three, the teams hands are tied and its potential ret

Scott Cullen takes a look at the stories from November 8th through November 14th in the NHL, including an injury to the games top prospect, the Hall of Fame class, Las Vegas, mumps and more. WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING? The top prospect in the 2015 NHL Draft, Connor McDavid engaged in a fight this week, officially the second scrap of his OHL career and, in the process, suffered a broken hand that will keep him out of action for five-to-six weeks. There was, in some places, immediate outcry that the premier prospect in the sport, considered a generational talent, would bother fighting at all because, essentially, its beneath him. Then, there was justification for his decision to drop the gloves, because he endures so much abuse as the primary target for every opposing player. A couple things to consider: McDavid, while an out-of-this-world talent, is not the first star player to get extra attention from opponents. Its often part of having the puck as often as one does as a superstar player. Secondly, the player McDavid fought was Bryson Cianfrone, a 5-foot-8 forward who had zero penalty minutes this season prior to the fight, so its not like he was some thug on skates. But, sometimes, 17-year-olds (and even older) make spur-of-the-moment decisions that arent ideal. Yet, it likely wouldnt have posed a problem for McDavid if he hadnt cracked his hand on the glass when he missed Cianfrone with a punch. Do that in the middle of the ice and its likely that nothing noteworthy happens, but a punch against the glass knocks the best prospect out, with his return slated to be right around the time the World Junior Hockey Championship starts. Its a relatively minor inconvenience for McDavid, who wont lose draft stock once hes recovered from the injury, but if hes not able to play for Canada in the World Juniors, well, that would be a hit to a roster that will be without an injured Sam Bennett as well as other juniors still skating in the NHL as rookies (Anthony Duclair, Curtis Lazar, Bo Horvat, Jonathan Drouin and Aaron Ekblad). THE HALL BECKONS The annual recognition of the best the game has to offer summons Rob Blake, Peter Forsberg, Dominik Hasek, Mike Modano, Pat Burns and referee Bill McCreary to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Blake was a physical force, a hard-hitting, hard-shooting 6-foot-4 defenceman who led all blueliners in goals from 1990-2010. playing 1270 games for the Kings, Avalanche and Sharks, winning a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2001 and a Norris Trophy as the leagues best defenceman, in 1998. He was a three-time Olympian for Canada, winning gold at Salt Lake in 2002. Forsbergs career was cut short by injuries, ultimately by foot and ankle problems that forced him to the sidelines at a time when he was still better than a point-per-game scorer. From the time he arrived in the league, in 1994-1995, through 2007-2008 (excluding a two-game stint with the Avalanche in 2010-2011), Forsberg ranked second in points per game, behind only Jaromir Jagr. He was the leagues MVP in 2003, won Stanley Cups in 1996 and 2001, and Olympic Gold at both ends of his career, in 1994 and 2006. Style points werent his thing, unless you liked a goaltender who would head butt the puck out of the air, or drop his stick so that he could pick up the disc with his blocker hand, but there has not been a goaltender as dominant by comparison to his peers. A six-time Vezina Trophy winner, Hasek was named league MVP twice and won Olympic Gold in 1998. In his peak years, from 1993-94 through 1998-99, there wasnt another goaltender in his class. Modano entered the league as a first overall pick, in 1988, and never finished higher than eighth in the NHL scoring race, but evolved into a premier all-around centre, winning a Stanley Cup in 1999, the World Cup of Hockey in 1996, and scoring 1359 points in 1459 games. From 1991-92 through 2002-03, Modano scored at least 75 points 10 times, tied with Jagr as the only two players with more than eight such seasons. Considering the lockout season of 1994-95 in that span, Modano was good for 75 points in 10 of 11 full seasons in that time and the one season that he didnt was 1997-98, when he played only 52 games and had 59 points. Its a travesty that Burns wasnt honoured before now, but a three-time Jack Adams winner as the leagues best coach and 2003 Stanley Cup winner has more than enough on his resume to warrant inclusion. His career winning percentage (.573) ranks behind only Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville and Ken Hitchcock, among coaches with at least 1,000 games behind the bench.. McCreary was a standout official of the era, seemingly doing all the big games, more than 2,000 regular-season and playoff games combined, including a record 44 Stanley Cup Final games. VEGAS, BABY A report in the New York Post says that the NHL has chosen owners for a prospective expansion team in Sin City. Las Vegas has long been on the list of potential locations for a new NHL teams, though it appeared to be running behind the likes of Seattle or Quebec City. Now, it may well be the frontrunner. As exciting as it might be for visiting teams and hockey writers, its fair to wonder if Las Vegas is a viable long-term market for the NHL. Sure, casinos can give out tickets to anyone willing to drop money at the tables, and there have been minor league teams there, but is there a lasting, sustainable fan base prepared to pay NHL prices? I have no idea if it will work, but think it will be fun to see them try. NHLers WITH MUMPS This seems like a story that should be from a century ago, like a reason why the Stanley Cup Final would be cancelled, but suddenly NHLers are missing games because of the mumps. Anaheim Ducks star winger Corey Perry and defenceman Francois Beauchemin have contracted a disease that is usually not an issue for those that have been vaccinated and its possibly an issue for the Minnesota Wild, who are without defencemen Jonas Brodin and Marco Scandella, with both suspected to have mumps as well. BIG CAT The top pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, Aaron Ekblad, entered the league already built like a man, at 6-foot-3, 216 pounds, but hes made a surprisingly smooth transition to the NHL game as an 18-year-old. Hes played more than 20 minutes in 12 of 14 games this year, averaging 21:38, and has six points (1 G,5 A) in the past five games. Hes being sheltered in his usage, starting 55.2% of his shifts in the offensive zone, but has positive possession (54.5% Corsi) stats too. Rare is the defenceman who can step into the league straight from the draft, let alone have any kind of effectiveness. Usually, its a year to take some lumps and learn on the job, like Drew Doughty in 2008-2009. Other rookie defencemen to make the jump to the NHL immediately following the draft, since 2000, include: Cam Fowler, Zach Bogosian, Victor Hedman, Adam Larsson, Seth Jones, Dmitry Kulikov, Jay Bouwmeester, Luke Schenn and Luca Sbisa. They arent all stars, but Ekblads early returns are certainly looking positive for a Panthers team that could use some bright lights. TO THE RAFTERS The Montreal Canadiens are going to run out of numbers some day, but until that day comes, they can honour franchise greats by raising their numbers to the rafters. The latest honouree is Guy Lapointe, a six-time Stanley Cup winner who was a cornerstone of the Montreal defence in the 1970s, part of the Big Three with Larry Robinson and Serge Savard. From 1970 through 1979, Bobby Orr and Brad Park were the only defencemen with more points than Lapointes 516, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993. BOSTON BEATDOWN Things had been going along just fine for Boston without injured defenceman Zdeno Chara, rolling to a 6-1 record in his absence, but back-to-back divisional games on the road brought the Bruins back to earth in a hurry. The Bruins lost 6-1 in Toronto Wednesday, then followed up by losing 5-1 in Montreal Thursday, getting outscored 11-2 and outshot 67-48 over the course of two games. The last time the Bruins lost back-to-back games by a combined nine-goal margin? A March 2012 trip to Florida, when they lost 6-1 at Tampa Bay and 6-2 at Florida. The Bruins emerged from those two losses to go 9-2-1 over the last 12 games of the regular season. FREE-FALLIN Theres an obvious reason for the Columbus Blue Jackets slide, to nine straight losses but, injuries or not, this is creating a hole that is going to be difficult to climb out of this season. They will get healthier, and activating goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky off the injured list today should be the biggest difference-maker, since Curtis McElhinney has a 3.76 goals against average and .887 save percentage in seven games this season, but the Blue Jackets are already 11 points behind a wild card spot and that math gets difficult in a hurry. Its too bad, because Columbus looked quite promising in their playoff appearance last season, but sometimes the road to being a contender comes with a few bumps along the way and this years absurd run of early-season injuries is serving as one huge pothole. CAREER IN JEOPARDY While Columbus long injured list is going to get smaller in time, one of the names might be there for a while. Right winger Nathan Horton has scored 202 goals in 626 career games and won a Stanley Cup with Boston in 2011, but the 29-year-old faces the prospect of never playing again if his back doesnt improve. Hes in debilitating pain and the one way to relieve that pain would be to have spinal fusion surgery that would end his career. Its understandably hard for Horton to imagine being done at 29, but if hes having trouble functioning in his day-to-day life, it may take a miracle to resurrect his hockey career. BRYAN MURRAY Dont miss this amazing story, told by cancer survivor Michael Farber, about Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray, who has Stage 4 cancer. There is no cure at this point for me, Murray told TSN on Thursday. The word is that well keep doing chemo and hopefully reduce the tumours and the effect and Ill get some time out of that. Air Jordan 1 Outlet Australia . "Ive still got it," Seattles ace said with a sly grin. Riding that fastball carrying a little more zip, Hernandez took a shutout bid into the ninth inning as the Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 on Wednesday night. On the verge of a brilliant shutout and first complete game since Aug. Cheap Air Jordan 1 Australia . According to a report from ESPN, Lynch wants a new contract from the Seahawks, and will likely skip all off-season workouts until he can renegotiate his deal with the Seahawks. http://www.cheapairjordan1australia.com/ . The Mavericks were not going to let San Antonio beat them with 3-pointers, and they did not want Tony Parker using the lane as his personal playground. Cheap Jordan 1 Australia . "We cannot stay the same way the whole season long," said Reyes. "This is not acceptable. Something needs to change because were a better team than what were showing right now. Its a long season and we just need to continue to push." Its been a frustrating week for the ballclub. Air Jordan 1 Retro Australia . -- Two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana agreed Tuesday to a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles as he tries to come back from the second major operation on his left shoulder.We are hearing the possibility that Martin St. Louis and Ryan Kesler have demanded to be traded. In the case of St. Louis, not much of an effort has been made to deny reports of a trade request. Now both players have no-trade clauses in their contracts - and the wisdom of granting a player a no-trade has long been debated. Ultimately, its a very risky move since the only certainty with athletes is uncertainty. They can go down at any time, see a significant drop in their production or relationships can sour. As well, player production aside, a team may see an opportunity to improve its team by way of trade, but cant close on the deal because a player has a no-trade. Some players, however, insist on the provision being included in their contracts on the basis that they dont want to leave. The player and his family are committed to the team and the city. In certain circumstances, teams will agree to it. With a no-trade clause, the team bears the risk. Its one-sided and may potentially cause long-term damage to a team. This is particularly the case in a salary cap world, where return on investment is critical and a failure to achieve may be fatal to a teams likelihood of success. The risk is amplified when a player with a no-trade demands a trade. As a result of having a no-trade, the player decides where he goes. Since his contract provides he cant be traded (despite ironically demanding a trade), the player is in complete control. As a result, the team foorfeits significant leverage in seeking a fair return on the player.dddddddddddd By way of example, if its known that St. Louis will only go to the Rangers, then there is no good reason for the Rangers to offer up an equal return. General managers rely on multiple teams bidding on a player to drive up the return. However, if a player says that of the four teams interested, he wont go to three, the teams hands are tied and its potential return is instantly undermined. Can that risk be mitigated? Yes. Give the player the no-trade clause he so deeply desires. However, include a trigger in the contract that provides that in the event the player demands a trade, he agrees to be traded to any team on a previously negotiated list of teams. That could, for example, be a list of 10 teams. That list was negotiated while the deal was being worked out - and is part of the contract. Lets be clear: the no-trade wouldnt be null and void. Rather, the no-trade would now qualified by the mutually-accepted list of teams. The sides negotiated the deal and the terms of the contract govern the relationship. If a provision is no longer convenient for either side, thats life. NHL player contracts dont account for irony. By structuring the contract this way, the player gets the assurance he wont be moved, while the team is able to better manage its risk. Otherwise absolute no-trade clauses tie the hands of teams and make it a real challenge to get a proper return on a player. ' ' '