Professional hockey players throughout North America very briefly celebrated when they staged a coup to take over the NHL Players Association back in August, but things rapidly changed and players were unhappy with the new head, Ian Penny.

Now it appears that Penny is getting ready to resign, according to the Toronto Sun. He apparently sent a confusing memo to the Executive Board of the union saying as much.

Guess he's been feeling pretty powerless since young Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby(notes) made him hang up the phone during a conference call the other day so there could be a players-only part of the call.

It remains to be seen who could take over and make this bunch happy.

Source: Toronto Sun

Player reps for the embattled NHL Players Association met on a conference call this Sunday and 22-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby(notes) apparently took charge of the meeting and had current union chief Ian Penny wondering if he had just lost his job, according to the Toronto Star.

Penny, of course, led a coup against former executive director Paul Kelly late in the summer that left the union disorganized and confused. Players began questioning the coup and there seems to be a movement now to replace Penny. Crosby apparently told Penny to get off the call at one point so there could be a players-only conversation. Penny initially resisted but finally got off, ceding control to the young Penguins superstar.

Source: Toronto Star

Alexander Frolov(notes) once scored 35 goals in a season but that's not enough for the Los Angeles Kings to keep him around, according to Bleacher Report.

Frolov was a healthy scratch on Monday night when the Kings took on the Dallas Stars and head coach Terry Murray has been pretty vocal about how unhappy he is with Frolov. The pair apparently have met 10 times to discuss it so far this season. That's more meetings than actual games played so far.

It's looking like Frolov is on the trading block. GM Dean Lombardi said, "He's either going to get on board or we'll go in another direction with him. It's as simple as that."
He'll cost any team he goes to $2.9 million against the salary cap. Word is that the San Jose Sharks, Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, Nashville Predators, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins all could have some interest.

Source: Bleacher Report

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar(notes) reportedly would like to finish off his career with the gang in Steeltown but he's apparently not going to be able to negotiate an extension with the team till early next year, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

The 35-year-old has been with the team since 2005 and apparently sees no reason to change. He's in the last year of a five-year deal. The team and Gonchar's agent have apparently decided to not talk about his next contract till 2010 rolls around and General Manager Ray Shero has a better idea of what his plans are in the future.

Gonchar seems OK with the decision but it may be that he's just relieved to finally be over the cold that's been dogging him since the last week of training camp.

Source: Pittsburgh Tribune Review