After 13 seasons, 207 goals and 706 points, it appears quite likely that the Bruins' concussion-stricken center Marc Savard has played the 807th and final game of his NHL career. (Brian Jenkins/Icon SMI)

The news out of Boston about Marc Savard is not good. “Marc Savard won’t play this year,” GM Peter Chiarelli told Fluto Shinzawa of The Boston Globe today. “Nothing has changed in our monitoring. He’ll be examined and he’ll be declared unfit to play….”

“Based on what I see, what I hear, what I read, and what I’m told, it’s very unlikely Marc will play again,” Chiarelli added. “Now, knowing the uncertainty of this injury, there’s always a chance [he could play]. But based on what I’m told, it’s very unlikely he’ll play. As an employer, I support him and hope he gets back to living a healthy life.”

This is not entirely unexpected news, but it’s not good news in any event. The NHL has taken serious and good steps to reduce the chances of concussion but, sadly, they may have come too late for Marc Savard. He’s not the only one whose career has been cut short in this manner, but everything should be done to make sure that deliberate hits to the head are no longer allowed in the NHL’s rules. Right now, that’s not entirely the case.
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Hoping for an offensive boost, the Wild are hoping that Dany Heatley's 26 goals and apparent lack of speed last season were a mere blip in his otherwise productive career. (Jason O. Watson/US PRESSWIRE)

The moves – and non-moves – that NHL teams have made for the upcoming season can leave one either jubilant or very puzzled. We looked at a few that we called “science experiments” in early July and it has indeed been a wild summer of roster movement. There are few sure things in the world (hey, if you want a guarantee, buy a washing machine) and here are nine situations that might be considered some of the biggest gambles in the league. As with our looks at rookies last week (here and here), these are not in any particular order and not intended to be a definitive list. Just some thoughts as we head toward training camp.

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After a turbulent 2010-11, young defenseman Erik Gudbranson is poised to contribute to the new-look Panthers this season. (Susan Stocker/MCT Landov)

We had so much fun looking at potential NHL rookies on Wednesday, we thought we’d finish today with another dozen.

Again, this second list is by no means comprehensive and the players are listed in no particular order. They aren’t necessarily favorites to win the Calder Trophy, although some will likely be in the discussion. It’s just another random compilation of names that we’ve been hearing and thinking about, players with a decent-to-excellent chance of making their teams coming out of training camp. Some have already gotten lots of publicity, some aren’t well-known. Some played a bit last season, but still qualify as rookies (as Logan Couture and P.K. Subban did in 2010-11). Some haven’t been in the NHL yet, but hope to break in this season. Some may not make it. Some who are not discussed here will. But they’re all trying to win a job for 2011-12.

And here they are:

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Center Cody Hodgson got valuable experience in the 2011 playoffs. (Anne-Marie Sorvin/US PRESSWIRE)

Training camp is a time for new faces and few things excite fans more than their NHL team introducing a rookie into its lineup.

Long gone are the days when rookies were almost always eased in, forced to learn from a seat on the bench the rigorous man’s game that was hockey at its highest level and only seeing sporadic action. The NHL is now more of a younger man’s game, especially since post-lockout rules have put a premium on speed. Rookies more often earn important spots and are more easily integrated into the lineup.

Rookie camps and preseason rookie/prospect tournaments are fast approaching. The big one in Traverse City, MI, will include young hopefuls from eight NHL teams. A five-team tourney will be held in Penticton, BC. There’s also a four-team tourney in Oshawa, ON. So it’s a good time to focus on some of the potential first-year players whose names you may be hearing more frequently after the puck drops in earnest on Oct. 6.

This list is by no means comprehensive and the players are listed in no particular order. They aren’t necessarily favorites to win the Calder Trophy, although some will likely be in the discussion. It’s just a random compilation of names that we’ve been thinking about, players who we figure have a decent-to-excellent chance of making their teams coming out of camp. Some have already gotten lots of publicity, some aren’t well-known. Some played a bit last season, but still qualify as rookies (as Logan Couture and P.K. Subban did in 2010-11). Some  haven’t been in the NHL yet, but hope to break in this season. Some may not make it. Some who are not discussed here will. But they’re all trying to win a job for 2011-12.

Here goes:

Brayden Schenn, Flyers – Penciled in as the Flyers’ third line center, no rookie may be under more scrutiny than the 6-foot-1, 195-pound brother of Luke who came over from the Kings with Wayne Simmonds and a draft pick in the Mike Richards deal. Schenn won’t be asked to take on Richards’ minutes or role as a leader just yet, but GM Paul Holmgren anointed him as something of a poster boy for the new-look Flyers while justifying the deal. Schenn has Richards’ competitiveness, but may not have his scoring touch. Still, he’s good with the puck and plays in all zones. He played eight games for the Kings last fall before bouncing between the AHL and junior hockey and dealing with a shoulder injury. He starred in the World Junior Tournament, where he was the top scorer and named MVP as well as Best Forward. More: James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail did a Q & A with Schenn earlier this month.

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Fighting is just one form of neurologically dangerous behavior the NHL allows. (Bill Greenblatt-UPI/Landov)

Will the recent class action suit by former NFL players – who allege that their league trained players to hit with their heads, failed to properly treat them for concussions and tried to conceal for decades any links between football and brain injuries — have an impact on the National Hockey League? One player agent thinks so.

Massachusetts-based Kent Hughes, whose NHL clients include Patrice Bergeron, Peter Mueller and Matthew Lombardi, who have suffered severe concussions, told Mathias Brunet of La Presse that the lawsuit “opens up a can of worms” for the NHL. “I feel that the NHL will closely monitor what happens in the NFL,” said Hughes.

A big part of that can of worms has to do with fighting in the NHL.
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According to The Business Journals, Denver leads the NHL's current "overextended" markets, but there's very likely nothing wrong with the city's ability to support the Avalanche that a little winning wouldn't fix. (Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE)

Other than the sadness of Rick Rypien’s funeral on Saturday, a hypothetical exercise by a business publication became the biggest hockey story during an otherwise quiet weekend. Conducted by The Business Journals, which owns various weekly U.S. newspapers devoted to commercial news in their respective markets, the study written by G. Scott Thomas examined 58 North American cities that do not have an NHL team and tried to determine which would be most suitable based on their wealth.

It’s a limited, one-dimensional study, of course, so when the results indicated that the best places for a new or relocated NHL team included not just major markets like Houston, Las Vegas, Orlando and Seattle, but also Riverside-San Bernardino, CA, Bridgeport, CT, Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA, Honolulu and even good ol’ Atlanta while Hamilton and Quebec City were considered borderline, well, you haven’t heard such howls since Chester Burnett recorded for Chess Records in the mid-20th Century.
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A new, more shallow net tested by the NHL in Toronto this week may allow for more passing from behind the goal, and more offense in front of it. (Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)

It’s quite possible that for this coming season, the NHL’s goal nets could be more shallow with less netting, the stanchions supporting the glass by the players’ benches could be less dangerous and a couple of additional lines may be added on the ice to help verify goals. Those seem to be the most immediate benefits of the league’s Research, Development and Orientation Camp that ran this week in Toronto.

Most of the various playing rules tried at the camp, using two teams of top 17-year-old players coached by NHLers Dan Bylsma and Dave Tippett, got mixed reactions. But judging by the comments coming from various observers of the two-day RDO Camp, the experiments to improve the playing surface’s geography proved quite popular.

The experimental nets tested this week are still six-feet by four-feet in height and width, but the depth shrinks from 44 inches to 40 inches. “It gives you more room behind the net,” former NHL defenseman Mathieu Schneider told host Mitch Melnick over Montreal’s Radio Team 990 (audio) on Thursday. Schneider is now with the NHLPA and sits on the NHL-NHLPA Competition Committee. “I think I would have liked that as a defenseman. They’re more narrow on the side so the net doesn’t bow out as much on the side so you’d be able to pass out from behind the net at a better angle. I think that would create a little more offense and it would help for wraparounds, guys getting around the net quicker.” Read More…

Lost in the chaos of Feb. 11 was Michael Grabner becoming one of three Islanders to hit the 20-goal mark that night and the team scoring nine goals for the first time since 2003. (Mark Lenihan/AP Photos)

In a sign that intelligent life exists on Earth, the Islanders have changed their plan to rebroadcast their infamous brawl-filled Feb. 11 game against the Penguins at a fan viewing party scheduled for this Friday.

SI.com has learned that the party will go on, but the Islanders and MSG Network have agreed to switch the game to a victory over the Sabres in which Michael Grabner’s hat trick goal was the winner.

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Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke wants to bring back the bear hug to help prevent serious boarding injuries. (Jean Levac/ZUMApress)

The NHL’s second Research, Development and Orientation Camp opens today in Etobicoke, Ontario with a group of the best draft eligible junior players (here’s the list) testing more than 30 potential new rules under game conditions while simultaneously showing their stuff to scouts.

Once upon a time, rule tests were staged during the NHL preseason, or for a year in the AHL, before the NHL would adopt them. Now, they do it this way. The camp provides NHL GMs with a chance to see them as a group and discuss what they’ve just seen. One wise commenter noted that if the GMs wanted to see how removing the trapezoid behind the net would work, they didn’t need the RDO Camp; all they needed to do was watch any NHL game film prior to 2005.

We wrote about some of these proposed rules last month. While a few have a real shot at being adopted, some are just pet ideas of a single GM who wants to convince his colleagues of the rule’s value. Toronto’s Brian Burke, for example, has never been a fan of the 2005 rule changes that sped up the game, and he has pushed his notion of the “bear hug” rule in which a player can wrap his arms around an opponent and take him into the boards. That would essentially legalize holding and re-introduce clutching and grabbing along the boards. Ostensibly, this is a safety measure in response to the numerous dangerous boarding incidents that have taken place over the last few years. But it seems like an unnecessary suggestion considering the NHL has strengthened Rule 41 on boarding this summer.

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Rick Rypien, the former Canucks center who recently signed with the Winnipeg Jets, was found dead at age 27 on Monday. (Frank Jansky/ZUMAPress)

It would be wrong to not begin today’s post with thoughts about Rick Rypien, the 27-year-old former Canuck who was found dead on Monday. Rypien was set to play for the Jets this season, and was called “the ultimate teammate” by Mike Keane, the former NHLer who roomed with Rypien on the AHL Manitoba Moose. More from Keane and others can be read in a recommended column by Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press.

Rypien is the second NHL player to pass away this offseason. Both he and Derek Boogaard were fighters and some have commented that those who play that role in the NHL can carry some heavy emotional baggage. Despite the admiration he earned from teammates, Rypien certainly had issues, which manifested themselves in numerous ways, including shoving a fan last season, which earned a suspension, plus two extended leaves during his time with the Canucks to deal with his problems — problems that were even more serious than many suspected.

“The tortured heavyweight had become a hockey cliché,” writes Mark Spector on Sportsnet.ca in his very interesting column today in which he rattles off the names of some who it fits — Dave Semenko, Bob Probert, John Kordic, Louie DeBrusk and Boogaard.

“To quiet the demons, they chose drink, or drugs, or constant angst. And it allowed them to deal with the behemoth who awaited in the next town, on the next roster, or the children who looked up at them innocently and asked, ‘Are you going to beat up so and so next game?’

“You never see the fear when they stand there in front of 18,000 fans, bare-knuckle fighting under the glare of the TV cameras,” Spector continues. “But so many of them speak later of how scared they were at that moment; how they barely got out of the shower after the game when the thought of the tough guy from tomorrow night’s opponent darkened their head space.

“The toughest part, a fighter once told us, is that guys like Rypien could never let that fear show. That there was no one to talk to about it. Their persona is such a big part of the role as the protector on their team, that there is nowhere for that player to unload his baggage.”

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