http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/20823-Sean-Avery-handed-sixgame-suspension-from-NHL.html
Sean Avery has been suspended six gams by the NHL for inappropriate comments to the media prior to Tuesday's game against Calgary.
The suspension is retroactive to Tuesday's game, meaning Avery will have to sit out four more games.
"Mr. Avery has expressed remorse for his recent comments and has sought a professional anger management evaluation," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement issued by the league. "I will require that he follow through with that process as a condition of his returning to the ice and that he complies with any and all recommendations."
Avery, who signed a four-year, $15 million deal with the Stars in the off-season, was condemned by his coach Dave Tippett, GMs Les Jackson and Brett Hull, owner Tom Hicks and some of his teammates for his remarks.
Schupay joined the team for the 2006-07 season and quickly made an impact on the Ice and the U.S. Hockey League. The league's owners honored him as the top USHL executive. He was in charge of day-to-day operations and strategic planning.
Man, this is so boring. They keep kicking it out of bounds!
The Chicago Blackhawks have named Hall of Famer Denis Savard as a team ambassador, joining legends Tony Esposito, Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita in representing the organization at events at the United Center and throughout the Chicago area.
A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and one of seven players in franchise history to have their jersey number retired, Savard recorded 1,096 points (377 goals, 719 assists) in 881 career regular-season games and 145 points (61 goals, 84 assists) in 131 Stanley Cup Playoff games in parts of 13 seasons with the Blackhawks (1980-90; 1995-97).
Savard also served as the Blackhawks coach for parts of three seasons (2006-08), notching a 65-66-16 record.
“It is important to our fans and organization that Denis remains a part of our family,” president John McDonough said in a statement. “He is a very classy individual that embodies the spirit of the Chicago Blackhawks.”
about this book
"Never one to mix words, [Don] Cherry provides an analysis that transcends the reporting found in printed dailies, websites, and typical television broadcasts. That is what he is most often criticized for: not being like everyone else. Cherry provides poignant analysis about the game of hockey that escapes most other commentators. He endeavours to elucidate the small moments within a game that may appear inconsequential, but are integral to the outcome: a failure to clear the zone, a player shying away from a check, a poor line change. This is where Cherry is most valuable as a commentator. As a former coach, one who found great success, he is able to give viewers insights unlike anyone else."
—Ian Smart, 411mania.com
Don Cherry has been named a National Hockey League Coach of the Year with a winning percentage of over .600 and also received Coach of the Year honours in the American Hockey League. His comments on Hockey Night in Canada’s "Coach's Corner" routinely make headlines as they entertain, educate, and often upset some fans throughout North America. He may be controversial, but no one can deny the popularity he enjoys; popularity that was reflected in his top 10 ranking in the competition to determine "The Greatest Canadian."
Now from Grapes himself comes the book that hockey fans of all ages have been waiting for. Written with veteran sports journalist Al Strachan, here are Don Cherry's favourite stories from his career in hockey. And you can imagine the stories he has to tell.
The only thing the Fort Wayne Komets' home-opening, pre-game ceremonies lacked Saturday night were fireworks. The players took care of that during the game.
The Komets delighted a Memorial Coliseum sell-out crowd of 10,511 by making the Flint Generals look like the Washington Generals in an 11-3 pounding. The game was so out of control at times that the Generals looked like they were trying to avoid a full-court press while wearing mittens as Fort Wayne dominated the shots on goal 53-21.
The Komets scored eight times on 17 shots during the third period, a couple of times missing open nets, or it could have been worse.
"I think their goalie played real well to keep it at three as long as he did," Komets coach Al Sims said. "When we finally broke through, he got a little demoralized after five, six and seven. It was tough on him. A lot of people were questioning our offense this year. I don't know if it's been answered yet, but so far it has been."
"You never intentionally want to embarrass anyone," [Fort Wayne player Colin] Chaulk said.
CHICAGO (AP)—The Chicago Blackhawks fired coach Denis Savard on Thursday after a 1-2-1 start and replaced him with Joel Quenneville.
The dismissal came hours after the team won its first game by beating Phoenix 4-1. The Blackhawks are now run by owner Rocky Wirtz, and the combination of a slow start and a big public relations push may have led to Savard’s abrupt ouster.
“This was an extremely hard day for this organization and for me personally,” general manager Dale Tallon said in a statement. “Denis is forever a part of our organization. We made a tough decision that we strongly feel is the right one as we continue to evaluate our team and create a championship caliber organization that can sustain success.”
The team canceled its Thursday practice and scheduled an afternoon news conference.
Quenneville has coached the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche. His first game as coach of the Blackhawks is Saturday at St. Louis. He has a 438-283-118 record in parts of 11 seasons. He was signed by the Blackhawks as a pro scout in September.
“Joel brings us a wealth of experience and a winning track record that will have an immediate and lasting impact,” Tallon said.
Savard, a Hall of Fame player, became coach in November 2006 and finished that season with a record of 24-30-7 in 61 games. Last season, Savard led Chicago to its first 40-win season since 2001-02. The Blackhawks went 40-34-8 but still missed the playoffs.
The 45-year-old Savard retired after a 17-year career in 1997. He played with the Blackhawks, Montreal and Tampa Bay, scoring 473 goals with 865 assists. He was Chicago’s first-round pick in the 1980 NHL entry draft.
He started the 1997-98 season as the Blackhawks’ developmental coach before joining the Blackhawks coaching staff as an assistant coach under Craig Hartsburg on Dec. 3, 1997.
Wirtz took over the team following the death of his father, Bill Wirtz, a little more than a year ago. Since then he has hired former Chicago Cubs president and marketing guru John McDonough as president. The team has mended fences with former stars like Bobby Hull, made sure that home games are televised—something Bill Wirtz was opposed to—and allowed Tallon to spend in the free-agent market.
The Blackhawks also have two young stars in last year’s rookie of the year Patrick Kane and Jonathan Towes.
KHL czar Alexander Medvedev gets fed up and decides to buy the NHL for $2 trillion. No more quibbling over players. No more dealing with the IIHF. Say hello to the Kolomna Blue Jackets!My favorite:
Dallas Stars co-GM Brett Hull will pass on a chance to trade for Jeremy Roenick saying Roenick talks too much.
Mats Sundin signs with the Red Wings for $500,000 and becomes a fourth-line center in an incredibly stacked lineup.
In a particularly intense late-season game between Dallas and San Jose, Sean Avery climbs into the stands at the Shark Tank, grabs the purse of a woman heckler and hits her over the head with it.
Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. Marian Hossa shot flying toward unattended Blackhawks net. Out of nowhere, skating wildly, wearing baseball glove, Steve Bartman to the rescue.
Vancouver GM Mike Gillis trades the Sedin twins for the Olsen twins. The Canucks lose much-needed scoring, but attendance at their games goes through the roof.
and a hockey game broke out!
KHL game, Dinamo Riga (white jerseys) and HC Sibir Novosibirsk (blue).
Among the fighters: Marcel Hossa, Matt Ellison (formally of the Blackhawks & Flyers), Ron Petrovicky (formally of the Thrashers & Penguins) and Former Blue Jackets Duvie Westscott (the last guy fighting at the end of the video in white).
Steve Mason would love nothing better than to be suiting up with the Columbus Blue Jackets prospects.
But the 20-year-old goaltender, who starred with the Ontario Hockey League's Kitchener Rangers and London Knights, injured his left knee in April. He's had a quiet summer following surgery and hasn't skated since the injury.
"The pads are just sitting there collecting dust," Mason told the Columbus Dispatch.
Mason, who led Canada to a gold medal at the 2008 world junior hockey championship in Russia, is expected to start the season with the American Hockey
League's Syracuse Crunch. But the native of Oakville,Ont., is considered a significant piece of the Jackets' future.
8. Columbus: Nash & Umberger lead revamped offense.In their Hot 100 Top Scorers, they project Nash as being #42, with 78 games played, 4o goals, 32 assists for 72 points. The only other Columbus player on that list is Kristian Huselius at #95, with 81 games played, 21 goals and 38 assists for 59 points.
Voracek is more of a playmaker than scorer, which suits the Blue Jackets fine. They've been searching for someone to get Rick Nash the puck since he entered the league (43 points)In their Ultimate Guide to the Teams:
The Blue Jackets are a defensive-minded squad under coach Ken Hitchcock, but rely heavily on star winger Rick Nash for offense.And finally, on the page about penalty stats, a photo of our very own Jared Boll fighting!
A one time 40-goal man, Nash missed the milestone by two goals in 2007-08, but will get there again. Fifty goals is not out of Nash's reach, but, he needs a better supporting cast first.
Kristian Huselius will replace Nikolai Zherdev on the wing, playing with more consistency and causing less headaches for GMs.
Swedish veteran Fredrik Modin is also a strong winger with scoring ability, but has had a hard time remaining healthy.
There are solid role players, led by Jason Chimera, Manny Malhotra & Jiri Novotny. The team has high hopes for Czech winger Jakub Voracek, who will get every opportunity to earn a top-six winger spot this year.
While the Jackets are strong on the wings, they are weak at center. Neither Malhotra or Novotny are solid options for the first or second line and Rookie Derick Brassard needs time to develop.
On defense, new acquisitions Fedor Tyutin & Christian Backman have made the backend even bigger and tougher. Kris Russell is a few years away from handling the quarterback duties.
In goal, Pascal Leclaire has arrived as the No. 1 man. As the team improves, so will his numbers.
Jason Chimera figures it's about time.
Since joining the National Hockey League in 2000, the Columbus Blue Jackets have yet to make the playoffs.
In fact, they're the only team in the league never to have played in the post-season.
"We've been close the last couple of years," Chimera said. "For whatever reason, it hasn't worked out. Last year we were pretty close up until the end. The year before we were also close.
"It is getting there. I think we made some good steps, I think. With these new guys, it might give us that extra push.
Chimera, 29, an Edmonton native currently taking part in Perry Pearn's three-on-three camp here, has been a member of the Blue Jackets for the past three seasons.
The former Edmonton Oiler scored 14 goals and added 17 assists as the Blue Jackets finished 13th in the Western Conference standings 11 points out of playoff spots.
This off-season the team made a number of moves in order to try and make up those points.
"I think we've made some good moves, brought in some guys that will help our competitive level," Chimera said.
"With (Kristian) Huselius joining us, that's another good dimension of skill. He's a guy that might be able to get (Rick) Nash the puck a little more where he wants to be.
"We got a few good defencemen and (R.J.) Umberger was a good pickup, too.
"It will be a little different look for us. It looks good on paper, so we'll see how the season goes."
Originally selected by Edmonton in the fifth-round (121st overall) of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, Chimera spent five years in the Oilers system before making his way to Columbus through Phoenix.
He's been a good fit with the Blue Jackets and is looking for big things this season.
"You always hope to contribute offensively a little more going into a season," Chimera said.
"You're always looking at that 20-20 mark, looking to get about 20 goals this year.
"I think I'm a guy that's getting better and better every year. So I just want to keep on building from that."
Columbus: Jakub Voracek, Derick Brassard.And what they say about Filatov:
Nikita Filatov is a popular name due to him being embroiled in controversy, but he didn’t have enough Super League experience last year to make him a likely candidate even if he does end up with the Blue Jackets.
A little harsh on Filatov? I would like to think so. We will see.
Now it would be so awesome to see a Voracek-Filatov run at the Calder Trophy like the Toews-Kane run with the Blackhawks. If this were to happen, watch out, because that would make some excellent hockey to watch.
The U.S. National Under-18 Team opens its season at home against the Indiana Ice
of the USHL on September 12 at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube before heading to Blaine,
Minn., for the sixth annual NAHL Showcase from September 17-20.
Stouffville forward will play in USHL, then Boston University
Ethan Werek is leaving the Stouffville Spirit.
By: Mike Hayakawa, Staff Writer
The 17-year-old Stouffville-area resident, who has accepted a scholarship to attend Boston University in the fall of 2009, will be in the United States Hockey League tier one circuit with the Indiana Ice in Indianapolis this season.
“It was a hard decision,” he said Friday. “In the end, I sat down with my family and said Indiana will be a great place for me to develop before I go to Boston University and hopefully get drafted in the National Hockey League. It’ll definitely be hard to leave home. But I’m excited.”
Making the decision more interesting is that fact that his father, Zeev Werek, has co-owned the Spirit for 10 years.
Ethan, who started in the Whitchurch-Stouffville Minor Hockey Association, is a projected high-end pick in next June’s NHL draft in Montreal.
He was picked in the first round of the 2006 Ontario Hockey League draft by Kingston, after telling teams he was going the college route and would not report. (U.S. colleges consider OHL teams as professional. Playing in one game makes a player ineligible for college hockey. The USHL is not considered pro.)
The thought of moving south was planted last year when Werek was Indiana’s first pick in a USHL draft.
Several pro and amateur scouts recommended the USHL to him as the top league south of the border and of similar quality to the OHL, Werek said.
As well, the Boston University coaching staff suggested he take the USHL route.
Last month, Werek made a visit to Indiana and met the Ice coaching staff.
“I liked the program they were running. It’s like a major junior A program and the club was one of the top teams in the league last year and they have good resources there,” he said.The Ice had three players taken in this year’s NHL draft for the second straight season, including first-rounder John Carlson (Washington Capitals). They average more than 3,500 fans per game.
The Indianapolis Trax would play in the startup four-team Midwest Hockey League, set to begin play in November. Other franchises are to be located in Evansville, Ind., Columbus, Ind., and Louisville, Ky., league president Wade Stuckey said Tuesday.OK, Indianapolis & Louisville I can see. But Evansville & Columbus? Why not Lafayette? That would be so cool. Population wise, I'm not sure Columbus could support it for sure. Evansville, maybe. Also, geographically, Indianapolis, Columbus & Louisville are all on I-65, but getting to Evansville from Indy or Columbus becomes a pain in the derriere.
Although Indianapolis is already home to the Indiana Ice of the United StatesThe Indiana Ice had the 2nd largest average in attendance in the USHL last year. However, it is also the only hockey team in town. This won't help the Indiana Ice, especially if the games are at the same time. This IS Indiana, not Canada. And the USHL doesn't have the same prestige at the Q, OHL, WHL, so getting people to pay attention and giving them respect is hard to do (even though an Ice player did get drafted in the first round this year, defenseman John Carlson by Washington).
Hockey League, Stuckey said he isn't worried about saturating the market.
"We're not looking to put anybody out of business," Stuckey said. "This league will offer something different. What the Ice have done is give people in Indianapolis knowledge of our sport. We see it as a very viable market."
The league will include players 18 and up. Unlike the USHL, which is an amateur league, players in the Midwest Hockey League will be paid. Stuckey said players will make roughly $150 to $300 a game. Each team is scheduled to play 40 games and will be permitted to have a maximum of four players with more than 180 games of professional experience.Even though I would have called it this before, I think the USHL won me over. I hate the term amateur league. It's a junior or developmental league.
"We'll be able to keep our costs down because of the geography of the teams," Rossetti said. "With a smaller facility and reasonable prices, this league can appeal to families looking for affordable entertainment."Well, I will have to give that a plus, especially for Evansville & Columbus. In Indianapolis, tickets for the Ice games cost 11 & 16 dollars, which I think is pretty cheap for a decent hockey game.
Also mentioned in: IceMen are 'flagship franchise' (Evansville Courier & Press)
Also presenting his case was the general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Scott Howson. He had a chance to discuss his free agency moves.
"To get good players, you have to give up good players and I feel like we really improved our puck handling in the back end," Howson said.
In the first week of July the Blue Jackets traded forwards Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche to the New York Rangers for defensemen Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman.
Howson also provided an update on contract negotiations with the Blue Jackets talented young goaltender, Pascal Leclaire.
"Negotiations are all about changing people's expectations, and we worked on Pascal's expectations and now he's working on ours," Howson said.
"I didn't pick a place where I would come, lay back, pick up a paycheck and go
to Buckeye games," he said. "I came to a place where I thought we could win."
BlueJackets.com: What were your first impressions after you signed with Columbus?
Mike Commodore: I was excited, of course. I chose to come here. I was excited about the moves they were making — they told me there was a plan in place, and they were going to execute it. I guess my first experience with the city has really been the last couple of days (visiting for the first time). It’s been great, it’s a nice city and everyone has been welcoming.
It is nice to hear a player say he is excited & chose to be in Columbus. This is a great change from that Adam Foote bailing out on us. I'm so excited that Commodore is so excited. :)
"For most franchises, televising games is as elemental as selling watered-down beer. But in the Blackhawks' case, this was the fall of the Berlin Wall."
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