No one will get credit for breaking the death of Wade Belak. I’m still in shock over this one. I did not know Belak, but he always seemed be smiling and cracking jokes in on/off-air interviews. I woke up this morning hoping that there was a big mix up and it wasn’t him. My condolences go out to his family and friends.
- Matthew Barnaby via twitter: I’m glad Matthew Barnaby, who has dealt with concussions and the fighting role, wrote the below and I hope the NHLPA reads it.
“Prepared for life after. Very very tough. Nhlpa should do better job of preparing to enter league- and departing it! FACT.”
“This isn’t on the league. We all know we r a piece of meat and cast aside when we r done but nhlpa should prepare guys more!!”
- Fluto Shinzawa of hte Boston Globe: Bruins forward Marc Savard is still experiencing from post-concussion syndrome.
“Marc Savard won’t play this year,” said GM Peter Chiarelli. “Nothing has changed in our monitoring. He’ll be examined and he’ll be declared unfit to play.”
There is also the possibility that his playing career is over.
“Based on what I see, what I hear, what I read, and what I’m told, it’s very unlikely Marc will play again,” Chiarelli said. “Now, knowing the uncertainty of this injury, there’s always a chance . But based on what I’m told, it’s very unlikely he’ll play. As an employer, I support him and hope he gets back to living a healthy life.”
- James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail: Mirtle put together a list of players who have been forced to retire due to head injuries over the past 10-15 years:
Pat LaFontaine, Jim Johnson, Eric Lindros, Scott Stevens, Paul Kariya, Mike Richter, Keith Primeau, Geoff Courtnall, Adam Deadmarsh, Jeff Beukeboom, Petr Svoboda, Nick Kypreos, Brett Lindros, Jason Botterill, Steven Rice, Jay More, Dean Chynoweth, Dennis Vaske, Cam Stewart, Steve Rucchin, Steve Moore, Jesse Wallin, Steve Dubinsky, Richard Scott, Stu Grimson, Gino Odjick, Rob DiMaio, David Tanabe, Kim Johnsson, Matthew Barnaby, Kurt Sauer and Dave Scatchard.
- Tony Gallagher of the Vancouver Province: Todd Fedoruk is trying to make the Canucks this training camp, admitted that he’s battled drug and alcohol addictions in the past but has been clean for almost 18 months. Fedoruuk didn’t play last year, taking the time to fix himself and his relationship with his wife and kids. (I wanted to post some quotes but there were too many worthy one’s, instead I’ll direct you to read the entire piece.)
- Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star: Maple Leafs RFA defenseman Luke Schenn isn’t worried that he doesn’t have a contract yet. “It’s going to happen sooner or later,” Schenn said of his contract. “There’s not much to say about it.”
- Rich Hammond of LA Kings Insider: Kings GM Dean Lombardi had talks with Drew Doughty’s side yesterday but no deal seems imminent. Lombardi added,
“It’s safe to say we’ve talked the last couple days, and we’ll just continue to try to work through it. … I still feel confident that this is going to get done (before the start of training camp).”
- Aaron Portzline via twitter: Fedor Tyutin’s salary breakdown: 2012-13 $4 million, 2013-14 $4.5 million, 2014-15 $4.75 million, 2015-16 $5 million, 2016-17 $4.75 million and in 2017-18 $4 million. There is also a no-trade clause for the first 3 years and a modified no-trade for the final 3 years.
- Kevin Allen via twitter: Ryan Johnson will attend the Red Wings camp on a tryout.
- James Murphy of ESPN: The Bruins have talked to Jay Pandolfo about attending training camp on a tryout. They have also invited someone else but they haven’t heard back from him yet. GM Chiarelli has talked to some others as well, but hasn’t issued a tryout invites yet.
- Chris Botta talks with Darren Dreger about the NY Islanders adding another piece, Evgeni Nabokov and the team in general.