The Morning Dump – Wild Style

The weekend is drawing near and despite of ongoing hopes that maybe some good news will break from the NHL’s head office, we continue to sit in limbo.  We wait, patiently like Ben Stein did when he played the economic’s teacher in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  Bueller, Bueller, Bueller…………. you get the idea.  Here’s some news and notes from around the hockey world.

We start out this morning by remembering Doc Rose the long time trainer of the North Star’s.  The Star Tribune ran his obituary and captured Rose’s life in essence and dignity.  “The rink was his home and the player’s were his family.”

To the junior ranks where the OHL (Ontario Hockey League) has clamped down on those players who rely on fighting to get them on the team.  The league has put forth a rule stating that if any player fights more than 11 times in a season he is subject to an automatic penalty of a two-game suspension. Interesting stat from Darren Dreger at TSN is that less than 10% of OHL players fought more than 10 times last year, so clearly the league is targeting the designated goons.

Superstar Alex Ovechkin chose some strong words directed squarely at the NHL when he spoke about his decision to go over to the KHL during the lockout.  Ovi stated that if player salaries get cut, there may be a lot of players who won’t return to the league when they get up and running again.

From a divisional rival comes the story of the Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz and his latest hiccup with the city of Edmonton over the club’s new rink proposal.  Katz hasn’t officially gone on record when asked if he would move the club after the lease on the current arena expires after 2014, but he did say that “all bet’s were off.” Sound familiar?