Chris Neil a Senator for life

By DON BRENNAN, QMI Agency 

OTTAWA - Moments after the Senators officially locked up their toughest player for four more seasons, GM Bryan Murray declared he is in the marketplace for a reasonable facsimile.

Chris Neil signed a three-year contract extension on Thursday with the Senators. (Tony Caldwell, Ottawa Sun)

 
And yes, the sigh of relief you may have just heard probably came from Chris Neil.
If the season started today, nobody would feel the loss of departed free agents Matt Carkner and Zenon Konopka more than Neil, the Senators’ 33-year-old right winger who will be paid $5.75 million after the expiration of his current deal next season to not just produce, but also protect his teammates until 2016.
Neil, the franchise’s all-time penalty minutes leader, had plenty of assistance in the enforcer role before Carkner and Konopka were allowed to bolt.
Murray stated Thursday he’ll soon have more.
“There’s pressure (on Neil), no question,” said Murray. “We hope to help him. Now, we have to address that vacancy somehow, and we’ll try to do that.”
However, Murray doesn’t see anything on the list of remaining unrestricted free agents that tickles his fancy. So he’s turning to Plan B.
“I think that at some point here in the near future, I have to address it in another form, whether it be by trade or whatever,” said Murray. “But it’s probably a trade.”
Neil’s annual salary will actually drop slightly from the $2 million he’ll earn in 2012-13. Not that he minds, as the Senators will now pay him $1,916,667 a year until he’s 37.
The Senators’ sixth-round pick in 1998 readily accepted that option rather than test the open market next July 1.
“I love the city, love the organization, and to be able to have the opportunity to play here another four years, it’s unbelievable,” said Neil, who relishes his off-season role as honorary chairman of Roger’s House. “I talked to Bryan after the season about trying to get something done before (next) season started, just so free agency wasn’t weighing on my mind through the season, so I could just show up and play hockey, do what I do best. Just go out and play.
“So to be able to get something done, obviously I’m excited about it and I hope the team is excited about it, too.”
Neil will become the third player to suit up for 1,000 games as a Senator if he averages 67 appearances a year over the length of his contract. Given the way he recklessly throws his body around and fights all comers, the feat would be nothing short of remarkable.
Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Phillips are the only Senators to reach the 1,000-game plateau.
“To be able to give myself the opportunity to do that, it’s going to be awesome,” said Neil. “I’ve been very fortunate with injuries and stuff, that I’ve been able to play through some stuff and get a ton of games under my belt. So another four years gives me a lot more games, and hopefully pushes me over that mark. That would be an unbelievable milestone.”
While Neil says he came into the league as a fighter, he has developed into a defensively responsible player who has hit the double-digit mark in goals five times, including last season, when he scored 13 times and added 15 assists. His bread and butter, however, is the physical game.
“The time I’ve been in Ottawa, Chris has become a better hockey player,” said Murray. “He’s understanding of the role, and he’s second to none in the league, in my opinion.”
Indeed, Neil is regularly among the league leaders in hits, and if there was a category strictly for devastating bodychecks he would likely sit at the top of it year after year. He also remains one of the best pugilists in the NHL.
“Fighting, for me, is part of the game,” said Neil. “There’s nothing better than going out to a hockey game and seeing a good tilt on the ice. I think it always will be part of the game.
“Obviously the day of staged fighting is coming to an end, but I’m all for two guys battling in front of the net, and if they don’t like the way one another hit each other, or they hit the goalie or whatever, instincts take over. That’s where you see some really good fights.
“Carks and Zee were big parts of the team last year. Great guys that fit in well. You hate to see guys like that go. But we’ve got guys that can step in. We’ve still got lots of toughness here.
“Obviously it adds a little more pressure on me, but I look at last year and most of my fights were against heavyweights, anyway,” Neil added. o. But we’ve got guys that can step in. We’ve still got lots of toughness here. “Obviously it adds a little more pressure on me, but I look at last year and most of my fights were against heavyweights anyway,” Neil added. “That’s what kind of makes me a unique player. I can dabble in the middleweight and I can step up in the heavyweight. I can do both. I think with my size, middleweights think they can hang in there, and you’re able to catch some heavyweights off guard.”
ICE CHIPS: How popular is Neil in Ottawa? Whether it’s an accurate indication or not, when a photo of him signing his extension was placed on the team’s Facebook page, it generated 2501 “likes” in the first four hours ... As it currently stands, the Senators have four players eligible to become UFAs next summer: Alfredsson, Sergei Gonchar, Peter Regin and Mike Lundin. 

Selanne the New Chelios

uly 12, 2012By D.Vasso

Quack, Quack, Quack, He's still a Duck! Getty Images

I heard a joke a few seasons back about predictions for the next season, that being that 48-year old Chris Chelios was going to turn to dust if he continued to play.  Chelios then went and retired that season, but 42 year old Finnish right winger, Teemu Selanne might be in the league just as long.
Selanne was one of the free agents left to sign while free agency frenzy was still going on, but he has since decided to sign a one-year extended contract with his team the Anaheim Ducks. Selanne seems to be following Chelios in his love for the game and his ability to still be playing so well after doing it for so long. He also keeps on alluding that he is going to retire each year, but it never happens. Which is a similar situation for the Flyers with their defenceman Kimmo Timonen. Maybe it’s a Finnish thing.
At the start of last season he was saying that he was going to retire, but then he played in every game so it was clear that nothing was going to be stopping the veteran player. Oh and did we mention that he is the all-time leader in goals, assists, points and games played for the Anaheim Ducks?  The dude is a beast.
He plays for the love of the game, not for points, obviously since he pretty much already has them. It will be interesting to see how his year pans out. Though I highly doubt this will be his last season in the NHL. Maybe Selanne will be the veteran player that turns to dust from playing the game too much.

Inspired by youngsters fighting cancer

By MORRIS DALLA COSTA, The London Free Press

Last Updated: July 12, 2012 9:15pm

When Brandon Prust was a London Knight he made a regular habit of visiting Children's Hospital of Western Ontario.
During one of those visits, he met a young lad named Liam, who was fighting cancer. Prust always liked a good fight. The meeting changed Prust's life.

Brandon Prust gets a high-five from friend and cancer survivor Liam Hepburn, the kind of child the NHL player hopes to help with his Prusty4Kids golf tournament. (MIKE HENSEN, The London Free Press)

After a two-year battle with the disease, Liam only has to go back to the hospital for regular checkups.
But now that Prust is making a living in the National Hockey League, he hopes to make a difference to the hospital and the kids who have to use it.
Prust is holding Prusty4Kids, a charity golf tournament at Redtail Golf Course on Aug. 2, hoping to raise $100,000 and establish a program to help kids with their cancer treatment.
"I've done stuff with Children's Hospital since I've been with the Knights," Prust said. "I met Liam when I was with the Knights on hospital visits and we became close. I'm still close to him and his family. It's always been an inspiration to me to go in a see these kids."
Liam was seven when his parents brought him to the Children's Hospital Emergency centre with what they thought was a dental abscess. A bone marrow biopsy confirmed that Liam had cancer, T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a cancer which needed to be treated quickly and aggressively.
But like Prust, Liam never quit enduring the difficult times during his treatments because of numerous complications. In July 2011, Liam had his last treatment and is now back at school with his friends.
Meeting Liam gave Prust the direction he needed in giving back to his community when he had the opportunity to do so.
"We wanted this tournament to be something special," Prust said.
On Aug. 2, 60 golfers will participate in the inaugural Prusty4Kids event. The money will be dedicated to establish a program called Kids Kicking Cancer, the first of its kind in Canada.
The non-profit organization Kids Kicking Cancer helps children with cancer to manage the stress and pain of their disease with treatments through personalized coaching by black belt martial artists. These children achieve power, peace and purpose by learning deep breathing techniques and eventually teaching them to others. It also increases self-confidence in kids who have gone through some terrible times.
"We wanted to do something different, establish something that was the first of its kind," Prust said. "It's been very successful in the States."
The foursomes are complete and include NHL players like Brad Richards, Todd Bertuzzi, Michael Del Zotto, Henrik Lundquist and others.
But Prust is still looking for donations and sponsors, including a premier sponsor.

Bruins sign veteran Exelby, re-up two more

Ty Anderson
Boston Bruins Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT Let me make this very clear: Veteran forward Ray Whitney is not walking through that door. One of the game's greats, Jaromir Jagr, is not walking through that door. Rick Nash is not walking through that door. But hey, Garnet Exelby is!

What? That's not who you were expecting?

Since the start of free agency, Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli has been open about the club's hunt for a veteran defensemen willing to take a two-way contract, and at 30 years old, Exelby seems to be that guy for the Black-and-Gold after signing a one-year, two-way deal with the Bruins worth up to $600,000.

A veteran of 408 games at the NHL level, but with the last coming all the way back on Apr. 10 2010, this is one of Boston's patented fringe-NHL talent depth signings.

Spending all of last year with the Detroit Red Wings' minor league affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, the 217th overall pick from the '99 Draft finished last season with seven goals and 21 points in 75 contests. However, the 6-foot-1 defensemen isn't coming to Boston 'cause of an offensive spark needed from the point, but rather the physical nature the Northeast Division will surely feel in 2012-13 with some major thuggery added in both Buffalo and Montreal.

Thuggery that Exelby is more than capable of handling.

In his last season of play in the NHL, coming back in 2009-10 when he suited up for 51 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Exelby was among the top 20 defensmen when it came to dropping the gloves, finishing the year with five fights. But beyond that stands a resume of a career headlined by 584 penalty minutes, and comes on the heels of a two-year American Hockey League stint that included a staggering 305 minutes in penalties (That's about half the length of the new Batman movie) in just 152 games.

Barring an additional signing (See: A Mike Mottau return or something of equal value) or youngster breakthrough such as Torey Krug, Tommy Cross, or somebody else from the farm, Exelby could very well begin the year as Boston's seventh defensemen.

But perhaps best of all for the Black-and-Gold when it comes to Exelby's contract is that he can (and will be) sent down to the Providence Bruins (AHL) without the threat of somebody nabbing him off waivers.

B's wrap up RFA signings with contracts for Bartkowski, MacDermid

In a minor bit of news, the Bruins wrapped up their restricted free agent business with one-year, two-way deals for defensemen Matt Bartkowski and forward Lane MacDermid.

Acquired by the Bruins in the deal that sent Dennis Seidenberg to Boston in exchange for an assortment of spare parts, the 24-year-old Bartkowski has had a more than minor, but nevertheless special role with the club. Along for the ride on Boston's road to the 2011 Stanley Cup, eventually lifting the Cup as one of Boston's 'black aces', the only time the Pittsburgh-born blue-liner hasn't found himself down in the 'A' has (mainly) been for games against, you guessed it, his hometown Penguins.

Skating in nine career contests, with zero points and a minus-3 rating over that cup of coffee in the show, three of Bartkowski's nine games have come against the Pens, while he's amassed 45 points in 119 games with the P-Bruins.

Up front, MacDermid comes back to don the Spoked-B (Or Spoked-P) for the fourth season, and may emerge as one of Boston's go-to players if an injury is to strike the fourth line this year. Impressing some by taking on a legit heavyweight in his first NHL game (video below) when he dropped the mitts with New York's Michael Rupp.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hcHyXuAyWEI



MacDermid comes back to Boston with five games of NHL experience, but has skated in 212 games for the P-Bruins in three seasons, tallying 13 goals, 25 assists, and sitting in the sin-bin for 434 penalty minutes.

Panel: New NBA, NHL teams would overload fans' finances

By Bryan Johnson & KOMO Staff Published: Jul 12, 2012 at 5:11 PM PDT

The proposed site for the new arena just south of Safeco Field is seen in this aerial image.

SEATTLE -- Financial experts are telling the King County Council that two more sports teams could put Seattle fans on financial overload. They warn a new sports arena for basketball and hockey could have fans cutting back support for other teams.

Chris Hansen, for his part, believes questions have been answered. Seattle has fans. Seattle wants the Sonics. Traffic questions have been answered.

But this is Seattle. Probably the only place where if someone wants to spend hundreds of millions of his own dollars, there will be hearings, after hearings, before planning meetings, environmental impact studies, and SEPA compliance.

A hearing Thursday was No. 8 on Hansen's build an arena plan. Today's guests were an expert panel.

The argument most make is think of all the jobs building it and then think of all money all the screaming fans will spend.

The experts think a new arena would create 1,600 construction jobs for two years. But the economists add, the tax impact of the basketball arena is fairly small.

But they say the larger question is whether Seattle could support six professional teams, when you factor in the current Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders and Storm.

The money gurus say it is quite likely basketball and hockey would steal fans away from other teams.

Economist Dick Conway says he studied whether this is a great place for a new team:

"If you just consider population and you just consider the number of sports teams we have, this might be one of the worst places to locate a team," Conway said.

Conway says this is something that needs more study, a survey of fans. Other consultants suggest more studies of traffic to determine if there will be an impact on the Port of Seattle. And they question whether there is enough pedestrian access in the area so people would walk through what they called an inhospitable area.

The experts say new sports teams would add to civic pride, quality of life, and attractiveness to business. But there are traffic and fan questions that deserve deeper study.

Right now, the county council has just two more hearings scheduled, though more could be scheduled in August.

Report: Hasek contacts Sabres, who pass on return

Thursday, 07.12.2012 / 8:37 PM / News

NHL.com

If Dominik Hasek does satisfy his desire to return to the NHL, it won't be with the Buffalo Sabres.
General manager Darcy Regier told the Buffalo News on Thursday that the 47-year-old goalie had contacted his former team, but it will pass on pursuing him.

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"One thing I am sure of: He has no doubt in his mind that he can play," Regier said. "I think it probably gives him a little bit of lift seeing somebody like (Martin) Brodeur play at 40 in the Stanley Cup Final. I know better than to question Dom's desire and his ability. Unfortunately, it's not something that was going to fit here."
Hasek reportedly is pursuing a return to the League and could be seeking a multiyear contract. His meetings with the Sabres took place about a month ago and included coach Lindy Ruff, Regier said.
He last played in the NHL in 2008 for the Detroit Red Wings and most recently played for Spartak Moscow in the KHL in 2010-11.
In May, when Hasek's intention to return became known, New Jersey Devils goalie Johan Hedberg told USA Today he would not be surprised.
"With Dominik Hasek, you can't count anything out," Hedberg said then. "He didn't play last year, but he had (seven) shutouts in the (KHL) when he was 45."
After playing 25 games for the Chicago Blackhawks from 1990-92, Hasek played the next nine seasons of his NHL career with the Sabres.
In his final NHL season, Hasek at age 43 played 41 games for the Red Wings. He was 27-10-3 with a 2.14 goals-against average and .902 save percentage.
In 735 NHL games, he was 389-223-95 with a 2.20 GAA and .922 save percentage. He won the Vezina Trophy six times, was a two-time Hart Trophy winner, and backstopped the Red Wings to the 2001-02 Stanley Cup.
Ryan Miller, 32 years old next Tuesday, is the Sabres No. 1 goalie heading into the 2012-13 season. His backup likely will be 24-year-old Jhonas Enroth.

Jets prospects fear possible lockout that nears

Welcome to the NHL, kid. Now go grab a picket sign.

By PAUL FRIESEN, QMI Agency 

Winnipeg Jets prospect Zach Redmond is just one of the many youngsters who would dread a lockout, especially at this stage of their careers. (Chris Procaylo/WINNIPEG SUN)

 WINNIPEG - They see the dark clouds gathering, hear the rumblings of discontent and try not to think,  Why me, why now?

Among all the draft picks and free agent hopefuls at the Winnipeg Jets development camp this week, those closest to cracking the NHL face the reality the doors could be locked when they show up for training camp.
Negotiations toward a new collective bargaining agreement are expected to get ugly this fall, raising the possibility of another labour stoppage.
Welcome to the NHL, kid. Now go grab a picket sign.
“It really would stink,” defenceman Zach Redmond was saying during a break from the camp, Thursday. “That’s definitely tough. But at the same time you don’t control it. Everyone’s in the same position.”
Everyone at Redmond’s level, anyway.
Nobody’s going to feel sorry for NHL vets making millions of dollars a year trying to protect their turf.
But you have to feel for the grunts, and those who’ve worked their way up through the minors and are on the verge of being grunts, only to have the bottom fall out.
After a productive first year as a pro in St. John’s of the AHL — he posted eight goals and 23 assists in 72 games — Redmond feels he’s ready to take the next step.
Those who’ve gone before him might feel they have to close the door, though.
“The players are obviously doing it for a reason,” Redmond said. “From what I can tell, they’ve already taken a pay cut. And if they take this one, where does it stop? So they’re standing up right now and putting a foot down. I mean, nobody wants it. It’s just what they feel is fair.
“We’re just hoping for the best. There’s nothing in particular we can do.”
That’s probably why a potential shutdown isn’t a hot topic of conversation among the hopefuls. They’re trained to worry only about what they can control.
“You gotta think the season’s going to start, you gotta train like it’s just a regular season,” 2011 first-round draft pick Mark Scheifele said. “You can’t think about the future. You’ve just gotta think about the now.”
The now is taxing enough, with 10 others at your position wanting the same job.
The thing is, when you’re at this stage of the game, it doesn’t even feel like a job. The last thing you want to worry about is the sharing of a revenue pie you’ve never even taken a bite of.
The truth is, most of these guys would play in the NHL for nothing.
“Almost,” Swedish forward Carl Klingberg said, sighing at the prospect of a shutdown.
“Exactly,” Scheifele agreed. “Right now you play for the love of the game. That stuff really doesn’t matter in your eyes. That’s exactly how I look at it. I play in the OHL and you’re not getting paid anything.”
The prospect of killing the buzz in this town doesn’t sit well, either, with the players just getting a feel for it.
“It’d be tough on the fans,” local boy Jason Gregoire acknowledged. “It’d be tough on the whole league. It’s always a tug-of-war. Hopefully they come to an agreement soon enough.
“If an NHL camp comes around, you gotta be ready. If not, then go dominate the A and give yourself a chance to get called up when the negotiations are through.”
That’s just it — the NHL will be back, eventually.
That carrot won’t disappear. It’ll just move back.
Along with the salaries, possibly.
Not that anybody wearing practice sweaters this week is worried about that.
“The NHL’s a privilege,” Redmond said. “Money probably comes second for a lot of guys, including myself. It’s just the opportunity and something you’ve wanted your whole life. Money isn’t going to stand in the way of that.”
Unfortunately, it might.
 

Hiestand: ESPN’s use of Millen flawed

by Michael Hiestand on Jul. 12, 2012, under USA Today Sports
Source: USA TODAY
ESPN made a questionable choice in casting the biggest star in its Penn State scandal coverage Thursday: Matt Millen.
Especially in focusing on Millen immediately after the 267-page report on Penn State’s internal investigation into its handling of Jerry Sandusky was released Thursday morning. That was the time for coverage to help viewers digest the details. Instead, Millen, after anchor Lindsay Czarniak asked about his “emotions right now,” put his finger on his own miscasting: “There’s so much it’s hard to process all that.”
At least Millen seemed aware of his vacillation and humble about his bafflement. Recalling the “very pristine program” at Penn State, where he played for Paterno and Sandusky, he pretty much summed up his sound bites. The report is “completely antithetical to everything Paterno stood for. … That’s why it’s so hard for me to grasp this” — making it hard to grasp why ESPN kept putting him front and center.
Still, using TV talkers that some viewers love to hate — think Bill O’Reilly or Keith Olbermann— can make sense since you count in the ratings even if you’re seething. Predictably, the Twitterverse, which often fumes about TV sports, was abuzz. Like @Billyy_Madison: “Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened” to Millen.
Coverage was worse elsewhere. The Big Ten Network stayed with a replay of a 2011 Ohio State-Purdue football game — there’s TV you can’t cut away from — rather than airing the news conference for the report. In a statement and a huge understatement, BTN said it’s not “a news organization.” No one will ever argue with that.
ESPN coming back to Millen throughout the day made sense if only for his unique qualification of having played there. (ESPN said Thursday that Penn State player-turned-ESPN-announcer Todd Blackledge was unavailable to comment.)
“Joe was flawed,” Millen said. “He made mistakes, and this was a big one.” You didn’t have to play for Paterno to figure that out.
“And this kind of puts the finger on the point of blame,” Millen said. Unless, he added, it doesn’t: Paterno “was in charge of this particular deal, but he had people above him. And I don’t care what decision you make … the guy at the top (of the university), he pulls the string every time.” Not exactly, said ESPN’s Mark May: At Penn State, when Paterno said “jump, everyone else would have said, ‘How high?’ “
Still, Millen said, “If Paterno were here and presented with the facts, he’d take the blame.” But as a coach, “to steer the whole university, that’s not his job.” As if anybody is saying it was.
Other ESPN voices were more direct. Rece Davis wondered how dumb it had to have been if anybody at Penn State worried that exposing Sandusky would be bad PR: “What in the world would have been better publicity than ferreting out a pedophile and stopping him?”
The TV question going forward now is how networks will cover Penn State games this season. Said ESPN’s Rod Gilmore: “I don’t know how you do a broadcast of a Penn State game and not be aware of this. It’s not going away.”