Well the decision has come down today in Arizona, and Edmonton Oilers goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for his drinkie-drivie incident earlier this year. In the state of Arizona, the minimum sentence for an extreme DUI, for which Khabibulin was found guilty of, was 30 days, but could have been extended beyond that. I wonder why it wasn’t? Could this have been the chance the courts were looking for to show the rich and famous that they can’t drive drunk in Arizona? Or was this case truly one that deserved the minimum sentence and fines? I guess that information is still to come…

So now what, Oilers?

I was never really a huge fan of Christos, but you have to admit that the guy was a workhorse who racked up the points and penalty minutes, all while being way older than all of his competition. Ok ok, he slowed in his last few seasons, but what team couldn’t use a 22 point, 108 pim defenseman? Well maybe a few, but he still was an effective player up to his 7 games with the Thrashers, sporting a -2 +/-.

Oh, and did I mention that he retires having played the most games by a defenseman in NHL history (1,651)? Yes, another amazing feat.

Good luck in the front office Kostas!

OMG WTF LOL?! I can’t believe they are finally making my dream movie! A hockey musical! Wow I’m going to start camping out in front of my local “select Canadian theater” right now to ensure that I actually get to see this beast before be goes international, and tickets are harder to come by than Yolanda Be Cool & Dcup!

Seriously though, what the hell is this? I hate musicals, and I hate movies that depict hockey to be some kind of junk. I will not be going. No, don’t tell me to wait and see, I won’t change my mind. I’m simply not going, and neither should you… well I can’t tell you what to do, but at least have the courtesy to skip my invite when you decide to go, or I may plaster your name everywhere letting the world know that you like hockey musicals…

Down 3-2 in the series against the New Jersey Devils, the greatest leader in sports history guaranteed that his Rangers would win that night, and that he would be the one to lead them to victory.

A hat trick later, and the eventual Stanley Cup excitement that I’ll never forget, makes us realize that they sure don’t make them like this anymore. If this video doesn’t make you grin from ear to ear, or even shed a tear, there is something wrong with you:

6. No Icing the Puck while Shorthanded

Yeah, you just puked too didn’t you? How desperate is the league to try and get more goals scored? Creating a scenario like this is going to change hockey into soccer. You think we have divers now? What does the league expect will happen when players know that a powerplay will become even more powerful? Yeah, exactly.

Icing the puck is pretty much the only way to relieve the pressure, no wait, it’s the ONLY way since introducing the delay of game penalty for firing it over the glass from your defensive zone. Remember how well the proposed change to offsides went a few years ago? Was supposed to increase the skill of the defensemen that just couldn’t dump it in when they were offside? Yeah, that didn’t work, and neither will this. A lot of teams have trouble breaking out of their own zone at 5 on 5, so trying at 4 on 5 will be murder.

Look at this soccer player on the right… is this what the league wants to achieve? I doubt it! Hell, even in the NCAA they proposed this and it was punted right away. The NHL should take note and not even bother toying with this stupid idea. Yes, the general icing rule changes are worth exploring, but not this one that penalizes the short handed team.

TORONTO (AP) -The family of Bob Probert has decided to proceed with a memoir the longtime NHL enforcer was working on before his death.

“Tough Guy” is to published Oct. 26 by HarperCollinsCanada. It will recount Probert’s career with theDetroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks when he was one of the game’s most feared players.

The book also will delve into his off-ice troubles. Probert struggled with drinking problems during his 16-year career.

Porbert was co-writing the book with Kirstie McLellan Day before he died of a heart attack last month at 45. His wife, Dani Probert, says it was her husband’s dream to publish the book, and he wanted “to tell it like it really was – behind the headlines.”

OWEN NOLAN

The bad Is widely recognized as one of the worst NHL players that Belfast, Ireland has ever produced.
The good Can offer detailed scouting reports on the 30 NHL teams, all of which he has recently played for.
Where he would fit A team that believes it is one salt-and-pepper goatee away from contending.

VESA TOSKALA

The bad Often reminds you of the love child of Hardy Astrom and André Racicot, assuming that child was forced to play goal before developing gross motor skills.
The good Has never been one of those irresponsible goalies who takes a brand new set of equipment and then spends the season ruining it by letting a bunch of pucks hit it.
Where he would fit As a backup for whatever ECHL team John Ferguson Jr. is working for these days.

Be sure to check them out, and to follow Sean on Twitter (me too while you’re at it!)

So now I have basically zero time to get a costume together and wreak havoc on my neighbourhood before I take off. I do have a goalie mask, but it’s nothing like this bad boy to the left so I don’t think that it will instill much fear in the ‘hood.

Any of you planning to break out some of the old hockey equipment in celebration of this Friday the 13th? Or have any stories from past 13th’s? Let’s hear it!

Way to go NHL, looks like whoever is in charge of your trophy engraving made a massive error on the Prince of Wales Trophy this year. Look closely at the bottom of this plaque… The Washington Capitals won the Eastern Conference this year? Maybe it was wishful thinking on the league’s part, but still!

According to NBC Philly, it was a Blackhawks fan that noticed the error:

So, we had to wonder: Are these photos truly an engraving error, or just a great example of Photoshop tomfoolery?

To get the answer, we went straight to the source and called the Hockey Hall of Fame, where the trophy is currently on display.

And as it turns out, just like we thought, they’re fake.

“Like the Stanley Cup,” said a Hockey Hall of Fame spokesman, “the Prince of Wales Trophy hasn’t been engraved yet. I can guarantee you those photos are doctored.”

And just like that we find out that this was a cheap photoshop job… actually not that cheap because it’s pretty believable, but still, it was a decent hoax!

But was it..?

Looks like the originator of the story, some guy named Brendan, defended his claim with photoshop experts etc, and says that the NHL is basically trying to cover it up (in not so many words):

I realize that ultimately this is a small matter.  I assume its human error.  This is absolutely no conspiracy

Either way, it’s some good entertainment during the boring as hell, hockey-less summer. Oh yeah, if you’re looking to continue the blame game here, as per a special request, “don’t blame Sarah” over at Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.

From watching a video, and reading an article over at IGN, it looks like this mode is based on hockey cards that you buy in packs. Basically you get what you get, and start building a team around them. As you play games, you earn pucks (or something like that), that you can use to buy new packs of cards with new players and attribute boosts.

There are monthly leagues, with playoffs at the end of each, that are broken down into three different skill levels. Ideally this mode will be based on your gameplay, not your fat wallet purchasing upgrades and players, otherwise it may get watered down pretty quickly.

Again, I’m not really familiar with this Ultimate Team thing, so I’ll have to wait until September to share a better opinion on it. Until then, here is a video going over the UHL.