Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL National TV Schedule

by Paul on 08/25/10 at 02:02 PM ET
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from NHL.com,

The National Hockey League (NHL) announced today the television schedules for national partners NBC Sports, VERSUS, CBC, TSN, TSN2, RDS, RIS and NHL Network Canada for the 2010-11 NHL regular-season.

In the U.S., NBC Sports and VERSUS return for a sixth consecutive season as national television partners. In Canada, CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada begins its 58th regular-season of NHL® broadcasts while TSN, whose relationship with the NHL dates back to 1987, continues as the national English-language cable partner. RDS, the French-language telecast partner of the NHL, has been televising NHL games since its inception in 1989 and enters its eighth consecutive season presenting every Montreal Canadiens game.

For the 2009-10 NHL regular-season, television ratings and viewership continued a three-year upward trend for all partners. Additionally, the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs reached milestones:

continued or check out the media release below…

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Filed in: NHL Teams, NHL Media, Hockey Broadcasting | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Hockey Fans, How Do You Feel?

by Paul on 08/25/10 at 01:57 PM ET
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Gary Bettman made a statement today at the World Hockey Summit in regards to how hockey fans feel about NHL participation in the Olympics.

via Scott Burnside tweet,

Bettman says fans’ response to NHL participation in Olympics is a “mixed bag”. Not sure we buy that.

What are your thoughts and thanks to many of you who already responded to the same question on Twitter.

added 2:41pm, from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

To the surprise of practically everyone in the room, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wasn’t quite the wet blanket that delegates to Wednesday’s session of the World Hockey Summit might have imagined.

Instead, Bettman was quite playful during his 30-minute cameo appearance, teasing questioners, poking fun at IIHF president Rene Fasel, but most importantly, clarifying the NHL’s position with regard to Olympic participation, which was the day’s primary point of discussion.

Bettman stressed that he is not anti-Olympics and contrary to the general perception, the NHL hasn’t said no to appearing in Sochi, Russia, where the 2014 Games will be played.

continued

Filed in: NHL Talk, Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Gary+Bettman, Winter+Olympics,

Trade Joe Thornton?

by Paul on 08/25/10 at 12:37 PM ET
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Randy Hahn, TV play by play man for the San Jose Sharks, answers some fan mail…

Randy, I have the Sharks Stanley Cup recipe.  First they need to trade Joe Thornton to St. Louis for David Backes. Next they need to sign Owen Nolan. Then they have to play Nick Petrecki all season.  Logan Couture should move to the first line.  Then I would trade Walin, Huskins & Mitchell for Sheldon Souray or Marc Staal. And have Derek Joslin fill the extra spot on defense. This should keep the Sharks under the cap as well.

You certainly have some drastic ideas to shake up the Sharks,  Zubair. The problem is they hardly need the drastic kind of changes that you suggest. After all, they won the Western Conference in the regular season and got to the final four in the playoffs.  I like Backes,  but for Joe Thornton? Come on!  if Doug Wilson made a trade like that he’d be booed by Sharks fans worse than Pronger and Fleury combined!  My take on the team is that they need more consistent play from their 3rd and 4th lines, especially in the playoffs, and they need to find a puck moving defenseman from either inside the organization or elsewhere.  And obviously the goaltending has to come through….

more at San Jose Sharks Fan Zone…

Filed in: NHL Teams, San Jose Sharks | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Randy+Hahn,

What’s Going On With Bieksa?

by Paul on 08/25/10 at 12:22 PM ET
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from Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province,

The Canucks will still look at trading Bieksa. But they aren’t in a rush. It’s moved the betting line. People are beginning to see there remains a good chance now Bieksa will start the season with Vancouver. There are a number of reasons why.

The trade market is barren (see Tomas Kaberle). The Canucks have some flexibility under the salary cap with both Alex Burrows and Salo expected to start the season on injured reserve.

Bieksa is the Canucks only healthy defencemen, among eight, with a right-handed shot. Losing him now would begin to unravel Gillis’s nearly single-minded pursuit this offseason — to get better and deeper on defence.

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, Vancouver Canucks | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Kevin+Bieksa,

Talking Olympics At The Hockey Summit Today

by Paul on 08/25/10 at 12:07 PM ET
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from Andrew Podnieks at IIHF.com,

The gold-medal game between Canada and the United States was, quite simply, the single most watched hockey game in history. More than 114 million people around the world watched Sidney Crosby score in overtime to give Canada home gold.

By comparison, Lumme noted, the worldwide numbers for the 2010 and 2009 Super Bowl were 110 and 106 million, respectively. The most recent UEFA Cup final reached 106 million. In short, Lumme noted, “Olympic hockey is right up there with some of the biggest events in the world.”

The global average for hockey was 28.5 million, meaning that for every minute of hockey, that many people around the world watched NHLers play

more

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 Tags: Winter+Olympics,

What Andrei Markov talks?

by The Upper Canadien on 08/25/10 at 11:35 AM ET
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News today, via the wonderful Habsinsideout and Radio Canada, that Andrei Markov’s agent Don Meehan confirms no discussions have taken place on a Markov contract extension. Markov’s contract is due to expire at the end of the 2010-2011 season. More on that here:

Markov Talks Yet to Begin (French)

So no Andrei Markov talks, no news regarding a Carey Price contact – what exactly is Pierre Gauthier doing? My guess is that the Canadiens GM is heavily wrapped up in the Price negotiations, which may be going sideways. Consider some of the other restricted free agents currently without contracts for the coming season: Sam Gagner, Christ Stewart, Peter Mueller, Bobby Ryan, James Neal. The list goes on. These are all impact players, potential stars in some cases, younger than 23, and none of them have a contract with training camps a mere three weeks away. That’s not normal.

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Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: contracts, free+agency, Gauthier, Markov, Price,

Report:  Tampa re-signs RFA Steve Downie

by Tony on 08/25/10 at 10:19 AM ET
Comments (5)

From TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s Tweet:

RFA Steve Downie has agreed to terms on two-year, $3.7M deal with Tampa. Cap hit is $1.85M.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Tampa Bay Lightning, NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: NHL-Hockey,

Who Knew Sundin Was Interested In Bears?

by Paul on 08/25/10 at 08:50 AM ET
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from Keith Gerein of the Edmonton Journal,

Of all the places to meet a celebrity, the backwoods of Sweden might seem to be among the least likely.

That’s what Gordon Stenhouse thought when he travelled to the Scandinavian wilderness in April to conduct research on grizzly bears.

One day, on a field trip, Stenhouse’s camp received a surprise visitor. The new arrival did not have brown fur, a long snout and dark eyes, but instead came with blond hair, blue eyes and a face recognizable from countless broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada.

It was retired Swedish superstar Mats Sundin.

“When I was there, it was not too long after Canada won hockey gold in the Olympics, so I took over some Team Canada jerseys for the Swedish researchers—not wanting to rub it in or anything,” Stenhouse said. “Well, they made a phone call to Mats and he came up from Stockholm with his father. It turns out he is very interested in wildlife and the bear project in Sweden.”

continue to read about research that could help Alberta improve the status of its threatened grizzly population.

 

Filed in: Hockey Related Stories | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Mats+Sundin,

Chris Mason Adjusting To New Surroundings

by Paul on 08/25/10 at 08:36 AM ET
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from Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,

A new hat was in order. The goaltender immediately put the lid on his shaved head after an on-ice workout last week with some of his new teammates at the Thrashers practice facility.

“You have to change your allegiance,” said Mason, who spent the past two seasons with St. Louis after stints with Nashville and Florida. The 34-year-old signed a two-year contract as an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Mason took up temporary housing upon arriving in town early last season, eager to get to work and get to know his new teammates. Mason, who dresses in the stall once occupied by Johan Hedberg, is one of several key off-season acquisitions by the Thrashers.

“I think it takes a little time,” Mason said of getting acclimated to a new locker room. “There are a lot of us in the same situation. Basically, you have to come in and be yourself. Hockey guys are such good guys and it’s easy. Everybody so far as been great and welcoming and it’s easy to pretty easy to walk in. Everyone makes you feel so comfortable that it’s not to difficult. With a lot of us being on the same path it will be easy and guys will click and get to know each other.”

read on

Filed in: NHL Teams, Atlanta Thrashers | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Chris+Mason,

Report- Raffi Torres Joins The Canucks

by Paul on 08/25/10 at 08:14 AM ET
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from Jason Botchford of The White Towel,

And that’s why the Canucks were able to reportedly sign him to a one-year, $1 million contract, as revealed by Sportsnet Tuesday.  With that price point, the Canucks limit risk. They also set themselves for some (inexpensive) rewards.
Because there’s plenty to like here.

Torres brings things to the table the Canucks are woefully lacking in. He brings size/muscle/sandpaper. He will forecheck, be a net presence and score garbage goals. His seven power play goals last year with Columbus are more than Steve Bernier managed during his entire Canucks career.

It’s also more than Kyle Wellwood and Bernier had last year combined.

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, Vancouver Canucks | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Raffi+Torres,

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