Top Line: Red Wings to revolutionize Detroit; Ex-Leaf faces penalty; more
An annotated guide to this morning's must-read hockey stories:
• Stephen Henderson says the vision displayed by the Red Wings with their new arena project is thrilling. Now comes the tough part: bringing it to life. This really is an amazing proposal by the Ilitch family and probably the most important construction project to the city of Detroit in at least four decades. Even if you're not a Wings fan, this modern take on the Wrigleyville concept is well worth checking out.
• If that piece just whets your appetite, here's George Malik with an exhaustive overview of the project, the challenges it faces and its boundless potential.
• A former Maple Leafs goaltending prospect faces a one-year suspension for doping in Sweden even if his test comes back clean.
• Chicago coach Joel Quenneville raved after watching Teuvo Teravainen in camp this week before backtracking a bit and preaching patience for the organization's top prospect. Don't let him ruin your fun: Teuvo's the real deal, and his time is close.
• Brian Costello took note of the Combativity Award handed out daily at the Tour de France to the rider who shows the most fighting spirit and sees a natural crossover with hockey. He works up the parameters for the honor and comes up with a few interesting nominees.
• The untapped potential of Zack Kassian isn't the lead story in Vancouver this summer, but the presence of a new coach does give the big winger a fresh start in his efforts to prove he's more than just a fringe top-six player.
• Dominik Hasek and Ryan Miller had the Sabres set in goal for much of the past two decades. That certainty has given way to turmoil for the short term, but an impressive group of prospects could soon lead to stability between the pipes in Buffalo.
• Joe Haggerty looks at a frustrating summer in Boston and wonders if potential free agent Kevin Hayes could fit into the team's plans. As much as the the Boston College grad might like to stay in town, it's hard for me to see the Bruins finding room. He might be limited to a cap-friendly $900,000 base salary but incentives could drive his total hit close to $3 million and that's a ton for a strapped team to spend on a player who projects as a bottom-six forward next season.
• Of course, if they trade off one or two of their nine NHL-caliber defensemen then maybe Boston can get in on the Hayes conversation, among others.
• We've all spent a lot of time marveling at the genius displayed by Dallas GM Jim Nill this summer in acquiring Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky. But as Mike Heika writes, one of his least heralded moves could turn out to be just as crucial.
• Larry Brooks looks at the spate of recent bargain basement signings by the Rangers and says the team must not have a lot of faith in the short-term potential of its young players.
• Steve Simmons says he knows the player the Florida Panthers were going to select if they had been able to trade down from the No. 1 spot in last month's draft. The name is a bit of a surprise.
• The Oilers need more from talented center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The challenge falls on Dallas Eakins to guide him to his breakthrough season.
• Maybe you can't be an NHL player, but you can sure live like one...if you've got $1.7 million to spare and a hankering to live in Ottawa.
• Guess this explains why Cody Franson and the Maple Leafs are headed to arbitration this week.