The Ontario Hockey League has issued stiff penalties to Flint Firebirds owner Rolf Nilsen for violating the terms of an agreement made between himself and the league on "several occasions."
Commissioner David Branch issued a statement Wednesday, ordering these sanctions on the Firebirds owner:
Rolf Nilsen be suspended by the OHL from being involved directly or indirectly with hockey operations of the Flint Firebirds for five years effective immediately;
The Flint Firebirds forfeit a first-round draft pick in the 2016 OHL Priority Selection (third pick overall);
A fine be paid by Rolf Nilsen to the League in the amount of Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00)
If Nilsen doesn't comply with these sanctions, the OHL will order him to sell 100 percent of his ownership interest in the club. He may apply for reinstatement to participate in hockey operations in three years.
Acting director of hockey operations Joe Birch - who has held the position since February - will remain in his current role.
CHICAGO - The banged-up Chicago Blackhawks have recalled forward Bryan Bickell from Rockford of the American Hockey League.
The 30-year-old Bickell has spent much of this season with the IceHogs after helping Chicago win the Stanley Cup last ...
When Wayne Gretzky talks about hockey, people stop and listen.
"The Great One" spoke in a wide-ranging interview with Lucas Aykroyd of The New York Times, one in which he talked about his monumental 215-point season 30 years ago and this season's eventual Art Ross Trophy winner, Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane.
Gretzky also shared his belief that the game has lost part of what made it great, and it all starts with the youth.
"When I was 10 years old, they'd throw a puck on the ice and say, 'Go score.' Now, at 10 years old, the kids are taught to play in their lanes," Gretzky said. "Defensemen stay back. Everybody blocks shots. I mean, my goodness, I don't think I ever blocked a shot, and I killed penalties every single game. I thought goaltenders were paid to block shots, not forwards. It's changed completely. I think the biggest thing we've lost is a little bit of our creativity and imagination in general."
This season in the NHL, 2.71 goals are scored per game. That's down from 2.73 in 2014-15, and 2.74 in 2013-14. We're back at dead-puck era (1995-2004) levels. It was back in 2005-06, coming out of a lockout that cost the league a season, when more than three goals were averaged a game (3.08).
When Gretzky averaged 200 points a season from 1981 to 1986, league averages for goals were between 3.86 and 4.01. The game's certainly changed.
"All in all, it's sort of a grinding game now. You're taught from Day 1 that your role and responsibility is to keep the puck out of your net," Gretzky said.
The NHL's discussed ideas to increase scoring, including talk of making nets bigger. Beginning next season, goaltender equipment will be smaller. But in order for scoring and the game to change, coaching will have to change as well.
The game is played at an ultra-high level by tremendous athletes. Goalies have all but perfected their position. Hockey players train all-year round. Players are bigger, faster, stronger. Teams are using more statistical analysis, employing data wizards in order to gain an advantage over opponents.
The days of saying, "Go score," it seems, are unfortunately done.
Drake Caggiula couldn't look away.
An impressionable 12 years old back in early 2007, the native of Whitby, Ont., was glued to the television in awe as a Canadian he knew nothing about scored goal after shootout goal in what became a memorabl...
More doping drama out of Russia, a week before the Under-18 World Championship.
TSN's Frank Seravalli reports that "more than half of the 30 players in Russia's (Under-18) evaluation camp tested positive for meldonium," a performance-enhancing drug recently banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. It's the same substance that resulted in a failed drug test for Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova.
The news was first reported by AllHockey.Ru and Russian hockey writer Slava Malamud, who writes that Russia will be sending its Under-17 team to the Under-18 worlds.
The Under-18 tournament begins April 14 in Grand Folks, N.D. The Russian team was supposed to depart for the United States on Thursday.
"We'll announce the roster (Thursday)," Vladislav Tretiak, the president of the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia, said.
Rosters don't have to be officially submitted until April 13.
Meldonium is "only distributed in Baltic countries and Russia," according to The Guardian, and "increases blood flow, which improves exercise capacity in athletes."
TSN's Darren Dreger reports that Canada's Under-18 team will be tested for the drug Thursday.
Malamud appeared on local radio in Toronto on Wednesday and said meldonium is widely used in hockey in Russia.
The Chicago Blackhawks announced the signing of forward Tyler Motte on Wednesday. It's a three-year, entry-level contract that will begin in the 2016-17 season.
A fourth-round pick in 2013, Motte's third and final season at Michigan was his best. He had 32 goals and 24 assists in 56 games, and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award.
Motte is 21, stands 5-foot-9, and weighs 193 pounds. He's a Michigan native.
Emotions are running high in the worlds of television and sports, and the two crossed paths in advance of Wednesday's huge game between the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers.
Steve Yuen - who plays Glenn on the wildly popular "The Walking Dead" series and who attended Kalamazoo College in Michigan - offered his support for the Wings on Twitter.
The Flyers offered a savage response that brought to mind the show's recent bone-chilling season-finale cliffhanger.
The Flyers and Red Wings, of course, are two of three teams battling it out for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, along with the Boston Bruins.
The good news: Dallas Stars superstar Tyler Seguin is skating after cutting his Achilles on March 17.
The sort of bad news: Seguin's status for Game 1 of the playoffs remains up in the air.
"He's skating," head coach Lindy Ruff said Wednesday, according to the Stars' Mark Stepneski. "He's skating in a limited fashion, I would say somewhere between the 50 and 75 percent range. There are times he pushes it but we're trying to be a little cautious with that, too. He's progressing nicely and we just hope to keep on progressing here."
Ruff said it's too early to say whether Seguin will be in the lineup when the playoffs begin.
"I don't know," he said.
The Stars are 6-2 since Seguin went down. The 24-year-old will finish the regular season with 73 points in 72 games. He had a goal and two assists in six playoff games last year.
The regular season concludes Sunday, so these are your final power rankings. It's been real.
1. Pittsburgh Penguins ▲ (Last Week: 3)
March of the Penguins - in so many ways. Nobody should want to face this team in the playoffs, even if Marc-Andre Fleury's not in the crease in Game 1.
2. St. Louis Blues ▼ (Last Week: 1)
The Blues may finish first in the Western Conference - the West! - and jobs will be on the line in St. Louis next week. Hockey is the best.
3. Dallas Stars (Last Week: 3)
How far can a team ranked 20th in goals against go in the playoffs? We're about to find out. That's exciting.
4. Washington Capitals ▲ (Last Week: 5)
The Capitals aren't playing their best hockey, but they move up a spot and get a top-four ranking because of consistent excellence.
5. Florida Panthers ▲ (Last Week: 13)
Best Panthers team ever. Show some respect.
6. Chicago Blackhawks ▲ (Last Week: 15)
The Blackhawks were struggling. Now they've won five of six, and Patrick Kane's a 100-point man.
7. Los Angeles Kings ▼ (Last Week: 6)
Tyler Toffoli's somehow the first 30-goal King since 2009-10. Speaks to the depth of the many great Los Angeles teams.
8. Anaheim Ducks ▲ (Last Week: 10)
Let's be honest, they deserve the Pacific Division title.
9. New York Rangers (Last Week: 9)
Eric Staal's apparently saving himself for the playoffs.
10. San Jose Sharks ▼ (Last Week: 7)
Joe Thornton's most productive season since 2009-10. He - and his beard - is a gift, and he deserves a spot on Canada's World Cup roster.
11. Tampa Bay Lightning ▼ (Last Week: 10)
Whatever the Lightning are paying Steve Yzerman, he deserves a raise. Get well soon, Steven Stamkos.
12. New York Islanders (Last Week: 12)
John Tavares recorded back-to-back three-point games in must wins, the latter clinching the Isles a playoff spot. That's why he's the captain.
13. Nashville Predators ▼ (Last Week: 8)
The worst full season of Pekka Rinne's career. No pressure in the playoffs.
14. Minnesota Wild ▼ (Last Week: 4)
Devan Dubnyk proved he's a No. 1. Now he has to prove he's a No. 1 in the postseason. The life of a goalie isn't an easy one.
15. Boston Bruins ▼ (Last Week: 14)
Claude Julien's done better than he should have with that defense. It's not his fault.
16. Philadelphia Flyers ▼ (Last Week: 11)
The Flyers play two sets of back-to-backs to end the season, beginning Wednesday. Their destiny is in their hands, and that's all you can ask for.
17. Detroit Red Wings (Last Week: 17)
This edition of the Red Wings doesn't really deserve to make the playoffs - it's not good enough.
18. Carolina Hurricanes ▲ (Last Week: 20)
The future actually looks pretty good in Raleigh. That's enough, for now.
19. Colorado Avalanche ▼ (Last Week: 16)
If you have to choose between Matt Duchene and Patrick Roy, the correct answer is Duchene.
20. Buffalo Sabres ▲ (Last Week: 22)
Four 20-goal scorers, and Jamie McGinn would have made it five were he not traded at the deadline. This team's going to be good, soon.
21. Arizona Coyotes ▼ (Last Week: 18)
A core of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, Dylan Strome, and Christian Dvorak looks rather delightful.
22. New Jersey Devils ▼ (Last Week: 19)
With all due respect to Kyle Palmieri, he can't lead your team in scoring.
23. Ottawa Senators (Last Week: 23)
Eighty-one points in 80 games. Arguably the worst kind of lost season.
24. Montreal Canadiens ▼ (Last Week: 21)
Michel Therrien must go. For the betterment of Alex Galchenyuk.
25. Toronto Maple Leafs (Last Week: 25)
A dream of a first rebuilding season for the Maple Leafs, and that'll be the case even when they lose the draft lottery to the Oilers. Bring on more pain.
26. Winnipeg Jets (Last Week: 26)
At least Mark Scheifele broke out, right?
27. Vancouver Canucks ▲ (Last Week: 30)
Free the Sedins.
28. Columbus Blue Jackets ▲ (Last Week: 29)
John Tortorella's Blue Jackets are 31-33-8. Make what you will of that information.
29. Calgary Flames ▼ (Last Week: 27)
The Flames will finish with the most goals allowed. That's a Brian Burke team, yeah.
30. Edmonton Oilers ▼ (Last Week: 27)
Nobody told Todd McLellan it was going to be easy. Nobody said it was going to be this hard.
So says Michigan head coach Red Berenson, who revealed the 21-year-old center will sign his entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks instead of return for his senior season, according to Jason Rubinstein of Michigan Daily.
Motte was drafted 121st overall by Chicago in 2013 (fourth round), and recorded 32 goals and 24 assists in 38 games for Michigan this past season.
