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Isles' prospect Hughes arrested

by James Mirtle on Nov 6, 2009 2:48 PM CST Comment 4 comments

Islanders farmhand Bobby Hughes has been arrested on first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree criminal sexual act charges filed in Albany. The 21-year old Hughes, acquired by the Islanders from Carolina in August and playing infrequently for the Sound Tigers, was arrested after Bridgeport’s game on Wednesday.

— Chris Botta, NYI Point Blank

Hughes, who is from the Toronto area, starred with the Kingston Frontenacs a few years back and was a fourth-round pick of the Hurricanes in 2006. He has played sparingly so far in his AHL career, but did play in Albany in 2007-08 and 2008-09 which would appear to be tied to what's happened here.

Very little information available right now.

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Thrashers participating in MOvember

by James Mirtle on Nov 6, 2009 10:49 AM CST Comment 3 comments

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Scary 'stache for a 19-year-old on Mr. Zach Bogosian:

Atlanta Thrashers Fans, join Thrashers Zach Bogosian, Mark Popovic and Jim Slater and coaches John Anderson, Randy Cunneyworth and Todd Nelson on their MOvember journeys!

Any other teams taking part in this?

UPDATE The Wild are.

UPDATE This movement gets better as we go:

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Oilers participating in Movember

by James Mirtle on Nov 5, 2009 8:28 PM CST Comment 11 comments

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Taylor Chorney, for those who don't know. Here's the press release (with photo gallery):

Eight of the Edmonton Oilers are joining the fight against prostate cancer this month by participating in Movember. Throughout November, participating players will grow moustaches in support of prostate cancer research. The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation will be accepting donations on behalf of the Movember Foundation on edmontonoilers.com.

"We’re very proud to see a number of our players participate in Movember." said Natalie Minckler, EOCF’s Executive Director. "Not only have they shown leadership by joining this important cause but their participation is a product of their own initiative."

Oilers forward Sam Gagner initiated the idea and enrolled his teammates Gilbert Brule, Taylor Chorney, J-F Jacques, Patrick O’Sullivan, Ryan Stone, Theo Peckham and Zack Stortini.

George Parros, in other words, will soon have some competition.

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It was really weird how it happened. We were maybe 15 games into the season, and they started healthy scratching our captain last year. One day I came in for the game, and I had a 'K' on my jersey. I was like, "What the heck?" The coach came over to me and said "cap-tain," and everyone started clapping. And that was it.

— Former NHLer Kevin Dallman on life in the KHL

1 day ago James Mirtle 4 comments 0 recs

Ranking the NHL's fighters

by James Mirtle on Nov 5, 2009 1:55 PM CST Comment 11 comments

More photos » by LM Otero - AP

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If you haven't been stopping by stats man Gabe Desjardins's pad lately, you'd be well-served to do so. He's banging out some good stuff over there.

The latest is a system of ranking fighters, one that comes up with Georges Laraque as the NHL's top heavyweight. Here's the list based on the past three seasons:

Player	Ft	In	Wt	Fights	W	L	T	GP	Fts/82
Georges Laraque	6	3	253	30	24	3	3	177	13.9
D.J. King	6	3	229	22	16	2	4	89	20.3
Derek Boogaard	6	8	257	29	21	6	2	133	17.9
Donald Brashear	6	3	234	37	23	9	5	220	13.8
Wade Belak	6	5	225	28	17	7	4	165	13.9
Milan Lucic	6	3	228	24	18	4	2	149	13.2
Aaron Downey	6	1	215	15	9	1	5	81	15.2
Raitis Ivanans	6	4	256	39	21	11	7	215	14.9
Colton Orr	6	3	222	52	31	16	5	209	20.4
Eric Godard	6	4	214	44	20	15	9	164	22.0

I'm afraid I don't quite get how the ELO rating system is coming into play here, but anything that uses chess to rank hockey fighters is all right by me.

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There was not a single person in sections 330 and 334 a few minutes into the game tonight. Not one. I think a couple souls showed up a while later and sat there, but that was…it.

You definitely did not dissuade critics who say Denver is just a bandwagon hockey town tonight, folks. The announced attendance was definitely not the actual number in the building either. I’d say the real number was about 8,500, maybe a bit less actually.

— Adrian Dater, All Things Avs

1 day ago James Mirtle 25 comments 0 recs

Trouble brewing in Columbus

by James Mirtle on Nov 5, 2009 12:25 PM CST Comment 81 comments

More photos » by Jay LaPrete - AP

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The Columbus Blue Jackets could leave central Ohio if the team can't fix an economic model that is causing losses of $12 million a year, according to a report issued today by the Columbus Chamber. But a deal to keep the hockey team here and the Arena District alive -- the team and the district generated $30 million in taxes last year -- probably will include asking for public dollars, and soon.

"We believe there is a sense of urgency here," said Ty D. Marsh, chamber president and CEO. "We're looking for a solution or progress by the end of the year."

— The Columbus Dispatch

This is a situation that's been building for a while. I'd actually be shocked if the Blue Jackets have made much of a profit in any year since the prelockout days, when the payroll was very low and interest was at its peak.

Historically, their attendance has been decent, too, at least prior to the lockout, but because a private company built the building, Columbus pays significant rent (about $3.5-million annually), receives no arena perks and ticket prices remain fairly low. The one game I've seen there, I sat right behind the bench for $80, tickets that were widely available.

Even with the league's new revenue sharing system, the Jackets just aren't all that close to turning a profit:

If the Blue Jackets had free rent and arena-naming rights, the hockey operations would basically be breaking even, but the other business of booking concerts and events would still lose about $4 million a year.

The biggest part of the problem?

Blue_jackets_payroll_medium

And contrary to what's been written elsewhere, these are financial issues that are not merely solved by winning hockey games. The gap is just too large and the markets involved too small. Even if the Blue Jackets sold another 2,500 tickets a game and went on a run to the second round of the playoffs, they would still be in the red.

Teams like Columbus and Nashville are in tough to compete in a league with a payroll of more than $35- or $40-million and probably always will be.

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On today's episode of ...

by James Mirtle on Nov 4, 2009 2:42 PM CST Comment 11 comments

More photos » by NATHAN DENETTE - AP

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... As The Maple Leafs Turn:

John Mitchell appears to be pegged as the team's No. 1 centre for Friday night against Carolina
Coach Ron Wilson tries to find a way to generate some goal scoring
And did you know Phil Kessel is one of only five players to register 10 shots in a game this season?

Today's tidbits from practice

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