Posts by Eric Mcerlain at FanHouse

According to our friends at Hockey Fights.com, NHL heavyweight Darcy Hordichuk went 7-1-4 in 12 bouts last season with the Nashville Predators. But if one of the folks Hordichuk has been training with this Summer is on the money, a whole lot of other NHL players might want to think twice about taking him on as a dance partner this upcoming season.

As it turns out, Hordichuk, now in Vancouver, spent two weeks this Summer working out with UFC star Chuck Liddell and his trainer John Hackleman in California. Ben Kuzma of The Province has the details:

"It's all about confidence and just seeing how those guys work -- they train, then they're meditating on the beach and running in the hills -- was kind of neat and a good experience," Hordichuk said Wednesday following an informal skate at Burnaby 8-Rinks.

"Obviously, it's lot different than training on the ice. It's violent, but it's a controlled violence and there are things you can learn from hitting the bag with them, wrestling and other stuff to get your stamina up a bit.

Hackleman, who trained Hordichuk at The Pit in San Luis Obispo, told Kuzma that he expects that Hordichuk's punching power will turn out to be five times as effective thanks to his UFC-inspired training. Last season, the Canucks finished third in the NHL in fighting majors, with 68, only two behind league leading Calgary. Something tells me that adding Hordichuk to the mix will make road trips to Vancover all that much more intimidating.

Thanks to J.P. for the pointer.

You could be excused these days if it seems to take something of a scorecard to determine just how many NHL owners might be in trouble with the law. Now it's time for New York Islanders owner Charles Wang to reluctantly step into the spotlight.

Though many have forgotten, Wang didn't buy the Islanders by himself in 2000. Rather, he did it with Sanjay Kumar, the protege that succeeded him as CEO of Computer Associates (CA) that same year. But the happy times didn't last.

In 2004, Kumar was forced to resign due to an accounting scandal, and just two years later agreed to plead guilty to a variety of charges including securities fraud and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and agreed to pay more than $225 million in restitution, selling his share in the Islanders and the AFL's New York Dragons to Wang.

When presumptive Republican nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) tapped Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate last week, he inadvertently turned her into America's #1 hockey mom -- a prospect that had a few observers of the game more than a little upset.

Over the weekend, I absentmindedly shared this link on Facebook, only to see a number of my friends gleefully shred each other over its implications. To tell the truth, I'm a little flummoxed over the whole thing. After all, baseball fans have gone the better of the last two terms with an unpopular President who loves the game so much he holds tee ball games at the White House lawn, and we don't hear much carping from them. If anything, learning biographical details like these are pretty common over the course of a campaign, and I'm having trouble figuring out why learning Palin loves hockey is all that different from knowing Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) loves hoops.

Well now, like it or not, Palin is going to be looming large in hockey conversation for the forseeable future thanks to the news that broke yesterday that her 17-year old daughter Bristol is pregnant with the child of -- you guessed it -- a high school hockey player from back home in Alaska. Folks are having a grand old time diving into the background of one Levi Johnston as they discover that he's pretty much a typical high school student.

As for Palin, she's under wraps for the duration, more than likely preparing for her next big moment before the American public, namely, the speech she's scheduled to give tomorrow night accepting the GOP nomination for Vice President. I'm thinking plenty of folks are going to be tuning in -- half wanting some sort of explanation while the other half waits in hope of seeing a political train wreck.

This morning over at Puck Daddy, my friend Greg Wyshynski wondered out loud whether or not Hall of Fame winger Mike Gartner deserved to have his number retired by the Washington Capitals, the team he broke into the NHL with in 1979. In Greg's book, the sixth-leading goal scorer in NHL history -- sandwiched between Mark Messier and Phil Esposito -- doesn't even belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame, though he's happy to cede the decision as to whether or not to send his jersey to the rafters at Verizon Center to the locals:

Look, every fan base has its own personal connection to its own players. There are no doubt fans from other NHL cities that don't believe Ken Daneyko deserves immortality in the rafters of Newark; ask a Devils fan, and they'll tell you he meant as much to the franchise as Martin Brodeur, and perhaps even more.

So as a non-Capitals fan, I'm in no position to say this is the wrong decision. I can say, in my 13 years in the D.C. area, the topic of Mike Gartner's number retirement has never come up in conversation; outside of, perhaps, some brief discussion when he entered the stat-happy (unless you're Dino Ciccarelli) Hall of Fame. The undeniable fact is that he doesn't stir emotions like the names Peter Bondra or Olaf Kolzig or even Jeff Halpern, the guy who more modern Caps fans likely associate with No. 11 to begin with.

Another Summer Saturday, another belligerent press statement from the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Yesterday, the LA Kings quietly announced the signing of two Russian prospects, center Viatcheslav Voinov and defenseman Andrei Loktionov, who spent last season playing in the Russian Super League. Earlier today, the KHL issued a statement declaring that both players were still under contract with their KHL clubs and that as a result, the KHL was abrogating the moratorium against signing players still under contract with NHL clubs -- with a proviso. Here's the translation, courtesy of the folks at Beyond the Blueshirts:

The Continental Hockey League strictly adhered to the unilaterally declared moratorium on the invitation of hockey players with operating contracts with clubs of the National Hockey League. The NHL has violated the agreement reached earlier in Zurich and on August 28th announced the completion of contracts with hockey players Andrei Loktionov and Vyatcheslav Voinov by the Los Angeles Kings. The specified players have operating contracts with KHL clubs Lokomotiv (Yaroslavl) and Traktor (Chelyabinsk), respectively.

In connection with this the KHL considers itself free of any obligations with respect to the observance of the earlier announced moratorium on the transfer of players. On September 6th at the headquarters of the International Ice Hockey Federation in Zurich a meeting will take place on this topic, after which the Continental Hockey League will define subsequent actions in relation to the National Hockey League.

Sitting here in the office, I've had my television tuned to MSNBC all morning as speculation raged over presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain's choice of a vice presidential running mate. A little more than an hour ago, McCain shocked the political world by selecting a self-described "hockey mom" and relative political neophyte in Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

After the speech where Palin introduced herself, she and McCain worked their way across the stage shaking hands with supporters, I couldn't help but notice McCain stopping in front of a knot of men wearing Dayton Bombers hockey jerseys. Soon enough, somebody offered the Senator a personalized jersey with his name on it, which he took as a cue to pose for a picture.

According to a spokesperson for the Bombers, one of their fans was able to get tickets to the event for Bombers owner Costa Papista along with three players -- Dan Riedel, Joe Van Culin and team captain Greg Labenski -- and three other staff people. Before heading out to today's event, Papista did something that he always does when a celebrity comes through Dayton -- he has a personalized jersey made in preparation for a possible presentation. This time, he also brought a second blank jersey in case he had a chance to present the jersey to the candidate.

When I reached Papista in Dayton a few minutes ago the first thing he said to me was, "I can't believe a hockey mom could actually be on the way to the White House." Coming down off an obvious emotional high, Papista said that both McCain and Palin were "pretty excited," to get the jerseys. He was also quick to add that he suspected that the McCain campaign "must have known about Sarah having a hockey connection," which was what led them to be positioned so prominently on stage.

Here's a shocker for the end of the work day: Just a couple of hours after Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray announced that the team had been unable to come to an agreement on a new contract with restricted free agent defenseman Andrej Meszaros, Adam Proteau of The Hockey News is reporting that Meszaros has signed an offer sheet with an unidentified NHL team.

Apparently, it's a multi-year deal with an average salary exceeding $5 million per season. As to who it might be, I guess it's time to get out your spreadsheets and start guessing. Our colleague James Mirtle lists possible destinations as St. Louis, Toronto, Montreal, Columbus, the Islanders, Phoenix and Atlanta. Mirtle also cites LA as a possible destination thanks to all their cap room, however, they would need to reacquire a third round draft pick in order to make it happen.

Losing Meszaros and Wade Redden in the same offseason couldn't have been part of the plan for Murray and the rest of the Ottawa front office. A defense that was deep and solid just two seasons ago during a run to the Finals now looks horribly vulnerable. What's worse, while the Sens might be thin on the blue line, they're still loaded up front, which makes taking the draft picks and embarking on a rebuild program something of a non-starter.

If I'm Sens owner Eugene Melnyk, I'm getting ready to ask Murray some very difficult questions about the future of the franchise.

While other hockey writers are grasping at straws trying to manufacture storylines, the New York Post's Larry Brooks, whose Slap Shots column is on hiatus until the middle of September, keeps pushing out newsworthy copy. The latest -- a report saying that ex-NHLPA head Ted Saskin is prepared to testify against his former employer and on behalf of the league when it comes to an important detail inside the CBA regarding European-based players:

The issue at hand concerns the status of drafted European players who do not sign before June 2 of the second calendar year following their selections. Article 8.6 of the CBA states that clubs lose their rights to such players if they are not signed on or by that date.

[...]

The NHL, however, is claiming that the absence of transfer agreements with European hockey federations renders that portion of the CBA obsolete. It is the league's position that those unsigned players revert to what was known as "defected status" under the CBA that expired on Sept. 15, 2004, and thus remain the property of their drafting clubs forever.

So what's the angle for Brooks? Of immediate concern to his hometown Rangers is the status of 2007 first round pick Alexei Cherapanov, currently playing with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. That would mean that Cherapanov, among others, would be eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal if he remains unsigned. The arbitration hearing where Saskin will appear is scheduled for tomorrow.

But here's where it gets a little hairier. Cherepanov, who announced last month that he'd be playing in Russia this upcoming season instead of in North America, is represented by The Puck Agency (they're blogging these days too) the same folks who represent erstwhile Nashville Predators winger Alexander Radulov. If this interview uncovered by Beyond the Blueshirts is any indication, Cherepanov is all too aware of the potential mine field he has to negotiate these days.

All the right people showed up yesterday in Oakland, Michigan for the Illitch Celebrity Golf Classic. Among the attendees: Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman, Bill Laimbeer and Al Kaline.

But it's important to remember that whenever Red Wing Defenseman Chris Chelios is involved, it usually means that a boatload of his buddies from Malibu are going to show up too.

In this case, that meant John Cusack, Tim Allen, Dave Coulier, Thorsten Kaye, John McGinley and D.B. Sweeney were all on hand. One other familiar face who showed up, but didn't play, was Chelios buddy and Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding, Jr., who spoke with Ken Bradley of Sporting News Today:

"I play hockey, all kinds of other stuff, but no golfing," Gooding joked. "We have this great pickup (game) every Monday night in Los Angeles that is sponsored by CAA and Pat Brisson specifically -- he handles Sidney Crosby. I skated with Wayne Gretzky ... even skating with Chris Chelios I got a proper elbow to the head. It was awesome, just awesome to be out there."

Sergei Kostitsyn just gave an interesting interview to Russian Prospects where he touched on a number of different subjects, but the parts I found most interesting had to do with Alexander Radulov's defection to the KHL and what Kostitsyn thinks about its future.

As it turns out, Kostitsyn and Radulov both vacationed in Turkey early in the offseason, with the two staying in adjacent hotels. According to Kostitsyn, the cat was out of the bag about Salavat's offer to Radulov well before the actual announcement came at the beginning of July.

With two years remaining on his own rookie contract, the reporter was wise to ask the 21-year old winger what he would do if confronted with the same choice:

- What would be your choice in this situation?

- Right the opposite. To leave the best league in the World?.. No, thank you.

- That means you're skeptical about the potential of KHL?

- I disagree with the statement that KHL can catch up and take the lead against the NHL in the nearest future. If it ever happens it is a matter of not few years. Also, it's too early for me to talk about "zeroes" in the contract. I'm still young, will get mine when it's due.

[...]

- Don't you feel regret that even after successful debut in the NHL you'll have to play for Montreal on the rookie contract without the right to re-negotiate it? And we're talking about Russia, where you'd been offered double of "untaxed" at least.

- I'll get over. There is time for everything.