Remember when I pondered aloud whether the New Jersey Devils signing Ilya Kovalchuk to a 17 year deal was the norm in the NHL? And more importantly how I felt it was truly madness to sign someone to a contract of such an absurd length?

Well, it turns out that the NHL agrees with me. Kind of.

TSN has details on why the NHL aint down with the Kovalchuk signing his life away to the Devils. All of which, in my mind boil down to that the was just unadulterated madness.

The NHL has rejected Ilya Kovalchuk’s 17-year, $102 million contract with the New Jersey Devils on the grounds that it circumvents the NHL’s salary cap.
The announcement was made just hours after a smiling Kovalchuk had been introduced by the Devils at a press conference.

TSN Insider Darren Dreger explains that the deal was rejected due to the fact that the NHL does not believe that either Kovalchuk nor the Devils expected the 2004 Rocket Richard trophy winner would be playing near end of the contract and that it is a case of artificially lowering the annual average value of the contract. The Devils must now either file the contract once again or the Players’ Association can file a grievance.

So there you have it. The most comprehensive NHL coverage I have done in my life. I think it’s time to retire.

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If you haven’t noticed, I’m not very up on the hockey scene. But I gotta say, I just can’t believe that signing a player to a 17 year contract is the norm in the NHL. If it is, well I’m just showing you just how much I don’t follow the NHL. And if it isn’t, well it isn’t.

No matter if it’s the norm or not, the real story here is that it actually happened today as Ilya Kovalchuk agreed to a 17 year contract to return to the New Jersey Devils.

Madness I tell you. Madness.

Kovalchuk has signed a 17-year deal which could top $100 million, a source told ESPN.com’s Scott Burnside. The source initially reported the amount as $150 million.

“This was a long arduous process that has taken frankly a little longer than I thought,” agent Jay Grossman said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “But you know what, nothing is worth anything unless you work for it. I can tell you he is very happy to be with the New Jersey Devils.”

Kovalchuk is already 27 so I’m not sure that New Jersey took into account that they could quite possibly have a 44-year-old skating around for them 17 years from now. But I guess that is a reason for someone who could care less either way to get fired up about a contract that will last almost forever.

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When will these television types learn? Never I guess. If it hasn’t happened already, someone needs to pen a “how-to” book on covering a live celebration. Because frankly, these guys don’t understand that you can let fans talk directly into the microphone after a big victory. You just can’t.

They can chant and blurt out as many obscenities as they want behind you, but don’t give them the chance to blurt one right into the microphone. But since this guy did, we can all at least be entertained by it.

Via Crossing Broad

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The Montreal Canadians pulled off a shocking 5-2 Game 7 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals last night. And how does Montreal fans celebrate when their team pulls off a shocking victory over the defending Stanley Cup champs? Let us count the ways.

1. Vandalism
2. Bottle tossing
3. Looting
4. Crowd surfing
5. Fire setting
6. Cops in full on riot gear

Sounds like a party to me.

MONTREAL — Police regained control of the downtown core early Thursday after firing tear gas at hundreds of bottle-tossing youths who looted businesses following the Montreal Canadiens’ Game 7 victory in Pittsburgh.
The vandalism occurred after most of the tens of thousands of jubilant hockey fans left the area.

Looters wrapped their faces in garments — in some cases the ones they’d stolen — and dashed into a liquor store. With their identities concealed, they leaped through the smashed front window and emerged moments later with their arms full.
Rows of black-clad riot officers charged in from the peripheries, rattling their shields as a warning to the crowd before firing tear-gas canisters. Police said about 25 people were arrested and two officers sustained minor injuries.

Shortly after the Canadiens’ 5-2 victory over the Penguins, fireworks erupted over Ste-Catherine Street as people crowd-surfed and held aloft trinkets including Stanley Cup replicas and a stuffed penguin.

All that sounds spectacular and all, but words sometimes can’t explain what needs to be explained. That’s why we have video, my friends. Thank you, Canadian brothers.

If their beloved Canadiens win the Stanley Cup, they just might blow the entire city up. It would make for great theatre.

Montreal police clash with rowdy youths (AP)

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For those of us that are familiar with the pickup game experience, we’re well aware that there are three types of dudes that you can routinely find in any given pickup game.

- There’s the guy that can’t play, and he knows it.
- There’s the guy that can’t play, but he thinks he can.
- There’s the guy the guy that can play.

Every blue moon, you can find the guy that can REALLY play. The Pelham Ice Rink had their presence graced with that guy in the person of the Atlanta Thrashers’, Maxim Afinogenov. And what unfolded was a goal scoring good time.

Jeff Cheeseman, director of hockey for the Pelham Civic Center, couldn’t believe it when he got the call from [Maxim] Afinogenov’s agent.
“His agent said he wanted to skate,” Cheeseman said. “So I told her we had an adult pick-up game on Tuesday nights, and (Afinogenov) showed up. We limit the number of players, so you have to sign in and pay $10. I made sure his name was first on the list.”

“He was very professional, sharing the puck and everything,” Cheeseman said. “Then I told him we have a little better level of competition on Thursday nights with BASH (Birmingham Area Select Hockey). These are guys who played college or minor league, a few of the old Birmingham Bulls.”

The biggest problem Thursday turned out to be which team Afinogenov played with. He started out on the Black team and within 10 minutes the score was 7-2, with Afinogenov scoring all seven goals — “the quickest paced 10 minutes we’ve ever played,” Cheeseman said.

At that point he was “traded” to the White team, which wound up winning, 16-13.

“Of the 29 goals, Maxim scored 17, including the last three after it was tied, 13-13,” Cheeseman said. “And he didn’t come off the ice in either the second or third periods. He told us he was looking for conditioning. And besides, who was going to tell him to come off?”

And that’s what happens when the guy that can REALLY play makes his way into the pickup game experience.

Melick: Fed Cup lures ‘Mad Max’ to Pelham (The Birmingham News)

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This is a video of Angry Caps Fan in the wild. And he is indeed angry. Try not to look directly at his lips because your mother wouldn’t want you to read the lips of Angry Caps Fan.

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How young, you ask? How about 9 years old. Better get Junior ready is he has dreams of playing in the NHL.

Video via Puck Daddy

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Would you fight for 20 cents? I wouldn’t, even amidst the present peril of our economy, but Patrick Kane feelings are contrary to my beliefs.

The Blackhawks 20-year-old star, along with his cousin James, allegedly roughed up a cab driver early Sunday after the cab driver told the duo he didn’t have the proper change after payment.

The total cab fare was $13.80, Kane gave up $15 and wanted all of $1.20 back or else. Because of 20 cents, the cabbie received a punch in the face, a prime choking and broken glasses.

What is the NHL paying their players these days, has times gotten so bad that players fight out of the rink for 20 cents?

Kane and his cousin were charged with second degree robbery and criminal mischief. This is by far the dumbest action taken by an athlete this year, 20 cents, come on Patrick.

Blackhawks’Kane arrested for $1.20 taxi beef (FOXSports.com)

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