After a fairly big news day here in Columbus, the dust continues to settle.
First, we have the Dispatch’s official report on the dismissal of Don Boyd and Bob Strumm, with the bonus tidbit that Todd Richards will be interviewing for an assistant coaching position shortly. Gallos over at DBJ also had his reaction to the move, as does Eric Smith, while Jeff at TMM had a case of excellent timing and started his “Lifting the Shroud” series with a look at the team’s “scoring forwards“, who represent the end product of both men’s work.
In the wider NHL, the biggest story yesterday was the suspension of Aaron Rome for four games, ending his season (and potentially impacting the beginning of next season, depending on who takes care of business). While I see the “Rome is not a dirty player” argument, I think the fact that he clearly made a late hit TO THE HEAD was worth the suspension. If he’d gone for a late hit and nailed Horton with a hip check or a slash, perhaps four games would have been excessive, but with the implementation of Rule 48 and the NHL’s efforts to eliminate head shots, I don’t think this suspension is surprising.
Perhaps the next “largest” story was the move by the Flyers to acquire the rights to Ilya Bryzgalov before July 1st. It’s not a given that he’ll sign there (remember how well trading for the rights to Dan Hamhuis worked out?), but if Paul Holmgren can lock Bryz up, they’ll have to make some significant moves to get back under the cap, and you have to think Scott Howson is keeping a close eye on the situation. BSH has a full transcript of Paul Holmgren’s post-trade press conference, and Gallos weighed in with a few thoughts at DBJ as well.
Speaking of our first rounder, the guys at Lighthouse Hockey are wondering just how valuable the 8th overall pick is. I don’t disagree that by itself, the #8 pick is a bit of a stretch to bring in an NHL ready guy all by itself…but on the other hand, if it’s packaged with another player…?
You may recall that Michael Arace’s editorial yesterday touched some nerves? Here’s another response from Rick Gethin, formerly of The Hockey Writers.
Over at Matchsticks & Gasoline, they’re wondering if new GM Jay Feaster can improve their draft record. On the plus side, we can suggest a few guys for them to hire…
In Dallas, we’ve got another competitor for free agents stating they intend to spend more this offseason. Yet they don’t have an owner or a budget, and they just let their biggest potential UFA walk. Good luck with that.
In a very smart move, the Nashville Predators are courting former Thrasher fans in Atlanta.
With NBC winning the Olympic TV contract for the next two cycles of games, does that make it more likely the NHL will be back in the Winter Olympics? Travis Hughes thinks so.
The hottest ticket in Winnipeg continues to be the Winnipeg ________, who will announce today that they’ve hired their new GM. That news was enough to wake Rob over at Jackets Report from his blogging slumber to pipe in about the hire. Welcome back!
Have a great day and, in the words of the master, “keep your knees loose.”
Mahalo.