from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,
According to president Richard Peddie, the club wants “a winner,” someone who is a “long-term builder and short-term fixer,” an executive with “NHL experience and an established track record, a success on and off the ice.”
From that, most people have come to believe the Leafs want a president/GM with one or more Stanley Cup rings gathered through years of senior management experience with one or more teams before ascending, to steal Brian Burke’s words, to “the Vatican” of hockey.
An admirable goal.
What’s interesting, however, is that of the four teams that have made their way to the NHL’s conference championships this spring, none are managed by individuals who initially made their way into their current jobs by first accumulating the type of experience the Leafs are apparently demanding.
read on
from Robert Dvorchak of the Pittsburgh Postg-Gazette,
“These teams have such a history,” said Bill Clement, who played on the Flyers’ title teams and is now a hockey analyst, “but five minutes after they drop the puck, none of it matters. They’ll be writing new history.”
He expects a “gladiator-type” series with Sherwoods instead of swords, one that will have the blood boiling not only among the combatants but the fan bases.
“Players respond to fans’ reactions, and fans are not compelled to show any restraint at all,” he said. “The Flyers are looked on as something like the Antichrist. Everybody loves to hate the Flyers. But you have to be careful. You can end up winning a battle and losing the war.”
read on
Two and a half minutes of Barry Melrose breaking down the Wings/Stars game from last night.
Watch below…
from Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News,
Mike Knuble grew up in Kentwood, Mich., played hockey for the University of Michigan, held the Stanley Cup in his hands at the end of his first two NHL seasons with Detroit. “The passion it brings out in the city and the fans is something you never forget,” he said after the Flyers’ practice yesterday. “In Detroit they had all those flags hanging on the cars . . .
“You got tired of it almost after 2 years in a row. It sounds crazy but . . . It was like, ‘There’s that damn Cup again.’ “
Ten long years later, after stops in Detroit, with the New York Rangers and Boston, after his midcareer transformation from NHL grinder to goal-scorer, Knuble, 35, sometimes drives home from the rink conjuring up that image, sometimes imagines what that skate around the ice
after the NHL’s final game would feel like again. He tries not to, he said, because the Flyers have won only eight of the 16 games necessary for that dream to be a reality. But it doesn’t always work, and it does not make him tired.
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from Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press,
Before I spend one more word on how good our hockey team played Thursday night, I have to say how bad it looked to see so many empty seats at Joe Louis Arena. Cheaper seats. Expensive seats. Empty clusters. Half-empty rows.
Hey, this ain’t Nashville, folks.
This is Detroit, Hockeytown, where every seat should be filled, because these are the conference finals, the bridge to the championship, against Dallas, a team that hasn’t been here for the playoffs in 10 years. That last time was a war that ultimately led to a Detroit Stanley Cup.
more
from Rink Side Blog at Sports Illustrated,
Coach Mike Babcock credits Kronwall’s intelligence, his ability to see the ice and read the play, which means Kronwall isn’t giving up two-on-ones by taking himself out of position. “It’s important for us that him and [defense partner Brad] Stuart are on the hunt because it makes [opponents] nervous,” Babcock said. “You got to be aware of where they are.”
more on the Wings…
from William Houston of th Globe and Mail,
In an interview this week, we asked Cole how he felt about the criticism.
“When you pick up the paper, and you get ripped, well, okay, you have to live with it,” he said. “But you have to keep saying to yourself, well, maybe the whole world isn’t thinking this way. Then you get reassured when you meet hockey fans and they’re so kind to you. That makes you feel good.”
Despite criticisms that he misidentifies players too often, Cole’s work this season has received kudos from people in the business.
more
from Jean-Jacques Taylor of the Dallas Morning News,
If the Stars, the team that played with bravado and arrogance in the first two rounds of the playoffs don’t show up in a hurry, the Western Conference finals will end in four games.
No doubt.
You know it. I know it. Even the players know it, though they certainly aren’t going to admit it.
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From Rhéal Séguin at the Globe & Mail,
Hockey legend Vladislav Tretiak has taken hundreds of flights over his career and witnessed many bizarre incidents on planes, but nothing like last week’s midair altercation that left a drunken Russian passenger dead.
Mr. Tretiak was fast asleep in the first-class section of an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Toronto, on his way to the prestigious international hockey championship in Quebec City, not knowing that one of his diehard fans was determined to talk to him.
“I felt someone shaking me on my shoulder and I woke up. There was this guy standing next to me. He looked like he had been drinking. Before I realized it, somebody else was pulling him away as he screamed, ‘Tretiak, Tretiak.’ And then they just took him away,”
continued... *a strange story, and obviously very upsetting, experience for Tretiak
from Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post,
Olie Kolzig, the Washington Capitals goaltender through some of the best and worst moments in the team’s history, confirmed yesterday what had been suspected for weeks: He has played his final game for the franchise that drafted him in 1989.
continued (reg. req.)
from the Philadelphia Inquirer,
Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen was diagnosed with a blood clot in his left ankle today. He will be out for the remainder of the playoffs.
The diagnosis was made at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Timonen said.
“I got hit with a shot in Game 4 against Montreal,” said Timonen, 33. “It’s been getting sorer and sorer every day. We thought we’d get it checked out because it didn’t get better and they found a blood clot.
continued
added 8:35pm, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren answered some questions today from the media regarding Timonen…
added 9:12pm , Kimmo Timonen answers some questions and the answers are below.
from the Palm Beach Post,
Two promising and qualified candidates for the Panthers’ coaching job emerged this week when former Toronto coach and general manager Pat Quinn and current New York Rangers assistant coach Perry Pearn expressed interest in the job.
Quinn and Pearn both told The Palm Beach Post that they have enjoyed a close working relationship with Panthers GM Jacques Martin and would relish the challenge of ending the team’s eight-year playoff drought.
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from Mark Whicker of the OC Register,
And if you live in New Orleans, San Antonio, Salt Lake City, Orlando or Cleveland, you are blissfully unaware of how unlucky you are.
You have the NBA and you never have had the NHL, and so you live under the impression that you’re seeing something urgent and dramatic.
You have no idea that the hockey playoffs are to the basketball playoffs what the William Tell Overture is to Chopsticks.
It’s not that the basketball games lack juice. It’s just that the hockey games overflow with it. Short of war or a home invasion, nothing seems more imperative.
read on
from Rick Sadowski of the Rocky Mountain News,
I spoke with Giguere the day after the season ended and, except for saying that he’d welcome Joe Sakic back “with open arms,” wouldn’t comment specifically about any player or coach.
Frankly, I didn’t get the feeling that he was too enthusiastic about Quenneville.
No announcements have been made since then, which leads me to believe Quenneville has coached his last game for the Avalanche. His contract expires at the end of June, but I doubt Giguere will wait that long before making an official announcement.
Seems to me, if Giguere wanted Quenneville back, a new deal would already have been struck.
more
from TSN,
Sources tell TSN Fabian Brunnstrom will make his NHL debut next season with the Dallas Stars.
Update 3:56pm ET:More from TSN,
The 23 year old Swedish forward officially made his decision on Thursday with Dallas edging out Montreal, Detroit and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“In the end there was no wrong decision. All of the organizations involved were extremely professional and respectful in their approach and the opportunity was carefully explained. The Dallas option was simply the best one overall for Fabian and he is very comfortable with his decision,” said Brunnstrom’s agent J.P. Barry.
added 7:14pm, from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail,
Ladies and gentlemen, the votes are in and it’s a unanimous decision – this year’s salesman of the year is J.P. Barry. Yes, it’s only May but there is no way anyone can top our man.
That was settled on Thursday when Barry, the Calgary-based agent for Fabian Brunnstrom, announced the Dallas Stars won the bidding war for his client. Barry did such a masterful selling job that at one point, 15 NHL teams were slavering for his services.
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