Week of December 31st - January 6th: Sunday Papers (Lockout is over, IC on TSN)

[ICdave]

Sunday, January 6th Jets, CBA, NHL and World Junior news

Jets & Affiliate news:

Hockey’s Future: Jacob Trouba speaks following the Gold medal game. Jets fans are excited in the 2012 entry draft choice of the Winnipeg Jets. He finished the tournament with 9 points, which was first among defenceman and was voted to the All-Star team. (Video of Trouba from 1:12 t0 3:38).

Illegal Curve: What the Winnipeg Jets might look like with a 60 million dollar salary cap. Richard took a look at what the ramifications of the salary cap dropping to the $60.0 million range in year two of the prospective collective bargaining agreement (CBA). We welcome your thoughts on this article.

Swift Current site: Broncos take thrilling shootout win over ‘Canes. It was quite a night for the Jets 3rd round choice in 2011. He had 2 more goals (26 and 27th on season) as well as the shootout winner and has stretched his points streak to 17 games (16 g, 13 a).

Belleville Bulls site: Bulls muzzle Hounds 6-2. Austen Brassard, the Jets 5th round choice in 2011 had a goal and 3 assists to help his team roll past the Greyhounds.

TSN: Voynov the hero in overtime as Monarchs down IceCaps. Former IceCaps goalie Peter Mannino helped to defeat is old team in OT. One positive for St. John’s is that Carl Klingberg scored 2 goals in a losing cause.

CBA news:

Update: Lockout is OVER!!! Remis and Dave took over the TSN 1290 Radio station this morning (about 5 AM) as news broke across the country. Dave was joined in studio with Brian Munz and Rick Ralph. Drew from the IC show eventually joined the 4 person booth. Dave then took off as did Brian, but Richard and Ezra joined to add their voices to the discussion. We are happy to return to the topic of covering the Winnipeg Jets and not the CBA.

CBC: NHL, players’ union reach tentative deal to end lockout. Going back to writing NHL news and not CBA news. Happy Happy, Joy Joy.

TSN: Seven years later, what will Gary Bettman say? The standard platitudes will be voiced to try and win over the fans by both the owners and players. The proof will be in the pudding.

Toronto Star: League, NHLPA closing in on deal. It was another marathon day as the sides met for more than 15 hours. Today will prove to be a huge day as the two sides still must tackle some major issues.

National Post: Cautious sense of hope emerges from lockout negotiations. Both sides discussing playing a 50 or even a 52 game schedule.

Globe and Mail: Questions and answers regarding lockout. If you still can bear to read any more about the CBA here are some answers to questions you might have.

World Juniors:

Toronto Star: Gretzky trade planted seeds for Team USA. In the past, US teams have been made up from the big 3 (Michigan, Minnesota and Massachusetts) but now we are seeing players from all across the United States, including California, Ohio, Florida and other non-traditional spots.

USA Today: USA beats Sweden for World Junior Championship Gold. The team playing the best hockey at the right time won this tournament. The Americans had excellent excellent goaltending in Gibson and rock solid defence. Kudos to coach Phil Housley for the win.

For the Jets, CBA, NHL and World Junior news click here.

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[ICdave]

Monday Papers

Monday, December 31st Jets, CBA and General NHL news

Note: As we conclude 2012 we wish all our readers and listeners a very happy and healthy 2013. Whatever you do tonight be safe and enjoy your New Year's evening!

Jets & Affiliate news:

St. John’s IceCaps official Site: Be Captain for a Day. The IceCaps continue to find innovate ways to engage their fans and give them unique fan experiences.

Northern Colorado 5: Eagles lose second straight. Unfortunately another loss in Alaska and this time something happened that hadn’t occurred in almost a year, Colorado was shut out.

CBA news:

TSN: NHL reviewing NHLPA's counter offer after meeting. Looks like we will be experiencing a different sort of Winter Classic as the NHL digests the counter offer they received from the PA.

Sportnet: Season on the brink. While the Mayans were wrong about the world ending in 2012 had they limited their prediction to the NHL they may well have been right. We can probably expect some fun language coming from today’s meetings between the two sides.

Globe and Mail: NHL and union scheduled to meet today in New York. Is today the day we finally see some movement towards resolution or will the gamesmanship continue? Stay tuned to find out.

National Post: League has to make its deal with Donald Fehr. The next week or two will not be easy as both sides have need to check their egos at the door as they try and finish this negotiation.

CBC: NHL negotiators need to keep cool with Donald Fehr’s tactics. Friedman is right. While everyone wants this to end, getting to the finish line is not going to be easy.

Hockey news:

CBC: Canada defeats HC Davos in Spengler Cup final. Big win for Team Canada. This is the first win for Canada since 2007.

Globe and Mail: Hockey greats Paul Henderson and Ken Dryden among latest Order of Canada recipients. Two of the most prominent figures from the Soviet Summit series will be inducted into this prestigious Order.

World Juniors:

Final Score: Canada 4 Russia 1. Scheifele with 1 goal.

Edmonton Journal: Oilers’ top picks set to square off. Similar to what the Jets experienced when Scheifele and Trouba faced off on Sunday, Oilers fans will see Yakupov take on RNH. Will be quite the battle.

Toronto Star: Canada vs. Russia will be like ‘war’. By the time you are reading this the game will likely be well under way.

TSN: Subban steps up with terrific game against the US. He assumed the mantle when he most needed to show Team Canada that they had rightly chosen him to be the starting goalie for Team Canada.

Edmonton Journal: Canadian junior hockey fans embraced in Ufa. While Canadians love to embrace foreign tourists during these types of tournaments, many Canadian tourists are feeling a similar type of love in Russia.

For the Jets, CBA, NHL and World Junior news click here.

Illegal Curve Hockey Show replay:

Part 1: Interview with Shane Hnidy, analyst for TSN 1290 Winnipeg. The latest offer from the NHL to the NHLPA. CBA discussion. Potential re-alignment. World Junior Hockey Championship.

Part 2: Officiating at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Interview with Robin Short of the St. John’s Telegram. If the Winnipeg Jets were to trade Evander Kane, which teams would be suitors? Taking calls on Evander Kane. NHL News & Notes. Calling Drew Fake Drew in Kentucky, Cheers & Jeers.

 

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Tuesday Papers

Tuesday, January 1st Jets, CBA and General NHL news

Jets & Affiliate news:

Hockey’s Future: Mark Scheifele at World Juniors. Following the win against the Russians, the Jets Mark Scheifele was interviewed about his thoughts on the team so far. Includes a 3 minute and 27 second video with the Jets first round pick in 2011.

Illegal Curve: 2012 Year in Review. We took a look back at a number of memorable events from the past Jets season including memorable goal, memorable game, memorable fight, best radio show moment, memorable non on ice related story at MTS Centre and highlight of the season. We shared ours and you are welcome to do so as well.

St. John’s IceCaps official site: IceCaps drop New Year’s Eve game to Senators. On Saturday, the IceCaps stormed back and scored 5 straight goals to win against Syracuse but on Monday the tables were turned as they gave up four straight goals to lose the final game of their 8 game road trip.

CBA news:

ESPN: Bettman’s return to form is a good sign. Looks like the calm, cool and collected Gary Bettman has resumed the mantle of leadership. Will he show true leadership and correct the course of the league? We shall know soon enough.

Toronto Star: Reason for hope amid New Year’s Eve hoopla. Perhaps it was the festive New Year’s Eve plans in NYC but the sounds coming from yesterday’s meeting seemed more positive than previous ones in which the NHLPA had delivered a counter proposal.

TSN: NHL to study latest proposal, more talks today. Both sides are moving towards the compromise that was envisioned months ago.

Globe and Mail: NHL studies counter-proposal but running out of time. With an expected drop dead date of January 12th, there is not a lot of time to get this deal wrapped up.

Hockey news:

Toronto Sun: Lockout helps Canada earn first Spengler Cup since 2007. Big congrats to Winnipeggers Jacob Micflikier and Cam Barker who were part of the team.

CBC: Alex Ovechkin, Maria Kirilenko set to wed. They might make some super Russian children.

World Juniors:

Calgary Herald: Drouin making a name for himself. The one thing which stood out to me in yesterday’s game was his skating. Very smooth and he looked great on the line with RNH and Mark Scheifele.

Toronto Star: Team Canada’s report card through round-robin play. Pretty fair grades for Team Canada.

Sportsnet: Nuge it all along. He has been simply spectacular. It is like watching a man amongst boys. He was clearly the most dominant Canadian player on the ice. He added 3 more assists in Canada’s win over Russia.

Edmonton Journal: Nail vs. Nuge? No contest. Oilers fans have to be salivating when they see these two guys on the ice.

For the Jets, CBA, NHL and World Junior news click here.

 

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Wednesday Papers

Wednesday, January 2nd Jets, CBA and General NHL news

Jets & Affiliate news:

Swift Current Broncos site: Broncos suffer tough loss to Hurricanes. Captain and Jets prospect Adam Lowry continues to score, adding his 25th goal of the season in a losing cause.

The Telegram: IceCaps back home after .500 road trip. What a difference a year can make. Last year the Caps dominated on the road, but this season has seen a completely different St. John’s team.

The Coloradoan: Eagles get swept by Aces in Alaska. It was less than a stellar start to the road trip for Colorado who ended a hot December with 3 straight losses in Alaska.

CBA news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Ping-Pong name of the game. At this point most observers heads have spun off trying to follow the negotiations. Gary breaks down the relevant issues that remain between the two sides.

TSN: NHL, NHLPA continue to exchange offers. There have been a lot of buzz words to come from the negotiations and from day 109 we get ‘traction’ which seemed to be in favour with the media assembled in New York.

ESPN: Disclaimer deadline looming large over talks. Have to imagine that the players will keep this in their back pockets and will continue to use it as leverage.

Globe and Mail: Labour talks going down to the wire. This is exactly the sort of give and take you would expect during serious negotiations. Both sides examining the others proposal and then countering with their own ideas. Nice to see that the pace has picked up as we edge towards the cliff.

CBC: Bettman cautiously optimistic as NHLPA considers latest offer. And we would advise fans to be cautious in their optimism as we have been down this road before. While this appears to be the final stretch we have still curbed our enthusiasm until we hear it is officially resolved.

Hockey news:

Edmonton Journal: Taylor Hall has never played better than he is now in Oklahoma City. As if Oilers fans weren’t salivating over the play of RNH and Yakupov at the World Juniors, they have a healthy Hall to look forward to.

World Juniors:

TSN: USA beats Czech Republic, will face Canada in WJHC semifinal. Not surprising the USA beat the Czech’s and will face Canada in a much anticipated re-match. Jets draft pick Jacob Trouba ended the game with 4 assists.

Hockey’s Future: Notes and quotes from the preliminary round. An extremely comprehensive news and notes from the tournament.

IIHF: When injuries take a toll. It is quite amazing to consider that although hockey is a team support the injury to one critical player can still have such a detrimental impact on the team as the Finns have learned.

IIHF: Building the perfect body. The emphasis on good nutrition and work out regiments are in a completely different stratosphere from what was previously the norm in hockey.

Hockey’s Future: Plenty of intrigue heading into medal, relegation rounds. The folks over at HF have been doing an excellent job covering the tournament and this assessment gives readers some nice insight into the upcoming games.

For the Jets, CBA, NHL and World Junior news click here.

 

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Thursday Papers

Thursday, January 3rd Jets, CBA and General NHL news

Jets & Affiliate news:

USA Hockey: Jacob Trouba live chat. USA Hockey will be doing a live Twitter chat with Jacob Trouba (@JacobTrouba) on Friday at 9:30 a.m. ET. Send in your questions using the following hashtags. #TroubaChat #USAWJC.

Hockey’s Future: Jacob Trouba talks tournament, being drafted by Winnipeg. Since many Jets fans haven’t had the opportunity to watch Trouba play for the University of Michigan, they are being given the opportunity to watch him demonstrate his high level of play for Team USA. (1:38 seconds of video following win against Czech Republic).

Sportsnet: Whalers top Storm. Jets draft pick Scott Kosmachuk picked up his 19th goal of the season in a losing cause. He has 38 points in 37 games for Guelph in the OHL.

Winnipeg Sun: Former Jets forward Fehr back on track in Finland. As we discussed many times last season it seemed Fehr just couldn’t get over the injury hump but with some summer rest he really appears to have turned things around. Of course as Paul indicates, SM Liiga is not the NHL, but Fehr might still be able to contribute to an NHL team that wants to take the chance on the Winkler product.

Reporter Herald: Reed Saunders still rocks the BEC for Colorado Eagles games. Much like the Jets, their minor league team has a special relationship with their public address announcer.

CBA news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Time for Fehr, union to get on with it. According to Darren Dreger of TSN "2nd year cap, term on contracts and pension remain the most significant "open" issues".

National Post: NHL, union chip away at their differences. About the only nugget that came from last night’s presser by Bettman was that the mediators were involved in the process, although it later came out that they have been involved all week, not just last night.

CBC: NHLPA ‘disclaimer’ deadline passes with no announcement. The biggest elephant in the room passed without the NHLPA using it. Talks resume at 10 am today.

TSN: League, NHLPA wrap up meetings; plan to meet again today. Stay tuned to @illegalcurve as we will be covering all the latest from New York.

Globe and Mail: In a country mourning hockey, marketers take their best shot. They can do their best but most fans have been turned off by the shenanigans by both sides at this point.

World Juniors:

Gold Medal Game: Saturday, January 5th @ 8 AM. USA vs. Sweden.

Bronze Medal Game: Saturday, January 5th @ 4 AM. Canada vs. Russia.

NHL.com: Defending champion Sweden tops Russia in shootout. Team Sweden sure hasn't been talked about to the extent of the other 3 teams that made the semi finals but they quietly went about their business and have advanced to the Finals for the 2nd straight year.

Toronto Star: Canada humiliated by US in semifinal. This US team was not to be taken lightly and perhaps the Canadians did, as they were steam rolled 5-1 by the Americans. In Jets news, both Scheifele and Trouba finished the game with 0 points and -1.

Globe and Mail: Canadian hockey fans stand out in Russia. Regardless of what happens with Team Canada, the fans who have journeyed to Russia to participate in the tournament have had a hell of a time.

Globe and Mail: ‘Big four’ set to sweep world junior medals yet again. This has become a tournament of 4 teams, with the Finns occasionally challenging for a spot. If you had to predict which team will find itself not winning a medal, which would it be?

For the Jets, CBA, NHL and World Junior news click here.

 

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Friday Papers

Friday, January 4th Jets, CBA, NHL and World Junior news

Jets & Affiliate news:

Note: We are at the conclusion of the third week of the Team Illegal Curve Beard growing competition as Ezra and Drew help support the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba in conjunction with the Festival du Voyageur in the 31st annual beard growing contest. Every Friday we will be giving readers an update on the beard progress and here is Ezzy and Drew’s growth from Week 2 to Week 3:

Note II: Don’t forget to tune into the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN Radio 1290 from noon to 3 pm on Saturday as the guys discuss all the latest Winnipeg Jets, CBA and World Juniors news. Guests: Dennis Beyak live from Ufa, Russia (TSN), James Mirtle (Globe and Mail), Grant Sonier (ESPN, draft expert).

Jets & Affiliate news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Players see intensity picking up at Iceplex workouts. Both sides keeping quiet is bad for the media but good for the process. NHL players skating at the IcePlex remain hopeful that a deal can get done soon.

The Telegram: IceCaps, Monarchs open two-game set tonight. It is time for St. John’s to turn around their season and they can start with a win against the Kings farm team. Looks like Alexander Burmistrov is still on the shelf and remains in Winnipeg.

WHL official site: Adam Lowry named WHL Husky Player of the Month. The Jets 3rd round pick in 2011 was tearing up the WHL last month, scoring 13 times while adding 8 assists and was a +7.

USA Hockey: Jacob Trouba live chat. As we mentioned yesterday, USA Hockey will be doing a live Twitter chat with Jacob Trouba (@JacobTrouba) today at 9:30 a.m. ET. Send in your questions using the following hashtags. #TroubaChat #USAWJC.

CBA news:

Winnipeg Free Press: Deal in days or it’s over. Despite the optimism at the continued talks there was a decided chill on Thursday.

TSN: Rollercoaster ride continues as CBA talks drag on. Remember on Wednesday when everyone was optimistic? Well Thursday saw pessimism spread across the landscape. Anyone want to guess what today will bring?

ESPN: Talks going from embarrassing to worse. It is absolutely true. This has entered the theatre of the absurd.

TSN: NHL players voting again on ‘disclaimer of interest’. It has been said before and it needs to be reiterated to both sides, that they are about to see fans disclaim interest in this league if they continue down this path.

CBC: A wasted day in NHL labour talks. You would think we are in October/November and not January with the end drawing near.

Globe and Mail: Why the NHL’s push for a variance limit matters. Another important facet to the ongoing negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA.

NHL/Hockey news:

The Star-Ledger: NHL has no issues with timing of Jeff Vanderbeek’s ownership of Devils. Vanderbeek now moves into sole ownership of the team. Will be interesting to see how he is able to clean up the mess in New Jersey.

Edmonton Journal: Alberta’s Wildrose party proposes lottery scheme to help fund new NHL arenas. This program would benefit both the Flames and the Oilers.

Globe and Mail: Dalhousie women’s hockey team forfeits season for hazing. While the hope is this lesson will be sufficient to remove this type of stupidity from sport, the likelihood remains that it will continue to occur but good for Dalhousie for showing that this type of behaviour is not acceptable on their campus.

World Juniors:

CBC: Many reasons for Canadian juniors’ semifinal flop. It really is quite amazing how we have a collective meltdown anytime our country loses a hockey tournament. It was one game and the team that played the better game won.

Globe and Mail: Single result is no referendum on the state of hockey in Canada. Completely agree with Duhatschek.

Globe and Mail: A lot went wrong in semi-final, but in the end, Canada needs to take a pill. As I said above, Roy also is 100% correct in that the panic that occurs after a loss needs to be taken with a grain of salt (or as he suggests, a pill).

Toronto Star: World juniors: Canada vs. Russia … for bronze. Despite the disappointment both teams feel not playing for gold, it is important to remember that they represent their respective countries and the pride of playing with your flag on your chest should be sufficient to ensure that this will be an excellent contest on Saturday.

Globe and Mail: Americans continue ascent in hockey world. Seth Jones said they would be the team to beat in this tournament and while his words were seen as young bravado, it appears it was actually a confidence in the abilities of Team USA. The Americans continue to develop a strong Jr. squad as they draw from more and more states across the U.S.

For the Jets, CBA, NHL and World Junior news click here.

 

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Saturday, January 5th Jets, CBA, NHL and World Junior news

Note: Don’t forget to tune into the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN Radio 1290 from noon to 3 pm today as the guys discuss all the latest Winnipeg Jets, CBA and World Juniors news. Guests: Dennis Beyak live from Ufa, Russia (TSN), James Mirtle (Globe and Mail), Grant Sonier (ESPN, draft expert).

Jets & Affiliate news:

Winnipeg Sun: Jacob Trouba bandwagon growing. The praise of Trouba continues to pour in, especially once fans have had an opportunity to watch him all tournament long. Once he is ready to put on his Jets jersey, he has the potential to be one special player. Update: Jacob Trouba has been named to the WJHC All Star Team, AND has been named the best defenseman in this year’s tournament.

Jets draft pick Jacob Trouba took over the Team USA twitter yesterday morning to answer questions and here is what he had to say when asked about his fellow Jets draft pick Mark Scheifele:

Winnipeg Free Press: Local pros keep busy with IcePlex workouts. Players have to be bored playing with pretty much the same group every day.

Winnipeg Free Press: Ex-Jets anthem singer scoring on the drums. Ironic that she moved to Atlanta.

TSN: Toffoli’s two goals lead Monarchs past IceCaps. Well that wasn’t how the IceCaps wanted to start 2013. While they are just outside the playoff picture this team needs to turn things around asap. Hopefully they can earn a split when the teams resume play tonight in St. John’s.

Reporter Herald: Bulls derail Colorado Eagles for first time. San Fran had been a guaranteed 2 points for Colorado until last night, when they suffered their first loss of the season.

CBA news:

CBC: NHL, NHLPA meet all day separately with mediator. Some say it was a wasted day while others think progress was made. Part of the fun of negotiations.

ESPN: Will shuttle diplomacy get it done? Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun debate whether yesterday’s shuttle diplomacy will be a success or not.

Toronto Star: Players expect Don Fehr home run. Will we see Fehr deliver? Some would argue that he has already ringed quite a bit more than what the owners wanted to give. While others would suggest he has caved to NHL demands. Until NHL hockey resumes with a completed CBA he hasn’t accomplished anything.

National Post: ‘Artificial’ lockout deadlines are doing more harm than good. It has been a difficult time to be an NHL fan and unfortunately it appears another week of these shenanigans will be ongoing until we know one way or another what the end result will be.

CBC: Ted Lindsay disappointed by lockout. Interesting to hear the perspective of one of the founders of the original Players’ Association.

National Post: Lockout talks waylaid by anger, mistrust. The irony is fans won’t buy this feigned outrage at the other side. When they see hockey players arguing over millions of dollars with owners, regardless of entitlement, they find it difficult to empathize.

Toronto Star: It won’t be easy to take pride in being an NHL fan. Even the teams with 100% loyal fan bases, the ones that can easily be taken for granted better see ownership step up whenever this mess ends. All across Canada and the United States, owners and players had best be rolling out the red carpet for the fans.

NHL/Hockey news:

Toronto Star: Subban helps hockey fan score perfect name for son. I guess if biblical names are passé (which sucks for me) then going the non-traditional route works. Of course if had a vote I would have suggested Seven. “It’s a beautiful name for a boy or a girl, especially a girl, or a boy!â€

World Juniors:

Gold Medal Game: USA 3 Sweden 1. Note: Jacob Trouba with 1 assist. Named all-star and best defenceman.

Bronze Medal Game: Russia 6 Canada 5 in OT. Note: Mark Scheifele had 1 g and 1 a in the game.

Globe and Mail: Team USA wins gold. Gibson was a beast between the pipes, Trouba was a rock on defence and coach Phil Housley deserves kudos for coaching this team to victory.

Toronto Star: Russia beats Canada for bronze. 4th place is going to cause some hand wringing in this country. As noted above Mark Scheifele finished the game with 1 goal and 1 assist.

Toronto Star: Team Sweden shows some swagger before gold medal game. Being the defending champs should give Sweden a little room for swagger.

Toronto Star: Jordan Binnington to start for Canada in bronze. Good timing to get his first start of the tournament.

Globe and Mail: Swedes refuse to buy into Russian ‘lottery’. Good for the Swedes to be properly prepared for the Russians in a shootout. Every team knows that a shootout is a possibility and you need to prepare accordingly.

For the Jets, CBA, NHL and World Junior news click here.