Some Reads

Krys Barch Has No Regrets About Lockout Tweets

Devils’ Krys Barch stands by Twitter outburst about lockout
sports.nationalpost.com

“A lot of texts from guys I played with saying, ‘Way to speak up,’ you know?” Barch said on Monday. “Even though it might have been infused by a couple of beverages.”

Any regrets?

“With what I wrote? No, not at all,” he said. “I think I wrote it with my heart. But maybe for the little kids out there … with the alcohol perspective … maybe I didn’t need to include that.”

Maple Leafs Won’t Change Style in the Postseason

Maple Leafs fighting their way into playoffs
www.windsorstar.com

“It’s not a trademark of us to go out and fight,” Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. “Our trademark is, we want to be a physical hockey club. We want to be a strong forechecking hockey club. And if that leads to physical, one-on-one confrontation, then that’s the way we deal with it.”

Leafs host New Jersey Devils tonight (7 p.m., Leafs TV).

And he suggested, as the team closes in on its first playoff berth since 2004, that attitude would not change once the post-season begins. The record of his previous NHL team, the Anaheim Ducks, might offer a window into that approach.

Rapid Fire Q&A With Jared Boll

Word Up! with Columbus Blue Jackets Winger Jared Boll
www.youtube.com

Gross Misconduct with Jared Boll. Sports writer Ian Walker’s rapid-fire Q & A with the Columbus Blue Jackets Winger.

Some Players Can Lose Money Playing in Nashville

Inaction on 'jock tax' could spur lawsuits, NHL union says
www.bizjournals.com

The athlete’s privilege tax applies to NBA or NHL players, at a rate of $2,500 per game with a cap of $7,500 in a year. The tax is applied to players for the Memphis Grizzlies, Nashville Predators and their visiting opponents. The tax, enacted in 2009, is distributed to arena owners and has generated about $2.2 million in Nashville and $1.1 million in Memphis.

The tax penalizes those players at or near their league’s minimum salary, causing them to at times lose money by playing a game in Tennessee, Fehr said.

NHL First League to Join Group to Help Eliminate Gay Slurs

NHL joins with group that aims to get gay slurs out of sports
www.torontosun.com

The National Hockey League on Thursday formed a partnership with You Can Play, an organization that promotes gay and lesbian equality in sports, intended to make the league more welcoming to gay players, fans and officials.

The NHL is the first of the four major U.S. professional sports leagues to sign up with the year-old organization, which aims to make players more sensitive to the atmosphere of “casual homophobia” that can exist in locker rooms.

Great ideals, although I still believe on-ice players should say whatever they want to get another player off his game. It's his (or her) reputation on the line.

Off-ice is another matter, even in closed settings, and if this needs to bleed on-ice to allow everyone to be comfortable being part of a team or enjoying a game from the stands, then so be it.

The Elimination of Goons, the Continuation of Hockey Fights

Inside the fight game in the NHL
www.suntimes.com

‘‘I loved watching fights growing up,’’ said Brookbank, who has earned nearly four dozen fighting majors in his NHL career. ‘‘I can see where people are coming from with the staged fights being kind of meaningless. But you’d be hard-pressed to find 10 percent of the fans in the building sitting down when someone’s fighting, even a staged fight.’’

There aren’t many pure goons left in the league. Bollig, the Hawks’ primary enforcer, made a name for himself in the NHL with his fists, but he’s staying in the NHL with his rapidly improving two-way skills. Brookbank has been a solid defenseman for the Hawks, while adding the physical presence the more finesse-oriented team needed.

But while goons are going the way of the dodo, hockey fights aren’t going anywhere.

RMNB’s Look at Concussions

Martin Erat and the Case Against the “Upper Body Injury”
www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com

A long list of Erat’s upper body frailties can be found on the Hockey News site under the Transactions tab.

I don’t meant to single out Nashville. Unfortunately, hiding behind the fig leaf of “upper body injury” is a norm throughout the NHL. Just a few days ago, Maple Leafs’ head coach Randy Carlyle shared his personal theory about concussions: the biggest problem with concussions is calling them concussions, which is a “bad word.” This sad comedy act came right after star forward Joffrey Lupul had to be helped off the ice in the game against the Flyers. Lupul appeared unsteady on his skates and disoriented as he left the ice surface – but hey, as long as we don’t call it a concussion, he should be fine, right?

Sean Avery Calls for John Tortorella to be Fired

Fire this CLOWN
twitter.com

Fire this CLOWN…

Fire this CLOWN, his players hate him and wont play for his BS.... @imseanavery is #winning

— Sean Avery (@imseanavery) March 31, 2013

Sean Avery tweeted that out minutes after the Rangers were shutout by the Canadiens.

QMI agency reminds us:

Now, Avery isn’t exactly an unbiased observer here.

Back when Tortorella was a commentator on TSN, he tore into Avery after the “sloppy seconds” incident with Dion Phaneuf.

“He’s embarrassed himself, he’s embarrassed the organization,” Tortorella said. “More importantly, he’s embarrassed his teammates, who have to look out for him. It’s the NHL, he’s embarrassed the whole league. Send him home.”

Avery still gets a good amount of press in the hockey world because he's full of opinions, and because most players aren't. His other endeavors and nightlife exploits still make the NY papers.

Derek Boogaard’s Family Misses Grievance Window

NHL Skates on Boogaard's Leftover Contract Money
www.courthousenews.com

Parents to the late New York Ranger Derek Boogaard missed the deadline to sue over the millions left on their son’s contract, a federal judge ruled.
...
“This drawn-out attorney search suggests plaintiffs did not act diligently. Other than this, plaintiffs state no facts supporting their assertion that they acted diligently during the relevant period.”

Since the Boogaards retained counsel, they had “constructive knowledge of the six-month statute of limitations,” the court found.

The Legend of Link Gaetz Revisited

The legend of Link
espn.go.com

WHATEVER HAPPENED to Link Gaetz? Every now and then, in locker rooms from Juniors all the way up to the NHL, you hear that question. And when the answer comes, a shocked response invariably follows: “You mean, he’s still playing?” By which is meant: “You mean, he’s still alive?” Like other menaces from the great North—Big Foot, the Abominable Snowman, socialized medicine—Gaetz inspires the kind of incredulous terror that makes you glad he’s not in your hometown. Not to say that he won’t soon be, or wasn’t recently. As with all legends, Gaetz lives a now-you-see-him, now-you-don’t existence. He is the grim Waldo of hockey, the fourth Hanson brother, with a drinking problem and a penchant for disappearing acts. Gaetz has played for at least 24 teams over the past 16 years and has been kicked off a good number of them, sometimes even banned from entire leagues. A menacing 6’3”, 240 pounds when he’s in shape, and a scarier 270 when he’s not, the 35-year-old Gaetz has sent scores of players to the hospital and spent countless nights in jail. He is, by the account of anyone who’s ever played against or with him, the meanest and scariest hockey player ever paid to skate.

ESPN has updated its story from 2003 about Link Gaetz.  Putting it mildly Link has a colorful history and if you're not familiar with the former North Star and Shark, it's a good read. His fight against Probert was one of the top rated bouts of 1991-92.