As you already know, two former NHL Russians — Denis Grebeshkov and Evgeni Nabokov — signed their new contracts with SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League. SKA seems to be amassing quite a team of former NHL players, including Sergei Brylin, Petr Cajanek, Vitaly Vishnevskiy (according to SKA’s site), (Goddess Kaatiya favorite) Sergei Zubov, Andrei Zyuzin, Alexei Yashin and Maxim Afinogenov (Kaatiya cries at this).

SKA is a Russian abbreviation for “Sports Club of the Army.”

Here’s a little gallery of photos from their press conference. Enjoy!

Photos: From the Russian media.

I have to say I gasped, then laughed like crazy when I saw the latest in Ilya-gate. The arbiter ruled in favor of the National Hockey League! WHAT?! As the late, great Johnny Carson would no-doubt have said (if he’d been a hockey fan), “that’s some weird, wild stuff.”

What is it with these ex-Atlanta Thrashers who become drama queens when they leave the team? Maybe Kovy has always been a bit of a diva (yeah, he has been), but we’ve had a string of interesting former Thrasher players all mixed up in the drama: Hossa-gate (and all the unnecessary rudeness surrounding it, of which I disapproved), Dany-gate (and all the rudeness that he did deserve), now this. A high-profile player cannot leave the Thrashers without drama ensuing — either immediately, during or after his departure. (So we stand on alert waiting for Kari Lehtonen to implode, get thrown from a bucking bronco at a dive bar in Dallas and tweak his groin, or eat himself into a fast food coma.)

Kovy, Kovy, Kovy. You could have avoided all of this ages ago by just taking the sweetheart deal the Thrashers begged you to sign.

This is all very amusing to me. Is it just me?! Perhaps “drama queen” is overstating it, but really. This is crazy. Kovalchuk is a free agent again! A little more than a month after he became a UFA, Kovalchuk could flit off to the Kontinental Hockey League and join the super team SKA St. Petersburg seems to be amassing over there. He could crown himself a Los Angeles King after all. Or, the humble and loving Thrasher fan in me naively, somewhere in the back of her mind thinks, he could come home to Atlanta. Yes. Go get him Dudley! (Oh! Silly me. We are not a “class organization” in his eyes, so never mind the bollocks!)

Am I spiteful? Just experiencing a wicked case of schadenfreude and am all giddy? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know. Until then … LOL Kovy. Oh dear!

Photo: Ilya Kovalchuk from kiltmen.com. If I am not mistaken, that photograph originally appeared in a fashion spread in a magazine many years ago. The Hockey Goddesses regret not knowing the original copyright owner, but would welcome this information (as much as we would welcome knowing how the author of the story and/or photographer persuaded him to pose in this garb — delightful and oddly sexy as it is.)

Another flashy Russian is apparently headed back to the Motherland. Reports say former Atlanta Thrasher Maxim Afinogenov off to the KHL, joining former San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeny Nabokov in St. Petersburg, signing a deal with SKA. The report is that he’s getting five years for an unknown sum of money.  My Russian is OK, but not that good.

The Thrasher fan in me continued to hope that Mad Max would bring his razzle dazzle back to the ATL.  He looked good in Thrasher blue.

I have a couple of Russian colleagues who are looking into the story further, but the Russian site Sovietsky Sport seems to indicate Afinogenov to the KHL is a done deal. If true, that’s likely the last we’ve seen of Afinogenov in the NHL, which is sad. First Jagr now this!?! Horror! :-)

I hope that our brilliant and talented Russian gurus will have a better update for you later. Until then, do svidanya Max. It was fun while it lasted.

What do you think of this exodus of players from the NHL — is it worrisome to you? Let us know what you think!

Photo: Maxim Afinogenov by Goddess Kaatiya. Copyright 2010. All Rights Reserved.

Bob McKenzie has the right idea. A few days after the opening of the free agent market, he took himself off on vacation and, other than a couple of Kovalchuk comments, has mostly Tweeted about his hammock and golf game.

Other NHL media folk would be wise to follow suit. Or at the very least, as my mother used to say, think before they speak (or type, or Tweet).

Unfortunately, too many hockey media, with too much time on their hands, too eager to listen to any whispered rumors (whispered by whom? Agents, perhaps? Perish the thought!), are too ready to pass along any ridiculous crap they hear and call it “news.”

Case in point: The Boston Bruins are interested in Bill Guerin.

The story “broke” from St. Louis (St. Louis?) on July 27, in the midst of Blake Wheeler’s salary arbitration hearings. The New England Sports Network’s web site picked it up:

The Bruins could be welcoming back a familiar face to the Hub as the team is speaking with Bill Guerin about a potential return to Boston, according to Radio host and St. Louis Blues writer Andy Strickland.

“The Bruins are talking to veteran Billy Guerin,” Strickland Tweeted Tuesday. “They need to make a roster move before they can sign him…”

OK, obviously nobody stopped to ask one simple question. No, not WTF? (though I’ll admit that’s the first thing that crossed my mind.) The question would be “Why?”

The Bruins already have their Designated Old Guy. They’re in cap hell, and are going to have to move a player or two even without signing any free agents. Though they haven’t hung out signs saying “We’re going with a youth movment,” it’s fairly obvious to anyone paying attention that they’re aiming to get younger and more dynamic, with Tyler Seguin only the tip of their young prospect iceberg; they’ve got some real talent knocking on the door.

In a nutshell, signing Bill Guerin would make no sense whatsoever.

Meanwhile, that bastion of sports journalism The Bleacher Report picked up the story, with an added twist:

Reports from NESN have stated that the Boston Bruins have significant interest in veteran winger Bill Guerin.

Oooh, so now it’s “significant” interest!

The story grew, making it onto both of Boston’s sports radio stations, as well as ESPN’s web site. For 24 hours, Bruins fans hotly debated the pros and cons of the Return of Bill Guerin.

Until Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com came along:

…A Bruins source told CSNNE.com Wednesday [July 28] there was no interest on their part in the 39-year-old free agent winger.

A Bruins source. Imagine that. A member of the media picked up the phone and, y’know, actually asked someone in the Bruins F.O. about it. Responsible journalism – who would have thunk it?

(And when you’re praising Joe Haggerty as a bastion of responsible journalism, you’re in trouble. But that’s a commentary for another day.)

However, like Monty Python’s iconic Black Knight, it’s not dead yet! Seriously. From yet another Bleacher Report blog (written on July 31):

I am hearing that Bill Guerin is generating interest from the Bruins, Penguins and Islanders.

And lest you think it’s just fannish blogs, think again…

Former Penguins forward Bill Guerin was linked to the Boston Bruins but given their limited cap space in the wake of their acceptance of Blake Wheeler’s arbitration award, they can’t afford him.

No, he wasn’t! It was a rumor, probably started by his agent, aiming to drum up interest… oh, never mind. Just go on vacation. Please.

Photos:  Bill Guerin from The Associated Press.  Mark Recchi from Getty Images.

Last night the Detroit Free Press announced that Mike Modano had texted them with the words: Big announcement Thursday.

Mike Heika got a text from Mike this morning saying he was currently on the golf course in Scotland with some friends, and would be back in the States at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

A friend of mine scooped both of these sources by posting his blog on Saturday that sources had told him that Modano would sign with the Wings this week. (Way to go, Travis!)

Either way, Mike Modano will be wearing the winged wheel this season. It’s not something any Dallas Stars fan would ever want to see, the face of their franchise wearing that uniform. And to add more fuel to the fire, who do the Stars take on for their first home game? That’s right! The Wings! This could seriously be a PR nightmare for the Dallas Stars, and I cannot wait to witness it! More on that in a later blog.

As for what number Mike may sport, we all know that he won’t be wearing his No. 9 as that belongs to Gordie Howe. There’s a possibility of No. 27, which is what he wore in the All Star games when Paul Kariya had more votes than him. I’m also going to throw out there No. 39, which was his original number with the Minnesota North Stars.

The other Stars news yesterday was that Marty Turco would be taking over the pipes from  Antti Niemi in Chicago. I honestly feel badly for Niemi. This shows why arbitration this late in the summer is a bad thing. I’m not sure he’s going to have a starting job in the NHL this season, as most teams are set. And to think, he was the goalie for the Stanley Cup winners. That being said, I think Turco is going to do well, and show everyone he still has it. Let’s face it, he hasn’t had a real defense in front of him the last two seasons. I’m looking forward to seeing Patrick Kane grab one of Turco’s passes and scooting down to the other end. It’s gonna be a thing of beauty!

Photo: Mike Modano at Dynamo Riga, from the book, “Minnesota North Stars: History and Memories with Lou Nanne,” by Bob Showers; Modano in tie from MikeModano.com.

Hi everyone, hope your summer has been good! Mine’s been eventful to say the least. It’s been pretty quiet on the Caps corner of the hockey world this summer. Then again, perhaps not.

The Caps have signed DJ King and Danny Sabourin, re-signed Ovechkin’s English tutor in Brian Willsie, watched Joe Corvo and Shoane Morrisonn sign elsewhere, and have said Au Revoir to Jose Theodore in these dog days in the lives of us hockey fans.  All of our signings are expected to be on the Hershey roster come opening night for the regular NHL season. This is somewhat to the disgruntlement of that hockey fan who loves a good free agent splash or blockbuster trade in the off-season. Or perhaps that fan who wishes the GM would have addressed some glaring issues on the roster (as last year’s roster clearly didn’t get it done) by now.

*Cough*Defense*Cough*

With the departure of Jose Theodore and the signing of Sabourin, this solidifies the rumor the Capitals are planning on having the net minded by their two young goalies for the 2010-2011 season. Russian Semyon Varlamov and the Czech Michal Neuvirth can rest easy now… or should they?

Most Caps fans would be lying if they said they were totally comfortable with this idea. Placing the fate of the team in an unproven goalie and a another unproven goalie doesn’t sit well with fans of any team. Is it a bit harsh to call Varlamov an unproven goalie? Perhaps, but I’m going on the whole fact that in two consecutive play-off runs Varlamov has been booted from being the starting goalie by that same goalie we just let walk. One doesn’t exactly want to start planning the parade route with that in mind. Is Varlamov only coming off his first full season as an NHL goalie? Yes, and one must remember that, but two play-off runs have not treated Varlamov kindly. Then again the team in front of him didn’t show up to help some nights, so more leniency must be given with that also in mind.

I also hate to stamp Neuvirth with that same stigma as an unproven goalie with his impressive resumé in the AHL and excellent play in net for the Capitals as a call-up. But truth be told, we’ve not seen what he looks like long-term as an NHL goalie, and until we do, the jury will remain silent. All arrows point to a winner in Neuvirth and for that most fans are excited to see how he will shape up with the responsibility and duty of being our back-up. For all intents and purposes the kid has earned his shot in Washington, and we hope it turns out to win us a Cup before the apocalypse occurs.

This also begs the conversation of which of our two young talents will turn out to be the better goalie? Personally I’ve come to the conclusion that the Czech will beat out the Russian by the time they both hang up the skates (put down the glove?). While I think Varlamov possess the more raw talent of the two, his sometimes jittery play and scrambling in the net will ultimately be his personal evil. He can either dazzle you with the athletic highlight reel save, or make you cringe in horror and disbelief he let in such a soft goal (again) even a person who has never put on skates could have stopped. In some ways I feel his play-off benchings are a warning sign to us all not to pin our hopes and dreams on the young Russian.  While I don’t think he will be a bust by any means, I don’t think we should butter our bread just yet with him.

Neuvirth might not possess that same raw talent, but being so technically sound and such a calming presence in net will make him the better of the two if Varlamov does not learn to settle down in games.  The team feeds off that calmness and plays better, which in turn makes us fans breathe a little sigh of relief (and lets us actually sit and enjoy the games once in a while). His two consecutive AHL Calder Cup winning seasons in Hershey — while also snagging the play-off MVP trophy in 2009 I might add, Chris Bourque grabbed that honor this past season — certainly makes one pay attention. In short: Neuvirth is the more complete player of the two.

Don’t get me wrong, both goalies are going to be highly successful in their NHL careers. As a Caps fan who has been through the Jagr Debacle and ensuing team firesale,  you tend to brace for the worst. However, this is one argument or problem I’d take any day of the week: two young promising young goalies fighting for command of the #1 spot?

Priceless.

Just as they always say, hockey is 20% physical and 80% mental and this is one of those cases where that cliché applies perfectly. So who will win this battle of will?

Photos:  Michal Neuvirth and Semyon Varlamov by Annalisk19 at Flickr.com.  Copyright 2010.  All Rights Reserved.  Jose Theodore by Reuters.

Do you need something to distract you from the stifling heat?

I’ve been enjoying the offering of 35 years of Stanley Cup Finals on the NHL Network. What they’ve done in their Raising the Cup series, is to take the Cup-clinching game of each year and show it in its entirety. True greatness! (Although not shown in Canada.)

We’ve been able to see some of these games before on their Vintage Games series, but the games are always compressed and chopped up. So when I see that they have five hours dedicated on August 6 for the 1999 game, excuse me while I get a little excited. Few, if any, have that entire game on DVD. Now, because of the NHL Network, we’ll have a chance to throw away our deteriorating VHS tapes of that triple-overtime fingerbiter.

I’ve watched bits and parts of most of the games, including the North Stars loss in 1981 to the Islanders and the 1991 loss to the Penguins. Why? Because they are moments of time that my favorite team will never get back. How great was it to see rookie Dino Ciccarelli, or a young Mike Modano weaving his way through defenders? To see Neal Broten as captain still encouraging his clearly outmanned team?

And what Canucks fan wouldn’t want to see the beloved Trevor Linden single-handedly almost beating the Rangers? Or a Blackahawks fan watch Chris Chelios in his full glory almost decapitating Larry Murphy, or the skinny kid Roenick try to get a puck past Barraso? Even though you know your team didn’t win, how great is it to see your favorite players back in their prime? AND… still on your team!

To me, the worst part of this series has been some of the game presentations. Sometimes you get the CBC coverage, but there have been MSG, and Pittsburgh feeds also. Brutal … that’s all I can say about those Pens’ feeds. Especially against the Blackhawks. Blech! Talk about homers! It makes today’s Avs and Ducks guys seem tame in comparison. (oh, and Jack Edwards, I miss the OLD you!)

My favorite game so far has been the 1993 Kings/Canadiens game with the ESPN feed. It wasn’t seeing all the Habs players who ended up in Dallas, or seeing Denis Savard’s eyes glistening as he stood behind the bench, or even Barry Melrose’s superior mullet. Nope, it was seeing Tom Mees again.

Who is Tom Mees you might ask? Tom was hockey on ESPN. He was one of the original Sports Center anchors, but when the NHL started on ESPN in 1987, he became their chief play-by-play guy.  He was also instrumental in furthering NCAA hockey coverage, as well as bringing the Frozen Four to national prominence. Unfortunately, Tom died in 1996 of an accidental drowning. During the work stoppage, I often wondered what role his voice could have had in ending that madness sooner.

A few other goodies gleaned from the broadcast?

• That Patrick Roy was about to become the first $3 million goalie.
• That ESPN2 was about to be up and running.
• The interview with Brian Bellows where he talked about how happy he was to win the Cup, but that he wished he could have won it two years earlier for the fans of Minnesota. I may have teared up at that.

So thank you NHL Network for sharing these full game gems with us. I’ll be watching for 1999 and 2000, even though the latter didn’t turn out the way I would have liked.

P.S.  This is a tough week for my old Norris Division heart. Congrats to Marty Turco, and a possible congrats to Modano, who I hear is about to sign a deal with the anti-Christ.  Patrick Kane is going to score a gazillion goals with Marty’s puckhandling skills, and Mike??? Continue being you.

Photos:  Mike Modano from Getty Images; Tom Mees from Wiki Commons.

So, it’s just about one month before most CHL teams, will be starting their training camps; and my boys are no exception, as they will be getting started on the 25th of August. Along with the normal activities that will go on during this camp for both invitees, draft picks, rookies and vets to get ready for the season the boys in green and grey will also be preparing for their annual Labor Day tournament that they host every year. For a hockey junkie it’s like being let loose on a buffet when you’ve been drinking Slim Fast for four months. It is three full days of games, made up of nine games, with the WHL’s US division teams and usually one from the BC division like last year with Dion Phaneuf’s baby brother and his Prince George Cougars; however this year, we get a treat. Since all of the BC teams had better things to do other commitments, Coach Craig Hartsburg put in a phone call to his old team, aka the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League. It’s the very first time that the Tips have played anyone outside of the WHL, my seat is two rows behind the bench; and I am very excited about this.

Also making me pretty damn excited is that in the past 36 hours, our GM Doug Soetart has pulled off two deals that make me want to know if maybe he’s been taking lessons from Ray Shero or Kenny Holland. Yesterday, the Tips traded for Landon Ferraro and today, they signed former Minnesota Golden Gopher Josh Birkholz. Both of these deals are, to me anyway, complete surprises; but I think they’re going to make our team a bit tougher and a bit stronger if they can live up to the hype especially Mr. Ferraro.

Landon, aka Baby Parm, is the son of former NHL center Ray Ferraro and the stepson of USA gold medalist and Hockey Hall of Fame electee member Cammi Granato. He was drafted and had previously been part of the Red Deer Rebels as well as being chosen by the Detroit Red Wings last summer. I actually got to see him play both up in Alberta when he was a rookie and two years ago here in Everett; and the boys can score. I just hope he has worked on his fighting skills… he got his clocked cleaned by former Silvertip and current baby Blackhawk Kyle Beach when he was here last. We got Landon in exchange for center Byron Froese, who is also a baby Blackhawk chosen in last year’s draft; and I’ll miss Byron. He’s a good kid and a great player too.

Mr. Birkholz, on the other hand, is a complete unknown to me. He was also drafted last year as a third-round pick by the Florida Panthers; but played last year in Minnesota. When I saw the announcement that he was committing to play here this season, my first thought was “Buh!? Who is this guy?” Well, it appears that the Tips had his junior rights; but as an American kid who was planning to go to college, he decided to play in the USHL instead as a 17 year old before moving over to the Gophers’ program last season. We’ll see what happens with this kid as part of the reason for him leaving UM after one year is for team rules violations; but the Tips brass seem confident that this isn’t going to be an issue. So I guess that I’ll have to trust them since they don’t give a monkey what my opinion is; I’m just a season ticket holder. ;)

And before I forget, the next two weeks we will have two members of our team spending some time with Team USA. California boy Tyler Maxwell will be spending some time at National Junior Evaluation Camp and I hope he makes it this year. We need more WHL wearing Stars and Stripes. Also with USA Hockey is our Associate Head Coach Jay Varady, who after winning a gold medal this last year as video coach for the U-20 team, will be the assistant coach for the 2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Good luck to them!

Anyway… that’s what’s happening in Hooterville this week. I am not sure if I’m going to be able to wait four weeks to smell that ice again; but I guess I have to.

Photos: Landon Ferraro by Goddess Amy, and Josh Birholz from Bruce Bennett/Getty Images.

Today I saw a car with an Avs flag flying at half-mast.  I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, but it was rather fitting.  Yes, many Avalanche fans are in mourning for our team.

Why, you might ask?

Well, while the rest of you were getting excited about prospect camp, taking pictures and watching the final scrimmage, us Avalanche fans were sitting quietly at home twiddling our thumbs.  While you were anxiously watching the news wire for free agent signings by your team, we were napping.  And while you were being wooed to renew or buy more season tickets, we were already making plans as to how we would spend the money that we used to spend on season tickets, our phones silent as no one from the organization even called to ask why we didn’t renew this year.

Yep. The Avalanche organization has simply stopped caring.  How, you ask?  Let me count the ways.

First, there’s the development camp.  Apparently, according to the organization, the team had an “off-ice orientation” for the prospects.  Excuse me, but has anyone ever heard of such an “orientation” before?  An orientation where they ask all their prospects to interrupt their off-season training to come hang out for a few days and get “oriented” without stepping on the ice once?  How stupid does the organization think we really are?  If I were a betting woman, I’d say that we were being lied to, and that the Avs were having a development camp that is closed to the public and hence hush hush.  Of course there is the slight possibility that they really were having just an off-ice orientation, in which case they really have thrown in the towel.  Yes, while teams like the Caps, and even the God-awful Islanders were pulling in fans by the thousands we Avs fans could only read about other team’s camps with envy.

But wait!  That’s not all!  No, not only do you get a team who doesn’t take advantage of a great marketing opportunity, but you get a team that shows no interest in improving next year.  That’s right, folks.  No free agent signings, no help for a goalie who got the team to the playoffs almost completely on his own and no new, talented players for the fans to go watch.  In fact, the Avs have done so little that they actually haven’t even reached the cap floor!  The organization claims they’re “building from within” like the Red Wings, but let me tell you I’ve seen what’s coming up in the system and we have no Datsyuk or Zetterberg in our system to build around.  Hmm.  Maybe that’s why they didn’t have a camp.  They didn’t want the fans to see what kind of talent we really did (or didn’t) have.

Finally, you’ve all heard me bitching about the treatment of season ticket holders but it begs repeating – those of us that have cancelled our season ticket haven’t gotten so much as a simple call asking us why or to reconsider.   Perhaps it’s because it was seen as a waste of resources, or perhaps it’s because they just don’t care.

Of course, if this were Phoenix or another small-market, you might suspect that the organization was in financial trouble and just couldn’t afford the marketing, but alas, Kroenke Entertainment has more investments than you can shake a stick at, including the NFL Rams, Arsenal, Nuggets, a soccer stadium, a new ticket agency and whatever else I might be missing.  Doesn’t look like struggling ownership to me.

Which leads me back to my original hypothesis:  That the organization just doesn’t care.  And if that’s the case, why should we fans?

I suppose it’s too early to say R.I.P., but I’ll say it anyway.  Maybe the team will survive, or maybe it will be sold and shipped off to Winnipeg.  Stranger things have happened.

Photos:  Alexander Ovechkin and Pepsi Center by Goddess Sasha. 2009-2010.  All rights reserved.

Much like Nelson Muntz (of “The Simpsons” fame), I had to let out a tiny giggle at the NHL bringing down the banhammer on Ilya Kovalchuk’s new contract. I know that there have been a few others like this in the last few season; but I asked the same question of them that I did of this one … Does our pal Kovalchoo really need a deal that would last until his oldest child graduates college and would be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of the Gross National Product of a small African nation? (For more puzzling questions, see fellow Goddess Kaatiya’s piece: Kovy’s Contact Rejected — Why?)

To be honest, I am not a Devils fan in the least. Not only am I a Pens fan and still have a bit of a grudge against Scott Stevens for laying out my boy Paulie K in Game 6 of the 2003 Finals; but the beating of my Ducks in that series make them not too friendly around these parts.

However, Ilya has always fascinated me; and after he was traded to New Jersey, I was actually kind of happy for him. Things in Atlanta have never quite gotten off the ground, so with Los Diablos, Mr. Kovalchoo was finally going to a club that had the same level of talent to match his own. And that is a problem with this contract; they might not be able to keep all of it for as long as they would like and at the price tags that talent would be asking for.

Anyway, I thought I would leave you with a few pictures from today’s press conference in New Jersey.

Photos:  Ilya Kovalchuk by Getty Images and The Associated Press.

File this under “things that make you go ‘hmmm…’”

It’s quite intriguing that the National Hockey League has decided to put its foot down with the Ilya Kovalchuk contract. There are several contracts similar to his, though not as long. I doubt they have a legal leg to stand on. Even if the New Jersey Devils and Kovalchuk himself knows this contract was written in such a way as to circumvent the Collective Bargaining Agreement, how can they prove intent? Is it that he’ll be 44 years old when the contract expires and, basically, nobody (let’s say 0.005 percent of players) plays past 40-ish?

Even so, how do you prove intent to circumvent? And even if you do prove it, if the current CBA has that loophole, how do you retroactively close it? And where do you draw the line? Fifteen years was OK for the Islanders’ Rick DiPietro. Marian Hossa signed a big front-loaded contract. Robert Luongo is on a monster deal. Where is the line? Why bring the hammer down at this point?

I am very curious as to how the league thinks it can get away with this randomness — either you can or you can’t do something under a contract. And, while I am not a lawyer, if those other contracts were not in violation, how can this one be?

The Kovalchuk drama continues!  He always was a diva — this somehow fits.  (No really … don’t you think?)

What are your thoughts?

Photo:  Ilya Kovalchuk by Getty Images.

Here’s a brief summary of some of the hot hockey stories making the rounds in the Russian press this week.

- SKA Saint Petersburg signed ex-San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov to a 4-year, $24 million (USD) contract.

- Reportedly, former Atlanta Thrashers player Slava Kozlov wants to play in Russia. He is in talks with several clubs.

- Kontinental Hockey League studies details on 23-year-old SKA player Igor Misko’s sudden death.

-  The Washington Capitals took four Russians to their summer camp.

-  Detroit Red Wings and team Russia forward Pavel Datsyuk has entered the university in his native city of Ekaterinburg.  He will study sports management.

Photo: Vyacheslav Kozlov by Goddess Kaatiya. Copyright 2009-2010. All Rights Reserved.

It just seems that way. ;-)

Went to Bruins camp Friday (along with a few hundred other fans. The crowd was even bigger on Saturday; they were actually turning people away at the door. Unreal.)

Of course the big attraction is Seguin, no disputing that. But even discounting Tyler, it isn’t a bad way to spend a couple of hours if you’re jonesing for hockey.

The day started at 10 a.m. (the on-ice day, anyway; it started for ME at 7:30, when I hopped in my car. It’s further to Wilmington, where the Bruins’ practice facility is located, than it is to Boston. The things I do for you guys haha.)

Anyway, the kids skated out on the ice to applause and, after a brief stretch, went right into skating and passing drills. Down the boards, cutting into the middle; then breakdouts down the center, taking center ice feeds from defensemen. Some nice moves and shots here and there, occasionally draws oohs and aahs from the crowd.

There were close to 30 skaters in camp. This year, helpfully, they provided names as well as numbers (there were rosters provided at the door) on the kids’ backs, but it’s still difficult at times to distinguish individuals in the drills, as they’re switching in and out and back and forth and going all over the place.

I did experience a Goldilocks moment at one point by observing defensemen Tommy Cross (big), Steve Kampfer (little) and Matt Bartkowski (middle) in a tete-a-tete by the side boards. But my real fangirl/squee moment came from watching top draft choices Seguin (2010), Jordan Caron (2009) and Joe Colborne (2008) in a brief but intense discussion (complete with Gallic gesticulations from Caron) before an offensive drill.

What made watching those three fun was recognizing their unmistakeable yet incredibly diverse talents. Colborne moves extremely well for a big man (showing little of the coltish awkwardness I saw last year) and loves to shoot from the slot, Caron has a wide body that he uses to good effect around the net, and Seguin — well, let’s just say the hype isn’t far off. He is an absolute treat to watch. And not just barrelling aorund on offense; I think my favorite moment came during the late scrimmage when he skated back on defense, picked up his man, and rode him away from the net. I didn’t see Claude Julien there, but I’m quite certain that’s the sort of play that would give him the warm fuzzies.

There were many Bruins fans who were upset when Boston used its #32 pick on Jared Knight, but Bruins fans are going to love this kid. He’s crazy. At one point during the scrimmage (playing on a line with Caron and Seguin — squee!) he flew down the wing, crashed into the defenseman, knocked the net off its pins and went down in a heap along the boards. Much consternation amongst the crowd and his teammates as he skated slowly to the bench and sat for a couple of shifts, but then he came back out on the ice and scored the prettiest goal of the day, using a defenseman as a screen and snapping off a beauty. More ooohs.

All in all, the kids looked happy as clams to be out on the ice after all their dryland (and pool) training. They were having fun, even though they were working hard.

A few more scattered thoughts:

Russian defenseman Yuri Alexandrov (his second time around) is undeniably talented, and has grown and improved since last year, but he is not ready for the NHL. He needs to spend a year or two in the AHL and learn the North American game. Bruins fans need to temper their expectations on this kid and let him develop out of the spotlight.

Cross, hampered by knee injuries for a couple of years, is finally healthy and looks like a force out there. Reminds me a bit of Mark Stuart.

Alex Fallstrom (a Swede who’s attending Havard; how common is that?) had the session’s funniest moment when he grabbed a puck that had popped up in the air off the goalie, threw it into the net and celebrated.

Max Sauve (who recently had surgery to take the pins out of a reconstructed ankle) was on the ice for the late stages of practice and stayed out (as the guys left in twos and threes) to take shots on goalie Michael Hutchinson. Colborne stayed with him, and they practiced shots/tip ins. Colborne’s wrist shot reminds me a little of David Krejci’s in that it always seems to catch you by surprise.

The final image left me smiling: Colborne ducking to pass through the locker room door. ;-)

(Photo: Bruins development camp by Goddess Savvy. Copyright 2010. All Rights Reserved.)

One of the best Russian goalies in the NHL — Evgeni Nabokov — has signed a 4-year contract with SKA (Saint Petersburg), Sovsport.ru reports.

On Wednesday we sorted out the last small difficulties, and Zhenya [a nickname for Evgeni in Russian] signed the contract with the SKA. The agreement was e-mailed to him. Now Zhenya is going to set up him home problems — he should close his house in San Jose, to sell all the unneeded stuff… He moves to Russia with his whole family. The sum of his contract suits him. And KHL is satisfied – to have such a player means to raise the prestige of the league in the world, — said Nabby’s agent Sergei Isayev.

SKA refuses to name the contract sum.  And the club denies that this agreement with Nabokov will prevent them from fighting for Ilya Kovalchuk.

Photo:  Evgeni Nabokov from Sovsport.ru

Actually, an NHL arena has a new name; and it’s the rink formerly known as GM Place. As of yesterday, GM Place will now be known as Rogers Arena; and will be for at least the next 10 years.

General Motors was the first sponsor of the arena when it opened as the brand new and gorgeous home of the Vancouver Canucks in 1995. It was to be a 20 year deal extending to 2015; but as we all know, times have been tough all over and especially in the auto industry. So, GM will still be a sponsor, but will be moving to in-arena activities. Rogers is Canada’s largest wireless company that also owns radio and television stations, magazines; and they also own the Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto’s Rogers Centre, which used to be the SkyDome. That means they have lots and lots of money; so I’m very interested to see what, if any, changes will be made to the arena over the summer as they re-brand.

And the workers are going to have to work around a bunch of the players as Canucks Prospects Camp opened yesterday. 36 players, including draft picks, invited players and two of my boys: former Tip Taylor Ellington and current Tip Kellan Tochkin. As with most camps, they will spend this week doing the normal things like strength training and on-ice work but they also do yoga to build strength and flexibility as well as the Canucks said that they will be getting to do some dragon boating on False Creek.

The final activity will be the annual trek up the Grouse Grind, a very popular hiking trail, located at Grouse Mountain which is north of the city. It is an extremely steep and mountainous trail that takes you up 2,800 ft over a distance of 2 miles and the grade goes up 30 degrees. Most people reach the top in about 90 minutes although some who are very fit can finish in under 30 minutes; and even though the boys hate it, they love it too. I know that the last couple of years the Nuck prospects have been split up into teams and each hike up together with a mini plastic Stanley Cup that they try to steal from each other then deliver them to the coaches who meet each group at the top.

Once the hike is over and they’ve ensured that no one is dead or missing, the boys also receive an actual Canuck jersey with their names and number on them; and the smiles on their faces when they slip those on is just amazing to see. Even though some of them got one on draft day, it’s something different when it’s your name and you receive it from the GM.

The appearance of prospect camps makes me all kinds of happy because not only does that mean that the new hockey year has started; but it’s just about a month or so before WHL camps open up and that is a glorious thing. Life without hockey is like peanut butter without jelly… just not right. :)

Photos:  From Wikipedia commons and Canucks.com.