The Week That Was

With having been focused on discussing some of the charitable organizations that the NHLPA is involved with, I've neglected some of the stories from around the hockey world last week. There have been hirings, some chatter about draft picks, some ECHL news, and some off-season player news that need to be covered. If you haven't had a chance to scroll back to last week's articles, I encourage you to check out some of the charitable organizations. These organizations are working hard to make people's lives better in a number of ways, and they deserve a little recognition.

Ok, let's take a look at some of last week's happenings along with some of today's news stories.

• The Ottawa Senators announced Craig Hartsburg as their new head coach on Friday morning after signing a three-year deal. Originally, it was thought to go to another OHL coach in Peter DeBoer, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement. Instead, Ottawa went down the road to Sault Ste. Marie, and hired Mr. Hartsburg. Mr. Hartsburg has promised accountability in his new position with the Senators, something that seemed to be missing from last season's team. The two-time, gold medal-winning World Junior head coach certainly knows accountability while playing in big games, so I feel that Mr. Hartsburg should do well in Ottawa.
• Speaking of Peter DeBoer, the former Kitchener Rangers' head coach signed a deal with the Florida Panthers to become their new head coach on Friday. Mr. DeBoer has a real challenge ahead of him as the Panthers have been doormats in the NHL for far too long. Another challenge will be replacing Olli Jokinen if the rumours become truth about the star being moved in the off-season. Mr. DeBoer did lead a very good team in Kitchener to success, but the jump to the NHL takes some adjustment time. While I'm sure that GM Jacques Martin is willing to be patient, the fans in south Florida may not be.
• Alexander Ovechkin received the highest honour from the city of Washington, DC on Friday when he was presented the key to the city. Ovechkin was honoured as the city's first MVP in a major North American professional sports league since Joe Theismann of the NFL's Washington Redskins in 1983. Congratulations to Mr. Ovechkin on his honour, and for bringing life back to hockey in Washington!
• Speaking of awards, the NHL honoured its best from the past season on Thursday evening, and Ovechkin was front and centre again. Ovechkin won the Hart and Lester B. Pearson trophies, as well as earning the Maurice Richard and Art Ross trophies for his statistical work. Washington's head coach, Bruce Boudreau, won the Jack Adams trophy as coach-of-the-year. Chicago's Patrick Kane was named as the Calder trophy winner for being the league's best rookie. Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom won his sixth Norris trophy as the league's top defenceman while teammate Pavel Datsyuk won both the Frank Selke and Lady Byng trophies. In a surprising win, New Jersey's Martin Brodeur won the Vezina trophy for the fourth time. Toronto's Jason Blake won the Bill Masterton trophy after battling leukemia during the season without missing a game. Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier won the King Clancy trophy for his off-ice work in the community. And lastly, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman honoured former Hartford Whaler and Detroit Red Wing Gordie Howe with the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award. Congratulations to all the winners on their achievements!
• There was also a slight "oops" that occurred at the Awards gala on Thursday. And by "slight", I mean ginormous. You would think that spelling a player's name, especially one who is a perennial award winner, would be fairly easy for the NHL, right? Obviously not, as Nicklas Lidstrom found out. Lindstrom? Someone lost a contract for jersey customization with that mistake.
• In an error that is still on their website today, TSN is reporting that the Pittsburgh Star-Review has information regarding the Penguins signing Malkin to a long-term deal. Now, that's great news for the Penguins, but the least that TSN could do is get their source's name right. The newspaper is actually the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, not the Star-Review. C'mon, TSN... you're better than that. Or at least I thought you were.
• The Penguins also filed for salary arbitration with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in order to retain his rights, making him unable to become a restricted free agent. This will allow the Penguins to continue to negotiate with the young star past the July 1 deadline, and I expect a contract announcement sometime after the NHL Entry Draft this weekend.
• The San Jose Sharks also made a coaching announcement on Thursday, hiring former Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Todd McLellan to be their new head coach after signing a three-year deal. He led the AHL's Houston Aeros to a Calder Cup victory in 2003, and looks to duplicate his head coaching success in California. He'll be expected to improve upon Ron Wilson's playoff record where the Sharks were eliminated in the second round despite being the favourites. His experience with the Red Wings should hopefully give him an edge that he can use behind the bench.
• There are reports that Alexei Yashin is looking to make a comeback with the Islanders next season after playing this season in Russia for Yaroslavl Lokomativ. It is reported that Mark Gandler, Yahsin's agent, contacted Islanders' GM Garth Snow about Yashin's return. Gandler then found it appropriate to insult every member of the Islanders team by saying, "They didn't have a first line last season". While it's true that the Islanders struggled due to injuries, Mike Comrie led the team with 49 points in 76 games last season. Yashin's best season with the Islanders was in 2001-02, his first season with the club, when he scored 75 points in 78 games. He's older, slower, and still as moody as ever. My only message to Garth Snow is "why bother". Let him stay in Russia where he had 43 points in 56 games. He'll just be wasting a roster spot.
• The ECHL's Ontario Reign, formerly the Texas Wildcatters, have 17 players on their protected list from the former Wildcatters team to help form the basis of the Reign next season. The Reign will begin play officially on Saturday, October 18, 2008 in Bakersfield against the Condors, and will mark their home opener on Saturday, October 25, 2008 versus this season's Kelly Cup Finalist in the Las Vegas Wranglers. The game against the Wranglers will also mark the opening of Citizens Business Bank Arena for hockey - a brand-new, state-of-the-art, $130 million multi-purpose facility.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs hired Al Coates as their player-personnel director Monday. While this isn't huge in terms of news, the rumours of Burke-to-Toronto will only continue as Coates was formerly employed with the Ducks for the previous six seasons. While it's not truly tampering, the Leafs are sure going about building an empire of experienced personnel with which he has ties. If he truly is interested in the GM job in The Big Smoke, he will have his "knights" already in place. Keep an eye on this one.
  
• Russian player Maxim Mamin was suspended Monday by the IIHF for two years following a positive drug test from the World Junior Championships from this past year. He is suspended from all IIHF-sanctioned events and events organized by IIHF member nations until January 2010. He was 19 at the time of test, which followed a game in Pardubice, Czech Republic. The drug found was a metabolite of nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, and was three-times the threshold limit under the World Anti-Doping Agency rules. The undrafted Russian has essentially killed any hope of being drafted, but can still compete within Russia with his club team, Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
• In the biggest news of the day, the NHL's transfer agreement with the IIHF expired Monday, and this will potentially change the way that hockey business is done since there is no requirement for NHL teams to pay European leagues for free agents any longer. Both the Czech Republic and Russia refused to sign the latest attempt at an agreement as they felt the $200,000-per-player fee was too low, causing the NHL to walk away from the deal. IIHF president Rene Fasel said the NHL plans to honour European contracts and the league expects European teams do the same with NHL deals, but this may open up a whole can of worms for the European teams. Players under contract aren't affected by the NHL's decision not to renew the deal, but free agents are now, literally, free to for NHL teams to pursue. With the European leagues not receiving compensation any longer, this may put some serious strain on their leagues. Again, keep your eyes on this one.

Ok, that's a long laundry list of stuff that's happened over the last few days. Clearly, there is hope for some teams as they embark on a new path with a new coach or management. I'll have a few more "Charitable Donations" articles coming up this week, and I encourage you to check out the previous articles about these organizations by using the drop-down list to the right, or by scrolling down this page.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!