Hockey Player Sues Anaheim Ducks Over Anti-Semitic Claim

A Jewish hockey player is suing the Anaheim Ducks alleging that his coaches made anti-Semitic remarks and discriminated against him because he is Jewish.

Attorneys for Jason Bailey, who was traded to the Ottawa Senators in 2009, filed the lawsuit in Orange County ((CA)) Superior Court.

The suit alleges that coaches for the Bakersfield Condors, an ECHL affiliate of the Ducks at the time, made anti-Semitic remarks towards him and denied him ice time because he is Jewish.

Bailey was assigned to play for the Condors under the contract he signed with the Ducks back in 2008. He played there for 35 games before finishing his 2008-2009 season with the AHL's Iowa Chops. He has since played for the AHL affiliate of the Senators in Binghamton, New York since the trade.

The lawsuit says Bailey complained but management did not do enough when it came to addressing the allegations.

Here's a feature that ran on Bailey when he first surfaced with the Ottawa 67's back in the 2006-2007 season on "OHL Primetime..."
((HT: Youtube/RogersTV))


Vik Jolly's piece in the Orange County Register has part of the complaint:

Plaintiff "...was subject to severe and/or pervasive harassment on the basis of religion by being forced to endure a barrage of anti-Semitic, offensive and degrading verbal attacks regarding his Jewish faith"

The suit also claims then-Condors head coach Marty Raymond allegedly claimed that Jewish people "only cared about money and who's who." Both Raymond and an assistant that is to have allegedly harassed Bailey wrote letters of apology and were briefly suspended back in 2008, but Bailey's attorney tells Jolly that is not enough.

A Rough Night For Versus

This was an on-screen graphic that ran on the Versus network between the second and third periods of the 3-2 lead that the Pittsburgh Penguins had over the Ottawa Senators...

Juggling three games on a Sunday can get the best of anyone...

Someone in the graphics department was delivered some bad ju-ju...

Carry on...

Sidney Crosby's Busy Night

((HT: CBC/NHL/MMatt9999))

Sid The Kid had a busy night Friday, but that's what the playoffs are for...

A save, a goal, and an assist...

The goal gave the Pens their first point on the board.
We pick up the game with Item Number Two on our shopping list...

Bob Cole got to do the honors...


And that's how a series gets tied at a game a piece...
Simple, really...

Yeah, right...

Andy Sutton Clocks Jordan Leopold

((HT: Versus/NHL/Hockey Highlights Plus))

Who knew "The Mutant" had it in him...

The Ottawa Senators' Andy Sutton absolutely destroyed the Penguins Jordan Leopold in Game Two of their Eastern Conference first-round match-up Friday night.

Witness below...


After the period ended, Penguins forward Mike Rupp shoved Senators forward Zack Smith as Smith was entering a runway leading off the ice. Smith returned to the ice and fought briefly with Penguins forward Max Talbot.

Leopold did not return to the game.
Duh...

Sutton, when he was with the Islanders earlier this year, drew a two-game suspension for ramming Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis into the boards January 19th in Pittsburgh. Dupuis missed one game with facial injuries.

All this for a guy who lost a decision to Vinny Lecavalier when he was an Atlanta Thrasher. Sutton, apparently, now has his sea legs under him after an understandably nervous Game One.

Here's Sutton's response when a Pittsburgh beat writer, the Post-Gazette's Ray Fittipaldo, asked him about it...
((HT: TSN))


The HQ gives all 6-feet-5 of Sutton the goods on that one...
"You're an expert...?"

Alex Kovalev's Busy Day

((HT: NHL/Rogers Sportsnet))

Alex Kovalev was plucked from the Montreal Canadiens by their neighbors to the west for two years and US$10-million.

Sens coach Cory Clouston has been wondering why he hasn't been getting a lot of penalty calls this season as the team is struggling for another early part of an NHL year.

But when Kovalev gets his swerve on you don't need to worry about no stinking penalty calls... a four-goal performance against the Flyers Sunday gives him 11 goals on the year. The only problem with that is that three of those goals came on a hat trick night back about a month ago.

You see the Sens problems... but they're only a point out of fifth in the Eastern Conference standings as of Sunday night...

Here's your Flyers-Sens highlights...
There are a lot of them...

Heatley Finally Traded To San Jose

((HT: TSN))

Sources tell TSN that Dany Heatley ((pictured, thanks Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty)) has been traded to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo and a second round pick.

Trade discussions heated up on Friday and Saturday morning before a deal was finally agreed to. A deal that sends Heatley to the team he secretly wanted all along. A team he believed was an option when he refused to waive his no-move clause to accept a trade to the Edmonton Oilers.

Saturday's trade ends a saga that began with a verbal trade request in mid-May. A request, sources say, led to several discussions between Heatley, Senators coach Cory Clouston, Senators GM Bryan Murray, as well as Heatley's agents, JP Barry and Stacey McAlpine.

Ottawa responded to Heatley's trade demand by asking the request be put in writing.

Two days after the Senators received written confirmation from Heatley, the story broke publicly and the veteran forward quickly became a target for disdain in the nation's capital.

Heatley became unhappy with his role in Ottawa last season, especially after the Senators made a coaching change. He discussed his concerns about what he felt was the limiting of his ice time and his shift from the first power-play unit to the second unit with coach Clouston in the Senators' end-of-season meetings.

He also addressed the public ahead of the National Team Orientation Camp in late August.

"When I signed in Ottawa two years ago, I felt it was to be an integral part of the team," Heatley said. "Over the last two years and more recently over the past year, I feel my role was diminished. This past season, it diminished a lot more.

"This is a straight hockey decision. I have nothing against the fans of Ottawa, or the city of Ottawa. I would like the opportunity to go somewhere where I can play to the best of my capabilities and be the player that I can be."

Here was the initial fall-out when Heatley asked for the trade...
Thanks to our friends at TSN...

Sens Owner Has Had Enough Of Balsillie

((HT: GlobeSports/CP))




Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk ((pictured, thanks CP)) is firing back at BlackBerry billionaire Jim Balsillie.

Melnyk has released a statement that reads like an open letter to Balsillie, addressing claims by the Research In Motion co-CEO that he lacks personal integrity and expressing dismay over Balsillie's attempts to buy the Phoenix Coyotes.

In the statement, Melnyk indicates he once felt bad for Balsillie but now understands why he shouldn't be allowed to own an NHL team.

This is some, flat-out, juicy cat-fighting. And if Balsillie thought he had friends anywhere in the owners fraternity, this attempt to piss on a few others to point fingers won't go over well with da judge and the rest of da frat...

Not the way to play the game... the idea of Balsillie as a white-knight, sympathetic-figure type was the right play. But BlackBerry Jim looks like he set that approach on fire as well.

Here are some of the highlights of the letter, thanks to the Ottawa Sun...



"As a businessman, I know about playing tough and getting your elbows up.

I also know lessons that most of us learned early in our childhoods - you play fair; you play by the rules and you help others when you can.

I have watched with some dismay Jim Balsillie's fall from being a deserving business icon to what now appears to be a desperate man willing to say anything or do anything to buy an NHL franchise.

I used to privately feel sympathy for his plight, but as I've watched his conduct with and towards the league and other owners, I clearly believe the sport of hockey is better off without him.

In a recent legal filing, he dragged me into his hurricane of legal filings and panicked pleas and cited me as someone who is lacking the personal integrity to own the Ottawa Senators hockey franchise.

I've tried to reach Jim through his office to find out why he would say something like this about me - we barely know each other - but I've received no response.

I will say in response publicly that his willingness to drag down anyone he can get his hands on along with him is discouraging and saddens me.

It is well documented that I was required to pay fines to the OSC over civil administrative oversights like filing paperwork on time. This is a far cry from the sanctions imposed on Jim Balsillie by the Ontario Securities Commission arising from his role in the improper grant by Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM, TSX: RIM) of more than 1,000 stock options involving millions of shares over a period of almost ten years, his role in the systematic and repeated issuance by RIM over many years of misleading disclosure concerning RIM's stock option dating practices, and the benefits Balsillie derived personally from stock options that were granted improperly to him . These sanctions are widely acknowledged to be among the most severe ever imposed by a Securities Commission in Canada (see http://www.osc.gov.on.ca/Enforcement/Proceedings/AlphaListing/ep_r_index.jsp)

I'm comfortable in my own skin, Jim. You should look around at the friends you are losing and the damage you are causing to yourself, the NHL and all Canadians."



Two words: Me-F'n-Yow...

The NHL's Bill Daly issued a statement that had Melnyk's back... read it here...

And da judge gets to read all this while he's on vacation...
September 2nd should be a hoot-and-a-half...

Heatley May Still Get To Exit Ottawa

((HT: Ottawa Sun/Bruce Garrioch))

Dany Heatley’s ((pictured, thanks Sun Media file)) quest to get out of Ottawa isn’t dead yet.

Senators GM Bryan Murray confirmed in an e-mail to Sun Media that he could have “an option” to move the disgruntled left winger, but with the clock ticking toward the opening of training camp Sept. 12 at Scotiabank Place, the club will have to move quickly.

Sources say the San Jose Sharks have more than a passing interest in the two-time 50-goal scorer, but if they’re going to make the deal, they might have to get a third team involved — possibly the Montreal Canadiens — because the Senators won’t accept what the Sharks have on the table.

The Senators don’t want anything to do with winger Jonathan Cheechoo, who has been offered as part of a package along with defenceman Christian Erhoff and a first-round selection.

The Sharks have never offered Patrick Marleau, who is only a year away from being an unrestricted free agent.

“If the Sharks don’t have what the Senators want, then (GM) Doug Wilson might have to go get it from another team,” said a league executive Saturday. “The Senators want a proven scoring winger in return and that means you might have to get a third team involved.”

A source said that a third team could be the Habs, but wasn’t sure what San Jose could acquire from Montreal to satisfy the Senators’ needs to deal Heatley.

It should be noted the Habs, Sharks and Senators are all up against the $56.8-million US salary cap.

“Every team has cap issues one way or another,” said a league executive

“It’s difficult for San Jose to take on Heatley’s salary (cap hit of $7.5 million a season over the next five years) and I’m sure that’s what is holding them back. This is a big gamble, especially if it doesn’t work out. Nobody wants to take that kind of gamble in the salary cap era.”

The Sharks talk comes a day after the Edmonton Oilers announced they’re out of the running for Heatley and have moved on.

Indications are the Heatley camp informed Oilers GM Steve Tambellini during a B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony last weekend in Penticton that Heatley had no intention of going to Edmonton. Heatley and Tambellini were both in Penticton to take part in festivities.

It’s believed Heatley, who played in a charity hockey game, informed Tambellini there was no sense in the Oilers continuing to pursue the trade after several attempts to convince Heatley to come to Edmonton failed.

Speaking to a San Jose newspaper Friday, Wilson was non-committal about moves.

He told reporters during his state-of-the-union address following the Sharks’ first-round exit that he was going to make changes in the off-season, but Wilson has a reputation as a “tire kicker” when it comes to trades.

Heatley, however, would be willing to waive his no-movement clause to go to the Sharks.

“This is all up to Doug Wilson. If he wants to make big changes, this is the biggest one he can make,” said a league executive.

Here's coverage dating to when Heatley initially requested out of Ottawa.
Brent Wallace fronts the piece, thanks to our friends at TSN...

Heatley Says No To Edmonton Deal

((HT: TSN/Bob McKenzie))

Now, it gets interesting.

Dany Heatley did not waive his no-movement clause to facilitate an agreed-upon trade between the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers that would have sent Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner and Ladislav Smid to Ottawa.

For now, and quite possibly forever, the deal is dead.

A lot of confusion has existed because there is a $4 million bonus payment due to Heatley on July 1. It was the understanding of many involved, including the Senators and Oilers, that once the clock struck midnight and turned over to July 1, the Sens would be on the hook for the $4 million bonus payment, which may have been a serious impediment to getting a deal done after midnight.

But as it turns out, the NHL says as long as a Heatley trade is concluded before midnight eastern tomorrow night, the bonus payment allocation can be transferred to the new team.

So, in effect, the Senators have another 24 hours to find a suitable deal that Heatley will approve and NOT be on the hook for his $4 million signing bonus.

Heatley became unhappy with his role in Ottawa last season, especially after the Senators made a coaching change. Heatley discussed his concerns about what he felt was the limiting of his ice time, and his shift from the first power-play unit to the second unit with head coach Cory Clouston in the Senators end of season meetings.

Heatley notched 39 goals and 33 assists in 82 games last season. The 72 points were his lowest point totals in his four seasons with the Senators.

The 28 year-old, had back-to-back 50 goal seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07.

Here's a backgrounder as to how we got to this point with Rod Smith and Darren Dreger
Thanks to our friends at TSN...

Burke Doesn't Want Heatley

((HT: TSN))

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke ((pictured, thanks Getty Images/Bennett)) let it be known that the Leafs will not be in on the Dany Heatley sweepstakes, and he pulled no punches along the way.

In a phone interview with Deb Placey and Billy Jaffe on NHL Live! broadcast on the NHL network, Burke stated that the Leafs had no interest in the two-time 50 goal scorer, largely because of the way he has chosen to handle his trade request.

"We're not going to be in on that," Burke stated. "He's a good player but I have certain guidelines on how players ask for trades."

Despite being only one year into a six-year, $45 million contract extension, the 28-year old Heatley went public with a trade demand last week, claiming he was unhappy with his role on the team and his relationship with Sens head coach Cory Clouston. Heatley, and his agents, J.P. Barry and Stacey McAlpine's actions did not sit well with Burke.

"When you have players come ask you for a trade, I tell the players 'don't finish that sentence,' because once you ask, I'm going to move you," Burke stated. "If a player wants out, you're darn right I'm going to move you. I'm not kissing anyone's ass to play in my town, so to hell with you, don't finish the sentence. My second rule is if I hear about this, you're not going anywhere."

While Burke stated that he has no problem with players requesting a trade, he was unhappy with Heatley's decision to go public with his request, thus making Senators general manager Bryan Murray's chances of moving the sniper extremely difficult.

"For a player to pop off and say he wants out or leak it (to the media), in my mind you are now no longer interested in your team. If you've done that you've handicapped them, you've handcuffed your GM."

While Burke admitted that the Leafs planned to be very active in the off-season and had plenty of money and cap space at their disposal, the 2002 Calder Trophy winner would not be welcome in Toronto under his tenure.

"As long as you are on that team, you owe them to maximize the asset, and once you've taken that step, sorry I don't accept that."

Here's the segment with Deb Placey and Billy Jaffe...
Thanks to our friends at the NHL Network/Sirius-XM

Heatley Wants Out Of Ottawa

((HT: TSN))

Despite only being one year into his contract extension with the Ottawa Senators, Dany Heatley wants out.

TSN has confirmed that the 28-year old who signed a six-year, $45 million contract extension with the team in October of 2007 - that includes a no-movement clause - informed the team a week ago of his desire to play hockey elsewhere.

The veteran forward became unhappy with his role in Ottawa last season, especially after the Senators made a coaching change. Heatley discussed his concerns with head coach Cory Clouston in the Senators end of season meetings. However, both sides agreed some time away would help remedy the situation. So, the issues were left to settle while Heatley represented Canada at the IIHF World Hockey Championship.

Heatley returned and continued to consider his future before finally approaching Senators management with his trade request.

Senators general manager Bryan Murray has seen his club go downhill since they appeared in the Stanley Cup Final in 2007.

In the 2007-08 season, the Senators had a hot-start, but then had a brutal second-half of the season and held on to seventh place in the Eastern Conference, only to get swept by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

This past season, the Senators never really got it going, and missed the playoffs.

In order to deal Heatley, Murray would have to find a team with the room to take on the final five seasons of Heatley's contract that would count for $7.5 million per season against the salary cap. While he may have to be less selective to encourage a trade because of this, Heatley will have significant input into where he moves.

"We signed [Heatley] to a long-term deal and we expect him to honour it," Murray said on Tuesday. "At this point in time he's a Senator."

"We have been having discussions with Bryan Murray concerning Dany," Heatley's agent J.P. Barry told the Ottawa Sun. "I'd like to continue these discussions in private before determining what's best for Dany,"

Heatley notched 39 goals and 33 assists in 82 games last season. The 72 points were his lowest point totals in his four seasons with the Senators.

The veteran winger, who had back-to-back 50 goal seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07, is believed to be interested in going to a Western Conference team.

Sens Make A Move - Hartsburg Gone

Craig Hartsburg got pink slipped Monday by the Ottawa Senators.

Hartsburg was fired Monday after 48 games and it seems the 08-09 Sens won't make the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons. That will get you axed pretty fast.

Ottawa promoted Cory Clouston, who had been the head coach of the AHL"s Binghamton Senators, for the rest of the season.

Clouston is the Senators' fourth coach since Ottawa appeared in the 2007 Stanley Cup finals.

The Senators are currently 13th in the Eastern Conference with a 17-24-7 record and are 14 points out of eighth spot and final playoff spot. Ottawa's 41 points is the 3rd worst in the NHL.

Photo Courtesy: Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images

Ruutu Gets Two For Biting

The NHL suspended Ottawa Senators agitator Jarkko Ruutu two games for biting Buffalo Sabres enforcer Andrew Peters through his gloved thumb during a game Tuesday night.

Ruutu, according to a statement released by the NHL, is "considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement," and will forfeit more than $31,700 in salary.

Ruutu will miss Thursday's game at Boston and the Jan. 10 game against the New York Rangers.

The incident took place at 13:13 of the first period Tuesday night in a game between two bitter rivals. The force of Ruutu's bite ripped Peters' glove off and broke the skin on Peters' right thumb. It happened in the first period of Buffalo's 4-2 win when Peters was giving Ruutu a prolonged facewash in front of the Senators' bench.

Ruutu denied that he bit Peters despite replays showing he chomped down on the player's glove.

"I don't think anyone really wants to admit to biting somebody," Peters said on Wednesday, according to the Buffalo News. "That's a pretty awful thing that he did. You guys know me and I'm not the kind of guy who would make something up like that. I'm a pretty honest guy. Obviously he's going to deny it, the old deny-till-you-die type thing. That's his choice. I don't think if I did something that stupid, I would really be admitting to it either."
Peters, who doubled over in pain and clutched his thumb, was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct for sparking the altercation. Ruutu was not penalized.

"I didn't bite him," Ruutu said after the game. "He had his glove in my mouth but I didn't bite him."
With his thumb bandaged after the game, Peters referred to what happened as bizarre and added he had never been bitten. He managed to spin some humor into the situation, saying it was his "texting" thumb that got cut and now he'll have to actually talk to people on the phone instead of text messaging them, the News reported.

Ruutu has already been disciplined once by the NHL this season, when he was suspended for two games without pay in November for elbowing Montreal's Maxim Lapierre.

((HT: the youtube and MSG))

Bite Me!

Hungry, Hungry Hippos!

Normally, Hockey players though sometimes brutal are honest, straight up and generally not so dirty. However, then there is Jarko Ruutu, now of the Ottawa Senators. Take a look at this video from the Senators/Buffalo Sabres match. Ruutu gets tangled up with Sabres tough guy Andrew Peters. Peters obviously is in great pain, if you look closely, it appears he may have be bitten (and no not that way!).

((thanks to the YouTube and MSG Sports))

So Much For That One Paragraph...

Multiple sources north of the OSG border, including TSN and TSN.ca, are letting us all know that Andrej Meszaros ((Pictured, thanks Getty Images)) is now a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Meszaros signs a multi-year deal averaging US$4-million per year over the next six seasons. Filip Kuba and Alexandre Picard head to Ottawa along with a draft-pick.

"It got to a point where the money was too much for what we wanted to pay," Senators' GM Bryan Murray told the Canadian Press. "We thought we had made a considerable offer, but when there was the threat of an offer sheet at such an exaggerated (dollar amount) it really led us to believe that making a deal was an easier way, and would give us the return that we needed for this player."

The Senators now only have Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov as their normal, every day defensemen. Bryan Murray has lost Joe Corvo, Mike Commodore, Wade Redden, and Luke Richardson since the mid-point of last season.

The principals of the Kopitar-Khabibulin deal are still in place and in play with the Kings and Blackhawks. The Sens may now have to bow out as a dance partner.

Kuba is slated to make US$3-million in the last year of his current deal. He becomes an unrestricted free agent after the 08-09 season. Picard is still working under his entry-level contract. It will give him $750,000 this season and $850,000 next season.

The Sens are just under US$52-million and have a little less than US$5-million to play with for the upcoming season. The Lightning are at close to US$53-and-a-half million if the Meszaros number is averaged in. That leaves them with US$4-million or so to give Barry Melrose an entirely new sandbox at the Forum.

Here's a profile of Meszaros ((thanks to the youtube, the Sens, and Rogers 22 in Ottawa, Ontario...))

Tear Down The Bulin Wall...???

Darren Dreger of TSN in Canada is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks are looking to move goalie Nikolai Khabibulin- and fast.

As of right now, the Blackhawks are two-and-a-half million dollars over the newly minted US$56.6-million number and need to move some freight. Dreger maintains, and those of us at OSG HQ have agreed for a while now, that the LA Kings is the likely destination. Khabibulin ((pictured, thanks yahoosports.com)) is set to make US$6.75-million in the last year of his current deal, and has told anyone willing to listen that he wants to play the lion's share of the games for whatever team he plays for in 2008-2009.

With Cristobal Huet:
A)Also in net,
B)Making a million dollars less and,
C)Under contract for three more seasons

That ain't happening...

With Khabibulin in Los Angeles, the Kings get:
A) A Number One goaltender, which Jason LaBarbera is not...
B) Closer to US$32-million which is STILL seven million dollars short of the NHL-imposed floor-level number for salary cap purposes...

((Ed. Note- Seems like an Atlanta/Nashville move trying to underspend, but we digress))

But, then who do the Kings move to Chicago...?

The Hawks need a winger that can stay with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. The answer, to the chagrin of Kings fans ((if there are any left)) would be Young Star Anze Kopitar. Kings fans would, then, disappear if Kopitar left the building. The level of "care" Kings' owner AEG would have is, probably, slight.

Kopitar is still under his entry-level deal where, with bonus money thrown in, he will make close to US$900,000. He is set to be a restricted free agent at the end of the 08-09 season.

Salary figures in LA also lean toward a Raitas Ivanans or a Matt Ellis, but neither has the pop a Kopitar does.

Six weeks ago, the Toronto Sun reported on the possibility of a three-way dance among the Kings, Hawks, and Senators. Kopitar goes to Chicago. Andrej Meszaros and Martin Gerber go to Los Angeles. The Sens get Khabibulin and either Brent Seabrook or Cam Barker. Meszaros, however, may have thrown a monkey in that wrench by signing an offer sheet with an undisclosed franchise Thursday for US$5-million per season. The Sens, acknowledging a contract negotiation impasse, could match and then pull a sign-and-trade if the Sun's info was anywhere close to correct to keep this paragraph accurate.

Choose your dance partner and start the carnival music...
Here's a sample of what someone could be getting very soon...