- TSN: It’s not known if Sidney Crosby to will be ready for training camp. Reports from Halifax are that concussion symptoms have returned, and he’s cancelled some ice time.
“Sidney hasn’t been shut down by anyone,” Brisson said. “He has simply adjusted his summer program accordingly to the different needs for the appropriate recovery. Training camp is in three weeks from now. It is too premature to speculate all kinds of deliberate information at his point.
“Sidney will address the media at the appropriate time in order to give everyone an update. As far as I know training camp hasn’t started yet.”
Josh Rimer of NHL Home Ice Radio tweeted: “Also hearing from 3 sources now that Sidney Crosby won’t b ready 2 start season. I hope its not true because the NHL needs its best players!”
- Mike Brophy via twitter: “Source says Sidney Crosby pushing himself hard, but is not symptom free.”
- Eric Stephen of the OC Register: Though he hasn’t made an official announcement, signs are pointing to Teemu Selanne returning for one more season. A Finnish report paraphrases him in translation that he’s knows his knee can’t withstand another year past this season. Selanne should be back in California next week to get his kids ready for school.
- Randy Starkman of the Toronto Star: Dave Scatchard announced yesterday that he is retiring from hockey due to concussions.
“I’m happy that the doctor basically told me straight out there was zero chance of me playing because it kind of put me in my place,” said Scatchard, sounding anything but happy. “I believe the doctor’s exact words were he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if he let me continue to play.”
“Even today I have trouble pushing my kids on a swing set,” said Scatchard from his home in Phoenix. “Just the motion makes me really nauseous. Wrestling around with them on the ground, I can only do it for a minute or two and then I just feel sick. Any rolling motions or spinning motions just completely send me for a loop.”
- Craig Custance of the Sporting News: When at the R&D camp, Sabres GM Darcy Reiger said “It’s still pretty quiet. I was just talking to fellow GMs downstairs” in regards to trade talk. The Sabres sit around $3.5 million over the salary cap and would like to get below “probably through a trade.” Coyotes GM Don Maloney is looking for a centerman and is having difficulities as well:
“Every time you see people, you ask them – ‘What do you have going?’ It’s a quiet period, a lot of people have gone on vacation for a few weeks. We’re all kind of taking a deep breath,” Maloney told Sporting News.
- Ian Walker of the Vancouver Sun: Canucks forward Ryan Kesler, 4 weeks removed from hip surgery, hopes to be ready by the season opener on Oct. 6th.
“It’s going good; small victories here and there,” Kesler told Joey Kenward, who replaces Kristen Reid as the face of Canucks TV. “I just got off my crutches and I’ll start strengthening so everything is back to normal. I’ll start skating here in the next couple of weeks and hopefully be back by that first game.”
- Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The Blues received “multiple bids” at yesterday’s deadline but “confidentiality agreements preclude us from elaborating any further” on the number of bids received. It is known that Blues minority owner Tom Stillman put in a bid. It’s not known if Matthew Hulsizer put in a bid. Many beleive that “Game Plan” would accept other offers if it reached their targeted selling price.
- Ed Tait of the Winnipeg Free Press: Jets goalie Chris Mason is now closer to home, a product of Red Deer, had this to say about playing in Atlanta:
“It was tough in Atlanta because in my opinion it just wasn’t an optimal hockey market. The fans there were awesome but there just wasn’t a broad range of support, so it was tough some nights to have that feeling it didn’t matter so much and hockey wasn’t the most important thing. Going to Winnipeg, you’re not going to have that feeling at all. It’s going to be everywhere, it’s going to be the opposite spectrum.”
- Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: Oilers UFA defenseman Jason Strudwick hasn’t received any offers or training camp invites yet. He’s staying in shape in hope that he gets a call.
“I’d still like to play, but if I don’t, well, I can live with that. I don’t know if I’d want to go a camp for two or three weeks (on a tryout) and then, say, get cut,” said Strudwick.