In a rather surprising turn of events, at least for me, the National Hockey League has rejected the deal I reported yesterday between the New Jersey Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk.

The NHL announcement was made just hours after Kovalchuk was introduced by the Devils at a press conference. The NHL says that the deal was rejected because it circumvents the league’s salary cap. The NHL apparently does not believe that the Devils organization had no expectations that Kovalchuk would be playing near the end of the lucrative contract.

It is, in other words, a way of artificially lowering the annual value of the contract and that’s a no-no.

The NHLPA now have the option to file a grievance with the NHL for the rejection and the process will go to arbitration. The contract, meanwhile, remains dead in the water.

The league has nosed around in this sort of top-loaded arrangements before and perhaps we had to expect, at least on some level, that something would be considered fishy about such a long contract offer. In the end, the NHL has decided that the deal wasn’t negotiated in good faith after all. Unlike the situations with Chris Pronger and Marian Hossa, there were a few red flags.

The CBA deals with the issue of circumvention in section 26:3 where it states in part:

(a) No Club or Club Actor, directly or indirectly, may: (i) enter into any agreements, promises, undertakings, representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent, or understandings of any kind, whether express, implied, oral or written, including without limitation, any SPC, Qualifying Offer, Offer Sheet or other transaction, or (ii) take or fail to take any action whatsoever, if either (i) or (ii) is intended to or has the effect of defeating or Circumventing the provisions of this Agreement or the intention of the parties as reflected by the provisions of this Agreement, including without limitation, provisions with respect to the financial and other reporting obligations of the Clubs and the League, Team Payroll Range, Player Compensation Cost Redistribution System, the Entry Level System and/or Free Agency.

Essentially the league found fault with the notion that the Devils actually had realistic expectations of Kovalchuk playing for the whole length of the contract. The CBA states that players signing contracts before the age of 35 can retire and have the balance of the contract be taken from the team’s cap. But the team has to make a good faith effort to ensure that the player doesn’t plan on skipping the balance of the contract just to collect the cheques.

So it’s likely back to the drawing board for Kovalchuk. It’s possible that the arbitration process may reveal something of use and it’s also possible that the Devils will augment the existing contract so that it fits under league specs. Regardless of what happens, the Kovalchuk saga still isn’t over.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Former NHL enforcer Bob Probert has died. He was 45 years old.

Family friend Rick Rogow said Probert passed away after collapsing with severe chest pains while spending time boating with his family in the Windsor area. He was rushed to the hospital around 2 pm EST Monday, but there was nothing they could do.

Probert is survived by his wife and four children.

Probert will always be remembered as one of the National Hockey League’s enforcers, a role that has since gone by the wayside in modern hockey. He had a 16-year career from 1985 to 2002 and amassed the fifth highest penalty total of all-time with 3,300 minutes.

There were flourishes in his career that showed him to be more than just a fighter, too. Probert scored 29 goals with the Red Wings in the 1987-1988 NHL season, earning himself a spot on the All-Star team. He would go on to have another 20 goal season with Detroit and added a 19 goal season with the Blackhawks, too.

“Bob was always there for his teammates and was one of the toughest men to ever play in the NHL,” Red Wings owners Mike and Marian Ilitch said in a statement. “He also was one of the kindest, most colourful and beloved players Detroit has ever known. We are very saddened by his passing, and our thoughts and prayers go out to Bob’s family.”

Probert will always be remembered for his fighting, of course. He had some of the NHL’s most memorable bouts with other enforcers like Tie Domi and Craig Coxe.

Upon his retirement from the NHL, Probert had a brief stint on CBC’s Battle of the Blades television show.

Bob Probert also had his problems, but today is not a day to discuss such things. He’ll be remembered as a fixture of a bygone era in the NHL and in hockey, a symbol of toughness and perseverance that won’t soon be forgotten.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Scott Niedermayer is ready to leave hockey on top of the world. Just four months after helping Team Canada seal the deal with Olympic gold, the superstar defenceman is hanging up his skates for good.

The Anaheim Duck will be finishing off an 18-year career in style, going out after winning four Stanley Cups and a small pile of medals and trophies. He now says that he’s “100% committed” to his decision to retire.

The plan currently is for Niedermayer to stick around the Ducks organization as a consultant to GM Bob Murray, continuing to help a team that he pulled out of obscurity upon his arrival. Niedermayer, together with Chris Pronger, helped Anaheim to its Cup victory in 2007 by logging nearly 30 minutes a game and finishing up with a Conn Smythe for his efforts.

He’s come a long way from his time on the New Jersey Devils, too. Niedermayer came into the league with a lot of hype and he earned every bit of it, controlling the New Jersey blueline with the elegant grace of a seasoned veteran.

Niedermayer will be remembered as a pure powerplay quarterback and as a class act. He helped both the Ducks and Devils motivate their defensive groupings from the back and helped control the offense at the same time, proving his versatility every single game. The fact that he has only missed the NHL playoffs twice as a player is a testament to his skill and leadership.

For the Ducks, the problem is not only an emotional one but a practical one. How will they cope with losing two star defenders in two years? How will they rebuild from having two of the best players leave the fold in relative succession? The torch will be passed, that’s for sure, and it’ll be time for youngsters to step up.

Even though his departure leaves a significant hole behind, Niedermayer’s loyalty will never be in doubt. Whether skating smoothly in a Team Canada jersey or a Ducks sweater, he’ll always be remembered as one of the finest defenceman in hockey’s modern era and a surefire entry to the Hall of Fame.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Tuesday was a history-making day for the great sport of hockey as Angela James and Cammi Granato were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Granato and James will be the first women to be in the Hall. They’ll be formally inducted on November 8.

James was a Canadian scoring superstar and played for Canada at the first women’s hockey championships. She was Canada’s dominant female player throughout the 70s and 80s, blazing a trail for other Canadian players to follow. James was often considered the female Wayne Gretzky, remaining as top scorer for eight seasons and winning the MVP award six times in the Central Ontario Women’s League. She also was MVP at eight Canadian championships.

Granato is the only woman to participate in each of the first nine women’s world championships sanctioned by the IIHF. She is the all-time leader in goals and points for the United States in world championships and was Eastern College Athletic Conference player of the year three straight seasons for Providence College from 1991 to 1993.

Dino Ciccarelli will also be inducted to the Hall of Fame in November as a player. His accomplishments made him one of the players that many considered as “overlooked.” After breaking his leg during his second year of junior and being told he’d never lace the skates again, Ciccarelli proved them all wrong by playing for 19 NHL seasons. He finished his career with 608 goals and 592 assists over those seasons.

In the builder category, Detroit Red Wings executive Jim Devellano and Calgary Flames founding member Daryl “Doc” Seaman will be entered.

The committee, 18 males, voted on Tuesday. Women were given their own player category for the first time this year and it was clear that this should have been done ages ago. The Hall has a maximum of two females that they can put in each year, so we can expect a few more inductees in the coming classes as the great women of the game are finally honoured properly.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The debate is on for the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2010. The 18-member selection committee is already ramping up plenty of discussion about who’ll be in the Hall this round, with names like Joe Nieuwendyk’s getting batted around with frequency.

Another name on the list is that of Eric Lindros.

Held to only 760 National Hockey League games because of injuries, Lindros is a controversial pick for the Hall of Fame. For some, he’s a shoe-in because he put together 86 career points and helped Team Canada to gold in 2002. For others, his shortened career and lack of a Stanley Cup put him on the outside looking in.

The pessimists will say that Lindros was hardly a model player. He came on the scene feuding with management types, making his presence felt in less-than-flattering ways. Lindros refused to report to the junior Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds after being drafted and repeated the same treatment to the Quebec Nordiques after they picked him first in 1991.

But for some of those very management types, Lindros’ performance on the ice trumps anything he did or didn’t do off of it.

“Eric Lindros is a Hall of Famer,” said former NHL coach Jacques Demers. “There was a period of time when he was the best player in the NHL. He was dominating.”

Lindros has not many any public comments regarding possible Hall of Fame selection, but talk of Quebec and his attitude off the ice continues to bubble over in many hockey circles whenever his name is mentioned.

“I look at what a player accomplished on the ice,” said Demers. “I don’t hold a grudge. I can’t worry what people think that he didn’t go to Quebec City. He’s not Pete Rose. He didn’t disgrace the game. He was a dominating player - one of the best power forwards I’ve seen.”

The selection committee can pick up to four players, one official and one builder each year. This year will make history in that up to two women’s hockey players can be selected. There’s a considerable list of first-year eligibles this time out, with names like John LeClair, Peter Bondra, Tony Amonte, and Pierre Turgeon in the hunt.

There’s also the consideration that some overlooked players from other years will finally get their shot, like Doug Gimour or Pavel Bure.

The question of Lindros’ inclusion in the Hall becomes more controversial when one considers some of the players outside of it that aren’t in yet. Still, as short as Lindros’ career might have been and as difficult a human being he might have been off the ice, it’s hard to argue with the fact that he was a clearly dominant player.

Whether that dominance is Hall-worthy is, of course, another story.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

San Jose Sharks captain Rob Blake is set to retire after 20 years in the National Hockey League. As one of the NHL’s top defenders, Blake will make his announcement on Friday.

Blake had hinted at retirement after his Sharks were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champ Chicago Blackhawks. He noted that he had made a decision regarding his future but wanted to wait a few weeks to make sure that he was making the right call.

With a few weeks having elapsed, it looks like Blake’s storied career is coming to an end. On a more practical level for the Sharks, his departure means that the team will have to do a little more reshuffling this summer. Patrick Marleau and starting goaltender Evgeni Nabokov are both eligible for UFA status come July 1 and there’s little indication as to the team’s future direction.

On its larger level, the Blake retirement means an end to one of the league’s finest defensive careers. Closing the book on it at 40, he has to be satisfied with a career that involved tenures in Colorado, Los Angeles and San Jose. He made seven All-Star teams and collected the Norris Trophy as a King in 1998.

Blake is 10th on the career scoring list with 240 goals as a defenceman. He won a Cup with the Avalanche in 2001, adding a gold medal with Canada the following year and moving on to help the Sharks post tremendous regular season records in both of his seasons there.

Blake’s role as a leader goes without saying, as he and Chris Pronger are perhaps hockey’s most respected voices along the blueline. His physical impact on the game will be missed, too, as will his calm control of tricky defensive situations. Blake can retire now and safely say that he left the game when he was still among the best at his position.

A shoe-in for the Hall of Fame, Blake finishes his career with 537 assists and 777 points.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Chicago Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup.

The game-winning goal came in overtime and wasn’t greeted by a red light or significant fanfare, but the image of Patrick Kane celebrating and tossing off his equipment was good enough for the young Blackhawks club.

The goal was briefly reviewed and then it was official: the Blackhawks had defeated the Philadelphia Flyers and won the Cup. While the crowd stood stunned and many of the Flyers stood around confused, the Blackhawks team piled on each other in celebration around goalie Antti Niemi. It turned out that the puck was actually lodged in the net where Kane put it when he scored the history-making winner.

The Cup win for the Blackhawks ends the longest drought in NHL history, as Chicago hasn’t won the top prize since 1961. An Original Six franchise, the Blackhawks wrap up their most successful season since the days of Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita.

Jonathan Toews picked up the Conn Smythe Trophy much to the chagrin of the Philly faithful, who commenced with the traditional booing of Gary Bettman and let it ride through the presentation to Toews. Even so, the 22-year-old deserved his moment and goes down as a member of the Triple Gold Club with a gold medal at the IIHF World’s in 2007, an Olympic gold medal in Vancouver in 2010, and now a Cup victory. He’s the seventh Canadian in the Club.

The game was close throughout and it often looked as though the Flyers were carrying the momentum, turning in a tight physical performance that had the young Blackhawks on their heels frequently. In the end, though, it was not to be and the Hawks took the series in six games.

Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers on a great Finals.

Just a reminder to all of our readers that the action doesn’t slow down in the summertime here at HockeyDraft.Ca. We’ll have the scoops you’re looking for as the off-season gets underway. Stick around for news and commentary on the draft, off-season moves, the situation in Phoenix, and all the other developing stories.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Some among us always believed in the power of the Philadelphia Flyers. On Friday night, those people were rewarded as the Flyers took a Game 7 victory over the Boston Bruins to complete a comeback in the series after being down by three games.

Perhaps even more amazingly, the Flyers came back from a 3-0 deficit in the game itself. They found themselves in the hole after the first period, but pounded back into the game and grabbed the eventual victory.

For the Bruins, they become just the third team in the NHL to lose a series after winning the first three games.

“We got a little carried away from our game plan and lost our composure,” Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said.

Flyers goalie Michael Leighton was remarkable in helping Philadelphia pull back into the series, but his task was far from an easy one. He had to replace an injured Brian Boucher and was starting just his second playoff game in the series’ seventh game. After letting in the first three goals of the game, Leighton was able to close the door for the rest of the way and his team pulled off what many thought was impossible.

Simon Gagne scored the winner, a power play goal. The Bruins took an unfortunate and untimely penalty with 8:50 left in the game and the Flyers capitalized on the confusion.

It seems now that the “History Will Be Made” advertising campaigns promoted by the league during this year’s post-season are more than appropriate. The Flyers join a pretty small club with this series victory.

Says TSN, “The only other teams to win a series after trailing 3-0 were the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, who beat Detroit, and the 1975 New York Islanders, who eliminated Pittsburgh. The other 159 teams that won the first three games in a series all won them.”

While it’s certainly an exhilarating experience for the Flyers, the team has to look ahead to the next round. They’ll face off against another improbable comeback-oriented team in the Montreal Canadiens and it’s gearing up to be one hell of a series. Both teams have pulled off the unexpected during these playoffs and both teams will be hungry, to say the least.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

It was an unanimous vote for the Glendale City Council on Tuesday night, but the NHL was guaranteed up to $25 million to keep the Phoenix Coyotes hockey club in the Jobing.com arena throughout the 2010-2011 NHL season.

The NHL requested that Glendale ensures that costs can be covered to maintain the team’s existence in Arizona while a new buyer is found. City manager Ed Beasley and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said that a sale is expected by the end of June and said that the payments would not be needed if the ale goes through as planned.

“From our perspective, this is nothing more than an insurance policy,” said Daly. “Trying to keep the Coyotes where we believe they belong, which is in the city of Glendale, for the long term.”

Beasley said that the NHL would not be a tax on the residents of Glendale, which is good news because it’s hard to find anyone in Glendale that would actively support their tax dollars going to cover a…hockey….team?

In all reality, it’s thought that the money to cover the team will have to come from the establishment of a community facilities district of nearby businesses that benefit from having the ‘Yotes at the Jobing.com arena.

In typical American showboating fashion, one councilman said that he was planning on opposing the motion until a young boy draped in a Coyotes jersey “softened his heart” and turned his vote around. The story is sure to be marketed as a way to prove that the NHL belongs in Phoenix, but something tells me there are several thousand similar soft stories in Winnipeg where the team belongs.

Yeah, I said it.

According to Beasley, both Ice Edge Holdings and a group headed by Chicago’s Jerry Reinsdorf are still talking about putting something out there to purchase the club. Media reports had said that both groups were out of the running, but the NHL insists that this is not the case and that the “mass hysteria” has blocked the facts.

Whatever happens in terms of ownership, it looks hockey will be in Phoenix for at least one more year while the NHL continues to insist they can find a buyer for the hockey club. And I think I can say comfortably without going out on too much of a limb here that Winnipeg fans will be going through this all over again next year.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Martin Brodeur has moved past Terry Sawchuk on the all-time shutout list and into first place with his 104th, recorded Monday night in his team’s 4-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The New Jersey Devils goalie has now achieved the only major goaltending milestone missing from his resume, making him the game’s most dominant goaltender statistically. At 37-years-old, Brodeur has stacked up a career in the National Hockey League that most players only dream of.

Think about it: three Stanley Cups, four Vezinas, four Jennings Trophy wins, ten All-Star game appearances, a Calder Trophy, and a bloody “rule” designed to break down his playing of the puck behind the net. And that doesn’t even touch the guy’s international play, which is a staggering set of statistics all its own.

His teammates were like fans in the locker room at the Mellon Arena after the game, crowding around him for pictures and pats on the back. It must be something to share a locker room, a team bus, a team jet, and the ice with a legend.

“I don’t think much needs to be said, it’s pretty self-explanatory,” said Zach Parise. “All the winning that he’s done, the shutouts, the Cups, it’s unbelievable. It’s great for a guy like me, and all of us at this time, we’re on the ice when all these records are happening. I mean, it’s pretty fun. I’m sure it’s fun for him but it’s pretty cool for us too.”

Sawchuk’s shutout record was long believed to be one of the NHL’s great untouchables. It was a record that nobody thought a goalie, especially in today’s NHL, could touch. The record stood more than 39 years after Sawchuk’s retirement, too, and people were beginning to wonder if anyone would ever get there.

“This record was held so long by Terry Sawchuk,” said Brodeur. “When you do break records and you see how long they’ve lasted, it’s pretty cool. Tying it was pretty amazing in Buffalo a couple weeks ago and now surpassing it, it’s a great honour for me to be in that position.”

Posted by Jordan Richardson.