From The Rink

Isles' prospect Hughes arrested

2009-11-06T20:48:07Z

Islanders farmhand Bobby Hughes has been arrested on first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree criminal sexual act charges filed in Albany. The 21-year old Hughes, acquired by the Islanders from Carolina in August and playing infrequently for the Sound Tigers, was arrested after Bridgeport’s game on Wednesday.

— Chris Botta, NYI Point Blank

Hughes, who is from the Toronto area, starred with the Kingston Frontenacs a few years back and was a fourth-round pick of the Hurricanes in 2006. He has played sparingly so far in his AHL career, but did play in Albany in 2007-08 and 2008-09 which would appear to be tied to what's happened here.

Very little information available right now.

Thrashers participating in MOvember

2009-11-06T16:49:13Z

Scary 'stache for a 19-year-old on Mr. Zach Bogosian:

Atlanta Thrashers Fans, join Thrashers Zach Bogosian, Mark Popovic and Jim Slater and coaches John Anderson, Randy Cunneyworth and Todd Nelson on their MOvember journeys!

Any other teams taking part in this?

UPDATE The Wild are.

UPDATE This movement gets better as we go:

Oilers participating in Movember

2009-11-06T02:28:24Z

Taylor Chorney, for those who don't know. Here's the press release (with photo gallery):

Eight of the Edmonton Oilers are joining the fight against prostate cancer this month by participating in Movember. Throughout November, participating players will grow moustaches in support of prostate cancer research. The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation will be accepting donations on behalf of the Movember Foundation on edmontonoilers.com.

"We’re very proud to see a number of our players participate in Movember." said Natalie Minckler, EOCF’s Executive Director. "Not only have they shown leadership by joining this important cause but their participation is a product of their own initiative."

Oilers forward Sam Gagner initiated the idea and enrolled his teammates Gilbert Brule, Taylor Chorney, J-F Jacques, Patrick O’Sullivan, Ryan Stone, Theo Peckham and Zack Stortini.

George Parros, in other words, will soon have some competition.

It was really weird how it happened. We were maybe 15 games into the season, and they started...

2009-11-05T22:13:13Z

It was really weird how it happened. We were maybe 15 games into the season, and they started healthy scratching our captain last year. One day I came in for the game, and I had a 'K' on my jersey. I was like, "What the heck?" The coach came over to me and said "cap-tain," and everyone started clapping. And that was it.

— Former NHLer Kevin Dallman on life in the KHL

Ranking the NHL's fighters

2009-11-05T19:55:54Z

More photos » by LM Otero - AP

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If you haven't been stopping by stats man Gabe Desjardins's pad lately, you'd be well-served to do so. He's banging out some good stuff over there.

The latest is a system of ranking fighters, one that comes up with Georges Laraque as the NHL's top heavyweight. Here's the list based on the past three seasons:

Player	Ft	In	Wt	Fights	W	L	T	GP	Fts/82
Georges Laraque	6	3	253	30	24	3	3	177	13.9
D.J. King	6	3	229	22	16	2	4	89	20.3
Derek Boogaard	6	8	257	29	21	6	2	133	17.9
Donald Brashear	6	3	234	37	23	9	5	220	13.8
Wade Belak	6	5	225	28	17	7	4	165	13.9
Milan Lucic	6	3	228	24	18	4	2	149	13.2
Aaron Downey	6	1	215	15	9	1	5	81	15.2
Raitis Ivanans	6	4	256	39	21	11	7	215	14.9
Colton Orr	6	3	222	52	31	16	5	209	20.4
Eric Godard	6	4	214	44	20	15	9	164	22.0

I'm afraid I don't quite get how the ELO rating system is coming into play here, but anything that uses chess to rank hockey fighters is all right by me.

There was not a single person in sections 330 and 334 a few minutes into the game tonight. Not one....

2009-11-05T19:08:24Z

There was not a single person in sections 330 and 334 a few minutes into the game tonight. Not one. I think a couple souls showed up a while later and sat there, but that was…it.

You definitely did not dissuade critics who say Denver is just a bandwagon hockey town tonight, folks. The announced attendance was definitely not the actual number in the building either. I’d say the real number was about 8,500, maybe a bit less actually.

— Adrian Dater, All Things Avs

Trouble brewing in Columbus

2009-11-05T18:25:28Z

More photos » by Jay LaPrete - AP

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The Columbus Blue Jackets could leave central Ohio if the team can't fix an economic model that is causing losses of $12 million a year, according to a report issued today by the Columbus Chamber. But a deal to keep the hockey team here and the Arena District alive -- the team and the district generated $30 million in taxes last year -- probably will include asking for public dollars, and soon.

"We believe there is a sense of urgency here," said Ty D. Marsh, chamber president and CEO. "We're looking for a solution or progress by the end of the year."

— The Columbus Dispatch

This is a situation that's been building for a while. I'd actually be shocked if the Blue Jackets have made much of a profit in any year since the prelockout days, when the payroll was very low and interest was at its peak.

Historically, their attendance has been decent, too, at least prior to the lockout, but because a private company built the building, Columbus pays significant rent (about $3.5-million annually), receives no arena perks and ticket prices remain fairly low. The one game I've seen there, I sat right behind the bench for $80, tickets that were widely available.

Even with the league's new revenue sharing system, the Jackets just aren't all that close to turning a profit:

If the Blue Jackets had free rent and arena-naming rights, the hockey operations would basically be breaking even, but the other business of booking concerts and events would still lose about $4 million a year.

The biggest part of the problem?

And contrary to what's been written elsewhere, these are financial issues that are not merely solved by winning hockey games. The gap is just too large and the markets involved too small. Even if the Blue Jackets sold another 2,500 tickets a game and went on a run to the second round of the playoffs, they would still be in the red.

Teams like Columbus and Nashville are in tough to compete in a league with a payroll of more than $35- or $40-million and probably always will be.

On today's episode of ...

2009-11-04T20:42:27Z

More photos » by NATHAN DENETTE - AP

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... As The Maple Leafs Turn:

John Mitchell appears to be pegged as the team's No. 1 centre for Friday night against Carolina
Coach Ron Wilson tries to find a way to generate some goal scoring
And did you know Phil Kessel is one of only five players to register 10 shots in a game this season?

Today's tidbits from practice

IIHF announces roster deadlines for Olympics

2009-11-04T18:17:17Z

IIHF announces roster deadlines for Olympics

On the following dates the teams will announce the names of 20 skaters and three goaltenders who will go to Vancouver. Teams are listed in alphabetical order:

Belarus: December 23
Canada: December 31
Czech Republic: December 30
Finland: December 30
Germany: December 30
Latvia: December 29
Norway: December 29
Russia: December 25
Switzerland: December 30
Slovakia: December 29
Sweden: December 27
USA: January 1 (during NHL Winter Classic)

NOTE: There will be no so called "taxi-squads" in Vancouver 2010. This means that injured players can not be replaced.

A new look at SBN

2009-11-04T14:55:53Z

More photos » by Mary Ann Chastain - AP

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In case you missed it, yesterday SB Nation introduced a new look for all 200+ of its various sports blogs. There's been a lot of feedback elsewhere, some positive and some negative, but I'm interested in what you think of the design and what we can do to make it better.

I'll pass on your thoughts to our design team and hopefully they can continue to work on how the blogs function and look as the network grows.

In Philadelphia, where a do-or-die game in the baseball World Series was about to start right...

2009-11-03T23:09:42Z

In Philadelphia, where a do-or-die game in the baseball World Series was about to start right across the parking lot, the Flyers sold 18,667 tickets, about 96 percent of capacity. (The Flyers game started at 5 p.m.; the baseball game at 8 p.m.) On Long Island, home to many fans of the New York Yankees, the other team in the World Series, 10,846 tickets were sold, or about 67 percent of capacity at Nassau Coliseum. (The Isles game started at 7 p.m.)

And then there was Phoenix, where the Coyotes were bought out of bankruptcy earlier in the day. An occasion for joy among local fans? Maybe, but only 5,855 tickets were sold for the game at Jobing.com Arena — a record low for the franchise, breaking the old mark of 6,495 set in the previous game.

— The New York Times

Kessel finally set to play in Toronto

2009-11-03T14:44:00Z

More photos » by Winslow Townson - AP

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Up to now, Kessel said, he’s been able to travel about Toronto anonymously because a torn labrum and torn rotator cuff kept him off the ice and out of the fans’ field of vision. That will change tonight – although Kessel said the pressure he feels will not come from the overweening expectations of the hockey public.

"There’s always pressure when you play hockey," he said. "You just feel it because you want to help the team win, get in the playoffs or at least compete for a playoff spot."

— David Shoalts, The Globe and Mail

I'm off to the Air Canada Centre, where everything is sure to be all about Phil Kessel all day. The Leafs are taking on the Lightning tonight, and Toronto's latest "saviour" is expected to play his first game with his new team.

He hasn't played a game since May, so perhaps we should temper expectations just a bit.

UPDATE Here's the latest entry in the Kessel Watch. Also had a chance to listen in on Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis on the Lightning side of things, and should have more from them later.

Could be a decent game tonight. Toronto has yet to win at home, Tampa has yet to win on the road, so something's about to give. Gustavsson versus Niittymaki in goal after Mike Smith was bombed out yesterday against the Flyers.

UPDATE Seen Stamkos? And how he's been out playing Lecavalier so far? A lot of people are beginning to wonder what that might mean for both of their chances with the Canadian Olympic team.

Olympics Watch: Americans off to hot starts

2009-11-02T20:57:07Z

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

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Following up on a look at the hottest Canadian players in the NHL so far this season, here's a look at which American players may be impressing the Team USA brass so far:

Goal

	Player	Team	GP	GS	W	L	OT	GAA	Sv%
1	Ryan Miller	BUF	10	10	8	1	1	1.86	0.936
2	C. Anderson	COL	15	15	10	3	2	2.11	0.936
3	Ty Conklin	STL	5	4	2	2	0	2.34	0.921
4	Tim Thomas	BOS	9	9	4	5	0	2.66	0.910
5	Jon Quick	LAK	13	13	8	3	2	2.59	0.905
6	J. Howard	DET	5	3	1	2	1	3.42	0.879

Thomas may be the reigning Vezina winner, but it's hard to argue with Miller and Anderson making the team based on their starts. The Americans have the NHL's two hottest netminders so far.

Defence

	Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-
1	Alex Goligoski	PIT	14	5	7	12	12
2	Matt Carle	PHI	11	2	10	12	9
3	James Wisniewski	ANA	9	0	9	9	6
4	Ryan Whitney	ANA	12	1	6	7	3
5	Erik Johnson	STL	12	0	7	7	3
6	Ryan Suter	NSH	13	2	5	7	2
7	Jordan Leopold	FLA	12	1	5	6	2
8	Brian Rafalski	DET	12	1	5	6	-1
9	Zach Bogosian	ATL	10	5	1	6	-2
10	Keith Yandle	PHX	13	1	4	5	-2
11	Matt Niskanen	DAL	12	0	5	5	-3
12	John-Michael Liles	COL	8	2	3	5	-4

There will definitely be some interesting decisions to make on the Americans back end, with some of the less-heralded names playing th best to this point. Whitney, Suter, Rafalski and Johnson were the only ones invited to the team's summer camp.

Forward

	Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PPG	+/-
1	Zach Parise	NJD	L	12	6	8	14	1.17	7
2	J. van Riemsdyk	PHI	L	9	2	8	10	1.11	4
3	Ryan Malone	TBL	L	11	8	3	11	1.00	2
4	Dustin Brown	LAK	L	14	4	9	13	0.93	0
5	Patrick Kane	CHI	R	13	4	8	12	0.92	4
6	Tim Connolly	BUF	C	11	4	6	10	0.91	-1
7	Ryan Kesler	VAN	C	15	5	8	13	0.87	0
8	Jason Pominville	BUF	R	11	3	6	9	0.82	2
9	Kyle Okposo	NYI	R	13	3	7	10	0.77	0
10	Keith Tkachuk	STL	C	12	3	6	9	0.75	1
11	R.J. Umberger	CBJ	C	13	4	5	9	0.69	-3
12	J. Langenbrunner	NJD	R	12	2	6	8	0.67	6
13	Mike Knuble	WSH	R	14	3	6	9	0.64	7
14	Bill Guerin	PIT	R	14	3	6	9	0.64	5
15	Scott Gomez	MTL	C	14	2	7	9	0.64	0
16	Brandon Dubinsky	NYR	C	15	3	6	9	0.60	6

More tough calls here, probably, especially with players young and old like Van Riemsdyk and Tkachuk. Connolly and Pominville were not at the orientation camp but could play their way onto the roster in the next month or so.

Introducing CHIP: Cap Hit of Injured Players

2009-11-02T06:32:42Z

More photos » by David Zalubowski - ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Here's someone finally doing the legwork on a stat once proposed by Tom Benjamin and something I'd been meaning to get around to eventually: quantifying the impact of players' injuries based on their salaries and time missed.

LW3H from Springing Malik explains the stat as he calculated it last season:

The concept again - multiply each game missed by a player by his 2008/09 cap charge, then take the aggregate of these figures for each team and divide by 82. This indicator of value lost to a team by injury/illness is called CHIP (Cap Hit of Injured Players).

Among other things, the stat tells us that the biggest injuries in terms of impact so far are those to Andrei Markov, Patrik Elias, Marian Hossa and Phil Kessel — four stars who have yet to play a game — and that Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto have been hardest hit by injuries to this point.

Something like this is by no means a science, but I do think it offers a better idea of which teams are impacted by injuries than simply looking at man-games lost. Here's hoping our friend in the U.K. continues to compile the numbers.

Thanks to Cassie at Raw Charge for the heads up on this one.

The Ladd on D'Agostini hit

2009-10-31T13:48:08Z

There are so many of these lately, I don't know which ones to post and which ones to ignore. Given it's the weekend and likely to be slow around these parts, however, this issue is worth bringing up yet again.

At some point, this hit will be considered illegal in the NHL, whether that's due to a devastating injury or otherwise. For now...

"I thought it was a good hit," Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought it was a clean hit, that’s my view of it."

"It was a hit to the head," Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said. "It's up to the league to make judgment on that."

Based on the actions that have been taken to date with respect to my employment, including the...

2009-10-30T23:11:56Z

Based on the actions that have been taken to date with respect to my employment, including the ongoing surveillance of my activities at the office and the reduction of my role through the circulation of false information, it is my view that I have been constructively dismissed by the union. However, what is more important to me is that it has simply become impossible to work for the Players in the environment that has been created. It is also unfair to the hard-working, dedicated staff of the NHLPA to have my untenable situation negatively impact them in any way.

— Ian Penny, former interim executive director of the NHLPA

Olympics Watch: Canadians off to hot starts

2009-10-30T18:20:46Z

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

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Rather than take a look at the usual suspects for Team Canada at the Olympics, I figured it might be worthwhile to simply look at which Canadian players are impressing in the early going this season. I'll try and get a similar look at some of the other teams up here in the next week or so.

Goal

	Player	Team	GP	GS	W	L	OT	GAA	Sv%
1	Jose Theodore	WSH	8	7	3	2	2	2.47	0.922
2	M-A Fleury	PIT	10	10	9	1	0	2.07	0.921
3	Marty Turco	DAL	9	9	4	2	3	2.26	0.917
4	Chris Mason	STL	7	7	3	3	1	2.69	0.913
5	Martin Brodeur	NJD	10	10	6	4	0	2.57	0.909
6	D. Roloson	NYI	6	6	2	1	3	2.96	0.906
7	Ray Emery	PHI	9	9	5	3	1	2.62	0.906
8	Cam Ward	CAR	11	11	2	6	3	2.89	0.905
9	Pascal Leclaire	OTT	8	8	4	2	1	2.72	0.902
10	R. Luongo	VAN	12	12	6	6	0	2.79	0.902

Something tells me Jose Theodore's going to be out of luck when it comes time to pick the team in December, but Marc-Andre Fleury is getting a lot of attention so far given his Cup-winning performance in the spring. He's the favourite to join Marty Brodeur and Roberto Luongo, if he's healthy, on the team.

Defence

	Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-
1	Dan Boyle	SJS	13	2	11	13	1
2	Michael Del Zotto	NYR	13	4	8	12	4
3	Drew Doughty	LAK	14	2	10	12	2
4	Mike Green	WSH	12	2	8	10	5
5	Ed Jovanovski	PHX	12	4	6	10	3
6	Dion Phaneuf	CGY	11	5	4	9	0
7	Kyle Quincey	COL	13	2	6	8	6
8	Duncan Keith	CHI	12	3	5	8	5
9	Jason Demers	SJS	13	0	8	8	5
10	Chris Pronger	PHI	10	2	6	8	4
11	Shea Weber	NSH	12	4	4	8	2

Perhaps the most interesting name here is Doughty, who has picked up his game from where he was last season as a rookie. If not these Olympics, he looks like he'll be there down the road (assuming NHLers go).

Boyle, meanwhile, is playing his way onto the team, even while playing with a broken thumb, while players like Keith and Weber continue to make their case. Picking the blueline won't be easy for the Team Canada brass given Phaneuf, Jay Bouwmeester, Robyn Regehr and Scott Niedermayer are in the running, too.

Forward

	Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PPG	+/-
1	Brad Richards	DAL	C	10	5	10	15	1.50	7
2	Dustin Penner	EDM	R	13	9	10	19	1.46	9
3	S. Stamkos	TBL	C	10	9	5	14	1.40	3
4	Martin St. Louis	TBL	R	10	3	11	14	1.40	-3
5	Rick Nash	CBJ	R	11	6	9	15	1.36	-2
6	Patrick Marleau	SJS	C	13	10	7	17	1.31	3
7	Joe Thornton	SJS	C	13	3	14	17	1.31	-3
8	Rene Bourque	CGY	L	11	5	9	14	1.27	-2
9	Rich Peverley	ATL	C	9	5	6	11	1.22	1
10	Sidney Crosby	PIT	C	12	9	5	14	1.17	9
11	James Neal	DAL	L	12	7	7	14	1.17	7
12	Dany Heatley	SJS	L	13	8	7	15	1.15	-2
13	J.P. Dumont	NSH	R	8	3	6	9	1.12	2
14	Corey Perry	ANA	R	10	5	6	11	1.10	-1
15	Mike Richards	PHI	C	10	6	5	11	1.10	-3
16	Ryan Smyth	LAK	L	14	6	9	15	1.07	3

More interesting names. Do you take, for example, Steve Stamkos, even though he wasn't at the orientation camp? Have Brad Richards and Patrick Marleau worked themselves into the equation? And do you bring back that old standby, Captain Canada, after his hot start with the Kings?

Needless to say, it's going to be incredibly interesting who they take, as some previously unheralded candidates are making strong cases so far. It's still early, but then again, they have to pick this team in another six or seven weeks, so I imagine they're keeping an eye on this, just as we are.

I've bolded the players listed who I think are strong candidates to make the team.

"Poor Pat." Give me a freakin' break. I would agree to get kicked in the face once a month if I...

2009-10-30T14:04:26Z

"Poor Pat." Give me a freakin' break.

I would agree to get kicked in the face once a month if I could get back on the ice in the National Hockey League.

— For First Time, Dapuzzo Reveals Anguish, Depression After Skate Severs His Face

Part 6: Final thoughts on Nashville as a hockey market and its future in the NHL

2009-10-30T11:30:19Z

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

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In February, I took a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, to see some of the Music City's sights, watch a few games and, most importantly, get a handle on how the NHL is faring in what has been, recently anyway, one of its more troubled markets. For the first five parts of the series, see here.

"Until we can find 17,000 people, 41 nights a year that care enough to support us with their pocketbook and their presence, then I don’t think we have been successful with what we set out to do. We didn’t set out to just keep the team here. We set out to make this a franchise that the entire city loves, wants to be a part of and that we have success."

— David Freeman, owner of the Predators

I think even Mr. Freeman would agree there's a long way to go on that front.

It didn't take long this season for "the attendance watch" to rear its ugly head in Nashville, as long-time Avalanche beat writer Adrian Dater ripped the fan base and the market eight days after the regular-season opened earlier this month. As you can imagine, it was a screed not all that well-received in Predsville.

"It’s a tough thing to say, but it needs to be said," Dater wrote. "The Predators should get the heck out of the NHL. They’ve been a charity case team the last few years, needing revenue-sharing money from the rest of the league just to stay operable."

Dirk Hoag, an excellent blogger who I've come to know well the past few years, offered a lengthy response, defending his hometown team about as well as can be expected. But after visiting Nashville, buying tickets and sitting in the seats, meeting the hardcore fans and then picking through the (available) financials, I've come to accept what for many is an uncomfortable truth when it comes to debates like this.

The Predators are a "charity case" reliant on revenue sharing to survive?

Well, of course they are. And for this league to have expected any different when the team landed there 11 years ago among the hockey neophytes was just plain wrong.

The harsh economic reality of the NHL is and always has been that there are simply not 30 wonderful markets to plunk franchises into, and that, even in the best of circumstances, it'll be a tight squeeze in a place like Nashville. The Predators will always have one of the league's lower payrolls, they'll always be in danger of losing young stars after their second contract (think Shea Weber) and they'll also always have to somehow get more from less in order to be competitive — let alone win a championship.

Even with the handout, in other words, the deck is already stacked against this franchise.

This season, Nashville's payroll is within $7-million of only four other teams — Columbus, Dallas, Phoenix and the Islanders — none of whom are in particularly sunny financial condition. The Preds have 12 players making less than $800,000 and no one making more than $4.5-million — a unique use of cap space in a league where 60 players make $5-million or more.

We're still in the early days of a salary capped NHL, but what's become clear is that the $56.8-million ceiling figure acts as a magnet, drawing top teams' (and those that want to join them) dollars more and more every season. This year, even in recessionary climes, about 17 teams will be cap max clubs — including all of the top teams from last season.

Looking at what Preds GM David Poile has had to do with his roster, especially on the blueline, I have doubts teams like Nashville can keep up. Especially when yet-to-be stars are drawing big money at 21 and leaving altogether four years later.

But that's an aside to all of this, meant only to illustrate how tough a road this team has ahead even with the dreaded handout in its back pocket. The fact is, the NHL took the plunge, took the city's money and put hockey in a relative dead zone for the sport way back when. Against all odds, a fan base has grown there — a better one, I'd argue, than we could have reasonably expected in a smallish Southern market, and a better one than it gets credit for just about everywhere else.

The reality of this 30-team NHL is that there's nowhere in the U.S. better to go than Nashville, no new doors to open that will offer more than what's slowly built up there. Lower bowl tickets are not dirt cheap (I paid $70) and the fan base, small it may be, is rabid enough that it has weathered some pretty difficult circumstances already.

Even so, barring a dream playoff run on a shoestring budget, turning a profit will be a tall task. The city's in deep in terms of propping the Preds up, and other NHL teams are, too, but Freeman just might be right that this franchise could be something a generation from now.

But what to do in the interim?

If the question is, "should the NHL have gone to Nashville in the first place?", I'd likely have to answer, no, that this would be a healthier league at 24 or 26 teams.

But if you're asking "should they now pull up and leave?", it's a far more difficult proposition. The goodwill in the market has been built, and ownership's saying it's willing to fight the good fight over the long haul. Even if backing up a moving truck and hauling teams to Canada was an option, places like Winnipeg and Quebec City would face the same issues and questions, with fans wondering why payroll was so low and their stars leaving so young. Those cities would need to subsidize the arena operations, ownership would need to be deep-pocketed and patient and, even then, who knows?

The NHL's become a league of 10 to 12 haves and so many have nots, the worst of which cannot possibly survive without revenue sharing (and even then are in a difficult situation). If, in that environment, the Predators can put 14,000 plugged-in fans into a 17,000-seat rink and keep breaking even, that, at this point, in this circus of a league, is a win.

Maybe not a huge one, but a win nonetheless.

I don't know if hockey will survive in Nashville, long term, but they deserve their shot and, in some ways, they're good for a league that's become far too much about big business the past 10 years. I like what I saw there, even if it's different and even if the fans up in the rafters pay less than the league average to cheer on a game few knew existed a decade ago.

It's a tough thing to say, especially after all that's been written on the subject, but the Predators should stay the heck in the NHL. They're not the Coyotes and they're not the answer to Southern Ontario's need for another team, as much as many would like them to be.

Freeman is in for an interesting fight, but in my mind, it's still a war worth waging. And all you can do is wish them luck, on the ice and otherwise.

Toronto Argonaut co-owners Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon are considering making a bid for the...

2009-10-29T17:20:36Z

Toronto Argonaut co-owners Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon are considering making a bid for the Phoenix Coyotes and plan to meet city officials next week.

Sokolowski and Cynamon had been linked to Ice Edge Holdings, a group of eight Canadian and U.S. businessmen who have made a pitch for the club. But their involvement with Ice Edge ended several weeks ago, according to sources familiar with the bidding.

— Paul Waldie and Stephen Brunt, The Globe and Mail