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NHL teams loan six players to Canadian hockey team for Sweden Games
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CALGARY (CP) - NHL teams have loaned six minor-league players to the Canadian men's hockey team for next week's Sweden Games international tournament.
Goaltender Jamie Hodson (Toronto Maple Leafs), defencemen Mathieu Biron (Florida Panthers) and Jesse Fibiger (San Jose Sharks) and forwards Chuck Kobasew and Matthew Lombardi (Calgary Flames) and Nathan Smith (Vancouver Canucks) will join 11 members of the Canadian team that won the Spengler Cup earlier this month for the tournament Feb. 4-9 in Stockholm. Those players play for European clubs.
Gary Green will coach the team and will be assisted by Mike Kelly and Doug Jarvis.
The roster for the Swiss Cup in Basel, Switzerland, later next week comprises solely Canadians playing in Europe, including former Olympians Mark Astley and Chris Lindberg.
Mike Pelino will coach Canada at the tournament Feb. 7-9 with Brad McCrimmon and Mike McParland serving as his assistants.
The rosters were compiled by general manager Steve Tambellini and Pelino.
Wake up - the Wild are gone, thankfully
By DAN BARNES
The Edmonton Journal
The Wild's green uniforms are simply awful looking.
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It is with a heavy heart and eyelids to match, that we bid the Wild ones a final farewell.
Do not come back. Really.
Though you are all fine fellows in good clothes and expensive shoes, you are a BORING team in bad uniforms and even more expensive skates. Though your last names are colorful (Brad Brown and Andrew Brunette), bucolic (Richard Park) and smoothly alliterative (Wes Walz and Brad Bombardir), your game evokes nothing resembling the pleasures suggested by those lovely monikers.
You come to Edmonton time after time and your best player, Marian Gaborik, does virtually nothing. That wrestling match with Dan Cleary on Wednesday was particularly weak. You come to Edmonton and play the kind of hockey that only a coach obsessed with defensive systems could love. You come to Edmonton in those hideous road uniforms and we all want to suggest that your moms should never let you out of the house like that again.
Now, given that you are dropping down the Western Conference standings and Wednesday's 5-1 loss to the Oilers certainly didn't help a 4-7-1 freefall - there is still some doubt as to whether or not you will make the playoffs. I really don't think it's likely to happen, that somehow the hockey gods will see the mistake being made out west and will repair the damage before it is too late. So this is probably your last trip here this year.
Before you go away, please accept this tribute in prose as a parting gift from everyone in Edmonton who appreciates your personalities, your Guccis and your fine coiffures but cannot stand to watch you play at Skyreach Centre for even one more second.
It's a little something we call Ode To The Wild.
M is for Marian, the wonderful Wild star who shines everywhere else but here.
I is for icing, one of the few plays that provides a welcome respite from the neutral-zone garbage that passes for hockey whenever you get a lead and sit on it.
N is for Northern Lights, one of the five other names your franchise could have been saddled with. Blue Ox was our personal favourite.
N is for none, the number of times you have beaten the Oilers in regulation time.
E is for 11, the number of points Gaborik has registered against Edmonton, 33 fewer than team leader Cliff Ronning. Gaborik did it in 14 games; Ronning in 68.
S is for Sergei, as in Zholtok, who bombed out as an Oiler but has put his game together in Minnesota. He has 27 points and the captain's letter on his chest.
O is for 0, 0-0-0, 0.00 and .000, the season stats belonging to the goalie you threw at the Oilers, a minor-league journeyman named Dieter Kochan. Not this time.
T is for trap. Enough said.
A is for Antti as in Laaksonen, the team's career leader in games played with 216 and consecutive games played, with the same number. When he was but a boy in Finland, the Oilers were his favourite team and Jari Kurri and Esa Tikkanen inspired his career.
W is for Wes and for Walz and for 25 wins, about 10 more than most of us thought you would have at the all-star break.
I is for insomnia and the thousands of cases you have cured.
L is for Lemaire, as in Jacques, who must be punished for perpetrating this brand of hockey upon the people, particularly as ticket prices rise.
D is for done, as in your visits to Edmonton this season, your hot streak that ran into mid-December and had you an astonishing 10 games over .500 a couple of times this year and as in this poem.
OK, so it isn't exactly Shakespeare, in the same way that your game isn't Rembrandt.
"It's not great hockey to play but that's their whole game plan," said Oiler defenceman Eric Brewer. "If you're frustrated at the end of the game, they have done everything they wanted to do because that's the mindset they want you to have."
Whether you are a fan or a player, if you walk away muttering it is only because the Wild have scored early.
"They get the first couple, people ask for refunds," laughed Oiler Ethan Moreau. "This was a little better. If you can get ahead, you can make it a better game for the fans."
That's what happened here as the Oilers won going away. And the Wild, they're just going away, period.
"Am I glad to see them in our rearview mirror? Yes and no," offered Cleary. "We've got points out of every game we played them."
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
A second chance
Fichaud goes from semi-retirement to starting job in AHL
By JOSH BROWN
Faceoff.com
Eric Fichaud swats at a puck during training camp with the Montreal Canadiens. The former first-round draft pick has had a roller-coaster career but has settled in with the Hamilton Bulldogs.
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A year ago Eric Fichaud was sitting at home in Montreal without a job debating retirement. Now he's the No. 1 goalie on the American Hockey League's best team - the Hamilton Bulldogs.
To say his career has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride is an understatement. Drafted 16th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1994, Fichaud spent the next eight years bouncing between four NHL teams and various minor-league affiliates.
But the ride came to a halt last year with the Manitoba Moose. Tired of the failed opportunities and with little passion left for the game, Fichaud bolted back to Montreal to consider his career options.
"I needed a break mentally," he said. "I just wasn't having fun anymore."
The former top prospect took three months to collect his thoughts. Spending time with his family and hanging around his hometown helped clear his head.
It was in Montreal that he first starting playing hockey as a defenceman. He fondly remembers the day he switched positions and laced up the pads for the first time as a six-year-old.
"The goalie on my team went on vacation for a week," he said. "I asked the coach if I could try playing in goal. I guess I was pretty good because when the other kid came back he lost his job."
He cites his father as an early influence: "Dad played goalie in a beer league. I was always trying on his gloves and pads." Later, as he honed the craft with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the QMJHL, he began to idolize Canadiens' goalie Patrick Roy.
He made the biggest splash as a junior in his draft year guiding the Sagueneens to the Memorial Cup in 1994. The team was knocked out in the semi-finals but Fichaud won the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the tournament's top goaltender.
The Maple Leafs quickly scooped him up in the first round of the draft that year but shipped him off to the New York Islanders for Benoit Hogue the following season.
Fichaud never caught on with the Islanders and eventually saw stints with Carolina, Nashville and the Canadiens before ending up where it all began back in Montreal without a contract.
But a phone call from Europe changed his life last winter. The Krefeld Penguins in Germany's top professional league was looking for a goalie to help boost the club in the stretch run to the playoffs. Fichaud, or 'Fiche' as he's known to team-mates, jumped at the chance.
"I wanted to see a different lifestyle, a different style of hockey," he said. "It was the best thing I've ever done."
The team was knocked out of the first round by eventual champions Koelner Haie but the change of scenery was a success. Fichaud earned a sparkling 1.64 goals against average in 16 games and rediscovered a love for hockey again.
The Montreal Canadiens took notice and inked him to a one-year deal with a team option for a second year. In hindsight, the move seems genius as Fichaud sports a 5-1-1 record so far this season.
He was brought in as insurance for youngsters Ty Conklin and Mathieu Garon in Hamilton. But a funny thing happened: Garon was recalled to Montreal and Conklin got knocked out with a knee injury. So the 'third-string' goalie who almost hung up his skates for good is now Hamilton's go-to guy.
"If Fiche wasn't ready to carry the ball we'd be scrambling to find a goalie," said coach Geoff Ward. "His work ethic has been unbelievable. Now he's getting a break for all that hard work."
It hasn't been easy this season being stuck behind two top prospects in net. Fichaud has had to treat practices like game-situations, stay in peak shape despite little playing time and remain patient. So far the strategy has worked.
"I came here with a positive attitude," said Fichaud. "I told myself that I'm going to have to start all over again.
"I've been through so many hard times in my life hockey-wise. But I came out of it smarter and more prepared mentally. Now it's totally exciting."
Jovo jacked: Canucks defenceman expected to return tonight against Oilers
By IAIN MACINTYRE
The Vancouver Sun
(CP PHOTO/Chuck Stoody)
Vancouver Canucks Ed Jovanovski ponders a question as he talks to media after it was announced that he had reached a new three-year-contract with the NHL team during a news conference in Vancouver Monday.
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For two days, Ed Jovanovski has skated pain-free. When he plays tonight, the defenceman may ease the offensive hurt felt by the Vancouver Canucks.
Jovanovski, who hasn't played since breaking a bone in his heel Dec. 28, skated through a full practice Wednesday alongside regular blueline partner Marek Malik.
Neither Jovanovski nor coach Marc Crawford would speculate on his availability for tonight's game. Privately, however, the organization has planned for several days that their best defencemen will return to face the Edmonton Oilers at General Motors Place.
Barring a setback earlier today at the morning skate, Jovanovski will play, then travel to South Florida for the National Hockey League all-star game on Sunday.
"Today was a great sign," Jovanovski told reporters. "It feels good. Today my conditioning felt a lot better. The foot feels very good."
Jovanovski said he was pain-free Tuesday and Wednesday after initially feeling a dull ache in his foot when turning sharply.
"I see it improving daily," he said. "I've had no setbacks."
The same can not be said of the Canucks. Vancouver was 22-10-5 the night Jovanovski was injured, but is 7-6-1 since then.
While the Canuck power play flourished without Jovanovski on the point, the team badly missed the powerful defenceman's ability to carry the puck, make crisp breakout passes and support the rush.
The Canucks have only seven goals the last four games and, startlingly, no forward besides Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi has scored during this time.
"We've had a good power play with him out," Naslund said. "But Eddie is good carrying the puck up. He's patient with the puck and makes plays in the offensive end. It's good to get him back."
Besides Jovanovski's lack of pain, another sign that he is ready to go was his partnership in practice with Malik. Crawford said earlier this week that Jovanovski could play on passion alone.
"I can remember when Eddie didn't come to training camp," Crawford said of Jovanovski's contract dispute in 1999.
"He played the first game against the New York Rangers and played close to 30 minutes and was our best defenceman by a mile.
"He plays with such emotion and a lot of times his emotion can carry him."
At the time of his injury, Jovanovski led the Canucks with an ice time average of 25:06. Despite missing a month, he remains their top scorer on defence with 27 points in 37 games.
The only numbers he has posted in January are a three-year, $15 million-US contract extension.
Jovanovski said he hopes his injury may prove beneficial by allowing him to rest for the final third of the regular season and playoffs.
"It's no fun sitting out when you have an injury," Jovanovski said. "But when you're out a long period, obviously your body gets to rest. And when you get back, you feel fresh and ready to go on the stretch run."
- Crawford scrambled some lines for Wednesday practice.
On one line, right winger Trent Klatt skated at left wing with centre Mats Lindgren and Trevor Linden. For Tuesday's 2-2 draw against the Minnesota Wild, Klatt skated periodically on right wing with centre Artem Chubarov and Matt Cooke. That bumped down right winger Trevor Letowski's ice time to a season-low 9:12.
Letowski's diminishing role is surprising because he, Cooke and Chubarov had been the Canucks' second-best line. After he was a healthy scratch for the first time as a Canuck on Jan. 10, Letowski had a four-game points streak. Now he is pointless in four.
"I've got nothing to say," Letowski said. "I don't know what's going on."
- The fractured lines were accompanied by a fractured skate, as several Canucks were asked to skate lines at the end of practice while others did drills.
The skaters included fringers Darren Langdon, Jarkko Ruutu and Todd Warriner, struggling Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Jovanovski. Oddly, top centre Brendan Morrison also was told to do the extra conditioning.
Morrison has gone 15 games without a goal, but logged 23:39 of ice time against the Wild and leads all Canuck forwards with an average of 21:06.
- With three players, three coaches, two managers, a media relations chief and their spouses and children going to the all-star game, the Canucks have chartered a plane to carry their record contingent to South Florida on Friday.
Ozolinsh traded
Panthers ship blue-liner to Mighty Ducks
Canadian Press
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ANAHEIM, Calif.
The Anaheim Mighty Ducks traded centre Matt Cullen, defenceman Pavel Trnka and a draft pick to the Florida Panthers on Thursday for all-star defenceman Sandis Ozolinsh and winger/defenceman Lance Ward.
Ozolinsh, 30, had seven goals and 19 assists in 51 game with Florida this season. The seven-time all-star ranks third among NHL defenceman in ice time this season.
The Latvia native, drafted in the second round in 1991 by San Jose, was a member of Colorado's 1996 Sanley Cup championship team. He has 148 career goals.
Ward, a 24-year-old native of Lloydminster, Alta., currently is in his third NHL season. He appeared in 36 games with the Panthers this season, with three goals and one assist.
Cullen, 26, appeared in 49 games with Anaheim this season, scoring seven goals with 14 assists. Drafted by Anaheim in the second round of the 1996 entry draft, Cullen had 65 goals and 135 assists with the Ducks.
Trnka, 26, a native of Plzen, Czech Republic, has 11 goals and 47 assists in 322 games with Anaheim after being selected by the Ducks in the fifth round of the 1994 draft. He has three goals and six assists this season.
"Matt Cullen and Pavel Trnka are both very solid young players, who are moving into the prime stages of their careers," Panthers general manager Rick Dudley said in Detroit where the Panthers played the Red Wings on Thursday. "We feel that we have improved our team now and for years to come."
NHL stars often too pooped to party
By WAYNE SCANLAN
The Ottawa Citizen
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Pity the poor NHL all-star game.
And its ticket holders, who get to see the backup band.
Mario Lemieux can't go. Bad groin.
Mats Sundin, back in the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup since Jan. 13, will rest his sore shoulder.
Eddie Belfour? It's his back.
Pavel Bure, the forgotten star, is still recovering from knee surgery.
Saku Koivu, who rebounded from abdominal cancer last season, will skip the fest for a doctor's appointment to check that he's still in the clear.
In a bit of harsh justice, defenceman Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers, suffering through a tough, injury-prone season, is unable to join the all-star gathering despite his reputation selection by fan vote.
So what is this exactly, a hockey showcase or a basket case?
The above names are some of the most famous all-stars who can't go.
Dozens more blessed with starry talent feel blessed that they weren't named.
How's that, you're thinking?
What player in his right mind wouldn't love to be hanging out with most of the best players in hockey, in a southern Florida setting, this last weekend in January?
All kinds of players, that's what kind, all completely sound of mind.
Blame the NHL schedule for this mess.
It's at fault on two counts.
First, by compressing 82 games into 180 days when it used to be 192 (this was done to end the season sooner), the game is losing many of its top players to injury. Even those (like Sundin) able to play through a nagging ailment for their regular-season teams don't want to aggravate a problem in a hockey exhibition.
Second, the players are too pooped to fly to Florida to play. The exhaustion is written on their faces as they count the days before this long weekend break.
College students don't look forward to reading week as much as these players are anticipating a little mid-term holiday to spend with pals or loved ones.
This isn't a case of players being selfish or lazy. They legitimately need a rest from the travel and load of games in a season that is nearly as demanding as last year's compressed NHL schedule for the 2002 Olympic tournament.
Competing in an all-star weekend, with its relatively laid-back format of skills competition and a no-hit game, is not exactly the sporting equivalent of chipping rock in a prison yard.
Neither is it as restful as four days on the beach, completely away from the daily grind of the regular season, including practices, media and games.
On the day the all-star voting was to be released, a player was asked, tongue in cheek, to provide two stock replies in advance of the announcement. The team was to be named during that night's game and a reporter wouldn't get the chance for player comment before writing his story.
"So, how about giving us your reaction, either way," the player was asked.
"You mean," he said without missing a beat, "that I'm happy to be named and happier if I'm not?"
Though he said it jokingly, there was an element of truth to that response.
Players are happy to be named. It's an honour and a privilege to be considered an all-star in the game of hockey at the NHL level.
At the same time, deep down, players are at least as excited about the prospect of a few days on their own, minus any kind of hockey regimen.
Former NHL goaltender Glenn Healy, writing in a hockey publication, strongly suggests the league cut into training camp to reduce season length instead of shoe-horning 82 games into 180 days.
"To an NHL player's season, 12 days is huge," Healy writes. "You can't take away 12 days and play the same number of games and not expect to pay a price."
Fans are paying the price, too, to see tired, injured hockey teams, some of which are missing their brightest stars to injury. There will always be injuries, but packing the games together increases the likelihood of getting hurt and reduces recovery time.
Once the stars assemble - and with Mike Modano, Teemu Selanne, Marian Hossa, Jaromir Jagr, etc., there will be stars - the game would be better served by going back to an old-time format that carried so much more meaning than East versus West or World versus North America.
In a simpler time, before the skills competitions, Sheryl Crow concerts and corporate schmooze festivals stretched the all-star game into a three-day affair, there was just the game. A game contested by the reigning Stanley Cup champion of the day (memory suggests it was forever the Montreal Canadiens) versus the all-stars not in the Cup team's lineup.
The Stars had something to prove against the current champions.
The champs set out to show, and usually did, that a strong, balanced, unified team is superior to a bunch of skilled strangers thrown together.
This weekend, there will be plenty of goals, laughs and camaraderie at the 53rd annual NHL All-Star Game.
Far from the scene, hundreds of other players will be smiling as well.
Hey that one worked??? I did the exact same thing as all the others, but only this one worked. Strange.
SGGNF sitting just under a dime. No sign of safespending in 2002
I have never heard of the new board member and he was a principal of 3 remax franchises? I am sure I would have heard of him then, Robert, you must know him?
natk @ .78 paid newsletter pump
wtnt @ .10 paid newsletter
Rodman don't care, he goes not only goes both ways but all directions.
GirlsGoneWild is good for your health! That's what i have been saying for years.
ack, its on and it's 2-0 for NJ. I gotta go watch the rest of it.
that will be a great game to watch.
Philadelphia Flyers (27-13-8-2) at New Jersey Devils (30-12-3-4), 7:30 p.m.
(Sports Network) - The Philadelphia Flyers hope to end a three-game losing streak tonight when they visit the New Jersey Devils at the Meadowlands for a matchup of the top two clubs in the Atlantic Division.
With 67 points, New Jersey leads Philadelphia by three atop the standings.
The Flyers enter tonight's action having fallen to the Islanders, Bruins and Lightning on the heels of a 10-1 surge. They have been shut out consecutively by Boston and Tampa Bay, including Tuesday's 3-0 home loss to the Bolts.
Philadelphia, which has never been blanked in three consecutive games in its regular-season history, has not scored a goal in 141:41 of action. Defenseman Kim Johnsson was the last player to do so, converting a power play with 1:10 remaining in last Friday's 3-1 loss to the Islanders.
Goaltender Roman Cechmanek made 19 saves on Tuesday after sitting out two games with a back injury. Winger Simon Gagne, who has sat a pair with a groin strain, skated Wednesday and is questionable for tonight.
The Flyers, who have won six of their last seven on the road, are 7-1-3 on Thursdays this season. Philly will visit the Isles on Tuesday to come out of the All-Star break.
New Jersey, meanwhile, is 9-0-1-1 in its last 11 games, including Tuesday's 1-0 home win over Detroit. Martin Brodeur needed to make just 16 saves for his sixth shutout of the season, and Scott Niedermayer broke a scoreless tie 3:36 into the third period. Niedermayer's tally came during a power play that resulted from a too many men on the ice call against Detroit.
Niedermayer's goal was his 406th career point, which tied teammate Scott Stevens for the Devils' record for scoring by a defenseman. Niedermayer has 95 goals and 311 assists in 779 games, and Stevens' totals show 86 goals and 320 assists in 886 games with the club.
The Devils, who have won six consecutive home matches, will host Buffalo on Tuesday.
New Jersey and Philadelphia have played an NHL-record four consecutive 1-0 games dating back to February 27, 2002, with the Devs taking the last three. With a 1-0 overtime win in Philly on December 2, Brodeur extended his shutout streak in the series to 207:01, and New Jersey's run to 214:52.
Who said anything about 1, I'm sure she will want the set! I am the best present buyer, ha ha ha.
Besides, when she gets just the free t-shirt, she is going to think I am cheap, and I don't want that.
Heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis to fight Tyson - then both Klitschkos
Canadian Press
Thursday, January 30, 2003
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BERLIN (CP) - Lennox Lewis will first fight Mike Tyson, followed by both Klitschko brothers and then retire, his trainer said Thursday.
Emanuel Steward said he'd spoken with the WBC heavyweight champion, who has pulled out of a proposed bout with Vitali Klitschko and now plans a second fight against Tyson instead. "Lennox promised me that he'll beat Tyson first, then Vitali and at the end Wladimir (Klitschko). That's the way the plan looks. After these three fights, its over," Steward told the German sports Web site Sport1.de.
Steward said Lewis wants to bow out of the sport in London.
"Every time I speak to him he says the same thing: 'I want to fight in England. I want to be among my people,"' Steward told the Daily Express in England.
Lewis was born in London but raised in Kitchener, Ont.
The promoter for the Ukrainian brothers has appealed to the WBC to take action over Lewis pulling out of what he says is a signed contract for a fight with Vitali in April.
Hans-Peter Kohl says he and Lewis manager Adrian Ogen signed the papers in December for the bout, but acknowledged Wednesday the fight apparently won't take place at the moment.
Steward scoffed at charges from the Klitschko camp that Lewis is afraid of their boxer, calling the Canadian-raised fighter the greatest heavyweight champion since Muhammed Ali.
But Steward called the Klitschko brothers "the future of the heavyweight division" and added Lewis wasn't always too happy to hear this from him.
"I'm a big fan of them," Steward said. "For me they're already the No. 2 and 3 behind Lennox."
Steward said he knew very early the two brothers would be big and added he doesn't see any Americans that can threaten them. But he added that Lewis would emerge the victor from both Klitschko fights because he was still stronger.
"He's the No. 1," Lewis said.
The towering Klitschko brothers, both 6-7 or bigger, are huge in Germany and Ukraine and other parts of Europe and recently have started fighting regularly in the U.S. in hopes of conquering the American market.
Wladimir, who at 26 is five years younger than his sibling, is regarded by both brothers as the most talented of the two and by some as boxing's next great heavyweight.
Wladimir, the former Olympic super heavyweight champion from Atlanta, stopped both Ray Mercer and Jameel McCline in recent stateside fights, performing well enough to keep his reputation intact as the division's coming boxer.
Still, the Klitschkos' public relations campaign hasn't yet given them the name recognition of Tyson. A bigger payday was the reason the Ukrainian camp believe Vitali was bumped for Lewis-Tyson II.
"That's what counts," Steward said of Tyson's name recognition.
Wladimir Klitschko will defend his WBO heavyweight title on March 8 against South African Corrie Sanders in Hannover, Germany.
Wladimir Klitschko to defend WBO title against Corrie Sanders
Canadian Press
Thursday, January 30, 2003
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HANNOVER, Germany (AP) - Wladimir Klitschko will defend his WBO heavyweight title on March 8 against South African Corrie Sanders.
The announcement was made Thursday, and the fight will take place in Hannover. Klitschko, 40-1 with 37 knockouts, retained his title when he stopped Jameel McCline after 10 rounds on Dec. 8.
His older brother, Vitali, is scheduled to face Lennox Lewis for the WBC heavyweight title in April. The Ukrainian-born brothers fight out of Germany.
Sanders has a record of 36-2 with 26 knockouts.
Sorry to butt in, but Rodman is an a-hole in real life on and off the court. I could go into detail but suffice to say he is not a role model and his antics and persona as a jerk is not a facade. He may however drive a mercedes with or without power options, I do not know.
While I am so full of great suggestions here is one for the next MDC!
Hide the point totals of those on the board! This will drive people crazy and make it impossible for anyone to snipe a position or two at the wire. It is nobodys business what score everyone else got, and it would make it more fun. Also, could we get some Matt and Bob, bobbleheads made up so I can give one to my girlfriend for valentines day?
Bryden talks on Sens may go until Monday; U.S. court blocks asset seizures
STEVE ERWIN
Canadian Press
Thursday, January 30, 2003
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(CP) - The Ottawa Senators may not learn until Monday whether Rod Bryden's bid for the team has been accepted. But at least they were assured no creditors would seize their sticks, skates and jerseys before their Thursday night game in Los Angeles.
No new deadline has been given for the acceptance or rejection of Bryden's reported $130-million offer for the franchise and the Corel Centre arena where it plays, but negotiations will likely continue through the weekend, says a source close to the negotiations.
In the interim, thanks to a Manhattan court there's no immediate risk that Senators players will be locked out of hotels or have their equipment seized by creditors - under a scenario one source close to the team called a "legitimate threat."
According to court documents filed Wednesday, the three-month preliminary injunction prevents creditors from trying to "seize or otherwise obtain possession of or exercise control" over club property. It also stops creditors from discontinuing or terminating service contracts or licensing agreements while the team restructures its finances.
The Senators, who were in Los Angeles to play the Kings on Thursday, could have seen assets taken away by suppliers, hotels and airlines owed money for unpaid bills.
"There was a concern that if the team went to the (United) States, somebody could seize their equipment and hold it for ransom before the game, saying, 'you owe us this money, pay us this money, and then we'll release the equipment to you," the source said. "And if you don't, we won't release the equipment to you and therefore you won't be able to play the game tonight."'
While $13.7 million worth of interim financing was given to the team on Jan. 9 so it could pay current bills and keep playing, some old accounts are overdue and tied up in court proceedings. Those could include payments for contracts with hotels and airlines that serve the Senators on road trips.
"In theory, the players, once they'd (tried to) check into their rooms, could have been locked out by hotel management for non-payment of an old bill," the source said.
The Ottawa Citizen reported Thursday that American-based creditors include former Senators centre Alexei Yashin, owed an estimated $2.36 million US in deferred contract payments. Former Senators forwards Randy Cunneyworth and Tom Chorske are also owed money, the Citizen said.
The near-bankrupt club has court-ordered protection from creditors in Canada but needed a separate U.S. order that acknowledges the Canadian proceedings.
But while Senators players were assured they'd have beds to sleep in Thursday, a restless weekend likely lies ahead for their fans, anxious for word Bryden's bid is successful and that the NHL's first-place club will remain in the Ottawa.
"I figure by Monday," one insider said of the talks, adding that there's an outside chance a deal could be reached Friday - and appease the National Hockey League, which is hoping the talks don't overshadow the league's all-star festivities this weekend in Sunrise, Fla.
"You can't control negotiations based on an all-star game."
Bryden's bid for the team and arena is being backed by a New York company headed by billionaire financier Nelson Peltz. It's believed creditors are weighing certain contingencies in the deal - including a proposal to partly finance the deal through a tax-break investment plan similar to one killed by the team's lenders on New Year's Eve.
Various media reports have speculated that the creditors owed $160 million by the team are also reluctant to give Bryden back any control of the club, are unsure about Peltz's financial commitment and are considering waiting for other offers.
In other Senators news, there was further discounting Thursday of a bid to move the franchise to Hamilton.
A lawyer for one of the stakeholders involved in the Senators' sale process said investors behind the Hamilton offer, trumpeted in the media last week by a Toronto lawyer representing the investment group, haven't been given access to the necessary documents that would allow the bid to formally proceed.
The group would have been asked to sign a confidentiality memorandum and pre-qualify for access to documents sealed by the court that pertain to essential sales process information. That has not happened, said the lawyer for one of the stakeholders.
Game Plan LLC, the Boston-based group hired to manage the sales process, was not immediately available for comment on the Hamilton-based offer.
no problemo. I'm not sure if it will be an effective strategy, but it certainly points to some frustrated otc stocks trying to fight the system for a fair shake.
Would it be possible to put a setting on the my settings section so that when I go to a board it does NOT show me the ibox by default? So i can set it to all ibox=off, then allow me to turn each on individually. Sort of the opposite of the way it is currently?
this really sucks. I think i am doing it right and the gif just wont show up.
www.gifs.net/animate/hearseespeak.gif
We could have a list of terminated members with reason for termination listed. It would bear notice to those who choose to offend.
What happens to those alias names anyhow? Can someone new join the website and use the name Joemoney now? Is is held like a phone number for 6 months then released to the public to reuse, or is it permantently blocked?
Reminds me of the one where George has just got out of the pool and "it was cold" ha ha ha
Unlike your Roo, I hate it when my pouch is exposed, I feel all drafty, ha ha ha.
Is there a list of the current inmate population? It should show up somewhere on the board so everyone is acquanted in case one goes over the wall.
EDIT: that's another fullhouse grub for those of you playing along at home. Beats a straight but is less than 4 of a kind.
that's funny. I'd go a couple of rounds with her, ha ha ha.