Hockey Hall of Fame inductees…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Hockey allows a maximum of four players to make it into the Hall of Fame. Tuesday it announced it would take four and all four made it the first year they were on the ballot.
Names like Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman, Brian Leetch and Luc Robitaille are all pretty familiar. This is a nice, loaded class.
Three of them are pretty distinct, too. Yzerman – Red Wing for life. Leetch – one of the most important New York Rangers ever. Robitaille – he’s an L.A. King, for sure.
But what about Hull? Amazingly, he played on five teams (Calgary, St. Louis, Dallas, Detroit and Phoenix). I admit I had to look up the Phoenix one. My fondest memory will be of him scoring the Stanley Cup-winning goal with Dallas in Game 6 vs. Buffalo in a three-overtime classic.
This is a stacked class, pretty cool to see.
For much more on the announcement and thoughts from the inductees, here ya go.
Also supposed to hear word from future Hall of Famer Chris Chelios on Wednesday about his future.
***
As for the Blazers and their future, nothing is cleared up yet. I’ve been on the horn a lot in the last couple of days trying to decipher what is rumor and what is fact.
We all know there are a ton of rumors out there. Still weeding through it all, hope to have something concrete for ya by the end of the week.
In fact, it is my goal for the week. I’ve worked ahead on some of my other beats because this is all I want to concentrate on for the rest of the week.
I’ll keep ya posted.
Donovan gets special invite…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Been a while since caught up with what Edmond native Matt Donovan has been doing. Things are still going well for the defenseman.
Donovan is one of 43 players to be invited to tryout for the U.S. National Junior Team (running from Aug. 7-15) that will compete in the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, from Dec. 26, 2009-Jan. 5, 2010, in Saskatoon and Regina, Sask.
The camp will feature practices, three games between the split U.S. squads and four games against Russia.
Donovan is one of seven players invited who played last season in the USHL. He had four points in five playoff games and 19 goals and 32 assists in 57 games for Cedar Rapids.
Donovan was a fourth-round draft pick of the New York Islanders last season.
***
Both lead prep writer Ryan Aber and Thunder beat writer Darnell Mayberry have accepted the Boneman’s challenge to write a little something about Game 7 and the hockey playoffs, in general.
No excuse to have not seen the game by this point as NHL Network basically ran the game in a three-hour cycle all of Saturday into Sunday morning. Now I just have to put it on DVD. Think this game (and series) will stand the test of time as something worth talking about.
***
And finally, this bit of a news about one of the Blazers enforcers from last year, Robin Gomez. Hope it can be worked out for all parties involved. Don’t wish injury on anyone and don’t wish anyone’s livelihood to be taken away, either.
Pens take Cup in thrilling Game 7…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
(might this be a scene we see a lot in the future as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman presents Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby the Stanley Cup. Photo courtesy of NHL.com)
You strapped in? Because not only did I watch every single second of Game 7 between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins, I was taking mental notes on what I wanted to talk about.
Paced by two goals by Maxime Talbot and a phenomenal job in net by Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins defeated the Red Wings, 2-1, to win the Stanley Cup on Friday in Detroit. Pittsburgh wins the series, 4-3.
It marks the first time since 1971 that a road team has won Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final, and it’s the first time in any of the four major sports (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) since 1979 that a Game 7 championship was won by a road team. Edit: Of course that can’t be true since the NFL doesn’t have a road team in the Super nor does it have a best-of-7 fomat. Oops.
It was also the first time a road team had won in the series. Pittsburgh was outscored 11-2 in the previous three games at Joe Louis Arena.
I said earlier today all the Boneman wanted was some drama. A Penguins win was a bonus. We got both tonight.
With 6.5 seconds left, Detroit won the face-off and Brian Rafalski had one shot that was a pad save by Fleury, and Nicklas Lidstrom in the final two seconds tried to lift one by Fleury but was denied. And the celebration was on.
Even before that, the final two minutes were insane. After Jonathan Ericsson scored with just over six minutes left to make 2-1, Nicklas Kromwall nearly tied it up with two minutes left. His shot smacked the cross bar and fluttered away harmlessly.
No shock at all that Evgeni “Geno” Malkin was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP. He ended up with 14 G and 22 A in the postseason.
Fleury ended up with 23 saves while Chris Osgood had 16 for Detroit.
Period-by-period breakdown:
First period
Horrible start by Pittsburgh. A little nervous energy, and Detroit was beating ‘em to the puck constantly.
Fleury was tested early on a great chance by Valtteri Flippula, but the save of the night (well, before the final two) was the one Fleury made on Kirk Maltby.
Right off a draw win for Detroit, Maltby had a golden opportunity at the doorstep that Fleury gloved away.
If that goes in, it’s another game. Deja vu as the same could be said about an Alexander Ovechkin shot in Game 7 between the Pens and the Washington Capitals in the conference semifinals.
There’s Muhammad Ali in the crowd, wearing a Red Wings sweater. Good to see “The Greatest” out-n-about.
Pittsburgh had one power play opportunity and spent almost the entire 2 minutes in the zone but didn’t make anything happen and didn’t have a realistic scoring chance.
However, the Pens started to dictate play late in the period and had the look of a confident team.
Shots through the first: Detroit 6, Pittsburgh 10.
Second period
It didn’t take long as Talbot scored 1:13 into the period. Watching it live, I thought it was an icing call. It was close. Either way, it was a bad turnover by Detroit that led to Talbot beating Osgood, who had no chance.
Thought the game would take a dramatic shift after Pens captain (and face of the NHL) Sidney Crosby was hit hard (and clean) by Johan Franzen with about oh 14 minutes left or so.
Initially, I thought it was his ribs, but replay clearly showed it was a knee problem. Crosby would be taken back to the dressing room and would see one shift in the third period, and that’s it.
But after killing off a penalty, it was Talbot again, scoring on a 2-on-1 opportunity. It wasn’t a soft goal, but I thought Osgood took a bad angle. I was begging for Talbot to pass. Eh, guess he knows more than me (not too hard to do).
The key to the play was the job by Pittsburgh’s Chris Kunitz of fighting for the puck and getting possession on the other end.
Detroit had a huge surge in the final two minutes, but once again, Fleury manned up and faced the onslaught.
With the 2-0 lead, Pittsburgh was no longer attacking, just hoping to hold on.
Shots in the second: Detroit 11, Pittsburgh 7. Shots through two periods: Detroit 17, Pittsburgh 17.
Third period
The Penguins managed one shot on goal as again it was more about watching the time tick down instead of attacking.
Crosby came back for one draw (which he won), but he couldn’t do anything. Though he pleaded to come in, he was forced to watch the bulk of the last two periods from the bench.
I don’t know about you, but I was just waiting for that Detroit surge. Sure enough, it happened. It made a good game into a great one.
I’m not enough of a hockey historian to accurately place this game where it needs to be. But for excitement and drama, tough to match.
The final six minutes is why hockey is a great sport, and if any new fans were created, you would figure those last six minutes will keep ‘em there.
Shots in the third period: Detroit 7, Pittsburgh 1. Shots in the game: Detroit 24, Pittsburgh 18.
Other thoughts
Detroit nearly lost this game because it wanted it too much. Everybody wanted to do what he could to help the team that it ended up becoming a detriment to the club.
Lidstrom played more than 10 minutes…in the second period. The shifts were too long. And the Red Wings were almost down-and-out before a rally could get started.
Now of course, once that first goal is scored, it was pure adrenaline. But Detroit was extremely gassed for most of this game.
Detroit’s passing wasn’t crisp for most of the game, either. Uncharacteristic turnovers and a litany of offside calls to thwart any chances.
Ironic about Marian Hossa, no? He leaves Pittsburgh this season to go to Detroit because he feels he’ll have a better shot at a championship. Weird how that one worked out.
Crosby becomes the youngest captain (at 21) to hoist the Stanley Cup ever. This night might become historic for the simple reason we might say “that’s when Sid got his first Cup.”
And how about Pens coach Dan Bylsma? A mid-season replacement who always looked so cool, calm and collected throughout the playoffs. His confidence carried over to the team.
Great job by NBC. Mike Emrick is a great voice for hockey and the analysis by Ed Olczyk, Pierre MaGuire, Darren Pang and Mike Milbury was good and informative stuff.
Was texting back-and-forth all night with a couple of my fellow writers, head preps writer Ryan Aber and NBA guru Darnell Mayberry.
Ryan has long been a hockey fan and after a brief absence, said this postseason has brought him back for good. He was pulling hard for the Pens. Or as a big Avalanche and Blackhawks fan, might be easier to say “rooting against Detroit.”
Darnell is a newbie, who texted me right after Fleury’s save of Maltby to say “I think I just became a hockey fan!” He had no rooting interest, definitely want to hear what the Thunder Insider thought of the game.
I’ve asked both of them to write about it, and I’ll post it on the blog early next week as I get on my soapbox again to write about how great the playoffs were and what that will mean to the NHL’s future.
And finally, I should have just trusted my instinct and taped the game. But fear not as I know the NHL Network will show it sometime this weekend. This is going on a DVD pronto, it’s a keeper.
***
That’s 1,300 words for ya. More than I anticipated and probably more than what you wanted to read. But a night like this deserves it.
Be back next week with a commentary on the NHL Playoffs (and the NHL’s future) and of course, if anything should happen with the Blazers or breaking news in the CHL, I’ll be around.
Sawyer leaves Blazers and other CHL signings…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Not here to report on a Blazers signing, but Oklahoma City did lose what was becoming a familiar face around these parts.
Defenseman Justin Sawyer has signed with the Bloomington franchise of the IHL after spending the last two seasons with the Blazers.
It would be interesting to know if this signing was made a little easier because former Blazer Marty Standish is also on the PrairieThunder club. I’m going to try to get in touch with Sawyer in the near future.
Sawyer’s a big boy (6-6 and 240 pounds) and served as an enforcer-like presence in his two years with the Blazers. He had one goal and 21 assists with 508 penalty minutes in his two seasons.
So two players who definitely won’t be returning (Sawyer, Robin Gomez) were the two most-penalized players on the team last year.
If Oklahoma City is able to retain Tyler Harder and Josh Patterson for the role, the team should be fine. And for my money, late-season addition Matt Harris would also be a nice fit.
Other CHL dealings:
- The Allen Americans were a busy bunch this last week, signing four players. They started it off last Friday with a trio of additions: centers Jarret Lukin, Justin Bowers and Chris Gaudet. All three played with Allen associate coach Bill McDonald for the Dayton Bombers of the ECHL.
Allen then signed forward Bill Loupee earlier this week. Loupee was a part of the Miami (OH) team that reached the Frozen Four for the first time and lost in the national championship to Boston U.
- Odessa added two more to its roster, officially adding J.R. Bria (formerly of Bossier-Shreveport) and forward Paul Kelly. Kelly was on the team down the stretch and head coach Paul Gillis must have liked what he saw. Kelly had two GW goals vs. Texas in the conference finals.
- Mississippi is back at it as coach Kevin Kaminski isn’t wasting anytime getting his nucleus back. The RiverKings inked defenseman David Simoes for another year. Simoes led the CHL with 30 major penalties last year.
- Rio Grande Valley signed defenseman Nathan Ansell. He played in 61 games last year and led RGV in playoff scoring. He turns 23 later this month.
- Defending champion Texas is bringing back captain Craig Minard for his ninth CHL season and third with the Brahmas. He led the team with a +25 rating last season.
***
Another delay in the Chen v. Funk lawsuit. The pretrial conference was originally going to be last December, moved to April 1, moved to July 15 and now has moved for the final time to October 14.
Chen says he is still owed money from when the team was sold to Funk and Funk is countersuing for misrepresentation would be a brief synopsis.
Neither the Funk family or former Blazers CEO Brad Lund have had much to say about this case lately. I believe both sides just want it to end, so they can move on. For details about the case, here ya go.
***
Good news out of Bossier-Shreveport as it appears the Mudbugs have found an owner. GM Ray Delia said the team should be sold to a new ownership group within the next two weeks. The CHL will have to approve of the sale but that shouldn’t be an issue.
Shreveport Times writer Roy Lang III has been all over it, and here is his latest offering.
***
And of course, couldn’t leave without a Stanley Cup plug. Game 7 between Pittsburgh and Detroit is tonight at 7 on NBC.
What a weird series with no discernable pattern anywhere. Two straight 3-1 wins for Detroit, then two straight 4-2 wins for Pittsburgh. A humiliating 5-0 wipeout in Game 5, followed by the first dramatic game in a 2-1 Pens win Tuesday.
A road team has not won Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final since Montreal did so in 1971. And yes, it was against my Blackhawks (don’t rub it in).
I do hope Pittsburgh wins, but what I hope for even more is that it’s a great game with a lot of drama and maybe even an OT or two. As I’ve said throughout the playoffs: this is the stage for the NHL to become relevant again.
Scuderi sends Pens to Game 7…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
If the Pittsburgh Penguins were going to beat the Detroit Red Wings to force a decisive Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final, there were some names I expected to come up big.
Someone like Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin or a lights-out effort by goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
But the name Rob Scuderi never popped into my head. But a ridiculous third period performance by Scuderi helped the Pens hang on in a 2-1 victory over Detroit to tie the series at 3-3.
The puck was free in the crease with Fleury out of position, and Scuderi poked the puck out of there to survive a scoring attempt.
Then in the last half minute, Scuderi made a stick save and two saves with his left skate to preserve the win.
I missed the first 30 minutes of the game because of a big Mixed Martial Arts story I’m working on about former UCO wrestler Jared Hess (read it next week, how’s that for a blatant plug?).
I got home and all I could hear about was how the Red Wings couldn’t get any offensive attack going. Guess they were waiting for the Boneman to get home because Detroit nearly pulled it out with a great third period.
Chris Osgood was magnificent and had Dan Cleary gone between the legs of Fleury on a breakaway with 1:30 left, who knows what would have happened?
As is, it’s time for the greatest environment in sports: a Game 7 in hockey and more specifically, the Stanley Cup Final.
Friday night in Detroit on NBC. No competition from the NBA, the stage is set for the NHL to get some of its fans back and create new ones.
Boneman asks for your assistance: anyone know of a really good hockey hangout to watch the game?
It’s fitting that a great postseason will be determined by a Game 7.
Catching up with Sauter…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
With the summer meetings in the books, time to look ahead to the 2009-10 season and was able to talk with head coach Doug Sauter, in between him working with horses.
It’s not official that there won’t be an expansion draft, but if there isn’t, Sauter said everyone, except for forward Robin Gomez will be protected.
That means if any team in the CHL wants the current crop of Blazers that they will have to acquire the rights via Oklahoma City.
However, if any player wants to go another league, he is free to do so and the team does not have to go through the Blazers.
It’s just the way it worked out for Gomez. With Stacey Bauman becoming a veteran this season, had to unprotect one of the guys. And because of health reasons, it makes sense for it to be Gomez.
Sauter said he wouldn’t rule out signing Gomez at a later date or something like that, though.
Sauter he would give last year’s team a B+. It could have been an A- had Oklahoma City done better in the playoffs. But after missing the playoffs the previous season, finishing fifth overall in the league was a good bounce back effort.
And like anyone else, he’s enjoying the NHL Playoffs. Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins is Tuesday at Pittsburgh. Detroit leads the series 3-2.
There are a lot of rumors going on with where the Blazers will end up playing. As of today, it is still not settled. It’s getting a little agitating I’m sure for season-ticket holders playing the waiting game. But right now, that’s what everyone is doing.
Express Sports president Bob Funk Jr. is still negotiating with the city on a lease that he feels will work best for the team.
***
More news and notes from the CHL summer meetings via assistant general manager Josh Evans:
- The playoff format will not change, regardless of how many teams are in the league. There were some rumblings that with 18 teams, maybe more teams would be added. That won’t be the case.
- The future of the Bossier-Shreveport and New Mexico franchises is still up in the air. No clarification one way or the other. The CHL, of course, hopes both will remain in the league.
- As of right now, there is no expansion draft planned. That could change, but with the Allen franchise already starting to sign some players, might be a safe bet to say a draft won’t happen.
- And sounds like the vet rule might be tweaked. No official word on it will be changed to, whether it’s the number of vets a team can have or if it’s the number of games it takes to be a vet. You would bet on the latter.
- Other than that, not much happenings at the meetings, said Evans. Of course, there were all the awards as well. It’s a waiting game for the franchises. And until those are known, you can’t really tinker with any division re-alignments.
***
One note on the Stanley Cup Final. Why are two of the games going head-to-head with the NBA Finals? The NBA’s format has been pretty consistent of being Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday.
So if you’re the NHL, don’t you have to try to schedule around that to bring in the most fans possible? The league bent over backwards to have Games 1 and 2 on NBC on back-to-back nights.
But now two days off between Games 5 and 6, and Tuesday is also Game 3 of the NBA Finals. At least it if goes 7, Game 7 will be Friday with Game 4 of the NBA on Thursday.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals was the same night as Game 4 of the Stanley Cup. I was at a sports bar with some of my fellow workers. And once it hit 8 p.m. and time for the basketball game, the hockey game went away. Dems the breaks, I guess, but it was frustrating.
Detroit dominates, one game away from Stanley Cup
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Didn’t think I would be writing this at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, but Detroit made it pretty easy. Not sure “domination” is even strong enough of a word for what the Red Wings did to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 5.
Executing in all phases of the game, Detroit thrashed Pittsburgh, 5-0, to take a 3-2 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final. Had to wait until the game was officially over before posting.
I posed two questions before this game. 1. Would the potential return of Pavel Datsyuk fire up the Red Wings? 2. Could Pens G Marc-Andre Fleury continue his stellar play?
Not so sure the return of Datsyuk did anything earth-shattering (though he did have two assists), but the answer to No. 2 was an emphatic NO.
It was a back-and-forth game in the first period until Fleury let up a soft one to Dan Cleary with about six minutes left in the first.
The turning point was Chris Osgood. No, it wasn’t a brilliant save by the Detroit goaltender. Rather, it was a brilliant play of the puck that led to the second goal.
With the long changes because of the teams’ positioning during the second period, Osgood got the puck up ice before Pittsburgh had fully completed its change. Marian Hossa found Valtteri Flippula, and it was 2-0 less than two minutes into the second period.
Tack on three power-play goals in the second, and it was 5-0 with the writing on the wall and Fleury out of the game.
Here’s what I find funny. If you don’t have VS., you’ve got to be wondering what the big deal is about Pittsburgh. Detroit is 3-0 on NBC while the Pens are 2-0 on VS.
Game 6 is Tuesday night in Pittsburgh on…NBC.
***
No word from Blazers assistant general manager Josh Evans as of yet. Hoping to get in touch with him Sunday afternoon after he gets back in from the CHL summer conference in Phoenix.
CHL wheeling ‘n dealing Pt. II
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Not as much to report this week in the CHL transactions as seems like the summer conference is dominating what is going on this week.
Since we last left Friday, here are the signings:
- Corpus Christi is bringing back Adam Powell. He had his best offensive season of his career last year and will be entering his fourth season with the IceRays, making him the most-tenured player on the team.
- There’s been rumors of tough times for Amarillo, but the Gorillas are signing people, so that’s good to see. Amarillo re-signed Joe Guenther. It will be his fourth season with the team. He had 46 points in 53 games last year.
- Mississippi is back at it as the RiverKings re-signed forward Darrell Stoddard. He’s entering his fifth season as an RKing. Head coach Kevin Kaminski has laid down a challenge for Stoddard to get 20 goals, 40 points and 200 penalty minutes.
- Defenseman Jesse Perrin will be back with Rio Grande Valley. He’s only 22, so he’s got a future ahead of him. In 34 games, he had one goal and eights assists.
- The CHL summer conference has started. Representing the Blazers is assistant general manager Josh Evans. He said he would call me if anything late-breaking happens. If not, I will speak to him about things Sunday.
Most intrigued by a division re-alignment. Not saying it will happen but definitely a possibility. Also, interesting to see if the expansion draft will be scrapped. And of course, the future of the Bossier-Shreveport, New Mexico and Rocky Mountain franchises.
***
And now the Stanley Cup Final is a best 2-of-3 as each team has held serve in their first two home contests.
Really impressed with Pittsburgh last night in the second period. After trailing 2-1, able to score three and cruise to the 4-2 win and tie the series at 2-2.
It’s started with a short-handed goal by Jordan Staal, and then Sidney Crosby was able to light the red light for the first time. Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each had a goal and an assist.
However, each game is its own entity. Say Detroit is able to get Pavel Datsyuk back in the lineup Saturday, all that Penguins mojo goes away (IMO). Datsyuk skated in the warmup but didn’t play Thursday.
Detroit did look a little tired, which was surprising. The Red Wings will be pumped to be back with their home crowd.
You know G Chris Osgood will play better. But after two great home games by Marc-Andre Fleury, can the Pens net-minder keep it up?
Game 5 is Saturday night at 7 p.m. on NBC.
New (coaching) faces in CHL…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
The Allen Americans franchise named Dwight Mullins head coach three weeks ago, and now it appears the Independence expansion team has found its man.
Knoxville head coach Scott Hillman of the SPHL has resigned to become the new man in Independence.
Like that both teams are bringing in some fresh faces. Yeah, Mullins played for Fort Worth in the CHL and Hillman played for Odessa, but neither has been around the CHL landscape for a while.
Mullins will also be reunited with Bill McDonald. McDonald will be the associate coach and coached Mullins at Fort Worth when they won the CHL championship.
The CHL did a Q&A with Mullins that you can find here.
***
Saw Blazers head coach Doug Sauter out at Remington Park on Saturday night. Sauter is close friends with connections to Separate Bet, a dominating horse at Remington.
Separate Bet won all three of his stakes races during the now-completed quarter horse season at Remington.
Sauter was in good spirits. For those who want to know more about the horse, here ya go.
***
Because I was at Remington, missed Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Good thing, too, as it appeared Detroit handled Pittsburgh pretty easily.
Did watch Game 2 last night, and that was a frustrating one. Tough to understand how Detroit won 3-1.
Penguins dominated play. OK, dominating is too big of a word, but never felt like Detroit was dictating play.
So it’s 2-0 Detroit, but don’t feel like Pittsburgh is being overwhelmed. Like the fire from Evgeni Malkin in the final seconds.
G Chris Osgood, of course, made some money saves while Marc-Andre Fleury let in a couple of “say wha” goals.
Game 3 is Tuesday night.
Deja vu in Cup finals…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
It only went five games, but it was close and I enjoyed it. The Detroit Red Wings finished off my beloved Chicago Blackhawks with a 2-1 win in overtime Wednesday night.
Once Nikolai Khabibulin went out with his lower body injury in Game 3, had to know the writing was on the wall. Backup G Cristobal Huet played great in Game 5 with 44 saves (and a ridiculous pad save in the final seconds of regulation).
For as good as Huet was, never felt Da Blackhawks could penetrate Detroit’s Chris Osgood. Personal bias aside, Osgood brings the goods in the postseason. Well, in the regular season, too.
Feel Chicago is a year away, but this was a nice fun ride to go on the last two months.
It sets up a Stanley Cup rematch between Detroit and the Pittsburgh Penguins, starting Saturday night.
Interesting that this is the first time in 25 years that there will be a rematch in the Cup finals.
Detroit won in six games last season, but Evgeni Malkin wasn’t so great in that series. And nobody is playing better (or leading a team better) than Sidney Crosby. It’s a thing of beauty to watch him skate and play the game.
Here’s to hoping Detroit gets healthy as no finals should be decided with so many injuries.
Detroit elected to not touch the Western Conference trophy while the Penguins did embrace the Eastern Conference championship. Logic being Pittsburgh didn’t touch it last year, and we all know how that turned out.
Be back Friday with a transactions update in the CHL. Players are signing daily, so hopefully it can provide some help and help catch readers up with what’s going on.
