CrashingTheGoalie

by Randy Turner
“Guy walks into a hockey rink looking for information on the local team’s centreman.
Word on the street is the kid likes to party. But the coach says the player is flying right. A regular choirboy.
So the guy finds a lady wearing a team jacket. Thinks: Billet. And he’s right.
Turns out, she’s actually the [...]

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“The era of free agency, which symbolically began with Curt Flood’s legal battle against the reserve clause and literally started with Messersmith/McNally ruling, has seen it all — monumental successes (Dave Winfield, Yankees) and failures (Mike Hampton, Rockies) alike.”
cont.

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by Ron Spence
I’d like to be a fly on the wall when underachiever Tyler Arnason has his first run in with Rangers’ coach John Tortorella. 
I wish I’d been a fly on the the wall – of the airplane flying from Frankfurt to Stockholm – on July 1st. 
Burke’s flight hit the tarmac in Sweden, he turned [...]

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by Ron Spence
I like the Andrew Raycroft signing.
When you have Roberto Luongo on your roster, there’s only 8 to 12 games available for a backup. So you need someone with good team attitude and work ethic.
Raycroft is technically sound – with the exception of the top shelf shots.
He’s also large enough at 6′ and 185 [...]

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Sporting News TODAY published an excellent article on NHL arbitration.
Larry Bertuzzi – who represents NHL management – discussed his strategies before, and during arbitration.

It would be interesting to know which issues and facts will be discussed during Kyle Wellwood’s arbitration hearing.
If Wellwood is awarded a high salary, Mike Gillis might just let him go. 

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by Ron Spence
It was the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, and the Panthers wanted to select Alexander Ovechkin, even though his birthday was two days after the cut-off.
The Florida GM claimed that with the addition of the extra days falling on Leap Year, Ovechkin was actually eligible to be drafted that June.
But, the NHL didn’t [...]

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by Ron Spence
Vancouver selected four draft picks who played in more than 1000 NHL games.
The player who played the most games was Trevor Linden – 1382.
Who were the other three?
Don Lever was a 1st round pick who played in 1020 games.
Harold Snepsts was a 4th rounder who appeared in 1033 games.
Dave Lowry was a 6th [...]

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The Penguins re-signed Bill Guerin and it wasn’t just because he’s a very good player.
He’s both a leader and a bonding agent in his team’s dressing room.
Todd Reirden – the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins – recalls:
“I played my very first NHL game in Phoenix against the Coyotes. It was well documented I was [...]

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by Ron Spence
Bob Gainey has charted his way to the Stanley Cup finals.
He’s acquired smaller underachievers.

And he’s fired his coaching staff in Hamilton – via a phone call.
It’s all under control.
His design is flawless.

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by Ron Spence
Dale Tallon was in the news at the beginning of the 2008-09 season, and he’s back in the news in the crazy season.

“Chicago may have failed to provide a number of its players with a completed copy of the Qualifying Offer notice referenced in Article 10.2 (a) of the CBA (i.e. Exhibit 19),” [...]

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