So apparently Dallas Star Brad Richards had shoulder problems much of last year. Richards had mono the season before, meaning he’s never been 100% healthy for Dallas.
That’s expected to change this season and Mike Heika says it could represent a return to the Richards of 2005-06. Or at least a little closer to that form.
Of [...]

It’s corn Friday. Sorry!

Buccigross’ ‘Heatley will be a Shark’ call is just a big misunderstanding: he’s talking about an upcoming Ottawa production of WESTSIDE STORY. Also, don’t miss Jason Spezza as Maria.
The Sabres released photos of the commemorative bricks from the Aud, which they’ll be selling. So the Sabres will hold onto bricks from demolished [...]

I like when training camp starts because it puts a real spotlight on coaches as everyone tries to figure out if successful coaches will be able to maintain their pace and if unsuccessful coaches will manage to turn things around.
Penguins coach Dan Bylsma would probably be considered a successful coach, what with his Stanley Cup [...]

David Pollak had a piece discussing how much competition the Sharks have for their third- and fourth-line slots.
This seems to be the new GM move: spending an excruciating amount of time, and to a certain extent, money, on guys who will play 10 to 15 minutes a night.
At least San Jose GM Doug Wilson has [...]

I’m very surprised Sergei Zubov is close to signing a KHL deal.
Zubov is 39 and coming off an injury-plagued season, but I would think there might be a few NHL teams interested in signing one of the game’s all-time great offensive defensemen. If nothing else, Zubov could probably quarterback the powerplay as a special teams-type [...]

Does anyone else think Jacques Lemaire maybe wasn’t Lou Lamoriello’s first choice to coach the Devils? Otherwise, why wait so long to name him? Was he scared Lemaire’s defensive system would scare off potential free agents? Because the lack of a coach sure didn’t seem to entice anyone to sign with the Devils.
In fact, the [...]

Adrian Dater has an interesting question: do we really know what the big deal is about Swedish goalie Jonas Gustavsson?
I think the big deal is that he’s an unproven free agent, so you have the excitement of a rookie coupled with the track record of a veteran. A young veteran.
I’m pretty curious how he’ll pan [...]

Earlier this week, New Jersey Devil Brian Rolston went on the record as saying he hadn’t been a big fan of former coach Brent Sutter.
I imagine John Madden also wasn’t a big fan of the coach who often didn’t believe in matching and checking lines. After all, Madden is all about checking and matching.
But [...]

Fantastic game six last night. And for all of the talk about Detroit’s defense driving their offense, Pittsburgh did a tremendous job, at least for the first two periods, of letting their defense be a catalyst for their offense.
Mike Heika said the game deserved to be on NBC. I think NBC should show the last [...]

Brent Sutter is starting to look like another successful graduate of the Mats Sundin Rapid Decision-Making Program. He’s still not sure he wants to coach the Devils next season.
The longer Sutter waits, the less effective he’ll be as a coach if he decides to return. Would you play hard for someone who was that [...]