With the general managers set to meet at Boca Raton in Florida, it’s clear that the issue of head shots finally needs to be addressed in a concise, meaningful way.

There are a number of ways to tackle the issue, of course, and everybody has his or her own set of answers that they believe add meaningful context to the discussion. But the reality is that it is the logistics of enforcing any sort of head shots rule that will be the most complicated facet of this whole thing.

Head shots will need to be defined clearly and little wiggle room can be left. Contact to a player in a vulnerable position is at the top of the agenda, as in the blindside hit laid on Marc Savard by Matt Cooke. Players who go out of their way to deliver head shots deserve special consideration and there must be a clear policy in place for repeat offenders.

Head shots have long been at the top of the agenda for the GMs, but a concrete policy has been elusive thus far. That’s something former NHLPA execs Glenn Healy and Paul Kelly know all too well, as their presentation on the topic at meetings a few years ago left little by way of actual answers from the managers.

The topic tends to gain ground after significant incidents, as it did in November when the GMs met just after the Mike Richards hit on David Booth. Perhaps the latest Cooke-related incident will help provoke more serious dialogue among the GMs. Perhaps not.

As with most of these types of discussions, there is a fear associated with addressing head shots in a meaningful way that any rule change may take hitting out of the game altogether. Still, there appears to be some wiggle room on the topic after the November talks. “[The conversation] was quite a bit different, some of the guys who have taken a strong position that it may take hitting out of the game have adjusted their views a little bit,” Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford said then.

There are options on the table, such as the CHL’s current system of assessing an automatic minor penalty for any hit to the head. But some GMs still believe the CHL system discourages hitting overall, although there’s little to no proof that that’s the case.

Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli has said that he feels the managers will find a way to address head shots and feels even more confident that it will happen after the Savard incident.

Any rule changes proposed or agreed upon by the GMs at the meeting will need to be put before the competition committee for approval.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

It could be a matter of days or even hours, but a trade involving Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk is expected soon. Very soon.

There are still a number of possibilities for a final destination for Kovalchuk and the speculation is running rampant. The only sure bit of news is that Atlanta Thrashers GM Don Waddell told his player to expect a trade in the coming hours or days. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Tuesday that Waddell had not talked to Kovalchuk or his agent, Jay Grossman, about anything in over a week.

Some are looking at busy Calgary Flames GM Darryl Sutter to make a move for Kovalchuk. He’s got about $1.2 million worth of cap space and has been rather active making moves as of late and Sutter could swing the deal by simply sending a bit of money to Atlanta in exchange for the player.

Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles are also said to be in the running for Kovalchuk’s services.

As the clock ticks away, a number of other possibilities are being discussed. Twitter is abuzz with rumours, with suggestions that Kovalchuk is nearing a deal with Anaheim or New Jersey. One discussion has him going to the Devils in exchange for Bergfors, Oduya, Palmieri, and a draft pick. Others are reporting a deal with Anaheim involving Scott Neidermayer and Bobby Ryan.

Waddell also scouted the Flyers and Islanders last week, too, and the New York Rangers are said to also be in the running after clearing some cap room.

The problem with signing Kovalchuk is that he’s a bit of a risk at this point and time. Nobody is sure about his intentions for next season, with word that he’s going to head to the KHL being floated around most clubs. When Kovalchuk signs, he’ll most likely be signing to a team he believes will take him to a Cup win.

We’ll be keeping you posted on all the Kovalchuk news as the clock ticks away.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

There’s an issue floating around a lot as of late regarding NHL players and Olympic money. The rule currently is that all Olympic athletes who participate in the games and win medals are compensated. The compensation essentially breaks down with gold medal winners taking home $20,000, silver medalists taking $15,000 and bronze medal winners getting $10,000.

Now, it’s no secret that the entire point of compensating Olympic medalists was to reward amateur athletes for their performance and to help generate some financial support for these guys and girls.

The question now appears to be whether or not professional athletes, those with the multi-million dollar salaries, should be eligible for those bonuses.

Of course, due to the fact that all Canadian athletes are eligible, it’s easy to say that the NHLers should be eligible for the money as well. In fact, it’d take a heck of an argument to pull out of that fairly obvious principle. The NHL players are not exempt from the other trappings of being an Olympic athlete and are entitled to the money, even if they do arrive to the events in BMWs and limos while other Olympic athletes are looking for a spot to park their bicycles and minivans.

Furthermore, the Olympic hockey team adheres to all of the other elements of the Olympic “agreement.” They stay in the Olympic village, for example, and are most certainly considered as Olympic athletes playing for Canada.

So the question really has to be, in fairness, should NHLers get the Olympic cash? Keith Jones, speaking on TSN, argued for the adjustment of this principle based on the notion that the money was meant for amateur athletes. Furthermore, Jones stated that he thought NHL players would be “embarrassed” to take the Olympic bonus money.

Bob McKenzie argued down a similar path, noting that the NHL athletes are indeed entitled to the money but that they should pile it up and donate it to other Canadian Olympians as a sort of show of goodwill.

It would certainly look good for our Canadian NHLers and millionaires to pitch forth a few small scraps of cash, should they win a medal, to the other athletes in the village. And it would also certainly stand with the “Canadian tradition” of humility if they were to do such a thing.

But it has to take a group effort to do so and, probably more important than a few tens of thousands, it has to take a medal win. While I certainly understand the focus on this sort of external issue, we can’t put the cart before the horse as Canadians in the world of competitive international hockey. That we are, as a nation of analysts and journalists, already examining what Canadian NHLers should do with medal money is a testament to our arrogance as a nation.

Winning money for medals is no sure thing for the Canadian men’s hockey team at the Olympics in Vancouver.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

A whole lot of names are being batted around alongside Ilya Kovalchuk, as an eventual destination for the Thrasher could be just about anywhere. Looking around online, it’s getting increasingly more difficult to sort out the facts from the rumours. At this point and time, nothing is known in concrete terms about where Kovalchuk could wind up.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to take a look at some of the scraps, right?

The Los Angeles Kings are said to be in the market for Kovalchuk, says Ken Campbell from The Hockey News. Campbell cited multiple sources when he said that the Kings were interested in the player, but he also noted that the asking price was more than Dean Lombardi wanted to spend. Even so, terms are being bandied about between the Thrashers and Kings and that stands as being a possible trade that could see Kovalchuk sunning it up in California.

The thing people need to keep in mind, as Campbell pointed out, is that Kovalchuk may actually not move before the March 3 deadline. While most observers think the guy’s going to get passed somewhere else, it may not actually happen. As surprising as the possibilities are, it’s also possible that this whole saga won’t wrap up during this year’s regular season.

Then there’s the possibility of Kovalchuk going to Colorado, a possibility floated in theory form by Rory Boylen’s blog. He noted that the Avalanche have a history of shrewd moves of this nature and that their position in the standings could lend them to interest in a player of Kovalchuk’s calibre. Pierre Lacroix did indeed spend some bank on building big teams for his championships and he didn’t think twice about adding players like Patrick Roy, Ray Bourque and Rob Blake to the mix. While Greg Sherman is the GM, Lacroix still parks in the presidential parking space and may have the clout to swing something.

Lacroix could go Kovy if need be and, with about $7 million in cap space available, anything’s possible.

Yahoo Sports has reported rumours of Kovalchuk heading to Toronto. Of course, no circle of trade talks would be complete without somehow interjecting the Blessed Leafs into the deal. Even so, Mark J. Miller seems pretty convinced that Kovalchuk could be dressing in blue and white before season’s end.

Miller notes that Brian Burke will need to decide on the future of key components like Ian White and Jonas Gustavsson first, though, and that’s where the absurdity of his report starts to unravel. Is Kovalchuk really worth that type of gamble in Toronto? Isn’t that the exact type of player Burke seems to be against signing?

“There are a bunch of Leafs that become free agents this summer and the team could save itself more than $12 million if it let them all go, but one player cannot replace them all on the ice,” Miller writes. Very astute, Mark. You cannot replace a “bunch of Leafs” with one player.

At the end of the day, it’s still anybody’s guess as to where the Kovalchukian one will end up. But one thing’s for sure: it sure is fun to speculate!

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

We all know that Alexander Medvedev is on a mission. As president of Russia’s KHL, he’s trying to put together the best possible league he can. Medvedev’s mission is the same as Gary Bettman’s is in regards to the NHL: build a brand that is successful and popular.

In order to achieve his goals, Medvedev is courting a number of big ticket NHLers. The KHL offers money, lots of it, that NHL salaries don’t even compare to. And what’s more, KHL players don’t pay any taxes on their salaries so their take-homes are often pretty gargantuan. KHLers also don’t pay escrow like NHLers do.

A player like Ilya Kovalchuk, whose days with Atlanta seem to be numbered, could make a whole lot more money in the KHL than he could in the NHL. After all, Medvedev’s league sprang for the rusted-up Sergei Fedorov and paid him an obscene $14 million this season. Yes, $14 million this season alone.

If that’s what the KHL is willing to spend on Fedorov, how much cash will they sling for Kovalchuk? Even better, how much would Medvedev be willing to pay for Ovechkin?

Before you consider the possibility of Ovie suiting up for a KHL team to be a pipe dream, consider his stance on the Olympics. He’s said, on more than one occasion, that any attempts to block NHL players from participating in future Olympics will result in his bolting the league. Put simply, Mother Russia has more lure to Ovechkin than does Father Bettman.

Add to Ovie’s natural loyalty to his country the fact that he could be among the most highly paid sports figures of all time should be bolt to the KHL and you’ve got a recipe for disaster that Bettman’s NHL had better start taking seriously. Then there’s the rumour floating around the Ovie is pissed at having to pay 18% of his salary to escrow and that he may leave the Caps after this season.

There’s nothing stopping Medvedev from piecing together one heck of an exciting league. He’s got the money and, as a result of having the money, he can certainly have the players.

The Kontinental Hockey League is even beginning to be a bit of a draw to Canadian players. Chris Simon is the current captain of Vityaz Chekhov, for instance, while Kevin Dallman leads the Chernyshev Division Barys hockey club. Some of the other players currently skating in the KHL include Alexei Zhitnik, Andrei Nikolishin, Sergei and Fedor Fedorov, Richard Zednik, Duvie Westcott, Byron Ritchie, Sergei Zubov, Alexei Yashin, and Danny Markov.

The KHL also has good relationships with NHLers that suited up there during the lockout. The Ak Bars Kazan club featured a roster that included Dany Heatley, Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards during the 2005-2006 season.

So is the lure of the KHL too strong? It darn well could wind up being that way. Bettman’s NHL, if it continues to struggle through bad TV contracts and if it continues to arrogantly stumble through putting hockey clubs in poor markets, may wind up facing more competition from the KHL than they ever thought possible.

And, as far as I’m concerned, that may be the kick in the rear The Commish needs to get things moving in the right direction.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Daily News Sports Columnist Sam Donnellon floated an interesting idea in his column a few days ago when he suggested that the National Hockey League should integrate a revenue-sharing model that would include a luxury tax instead of the current salary cap model.

There are, of course, a few flaws with this line of thought, but Donnellon’s case is certainly food for thought.

For starters, baseball uses a luxury tax to great effect. The theory here is that teams spending more money would be getting a huge TV deal because they’d be buying players people want to see. Teams would then feed some of that larger revenue, via MLB-style luxury taxation, through to teams spending less money.

Donnellon’s argument is that teams who spend more on salary are going to generate more revenue. The whole thing hinges on this principle, really, but does reality dictate that this is the case?

Well for starters, anyone knows that you can’t really buy a good team anymore. Teams, especially prior to the lockout, would often spend boatloads of cash on players that really weren’t all that good. So spending money doesn’t mean that the money was spent wisely, does it?

Using baseball as a model, the revenue-sharing/luxury tax really makes for a whole lot of disparity between those teams who spend a lot and those teams who don’t. More to the point, teams in baseball still spend an overwhelming amount of money but never show up in the post-season. And this, in turn, winds up taking a toll on the team itself as fan attendance drops off and overall revenue sinks.

Still, this sort of setup would be the error of the GM and the team owner. It wouldn’t necessarily be a reflection of the failure of such a revenue-sharing system and it wouldn’t be reflection of the failure of a luxury tax. Indeed, such a system would still reward smart GMs and smart owners for making decisions that benefit their franchises.

Donnellon suggests a system in which teams run and gun for their own local television deal, thus controlling their own media markets as baseball teams do. The deals would vary, as more successful teams could push for more money out of a television station. This also translates to ticket sales, of course, and would mean that successful teams with good TV deals and good ticket sales would reap the rewards of being, well, more successful.

The revenue they generate can then be used to underwrite those teams who are less successful. Scrap the cap, integrate a luxury tax and let GMs and owners work things out on their own. If a team like the Maple Leafs wants to spend and spend and spend, let ‘em. And let their revenue, taken in the form of a fair luxury tax, funnel through the rest of the league to ensure smaller teams still have a shot.

Donnellon’s suggested system is compelling in that it doesn’t punish teams for being elite and allows smart business models the opportunity to actually reap their own rewards. If Ed Snider of the Flyers, to use Donnellon’s own example, wants to poke around and spend buckets to “buy a team,” he should be entitled to do that.

And on the flip side of the coin, of Snider flunks out marvelously with his bought team, let the fans in Philly roast him as they would have in the old days and as Phillies fans do with their team in baseball.

You can also integrate a luxury tax in the current system by swapping out Bettman’s hard cap with a flexible cap and a luxury tax. In other words, teams who want to spend above the cap can but they’ll get dinged for it with a luxury tax that whips right around in a revenue sharing program. There is a revenue sharing program in place currently, of course, but adding a luxury tax integrate a whole new component worth looking at.

I think Donnellon is on to something here. The system he proposes has its flaws in that it could prop up franchises too dumb to succeed, but it also helps protect league integrity and still allows for real, storied franchises to keep star players under the same roof.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Phoenix Coyotes hockey club is enjoying a considerable amount of success this season and they deserve it. Regardless of the off-ice troubles of the franchise and the ignorance of an ego-driven commissioner, the Coyotes have been howling their way through hockey in the desert and have been stacking up wins whether the fans have been supporting them or not.

Three months ago, optimism was something that few players on the Coyotes roster had. Their future was up in the air, the team ownership was in disarray and the franchise was (and is) losing money at an incredible rate.

With the NHL having taken over control of the team and a possible sale to Ice Edge on the horizon, it’s surprising that the Coyotes would be able to ice a decent team and put together a string of wins. But that’s just what this team is doing and they deserve all the credit for it.

Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has been holding it down in goal, giving the team a chance to win each and every game. Sitting third in the league with a 1.98 GAA, he’s been a big part of why the Coyotes currently sit seventh and are off to their best start since the 2001-2001 season.

With a tonight’s 6-3 win over Toronto, the Coyotes continue to assert themselves as a viable on-ice product in the National Hockey League.

Still, they will have to work hard to hold on to their playoff spot with the rising tide of teams like Vancouver getting their game together in the West. And Bryzgalov will have to continue to be dominant in goal, too, in order to give the team a shot at making it in the post-season. It could turn out to be a banner year in Phoenix, at least on the ice, if those elements come into play.

In terms of attendance, the Coyotes boast the league’s third lowest. With an average of only 14,875 in attendance per game, only the Thrashers and Islanders have worse rates.

Whether this will prove that the product on the ice is of little consequence to Arizonans with little to no interest in hockey remains to be seen, of course, but it does honestly feel good to see the Coyotes playing this well in spite of it all.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

It might be hard to believe, but the Ottawa Sun is reporting that the Edmonton Oilers are trying to shop Sheldon Souray around to ditch his cap hit. Souray is worth $5.4 million against the cap and that might be something the Oilers are interested in getting rid of, says the paper.

Of course, Souray has a no-trade clause and will thus have to give the a-okay to any deal struck. Whether the Oilers want to go down that sort of road again remains to be seen and there doesn’t seem to be much sense in the team moving their power play point man at this point. Finding a replacement for Souray’s shot would be difficult, but stranger things have happened.

Souray is 32 years old and has three years left on his contract, so moving him would free up a good amount of cash for the Oil.

Among the teams shopped around for Souray’s services in the rumour mill are the Montreal Canadiens. This is especially interesting because it would that Sheldon would return to the fold. The Oilers have been showing considerable interest in Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn, says the Sun, and could be jockeying for position to gain their services by batting Souray’s name into the mix.

The Oilers were also discussing a deal involving Andrew Cogliano and the Habs in some capacity, so that also may come about. Cogliano’s name has been included in various trade rumours as of late.

Trading Souray might look like an odd, unbelievable move at this point and time. The Oilers would certainly miss his presence, but if they have a goal in mind and a set of players they’re interested in they could reasonably pull the trigger on a trade with the big defenceman.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

This year’s NHL has brought out many a new, fresh story. The early successes of some unlikely teams and characters had made hockey especially interesting this season, although there’s still no telling how things will end up come the post-season.

For now, however, there’s a reason to celebrate if you’ve got young players like Anze Kopitar or Steven Stamkos in your hockey pools. And there’s something really sweet about Brad Richards’ performance in Dallas this year. Let’s not forget to give thanks on this American Thanksgiving for the play of Marian Gaborik in New York, too.

After the 21-game-mark in the NHL, Colorado, Nashville, Los Angeles and Phoenix are all pushing for a playoff spot in the Wild West. Those teams were out of the picture last spring, making their surge all the more compelling. And in the East things are surprising too, with Buffalo, Atlanta, Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders (!) are in the hunt for post-season success as well.

Other teams expected to do well this year are struggling, as is always the case. In the East, last year’s powerhouse Bruins are stumbling out of the gate to a slow start and a disappointing team effort. And the injury-laden Carolina Hurricanes are last in the Conference, leading to many frustrated fans.

Out West, San Jose and Chicago’s early success surprises no-one. But Anaheim’s second-last placement is about as stunning as Phoenix’s 12 wins.

Perhaps the only thing this points out is that the NHL is still an unpredictable sports league. It certainly does appear that just about any team can have success any year and this year is obviously no exception. As the league nears the holiday season and the halfway point for the Olympic break, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out and if the teams on top now will be able to maintain their paces leading into the season’s second half.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Tonight was a special night as the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted a star-studded Class of 2009 into the record books. Forwards Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and defenceman Brian Leetch were inducted as Honoured Members on Monday in the players category, while New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello was enshrined as a builder.

Yzerman, Hull and Robitaille accounted for 2,101 goals over the course of their careers. They all won a Stanley Cup together, too, in Detroit in 2002. And Leetch was certainly no slouch, helping lift the Rangers to their own Cup in 1994.

There’s really no questioning any of these selections for the Hall of Fame, as each has left an indelible mark on the game of hockey.

Yzerman helped transform the Red Wings franchise into a modern juggernaut, joining the team as Detroit’s fourth overall selection in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft and never looking back. After scoring 87 points in his rookie campaign, Stevie Y spent his entire 22-year career with the Wings. During his tenure, the Red Wings won three Stanley Cups, with Yzerman winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1998.

Brett Hull ranks third on the all-time list with 741 goals over his 19-year career. He first got his break with the Calgary Flames in the 1986 playoffs and has since been known as one of the league’s most potent offensive threats. Hull was one of the most consistent players in the league, usually good for over 30 goals a season. He laid out three consecutive 70-goal seasons with the St. Louis Blues and won Stanley Cups with Dallas and Detroit.

“Lucky” Luc Robitaille retired as the highest scoring player at his position in league history, ranking 10th on the all-time list with 668 goals. Not drafted until the ninth round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, Robitaille won the Calder Trophy in his debut season with the Los Angeles Kings and followed that up with seven straight seasons of 44 goals or more. His career best season came in the 1992-1993 season where he posted a total of 63 goals.

Brian Leetch was drafted ninth overall by the New York Rangers in the 1986 Entry Draft and would go on to become one of the club’s most popular players in its storied history. He enjoyed his career best season in 1991-1992 when he potted 100 points and won the first of two Norris trophies for his career. Leetch also won the Conn Smythe Trophy with the Rangers after helping them end a 54-year Stanley Cup drought in ‘94.

As for Lou Lamoriello, his contributions to the game of hockey over 40 years go without saying. He is one of the icons of organization, setting up the New Jersey Devils for three Stanley Cup victories during his time with the club and making an impact at the professional and collegiate levels of hockey.

It’s hard to argue with this list of inductees for 2009, as each has made an impact and impression on the game that will be felt for countless generations.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.