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– The NHL is being sued by 10 former players in a Washington, DC Court citing the NHL didn’t do enough to prevent concussions. The same thing happened to the NFL when they were sued by former players. The NFL settled out of court for $765M. League Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke out about the lawsuit say they were satisfied with how the league and union has managed player safety. The suit claims the NHL did not do enough to prevent injury and criticized the NHL for “active and purposeful concealment of the severe risks of brain injuries”. It also cited the NHL for caused or contributed to the injuries and increased risks to Plaintiffs through its acts and omissions,” and that the NHL ignored the risks and refused to ban fighting. I’m not sure who the players are, but this suit just seems stupid. I’m all about player safey, but the players know the risk they are taking and it is up to the players to play within the rules. The league is doing everything they can to keep the game intact, but suits like this are what is going to kill the game. Players need to have repsect for one another on the ice, and, believe me, taking fighting out of the game is not the way. Now, I don’t know much about the NHL hiding any information in the past about brain injuries, and I hope that story comes to light if it’s true, but players need to stop pointing fingers and blaming the suits who run the league for every little thing that goes wrong.
Update: While I was writing this, I got the names of the players who sued: Gary Leeman, Brad Aitken, Darren Banks, Curt Bennett, Richard Dunn, Warren Holmes, Bob Manno, Blair Stewart, Morris Titanic and Rick Vaive. These guys played 20 -30 years ago, and no offense to them, but the rules and knowledge for concussions wasn’t whta it is today.
– Steven Stamkos has already started rehabbing only two weeks after surgery to repair his tibia. He’s even walking without the use of a boot or crutches. This bodes well for his quick return and spot on the Canadian Olympic team.
– TSN, Canada’s leading hockey broadcaster, has lost it’s NHL rights to CBC and Rogers Sportsnet. Why does that matter to Americans? It really doesn’t. But it also means that analysts Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger and Aaron Ward, to name a few, might find new homes with Sportsnet or may team up down south in the states with NBC – and THAT is news because it could spell THE END to NBC’s piss poor NHL coverage. I’d love to see James Duthie take over for that Liam kid. It probably won’t happen, but as you all know, I love to speculate. CBC and Sportsnet’s new contract is 12 years, and from what I’ve seen and read, their coverage sucks. Sorry Canada.
Speaking of speculations….
RUMORS
– The Buffalo Sabres still need a GM and Pat LaFontaine is taking his time in chosing one. The Sabres are the WORST team in the NHL and they desperately need to trade goalie Ryan Miller to a contender. With the nasty groin injury to Jonathon Quick, the Kings could be interested, but not sure they can take on Miller’s salary. Ben Scrivens seems like he’s doing a good job anyway in relief. The Predators might take a shot with Pekka Rinne still out with a hip infection. Could someone like Shea Weber be for sale? The Anaheim Ducks are also interested and Jonas Hiller is appartently up for grabs. Fasth is still injured at the moment, but his name has also come up. The Sabres will be purging some more players, but they have to start with Miller and they cannot drag it out for much longer.
Courtesy: Fox Sports/MSN
– Shea Weber. It’s been over a year since his massive signing with the Predators, and he’s now eligible to trade. The Flyers forced the Preds hand when they made their offer, but the Flyers are still trying to land Weber. They have been trying to fill the ‘Pronger-void’ for two years now and have failed miserably. One idea I had, and this is just wishful thinking, is if the Capitals traded for Weber and sent Mike Green and Michal Neuvirth over in his place. Green has been brutal and his contract is making it hard for the Caps to get that elusive shut down guy they desperately need. I can see the Carolina Hurricanes kicking tires on Weber as well if he is even available. Don’t get me wrong, most teams are going to kick tires on him, but not many teams can afford him.
– Martin Erat. I was going to save this for last, but this is getting interesting. Erat is bitter because he’s not getting ice time – which is exactly the kind of BS stunt he pulled when he was in Nashville. Then he bolted to the KHL and only returned when the Preds became a good team. I guess they got tired of his complaining, too, but at least they got a good deal out of it. The Caps are at a loss. Erat’s trade value is at it’s lowest point in his career. He has 6 assists this year. He was playing well, but his relationship with Oates is toxic and you can’t have that in the locker room. The Caps don’t have many options, but the ones they do have aren’t awful:
David Booth – Vancouver Canucks. Booth is in the doghouse and has been for some time. He is fast, fast, fast and I can imagine him with Laich and Chimera. It would be an pretty even salary swap.
Michael Ryder – New Jersey Devils. Ryder hasn’t excited the Devils like they’d hoped, Of course, he was supposed to be playing with Kovalchuk, but whatever. With Jagr and Elias there and Erat’s Olympic dream of playing for the Czechs, maybe this is something that could happen. Ryder would provide a great scoring touch for the Caps and would go well with Grabo.
Dany Heatley – Minnesota Wild. Yes, I know Heatley makes $7M and that he’s in the last year of his contract. But, what if the Wild retain part of the salary for the rest of the year? Erat would do well with Koivu and Parise, and Heatley, although he’s a terrible skater, would get a fresh start in a scoring role with Grabo. The Caps could easily resign him next year because there’s no way he’s going to be asking for much after his career tanked.
Michal Michalek – Ottawa Senators. He’s got a nice goal scoring touch but he’s not using it that well this year. Pretty much an even swap and Erat would get his top 6 minutes he so desperately wants.
Luke Schenn – Philadelphia Flyers. Schenn is up for grabs and the Flyers need more scoring. Schenn would be an amazing addition to the Caps. He’s Erksine-like in that his tough, he’ll fine, and he can clear a crease, but he’s also fairly mobile and can move the puck. I’d love this trade.
Those are my top 5 for now.
– Rene Bourque. The Canadiens are trying to shed a little salary without letting go of their core group of players and Bourque looks to be the odd man out. He makes $3.3M and if they can let go of him, the Canadiens would probably target Winnipeg’s Evander Kane.
– Dion Phaneuf is either going to be resigned in Toronto to a large and lengthy deal or he’ll be traded. He’s not the high scoring d-man he used to be, and he’s not laying out other players anymore either, but he is still a big, strong reliable player. The Flyers are kicking tires, but it would cost them Brayden Schenn. The Hurricanes are probably interested, too, as they are looking for a shut down defenseman with puck moving skills. They could offer up Tuomo Ruutu or Tim Gleason.
– Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov’s name is all over the radar as someone the Panthers would like to shop. Lots of teams are calling, but nothing has sparked an interest from GM Dave Tallon. The Panthers are rebuilding and they would need picks and some good young players, which is why I’m surprised they would give up Kulikov unless he’s tired of Florida and is threatening to bolt to the KHL.
More to come…
