«
»

Hockey roundup

by Steve, December 21st, 2006

hockeyNHL in Portland? Since the Pennsylvania gaming commission unanimously voted to deny Isle of Capri a slots license, the future of the Penguins in Pittsburgh looks bleak. Scott Burnside on ESPN points out that any realistic Pens fan had to see this coming. “Penguins fans, in your heart of hearts, you knew it was going to play out this way, didn’t you? It would have been too neat, too tidy otherwise,” writes burnside. Now Mario is saying the team is off the market, and he is looking into relocation. The top contenders for an NHL team are Houston, Kansas City (which has a sparkling new arena without a major tenant), and perennial bridesmaid (but never a bride) Portland.

I’ve never liked the idea of NHL here, but I’m starting to warm up to the idea. Especially if the deal involves Malkin, Staal and Crosby. Maybe the Trailblazers will move to Seattle, and Mario will buy the Rose Garden and move the Pens here. It’s a long shot, but it could happen.

Beaulieu suspended for forced flag signing: Jacques Beaulieu, head coach and G.M. of the Saint John Sea Dogs, has been suspende by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for forcing his team to sign a flag to be sent to Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. One player was cut from the team, ostensibly for refusing to sign the flag. The league determined that the player, 20 year old Dave Bouchard, was cut for performance reasons, not the flag incident, but still found that

the request from the Sea Dogs to have the players sign the flag was inappropriate and the comments made by Jacques Beaulieu in regards to Dave Bouchard violate the QMJHL anti-discrimination policy. The comments can be hurtful to the player and can be construed as a violation of his rights and consequently, of our anti-discrimination policy.

Gaustad moves up: Sabre’s coach Lindy Ruff has moved Portland boy Paul Gaustad to the second line with Chris Drury and Ales Kotalik. The move entails Gaustad moving from center to left wing, and will mean more ice team and probably more scoring chances.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 21st, 2006 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Hockey, Portland. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “Hockey roundup”

  1. Comment from Matt:
    December 22nd, 2006 at 7:02 am

    http://www.hockeyfansunite.com

    Good morning. Please take a second to check out this new site. It has been generating quite a bit of buzz. It is basically calling for the return of good old-fashioned North American hockey that many of us have missed over the past few years. It presents a pretty solid stance on why today’s NHL product is in trouble.

    The end result – or day of reckoning if you will – is January 20th… what is being called the annual “Save the NHL” night. On January 20th, there will be a total of 14 games taking place across the NHL and it presents the best opportunity for fans to show their support for a return to something close to old time hockey, primarily by tweaking the current rules in “the new NHL.”

    The idea is to make our (the NHL fan’s) presence known through fliers and/or signs (all of tasteful nature of course) in the hopes that we get someone’s attention and open their eyes to the demands of the fans. If you share in that interest for intense, passionate, and physical hockey, please check out the site and kindly show whatever support you can. The effort on your part would be minimal but your impact would be overwhelming.

    Thank you and Happy Holidays!

    Matthew