Montreal Canadiens Links
- PK Subban‘s arbitration hearing is two days away. That means each side must submit its salary proposal by 9 AM ET today. (EDIT: The numbers from both sides have been announced)
- National Post’s Sean Fitz-Gerald interviewed Subban, asking about present and future goals, both during and after his hockey career.
- Brandon Prust held his second annual Prusty 4 Kids charity golf tournament yesterday. The event raised over $272 000 for the Kids Kicking Cancer programme at his hometown children’s hospital in London. Several members of the Canadiens participated:
#Habs Tinordi, Bourque, @BrandonPrust8, Parenteau, Beaulieu at start of Prust’s prusty4kids.ca golf tourney today pic.twitter.com/VYBrfFQkdx
— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) July 29, 2014
- With the 2014 Top 25 Under 25 getting underway soon, now is a good time to remind yourself of the 2013 pre-season and mid-season rankings.
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Hamilton Bulldogs
- The Hamilton Bulldogs signed a versatile player in Joe Finley who has played both as a defenceman and a forward in his professional career. How well he can play those positions is a matter of debate as the most impressive numbers he has put up are in the PIM column.
- The Bulldogs are also looking for a Communications Intern as well as a Digital Production Coordinator.
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Around the League
- Justin Bourne thinks coaches and players need to alter their default approach in some game situations.
- Ontario’s ministers of labour and sport met with the organization Unifor yesterday, discussing the possibility of providing monetary compensation for players of the CHL.
- The COO of the Kitchener Rangers, Steve Bienkowski, detailed his club’s finances in a statement that counters the reported notion in the latter TSN link above that CHL franchises are generating large profits which aren’t being distributed in a fair proportion to their players.
Signings
- Bryan Trottier has allegedly been hired by the Buffalo Sabres to assist Ted Nolan in coaching duties.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Jake Gardiner to a five-year contract with an AAV of $4.05 million.
- The St. Louis Blues signed Peter Mueller to a one-year contract.
- Michael Frolík is one of the latest players to agree to a new contract before his scheduled arbitration hearing took place, signing a one-year, $3.3 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets.
- Jimmy Hayes and the Florida Panthers avoided arbitration, agreeing on a one-year, $925 000 deal.
- The Minnesota Wild and Justin Fontaine agreed to a new two-year contract before their arbitration hearing happened, as well.
- Remaining scheduled arbitration hearings are between Nick Spaling and the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 31st, and Dwight King and the Los Angeles Kings on August 1st.
- Of the 23 restricted free agents who had abitration hearings scheduled, only one has gotten to that point: after a club-elected arbitration filing, Vladimír Sobotka was awarded a salary of $2.725 million, which he elected to take on a one-year term, after having already signed a three-year deal with Avangard Omsk of the KHL. The award allows the Blues to retain Sobotka’s rights in an eventual return to the NHL.
International
- Speaking of Sobotka, Justin Abdelkader has been suspended for the first three games of the 2015 IIHF World Championship for an illegal hit to the head of the Czech player at this spring’s tournament. Nikolai Antropov was given the same sentence for a similar infraction on Swiss forward Kevin Romy.
- In a remarkable story, Tim Bozon will be playing with the French under-23 team (EDF A’) in a tournament that includes teams of similar calibre from Poland, Slovakia, and host nation Czech Republic. That tournament gets underway on July 31st in Ostrava.
