Posts from the Nhl Gossip Category at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Normally when a new GM holds his first press conference, he beams about how happy he is to be there, how he'll mold the team into a Stanley Cup contender, and thank ownership to giving him the opportunity to run the franchise (into the ground).

With player-agent-turned-GM Mike Gillis, it didn't quite work that way. Showing that you can never quite change your stripes, Gillis was in full 'agent' mode, and on the attack against the guy he took the team over from: Dave Nonis.

"I don't think this team is close at this particular point," said Gillis, doling out his harsh dose of reality just one week after Nonis declared the team was "very close" to competing for a championship.

Translation: Nonis was full of crap, and the team he put together wasn't very good.

"You can't blame a coach for doing everything he possibly can to win hockey games based on the assets he is given," Gillis said.

Translation: What do you expect Vigneault to do with the crap Nonis gave him?

"A couple of very good decisions, or a couple of really bold decisions might put this team in a position to win almost immediately. I'm hoping to be able to take advantage of those opportunities as quickly as we can."

Translation: Even though I said the team wasn't close to winning, I'm so awesome that with a quick wave of my magic wand, the Canucks will be back to tearing up the Avalanche like a starving Panda in a bamboo forest.

You can bet that quite a few GMs around the league (Kevin Lowe, especially) won't be too happy or willing to deal with Gillis, the guy who has ripped them off many times, especially if Gillis keeps acting like the boastful ass that he's always been. Yes, there is a lot of truth to what he is saying, but chopping up the former GM of the club shows that Gillis has too much ego to pump up, and that is a worrisome sign for Canucks fans.

Like my former FanHouse colleague, Greg Wyshynski, it isn't terribly often that I find myself in agreement with Larry Brooks of the New York Post. But this morning, as he broke the news that the NHL has fined Anaheim Ducks defenseman $500,000 for not reporting to the team until midseason. As Brooks writes:

[T]he league has sought to punish Niedermayer by fining him approximately $500,000 of his $6.75M salary for missing training camp, unilaterally invoking Article 15.3 (f) of the CBA that reads, "For each day a Player does not report to Training Camp without his Club's permission, his pay will be reduced by 1/275th of his annual . . . salary."

As Brooks goes on to note, the decision to fine Niedermayer is all the more curious considering the fact that Anaheim General Manager Brian Burke gave the sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer permission to take as much time as he liked to make up his mind to decided whether or not to return to the lineup. After all, the intent of this clause seems pretty clear in that it was designed to punish players who would attempt to hold out while under contract, and that clearly wasn't the case with the Ducks and Niedermayer, where the back and forth was actually friendly.

So what's the story behind the fine? According to Brooks, the league is afraid that Niedermayer's example will set a precedent where other team's might look to stash higher-salaried players off the ice to get some cap relief over the course of the season, only to bring them back to the lineup later when the total cap hit will be fractionally less.

The Ottawa Senators are a highly-skilled team with a horrible disease of some sort. Call it cancer, but realize that something was amok as the Sens' season spiraled into a sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

How else can a team with the likes of Wade Redden, Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson, Andrej Meszaros, Jason Spezza, and a bunch of other talented players completely collapse after starting the season 15-2?

There has been a lot of speculation about the nighttime exploits of certain players, as they prefer to party and booze it up rather than worry about their hockey job.

The #1 culprit, as everyone knows, appears to be Sugar Ray Emery, the guy who showed up late for practices, loves to get into fights, and is far too immature to be counted on as a #1 goaltender.

It's no small wonder, then, why the Sens want to get rid of the cancer, and get rid of Emery ASAP.

Ray Emery wore out his welcome as an Ottawa Senator because of his unprofessional approach to being a professional athlete, arriving late for practices and not working hard enough.

He also tested the patience of the team when stories reached general manager and coach Bryan Murray of Emery's partying in various Ottawa nightspots.

Friday, Murray said enough was enough. After talking to the 25-year-old goalie on Thursday, Murray put the For Sale sign on Emery, and will now try to trade him. If Murray can't trade Emery, then he'll have to decide whether to buy out the remaining two years of his contract.

"My plan is not to have him back," said Murray.

A buy-out may be the only option, because I just can't see anyone taking on Emery and his expensive contract right now.

I know Page Six at the New York Post isn't the most reliable of media sources, but fealty to my corporate overlords requires me to pass along the following tidbit that appeared in their pages Wednesday morning:

HAS a New York Ranger captured first daughter Barbara Bush's heart? Fans spotted Bush "dancing, drinking beers and cheering on" the team at Madison Square Garden Sunday night - in addition to sporting "two gold rings on her left ring finger." We're told Bush "recently became a die-hard Rangers fan and befriended a few of the players."

So is it true? Here at FanHouse we endeavor to uncover the heart of every story. Here's what I've found out.

I poked around the archive at Getty Images, and first caught sight of Bush photographed at MSG on March 25 during a game against the Philadelphia Flyers (see above). She was identified as being with a pair of guests on either side of her, a young man on her right and a young woman on her left, both obviously in their 20s. A close examination of other photos from that night seem to show a large ring on the ring finger of Bush's left hand, but it's impossible to identify it as an engagement ring.

Well, I don't really know if they are offended. But they might be. Consider the following quote from Montreal's Tomas Plekanec reflecting on his team's loss to the Bruins in Game Three:

A puff of refreshing honesty came out of Tomas Plekanec's mouth when discussing his play so far in the postseason.

"The last two games, I played like a little girl out there," the Montreal Canadiens centre said yesterday, the day after his team suffered a 2-1 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins. "I didn't respond the way I liked."

I, for one, salute Mr. Plekanec for the honesty. While he may have offended little girls, it's certainly nice to see a player not give a bland, ordinary response. All too often we hear typical responses like these:

"We'll just have to play better next time."

"Tonight we didn't do what we needed to do to get the job done."

Those two lines alone make me want to put a pillow over my face and scream like demons are trying to escape from my body. They're so atrocious and over used it's disgusting. Of course, I'm not endorsing the defamation of little girls. That's not something anyone should endorse and little girls should, in fact, be encouraged to play hockey. I bet some of them can play better than Plekanec has during the series (two assists, -2). But nonetheless, thank you to Plekanec for stepping away from the norm and giving me something to write about.

Here at FanHouse, we love Willa Ford, aka Mrs. Mike Modano.

Why? Well, there are the obvious reasons, as you can see here. But then there are the non-obvious reasons, like the way she seems completely comfortable standing up for her hubby after the Stars stripped him of his captaincy a few years back.

Even better, now comes the news that Mrs. Modano's budding movie career will soon be taking off in a big way, as she's been cast in the upcoming remake of Friday the 13th!

So just what sort of actress is Willa? To get a better idea, take a look at the clip of this scene from Impulse, a direct to DVD special being released tomorrow at a video store near you!

Earlier this season and in a moment of extreme irony, Sean Avery called Devils goalie Marty Brodeur "Marty the Diver" after Brodeur was hit with a diving penalty in a game against the Rangers. Avery also used the occasion to analyze his relationship with Brodeur: "We're not friends. It's not an (expletive) secret." As the Rangers and Devils prepare for their first-round series that kicks off in Newark tomorrow night, Avery detailed his feelings regarding Brodeur in a typically candid interview with the New York Post:

"I approach different players in different ways," said Avery, an impending free agent. "Some guys I go after verbally, others I don't bother with. ... There are some guys I like as people and don't bother with, and there are a lot I don't. Marty? I don't think it's a secret that I'm not a very big fan of his. ... It's just one of those relationships that's not very pleasant. It's kind of like a bad first date. It started from the first game, and has gone from there."

While we all try and theorize what would make a "bad first date" in Sean Avery's world, let's celebrate the obvious: The nastier and more personal things get between the Devils and the Rangers, the more entertaining their first-round battle becomes. For two teams as offensively challenged as they are, a little crimson ice will go a long way. Just don't expect Avery and Brodeur to grab a brew when it's all over; as tabloid-fodder-on-skates told the Post:

"We don't travel in the same circles. I don't think he could get into the places I like to go to."

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

It's been a rather frustrating year for Sidney Crosby as he's fought an ankle injury and watched as Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin steal his spotlight. With just six points in six March games, Crosby wasn't much of a factor as the Penguins battled the likes of the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers to Atlantic Division supremacy.

Last night, Sidney finally put his stamp back on the team with a two-goal performance in the Penguins 4-2 win over the Flyers. With the win, the Pens win the division for the first time since 1998, and can finish no lower than second place in the Eastern Conference.

"We ended up losing Crosby (for 28 games) and Marc-Andre Fleury (for three months) and so many other guys during the course of the season, and we were just trying to focus and maintain our position to make the playoffs," coach Michel Therrien said. "The guys surprised me with their commitment."

Another interesting note: The Penguins sold out all 41 home games for the first time in their 41 year history. Given the team's past attendance problems, this is just more icing on the cake for the revived antarctic dwellers. Still, I find it amazing that they never sold out a season back when Mario Lemieux and the Pens were winning Stanley Cups. What the hell?

Media reports have tied New York Rangers forward Sean Avery with a Manhattan woman who was arraigned last week on prostitution charges, but Avery says he knows nothing about it -- except that his teammates have made it the main joke of the locker room.

"We've been laughing hysterically about it all morning," Avery said.

The New York Daily News reported that Kristin Davis, who is accused of running a prostitution ring called Wicked Models, had Avery's name and his cell phone number in her "little black book" -- which was actually a spreadsheet, as this was a well-run, high-end prostitution ring.

However, not only does Avery say he wasn't involved with the prostitution ring, but Davis's attorney, told Newsday that his client "never had any contact whatsoever" with Avery.

So how did Davis get Avery's number? He says he doesn't know, but that his best guess is that someone else used his name and number to make a date with one of Davis's prostitutes. And he added, "I do know that if I ever was to venture into one of these establishments, I definitely wouldn't use my own name."

The NHL didn't really get all that much of a bump from Willa Ford's participation on the hit ABC show "Dancing with the Stars" because she wasn't yet married to Mike Modano -- allowing her to raise her profile via a constant state of flirtation with her dance partner during the show. Hockey might see a higher profile in the series' sixth season, as Kristi Yamaguchi competes on the show while her husband, Carolina defenseman Brett Hedican, competes in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Assuming that...nah, the Hurricanes will make the cut, right?) Yamaguchi has been playing up her husband's career in interviews, telling ABC News that she put her figure skating and celebrity career on hold for four years for "[being] a mom, hanging out, being a hockey wife."

In a move that will certainly diminish her chances of entering the Dallas Mavericks' locker room, Yamaguchi is also blogging for OK! Magazine during her stint on "Dancing With the Stars"; her latest post might be of interest to Hedican's teammates:

I just want to give some shout-outs to my family now – my husband, who's been amazing. He's still in his hockey season so it's a little sad we're going to be separated, but he's been so supportive of me. He'd come to watch us practice during the past month and would tell me, "Oh, you've got to teach me all these dance moves once all this is done!" I hope we stay in it long enough so he can come see me compete.

I'm sure Rod Brind'Amour and Scott Walker are just dying to see The Brett Hedican Mambo. The last season of "Dancing With the Stars" ran from Sept. 24 through Nov. 27, so no matter how deep the Hurricanes go in the postseason the show will still be on the air. Seeing as how Yamaguchi is the early favorite to win this season, I wonder if there's a friendly wager on who lasts longer in their respective competitions. I'm also pondering this: If she "plans to move back to the Bay Area this year, so her kids can grow up with their cousins," as Yamaguchi told ABC News, how will that affect the future for 36-year-old Hedican, who is a UFA after this season?