Nice to see the various Detroit team's supporting each other. When I was at the Wings/Oilers game on the 11th, Suh was in attendance.

I decided to do a drive down sans ticket to see the Lions/Patriots game today. While I was out front waiting to see if I could buy one, I noticed this guy walking past me and I thought to myself "that guy looks like Henrik Zetterberg". And as he passed me by I realized it was him. As well as Brad Stuart and Ruslan Salei.

Unrelated to the above I ended up randomly meeting a fellow Canadian who works as a Scout in the N. (which was good times as we discussed hockey throughout the game). Long story short we bought 2 tickets from these drunks who couldn't get into Ford Field. Ended up being on the 35 yard line, 7th row.

His maturity, skill and leadership will lead the Hawks to a Stanley Cup.  No question.  I thought he was the best Canadian player in the tournament. 

The Globe & Mail had a good article about him;

Could any 21-year-old possibly have a better sense of the moment than Jonathan Toews? Could any hockey player his age match Toews's uncommon maturity and sure-footedness on and off the ice?

In case there is any doubt that the only international hockey match-up that matters any more is Canada versus the United States, consider Toews's statement about how his Olympic gold medal - the one shared with Blackhawks teammates Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook - is now officially off-limits as a joking matter in the Chicago dressing room. Somebody wants to mention it to teammate Patrick Kane? He'll have to go through Toews.

"I don't see it as a joking matter between the two of us," Toews said Sunday after Canada's 3-2 overtime win over the U.S. in the gold-medal game at Canada Hockey Place. Toews and Kane were among the best players on the ice.

"I think I will definitely be very, very respectful of what their team did in this tournament and what he did," Toews added. "We were this close to coming out on the losing end too, and it wouldn't have been a good feeling. So you got to give it to him for the way he played and leave it at that."

But when it was suggested to him that Toews v. Kane seems likely to become a sidebar to every future international hockey tournament, he smiled and said: "I'd like us to win something together, too."

Complete article, click here.

In today’s Arizona Republic Craig Harris discussed how teams in the valley are losing out to the economy:

Every professional sports team in metro Phoenix, along with Arizona State University’s football team and the annual Fiesta Bowl, has had trouble selling tickets this year as growing unemployment and declining wages are keeping fans home.

Teams have been forced to try promotions once considered unthinkable as the drop in attendance cuts deeper into revenue and costs jobs. For example, the Phoenix Suns saw their 153-game streak of sellouts at US Airways Center end Nov. 1, and a few days later the team laid off about 10 percent of its workforce.

My thought is that this is an important article for people to read.  If the established teams like the Suns and Cardinals are doing poorly, how can the Coyotes who aren't as established, with a poor economy and an out of the way arena expect to draw big numbers.

Now that being said, if the NHL finds the team local ownership, how long before you think the team rebounds and the crowds start coming back?

From the Globe and Mail:

Bankruptcy court judge Redfield T. Baum has rejected both bids for the Phoenix Coyotes.

“In hockey parlance, the court is passing the puck to the NHL, who can decide to take another shot at the sale net or it can pass off the puck,” Judge Baum wrote.

Judge Baum threw out a bid by Jim Balsillie saying it could not succeed because he cannot properly satisfy the NHL’s rights regarding relocation.

“In the final analysis, the court cannot find or conclude that the interests of the NHL can be adequately protected if the Coyotes are moved to Hamilton without first having a final decision regarding the claimed rights of the NHL and the claims of the debtors and [Balsillie],” the judge ruled.

He added that bankruptcy law requires that the court “shall prohibit” any sale where various interests cannot be adequately protected.

For complete article, click here.

Read on Habs Inside/Out:

Robert Lang, whose season was ended prematurely last season by a sliced Achilles tendon, has agreed to contract terms with the Phoenix Coyotes contingent upon his passing a physical.

Here's hoping that Lang, who was injured when he was leading Canadiens scoring, will land on two strong feet in Phoenix. He deserves to be playing in the NHL.

For a look at the complete article, click here.

Good egg.  As long as he can maintain his health, should be a good addition.  If he passes his physical where does this put him on the Yotes?

For all the talk about the Chicago Blackhawks being one of the best young and up-and-coming teams in the NHL, the Blues often get overlooked; well, that is a mistake on the part of many fans because this team simply should not be underestimated.

Led by a management team that includes John Davidson, Larry Pleau and Doug Armstrong, the Blues are in great hands. The combination of experience and knowledge among the aforementioned three managers is tremendous and the Blues’ plan moving forward is indicative of just that.

After surprisingly making the playoffs last season, the Blues may be the surprise team in the National Hockey League in 2009/10. Without further ado, let’s explain why that will be the case.

To read the entire preview, click here.

Input welcome.

Rich went to last night's Tampa & Edmonton tilt, and he had the opportunity to assess the game as well as interview Vincent Lecavalier and Rick Tocchet.

With Tampa Bay seemingly playing their 100th pre-season game last night, I had a chance to catch the Bolts in action in Winnipeg against the Edmonton Oilers. 

First off, I have to say that I am thankful that the Lightning dressed basically their entire regular season roster for the game.  In the lineup for Tampa Bay was Vincent Lecavalier, Alex Tanguay, Martin St. Louis, Steve Stamkos, Victor Hedman and every other significant Bolt you can think of.

Here are my thoughts on the Bolts’ forwards from last night’s contest:

• Martin St. Louis is the heart and soul of this team.  He never stops working, is always in the right position, is smart with the puck and makes everyone around him look better.  He is, in my opinion, a shoe-in for Team Canada.  In fact, when asked about St. Louis last night, Tocchet touched on how lucky Team Canada will be to have him in Vancouver.

• Playing center for St. Louis the majority of the game was Steven Stamkos.  Stamkos makes the game look easy with his fluid stick-handling and lethal shot.  It looks like his confidence has carried over from the second half of last season, just by the way he carries himself, both on and off the ice.

For a complete look at his assessment, click here.

Rich did a pretty good analysis of the Wild for the upcoming season:

The story of the off-season in Minnesota was the upheavel in the coaching and management departments.  After last season’s disappointing performance, Jacques Lemaire stepped down as coach of the team and subsequently Doug Risebrough was relieved of his duties.  These two men have been replaced by new GM Chuck Fletcher and new coach Todd Richards.  Will these moves off the ice change the team’s fortunes on the ice?  Let’s take a look.

To see the complete season preview, click here.

Agree or disagree with Rich? Anything missing?

Usually I avoid posting previews on team blog's, but Rich did a really good job so I figured I'd share with Stars fans:

What can you say?  The Stars’ 2008/09 was an unmitigated disaster.  After taking the Detroit Red Wings to six games in the Western Conference Final in 2007/08, the Stars came into last season with expectations of a Stanley Cup run.  Well, let’s just say that did not exactly happen.  In fact, the opposite occurred, as the season was a disaster from day one.  The acquisition of Sean Avery back-fired mightily, Marty Turco had a poor season and the team lost Brendan Morrow to injury for the majority of the season.

Looking forward to this season, expectations have been curbed in Texas.  Out is the the GM combination of Brett Hull and Les Jackson, and in is former Stars center Joe Nieuwendyk.  When Nieuwendyk was hired, he considered his options and then fired coach Dave Tippett and replaced him with the fiery Marc Crawford.  So, the changes off the ice this summer were actually more impactful than the moves that affected the on-ice product.

Without further ado, let’s examine the Stars’ on-ice product and see what is in store for Dallas fans in 2009/10.

For a complete look at Rich's Dallas preview, click here.

Agree or disagree with Rich? Anything missing?

Last week we broke down Team Canada into 7 different provincial teams.  This week, we broke up Team USA into different States.  Monday we looked at Team Michigan, Tuesday we looked at Team Minnesota, Wednesday we looked at Team New York and Thursday at Team Massachusetts.  While Illinois & Wisconsin were part of the top 6 producers of U.S. born players in the NHL I didn't think we'd be able to get enough players to produce one complete team.  Looks like one Hawk (Adam Burish) made the team.  Did I miss anyone?

Team Illinois/Team Wisconsin:

Since these two states border each other, why not combine the two and see what kind of team we could have. (as could be seen with Team Maritimes, when you don’t have enough players from one region, why not combine).

So without further ado, here is Team Illisconsin.

Coach: Tony Granato.  Despite his recent demotion/promotion, I’m giving the pride of Downers Grove, Illinois the head coaching mantle.  He is a perfect choice to lead this mixed squad.  He played for the University of Wisconsin and he was born and raised in Illinois. 

Goalies:

1. Craig Anderson (IL)

2. Al Montoya (IL)

3. Tyler Plante (WI)

For a complete look at Team Illinois/Team Wisconsin, click here.

Last week we broke down Team Canada into 7 different provincial teams.  This week, we are breaking up Team USA into different States.  Monday we looked at Team Michigan, Tuesday we looked at Team Minnesota, Wednesday we looked at Team New York and today we look at Team Massachusetts which was the 4th largest producer of American born players in the U.S..

Team Massachusetts:

As part of our ongoing project of choosing Olympic teams based on states and provinces, I volunteered to take Team Mass., thinking it would be pretty easy to find a solid squad.  While I was able to round off the defensive corps pretty quickly, the forwards took some work, with a search of the American League made necessary by the lack of NHL calibre forwards hailing from the state.

Coach: Robbie Ftorek.  I realize I could have gone with Peter Laviolette, but the mere chance that Ftorek might bring back the sweater look was enough to make me choose him.

Goalies:

1. Rick DiPietro

2. Corey Schneider

3. Mike Morrison

 For a complete look at Team Massachusetts, click here.

Last week we broke down Team Canada into 7 different provincial teams.  This week, we are breaking up Team USA into different States.  Monday we looked at Team Michigan, Tuesday we looked at Team Minnesota and today we look at Team New York, which is 3rd overall in terms of U.S. players contributed to the NHL last season.

Team New York:

Team New York is an interesting mix.  The 27th largest state in the union based on total geography, it ranks as the third in total population.  As a result one would expect that New York state would be well represented in the NHL.  Turns out that it currently ranks third, behind Michigan and Minnesota.  

Very talented group of forwards without alot of pop from the back end.  The goalie contingent looks like a future Red Wings goalie camp.  To complete our trio we had to coax a goalie out of recent retirement to have a full compliment of tenders.

Coach: Ted Sator - Not to diminsh Mr. Sator, but it didn’t appear that there was much competition.  Couldn’t find any coaches with NHL, AHL or even College experience from NY.  He hasn’t been in the NHL in over ten years and last coached in North America at the ECHL level with the New Orleans Brass.

Goalie:

1. Jimmy Howard

2. Robert Esche

3. Thomas McCollum

For a complete look at Team New York, click here.

Last week we broke down Team Canada into 7 different provincial teams.  This week, we are breaking up Team USA into different States.  Yesterday we looked at Team Michigan as they slightly beat Team Minnesota for most US born players in the NHL (based on last year's teams).

Team Minnesota:

As supplied by Goon of Goon’s World:

Coming as no big surprise, Team Minnesota looks like the class of the south of the border entries. A potent forward group and young, mobile defensive corps make the 10000 Lakers a team to beat. The Achilles Heel seems to be their goaltending, which, while talented, is a little shy on experience.

Coach: Dean Blais- While he lacks professional experience, Blais is a keen motivator who knows how to handle this group, mainly former collegians. He won’t take any shit and will get the most out of any underachievers.

Goalie:

1. Alex Stalock

2. Adam Berkhoel

3. John Curry

For a complete look at Team Minnesota, click here.

Last week we broke down Team Canada into 7 different provincial teams.  This week, we are breaking up Team USA into different States.  Being in Lansing, I chose to create Team Michigan.

Team Michigan:

This week we will be breaking down the Team USA’s 2010 Olympic squad into the best Olympic State teams.  There are 6 U.S. states which have produced 71.5% of US hockey players playing in today’s NHL(any guesses as to which 6 they are?).  Interestingly Michigan slightly edged Minnesota as the number one producer of NHL talent.

This team has some very experienced upper management, great goaltending, older forwards and a solid but not flashy defensive core.

Coach: Dan Bylsma - While he probably isn’t the most highly regarded person right now in Michigan after his Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup, the pride of Grand Haven, Michigan would be my selection to lead Team Michigan.  While he doesn’t have a tremendous amount of NHL coaching experience he seemed to get the best out of the Pens for the short period of time he had them.  Plus with Mike Illitch as owner and Craig Patrick as GM he will have plenty of experience around him.
Goalie:

1. Tim Thomas

2. Ryan Miller

3. Brent Johnson

For complete look at Team Michigan, click here.

Continuing from yesterday's post at IC about Team British Columbia, today I got to focus on what an Olympic team of Albertan's would look like.  It was commented on that I should have included Heatley on the list and while his inclusion would have given the left wing more teeth, I figured that nobody in Alberta would miss him.  Right or wrong?

Looking at team Alberta, the first thing I noticed, was depth at defence.  When you have to bump Mike Green down to 3rd pairing, you know you’ve got depth.

Coach- Ken Hitchcock

Goaltenders:

1. Chris Osgood

2. Chris Mason

3. Alex Auld

For a complete look at Team Alberta, click here.

It was also mentioned that I shouldn't have included Scott Niedermayer on the list since his formative years were spent in Cranbrook, B.C. but I went with the fact that he was born in Edmonton.  If you have any additions or if you think I was way off, let me know.

We at IC were bored and decided to see what would happen when you break Canada's 2010 Olympic team into provincial teams.  We started with Team British Columbia. 

Coach- Tom Renney

Goaltenders:

1. Carey Price

2. Jason Labarbera

3. Wade Dubliewicz

For a complete look at Team British Columbia, click here.

Probably should have included Scott Niedermayer on the list since his formative years were spent in Cranbrook.  If you have any additions or if you think Kyle was way off, lets hear it.

 From Icethetics:

There's a question that's been nagging at me for a few weeks now. I want to see what the rest of you think. Are the Florida Panthers in the process of covertly adopting a new logo?

I noticed recently that the Panthers' official web site was redesigned to feature a legless panther logo in the banner. See the following graphic.

Complete article.

Any word if this is happening?  Doesn't seem too radical an alteration.

Lauren from your Hurricanes Storm Squad was nice enough to do a little Q & A for us.

When I covered the idea of what it takes to be a cheerleader in the NHL and whether or not it has a place in hockey, many readers commented on the site or emailed me with a range of opinions on this subject.  Not surprisingly some were positive and others felt it was a needless distraction.

 

 via i714.photobucket.com

Luckily, we here at Illegalcurve are happy to have Lauren from the Carolina Hurricanes Storm Squad sit down and answer some questions for us and give us her inside look into what it takes to be a member of the cheerleading fraternity in the NHL.  And lest you think this knockout is just good looks, be aware that she can crush you with her brain (she is currently doing a joint law/mba degree).

 For entire Q & A, click hhere

From TSN.ca: 

The Ottawa Senators are on the hook for a $4 million signing bonus to forward Dany Heatley.

Like he did no Tuesday, the disgruntled forward declined to waive his no-movement clause to facilitate a trade to the Edmonton Oilers.

 

 For complete story, click here.

It would seem that this caused the Oilers nothing but a pain in the butt.  Had to wait on free agents and likely upset the 3 Oilers who were told they were traded.

via i714.photobucket.com

Looks like he said NO to waiving his no trade.