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March 11, 2008
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
IT’S UP TO THE NHL TO FIX CBA CRACKS
WE’RE NEARLY THREE YEARS INTO the era of cost certainty, a collective bargaining agreement we were told would guarantee franchise health in all 30 existing markets. So far, nobody’s folded, nobody’s moved, but warning signs have emerged in what was supposed to be a foolproof system; they’re signals that should give us all pause for thought, if not concern, about where things could be headed once the current deal expires in 2011. For starters, the Predators’ situation was a blinding red light from a team bleeding red ink. Owner Craig Leipold claimed to have lost $27 million in two years and wanted out of Nashville, one of those 30 NHL markets the CBA was meant to protect. While a local group has purchased the club, the team’s long-term future in Tennessee remains…
LOSS OF A CAPTAIN
DAVID BRANCH PRAYED there would never be another day when the OHL would mourn the loss of one its young players. It was 1985, Branch was in his sixth year as commissioner and 18-year-old Bruce Melanson of the Oshawa Generals collapsed during practice and died from a rare heart condition. In the years since, junior hockey had seen its share of crises – from sexual abuse in the WHL, to drug abuse in the QMJHL, to hazing in the OHL – and each time the game has responded. So when Mickey Renaud, the 19-year-old captain of the Windsor Spitfires, collapsed and died at home on Feb. 18, the league was prepared to reach out to his family, the team and the OHL community. “Interestingly enough, the league had recently spoken to our governors…
WELCOME TO THE BIG TIME, BRUCE
When the Washington Capitals are in town, Bruce Boudreau’s wife Crystal and nine-year-old son Brady travel from their home in Hershey, Pa., to stay with him in his executive apartment a block from the team’s practice facility in Virginia. When the Capitals hit the road, so do they, back to Hershey. With a daughter interning with the Ottawa Senators and two sons in college, Boudreau uses the arrangement to get some snippets of valuable family time. The situation works primarily because Brady is being home-schooled this year. But like everything in Boudreau’s life, the arrangement isn’t permanent. “It’s an experiment and we’ll see how it goes,” Boudreau said. “It’s not something I plan on doing next year, but we don’t know where we’re going to be next year yet.” Whether the Capitals make…
BRYLIN-CLONE WAITS FOR CHANCE
IN HIS SIXTH NORTH AMERICAN season and third as a pro, Lowell Devils center Petr Vrana is still only 22. Considering New Jersey stalwart Sergei Brylin was 24 and had four seasons under his belt before becoming a full-time NHL player, Vrana, a Czech, is on the right track. “He is definitely one of our promising prospects,” said Lowell coach Kurt Kleinendorst. “He’s got ability and he’s not far away. Once he masters consistency and his battles on the puck, then I’d say he’s just an opportunity away.” Drafted in the second round, 42nd overall, in 2003, the 5-foot-10, 184-pound Vrana has drawn favorable comparisons to Brylin, a valued member of three Stanley Cup-winning teams in New Jersey. Similarly sized and equally versatile, Vrana is strong on his skates, highly skilled, offensively underrated…
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