Top Line: Stanley Cup parade in Toronto; Seattle expansion; more links
Maple Leafs center Dave Bolland is bringing the Stanley Cup to Toronto. Never mind that he won it as a Blackhawk. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
By Allan Muir
An annotated guide to this morning's must-read hockey stories:
• There's finally going to be a Maple Leaf parading the Stanley Cup in Toronto. Problem is, it'll be former Blackhawk Dave Bolland. Interesting part of this may be that he says he's put his former team behind him and his Chicago sweater will stay in the closet. Not sure how often that happens.
• Lots of talk yesterday about NHL expansion to Seattle. I'll throw in my two cents on this later this morning.
• NHL.com is cranking up a 30 teams in 30 days series. Here's today's take on the Anaheim Ducks, starting with six key questions facing the team heading into 2013-14.
• Adrian Dater tackles the tough questions about Patrick Roy's future hair color and potential trade bait and names the player who should be Colorado's captain. Have fun at the beach, AD.
• Edmonton GM Craig MacTavish wants to weed out the complacency in Edmonton's dressing room. Creating competition for jobs should help, and so should the arrival of new coach Dallas Eakins, who won't hesitate to apply a little old-school discipline when needed.
• Joanne Ireland notes that adding some pugnacity remains on Mac-T's to-do list.
• Should the Washington Capitals be interested in Mikhail Grabovski? He makes sense as a stop-gap response until Evgeny Kuznetsov is ready to fill the second-line center role.
• Ready to start talking fantasy hockey? NHL.com has a list of risers for 2013-14, including Bryan Bickell, Logan Couture and Torey Krug.
• Mark Borowiecki hopes to graduate from 2013 part-timer into a full-time role with the Ottawa Senators next season.
• Fans were shocked to hear the news of Ziggy Palffy's retirement yesterday...because they assumed he'd retired years ago. The 41-year-old former Islander, King and Penguin goes out on top, having led the Slovakian league with 83 points in just 48 games last year.
• Why has the market for free agents run dry? Bruce Garrioch explains why the system is working exactly as expected.
• A war of words between goalie coaches? On August 1, this counts as good fun.
• Colorado's Matt Duchene is looking to build on last season's success with his commitment to a rigorous offseason conditioning program. His training partners? Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon.
• T.J. Brodie filled in as a top-pairing defenseman down the stretch for the Flames last season and looked pretty comfortable with the role. But Jay Feaster isn't convinced that's who he really is, and that's why Brodie had to settle for a bridge contract yesterday.
• The Panthers gave former San Jose center Scott Gomez a one-year deal Thursday. Not sure if this is great news, Florida. My son, a Sharks fan, started dancing around the room when I broke the news that San Jose wasn't re-signing Gomez.
• Ryan Callahan says his recovery from surgery is progressing nicely, but he still may not be ready for the season opener. This is one worth waiting for. You don't want a guy whose game is based on banging coming back too soon and re-injuring the shoulder.
• Sure, Patrick Eaves has some quick feet, but that may not be enough to save his job with the Red Wings next season.
• The Vancouver Giants are hoping the Red Wings keep their mitts off of potential overage Marek Tvrdon. You can see why the Giants want to keep the asset, but the kid's best interests may lie elsewhere.
• Since Detroit's fans might not have paid close attention to the East in the past, the team's site is offering up a primer to get everyone up to speed. Here's yesterday's take on the New York Islanders.
• Looking to answer that annoying inner debate about the greatest offensive defensemen in Philadelphia history? No worries. Bill Meltzer has you covered.
• Mark Recchi and Rick Tocchet were back on skates to work with some of Philly's top youth hockey players.