5+Game with Danny Boome 16 /11/09

5+ Game with Danny Boome is the new Article and Blog for Powerplay magazine.  The article will cover the 5 main events of the week – games, trades, players, coaches – and anything else that affects the NHL community.

13th Edition: 5+Game

Danny Boome

The cold war between KHL & NHL thaws, Forbes releases the 2009 club rich list, old time hockey makes headlines in Florida, Peter Forsberg returns to the game and dangerous head shots are top of the GM’s list in Toronto – all in this week’s 5+Game!

Cold War Summit: The frost thawed between the KHL and NHL this week as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and KHL President Alexander Medvedev discussed the complicated and often bitter relationship between the two professional leagues.  The duo and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly met in Washington for the mini-summit and also found time to catch the Washington Capitals play the New York Islanders together.  Bettman said of the relationship “I think on a personal and professional level it’s open and cordial.  But we, for a variety of reasons, haven’t been able to come to common ground on some fundamental issues.” And on the issue of the KHL not being able to land a superstar player, “I think the best players in the world play and will continue to seek playing in the National Hockey League.  We wish the KHL good luck.  And I know they are going to work very hard to try and establish their league and bring it to the highest level that it can achieve.  But the final analysis is that the best players will continue to play in the NHL.”

The Rich List: Forbes released its list of NHL franchise values to the usual shock and awe.  The Toronto Maple Leafs ($470 mil), New York Rangers ($416 mil), Montreal Canadiens ($339 mil) and Detroit Red Wings ($337 mil) top the list while the Florida Panthers ($159 mil.), Nashville Predators ($156 mil.), New York Islanders ($149 mil.), Atlanta Thrashers ($143 mil.) and Phoenix Coyotes ($138 mil.) round out the bottom.  Just as interesting was the 2-year value change: of the 14 teams that lost value, 13 missed the playoffs and eight are worth less than $200 million.  The Islanders saw the biggest drop in value at 12% and generated the lowest revenue ($56 mil), which is either an argument for a new arena or a result of the New York market being oversaturated.

Old Time Hockey Legend Hits the Headlines: If you remember the good old days of the British Premier League (those of you from Romford Chelmsford Slough Invicta & Telford can only wish!), you may recall the infamous shenanigans of Solihull import and legend Brent Sapergia (ask Simmsey – he has stories).

Sapergia made headlines once again this week for his reaction to a call against his Louisiana IceGators, capturing the attention of US morning shows and YouTube viewers alike.  The one-time hockey hell raiser demonstrated his anger by throwing the entire contents of the bench at the referee and was subsequently relieved of his duties as head coach.  Sapergia said he couldn’t wrap his brain around the “indefinite” suspension by the Southern Professional Hockey League, because his stick-tossing tirade was the norm for enraged coaches and benign in comparison to other freak-outs.

Freeeeeking Out old time Hockey!

Forsberg isn’t going anywhere, but do we care? Speculation surrounding Peter Forsberg’s return to the NHL has once again taken up valuable column inches.  After a bad ankle brought his stellar career to an end, this MVP of over 6 years ago has now signed for Modo in the Swedish elite league.  He resisted the KHL, so we know it’s not about the money – but why should we care if he comes back to the NHL?  In my opinion, there is far too much talent in the league to worry about this once great player.

Playing with Modo gives Pete the chance to do every day kinda stuff…..

Head Shots: The topic of hits to the head was addressed yet again by the League’s 30 GMs at their quarterly meeting last Wednesday, but this time the tone seems to have changed.  A small committee will be formed to take a closer look at this issue before they meet again in March, and at that time, we could see a recommendation to the competition committee about a possible rule change.  “It was quite a bit different, some of the guys who have taken a strong position that it may take hitting out of the game have adjusted their views a little bit,” Carolina GM Jim Rutherford said. “If we continue down what was talked about today then we will see a change. It will be on the agenda of the next meeting and I think if we got the direction that it appeared we were going, you will see a change for next year.”

Birds seen and Bells Heard! Very very serious stuff when your not ready for it! This clip never gets boring!

Game

Game On: Carolina brings their slide to a halt!  Buffalo wins 3 in a row and Philadelphia stops New Jersey’s 5-game road streak.

Who’s got game? Matt Moulson of the New York Islanders.  In 20 games, the 26-year-old winger is tied for the Islanders’ lead in goals with 8 and is second in points with 16 to Tavares’ 18.  Not bad for a guy who was cut from his junior hockey team and drafted higher by the National Lacrosse League than the NHL!

Matt Moulson “Beers it” what ever that mean? but great goal.

Who’s not got game? Sean Avery of the New York Rangers.  Avery appears to be walking a tightrope – reluctant to engage opponents for fear that one mistake could consign him to the bench!

Game of the Week: Atlanta’s 3-2 win over Edmonton!  Atlanta’s 4th win in a row over this worthy opponent was a perfect example of how far this team has come since last season.

What Game are you playing? Former NHL stars figure skating?!  The Battle of the Blades had me scratching my head.  Check out YouTube for clips of former Edmonton Oilers forward Craig Simpson, New Jersey Devils winger Stéphane Richer and Colorado Avalanche sweetheart Claude Lemieux competing to claim $100,000 for charity.

So Strange, just can’t get my head around it!

Check out this week’s Video Clips and News in the 5+Game Blog on www.dannyboome.tv

The information statistics and subject matter of articles is sourced from the official NHL web site NHL.com and it’s archives. The Hockey News.com, Yahoo Sports.com and ESPN.com. Research and quotations can at times come from other independent associated press.

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