Who had the great idea of a 3 day layoff between game 1 and game 2 again? Ah, well.
It seems the Jackets are getting closer to filling the goalie coach – and Aaron Portzline elaborated slightly on his story via Twitter, saying that former Jacket Ron Tugnutt is unlikely to get the call. Not to be disrespectful to Tugger, but I’m actually OK with that. Much like Dave Rook, Tugger has NHL playing experience, but only Junior level coaching experience. Both of the candidates who seem likely have NHL coaching on their resume, and I think we need a guy who is used to the rigors of coaching full time in the NHL, not learning on the job.
We mentioned the dissolution of the Lewiston MAINEiacs yesterday – the dispersal draft will occur this morning, and CBJ prospect Michael Chaput is expected to be a top 4 selection, but it’s still a painful process for him and his family.
Over at DBJ, a good look at Gary Bettman’s annual “State of the NHL address”.
Wysh talks about the legacy of Colin Campbell on NHL discipline over at Puck Daddy.
As promised, Jeff Little kicks off the “Lifting The Shroud” series at TMM.
A great story about OU student John Mollica, a member of the US National Developmental Sled Hockey program.
In one of the best “Genius and/ or Bastardry” moves I’ve seen in awhile, True North will unveil the name of the new NHL team in Winnipeg when they hit their 13,000 season ticket goal.
It looks like the Dallas Stars will have to part ways with Brad Richards due to their continuing ownership situation. If he’s available on July 1, Richards has talked about wanting to go to a city where he won’t be constantly under a microscope 24/7 (ie: Toronto or New York). I’m nervous about a long term deal for him, given he’s 31 years old, but a 3-4 year contract that would immediately give Rick Nash a huge boost at Center and perhaps give the Jackets some more time to let Ryan Johansen develop without throwing him into the first line? Where do I sign?
In good news for the NHL, Sidney Crosby was cleared to begin off ice workouts. Glad to see – hopefully he’ll be ready to go in September.
Craig Hartsburg is going to Calgary. I’m sure this is not a case of Jay Feaster putting Plan B in place should he decide to remove Brent Sutter. Absolutely not. Of course.
Happy Friday, and have a great weekend!