Around the Rink 05.07.07

Though it was a spur of the moment thing, Edmonton Investment Group; owners of the Edmonton Oilers, turned down the offer of Rexall Pharmacy billionaire Daryl Katz to buy the Oilers for $145M. The 37 owners of EIG turned down the offer despite Katz saying he would keep the Oilers in Edmonton and build a new arena.

Personally, having someone like Katz as one owner over 37 owners they have now is a better predicament. One voice is much better than 37. Especially with the prospect of a new arena privately funded would be better for the Oilers and their fans.

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Some shake-up in the Phoenix Coyotes camp is going on with Craig Patrick emerging as a leading candidate for the GM position. With the GM interviewing process starting today, the Coyotes will look for someone who can build a good team with the money out there. Of course, like we have said before, with Wayne Gretzky behind the bench as an owner, the GM is doomed from day one.

Also, the Coyotes fired their play-by-play guy, Curt Keilback. Keilback has been with the team since 1979 dealing with the Jets/Coyotes radio and TV calls. The Jobing.com Arena has their press box named after him. Now, it's a sad thing that one link to the Jets history is gone; but personally I didn't like how he called the game and I thought he was a tad annoying. That said-- best of luck to him.

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The NHL, NHLPA, and IIHF has a tentative agreement as far as transfers go, but it all depends on the agreement of the Russian Hockey Federation....again. A deal that would run until 2010-11 season and would be a flat rate. A ratification will need to be done by Tuesday at midnight for it to happen.

This will be a non-starter for Russia, because they want the NHL agreement to be like European soccer and based on the two teams who want the services. We'll see how this plays out, but I don't think this will have a different outcome.

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There could be a goalie logjam in Boston, especially with the re-signing of Hannu Toivonen and the signing of Tuukka Rask, coupled with Tim Thomas in net-- it could be interesting. Sure, Rask will start out in Providence; what happens if Toivonen starts to struggle; that's when things may get interesting.

The one thing about the Bruins and young goalies is that they tend to struggle when hyped as much as they are. Andrew Raycroft and Blaine Lacher are names that haunt the Bruins fateful dreams. Though you never know if Rask will be like that, but with some saying he's the savior of the franchise-- it makes it hard for the kid to deal with any learning curve he may endure with that much pressure put on him.

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If you haven't heard about the Shane Doan controversy going on in the Canadian Parliament, it's a mess.

The thing is, Government and Sports should never intersect. The Canadian Government with this situation and the US Government and the Steroids situation-- they need to keep their nose out of sports; especially when they have other stuff to deal with. There's much more going on in the world to deal with something that was cleared two years ago.

Oddly enough, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper called Doan to encourage him.

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That's it for now, check out the Show every Wednesday live or on Podcast or check out the Message Boards for the fun going on there.

Around the Rink 03.07.07

Well, it's the beginning of the month, which means it's time for the usual "Penguins are threatening to leave town" propaganda. This is getting a bit old, but it seems like it has some merit. Mario Lemieux called the deal with the City of Pittsburgh and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at an impasse and will look at options to move. We've heard it before, sure-- but now Gary Bettman will meet with the Penguins to see what's going down to bring closure one way or another.

Now, Bob McKenzie makes a good point, which makes me feel dirty saying that. McKenzie said that this could be an effort on making sure the Pens get everything out of the city and state that they can. With Bettman in the fold; this could be the moderator they need in order to keep the Pens in Pittsburgh for years to come.

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Another controversial hit, as Cam Janssen of the New Jersey Devils took out Tomas Kaberle on Friday night. Kaberle is out indefinitely, but wants to come back this season. Janssen received a three-game suspension.

The hit was definitely late and the flop Kaberle took into the boards made my neck hurt, but had Kaberle had been more aware of Janssen, would it be as serious as it was?? I'm not saying Kaberle didn't protect himself, but you have to wonder if he knew Janseen was coming; would he have done something differently??

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You take out the heart and the body dies. That's what biology and Mortal Kombat has taught us. It seems that the Edmonton Oilers are showing it on the ice. Since Ryan Smyth was traded, the Oilers have lost all three games since, getting shutout twice, and scoring only two goals in that span. Now, with Ales Hemsky out and any hopes of the playoffs a far reach-- some may wonder what would have happened is Smyth was still there.

Smyth, however, seems to be thriving on Long Island, as is ex-Oiler M-A Bergeron who has eight points in seven games with the Islanders. It's salt in the wound, I know-- but it's an interesting stat.

Another question is whether Kevin Lowe will be able to attract any free agents to Edmonton this off-season. With the Pronger issues, it seems that no one is willing to head to Edmonton.

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It'll be an interesting show this week, so make sure you check out FOHS live at 9 PM ET or always on the FOHS Podcast. Have you checked out the FOHS Message Boards?? You should.