from Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette,

The city of Tampa, Fla., is scheduled to host the 2012 NCAA men’s hockey Frozen Four at the St. Pete Times Forum.

But the NCAA better rethink that in the wake of what the new ownership group of the Tampa Bay Lightning pulled on Notre Dame and the Lightning College Hockey Classic.

The NCAA should rescind Tampa’s right to host the Frozen Four after the Lightning told the Notre Dame just last Thursday that it wasn’t welcomed to have its tournament Jan. 2-3 in the St. Pete Times Forum....

Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson didn’t mince words in criticizing the Lightning’s new ownership group, which is headed by Oren Koules and former NHL player Len Barrie.

“I am extremely disappointed in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s decision to not continue the tournament,” Jackson said in a statement. “We had a verbal agreement to continue this for two more years, and as hosts of the Frozen Four in 2012, I’m not sure it’s the best message to send to the college hockey community by cancelling the tournament at such a late date.”

read on

via TSN,

The Ottawa Senators have traded defenceman Andrej Meszaros to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defencemen Filip Kuba, Alexandre Picard and a first round pick (previously acquired from San Jose).

Update 8:39pm ET (alanah): Also noted at the TSN link is this contract info—

Sources add that Meszaros is expected to sign a six-year contract with the Lightning averaging $4 million a season.

Everyone from KK hopes you have a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend!

We will be in ‘lite’ mode until Tuesday but will be updating throughout the weekend but maybe not as quickly as we normally do.

Time for us to re-charge our batteries and when we return, hockey season will be that much closer.

We have been working behind the scenes again this summer and expect some major developments around September 15th!

from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

NHL training camps were reduced from 27 days to 20 days as part of the last collective bargaining agreement. For another, the official opening of the regular season has been pushed back by six days, year over year, to appease the growing number of U.S.-based franchises, many of which draw poorly in the opening month of the season and would just as soon start near the beginning of November.

It’s also why Mats Sundin’s indecision — or Teemu Selanne’s or Brendan Shanahan’s — about their plans for the upcoming season do not have the same urgency as years past. It’s not as if training camps are even around the corner. They have the better part of three weeks to decide if they’re in or out…

read on and many other topics discussed like McCabe, Selanne and Sundin.

from Adam Proteau of the Hockey News,

Two high-ranking NHL sources confirmed to THN.com Friday that the Lightning are extremely interested in bringing the restricted free agent defenseman to Tampa Bay, but because they currently do not have their own 2009 third round draft pick that would allow them to sign Meszaros to an offer sheet, Tampa’s attempts at acquiring him may have hit a roadblock.

From there, the picture gets a little less clear....

Lightning management has been completely rebuffed by Pens GM Ray Shero, who does not wish to be even remotely associated with an RFA offer sheet.

Because of Shero’s reticence, the source said, Tampa Bay has been attempting to finalize a trade for Meszaros with Senators GM Bryan Murray that would not include the first, second and third round picks necessary for an offer sheet to work. But, according the source, Murray currently has “no impetus” to work out a trade for the 23-year-old blueliner.

but wait, there is more…

from Michael Caples of DetroitRedWings.com,

(Ty) Conklin joined Kris Draper, Tomas Holmstrom, Nicklas Lidstrom, Kirk Maltby, and Brian Rafalski as the only Wings who participated in the first optional skate before training camp.
Conklin, a native of Anchorage, Alaska, said that he thought it was important to get onto the ice as soon as possible to start meeting his new teammates.

“Anytime you can get in here and get familiar, I needed to make sure I can get in here and get prepared for camp,” he said. “That’s what I do every year; you come to camp with the idea that you’re going to play your best from day one.”

more from Conklin and also joining the Wings in their skate was the Oilers Shawn Horcoff who lives in Michigan.

JP Barry was just interviewed on FAN 590 and stated that his client Mats Sundin will be in Toronto September 5th to participate in a charity game being played for the Right to Play organization.

Barry stated that a formal announcement will be made shortly.  Other participants in the event:

The final roster of participants won’t be released until next week but the list of those already committed is pretty impressive—NHLers Joe Thornton, Jason Spezza, Curtis Joseph, Matt Stajan, Robyn Regehr, Mike Cammalleri, Andrew Ference and [Sean] Avery.

The celebrities include [Tim] Robbins, Alan Thicke, “Juno” director Jason Reitman, D.B. Sweeney and Cameron Bancroft.

From Steve Zipay at Blue Notes:

“The idea of possibly having a hockey mom in the White House just blows my mind.”

Those are the words of Dayton Bombers owner Costa Papista, with whom I just spoke after watching a CNN shot of him presenting Bombers jerseys to both John McCain and VP candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a self-described “hockey mom”, after the GOP rally at Nutter Center---where the ECHL Bombers play.

More on the hockey-mom-as-powerbroker can also be read at Puck Daddy today. As Greg says, “Soccer moms are sooooooooo 1996.”

from E.J. Hradek of ESPN,

My look at the best players in each franchise’s history takes me to the Central Division…

ST. LOUIS BLUES
Best forward: Brett Hull. You can make a case for Bernie Federko, but I’m not buying. Hull was just too good.

Best defenseman: Al MacInnis. He was just as good in St. Louis as he was in Calgary. Yes, he gets my nod over Chris Pronger.

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From Ryan Kennedy at The Hockey News,

Intellectual Noam Chomsky is famous for derailing pro games as a means of controlling the minds of the masses, throwing them off the “real issues” of the day.

The funny thing is, sometimes it’s the masses who truly need what sports provides; pride and community.

I mean, if you’re an affluent Chicago Cubs fan, or a Bay St. lawyer at a Maple Leafs game, you can live and die with your team on a superficial level and then go home to a nice, safe environment.

But for the same reason it was so important for the New Orleans Saints to play after Hurricane Katrina, hockey teams in many American towns right now are playing a key role in giving a lot of folks just a little daylight during some dark days.

read on

from Craig Custance’s Blog,

Since the Andrej Meszaros camp isn’t being real helpful in identifying the team that has made a reported offer sheet to the young defenseman, I’m trying to figure it out the old-fashioned way: The process of elimination. Sure, it’s not real efficient but on a Friday afternoon when there’s not a ton of hockey news to chase down it’s entertaining....

I’ve got a confirmed no on a signed offer sheet from the GM’s of three teams I thought might be possibilities: Atlanta, Phoenix and Columbus.

read on

from Mike Boone of Habs Inside/Out,

La Presse reports the Canadiens will retire Patrick Roy’s jersey number in November.

The club would not confirm the story. Columnist Richard Labbé was told the team plans to announce its centennial activities on Sept. 24.

Roy’s number 33 already has been retired by the Colorado Avalanche.

If the story is true, at least one pundit won’t be happy. In March, Red Fisher wrote:…

In my view, Roy abdicated his rights to that honour with his capitulation to irrationalism on Dec. 2, 1995, when a stunned Forum crowd saw him allow nine goals on 26 shots in an 11-1 meltdown to the Detroit Red Wings.

read on

“I want to act as a leader and make sure that the team achieve its goals. The pressure does not at all frighten me and I know that expectations are very high.”

“We have accomplished a lot last year and worked so hard to get there. We now know what we are capable and we believe we can beat all teams.”

-Alexei Kovalev, translated from an RDS story today.

from Ace Burpee of the Winnipeg Sun,

It’s been a while since I’ve been dead-set on approaching someone for an autograph, but this past Wednesday I was in the same room as Bobby Hull for the first time in my life. I was actually nervous, which hasn’t happened since I first met Bob Irving.

A five-pack on meeting Bobby Hull:…

3. How charitable is Bobby Hull? He signed two autographs for me ... one “To Ace, All the Best, Bobby Hull” ... the other dedicated to nobody in case I wanted to sell it on eBay. That’s not my thing, but I do now possess a 20-dollar bill signed by Bobby should the right charity angle come along.

1. If I had scored over 900 goals between the NHL and WHA, I’d wear a rug too. He’s earned the right.

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StarPhoenix reporter Cory Wolfe gets personal with a sports figure. Today, Chicago Blackhawks equipment manager Troy Parchman gets cornered....

The SP: OK, imagine this. The Pittsburgh Penguins are playing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final at Chicago’s United Center. Sidney Crosby’s skate loses an edge in the third overtime and the Penguins’ skate sharpener seizes up at the most inopportune time. Do you help him?

Parchman: We would. In the old days, there were stories—especially in the playoffs—of one team trying to screw the other. But nowadays, you’d give (the other team) your portable. It would still take them probably 15 or 20 minutes to get that portable and get it set up. I don’t think I’d let them into my room to use my machine, but I’d lend them the portable.

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