I don't know how many of you are still following the Phoenix Coyotes saga, but just when things appear to be settled or calmed down, something really stupid happens and things are once again thrown into turmoil. Like Phoenix's white night, Jerry Reinsdorf, pulling his bid off of the table and dropping his quest to save the Coyotes for Phoenix.
But don't worry. The NHL has found a new owner. The NHL. That's right. The NHL is making a bid to purchase the team from bankruptcy, and get this, its offer is for even less money than what Reinsdorf was offering up. And from I've read, the NHL's plan is to purchase the team and then sell it to whoever will offer up cash for it -- and the team doesn't even have to stay in Phoenix.
And coming up next week, the Judge is supposed to decide if he will allow Jim Balsillie to bid on the team, or whether the NHL's vote finding him "not qualified" to be an owner will keep him from bidding on the team.
I no longer have any idea of what is going to happen here. But I'm pretty sure, after everything that's happened, that the NHL is being run by this group of twits.
It's been a long, hot, dry, hockeyless summer, but I think we're all seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. And to help pull us all through to the start of training camp AND to reminisce a bit about some of the great moments of the past season via Fred's amazing photography, we bring you The Photo Contest.
We picked our top 32 favorite photos from the past season, then we ranked them and created a bracket. (Click to enlarge)
So for the next few days, you can vote on which photo in each match-up will advance to Round 2. Then when those are decided, we'll start voting for Round 2 and so forth until we get to the championship.
We'll fire it up first thing tomorrow morning, with two new match-ups a day for a while. Voting will be open for two days for each individual match-up, so don't miss a vote.
The Aeros will report to camp Sunday, Sept. 20 and will take physicals Monday morning. Later that day, they will practice in Sugar Land for the first time.
On Saturday, Sept. 26, the Aeros will host the San Antonio Rampage in their first preseason game and will travel to Cedar Park to take on the Stars Monday, Sept. 28.
Fans should be happy that they'll get a chance to see the team live before it opens up on the road the following week.
I know I plan on driving over to Austin to check out the new building. With the game being on a Monday night, how many of you will be able or willing to make the trek for preseason?
The Wild is officially unveiling its new sweater on Sunday, but due to some web site updates the NHL is doing, some photos got leaked.
You can see the photos here at Icethetics, which is an awesome site if you're into jerseys and logos and stuff, but it's back to the dark green and looks like a wheat color? And an old-school script logo.
It's pretty sharp, IMO, but not one I'd buy. But very much sticks with that old school hockey aesthetic that Minnesota hockey lovers should dig, given their strong pride in the hockey heritage there. Pride or obnoxiousness, anyway... Kidding MNs! Love ya.
Anyway, check it out and come back and tell us what you think. I think Burnzie needs a haircut.
T3I has learned that the Aeros will begin training camp at Sugar Land Ice (SLICE) on Sept. 21.
That's less than a month away, with Wild Training Camp starting a week earlier on Sept. 13 in St. Paul.
Later this week, we'll try and get you a peek at possible camp invitees and info on pre-season games.
Also, we tweeted about it earlier but the Wild released their roster for the Traverse City Prospect Tournament, which several NHL teams participate in to get another look at their prospects before everyone heads to their respective training camps.
Last year, the NHL Network showed the tournament games, but looking at their schedule, nothing is listed yet, but they do this stuff last minute a lot of times, so maybe it's still a possibility. It was fun watching Clutterbuck be the "veteran" last year. Looks like Morten Madsen and Justin Falk will be the vets this year.
Reports are coming out of Chicago, and the rest of the hockey world for that matter, that long-time and ancient blueliner Chris Chelios wants to play hockey this year and could sign an AHL contract with the Chicago Wolves in the near future.
Talk about sure-fire veteran presence there, something many AHL followers will note the Wolves surely missed in 08-09.
Cheli's time dwindled in Detroit last year, but he wasn't horrible. My opinion is that if he's willing to do it to help some of Atlanta's young blueliners and he still gets to play the game he loves, then why the heck not.
Makes me wonder now if Darren McCarty is thinking about another run with Grand Rapids.
So while researching some info for a mothership post for tomorrow, I came across something rather interesting, and something which I thought I might bring out over here for discussion purposes, if you guys don't mind.
Now I've written in the past that Tom Hicks and Hicks Sports Group are having some financial problems and that Hicks has decided to deliberately default on his debt. He has placed a majority interest in the Texas Rangers up for sale, and he has placed a minority interest in the Dallas Stars up for sale. Now we're being told that everything is a-ok with the Stars, and that the team has no financial problems and will make it through the season fine.
And that could be so, but...
It is now being reported in Dallas that Major League Baseball is effectively running the Texas Rangers, going so far as to step into negotiations between the team and a draft pick and withdrawing an offer that the team had made and substituting a substantially lower offer at the signing deadline because other MLB owners thought the offer was too high.
I'm not sure of what exactly this means for the Stars, but I've really got to question just how stable the Stars really are.
We've known about Jody Green for awhile now -- thanks to a purposely unnamed social media Web site -- but T3I could not reach a unanimous decision as to whether or not we should have posted that information a few weeks ago.
The decision was made not to put that information on the blog, and the Wild organization was not quite ready to release it at that time.
Although these promotions are great for the respective parties, this news pales in comparison to last week's schedule release or even a preseason schedule announcement. We are still hoping to get that soon. The games and dates have already (virtually) been decided, so now we are just waiting for the announcement.
Green is replacing a Houston Aeros staple in Jerry Meins, and I wish him the best of luck filling those shoes. We'll miss Jerry, but Green is certainly an up-and-comer. As for Tretiak, he has a cool last name and come to find out, jokingly, he is not the same goalie from USSR hockey lore.
I wish him well in his new role too.
The following is the news release the Aeros sent out earlier today:
HOUSTON – Houston Aeros General Manager Jim Mill announced today the American Hockey league (AHL) team hired Jody Green as the new Athletic Trainer and Doug Tretiak as the new Equipment Manager.
“We are excited with the new additions to our staff,” Mill said. “Jody and Doug bring the experience and professionalism needed to handle the intensity of the jobs that are key to the success of our team.”
Green, 25 (6/1/84), worked as a graduate assistant athletic trainer for the Alabama Crimson Tide Volleyball Team last year while studying for his master’s degree in Arts and Health Studies. The Gulfport , Mississippi native has also worked with the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the ECHL as an intern and assistant athletic trainer. Green earned his bachelor of science in Athletic Training at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette where he made the Dean's List in 2006 and 2007. He is board certified in athletic training and CPR and is a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA), Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers Society (PHATS) and the Society of Professional Hockey Equipment Managers (SPHEM).
Tretiak, 42 (4/26/67), comes from the RGV Killer Bees (Central Hockey League) and RGV Dorados (Arenafootball2 League) where he has been equipment manager since 2006 and was recognized as an outstanding equipment manager in 2008-09. The Winnipeg , Manitoba native is approaching the 800 game milestone, working for teams in the Western Professional Hockey League, International Hockey League, AHL and National Hockey League where he started as a visiting team attendant with the Winnipeg Jets in 1987.
Green and Tretiak will begin their new roles with the team immediately.
A couple of weeks ago someone asked about what had happened to former Wild prospect A.J. Thelen. Well, here's your answer. He just re-signed with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL, and he will be attending the AHL camp of the San Antonio Rampage.
Thelen played in only 34 contests for the Blades last season, suffering through an injury-plagued season that included two concussions. In those 34 games, he scored 3 goals and 14 assists for 17 points. He also played in 10 Kelly Cup playoff games.
All photos by Fred Trask
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