
so he went to his doctor,'' Redmond said. “His doctor told him he was going
to have to change something, stop drinking.
“Budd told him, 'I going to change something, all right, I'm going to change
doctors. Because I'm not giving up drinking.'
“He loved his Jameson whiskey.''
Redmond said Lynch also joked about “being able to save money by having
to buy only one cuff link.''
While serving in the Canadian Army as a Major in the Essex Scottish
Regiment in World War II, Lynch lost his right arm and shoulder from
enemy fire in 1944, shortly after the the D-Day invasion at Normandy.
Red Wings TV play-by-play man Ken Daniels said Lynch often referred to
himself as “the one-armed bandit.''
The pair had a lengthy chat during Daniels' first training camp with the team
in 1997, after which Daniels walked past Lynch, who turned and said, “Hey
kid, watch it. You just brushed my sleeve.''
“I walked by and laughed,'' Daniels said. “From then on I knew you could
talk to this man about anything.
“For what he's been through in his life, he never complained. It never
deterred him one bit. An amazing guy for what he did for us and for the
country.
“It won't be the same not having him down there.''
Lynch's handicap didn't prevent him from hitting the links. He was described
as an outstanding golfer.
“For having only one arm, he was a low handicap back in the day,'' Kal said.
“Golf is a tough game, hard to do with two arms. To do it with one is
amazing.
“He was inspirational to a lot of veterans.''
Lynch scaled back his PA duties in recent years but always announced the
three stars. Daniels filled in as the PA announcer for goals and penalties
during a game carried by Versus in 2010. Afterward, he asked Lynch to
sign his game sheet.
“I have it at home,'' Daniels said. “It's a nice memento.''
Michigan Live LOADED: 10.10.2012
642001
Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings mourn passing of legendary announcer Budd Lynch, who spent
63 years with club
Ansar Khan
DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings mourned the passing Tuesday of Budd
Lynch, the iconic broadcaster/public address announcer who was part of
the organization for 63 years.
““Budd Lynch was a dear member of the Detroit Red Wings family and
legendary icon of our community,”'' Red Wings’ owner Mike Ilitch said in a
statement. ““Hearing Budd'’s voice on the radio and over the public address
at Joe Louis Arena was something that every Red Wings fan looked
forward to and loved.
“His calm, friendly and distinguished voice was symbolic of who Budd was
as a person. He always had a smile on his face, an upbeat spark in his
voice and a kind and encouraging word for everyone he met. The Red
Wings, our fans and the entire hockey world will miss Budd’'s renowned
voice, but most of all we will miss a dear friend. Marian and I, and our entire
organization, extend our deepest sympathies to Budd'’s daughters, loved
ones and the entire Lynch family.”''
Frank Joseph James “Budd'' Lynch was 95. He was the longest-tenured
employee in Red Wings history and passed away after a brief illness at a
local rehabilitation center, the club said. Lynch is survived by six daughters”
Janis, Valerie, Mary, Francey, Patricia and Lori.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman released the following statement:
"Budd Lynch had seen so much Red Wings history, had become so much a
part of their heritage, that no visit to Joe Louis Arena for a Red Wings home
game felt truly 'official' without hearing his voice. The National Hockey
League mourns the passing of a war hero, a Hall of Famer and an
outstanding ambassador for the game. We send heartfelt condolences to
his family, the Red Wings and their fans.''
Born in Windsor in 1917, Lynch began his broadcasting career shortly after
finishing high school when he joined radio station CHML in Hamilton,
Ontario, in 1936.
He put his broadcasting career on hold in 1939, when he volunteered to
serve in the Canadian Army as a young Major of the Essex Scottish
Regiment in World War II. In 1944, he lost his right arm and shoulder from
enemy fire shortly after the D-Day invasion at Normandy.
Once he returned from overseas, Lynch resumed his radio career on CKLW
in Windsor as the play-by-play voice of the Spitfires. In 1949, Red Wings
general manager Jack Adams hired him as the team's TV play-by-by man,
working with men such as Fred Huber and Sid Abel. In 1960, Lynch
became the team's radio voice, working with the likes of Gene Osborn and
Bruce Martyn for the next 15 years.
Lynch attempted to retire in 1975 but was brought back by GM Alex
Delvecchio as the team's director of publicity. He served in this role until a
second retirement attempt in 1985, when Marian Ilitch asked him to stay as
the public address announcer at Joe Louis Arena.
Lynch received numerous awards and accolades. In 1985, he was honored
by the NHL Broadcasters Association with the Foster Hewitt Memorial
Award at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Nine years later, Lynch was enshrined
into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. In 2005, he was given the Ty Tyson
Award for excellence in broadcasting by the Detroit Sports Broadcasters
Association.
““Budd Lynch will forever be synonymous with the Detroit Red Wings,''
general manager Ken Holland said in a statement. ““He experienced it all in
his 63 years with the organization, from the glory days of (Gordie) Howe,
(Ted) Lindsay, (Sid) Abel and (Alex) Delvecchio all the way to the
championship runs of (Stave) Yzerman and (Nicklas) Lidstrom.
“He had a vast knowledge of the game and the stories he could tell would
have anyone who loves the sport mesmerized for hours. Budd was one-ofa-kind, not only in his talents as a broadcaster, but in the way he lived his
life and the upbeat attitude he always carried. He will be sorely missed by
everyone in the Red Wings family.''
642002
Detroit Red Wings
Former Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek retires yet again, perhaps for
good this time
Brendan Savage
He's retired.
He's not retired.
He's retired.
He's not retired.
Now, apparently once again, Dominik Hasek has retired from pro hockey.
Perhaps for good this time.
Hasek was hoping to return to the NHL at age 47 after sitting out last
season, which was at least his third trip into retirement. But when no NHL
team offered him a contract and the lockout hit, he changed his mind.
Although he didn't use the word "retirement" – which probably isn't a bad
idea, eh? – Hasek told Czech daily Sport today that It's "very unlikely" he
would return to the ice.
"The negotiations continued until last Friday...In late September, training
camps at [NHL] farms started, which was the only chance for me to return
overseas," Hasek told daily Sport. "I pinned my hopes on it. I was training
hard, I was ready to leave immediately.
"I don't think my decision can be changed. I mainly regret that they did not
give me a chance."
Hasek, 47, won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goaltender six times.
He also won the Hart Trophy twice as the NHL's MVP and finished with 389
victories, 85 shutouts and a 2.20 goals-against average.
He spent four seasons with the Red Wings, helping them win the Stanley
Cup in 2002 and 2008.
Hasek last played in 2010-11 for Spartak Moscow of the KHL in Russia.
642003
Detroit Red Wings
Budd Lynch, Red Wings long-time broadcaster and PA announcer, has died
Ansar Khan
Budd Lynch, a Detroit Red Wings icon who began his career with the
organization in 1949 as a broadcaster, has died. He was 95.
Lynch, with his distinctive voice, served as the public address announcer at
Joe Louis Arena since 1982.
The Windsor native joined the Essex Scottish Regiment of the Canadian
Forces during World War II, when he lost his right arm in combat.
Lynch had been with the OHL's Windsor Spitfires when Red Wings general
manager Jack Adams asked him to join the team to call games. Lynch
attempted to retire in 1975 but GM Alex Delvecchio brought him back as the
team's director of publicity.
Lynch was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985 as the winner of
the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award. He was inducted into the Michigan
Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.
642004
Detroit Red Wings
Pavel Datsyuk has goal, assist in CSKA Moscow's 4-2 loss
Brendan Savage
Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and an assist Monday but it wasn't enough to
help CSKA Moscow avoid losing 4-2 to SKA Saint Petersburg in a KHL
game.
He helped give CSKA a 2-0 lead before SKA scored four unanswered
goals.
Datsyuk's 22:40 of ice time was second among all players behind
teammate Alexander Radulov's 25:40.
Datsyuk has three goals, five assists and a plus-4 rating in five games with
CSKA.
CSKA fell toi 5-2-2-5 in the KHL West standings. SKA is 8-0-0-3 and third in
the West.
642005
Detroit Red Wings
RED WINGS: Beloved Bud Lynch dies
Chuck Pleiness
TROY – As many NHLers are bolting for a paycheck in Europe, one player
is heading there to give back.
Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson will play at least three home games
for a third-division Swedish club, Vita Hasten.
It’s his hometown team where he grew up playing and they’re struggling to
fill the arena.
Ericsson, 28, won’t get paid for playing and a third party has stepped in and
is paying to insure his contract with the Wings. He has two years remaining
on that contact that pays him $3.25 million a season.
“It’s kind of for a good cause, trying to help out,” Ericsson said. “You’re
probably thinking how can they afford his insurance, but it’s one guy who’s
stepping in and paying the whole insurance. I’m not getting paid. It’s just to
get a good crowd going there.”
Ericsson lives in the town in the offseason.
“Hopefully it can generate some profit for the team,” Ericsson said.
“Hopefully they can get on the right track again. It’s going to be fun to do
this.”
Ericsson will leave Thursday or Friday and play next Wednesday.
“It’s an OK division,” said Ericsson, who compared the league to the East
Coast Hockey League. “They’re a really good team, haven’t lost a game
yet. I think they’re 8-0. They’re a second division team but just haven’t
made it up there yet.”
The Swedish Elite League won’t accept locked out players who don’t
commit for the rest of the season, which benefits the lower Swedish
leagues and other European leagues.
As for now, Ericsson plans to just play the three games with the club and
then return to Detroit.
“A lot of guys are moving now (going to Europe), if it’s only like four guys
skating it’s tough to keep ourselves going in the practices,” Ericsson said.
“There’s only so much you can do with that few guys. My plans right now
are to come back after those games. I might have to wait a couple of weeks
back home, see my family. I’m not in a rush.”
Six other Wings have signed to play in Europe – Henrik Zetterberg (EV Zug,
Switzerland), Pavel Datsyuk (CSKA Moscow, Russia), Valtteri Filppula
(Jokerit, Finland), Drew Miller (Breahead Clan, Scotland), Jakub Kindl
(Pardubice, Czech Republic), Jan Mursak (HDD Olimpija Ljubljana,
Slovenia) and Damien Brunner (EV Zug, Switzerland).
“I’m a little bit frustrated, not because of the guys that are leaving, more
because nothing’s really happened with the negotiations,” Ericsson said.
“They’re trying to solve other things, too, but they haven’t really brought up
the big problems for discussion for a while. It doesn’t feel like it’s going to
happen anytime soon.”
All of the Wings are expected to return to Detroit once the lockout is over.
The players were locked out at midnight on Sept. 16.
This is the third lockout during NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s watch.
The first, in 1994-95, ended after 103 days. The last time the league locked
the players out it resulted in the cancellation of the 2004-05 season.
Lynch passes
The Wings’ long-time public address announcer and iconic broadcaster,
Budd Lynch passed away after a brief illness at a local rehabilitation center,
the club announced.
Lynch, who was part of the organization for 63 years, is survived by six
daughters (Janis, Valerie, Mary, Francey, Patricia and Lori.)
He was 95.
Lynch was the public address announcer for the team from 1985 until 2012.
During his career accomplishments he was honored with the Foster Hewitt
Memorial Award at the Hockey Hall of Fame along with being a member of
the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.
“Budd Lynch will forever be synonymous with the Detroit Red Wings,” said
Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland in a press release. “He
experienced it all in his 63 years with the organization – from the glory days
of Howe, Lindsay, Abel and Delvecchio all the way to the championship
runs of Yzerman and Lidstrom. He had a vast knowledge of the game and
the stories he could tell would have anyone who loves the sport
mesmerized for hours. Budd was one-of-a-kind, not only in his talents as a
broadcaster, but in the way he lived his life and the upbeat attitude he
always carried. He will be sorely missed by everyone in the Red Wings
family.”
Lynch attempted to retire in 1975, but was brought back as the team’s
director of publicity by then GM Alex Delvecchio.
Upon his second retirement, in 1985, Marian Ilitch asked him to stay as the
public address announcer at Joe Louis Arena.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman released this statement, “Budd Lynch
had seen so much Red Wings history, had become so much a part of their
heritage, that no visit to Joe Louis Arena for a Red Wings home game felt
truly ‘official’ without hearing his voice. The National Hockey League
mourns the passing of a war hero, a Hall of Famer and an outstanding
ambassador for the game. We send heartfelt condolences to his family, the
Red Wings and their fans.”
Macomb Daily LOADED: 10.10.2012
642006
Detroit Red Wings
about. He lived at a house on Van Alstyne, right off the Detroit River. He
recalls that Lynch always drove Ford vehicles, and it wouldn’t be Budd if he
didn’t have a cigar in his mouth.
Longtime Detroit Red Wings announcer Budd Lynch dies at 95
“He always had time to say ‘hello’ and to talk about the Red Wings,”
Peterson said. “He was just an ordinary guy in an ordinary city.”
Jim Kasuba
Funeral arrangements are being handled by R.J. Nixon Funeral Home,
2544 Biddle Ave. Visitation hours had not been scheduled as of press time.
Macomb Daily LOADED: 10.10.2012
WYANDOTTE — Legendary Detroit Red Wings public announcer Budd
Lynch died Monday at the age of 95.
Lynch was an institution within the Red Wings organization, having held the
position of public address announcer at Joe Louis Arena from 1985 to 2012.
He began his career in 1949 as the team’s play-by-play announcer.
He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985 as a media honoree
and winner of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his outstanding
contributions as a hockey broadcaster.
Born Aug. 7, 1917, as Frank Joseph James Lynch in Windsor, he grew up
in Hamilton, Ontario, but has made Wyandotte his home for as long as most
people can remember.
Mayor Joseph Peterson considered Lynch a friend.
“Your voice will be missed during the Red Wings games, your smiling face
as you walk around Wyandotte,” Peterson posted on his Facebook page.
“(Two years) ago you were given the key to the city, which you so
deserved. Now, my friend, I say thank you for all you have done for the
game of hockey, the youth, the fundraiser at your golf outing. Need I say
more? I know Thelma is with you right now and just saying ‘We have
another angel with us now.’ Bud, thank you for the memories.”
Peterson was referring to Lynch’s late wife, Thelma. It was through her that
Peterson said he first got to know Lynch. She worked at Wyandotte
Municipal Services.
The mayor said he’s not exactly sure how long Lynch resided in Wyandotte,
but it goes back to the days before Peterson joined the Police Department,
which he has now been retired from for several years.
Peterson said he had just returned home after serving in the Vietnam War
and had taken a part-time job at the Mobil gas station at the corner of Ford
Avenue (North Line Road) and Biddle Avenue. Lynch was a friend of owner
Walt Broughton and was a regular customer. He recalls his first words to
Peterson were, “Fill ’er up and bill me.” Peterson said Lynch and Broughton
used to discuss golf, which prompted Peterson to ask Lynch if he was a
golfer.
“He said to me, ‘Young man, there’s nothing you do that I can’t do,’”
Peterson recalled.
Although Lynch didn’t come out and say it, his response probably was in
reference to the fact that he had lost an arm while serving in World War II. A
rocket struck him in the right shoulder in 1944. He later lost his arm in
surgery, but friends say he never considered himself handicapped. In fact,
he often referred to himself as the “one-armed bandit.”
Two years ago, Peterson and Councilman Daniel Galeski, who, like
Peterson, is a retired Wyandotte police officer and is involved in hockey,
decided to show the city’s appreciation to Lynch for all he had done.
“He had been slowing down as the voice of the Red Wings,” Peterson said.
“We were talking about how much he has done for hockey and for the city
and how great it would be to give him a key to the city. After all, he has
always had the key to our hearts.”
Lynch had a wonderful sense of humor, Peterson recalled, as one of the
highlights of the banquet included retired Red Wings player Shawn Burr
making jokes about Peterson’s size. Burr asked Peterson what happened to
the previous mayor, that it appeared Peterson had swallowed him. Peterson
came back with his own zinger.
“I told Shawn Burr that if he could have shot the puck in the net as good as
he could run his mouth, he would have been in the Hall of Fame,” Peterson
said. “Budd Lynch never forgot that. He mentioned it to me several times,
saying that Shawn was the clown of the locker room so he didn’t know how
I outwitted him.”
Peterson said anyone who has lived in Wyandotte for any period of time
most likely will have some recollections of Lynch, as he was often out and
642007
Edmonton Oilers
A virtual reality fix is better than no hockey at all
By Renato Pagnani and Ramin Ostad, Edmonton Journal October 8, 2012
EDMONTON - The cramped plastic seats at Rexall Place. The oil derrick
being lowered before the Edmonton Oilers take the ice. The rattling of the
boards from a bone-crunching Andy Sutton hit. The roar of the crowd after
Taylor Hall puts away a perfectly-weighted Ryan Nugent-Hopkins pass in
overtime.
This season, it seems likely that the only way you’ll be able to experience
most of these things will be in NHL 13, the latest incarnation of Electronic
Arts’ venerable hockey video game franchise.
To attempt to satiate starving hockey fans, the Journal will be using NHL 13
to simulate the Oilers’ entire 2012-13 season, letting the video game play
each of the scheduled 82 games and reporting the results in a weekly
column. Does Justin Schultz transition from college hockey to the NHL with
ease or does he struggle out of the gates? Can Jordan Eberle match last
year’s 76-point season? Is Ralph Krueger of any relation to Freddie?
You’ll only find out the answers to most of these questions, but this column
will be giving a “what if” view of how the season might have played out if a
months-long lockout wasn’t imminent. If the lockout ends before the season
does, you’ll be able to see how the virtual Oil fare compared to the real
flesh-and-missing-teeth versions.
Along with the column, we’ll also be posting additional commentary and
analysis about the Oilers’ virtual season on the Game On Oilers blog.
So who are we to take on the burden of making sure Edmonton gets it
hockey fix while the owners and players squabble over a few billion dollars?
We’re two local guys and sometime Journal writers who like hockey and
video games. We’re just as excited as you are to see how Nail Yakupov
does in his first season in blue and orange, how many games Andy Sutton
gets suspended for (our bet is more than 10 but less than 30), and whether
Devan Dubnyk will be able to handle his role as the Oilers’ starting
goaltender.
But we won’t just be regurgitating results from the virtual ice; while that’s
what you’ll find in this column every week, our blog will have much more,
including video highlights and insights into how the sport translates in the
virtual space. The video game franchise has come so far in the last few
years that you might be surprised just how close our simulated season
mirrors the real thing.
For those who play NHL 13 at home (on PlayStation 3 only for now, sorry
Xbox 360 owners!) and want to get involved, we’ll also be starting an Game
On Oilers online league, using the game’s new GM Connected mode, which
allows up to 30 gamers to control their own teams and play against each
other.
Check the blog in the coming days for more details on how to join the
league, as well as details on exactly how we’ll be running our simulation of
the Oilers season, including how we’ll be deciding lineups and line combos.
Game on, Oilers fans.
Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 10.10.2012
642008
Minnesota Wild
Yeo trying to make the most of idle time during NHL lockout
MICHAEL RUSSO
Unable to begin coaching his second season behind the Wild bench
because of that pesky NHL lockout, Mike Yeo is trying to maintain his
competitive readiness as well as his combative spirit.
Instead of just going stir crazy, Yeo is attempting to use this time wisely.
He has assigned all the members of his staff a series of projects in case the
lockout suddenly ends and the Wild has a compressed training camp. He
also is picking at the brains of others, spending much of Tuesday with
Gophers coach Don Lucia and his staff.
"We're anxious, but we're trying to do everything we can to be a better staff
when we come out of this," Yeo said.
When he is not at the rink preparing for a hockey season that might not
come, Yeo is learning how to box at Jeremy Clark's gym in Eagan.
It's a little known fact, but Yeo is the all-time leader in major penalties for
the Houston Aeros. So, the Wild coach knows how to fight. Boxing, though,
is an entirely different animal.
"It's an incredible workout," Yeo said. "Two minutes, I'm dripping sweat. I
get beat up."
If you know Yeo, though, the lockout is hardly fun for him. He much rather
would be preparing for opening night, which was supposed to occur
Saturday, when Zach Parise and Ryan Suter were to suit up for the first
time in Wild sweaters against Gabriel Landeskog, Matt Duchene and the
Colorado Avalanche.
In fact, on Tuesday the Wild was supposed to be wrapping up three days of
training camp in Banff, Alberta. But instead of flying home from Calgary,
Yeo, assistant coaches Rick Wilson, Darryl Sydor and Darby Hendrickson,
goalie coach Bob Mason and video coordinator Jonas Plumb spent the day
at Mariucci Arena shadowing the Gophers.
For 90 minutes, the Wild coaches met with the Gophers coaches before
sitting in the stands and watching another 90 minutes of practice as the
Gophers prepare for this weekend's season-opening series against
Michigan State.
The Wild coaches raved about Nick Bjugstad, were impressed by Seth
Helgeson, Zach Budish and, of course, Wild prospect Erik Haula.
They admired the Gophers' battle level and jotted down some drills Lucia
deploys that they eventually want to emulate.
"I like this drill," Yeo said to Sydor, referring to a high-speed, 2-on-1 drill
with suffocating back pressure. "I like the pace."
Afterward, Yeo said, "I love watching other teams practice at all levels, and
I'm always trying to learn new drills and any way to make your team better."
Because there are limitations to how much time college coaches can spend
with their athletes, Yeo asked Lucia about how he condenses system-work
into such an abbreviated period.
Yeo assumes that if the NHL lockout ends, teams will have no exhibition
games and a shortened training camp. The Wild coaches are beginning to
put templates together for a seven-, 10- and 14-day training camp.
In addition, the Wild coaches are watching video of other NHL teams to see
what they do successfully and if there's anything that can be incorporated
into the Wild's game.
Yeo also is updating a Wild systems book, while Hendrickson is tediously
uploading the Wild's drills onto a computer as Wilson and Sydor do powerplay and penalty-kill work.
The hours are a lot different, but the coaches are at the arena just about
every day working. Yeo will fly to Houston to watch the Wild's AHL affiliate
open its season on Saturday. Mason left for Houston on Tuesday night.
"We're trying to keep busy," Yeo said. "We're trying to find a way to stay
sharp and make sure we're ready to go [if the lockout ends]."
Star Tribune LOADED: 10.10.2012
642009
Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens’ Markov at home in KHL
By Dave Stubbs, The Gazette October 9, 2012
MONTREAL Andrei Markov has learned patience the past three years. It’s
a quality the Canadiens defenceman acquired, or at least refined, after
having sat out 199 of his team’s 272 regular-season and playoff games
since the start of the 2009-10 season.
So Markov sounded almost serene a day ago when he answered my call in
his car in Moscow, horns blaring around him as he inched through
downtown gridlock.
“You’ve reached me in traffic,” he said, laughing. “But I’m driving safely. I’m
not in a rush. Traffic here is crazy, every day. Crazy city, Moscow.
“But honestly? The roads are better here than in Montreal.”
He chuckled again when it was suggested that so are the roads on any of
the moons of Jupiter.
Markov is two games into his stint with Vityaz Chekhov of Russia’s
Kontinental Hockey League, having last week accepted the club’s offer to
suit up during the NHL lockout.
Twelve days ago, Markov spoke at length in the lobby of an arena in
Candiac, shortly before he’d practise with fellow Canadiens and a few other
job-suspended NHLers.
“If someone is interested in me, I’m always open and always available,” he
said of any door-knocking by the KHL. “An offer could come any day and
I’m ready to leave tonight or tomorrow if it’s interesting.
“I’m not going to just stay here and waste my time, you know? I want to play
and enjoy the game.”
Markov admitted this week that he was playing coy during our Candiac
chat, by that time already having had talks with Vityaz.
“At that moment I knew something was going to happen, but it wasn’t 100
per cent then,” he said. “A couple days later, they called me and I flew to
Russia.
“There were other offers, but I don’t want to talk about them. Vityaz gave
me good options. People who work there were with Dynamo Moscow, so I
know them from before.”
Indeed, Markov played 52 pre-KHL Russian Superleague games for
Dynamo during the 2004-05 NHL lockout, winning the championship.
Of additional appeal about Vityaz is that the team’s rink is not far from
Moscow or his hometown of Voskresensk.
Markov was introduced by Vityaz president Mikhail Golovkov at a news
conference last Wednesday, skated a couple times with his new team then
played 16:55 in Friday’s 2-1 overtime road loss to Dynamo Riga.
On Sunday, he was up to 18:28 of ice time in a 2-1 road victory over
Donbass.
“Actually, we don’t get those stats after the game. I didn’t see my ice time,”
Markov joked from behind the wheel. “But I felt pretty good and we won the
game.
“I’m not there yet, I’m not in top shape. But I’m happy with my progress and
looking forward to playing more. I felt good in my first game, too. The
difference is the bigger (international) ice and the game is played a little
different than in North America. But I expected that and was ready for it.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I need some time to be in game shape, it
can’t happen right away. I’m happy to work on it.”
His next test is Wednesday, visiting Spartak Moscow.
At no time during our conversation was the word “knee” mentioned, Markov
still on the comeback trail after having played only 13 games at the end of
last NHL season following his second ACL reconstruction.
But obviously the joint is no longer on his radar. The 33-year-old clearly is
happy to have found a place to play high-intensity hockey, taking his game
to the next level for whenever he’s called back to the Canadiens.
Last week, Habs general manager Marc Bergevin said he supported
Markov’s decision to play in Russia if that’s what the veteran felt he needed
to regain his game shape and timing.
“You know my situation,” Markov said. “The last couple years I almost didn’t
play and that’s what I need right now — to play and feel the game. I had
options in Montreal to play scrimmages, but that’s not the same intensity as
a real game. I decided to come here to work to be in shape for when the
NHL season starts.
“I don’t know when that’s going to be. But I’m sure what I’m doing now is
going to help me in the future. It’s a good league here with pretty good
players and most games are close.
“The KHL has changed since last I was here — the game, the players, the
travel … everything. It’s good for Russian hockey and good for fans and
players. They want to get better every year.”
Markov surely has no illusions about a championship run with Vityaz. This
team is best known as the KHL’s answer to the Charlestown Chiefs of Slap
Shot; legendary is its mayhem of Jan. 9, 2010 vs. Avangard, with a worldrecord 707 penalty minutes assessed to both teams, nearly $200,000 in
fines levied and both tagged with 5-0 losses for a game cancelled before it
was four minutes old.
Vityaz has been the most penalized team in all four years of the KHL’s
existence, racking up 6,854 regular-season minutes, an average of 31 per
game. The closest any team has come to its total for a single year was 379
minutes.
This season, Vityaz is not (yet?) the gong show of its storied past, only the
third-most penalized of 26 league clubs — 19 minutes out of the lead —
with an average of about 15 minutes per game.
Vityaz has finished last in its division since its 2008-09 KHL birth, not
getting a sniff of the playoffs with only 42 regulation-time wins in 220 games
over four seasons. It currently stands 10th in the 14-team West Conference.
But none of the past matters to Markov, a skilled defenceman who is
penalty-free, hasn’t put on the foil in his two games and is looking only to
the future.
At home in Russia, he’s delighted to be playing competitive hockey, working
to rekindle a career that’s too often been doused by injury.
“For now, I’m happy to be playing,” he said, having advanced half a trafficchoked Moscow block. “I’m just enjoying being back on the ice.”
Montreal Gazette LOADED: 10.10.2012
642010
Nashville Predators
NHL says it's trying to look out for small markets
Josh Cooper
The Predators are an important component of the NHL lockout, as a small,
nontraditional market team that has achieved some level of success.
So the league is trying to look out for Nashville’s interests in the next
collective bargaining agreement, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said
in an interview with The Tennessean on Tuesday.
The NHL and NHL Players’ Association are scheduled to meet again today.
They’re trying to agree how to divide $3.3 billion in hockey-related
revenues.
The NHLPA also has pushed itself as having the best interests of smallermarket teams at heart. It has proposed revenue sharing of $260 million —
with $120 million designated for “troubled franchises” to be doled out at the
commissioner’s discretion.
The NHL proposal is $190 million but could grow during negotiations, Daly
said.
As for hockey-related revenue, the league is proposing it be shifted from 57
percent in the players’ favor (in the final year of the last CBA) to 49 percent
(in the first year of the league’s proposal).
Daly said a smaller percentage also would lower the salary cap, which is
$70.2 million. The cap is tied to league revenues per the old CBA.
The issue?
A lower cap probably would mean lower salaries. And after taking a 24
percent pay cut at the end of the 2004-05 lockout, that’s something the
players probably won’t want.
Here are excerpts from the interview with Daly:
How does your proposal help smaller markets?
“We instituted as part of our last collective bargaining agreement a pretty
comprehensive revenue sharing program. That program will produce about
$150 million in revenue sharing this past season.
“Our proposal that’s on the table now would increase that pool fairly
significantly up in the neighborhood of $190 million, and depending on how
the negotiation ultimately plays out, probably more than that.”
How does a higher percentage of hockey-related revenue for the league
help the Predators?
“By definition the smaller percentage will lower the cap, which by definition
will lower the floor. We’ve also talked about the concept of changing the
structure creating the payroll range.
“The payroll range is currently constructed with a midpoint, and then
building kind of room off the midpoint in equal directions to have a top end
and a bottom end.
“We’re suggesting using less room on the top end and more room on the
bottom end as a way of constructing the range that’s more friendly to small
markets, but also creates a dynamic where there will be less player escrow,
so there will be less dollars at risk for the players.”
Does your proposal address the signing bonuses and long-term contracts
that hamper smaller markets?
“Well certainly both those elements are elements we’ve put across the table
to the Players’ Association. I can’t say we have resolution on any of those
issues, but they certainly know how we feel about some of the extreme
front-loaded long-term contracts.”
Does this lockout hamper smaller, non-traditional markets more than an
established, older market?
“I’m not sure I would buy that. I think it’s important for all markets, I think it’s
important for the league, I think it’s important for the Players’ Association, I
think it’s really important for the players.”
“I think the really unfortunate part of where we are, is not only the fact that
we’ve done significant damage to this season’s revenues, but the bottom
line is, by missing games, by missing training camp, by being in a labor
dispute and a work stoppage, we’re certainly risking and threatening a
slowdown to some of the momentum that we’ve had or been able to
generate — some of the popularity we’ve been able to build throughout the
league, including in some of the non-traditional markets.
“And I think the longer-term impact of that dynamic is as scary as anything
else to us, and something we jointly should have an interest in trying to
minimize at this point.”
Tennessean LOADED: 10.10.2012
642011
Nashville Predators
Bridgestone Arena to host minor league hockey on Oct. 20
Josh Cooper
Hockey will be played at Bridgestone Arena in the near future, just not
exactly at the NHL level.
With the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association in the middle of a labor
dispute and lockout, the Predators announced the Southern Professional
Hockey League’s Huntsville Havoc and Knoxville Ice Bears would play a
preseason game on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.
The game is preceded by a Vanderbilt hockey alumni game at 4 p.m.
Tickets are free for Predators season ticketholders and $10.25 for nonseason ticketholders.
Proceeds from tickets — and other fundraisers throughout the arena — will
go to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital.
“Bringing an Ice Bears game to Bridgestone Arena is another way to give
back to our season ticketholders and engage our partners,” Predators
executive vice president of sales Chris Parker said. “Their rivalry with
Huntsville is the perfect centerpiece for a great Saturday full of hockey in
Nashville.”
The NHL canceled regular season games from Oct. 11-24. The Predators
were supposed to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 20.
Tennessean LOADED: 10.10.2012
642012
Nashville Predators
Predators scramble to bring some type of hockey to Bridgestone
David Boclair
At least it’s something.
That’s the approach of the Nashville Predators and Bridgestone Arena, who
announced Tuesday that they would host a preseason game between the
Knoxville Ice Bears and Huntsville Havoc as part of a day of hockey related
activities Oct. 20.
The Predators were supposed to conclude a stretch of four straight home
games that day, but the NHL canceled the first two weeks of the regular
season last Thursday because of the current labor situation. Owners
imposed a lockout of players on Sept. 15, when the collective bargaining
agreement expired. As a result, training camps never opened and the entire
NHL preseason was canceled.
The sides were scheduled to conduct negotiations on minor issues Tuesday
and Wednesday, but no substantive progress toward a resolution has been
made.
“Bringing an Ice Bears game to Bridgestone Arena is another way to give
back to our season ticketholders and engage our partners,” Predators
executive vice president of sales Chris Parker said. “Their rivalry with
Huntsville is the perfect centerpiece for a great Saturday full of hockey in
Nashville.”
The teams compete in the Southern Professional Hockey League, a lowerlevel minor league with nine franchises primarily in the southeast that
begins its regular season Oct. 26.
The contest is scheduled for 7 p.m. Prior to that, the Predators will host an
adult skils developmental clinic at 1:30 p.m. and a Vanderbilt University
alumni game at 4 p.m. Hockey is a club sport at Vanderbilt.
Cost of the clinic, limited to 30 skaters and four goalies, is $50 per
participant and includes a 90-minute on-ice session, two tickets to a
weeknight home game (assuming the season starts) and a tour of the
locker room.
Tickets to the hockey games are free for Predators season ticket holders
and $10.25 (one ticket is good for both games) for the general public.
Nashville City Paper LOADED: 10.10.2012
642013
New York Rangers
A Ranger to Kazakhstan
JEFF Z. KLEIN
Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh signed with Barys Astana, a
Kazakhstan-based club in the Kontinental Hockey League. McDonagh
emerged as a star last season in only his second year in the N.H.L.
On Barys Astana, he will join the locked-out N.H.L. players Victor Hedman
of Tampa Bay and Nik Antropov of Winnipeg, as well as the former Ranger
Nigel Dawes.
New York Times LOADED: 10.10.2012
642014
New York Rangers
Rangers Roundup: Nash Scores, Hagelin Debuts and McDonagh Heads to
K.H.L.
JEFF Z. KLEIN
Updated It was a fruitful Tuesday for Rick Nash and Carl Hagelin, two
Rangers playing in Europe during the N.H.L. lockout.
A third Ranger will soon join them overseas. Defenseman Ryan McDonagh
signed Tuesday with Barys Astana, a Kazakhstan-based club in the
Kontinental Hockey League.
McDonagh emerged as a star first-pair defenseman for the Rangers last
season, only his second N.H.L. campaign. His agent, Ben Hankinson,
confirmed that McDonagh was leaving for Astana on Tuesday night and
might play as soon as Saturday. On Barys, McDonagh will join the lockedout N.H.L. players Victor Hedman of Tampa Bay and Nik Antropov of
Winnipeg, as well as the former Ranger Nigel Dawes.
“It should be a good fit for Ryan,” Hankinson said. “It’s a good team in a
good city in a good league.”
Nash scored a goal for HC Davos in his first action for the Swiss club since
leaving a Sept. 28 game with a shoulder injury that was later diagnosed as
a bone bruise. Nash’s third-period tally, set up by his linemate Joe
Thornton, tied the score en route to Davos’s 3-2 overtime victory at EV Zug.
Nash’s return came as a relief to Rangers fans, who feared a longer
absence for the high-scoring winger acquired from Columbus last summer.
Nash has four goals in four games in the Swiss National League A.
Hagelin had two assists as he debuted with his hometown club, Sodertalje
SSK, in the second-tier Swedish Allsvenskan.
Hagelin, who scored 14 goals and 38 points in a strong rookie season for
the Rangers, skated on a line with another first-year star of last season,
Matt Read of the Flyers. The pair combined for 5 points in Sodertalje’s 4-3
win over Tingsryds AIF.
642015
New York Rangers
NY Rangers' Ryan McDonagh signs with HC Barys Astana of Russia's
Kontinental Hockey League
Pat Leonard
The Rangers’ Ryan McDonagh (l.) is off to Europe to stay in game shape
until the NHL lockout ends.
Defenseman Ryan McDonagh became the third Ranger to sign in Europe
during the NHL lockout on Tuesday afternoon, inking with HC Barys Astana
of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
McDonagh, 23, had turned down two previous overseas offers but last
Thursday began considering a third opportunity, as first reported by the
Daily News, to get into game shape for when the lockout ends. His new
team, which also signed Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman
in late September, is based out of the city of Astana, the capital of
Kazakhstan. McDonagh was planning to fly out Tuesday night to join his
new team.
“The decision was tough, but ultimately I wanted to put myself in a situation
that would best prepare me to be playing at my best when the Rangers start
up again,” McDonagh told the Daily News via email Tuesday afternoon. “I
love playing this game, and this is a great opportunity for me to play and
stay in game shape so I can ultimately be at my best to help the Rangers
win.
“That’s truly what my thought process was. I had some options earlier that
just weren’t the right timing for me. This opportunity came available and I
didn’t want to miss a chance to play hockey.”
The blueliner follows teammates Rick Nash (HC Davos, Switzerland) and
Carl Hagelin (Sodertalje SK, Sweden) overseas. All three will be released
from their contracts back to the Rangers as soon as the lockout ends,
although as McDonagh’s signing with Barys Astana reaffirms, no one
knows when that will be.
McDonagh had a breakout season in his first full NHL campaign of 2011-12,
playing all 102 games in the regular season and playoffs. He teamed with
All-Star Dan Girardi to anchor the Blueshirts’ top defensive pair and now is
considered one of the top defensemen in the game, making him extremely
attractive to European clubs during the lockout.
A week ago, at Brad Richards’ charity fund-raiser in Manhattan, McDonagh
described his deliberation over whether or not he wanted to play in Europe
to the Daily News:
“I’m learning more every day and trying to explore options there and certain
things with contracts and where I would be and if it’s worth it,” he said. “I
think the only way I would go is if this keeps stretching longer and longer
and the forecast, the light at the end of the tunnel looks dimmer. Because I
know how important it is to be in the same game shape, and that’s the big
thing is when the puck drops here in North America, I want to be ready
100%, ahead of the game and playing the way I play.”
McDonagh is in the final year of his entry-level deal with the Rangers. He
still will be a restricted free agent when the deal expires, but with him
coming off such a strong NHL season, the risk of injury in Europe was an
important factor on McDonagh’s future.
That said, this is an ironman shotblocker and a budding star who wants to
get better. So McDonagh is the next Ranger to hop across the Atlantic to
play professional hockey, since he can’t get enough of it here.
New York Daily News LOADED: 10.10.2012
642016
New York Rangers
Ryan McDonagh signs with HC Barys Astana of KHL, wanted situation to
best prepare him for 'when the Rangers start up again'
Pat Leonard
Defenseman Ryan McDonagh became the third Ranger to sign in Europe
during the NHL lockout on Tuesday, inking with HC Barys Astana of
Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), the Daily News has learned.
McDonagh, 23, had turned down two previous overseas offers but was
itching to get back on the ice and make sure he is in game shape for when
the lockout ends. His new team, which also signed Tampa Bay Lightning
defenseman Victor Hedman in late September, is based out of the city of
Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. McDonagh was planning to fly out
Tuesday night to join his new team.
“The decision was tough but ultimately I wanted to put myself in a situation
that would best prepare me to be playing at my best when the Rangers start
up again,” McDonagh told the Daily News through e-mail Tuesday
afternoon. “I love playing this game and this is a great opportunity for me to
play and stay in game shape so I can ultimately be at my best to help the
Rangers win.
“That’s truly what my thought process was. (I) had some options earlier that
just weren’t the right timing for me. This opportunity came available and I
didn’t want to miss a chance to play hockey.”
The blue liner follows Rangers teammates Rick Nash (HC Davos,
Switzerland) and Carl Hagelin (Sodertalje SK, Sweden) to Europe. All three
will be released from their contracts back to the Rangers as soon as the
NHL lockout ends, though as McDonagh’s signing with Barys Astana
reaffirms, no one knows when that will be.
McDonagh had a breakout season in his first full NHL campaign of 2011-12,
playing all 102 of the Rangers’ games in the regular season and
postseason combined. He teamed with All-Star Dan Girardi to anchor the
Blueshirts’ top defensive pair and now is considered one of the top
defensemen in the game, making him extremely attractive to European
clubs during the lockout.
McDonagh is in the final year of his entry-level deal with the Rangers. He
still will be a restricted free agent when the deal expires, but coming off
such a strong NHL season, the risk of injury in Europe was an important
factor to consider since that could impact McDonagh’s future.
That said, this is an ironman shotblocker and a budding star who wants to
get better. So McDonagh is the next Ranger to hop across the Atlantic to
play professional hockey, since he can’t get enough of it here.
New York Daily News LOADED: 10.10.2012
642017
New York Rangers
McDonagh to Russia
MARK EVERSON
Brooks on Less than two weeks after the Rangers survived their Rick Nash
injury scare, their plus-minus leader, defenseman Ryan McDonagh, is
headed overseas to play in the Russia-based Kontinental league.
The 23-year-old has signed to play for Barys Astana of Kazakhstan, where
former Ranger Nigel Dawes is already on the roster.
McDonagh rebounded from a Matt Cooke elbow in his rookie year to play
all 82 regular-season games last season. He had seven goals and 25
assists and a plus-minus rating of plus-25.
Nash suffered a minor shoulder injury last month while playing for Davos in
the Swiss league, reminding teams that they can lose major players during
the lockout.
Meanwhile, the Negotiations to Nowhere resume today in Midtown, with the
NHL and its players association again expected to avoid the crucial issue of
hockey’s revenue split.
This lockout, which completes its first month Monday night, has already
cost the NHL the first two weeks of the season, which was due to open
tomorrow. The owners want a significant cut in the players’ share of
revenue, while the players have been willing to moderate the increase in
their pool, but not accept an outright pay cut.
The league has modified its July proposal of a slashing of the players’ share
from the current 57 percent to 43 percent, last offering a deal based on an
immediate cut to 49 percent, dropping to 46 percent over six years. The
players have offered to limit the amount of their net share increase, from its
current $1.87 billion to $2.1 billion over three years.
Among side issues already discussed are pension, medical treatment and
travel arrangements.
New York Post LOADED: 10.10.2012
642018
New York Rangers
Rangers' Ryan McDonagh heads to Russia
ANDREW GROSS
Ryan McDonagh remains confident he’ll play NHL hockey this season.
First, though, the Rangers’ top-pair defenseman will play in the KHL.
McDonagh, 23, agreed to join HC Barys Astana, based in the capital city of
Kazakhstan, during the NHL lockout and departed Tuesday night.
"I’m still optimistic that a deal will get done in a short amount of time,"
McDonagh said via telephone before boarding his flight, referring to the sofar fruitless negotiations between the league and the NHL Players
Association.
"Until then, if I can get a couple of games, or more, that will help me get
much more ready," McDonagh added. "That’s my whole mind-set, to give
myself the best chance to improve individually so when I’m able to put a
Rangers jersey back on, I’ll be in the best shape possible."
The NHL locked out its players Sept. 15 and regular-season games have
been cancelled through Oct. 24. The sides are scheduled to resume
negotiations today, though it’s not certain that the major financial issues will
be addressed.
The Rangers already have Rick Nash playing for HC Davos of the Swiss
League and Carl Hagelin signed with the Swedish Elite League. Goalie
Henrik Lundqvist, too, is expected to return home to Sweden to play for
Frolunda if the lockout persists.
The contracts are written so they can immediately rejoin the Rangers once
the lockout ends.
McDonagh, who had offers from other European teams, took the first offer
he received from the Russian league.
"This is now the best league out there and, from what I’ve learned, the best
hockey to play against," McDonagh said. "It’ll be a cool experience. But I
have the right mind-set going over that things will work out [in the NHL]."
McDonagh has been skating with other locked-out teammates by renting
ice time at the Rangers’ practice facility. But he said the numbers have
started to dwindle.
"When I go to the rink, I go hard, but I don’t know if I was improving as this
dragged along," McDonagh said. "I felt like the opportunity was there for me
to go. It really came down to improving as a player."
Bergen Record LOADED: 10.10.2012
642019
NHL
N.H.L. Players’ Rivalry Has No Borders
BRIAN PINELLI
PRAGUE — In the most highly anticipated Kontinental Hockey League
contest since the N.H.L. lockout began 24 days ago, Alexander Ovechkin
and Zdeno Chara continued their rivalry Tuesday, skating for their newest
clubs, Dynamo Moscow and HC Lev Praha.
Led by Ovechkin, Dynamo Moscow defeated Chara and Lev Praha, 1-0, in
the K.H.L.
Ovechkin lifted Dynamo to a 1-0 victory when the Czech goaltender Tomas
Popperle mishandled the puck early in the third period, and Ovechkin swept
it backward while facing opposite the net and being knocked to the ice in a
scrum.
“The goalie made a mistake, and I didn’t see it when I shot it,” Ovechkin
said. “I just put the puck on net, and it went in.”
Ovechkin has contributed four goals and five assists in eight games with the
Moscow franchise with whom he began his professional career with in
2001. Led by Ovechkin, Dynamo has won six consecutive games, climbing
to the top of the K.H.L. Western Conference.
A league-record crowd of 16,317 watched the contest, televised live
throughout Europe and Russia and on ESPN2, at O2 Arena.
“It’s really nice to see so many fans show up, especially with someone like
Ovi, who is always going to attract people,” said Chara, who played his
second game with Lev Praha, an expansion franchise. “There’s not too
many chances for people over here to see such great N.H.L. players.”
Afterward, Ovechkin again said that he was prepared to remain in Russia if
the N.H.L. lockout continued.
“I enjoy playing here,” said Ovechkin, who reportedly earns $6 million, $3
million less than what he would have made with the Washington Capitals.
“I feel the trust and I feel comfortable.”
In less than six months, Ovechkin and Chara have battled each other for
three different teams each. In the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last
April, Ovechkin and the Capitals defeated Chara and the Boston Bruins in a
seven-game series. In May, Ovechkin and the Russian national team beat
Chara and his native Slovakia in the International Ice Hockey Federation
world championship final.
Chara, the 2009 Norris Trophy winner as the N.H.L.’s top defenseman,
played nearly 20 minutes, but unlike previous matches, there was minimal
contact between he and Ovechkin.
Chara signed with Lev Praha last week . He joined more than 100 N.H.L.
players who have decided to play overseas.
“It’s actually been really good here,” the 6-foot-9 Chara said. “Obviously, it’s
quite different than what I’m used to, but that’s what makes the overall
experience so much better.”
Chara, 35, a six-time all-star, also addressed the lockout.
“Eight years ago, we pretty much agreed to what the owners wanted,” he
said. “Pretty much the whole system and the whole negotiations were done
for their advantage. And now they’re saying it’s not working and it’s not
something that they can go on with.
“They’re trying to take even more, and I don’t think that’s right, I don’t think
that’s fair and certainly it’s not healthy for the game,” he added.
642020
NHL
NHL lockout update: Donald Fehr reveals players aren't pleased with salary
cap
Charles Curtis
Over the last 48 hours, what little bit of optimism there was about progress
in solving the lockout has slowly disappeared.
After finding out the NHL and NHLPA won't discuss the "major economic
issues" at the heart of the lockout, there was another piece of disconcerting
news today.
NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr met with the Toronto Star's Editorial
Board, according to The Star's Kevin McGran. There, he told the board "the
longer the NHL lockout lasts, the less happy the players will be playing
under a salary cap."
"If this goes on for an extended period of time, I don't know what they (the
players) are going to do. But I think it's safe to say, they would be exploring
all options," said Fehr, who added players would "live with" a salary cap if
both sides came to an agreement soon.
Unless this move is a planned threat, meant to catch the owners' eyes -and that could certainly be the case -- this feels like a huge step back if it's
what the players plan on bringing to the table when the two sides actually
do talk about hockey related revenue again. The NHL implemented a salary
cap as part of the solution to the 2004-05 lockout.
Check in for further updates Wednesday and Thursday as talks get
underway again.
Star Ledger LOADED: 10.10.2012
642021
Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators centre Peter Regin hopes to return to Denmark
By Tim Baines
,Ottawa Sun
Peter Regin is hoping to go back home soon.
But until he knows that he’s not going to get dinged with a huge tax bill, he’ll
hang around Ottawa.
The Senators centre skated with a group of locked-out NHLers Tuesday at
the Bell Sensplex, but he’d like to get back to Denmark soon — to play for
his hometown Herning Blue Fox.
“Hopefully we’ll figure it out this week,” said Regin. “There are some tax
issues.
“I’m trying to get a letter from the government that I don’t have to pay taxes
on money I earned in Canada. It could end up costing me a lot of money to
play there.”
Regin played for the Blue Fox of the Danish Elite League from 2002-05.
“The last lockout (in 2004-05), I was 18. It was my last year (with Herning),”
he said. “It’s like the East Coast Hockey League. There’s no fighting, but it’s
competitive.”
He’s anxious to put aside a disappointing 2011-12 season with the
Senators, when he dislocated his shoulder in February. He had just three
goals.
“Usually when the leaves are changing colours, we’re playing hockey,” he
said. “But I’ve been having fun while I’m here.”
It’s obvious he longs to play for real, not just participating in drills.
After staying off the golf course until July because of shoulder surgery,
Regin has been able to work on his game lately, shooting a best round of
75.
Ottawa Sun LOADED: 10.10.2012
642022
Philadelphia Flyers
Donald and Steve Fehr, the NHL Players Association brother act
Sam Carchidi
The NHL has had numerous brother acts over the years.
Some brothers were bruisers (Bob and Barclay Plager), and some were
Hall of Famers at vastly different positions (Phil and Tony Esposito). More
recently, Henrik and Daniel Sedin have blossomed into perennial all-stars
with the Vancouver Canucks.
Steve Fehr, right, general counsel for the NHL Players Association, acts as
a late-inning setup man to his brother, Donald, the union
There are many other sibling combinations, of course, but the brothers who
are now shaking the league to its core may not even know how to skate.
Meet the Fehrs, Donald and Steve, the NHL Players Association's
heavyweights in their feisty labor battle with the league's owners.
As the union's special counsel, Steve Fehr, 60, is like a late-inning setup
man. He does a lot of the preliminary work before handing the ball to
executive director Donald, 64, the team's closer.
Some might say that, based on the state of the NHL these days, Steve has
been as effective as Josh Lindblom in his setup role, and his big brother
has not been able to close the deal. The NHL lockout has reached 25 days.
Those supporting the players say the Fehrs have not been ineffective, that
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and his sidekick, Bill Daly, deserve most
of the blame for the labor stalemate.
The players remain united. They speak reverently when describing the work
Donald Fehr has done since he was named to head the NHLPA nearly two
years ago.
"He's very up-front and we are totally behind him," Flyers center Danny
Briere said before leaving to play in Germany.
To a lot of sports fans, Fehr is viewed as a villain. As the union leader for
baseball's players, he played a major part in the cancellation of the latter
part of the 1994 season, including the World Series.
Now, as boss of the NHL Players Association, Fehr is in the middle of a
lockout that has caused the cancellation of the first two weeks. The entire
season is in peril.
Hired at the end of 2010 after the NHLPA went 15 months without a leader,
Fehr is the players' fourth union chief since 2005. After he was hired,
Bettman issued a statement: "We are pleased that the leadership position
at the players' association has been filled, and we look forward to working
with Don in his new role."
The league, it is safe to assume, is not pleased anymore. The NHL
estimated that it already lost $100 million because of the cancellation of
exhibition games. That number is growing every day.
Daly, the NHL's deputy commissioner, and Steve Fehr have been warring
with words throughout the labor dispute, which has left both sides without a
collective-bargaining agreement since Sept. 15.
Daly is perturbed that the NHLPA has not made a counter offer to a
proposal made nearly a month ago.
"Bargaining is not ping-pong," Steve Fehr countered late last month.
Daly said he did not expect economic issues to be discussed at
Wednesday's labor meeting with union executives in New York. He told the
Los Angeles Times: "We would be happy to listen to the PA on economic or
system issues, but they don't appear to be inclined to bring anything new to
the table. As long as that's the case, I'm not sure we have more to add.
They got the last two substantive proposals from us."
Responded Steve Fehr: "For more than a month, the owners have not
wanted to meet to discuss the core economic issues unless it is on their
terms - that is, unless the players have yet another offer that includes
significant concessions for them."
And so it goes. The Fehr brothers playing hardball on one side, Daly and
Bettman doing the same on the other.
The crux of the labor dispute is dividing revenue, which was $3.3 billion last
season. The players received 57 percent in the last agreement. Donald
Fehr wants them to receive 53 to 54 percent in the new CBA, while the
owners have proposed a sliding scale that starts at 49 percent and drops to
47 percent.
Each percentage-point change is worth $33 million based on last season's
revenue.
Neither side is budging. And, perhaps because of their faith in the Fehr
brothers, the players have hinted that they will sit out the entire season
before accepting the owners' terms.
Baseball roots
Displaying brashness that belies his Midwestern roots, Donald Fehr cut his
teeth under the iconic Marvin Miller, baseball's first union leader, while
serving as his lead attorney in the 1970s. He later replaced Miller and had a
sometimes-tumultuous 26-year reign as MLB's union leader until he
stepped down in 2009. His tenure included a strike that canceled the
playoffs and World Series, a steroid smear on the game, record players'
salaries, a winning collusion case against the owners, and, eventually, 14
years of labor peace.
NHL players know his background - and probably wish he had represented
their union in the 2004-05 labor war, one in which the owners imposed a
salary cap and a 24 percent rollback in players' salaries after the entire
season was canceled.
"I think the union is much better this time around," veteran Flyers
defenseman Kimmo Timonen said. "We're more informed, we're more
open. We know what's going on."
Fehr, an Eagle Scout and high school debate champion in his younger
years, successfully fended off the salary-cap aspirations of baseball
owners. The average player salary in MLB was $289,000 when he became
baseball's union leader. When he retired from his baseball post, the
average salary had climbed to $3.24 million, according to ESPN.
Steve Fehr was one of the baseball union's lead labor negotiators during
some of his brother's tenure with MLB and is still general counsel for the
players' union. Last December, he was hired by the NHLPA on the same
day as his brother.
A former agent for some of baseball's top players, Steve Fehr was the lead
counsel in some of the players association's collusion cases against MLB,
getting the league to agree on a $280 million settlement in 1990.
In a Sporting News interview last month, Donald Fehr said that his brother
"has many fewer hard edges than I do" and that it was "an extraordinary
thing" to have him by his side for more than 20 years in their legal battles
against MLB and now against the NHL. "When you are involved in
bargaining, it really helps to have somebody who, first of all, is
knowledgeable, is observant, knows how the game is played . . . [and]
knows you inside out and backwards, and perhaps, most importantly, is
capable of telling you, probably more often than you want to hear, that you
are full of [it]."
Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 10.10.2012
642023
Philadelphia Flyers
Snider saves rinks; can he help save NHL season?
Sam Carchidi
Give Flyers chairman Ed Snider credit. His youth hockey foundation has
reconstructed four city rinks and given kids a place to play hockey.
On Tuesday, Snider attended a walk-through of Tarken Ice Rink in
Northeast Philly. It is the last of four city rinks that have been redone and
fully enclosed, making them operational during the entire year.
The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation contributed $6.5 million to match
a grant from the Commonwealth’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital
Program. The public/private partnership resulted in a $13 million restoration
project that saved the rinks.
Here’s hoping Snider, the Flyers’ founder, is just as successful in helping
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman put an end to the league’s labor dispute.
Wednesday is the 25th day of the lockout, and it’s time we heard some of
the NHL owners’ voices.
There are rumblings that some owners aren’t on board with all of the
decisions that are being made. If so, we need to hear from them because
they might just lead to some common ground between the league and the
players’ union.
Oh, almost forgot: The league says it will fine management up to $1 million
if anyone speaks up. Comments are only allowed to come from Bettman or
his sidekick, Bill Daly.
Earth to the NHL: That plan hasn’t worked too well.
As Flyers center Danny Briere recently pointed out, the NHL owners are
highly successful in the business world and they got there by voicing their
opinions.
Bettman needs to eliminate the gag order. Maybe it wouldn’t trigger a quick
resolution. But maybe, just maybe, it would get both sides (finally) talking
about meaningful issues at the bargaining table.
That would be a start.
Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 10.10.2012
642024
Philadelphia Flyers
Parent: Flyers' Snider finds worthy way to fill time in lockout
So helping to oversee this program has given the 79-year-old Snider a
deeper sense of accomplishment, perhaps one he couldn’t have foreseen
even a few years ago. It’s a growing program that provides an escape for
kids who need one. It’s become an outlet of another sort for a businessman
who needs one more than ever these days.
Delaware County Times LOADED: 10.10.2012
ROB PARENT
PHILADELPHIA — Ed Snider could do as many of his fellow NHL owners
are doing these days, keeping quiet while throwing his considerable rooting
interests into his other business interests. For the most part, that’s exactly
what Snider, the Flyers chairman, is doing. He hasn’t been much for the
public eye, but it still isn’t easy for him to keep quiet.
“No, sorry,” Snider said Tuesday when asked to comment about the NHL
lockout. “I don’t want to be fined a million dollars.”
Chuckle along with everyone else, but know Snider was being serious. The
powerful commissioner who works for him and all other NHL owners, Gary
Bettman, has decided to use a hammer to enforce his usual gag rule this
third lockout. When longtime Detroit Red Wings executive Jimmy Devellano
granted an interview to Island News Service of Victoria, B.C., recently, he
defended Bettman’s actions and criticized the players’ union.
For that, Bettman fined the popular Devellano $250,000.
Imagine, then, what one of the NHL’s most outspoken owners could incur
should he open up about this labor mess and thereby violate Bettman’s
golden gag rule. So yes, Snider had a million reasons to keep quiet at his
appearance Tuesday in an aging section of Northeast Philadelphia, even if
you were of the popular suspicion that if Snider had been allowed to talk
about it, he wouldn’t sound so much like many of the owners fueling this
lockout.
On this day, however, hockey wars be damned. Snider had a better reason
to be out here in the open again.
He begrudged to a TV reporter that yes, he missed watching hockey, just
like any other fan. Then Snider talked about why he had come to Tarken Ice
Rink: something that might be developing into a greater passion, one that
on this day was filling him with an obvious sense of pride and joy.
Inside, the building had been gutted and was fast on the way to being
completely renovated. It will be the fourth such resurrection funded by the
Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, the culmination of a $13 million
redevelopment project to not only save four city rinks from slated
demolition, but magically turn them into a haven away from home for area
youth.
“This is the fourth we’ve done and we’re all excited about it,” Snider said.
“It’s been a tremendous success. We can have these kids off the streets
365 days a year. We’ll keep expanding these programs.”
Snider initiated the foundation in 2005, forming a team to undertake
academic, hockey and skating instruction programs; providing equipment
and forming leagues for inner-city kids. All well and good. But in 2008,
Snider ponied up $6.5 million of his money to match a grant from the
Commonwealth’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program to renovate
the four rinks.
“Snider Hockey” had just taken a major step forward. So did its benefactor.
“It’s a fabulous thing for these kids,” he said. “We have a 90-some
matriculation rate as opposed to 50-some percent of the general population
of the schools. We help them with their homework, keep them off the
streets. ... It’s a great deal of satisfaction.”
With the culmination of this project, Snider points out his foundation’s work
is only beginning. There is a long-term strategic plan, foundation director
Scott Tharp says, to do similar projects in the stricken suburbs.
“We’ll keep expanding further out into the region,” Snider said, “to Camden,
Pennsauken, Chester ... probably in Allentown, too. We’re serving 3,000
kids now. Our goal is 10,000.
“If they have rinks, we’ll do this. If they don’t, who knows? Our next phase
is, we might build a rink from scratch. We’re raising a tremendous amount
of money. People love these programs. For every dollar that’s raised I put in
two dollars, so it’s worked pretty good. It’s not all me. We have a
tremendous board of directors and a lot of wonderful contributors.”
642025
Philadelphia Flyers
NHL Notes: Sestito to play in England
TIM RIDAY
Another Flyer is headed overseas.
Enforcer Tommy Sestito announced via his Twitter account that he has
signed with the Sheffield Steelers in England's Elite Ice Hockey League.
The 25-year-old appeared in 14 games for the Flyers last season. He
registered one assist, a minus-3 rating and 83 penalty minutes.
Here's some other news and notes from around the NHL.
Umberger to help coach Ohio State
R. J. Umberger is taking a different approach to the NHL lockout.
The former Flyer is returning to his alma mater to help coach the Ohio State
men's hockey team, according to the Associated Press.
"With the NHL lockout in full force, I am looking forward to being more
connected to the Ohio State hockey program once again," Umberger said.
"I'm excited to spend time on the ice with the players keeping myself in
shape and hopefully offering any advice and help I can to them."
The Pittsburgh native will serve as a volunteer assistant to coach Mark
Osiecki.
Umberger, who has 143 goals and 171 assists in 551 career games
between the Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets, played one season for the
Buckeyes before being drafted by the Vancouver Canucks.
Hasek retires ... again
Netminder Dominik Hasek has announced his retirement ... again.
In an interview given to Czech magazine iSport, via ProHockeyTalk, Hasek
said he is set to retire from hockey after failing to receive an offer from an
NHL club.
“I prepared, I wanted to play. But for what I was studying (return to the
NHL), it did not work. I do not see that it has changed," Hasek said.
“I wanted to do everything possible to get back to the NHL, but the other
party did not feel like me. Finally I decided it’s not worth it.”
Hasek had been training with Czech Extraliga team Pardubice.
The 47-year-old appeared in 735 career NHL games between the Detroit
Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators.
In 16 NHL seasons, the "Dominator" won 389 games, registered a 2.20
goals against average and a .922 save percentage.
Jurcina to Czech Extraliga
According to Elite Prospects' Matias Strozyk, Islanders defenseman Milan
Jurcina will join Pirati Chomutov of the Czech Extraliga.
Jurcina played 65 games for New York last season, registering three goals
and eight assists.
The 29-year-old has played in 430 games in his nine-year career between
the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Columbus Blue Jackets and
Islanders.
Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 10.10.2012
642026
Philadelphia Flyers
Simmonds fights and wins in overseas game
Sean Leahy
The NHL lockout hasn't kept Wayne Simmonds from playing hockey -- or
giving out black eyes.
The Flyers winger, who fought a career-high 10 times last season, is
playing for Germany’s Crimmitschau Hockey and Tennis Club, and a video
surfaced (via ProHockeyTalk) of Simmonds fighting an opposing player and
winning quite quickly.
The video can be seen here. Fast-forward to 1:53.
Simmonds lands a left-handed blow to the right eye of Fischtown Pinguin
Ralf Rinke, which left a mark.
Sean Leahy of Yahoo! Sports' Puck Daddy blog tweeted a photo of Rinke
showing off his battle wound:
Via his FB page via ISport, here's what Ralf Rinke, dude who fought Wayne
Simmonds, looks like post-fight - twitpic.com/b2cmus
642027
Philadelphia Flyers
Prospect Hovinen demoted to ECHL
Randy Miller
The Flyers never labeled Niko Hovinen as their goalie of the future, not
before or after Ilya Bryzgalov signed a nine-year, $51 million contract two
summers ago.
They have been very high on the 6-foot-7 Fin though, and just a few weeks
ago seemed to have big plans for him this season.
Playing in North America for the first time, Hovinen appeared to be a virtual
lock to begin the 2012-13 season with the AHL Adirondack Phantoms
sharing the goaltending duties either with fellow prospect Cal Heeter or 30year-old journeyman Scott Munroe.
A disappointing training camp later, Hovinen was demoted Monday to a
lower-level, minor-league club - the ECHL's Trenton Titans.
Hovinen, 24, had a rough going from the start, allowing three first-period
goals last week in his preseason debut against the Albany Devils.
The Flyers sent five others to the Titans - forwards Marcel Noebels, Jason
Akeson and Luke Pither, and defensemen Blake Kessel and Tyler
Hostetter.
Most of the skaters would be strong candidates to be promoted to the
Phantoms if and when the NHL lockout ends. At least two and probably
more roster spots for the Phantoms would open up with Flyers forwards
Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn beginning the season in the AHL and
four others also there who would have a chance to make the Flyers'
season-opening roster - wingers Eric Wellwood and Zac Rinaldo, and
defensemen Erik Gustafsson and Marc-Andre Bourdon.
Meantime, Flyers tough-guy forward Tom Sestito has found work during the
lockout by signing to play for the Sheffield Steelers in the United Kingdom's
Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL).
Courier-Post LOADED: 10.10.2012
642028
Pittsburgh Penguins
Hynes had been aware of Morrow's offensive talents for a long time.
Morrow part of full house for Wilkes-Barre defense
What he saw in Morrow's pro debut, an exhibition game at Rochester a
week ago, was that Morrow was rugged enough to deal with attacking
forwards and not shy about doing it.
Dave Molinari
"When he was in battle situations and had to play physical, he was strong,"
Hynes said. "He looked real sturdy on his skates.
"He was powerful, he was strong. He won his battles. Those are things you
don't get to see as many of in practice. It was nice to see."
Joseph Morrow was a first-round draft choice.
He's an elite prospect with an outstanding skills set, a guy capable of
making major contributions at both ends of the ice, even in the embryonic
stages of his pro career.
Which, given the Penguins' organizational depth on defense, might not
make him quite as special as he could -- or maybe, should -- be.
Morrow, the Penguins' No. 1 selection in the 2011 NHL draft, is one of 10
defensemen on the roster of their American Hockey League affiliate in
Wilkes-Barre, and there's every reason to believe he'll be there when the
Baby Penguins open their 2012-13 season Saturday in Binghamton, N.Y.
That, however, won't necessarily translate to a spot in the lineup against the
Baby Senators.
Not when Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's defense corps includes the likes of Brian
Strait and Robert Bortuzzo, who would be competing for spots in the NHL if
that league wasn't shut down by a lockout.
To say nothing of Simon Despres, a first-round choice in 2009 who has
shown enormous promise. And Brian Dumoulin, acquired from Carolina in
the Jordan Staal trade and whose training-camp performance has validated
management's decision to insist on his inclusion in that deal.
Add proven AHL performers like Dylan Reese, Carl Sneep and Joey
Mormina, along with prospects Alex Grant and Philip Samuelsson, to the
mix, and the Wilkes-Barre blue line is awfully crowded as the preseason
winds down.
All of that means is Morrow can take nothing for granted, which doesn't
bother him in the least.
"It could alter your development and your chance to get in the lineup, but,
being in this organization, being able to practice with these guys, learning
what they do and how they do everything definitely is a plus," he said.
"I wouldn't see it as a negative at all. They'll push you, and they'll show you
the way. The depth is definitely a positive."
Baby Penguins coach John Hynes describes it as "a great situation" for
Morrow because of the challenges he will face.
"He has to compete for his ice time," Hynes said. "That's important,
because when you have to compete for those situations, what you do on a
daily basis [in practice] really does matter, because you're competing
against other guys who are high-quality players.
"Although we have an abundance of talent on defense, there's not a huge
discrepancy between players, so it's going to come down to work ethic and
details when they're competing for those spots."
Morrow piled up 17 goals and 47 assists in 62 regular-season games with
Portland in the Western Hockey League in 2011-12, then added four goals
and 13 assists in 22 playoff appearances.
Those numbers reflect his ability to skate and move the puck, to say
nothing of the shot Morrow displayed when he hammered a puck past
Hershey goalie Braden Holtby from the right circle on a power play in an
exhibition game Saturday.
Morrow made that look easy, but appreciates that he is now facing
opponents who are bigger, stronger, faster and more gifted than the ones
he went against in major junior hockey.
"You're playing against men now," he said. "You're not playing against
boys. The pace of the game is much, much faster, and the structure is
definitely more systematic than it is in junior.
"In junior, there are 16-year-olds and there are 20-year-olds, so you can
kind of pick your spots and focus on some of the weaker guys. In this
league, there are no weak guys. They're all top-end hockey players."
As are most things about Morrow's game.
<
NOTES -- Former Penguins winger Mark Recchi, who retired in 2011,
skated with six Penguins -- defensemen Matt Niskanen and Ben Lovejoy,
along with forwards Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, Matt Cooke and Sidney
Crosby -- Tuesday at Southpointe. ... Crosby has been invited to but isn't
able to play in a charity game this week in Rimouski, Quebec. ... Penguins
general manager Ray Shero, assistant general manager Jason Botterill and
development coach Bill Guerin visited the team's ECHL affiliate in
Wheeling.
Post Gazette LOADED: 10.10.2012
642029
San Jose Sharks
Healthy Sheppard trying to resurrect career
Staff Writer
One of the most frequently asked questions I got last season, whether it be
through Twitter or during an online chat, was: what’s the deal with James
Sheppard?
My repetitious reply from January on was simple and straightforward: don’t
expect Sheppard, who suffered a serious left knee injury in the summer of
2010, to have any sort of impact on the NHL club this year. After all, the
former first round pick (ninth overall) of the Minnesota Wild hadn’t played a
game at any level in a year-and-a-half up to that point, and it wasn’t even a
sure thing that his professional career would continue.
Now? Sheppard has declared himself recovered and is ready to begin his
journey back to the NHL with the American Hockey League’s Worcester
Sharks, with whom he signed a contract with just before training camp.
Head coach Roy Sommer told the Worcester Telegram that Sheppard
“looks great now, and I think you’ve just seen the tip of it.” Sheppard even
scored a goal in Worcester’s preseason game last Thursday, a 4-3 loss to
the Connecticut Whale (which was led by Calder Trophy candidate and
Rangers playoff hero Chris Kreider, who tallied a hat trick).
“I feel really good. I feel in shape, I feel energetic, and I’m really happy to be
playing hockey again,” Sheppard told me on Tuesday, via telephone.
It’s been a long road back for Sheppard, who was injured in an offseason
ATV accident while training in Vail, Colorado in September of 2010. The
Sharks took a chance when they acquired him from the Wild, with whom he
had 11 goals and 38 assists in 224 games over parts of three seasons from
2007-10. The Sharks sent a third round pick in 2013 to Minnesota in
exchange for the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder on August 8, 2011.
“We looked at it as a risk-reward thing,” Wilson told the Telegram. “We
scouted him as a junior and really liked him then. We even thought about
trading up in the draft so we’d have a chance to take him.”
He arrived in San Jose a little more than a year ago and immediately took
up residence in the training room. Sheppard briefly made an appearance for
practice on Nov. 18, but that didn’t last very long, and he later described
that attempt to return as feeling like he was “skating in mud.” He promptly
went back to the gym to build more muscle.
Fast-forward to Jan. 7, and Sheppard once again took part in a practice at
Sharks Ice. His stated goal that day, he told reporters, was to play a game
by the beginning of March.
He reached that goal when he appeared in four games with Worcester on a
two-week conditioning stint from late Feb. through March 11, going
scoreless with two penalty minutes before he was shut down again. He
admitted on Tuesday that playing in those games might not have been the
best idea.
“I feel way better, and completely different [now],” Sheppard said. “I wasn’t
really ready when I played those four games, looking back. I feel much
better now, and feel prepared and ready to go right now. Last year, I felt like
I had a bad knee and I don’t think I was 100 percent out there. Now, I feel
like I’m 100 percent, and I can play the game that I want to play.”
Although pain in his left knee will be something that he likely has to manage
for the rest of his life, it’s not something that he thinks about now when he
hops over the boards.
“When I get on the ice it all kind of goes away, just because of how intense
the game is and how fast it is,” he said. “You just kind of lose yourself in the
game.”
When and if the NHL season gets under way, it will be interesting to see
where Sheppard ends up, provided he stays healthy. The Sharks are
counting on several of their younger players like Tommy Wingels, TJ
Galiardi and Andrew Desjardins to continue their development provide
steady minutes and secondary scoring on the bottom two lines.
Adding the 24-year-old Sheppard into that mix would help in terms of depth,
and internal competition for playing time.
That’s not something Sheppard is focused on just yet, though. Instead, he’s
in high spirits to move forward with his career, after a roller coaster ride of
emotions the last two years.
“Everyone can have bad days and good days where they kind of question
[themselves], but the quicker you get over that and quicker you say ‘I’m
going to beat this thing,’ the better it is,” he said. “I really have to give a lot
of thanks to a lot of people who helped me through that, and helped me to
where I am right now.”
642030
Vancouver Canucks
Why are Alex Edler and Jason Garrison not practising with locked-out
Canucks?
By Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun October 9, 2012
Vancouver Canuck defencemen Alex Edler and Jason Garrison have been
conspicuous by their absence at UBC while their locked-out teammates
continue to skate three times a week in player-directed practices.
Could it be they are not locked out because of injury, and still on the payroll,
like rehabbing centre Ryan Kesler? No one connected with the Canucks or
the players involved would comment Tuesday, or could be reached for
comment, but Kevin Bieksa admitted earlier Tuesday that Edler and
Garrison were “unhealthy.”
Bieksa accidentally spilled the beans when asked whether he would have
guest coaches for his charity game Oct. 17 against the UBC Thunderbirds.
“Some of my friends who are unhealthy right now — Kes, Eagle (Edler) and
Garrison — said they’d be on the bench for us,” Bieksa replied. “They said
they’ll be here regardless.”
Before the lockout, Edler and Garrison were both skating regularly at UBC
with a group of Vancouver-based Canucks and Canuck farmhands. They
would have to be diagnosed as “injured” and “unfit to play” by Canuck
medical personnel to collect their paycheques. In that event, they would
also be obliged to report to Rogers Arena for treatment and team
supervised activities as Kesler is doing. They would also not be permitted to
skate with the locked-out players.
It’s believed neither is seriously hurt. According to Bieksa, Edler attended
the B.C. Lions game Saturday at BC Place Stadium and, following the
Lions’ 27-22 victory over Calgary, Edler kicked a 30-yard field goal “without
breaking a sweat.” Garrison has reportedly been skating on his own in
Richmond.
Edler is in the final year of a contract that pays him $3.25 million while
Garrison signed a six-year deal with the Canucks on July 1 for $27.6
million. Garrison’s contract also called for a $3.5 million signing bonus.
Vancouver Sun: LOADED: 10.10.2012
642031
Vancouver Canucks
“I’m trying to keep things in perspective and hoping for the best, by being
optimistic. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I just think there is too much at
stake for both sides to really make this thing go a long, long time.
Canucks: Should have been Schneider’s day to shine
“Until then, I’m just waiting for my chance and trying to stay sharp.”
By Jason Botchford, The Province October 9, 2012
Schneider could still try and stay sharp by going home to Boston to spend
time with goalie coach Brian Daccord, who has been helping hone his game
since he was 15 years old.
The beginning of the NHL’s regular season has been written off for so long,
Thursday will come and go with barely a shrug.
At this point, the loss of the season opener feels like it hardly matters.
But it matters to Cory Schneider.
On Thursday, Schneider will be in Vancouver, sitting back and analyzing
Alex Rodriguez’s swing, instead of in Calgary doing what he should be
doing — breaking down the Flames.
“I’ve waited eight years for this, what’s a few more months?” said
Schneider, playing it down unconvincingly.
It was his way of making light of an impossible situation.
This was set up to be Schneider’s moment. After investing those long years
patiently waiting his turn as the Canucks apprentice in net, this fall he was
ready, at age 26, to graduate. If all had gone well for everyone involved,
Roberto Luongo would have been traded by now, maybe even to
Edmonton, and Schneider would be making his final preparations to launch
his career as an NHL starter.
“It’s frustrating,” admitted Schneider, who was finally going to make a lot
more than $1 million for the first time in his career.
“We’d love to be playing on Thursday night. It’s always an exciting time of
year. It’s too bad we won’t have that opportunity.
“It’s something I want to get started. The opportunity (to be the Canucks
starter) is something I’ve really worked hard for and it’s something I’ve been
looking forward to for a while.”
For now, his hockey career has been knocked semi-conscious and reviving
it, which he will eventually need to do, will include a monkey wrench. Or
two.
Like many North American-raised goalies, Schneider hasn’t considered
playing in Europe. The game, with its larger sheet, is so foreign, goalies are
freaked out by the notion it will alter their technique, allowing bad habits to
fester.
Netminders fear “bad habits” like Rodriguez fears fastballs these days, and
it’s why they spend hours upon hours working the same drills over and over
during the course of a season. It’s also why so many of them avoid shinny
hockey in the offseason like it’s a core-economic issue.
But here’s the irony, if an NHL goalie like Schneider doesn’t go to Europe,
shinny hockey is all he has left.
“You can get a little sloppy here,” said Schneider after workout with a
handful of NHLers at UBC. “You can lose some of your good habits.
“For now, I’m just trying to stay up with the pace of NHL shooters. You can
go backwards if you do work on your (technique) but only face college or
low-level shooters.
“Sometimes, it’s a bit of a trade-off and you have to make a call on what is
going to help the most.”
Or hurt the least.
It’s quite the Catch-22 for Schneider, who may have as little as 10 days o
get ready for a season when — if — the lockout ends.
This is not exactly the best way to be prepping for the most critical junction
of his career. No one wants to think of the “what if he can’t do it?” question.
But the reality is, there is a finite amount of time Schneider will have to play
hockey in his prime. There is also a finite number of chances he’s going to
have to prove he’s an elite No. 1 goalie in the NHL.
“But the whole point of this lockout (for the players) is to not get frustrated,”
Schneider said. “If I allow myself to get deeply frustrated, then things can
spiral out of control in terms of your work ethic, and in terms of your
decision making.
“It may come to it where I get in touch with him to try and figure something
out,” Schneider said.
“He has a pretty nice set up there in New England, teaching midget, high
school, college and American Hockey League guys. He and I are good
friends and have a good relationship, so I’m sure we could figure it out.”
Of course, if he were to leave, his teammates would be left without a goalie
for their on-ice practices at UBC, making their workouts even less
productive.
Never seems to be easy for Schneider, does it.
Vancouver Province: LOADED: 10.10.2012
642032
Vancouver Canucks
Bieksa considers an extra Buddies game
By Ben Kuzma, The Province October 9, 2012
Michael Buble filmed a Christmas video in Vancouver last week. The
slimmed-down Burnaby crooner sat atop a horse and was dressed in an
RCMP uniform. Will he be wearing a hockey uniform Oct. 17 at UBC? After
all, he’s not touring, and has supported a dozen charities.
When Kevin Bieksa hinted Tuesday that the sold-out Bieksa’s Buddies
charity game — between nine members of the Vancouver Canucks and
NHL peers against the UBC Thunderbirds — will include non-professional
players, he was asked if Buble might skate before 5,000 fans during the
sold-out event. An ardent Canucks follower, Buble has altered tour
schedules and song lyrics to pay homage to the Canucks and practised
with the club on Dec. 20, calling it “the greatest day of my life.”
“Did he?” smirked Bieksa, who will soon announce his roster. “I don’t know
what he’s doing then [Oct. 17]. “We’re going to have a couple players on
our team who aren’t pro players, by any means. The whole point is not to
be an intense game, it’s to be entertainment and I’m encouraging guys to
be creative and have fun. Don’t backcheck too hard, so for the (Sedin)
twins, just play your normal game — creative, but don’t backcheck. We’re
not making travel arrangements or accommodations or insurance.
“I’ve had celebrities wanting to be flown in and I’ve told them all the same
thing — it’s strictly donation.”
Regardless of how far Bieksa can cast his celebrity net, a rapid response to
the event will ensure that the Canucks Autism Network, Canucks Family
Education Centre and Canuck Place hospice will benefit from more than the
$100,000 raised. By adding an online auction, plus a 50-50 draw, the total
should swell and create a buzz for another similar venture — perhaps
Bieksa’s Buddies 2.0 — because the $20 tickets went fast.
“I heard initially 90 minutes and then I heard 20 minutes,” added Bieksa. “It
shows the passion of the community here and how much they (fans) miss
hockey. If the event goes smoothly we’ll work on another one if the lockout
continues, but we hope we’re playing hockey by then. It’s hard to look three
or four weeks down the line and make plans. We’re still optimistic there’s
going to be a season at some point.”
Just six Canucks skated Tuesday at UBC and were joined by NHL peers
Andrew Cogliano (Anaheim Ducks), Rod Pelley (Ducks), Jim Vandermeer
(free agent) and Tanner Glass (Pittsburgh Penguins). Amid the hope that
resumption of collective bargaining agreement talks Wednesday might
create traction — despite core economic issues not on the agenda —
pessimism is mounting.
“When talks are none-core issues, you can’t be too optimistic,” said Bieksa.
“At least we’re talking. Maybe it’s a little about momentum and it snowballs
and you’re checking your ego a little bit more and giving a little bit more.”
The impasse has meant a tour for Cogliano. The Ducks centre spends a
majority of his summer training in Vancouver, but the Toronto native also
took part in the recent Vail, Colo., sessions led by Sidney Crosby.
“You can lose your mind doing the same thing over and over again,” said
Cogliano, who may play in the Oct. 17 charity game. “Sid was kind of the
ring leader and when he’s doing his thing, you have no choice but to go
hard and be intense.”
Vancouver Province: LOADED: 10.10.2012
642033
Winnipeg Jets
"We're doing everything we can to stay in shape but, mentally, all we can
think about is we should be playing at MTS in front of another sold-out
crowd."
We made some NOISE
The crowd count: 15,004 and the first of 41 consecutive sell outs.
Ed Tait
The heroes: Nik Antropov scored the lone Jet goal, with Mark Stuart and
Alex Burmistrov drawing the assists.
It wasn't the big National Hockey League shindig at The Forks that Mark
Stuart remembers most one year later. And those daily signs of the growing
frenzy -- from the first announcement on May 31, to the jersey launch
through to training camp and preseason -- were all juicy moments to have
experienced.
No, what sticks out for the veteran Winnipeg Jet about Oct. 9, 2011 -- the
day the city and province made its triumphant return to the NHL -- is this:
"We were in the locker room before the game," Stuart recalled, "and before
we even went on the ice you could hear everybody, all the fans, going
absolutely nuts.
"You know, home openers are always fun. But that one was special, for
obvious reasons."
Understandably, this will be an emotional week for Jets players, whether
they are the handful of regulars still gathering to work out at MTS Iceplex or
those spread out all over the globe attempting to keep their skills sharp.
Their NHL futures remain a bit of an unknown at this point, what with no
end to the lockout on the horizon and this Saturday's 2012-13 home opener
now crossed out on the calendar with a big, fat 'X.'
So they practise, pray for a quick resolution and, on the one-year
anniversary of the Jets' 2011-12 opener, they reminisce.
"The day hockey came back to Winnipeg," said veteran centre Jim Slater.
"That was quite the scene. Skating out there for the warm-ups, the fans
have already packed the building, signs are everywhere, all the hype... that
whole atmosphere, that's what I'll remember.
"I'm so glad I can say I was a part of that. In your career you don't have the
opportunity to play in a new city that is getting its NHL team back.
"It's too bad, though," Slater continued. "Right now we're not so much
thinking about that, but wishing there was a game here in four days."
It could be said that the emotional impact of the lockout will be felt here in
Winnipeg more than any other NHL market. Consider that Oct. 9, 2011 is
now part of this province's sporting history.
And now just over a year later -- and after waiting a decade and a half for
the NHL to return -- the MTS Centre will be dark on Saturday for what was
supposed to be the second home opener in the franchise's rebirth.
"We were part of the excitement last year and we could feel it," said Stuart.
"But now, to not be playing... I know how it feels for us and so I can only
imagine how it feels for the fans. We felt their excitement all of last year, but
we can't really feel their disappointment now.
"Sometimes I wonder if the disappointment now is the same, if not more so,
than the excitement we all felt last year. It's tough."
Slater and Stuart will readily admit the next little while will feel like they're
being yanked through an emotional grinder. They are thinking not only
about lost wages, but lost chunks of careers with an average length of just
5.5 years.
And you can bet Jets boss Mark Chipman is experiencing the exact same
disappointment from the other side of the negotiating table. All that work
done to relocate the franchise and make the players feel comfy in their new
home and now... nothing.
"There was a newness about everything last year," said Stuart.
"That's why I was so excited about this season. We had the experience of
last year and I think it helped us grow as a team.
"Every home game felt like a home opener. But after a while we had to just
learn to win and try to string some wins together.
"This year, now we're acclimated and we can just play we were hoping,
we're STILL hoping, we can become a playoff team.
The villains: Tomas Plekanec scored once and added two assists for the
Habs with the other goals courtesy Mike Cammalleri, Travis Moen, Max
Pacioretty and Yannick Weber. Carey Price kicked out 30 of 31 shots for
the victory.
The ceremonial face-off: Featured Shelly Crawford, the mother of the late
Rick Rypien, dropping the puck between Brian Gionta of the Canadiens and
Jet captain Andrew Ladd.
The national anthem: was sung by Winnipegger Chantal Kreviazuk and
Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy while backed by members of the Winnipeg
Symphony Orchestra.
Dignitaries in the house: PM Stephen Harper, NHL commissioner Gary
Bettman, Jets co-owner David Thomson.
Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 10.10.2012
642034
Winnipeg Jets
Original Jets to reminisce about WHA days
Geoff Kirbyson
If it weren't for Ben Hatskin, Bobby Hull and the cast of characters that
made up the 1972-73 Winnipeg Jets, would there be a professional hockey
team in Manitoba today?
We will never know the answer but there's no doubt those trailblazers from
four decades ago started something that lives on to this day.
Much was made a few weeks ago over the 40th anniversary of Team
Canada's victory over the Soviets in the Summit Series, but the Jets' first
game in the World Hockey Association (WHA) on Oct. 12, 1972 against the
New York Raiders in Madison Square Garden is just as significant a
milestone around these parts.
Five members of that squad -- Ab McDonald, Joe Daley, Dunc Rousseau,
Duke Asmundson and Bill Sutherland -- will visit the Winnipeg Free Press
News Café on Thursday at 3 p.m. to discuss life in the wild and whacky
WHA. Fans are welcome to ask questions or get memorabilia signed.
For many of the players, including Daley, McDonald, Asmundson and
Rousseau, the chance to suit up for the Jets in the rebel league also meant
coming home to Manitoba.
Rousseau, a left-winger who scored 16 goals in that inaugural campaign,
said it's nice that some people are commemorating the first Jets team.
"Here are the guys that took a pretty giant leap in their careers back in 1972
and they haven't really been recognized for it. It's so long ago but it's still
part of what has come about (with the return of the NHL to Winnipeg)," he
said.
You want whacky? Hockey fans have become acclimatized to the fancy
rinks of today's NHL teams but facilities were far from uniform in the WHA.
For every Madison Square Garden, there was a Cherry Hill Arena in New
Jersey, which had a sloped ice surface.
"It was so high in the middle, the short guys almost couldn't see the other
end of the ice," said McDonald, who assured his place in team history by
scoring the Jets' first goal against New York that first night.
The captain said he never really thought about the goal's significance until
people started telling him that he had scored the Jets' first goal.
"I'm not exactly sure how I scored it. It was 40 years ago. We won, though,
and it was a great start for us. We were playing without Robert Marvin
(Hull). He wasn't allowed anywhere near our bench (because of an NHL
lawsuit)," he said.
There was also the St. Paul Civic Center and its clear Plexi-glass boards.
Visiting players were rumoured to have recommended to teammates to fall
down in certain corners if there was a woman -- or several women -wearing mini-skirts.
642035
Winnipeg Jets
Jets trailblazers at News Café Thursday
Geoff Kirbyson
If it weren’t for Ben Hatskin, Bobby Hull and the cast of characters that
made up the 1972-73 Winnipeg Jets, would there be a professional hockey
team in Manitoba today?
We will never know the answer but there’s no doubt that those trailblazers
from four decades ago started something that lives on to this day.
Much was made a few weeks ago over the 40th anniversary of Team
Canada’s victory over the Soviets in the Summit Series, but the Jets first
game in the WHA on Oct. 12, 1972 against the New York Raiders in
Madison Square Garden is just as significant a milestone around these
parts.
Five members of that squad — captain Ab McDonald, goaltender Joe
Daley, Dunc Rousseau, Duke Asmundson and Bill Sutherland — will visit
the Winnipeg Free Press News Café on Thursday at 3 p.m. to discuss life in
the wild and whacky WHA.
Fans are welcome to come as well to ask some questions or get some
memorabilia signed.
For many of the players, including Daley, McDonald, Asmundson, and
Rousseau, the chance to suit up for the Jets in the rebel league also meant
coming home to Manitoba.
Rousseau, a left-winger who scored 16 goals in that inaugural campaign,
said it’s nice that some people are commemorating the first Jets team.
"Here are the guys that took a pretty giant leap in their careers back in 1972
and they haven’t really been recognized for it. It’s so long ago but it’s still
part of what has come about (with the return of the NHL to Winnipeg)," he
said.
You want wacky? How about the arenas some of the WHA teams played in.
Hockey fans today have become acclimatized to the fancy rinks that NHL
teams call home but facilities were far from uniform in the WHA. For every
Madison Square Garden, there was a Cherry Hill Arena in New Jersey,
which had a sloped ice surface.
"It was so high in the middle, the short guys almost couldn’t see the other
end of the ice," said McDonald, who assured his place in team history by
scoring the Jets’ first goal against New York that first night.
The captain said he never really thought about the goal’s significance until
people started telling him that he had scored the Jets first goal.
"I’m not exactly sure how I scored it. It was 40 years ago. We won, though,
and it was a great start for us. We were playing without Robert Marvin
(Hull). He wasn’t allowed anywhere near our bench (because of an NHL
lawsuit)," he said.
There was also the St. Paul Civic Center and its clear plexi-glass boards.
Visiting players were rumoured to have recommended to teammates on the
bench to fall down in certain corners if there was a woman – or better yet,
several women – wearing mini-skirts.
642036
Winnipeg Jets
‘It was a great time for hockey’: WHA Jets reflect on 1972
Ted Wyman
WHA Jets: 40 years later
"If there's a goal that everyone remembers, it was back in old '72."
— The Tragically Hip
I was six years old in 1972 and just old enough to remember that iconic
hockey series between Canada and Russia, that stirring comeback by the
boys wearing the Maple Leaf and, of course, the most memorable goal of a
generation by Paul Henderson.
Unlike most Canadians, however, my fondest hockey memories of 1972
don't come from the Summit Series. I know, I'm a little different.
Well sue me, because it's true. My greatest memories of that incredible year
for hockey come from the first games I ever attended and from the time
when my city got its first pro hockey team.
It was in 1972 that the Winnipeg Jets were born, given credibility by the
miraculous signing of one of hockey's greatest icons — none other than
Bobby Hull — and came to life as one of the best teams in the fledgling
World Hockey Association.
It was in that year that a dreamer named Ben Hatskin put it all together and
began a ride that Winnipeggers are enjoying again today, albeit with some
major peaks and valleys along the way.
Yeah, I was young, but I knew enough to be impressed that Bobby Hull was
wearing a Winnipeg Jets jersey. It was the start of a love affair with a team
that would go on to become one of the best in the world and would win
three Avco Cup championships for our city.
Of course, my memories are few and far between, given my tender age, so
let's hear it from somebody who had a front-row seat for all seven
tumultuous WHA seasons.
"It was a great time to be involved in hockey," former Jets goalie Joe Daley
began as we met in his sports card shop on St. James St., recently.
Daley had played for expansion NHL teams in Buffalo and Pittsburgh and
had a stint in Detroit before he got an opportunity to come home and play
for a new team, in a new league. He jumped at the chance, even before he
knew the team was going to sign Hull.
In some ways the whole thing seems like a blur, with the team starting up,
Hull signing at Portage and Main, injunctions being filed by the NHL to keep
Hull and other players out of the WHA, clandestine practices behind
papered windows in Kenora and a little thing called the Summit Series
going on in the back yard.
"For me, being a Winnipegger and coming home to play, and having a
Summit Series game in Winnipeg and being able to go and watch that, it
was unbelievable," Daley reflected. "Everything was happening so fast that
you really didn't have a chance to absorb it like you can as an older person.
You sit back and you can really cherish and enjoy it.
"It was a special time. I don't think people in Winnipeg maybe realized what
that time period was going to result in 40 years later. Now we're bragging
about another National Hockey League team called the Jets and to think,
going back to that time, that this was what was going to transpire is
incredible."
In some ways it was a time similar to the 15-year period between the
departure of the original Jets for Phoenix and the arrival of the new Jets
from Atlanta. Fans wanted to believe pro hockey would come to Winnipeg,
but it was hard to get their hopes up. Hatskin had tried to land an NHL
expansion team but was turned down. This WHA thing seemed like the only
hope.
"If, as a 16-year-old, somebody would have told me I was going to end my
career in Winnipeg, playing pro hockey, I would have said "What are you
smoking?," Daley laughed. "I didn't think that was going to be a possibility."
Few people did, except for maybe the legendary Hatskin, who somehow
convinced the other WHA owners to help him pony up cash to offer Hull a
million bucks. That was the moment the WHA became real and it held its
own for seven years, until the big bad NHL finally swallowed it up and
grudgingly accepted the four strongest franchises, including the Jets.
Hatskin's feat, and Hull's greatness are what made the Jets and it all traces
back to that incredible first season.
For the next few days, the Winnipeg Sun will celebrate those indelible
months on the hockey calendar, culminating on Friday, Oct. 12, the 40th
anniversary of the first game ever played by the Jets, at Madison Square
Garden against the New York Raiders.
We'll bring you the memories of many of the old Jets -- a handful still live in
Winnipeg -- and look back at how Hatskin and his partners brought it all
together. And, of course, no story on the original Jets would be complete
without a visit from Robert Marvin Hull.
It was a time and a league that changed hockey forever.
It was a team that set the table for Winnipeg to become the hockey-mad
city that it is today.
What do you remember about the WHA Jets? Challenge our quiz:
A look at the 1972-73 Winnipeg Jets
Bob Ash
Defenceman
Age: 68
Hometown: Broadview, Sask.
Played the first two seasons with the Jets. Only other pro season was 197475 with the Indianapolis Racers. Had six goals and 52 points in 200 WHA
games.
Reader's comments »
Winnipeg Sun LOADED 10.10.2012
642037
Winnipeg Jets
Hit the ice with the Winnipeg Sun Pro Fantasy contest
Staff Writer
No matter what the millionaire players and billionaire owners might think, it's
still hockey season. And right now, at any arena in Winnipeg or small-town
Manitoba, you'll find the true spirit of hockey, as thousands of boys and girls
hit the ice for another season of Canada's national obsession.
The Winnipeg Sun wants to reward the passion of the average player with a
very special contest. They're going to pick one lucky amateur team, from
atom all the way up to midget, for two days of full coverage in the Sun.
You'll get pre-game features, photos and video by Sun hockey writers, plus
full coverage of one of your games. Just like the pros.
The Winnipeg Sun — the official paper of hockey fans.
Hit the ice with the Winnipeg Sun
642038
Winnipeg Jets
was more desire not talent. When you had been in the minors, you had
something to prove."
WHA Winnipeg Jets were living the dream
All that local flavour meant there was another contributing factor to the
team's early success -- hometown pride.
Staff Writer
"I think for me, being a Winnipegger and being able to play at home, that
whole process was a little special for me," Daley said. "Being from the city
and being able to carry that crest on my chest, that made me pretty proud.
WHA Jets: 40 years later
There were older players who were journeymen in the NHL, some career
minor-leaguers, and some locals who were getting a chance to live the
dream by playing on their hometown's first professional hockey team.
Most of them jumped at the chance to play for a new team called the
Winnipeg Jets, in a new league called the World Hockey Association. And
that was before they knew the team was about to rock the hockey world by
signing one of the NHL's biggest stars.
They had no idea what they were getting into, if they would even get to the
first game, how long the team or the season or the league would last. All
they knew was there were suddenly a lot more jobs for professional hockey
players, they were getting paid more than they were in the NHL, and they
were glad to be a part of it.
"I was just happy to come home and play and in the back of my mind was
"How long is this going to last and is it going to last and what happens if it
doesn't?" former Jets goalie Joe Daley, a now 69-year-old lifelong
Winnipegger.
Daley's concerns didn't last long. When founder Ben Hatskin somehow
found a way to pony up a million bucks and get Bobby Hull's name on a
contract, the Jets players knew they were part of something special.
"I signed before Bobby, but when Bobby came it was like an insurance
policy," Daley recalled. "Once he committed to coming, it was a guarantee
that we were going to get off the ground. It was tremendous. Thinking back
to that time I don't think I really absorbed even in my own mind, what an
impact that was going to have."
In the WHA draft, the team selected a lot of players who came from
Manitoba, thinking they could convince them to come home and play. There
were 11 Manitobans on that first team and several more from
Saskatchewan.
When they first came together in Winnipeg, it was a bit of a gong show. The
NHL did its best to keep Hull out of the WHA, using a court injunction to
prevent him from playing for the first few weeks. Hull was also the coach
and they had to conduct clandestine practices in order to get a team ready
for the season.
"It was kind of tough," said Ab McDonald, the Jets first captain, who had
already won four Stanley Cups by the time he returned home to play. "But
Bobby was always there, telling us to keep our chin up, that the day was
coming. We did OK without him. But you've always got the feeling you'll
play better with him.
"We weren't a team that said, 'OK, now that Bobby's here we're going to put
everything on his shoulders.'"
McDonald, now 76 and still living in Winnipeg, scored the first goal in the
history of the Jets on Oct. 12, 1972 at New York's Madison Square Garden.
The Jets won that game 6-4, with Hull's future linemate Chris Bordeleau
scoring four goals.
"That was probably as close a group of guys on a team as I've ever played
on. Maybe it was because we had something to prove as a group,
especially when you are starting a new league. You want to say "Hey, we
can make this thing work." We were all in the same position, trying to do the
same thing. It worked out fine. We had our fun, probably more at times than
we should have. In the end, when the puck was dropped, we gave a pretty
good accounting of ourselves."
The WHA eventually became a major thorn in the side of the NHL and
featured some of the biggest names in hockey history, including Gordie
Howe, Hull, Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. The Jets were the best
team for most of the seven years, winning three championships and playing
in five finals.
Not only were they successful on the ice, but they managed to avoid many
of the pitfalls that plagued other WHA teams.
"We had our struggles, there's no doubt about it," Daley said. "Even here in
Winnipeg. A lot of people don't know that for a couple of years there, there
were doubts whether the payroll was going to be met. I can honestly say, I
never missed a paycheque in seven years in Winnipeg and never worried
about missing one and yet, after all was said and done and I had a chance
to talk to (player personnel director) Billy Robinson after the fact, he said
'Joe, you don't know how close it came.' Thanks to the banks in Winnipeg
and people having faith in our organization, we survived and we looked like
we were the poster child for the league as far as how to operate."
Indeed by 1974, the team was out of money and in danger of folding, but
was rescued by public ownership. Then came the arrival of a handful of
European stars (including Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson and Lars-Erik
Sjoberg), which made the Jets more successful than they dreamed. They
won three Avco Cups and earned a reputation as one of the greatest teams
in the world through international play.
"I never felt like I had taken myself out of the elite and put myself into a
situation where I was going to be looked upon as being second class or
second rate," Daley said. "In the end, when we can look back now at the
players we had here in Winnipeg, at the type of team we had, the way we
went around the world and played internationally, representing Winnipeg
and our country, I can honestly say I played on the best hockey team in all
the years I ever played right here in Winnipeg in the WHA."
Players like McDonald, Asmundson, Bill Sutherland and Dunc Rousseau
weren't around for the greatest of the glory years. But they were there for
the beginning of it all and are still proud Winnipeggers today. They've seen
NHL hockey come and go and come back again, knowing all the while that
it was something they started that paved the way.
Did they realize at the time they were trailblazers?
"Not at all," Asmundson said. "A lot of players that first year were from
Manitoba. You were just thankful to be there and stay there.
"Everybody had the same intention and that was to make sure the league
got off the ground and survived and lasted," Daley added. "Most of the guys
came in with good attitudes and wanted to try to make this a viable
situation."
When Hull eventually joined the team, he was as dynamic as expected,
scoring 51 goals and 103 points in 63 games. Linemate Norm Beaudin, who
was the first player ever signed by the Jets, tied him for the scoring lead,
while Bordeleau had 47 goals and 101 points.
Many of the players give credit to then player personnel director Robinson,
who assembled that first team and made sure it was a good mix of
veterans, rookies and local players.
With Daley and Ernie Wakely in goal, the Jets went 43-31-4 in the first
season and made it all the way to the WHA final before losing to the then
Boston-based New England Whalers in five games.
"The first year, everybody took a chance and we were blackballed by the
NHL and everything but everybody will say the first year was probably the
best year of their hockey careers," said Rousseau, originally from Bissett,
Man.
Some of the local players who cracked the lineup were just thrilled to be
along for the ride.
"We had a great bunch of guys but not a lot of talent in that first year," said
Duke Asmundson, now 69 and originally from Vita, Man.
Sutherland, now 77, went on to coach the Jets in the NHL in 1980-81. He
had the distinction of replacing Hull on left wing on the Jets top line for the
first 15 games of the first season, while Hull's contract was before the
courts. He never minded getting bumped when the star player returned.
"We used to joke we had big names -- Asmundson, (Bob) Woytowich, (Bill)
Sutherland -- but we were talking about the number of letters in the name. It
"It was such a good life," said Sutherland, who had played several seasons
in the NHL before returning home. "After travelling around with five teams in
the NHL, it was like being reborn to have a team here. It was such a great
team to be a part of. Everybody liked everybody.'
Daley, who runs a sports card shop on St. James St., had a group of
players from that 1972-73 team over for some reminiscing and a few laughs
last week. The closeness of the former players was still evident 40 years
later. Each of them spoke about their time with the Jets as the highlight of
their careers.
"My time in the league and my time being a Winnipeg Jet, I can look back
fondly and say I enjoyed every minute of it," Daley said.
"And it did have a huge impact on hockey."
It was pretty special for the Winnipeg fans, too, Joe.

nhl`s daily clips - Philadelphia Flyers

Transcription

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