Plenty of Nothing

Chris and Cam Abbott

Vancouver have Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and Luleå have Chris and Cam Abbott from Sarnia, Ontario. At the moment Cam is seventh in Elitserien scoring with 17 points in 16 games, and Chris is twelfth with 13. The pair played together for Rögle last season, Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs before that, and Cornell before that.

London Knights Form Pro Team (Temporarily)

They play in a 9000-seat rink.  They've produced generations of hockey stars.  If this were any northern European nation, the London Knights would probably be one of the top twelve professional clubs in the country.  

Of course this isn't Europe, so London has no professional team, and annually gives away all its talent to the NHL.

But this past few weeks the Knights have acted as if they were a pro club, and assembled a group of alumni (plus a few ringers), to play three European sides, EV Zug, Black Wings Linz, and EHC München, in the Euro-Can Cup and, hey, they won.

Chelios and Those Healthy Joints

After having played almost a decade each for Montreal, Chicago and Detroit, Chris Chelios, aged 47, is in the free agent market looking for an NHL team that could use a third-line defenseman who has seen everything. He sure has. Most NHLers his age are not just retired but long retired.  Or maybe captaining a minor league farm team, as a name to draw fans and a wise old hand to ooze hockey wisdom over the prospects.  Chelios needs four more seasons to tie Gordie Howe's longevity record, which might seem a stretch, but, hey, look, he's taking his supplements. 

Abbotsford Now On The Map

Obscured by all the noise about getting a seventh NHL franchise into Hamilton, Ontario, is the fact that Abbotsford, British Columbia, is about to join the small number of Canadian cities with pro hockey teams, when the Abbotsford Heat begin play in the AHL this fall.  They'll reside in the city's new 7018-seat Entertainment and Sports Centre and serve as top farm team to the Calgary Flames.  Given the NHL's determination to keep the Canadian content of their league at six teams or less, maybe a few more towns should look at the AHL.  Hey, Kingston, Ontario, they're gettin' ahead a ya!  For Abbotsford is now also a university town, home to the newly created University of the Fraser Valley.

Brad Smulders Leads AIHL Scorers

Photo Source

Now that that Stanley Cup thing is out of the way we can concentrate on the Australian Ice Hockey League, which is back with seven teams this year.  Newcastle North Stars lead the table, and the scoring leader is Canadian Brad Smulders, who has spent the past few seasons in the Netherlands.

Europe's Thataway

The Calgary Oval X-Treme have lost their funding and appear likely to fold.  At the same time it looks like the owner of the Edmonton Chimos is ready to pack it in.  The upshot is that the Western Women's Hockey League may be going the way of the NWHL.

Women's senior club hockey has yet to figure out how to break the 100-fans-per-game barrier.

Nadine Muzerall has signed with Lugano.

Carla MacLeod Women's World Championship MVP

The USA won its second straight IIHF women's world championship, but the tournament MVP trophy went to Canadian defenseman Carla MacLeod.  (CP photo.)

Cody McLeod's Best Year

The Colorado Avalanche may have finished 15th in the West, but 2008-09 was a standout year for Cody McLeod.  #55 scored 15 goals and 5 assists in 79 games, tenth in team scoring, and racked up 162 penalty minutes.  He has yet to earn however the respect of Vancouver columnist Mike Halford.  (AP photo.)

Färjestad!

When a team in the Elitserien wins the playoffs, everyone puts on a gold helmet.  These guys are Färjestad BK, in recent decades Sweden's most successful club, who have just won the 2009 playoffs.  In the other part of the post-season, the Kvalserien, Rögle and Södertälje retain their places in the Elitserien.  Leksand, who led the HockeyAllsvenskan all through the regular season, opened the tournament with four losses, and will just have to try again next year.

日本製紙クレインズ!

Nippon Paper Cranes of Kushiro, Hokkaidō, have beaten Seibu Prince Rabbits of Tokyo in the Asia League hockey playoffs.  Cranes goalie Hisashi Ishikawa was playoff MVP.   Brock Radunske of Anyang Halla Ice Hockey Club of Anyang, Korea, was the league regular season scoring champion.  Wade Flaherty, of the China Sharks, playing out of Shanghai, was named goaltender of the year.

Picture lifted from this eyewitness account.