Kukla's Korner

Nashville May Have To Make A Decision On Suter Before The Trade Deadline

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

01/27/12 at 05:46 PM ET | Comments (0)

from of Tim Panaccio CSNPhilly,

Ryan Suter’s situation of potentially being dealt at the NHL trade deadline next month took an interesting turn on Friday when the Nashville Predators defenseman said he does not want to re-sign before the deadline.

He is unrestricted while fellow coveted teammate Shea Weber is restricted. One of them could be dealt.

The Flyers are among a handful of clubs interested in getting into the mix if that happens.

“I feel it would be more of a distraction than anything,” Suter said of signing in February. “We’ve never had a timeline or deadline. We’re just focusing on winning. Everything else will take care of itself.

“I don’t see it being a benefit by hurrying up and trying to get something done. I’m a Nashville Predator until July. I will focus on making my team better.”

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Nashville Predators | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Ryan+Suter,

Video- Top Ten Hits Of The Season

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

01/27/12 at 05:41 PM ET | Comments (0)

Presented by The Score...

Filed in: NHL Teams | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Unclaimed Stars

Blog: Petshark: Talking Stick By petshark

01/27/12 at 03:00 PM ET | Comments (0)

Logan Couture was picked last in the NHL All Star Draft.  Antero Niittymaki wasn’t picked off waivers at all.  Couture will be remembered for being picked last, he got a car and donations to his favorite hockey charities and it’s possible he will get a superincredible season in 2012-13.  That last one isn’t guaranteed because the sample size is too small to call it a pattern.

But all’s well that ends well and the award for best sportsman on Twitter goes to Logan Couture (@Logancouture), the San Jose Shark who went last in the draft.  -Kevin McGran
@Logancouture: “Is it me or is it getting hotter back here after every pick?”

@Logancouture: “Who went last? I missed the end of the draft?”

@Logancouture: “First order of business. Pimping that Honda out”

Apparently the car will go to Logan’s brother.  Couture did handle himself well.  Several players were less composed than he was during the proceedings.  Carey Price was so flustered by not realizing he had been called that he dissed his All Star Captain on his way to the holding box.

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Filed in: , San Jose Sharks | Petshark: Talking Stick | Permalink
  Tags: All+Star+Game, Antero+Niittymaki, Logan+Couture, Sean+Sullivan, Tim+Kennedy,

Looking At the Mega-Deals

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

01/27/12 at 02:31 PM ET | Comments (1)

from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

With the NHL about to start new collective bargaining talks with the players association some time after the all-star break, it bears asking the question: Is anybody really getting their money’s worth on these mega-deal, mega-bucks contracts that commit team to player in a long-term relationship that invariably seems head for the rocks sooner if not later?

Not that the NHL all-star game should act as the perfect referendum on money well spent, but consider this: Eight players are earning over $8-million this season, according to capgeek.com. Only two - Evgeni Malkin and Zdeno Chara - are playing in the all-star game. Alex Ovechkin would have made it three, had he not bowed out; and you’d have to think a healthy Sidney Crosby would be there as well. But think of some others: Brad Richards ($12-million), Vincent Lecavalier ($10-million), Bryzgalov ($10-million), Christian Ehrhoff ($10-million). Dany Heatley didn’t make it, nor did Duncan Keith nor Thornton nor Henrik Zetterberg nor Eric Staal nor Scott Gomez nor Rick Nash nor Anze Kopitar. What do they have in common? All are signed to contracts seven years or longer and earn $7-million or more on average. And the conundrum is, if the players underperform, or simply just aren’t a good fit, or by their play, give you a strong message that they’d really like to be somewhere else, how do you move all that money when so many teams are capped out?

more and other topics too…

Filed in: NHL Teams | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Hockey Getting Noticed In The U.S.

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

01/27/12 at 12:55 PM ET | Comments (2)

from Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy,

Hockey fans in the U.S. take what we can get when it comes to validation of our sport’s popularity.

We celebrate minimal upticks in television ratings that still put the NHL behind children’s cartoon shows on cable. We beam when there’s an NHL jersey or reference spotted in a mainstream sitcom or movie. We treat that Sports Illustrated cover story from nearly 20 years ago — “Why The NHL’s Hot and the NBA’s Not” — as proof that we were one lockout away from capturing the hearts and minds of U.S. sports fans.

So allow us the delusion that this new Harris Poll provides. In its annual examination of what American fans deem their “favorite” sports, football is king, baseball is fading, and hockey has just as many favorites as basketball — pro or college. Huzzah!

continued

Filed in: NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Hawks - Pro’s, Con’s & Tweeners - Part 2

Blog: Talk'n Hawks By Vince Maranto

01/27/12 at 12:50 PM ET | Comments (3)

Welcome to Part 2 of the 3 part series. Just to recap. I am breaking down the Hawks season, up to the All Star Break, into 3 parts. The Pro’s, Con’s, and Tweeners (subjects, that fall in between the pro & con). I do it by subject and then by individual players.. In Part One, I took on the con’s of the team so far. In Part 2, let’s go with the Tweeners, and end Part 3 on a positive note. For all statistical categories, I basically used this as a guideline. With 30 teams being in the league, I looked at where the Hawks ranked. 1 - 10, I called good (pro), 11 - 20 tweeners, and 21 - 30 bad (con). Again, this was a guide line only. Don’t waste your time telling me that 11 isn’t between 1 -10, or whatever. The sequel now begins…..

GOALTENDING
I put this as a tweener for a couple of reasons. I had Crawford as a let down in Part 1, and will have Emery as a plus in Part 3. Average them out, you got a tweener. The 2 goalies combined have a 2.82 goals against average for the season, making them the 19th place team in the league. Although the net minding has been Ok, for the most part, that’s just it. It is just OK. The Hawks, as I have mentioned several times, are still the only team in the NHL who has not shut any one out this season. Crawford and Emery have both played well, but neither, in my opinion, have “stolen” a game.

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Filed in: Chicago Blackhawks | Talk'n Hawks | Permalink
 

The First Place Team

Blog: The Puck Stops Here By PuckStopsHere

01/27/12 at 12:14 PM ET | Comments (16)

One of the constants in the NHL this season has been teams rapidly shuttling in and out of the first place position in the NHL.  There have been many lead changes throughout the season so far.  Even a team currently in 18th place by points - the Minnesota Wild were in first place overall in late November.  At All Star break the first place overall team is the Detroit Red Wings.  In part this is because they have more games played than some teams (50).  Both the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers have better winning percentages in fewer games.

Detroit seems like a perennial contender because of the way they went from a Stanley Cup winning team built around Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan and Sergei Fedorov to a Stanley Cup winning team built around Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.  This turnover in personal occurred without Detroit going through a weak rebuilding stage.  In fact the Red Wings have qualified for the playoffs every year since 1990.

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Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
  Tags: Detroit+Red+Wings,

Morning Line

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

01/27/12 at 11:56 AM ET | Comments (17)

Our goal as an organization is to build a team that wins consistently and competes for the Stanley Cup. Anything less is unacceptable! Everything we do in the coming weeks, months and years will be done to that end and everyone in our organization - myself, management, staff, coaches and players - will be held to that standard.

part of a letter-Blue Jackets majority owner John P. McConnell sent to season ticket holders.  Read the rest of it at Puck-Rakers.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Columbus Blue Jackets | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: John+P.+McConnell,

Chicago Needs Answers To The Questions

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

01/27/12 at 10:37 AM ET | Comments (1)

from Dan McNeil of the Chicago Tribune,

If we know anything about the NHL, it’s that January is far too early to fear the falling sky. That said, it’s undeniable the Hawks have been only as good as their current sixth position in the Western Conference indicates. There are more questions than answers.

The Hawks are only three points behind the conference-leading Red Wings, but at no point this season have the Hawks put together a 10-game stretch that made anybody think Stan Bowman’s roster is championship quality.

Here’s what I know:

• It’s over if Jonathan Toews is injured worse than the team is saying. The Hawks without Toews are every bit as tough to watch as the Bulls without Derrick Rose or the Bears without Jay Cutler.

If Toews’ bad wrist doesn’t respond or he reinjures it, the Hawks might as well not even qualify for the postseason.

• You can’t win a Stanley Cup with only 3 1/2 defensemen. That’s all Joel Quenneville has right now….

read on

Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Rumors From Ottawa

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

01/27/12 at 10:26 AM ET | Comments (6)

from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,

• A guy on the Leafs’ radar could be San Jose W Ryane Clowe. He has a cap hit of $3.625 million through next season, but the word is he might be someone the Sharks are willing to part with before the deadline.

Before anybody in San Jose picks up the phone to get GM Doug Wilson’s denial he’ll move Clowe, the belief is it would take more than the Leafs might be willing to offer to make that deal happen, so going after a potential unrestricted free agent is more realistic.

The Leafs would certainly have an interest in Carolina’s Tuomo Ruutu. The Hurricanes have held talks with his camp, but it’s believed Ruutu wants too much on a long-term deal, which means he’ll likely be moved.

• Edmonton GM Steve Tambellini could be busy. Sure, we’ve all heard the Oilers are trying to deal W Ales Hemsky, but there’s also interest in Ds Theo Peckham and Andy Sutton. The veteran Sutton is a UFA at the end of the season, while Peckham could be valuable because he’s an RFA. There are a lot of teams looking for blue-line help.

• Keep an eye on Buffalo G Ryan Miller. He isn’t being shopped, but the Sabres will have to decide in the next two weeks if they’re in the playoff picture or not. The Ducks, Blackhawks and Lightning could all go looking for goaltending help. They would all have interest in Miller if GM Darcy Regier decides to make that move. Don’t rule out a Miller for Jonas Hiller swap. That should get the ball rolling.

more

Filed in: NHL Teams | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

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