Summer News Update

As a hockey fan, the summer begins to slow down considerably only a couple weeks into July. I am already very anxious for the season to start and October can't come fast enough. Unfortunately, the summer also makes it very difficult to find time and topics to blog about, hence my one month hiatus. But I'm back now and have created a schedule in my mind of how I'm going to lead up to the season through my blog. It will be exciting times for me and hopefully for you to. I will discuss that more at the end of this post however.

Right now it is time to go through the biggest news to happen since my last post. In this post you will be able to read my thoughts on such topics as the Long Island referendum, Steve Stamkos, Zach Parise and Shea Weber signing interesting contracts and the new Winnipeg Jets logo. As always, I am very interested to hear your thoughts, so please comment below this post.

The New York Islanders are one of the more historic franchises in the NHL having won for consecutive Stanley Cups between 1980 and 1984. However, having not made the playoffs since 2006, the team has seen it's fan base shrink. To add to their losing woes, the team is still playing in it's original stadium from 1972, the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and they are in desperate need for a new rink soon. Recognizing this arena problem, owner Charles Wang proposed an new sports complex that would be built in the city of Uniondale and give the Islanders an new home, as well as allow music concerts and other events to be shown in the city. The only problem was that Wang couldn't fund the entire $400 million project and needed help from the local citizens to pay for it. Uniondale is already known for it's high property taxes so it was unclear which way the public would sway when the went to the poles this past August 1.

Unfortunately for the Islanders, the public voted no to the proposed plan, leaving Wang and the team with little options moving forward on Long Island. The team's lease with the Coliseum ends in 2015 and Wang has said they will not renew the contract. This means that unless another way to fund an new building comes, the team will be forced to relocate in just over 3 years from now. It is sad to see all this rich history being lost with a team because of the reality of real estate, but that very well could happen to the Islanders. I think and hope Wang is able to sell the team to someone who is willing to build a new rink, but in this current economic climate, there are not many people willing to risk that investment. The process will not be as sudden as the recent relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg but 3 years still is not very much time to get a new plan designed and executed. If the team does move, the NHL will lose an important historic team to a new city and name, that much I am certain of.

On a happier note, fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators can sleep easier knowing their best players are staying around for at least one more year. Steve Stamkos agreed to a five year deal with the Lightning, Zach Parise decided to stay one more year in New Jersey, and Shea Weber was given an arbitration ruling that keeps him in Nashville for one more year. All of these contracts are very interesting in their own right as none of them are really long term as the many contracts recently signed by star players. And in the case of Parise and Weber, the teams and players won't be away from the negotiating table for long as they only received one year deals. I thought I would comment on each contract and if I think the player will resign again after their new deal. First up will be Stamkos.

Steve Stamkos has become one of the more dangerous goal scoring players and has been an important piece of the rebuilding Lightning's huge turn around last season. He has 119 goals and 232 points in his first three NHL seasons and was defiantly due for a raise from his entry level contract. He agreed to a new five year deal that will see him get paid $37.5 million over that time, a shorter deal than the 10 and 12 year contracts that were rumoured were in the works. This contract will take him to the end of his restricted free agency eligibility, meaning he can sign with any team at the end of this deal. If Stamkos play continues to improve than he will be highly coveted once his contract ends and he will have to decide between making lots of money and the Lightning organization he saw so much success with. It will be interesting to watch this player with his new contract and pressure to be the best, but I think he can do it.

Zach Parise is known as a consistent 40 goal scorer every year and one of the corner stones of the Devils team. Before last season everyone was speculating how he would play alongside Ilya Kovalchuck who had just signed a large 12 year deal with the Devils and was also known to score at least 40 goals a season. Unfortunately for Parise, he suffered a torn meniscus in his knee and was only able to play 13 games last season. This made negotiating a new contract difficult as it was known Parise was a good player but it was unknown how much the injury would affect his future career. That is why the teams agreed to a one year deal that will pay him $6 million next year as that will give both sides more time to negotiate on a long term deal. If the Devils don't like his play, they can trade him and if they do they will sign him to a long term deal before next summer. He will be a guy to watch this season as he tries to earn his money from the Devils.

Shea Weber has really emerged as a force on the defence of the Nashville Predators and even earned a nomination for the Norris Trophy as the best defenceman in the league last season. People began to take notice after his amazing Olympic tournament in Vancouver and he has continued to impress ever since. Weber and the Predators were forced to go to an arbitrator to resolve their contract negotiations and he awarded Weber with a $7.5 million, one year deal. This may be good news for next season, but David Polie, the GM of the Predators, will have a busy summer next year. His three best players, Weber, defenceman Ryan Suter and goalie Pekka Rinne all will be without contracts and will all want raises. With the salary cap not in his favour, Polie will have to make some decisions on if he can afford all three of these superstars. They are definitely not out of the news yet.

And finally, the Winnipeg Jets debuted their new logo a couple a weeks ago and it received mixed reviews. The logo has a Jet in the center of a circle pointing North with a navy blue background and white Jet. Personally, I like it a lot as it separates the current team from the old Jets but still has the same colour scheme and Jet idea the old logo had. Some people are claiming it is free advertising for the Air Force which is a scam. To them I say that the Canadian Army should be entitled to recognition by sports teams considering all of the hard work they have done giving us the freedom and opportunity for entertainment like the NHL. It is simply a way to thank them for their service. They actual jerseys have yet to be revealed but they will be before the preseason begins in September. I can't wait to watch the home opener for the Jets as I like the idea of having more teams in Canada. Another reason the season can't come fast enough.

Now it is time to further discuss my plans for the blog. Like I mentioned in the last post, I will be blogging about the Red Wings specifically on hockeytracker.net and so next weeks post will be on that site. After that I will begin with my analysis of the upcoming season, including a week about over and under rated players, another week about players who will have breakout seasons and hopefully a third week about players who have a lot to prove coming into the season. It will be fun to write these posts and I am excited to try my hand at some player analysis so you should look forward to reading that in the coming weeks. I encourage you to offer feedback in the comments or by via Twitter at @jbenny15. As an aspiring journalist, I hope to expand my readership as much as I can before I need to start job hunting, so please tell your family and friends about The Power of Hockey blog. Thanks for reading.