Depressing labour update; NHL 13 live moment; Laraque named CHLPA head (Puck Headlines)
• 12 members of the Chicago Blackhawks are in Sweden right now, participating in a mini-camp as guests of Södertälje Sportklubb, which I can only assume, based on the jerseys they've been given, is a team owned by Riverdale teenager Forsythe P. Jones. [Third Man In]
• "Labour update", a short play: Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr enter. Bettman: So Donald, are the players going to take a drastic revenue reduction yet?" Fehr: "No they are not, Gary." Exeunt Bettman. [TSN]
• Jesse Spector's plan for solving the labour issues and bringing hockey back on time. [Sporting News]
• If there is a lockout, who goes where? [The Hockey News]
• Georges Laraque has reportedly been named the head of the CHLPA. All right then. [National Post]
• "Phoenix Coyotes President and COO Mike Nealy announced today that single game tickets for the team's two home preseason games and the first 18 games of the 2012-13 NHL regular season go on sale to the general public today at 10:00 a.m." All right then. [Coyotes]
• Kevin Westgarth's wife Megan, the daughter of Super Bowl winning coach Bill Cowher, on how football's ultimate prize differs from hockey's: "The funny thing about the Super Bowl is there's a huge build up to it and once it's done, it's done. She said that her dad spent about 12 hours signing memorabilia for the Hall of Fame and for different stuff and after that it was done, whereas the Stanley Cup, it goes on. It parades around the world. It is a unique experience. And this small town Canada thing, you don't get that anywhere else." [Windsor Star]
• Sean Couturier would like to stay good next year. [USA Today]
• Jonathan Willis likes Taylor Hall's contract extension. [Edmonton Journal]
• An early look at the Russian Olympic hockey team for 2014. [Last Word on Sports]
• Some of the lesser asks from the NHLPA's proposal have "leaked": "Nash demanded that the CBA have a provision in it that would trade him from Columbus. When assured that he was already traded from Columbus, Nash apologized and claimed he was just used to asking for that." [The Province]
• Remember the original Ottawa Senators, who, if I recall correctly, got their asses handed to them in 1915 by the Vancouver Millionaires. (I'm sorry, but this is the only thing we Vancouver hockey fans have.) [Litter Box Cats]
• Why it's inevitable that your favourite player will end up an Islander, Coyote, or Panther. The real fun starts once those long-term contracts dip below the cap hit. [Driving Play]
• Hockey stick art is pretty great. [Backhand Shelf]
• Math alert: What can Pythagorean expectation tell us about the Toronto Maple Leafs? [The Hockey Writers]
• Looking at the NHL 13 player ratings for the New Jersey Devils. How on earth is Jacob Josefson a 75? [Pucks and Pitchforks]
• And finally, here's a clip of NHL 13's Live Moments mode feature, which allows you to replay moments from certain games, like the Kings eliminating the Coyotes from the Western Conference Final.
