Archive for June, 2007

Christy at Behind the Jersey has a lot of questions about the Predators and Balsillie…who has the answers?

Mirtle says Canadian billionaire, Jim Balsillie’s, deal to purchase the Nashville Predators of the NHL and relocate the team to Hamilton appears unlikely as the current owner prepares to announce an exclusive deal with a new bidder.

SLAM sports reports that the Nashville Predators may be turning to California businessman William (Boots) DelBiaggio from Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie.

TSN’s take has Leipold deciding to sell the team to California businessman William DelBiaggio for $50-million US less than what Balsillie was offering.

On The Forecheck is still trying to save the Predators!

OFFSIDE NOTES:

Joe Pelletier takes a look at who may be entering the Hall of Fame this year…as always a refreshing and well-researched view!

Battle of Alberta is talking numbers and making my head spin…Asset/Liability…Just give me a stick and a puck!

After viewing some of the fan renderings of the RBK Edge Jerseys for Washington, Montreal, Boston and Detroit, it is nice to see the jersey developed for the Chicago Blackhawks still pays tribute to the original six.

This is the official style of the 2007-2008 Chicago Blackhawks uniforms as seen on NHL 2008 the video game.

If you want an authentic RBK Edge Jersey for next season, you can order your favorite team’s jersey at IceJerseys.com

After viewing some of the fan renderings of the RBK Edge Jerseys for Washington, Montreal, Boston and Detroit, it is nice to see a version developed and released for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

This will be the style of the 2007-2008 Columbus Blue Jackets uniforms!

If you want an authentic RBK Edge Jersey for next season, you can order your favorite team’s jersey at IceJerseys.com

For those of you who are immersed in the draft coverage, I thought I would let you know that while you were drooling over your team’s first pick, the NHL snuck in a few new rule changes!

There is nothing really major here, but some of the items are noteworthy:

Rule 24 — Gross Misconduct. The term “Gross Misconduct” was eliminated from the rule book. Any act that would have been assessed a Gross Misconduct penalty will receive a Game Misconduct penalty. Accumulated Game Misconduct penalties can lead to fines or suspension. (When is the last time you saw a Gross Misconduct called in an NHL game?)

Rule 25 — Penalty Shot. A player may be awarded a penalty shot if he is fouled on a clear breakaway outside his defensive zone (i.e., anywhere in the neutral zone or in the attacking zone). Previously, a penalty shot was awarded only when the player on a clear breakaway was fouled on the attacking side of the center line. (I’m really not sure how they referees will be able to declare a “clear breakaway” between ones own blueline and center ice unless it is a 3 on 3 situation and all of the players are caught deep.)

Rule 56 — Interference. Referees were given discretion to assess a major penalty and a game misconduct when an injury results from an act of interference. Previously, only a minor penalty could be assessed for interference. (An injury resulting from an interference penalty would be something to see now wouldn’t it!)

Rule 76 — Face-offs. All face-offs must be conducted at one of the nine face-off dots painted on the rink. Previously, there had been instances, such as when a puck left the playing surface, which caused the face-off to occur on unmarked ice, parallel to the dot nearest the place where the puck departed. (This could actually make a difference…no more attack zone faceoffs in the middle of the rink)

All in all, these changes won’t do a whole lot for the game from the fans point of view.  However, if the league wants to do something constructive, they could eliminate the touch icing and save players’ heads from getting run through the end of the rink!

Source: NHL 

With the NHL implementing the new Reebok RBK Edge Jersey for all of the teams in the league next season, it is nice to see what the new uniforms will look like.

Firstly, we saw what the Washington Capitals 2007-2008 uniform look like, along with the Canadiens, Bruins and Red Wings as well as the Edmonton Oilers New Jersey.

Based on the RBK Edge jersey that is used in EA Sports NHL 2008, this is what the Dallas Stars 2007-2008 will look like.
If you want a your own RBK Edge Jersey for this season, you can order your favorite team’s jersey at IceJerseys.com

Of all of the wacky things that the Philadelphia Flyers could do in the off season, they decided to release a video of a hefty guy dancing in a playground.

I would have to presume that this individual is a “Dancing Fan” who is excited for free agency to begin…but I’m actually really confused after watching the video.

View the video here and let me know what you think

Hopefully someone can make some sense out of this because I am totally lost.

Enjoy!