from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal, It’s becoming painfully clear to unsigned Edmonton Oilers centre Andrew Cogliano that the team views him in a far harsher light than his best friend Sam Gagner with main training camp opening in a week. The Oilers see Cogliano as a third-line player, with winger Gilbert Brule on one wing, provided Cogliano can find a way to get his faceoff percentage up from last year’s 43 per cent. It’s obviously not nearly strong enough for a player entering his fourth NHL season. Of course, if you played Brule on Cogliano’s wing, Brule could take the faceoffs in the defensive zone. After all, Brule finished at 52.6 per cent on draws in 2009-10. But Cogliano, the only unsigned Oilers Group 2 free agent, may have to take $1 million less next season than Gagner, the probable No. 2 centre on the roster. He might have to take considerably less than Brule’s $1.85 million US per season in a two-year deal, too, even though Brule has 72 NHL points in 222 games, and Cogliano has 111 in 246. That’s life in today’s corrected NHL, where clubs are being somewhat tighter with a buck for young players in their second contracts, to a large degree. continued with more Oilers news too…

from Chuck Gormley of the Courier Post, Veteran right wing Bill Guerin makes no bones about it—he wants to be a Flyer. It’s why he was scrimmaging with 30 other players at the SkateZone on Thursday and why he’ll be back on the ice today before the Flyers’ prospects take over the SkateZone for a weeklong camp beginning Sunday. “Right now I’m just kind of skating and being around the guys,” Guerin told the Courier-Post after a 50-minute scrimmage Thursday. “This is a team I would definitely like to play for, but we’ll see.” With the start of training camp one week away, the Flyers have 23 players under contract and are just $877,000 below the NHL’s $59.4 million salary cap. Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren declined comment when asked if anticipates offering Guerin a tryout contract. “He’s in a tough position right now, I understand that,” said Guerin, who has played 17 NHL seasons and will turn 40 in November. continued

from Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Blues players said Thursday that while it was difficult to see Mason move on, having Halak helped ease the disappointment. “At first, you don’t think about the guy coming … you think about the guy you’re losing and you feel bad for that,” Blues forward David Perron said. “We’ve got memories with what happened with (Mason). He was such a good guy and such a good goalie. (But) after that, you turn the page and you realize how good of a goalie we’ve got as well.” Halak, who was drafted by Montreal in the ninth round (No. 271 overall) in 2003, has a record of 56-34-7 in 101 NHL games, along with a career goals-against average of 2.62 and a save-percentage of .919. Before last year, though, Halak had only played in 56 games in three seasons. Then in December, he took the starting job away from Price and was brilliant in the postseason, posting the league’s fourth-best save-percentage (.924). “I watched every single (Montreal) game in the playoffs,” Perron said. “He was just unbelievable. He would carry the team and it was unreal … non-stop saves.” more

from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe, Tyler Seguin is here, with a pristine Bruins sweater, No. 19, set aside for the taking. All he has to do is reach for it, eagerly wrap his strong but adolescent arms around the black-and-gold fibers and slip it over his muscular, well-sculpted torso. Simple. Ready to wear. Such an easy fit. But the question remains, is he ready for the fit? “Yeah,’’ said the much-ballyhooed 18-year-old forward, who arrived in town four days ago in anticipation of the club’s rookie camp next week. “I do believe I am ready.’’ For the record, the most talked-about Bruins rookie since Joe Thornton (last seen in the Hub in that No. 19 sweater) said those words evenly and confidently, yet with no amount of hubris nor hint of braggadocio. Seguin’s “ready’’ is a healthy one, a smart one — verbalized as respect for those already on the roster, and also in acknowledg ment that a mediocre showing in the next 2-3 weeks could return him to the Plymouth Whalers for another year of junior hockey. continued

from Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star, Mike Komisarek was dragged into Twitter kicking and screaming. Colby Armstrong had some time on his hands and thought he’d try it out. Tyler Bozak, well, he got on to Twitter so he can hear from singer Taylor Swift. “She’s my favourite singer,” said the Leafs 25-year-old centre, who got all sheepish when he brought up her name. “I’d like to meet her. You never know.” continued

from Tony Gallagher of the Vancouver Province, When Vancouver Canuck fans scan their team’s opposition in the Western Conference this season they will likely be happy about the fact the Chicago Blackhawks lost much of their depth and will now rely on a lot of young, minimum wage types to fill in positions around their stars. They will look at the San Jose Sharks and understand the changes they made were to try to get this team into the Cup final again but with the loss of Evgeni Nabokov and a couple of good parts in Rob Blake and Manny Malhotra the question has to be whether they have in fact improved. But when their scanning eye hits upon Detroit, fear enters their mind knowing this just might be the best team in the west. continued

Cal Clutterbuck answered some fan email at Wild.com, Question: Who are you most looking forward to meeting as an opponent this year to lay a big hit on? (laughs) Ahh, probably anyone from Vancouver. Maybe Sidney Crosby. Editor’s Note: Many people asked about former Penguin and current Senator Sergei Gonchar, who took a run at Clutterbuck last year and delivered a heat shot. This was brought up to Clutterbuck. (laughs) That was a long time ago, but if I have the opportunity to hit him cleanly, I’m going to take full advantage. more Q & A…

In the summer of inaction we saw Kovalchuk sign, unsign, and then sign again. We saw players head to Russia. We saw Canadiens forward Glen Metropolit, and Islanders stalwart Richard Park head to Switzerland. But more than anything, we saw unrestricted free agent after unrestricted free agent after – wait for it – unrestricted free agent remain unsigned. And don’t even get me started on the RFA players still sitting at home without a contract.  So who’s left? Without further ado, The Upper Canadien presents the best of the rest – ten players left as unrestricted free agents who could step in and make a difference across the NHL.

This is not a story. Alas, I’ve been forced to write something on the matter because there’s no shortage of lunacy out there right now. What’s been made of Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Dan Ellis’ recent Twit-roversy is shameful. How far it’s gone is embarrassing. And, really, it’s much ado about nothing but, in an effort to talk some sense into the masses, here goes nothing:

via Jennifer Schwarz of NBC Chicago, The John Hancock Center announcing today they’ll be installing an ice rink on their 94th floor observatory deck early next year. That’s more than 1,ooo feet in the air, making it the world’s highest ice skating rink according to management. The 1,000 square foot rink will take 8-12 hours to install and will be made of synthetic ice.  It will be open from January through March of next year. thanks to a KK member for the pointer

from Corey Masisak of CSN Washington, A portion of the fan base has been clamoring for a physical, defense-first defenseman for much of Boudreau’s tenure and that’s probably not likely to cease regardless of how many points this team racks up this season. The elevation of Carlson and Alzner into full-time, top-five roles should make this unit better than it was a season ago. Green and Schultz are also young enough to continue to make improvements so it is possible the top six could be a lot better than last year. Could the Capitals use another veteran defenseman for an extended postseason run? Absolutely – and general manager George McPhee will almost certainly be in the market for one in the spring. For now there is more than enough talent to get through the first two-thirds of the regular season without one. read on plus a breakdown of the defensemen in the organization…

from Jim Kelley of Sportsnet, Given that Liambas has no noticeable offensive skills, isn’t renowned for his defensive play and isn’t about to make any roster let alone an all-star team as a skilled player, it’s fair to say that all he’s shown to be capable of is hitting people, hurting people and fighting with people. I have already expressed some strong opinion on this subject earlier this week on the FAN 590’s PrimeTime Sports with Bob McCown and I don’t back away from any of them. I think this signing smacks of a publicity stunt, not uncommon for a franchise that annually misses the playoffs and is under scrutiny for what’s been essentially a do-nothing offseason. I’m also bothered by the fact that this offer comes from Burke, a man who argues, sometimes vehemently, that thuggery (my word, not Burke’s) and “truculent play” (his words not mine) are essential to the game. I’m bothered even more by the fact that this is a huge part of Burke’s vision of the game. more

“I love the game.  I say all the time that if it wasn’t for hockey, I wouldn’t have anything in my life. I’m very grateful for it. Right now, I just enjoy watching the games as a fan. The players seem to be getting better every year. The game is great. It’s more exciting every year.” -Wayne Gretzky.  More on Wayne from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.

Welcome Mike…

from Larry Canale of The Fifth Down at the New York Times, Finally, we come to Favre’s most amazing record — perhaps the most amazing record in sports history. Heading into his 20th season, his consecutive-games streak had reached 286, or 310 if you count playoffs.... With all due respect to the estimable iron-man records of A.C. Green (1,192 straight N.B.A. games between 1986 and 2001), Doug Jarvis (964 straight N.H.L. games between 1975 and 1987), and even Cal Ripken (2,632 straight baseball games between 1982 and 1998), Favre’s mark is one that we’ll probably never see in sports again. Football is simply too violent a game for one man to last 20 years without missing a start. more Not so fast Larry Canale, how about 502 consecutive starts for a goalie, held by HHOF Glenn Hall?

from John Grigg of The Hockey News, First off, the kid who grew up idolizing Borje Salming and Anders Eldebrink sounded pumped for this season. At 40, the six-time Norris Trophy winner and nine-time first-team all-star is still one of the league’s best - many will tell you he got jobbed out of another Norris nomination last year - but understands that with age things come a little harder, even for first-ballot Hall of Famers. “I think if you don’t have that motivation it’s hard,” said Lidstrom of keeping things going during the summer. “It’s tough to go through the off-season workouts everyone is doing to get ready for a long year; it takes its toll on your body. You have to be motivated to be ready to go through that and to be ready to play. “And once you start in September it’s every day; you have to show up every day and you have to be motivated to be able to do that, too. I’m still motivated. I’m still looking forward to the season. And when August comes around, you want to get back on the ice again - I still have that hunger and I still have the desire to play.” continued

Hello friends. My name is not really Twig, but it’s what I go by. I’ll be covering all forms of Minor League and European League Hockey for Kukla’s Korner. The blog will be called ‘The Affiliate’. I thought that was a fitting name considering the content of the blog and it didn’t appear to be taken by anyone else. A little about me: I’m from Grand Haven, Michigan and would never have left but I joined the Army in 2003. After getting out in 2007, I decided I would have an easier time finding work in Seattle. I was wrong, so I moved to Houston. I’m currently enrolled at Sam Houston State as an English Major and I stay pretty busy writing essays about Japanese Quinces and stolen Pies, but I will find time to blog about hockey. My sanity depends on it. What I would like The Affiliate to provide is a way for you to know more about what’s happening in the world of hockey. I hope that someday down the road, when you’re buying the jersey of your teams new rising star, you can look back and remember reading about him here. And thank you, Paul for the opportunity to blog on your site.

So says KHL President Aleksandr Medvedev.

from Mark Everson of the NY Post, Rumors abound since the Devils must shed some $3-5 million in salary cap liability by season’s start. The latest strong word, though, is that GM Lou Lamoriello does not want to deal Bryce Salvador, thought to be one of the obvious sacrificial lambs. Together with Dainius Zubrus, Salvador would be a leading candidate for cap room-making because he lacks a no-trade clause, has a significant ($2.9 million, $3.4 million for Zubrus) cap hit, and is among the elder Devils. One new name in the hopper is defenseman Matt Corrente, a former first-rounder. Travis Zajac’s name continues being mentioned, despite his major role. continued

from Sherri Zickefoose of the Calgary Herald, Former National Hockey League defenceman Jason Smith is facing criminal charges after being arrested for domestic assault. Smith, 36, a former Edmonton Oilers captain for five seasons who retired from the Ottawa Senators in 2009, is charged with two counts of assault and one count of unlawful confinement against his wife and teenage daughter. Police were called to a southwest home at 8 p.m. on Aug. 10. The family, who lives in Greely, Ontario, were spending the summer in Calgary. Although the charges against the Calgarian are serious, Smith’s defence lawyer says they don’t reflect the reality of the incident. continued