NHL New York

John Tortorella is out of a coaching job, and the New York Islanders are looking for a new coach.

Put two and two together, and you get the Coaching Rumor of the Day, courtesy of Tampa Bay Online.

Former Lightning coach John Tortorella could be in line to take over the vacant head coaching position with the New York Islanders.

The Islanders have contacted Tampa Bay seeking permission to speak to Tortorella, the Tribune has learned. The Lightning have granted the Islanders their request to talk to Tortorella.

Do you really think such an arrangement would work? If Garth Snow couldn't get along with Ted Nolan, don't you think the fiery Tortorella would be an even more explosive combination in the Isles five-headed front office? I'd expect the Isles wouldn't allow Tortorella the same level of power to their new head coach, but who knows what the Isles are thinking at any one time?

Now, I can't be the only one who hopes this hiring happens. Tortorella on a losing team equals hella-fun post-game conferences. Just imagine the tirades the guy would go on after putting up with the Isles for an entire season!

Much was made Wednesday of Marian Hossa's decision to sign a one-year deal with Stanley Cup champion Detroit, rather than take one of several lucrative multi-year offers that were available to him.

While Detroit is a fine team with fine fans, it's hard to get past the idea that Hossa simply didn't want to play for Pittsburgh anymore.

Once Hossa bolted, attention turned to Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr, who started his NHL career in Pittsburgh. While he was booed lustily during the Rangers' playoff series against the Penguins, it was still assumed that the Pens had a good shot at signing Jagr.

After all, who doesn't want to play with Sidney Crosby?

Evidently, Jaromir Jagr is going to pass on that chance.

Back in May, it looked like plans to bring the NHL Winter Classic to New York's Yankee Stadium were in jeopardy thanks to some infrastructure problems.

Then, last month, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the league was all but ready to announce that the game would be coming to Wrigley Field in 2009.

Now the story has taken yet another turn. As reported by Rob Yunich at Random Reality Thoughts, NHL Vice President Bill Daly, appearing on XM Radio's Hockey This Morning, said that it was "safe to assume" that the league would be making an announcement about the Winter Classic being held at either Yankee Stadium or Wrigley Field.

Huh?

Looks like somebody threw a wrench in the works, eh?

At this point, I guess it's "safe to assume" that the two cities are now in the midst of a competition between one another for a chance to host the game. When you think about it, it's a heck of a turnaround for the NHL -- just three years ago the league was heading out of a devestating lockout, and now two of America's biggest cities are competing for the right to host an outdoor hockey game being held on New Year's Day?

Whatever else you want to complain about these days when it comes to the NHL, the Winter Classic isn't one of the things you'd want to carp about.

Minnesota Gopher men's hockey coach Don Lucia was not happy when the New York Islanders signed forward Kyle Okposo before his sophomore season was complete. Islanders GM Garth Snow wasn't happy about Lucia not being happy.

"Quite frankly, we weren't happy with the program there," Snow told the paper. "They have a responsibility to coach, to make Kyle a better player, and they were not doing that."

He continued, "[Okposo] just wasn't getting better - bottom line. And to me, that's the frustrating part. We entrusted the coach there to turn him into a better hockey player, and it wasn't happening. We feel more comfortable in him developing right under our watch."

"Whether it was Kyle or another player, until things change in that program we'd probably make the same decision," Snow told the Star-Tribune. "There should be a coach there that looks in the mirror. ... I don't think we'd be at this point if he was being coached properly."

The controversy was a hot topic in Minnesota hockey circles through the Christmas season, as people who love and hate the Gophers opined on Okposo's departure. Minnesota floundered on the ice for a time, but found a way to make the WCHA tournament championship game and qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Last week I put a call into Sean Avery's agent asking if I might get a few minutes with the unrestricted free agent to talk about his Summer internship with Men's Vogue. I didn't get a call back, and now I know why: The magazine was sitting on its own feature by Avery, detailing the ins and outs of his first month on the job.

As it turns out, the story is as entertaining as Avery, which is something of a surprise considering I'm not much of a fan of fashion. One of the highlights -- how Avery accidentally dumped his lunch all over one of his co-workers -- a transgression that one would assume would have gotten just about any other intern shown the door on Day One:

[W]hile my stick-handling on the ice keeps getting better and better, my tray-handling leaves a bit to be desired. I still can't find the girl who fled the cafeteria with beef stroganoff spilled all over her, but just in case she's reading this: You can find me on the twelfth floor, and I owe you a new outfit.

Either that, or you can find him idling in a closet half-naked. Along with the feature, the magazine has also posted a slide show of the erstwhile member of the New York Rangers puttering about in a closet someplace at the magazine wearing a Rangers t-shirt and pretending to rack clothes and shoes -- and as for some of those shoes, I could swear I've seen them before at a bowling alley.

After reading the piece, one thing ought to be clear: Avery is happy in New York with the Rangers. Unfortunately for Avery, it looks like GM Glen Sather may very well be willing to part with Avery if it means clearing enough cap space to land a player like free agent defenseman Brian Campbell. As to how Avery might feel about having to find a job someplace else, well, that's a question the Men's Vogue feature just doesn't answer.

POSTSCRIPT: Forgive me for not being up on my Manhattan gossip for missing this item.

From where I sit, the NHL's legal battle with Madison Square Garden over online marketing rights seems to have been going on forever. But while the dispute is simple -- MSG and the Rangers want to maintain control over online businesses that the league believes the member clubs have ceded to its collective control -- the legal details are pretty esoteric. To keep it simple, here's Skip Oliva of the Voluntary Trade Council:

Madison Square Garden, owner of the New York Rangers, sued the National Hockey League last year, claiming league rules regarding joint website marketing violated the Sherman Act. It's a strange argument. The NHL is, by definition, a form of "collusion" among the 30 member clubs. MSG's argument is that this collusion is legal when it likes the outcome of the league's decision-making process, but it's illegal if it doesn't. In other words, anytime a sports franchise is on the losing side of a league vote, it should be allowed to reverse the outcome under the antitrust laws.

Thanks to Skip for putting the legal dispute into terms everybody can understand. But the next thing everybody has to understand is that the NHL has filed a counterclaim against MSG alleging breach of contract and is asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to allow the league to proceed with internal disciplinary proceedings against MSG. That's an action that could result in termination of MSG's franchise rights to the Rangers. To read the complaint, which includes a letter to Cablevision Systems Chairman James Dolan describing potential disciplinary proceedings and possible outcomes, click here.

Now, does this really mean that the NHL is on the brink of taking the Rangers away from the Dolan family?

John Dellapina of the New York Daily News reports that Rangers General Manager Glen Sather hasn't been in contact with Jaromir Jagr about a contract extension, raising the possibility that the Czech winger might opt to sign with Omsk-Avangard of the KHL instead.

Fair enough, but what really caught my eye was this passage, which has to be read to be believed:

Not only can Jagr sign with Omsk-Avangard at any time, there seems to be little to be gained by making him sit and wonder whether the Rangers want him back. His personal experience (see: Washington 2000-2004) is that things don't go well when he's playing for a team that doesn't fully believe in him.

Excuse me? Granted, by the end of the 2003-04 NHL season, the Caps, who at that point were desperate to find any team at all to pawn Jagr off on, had ceased believing in him. But before then, the Caps did anything and everything in their power to make sure he was comfortable both on and off the ice in Washington.

That would include importing players like Michael Nylander and Robert Lang who were thought to be a better fit with Jagr's style of play. Recall, of course, that the team signed these players to large contracts, which meant the salary budget simply wasn't available to buttress other needs, namely an aging blue line.

Of course, the biggest reason the salary budget was strained, and continued to be strained even after Jagr was shipped out of town, was the huge 7-year, $77 million contract the team signed him to before he ever stepped on the ice in a Capitals uniform. One would think that a financial commitment of that size and scope would have led Jagr to conclude that the Caps believed in him.

The horrible truth: The Caps did believe in Jagr. Until of course, they learned the hard way that they couldn't believe in him anymore. Here endeth the lesson.

Oh, to be a 21-year-old free agent in the NHL.

Granted, former University of Minnesota star Blake Wheeler can't break the bank when he signs his first NHL contract. His earning power is severely limited by the Collective Bargaining Agreement, to the point where he could have made much more money by signing with Phoenix, who had his draft rights.

As of July 1, Wheeler is free to sign with any NHL team. He's been free to talk to teams since June 1.

Since teams can only offer him so much money, Wheeler can shop his services and find the best fit. He's apparently at work on that. Larry Brooks of the New York Post says he met Wednesday with the New York Rangers, and he also stopped by the Devils facilities for a chat.

Certainly, the Rangers present an interesting potential match, and there will be other earning opportunities readily available for Wheeler in New York City if he can play well. New Jersey's organization has been quite kind to college players as of late, with Zach Parise (North Dakota) and Brian Gionta (Boston College) serving as prime examples.

Meanwhile, Michael Russo reports that Wheeler isn't keen on signing in Minnesota.

"He loves Minnesota and loves living there, but we're looking elsewhere because I think he wants to get a different life experience, explore a different part of the country and grow and mature and experience new things," (agent Matt) Keator said. "The Wild has shown plenty of interest. They've been great."

Hard to argue with that point. I love Minnesota, but there isn't a ton to do or see here compared to other places.

The leading contender to host the NHL Winter Classic on New Year's Day 2009 may have come up lame, and we're barely past the quarter pole. In an interview with USA Today, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, the league has run into some unspecified snags when it comes to using Yankee Stadium next year:

"There is some construction going on, which may impact us," he said. "There are some winterization issues because it's an older stadium. As I sit here today, I don't know whether or not they can be resolved."

Fair enough. And if Yankee Stadium won't be available, what other options does the league have?

We already know that Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has contacted the league and offered to have Penn State's Beaver Stadium host the game -- as long as its between cross-state rivals Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Given how that series has proven to be something of a ratings winner for Versus during this playoff, it might not be a bad idea. As far as Bettman is concerned, he says that an announcement could come as early as next month.

But that's not the only option. There have already been reports concerning a possible game at Soldier Field in Chicago or even Fenway Park in Boston.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

Don't remind me that the offseason is quickly approaching. There will be many nights like Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Here's hoping the NHL Network can find better "vintage games" than Devils-Flyers 2004 Game Five. Listen, I have nothing against that game, but it's hardly a "classic". It's going to be a long summer. Oh, and it's the NHL Network. Give me that four-overtime Avalanche-Panthers Cup clincher. I mean, Uwe Krupp rules, and he scored the game-winner.

Back on task, you need not worry about a lack of hockey anymore. The Ice Sheet is back, as the conference finals are set to get underway. We've already offered you previews of the East and West (read the East one, because the West was written by some idiot from Minnesota). You're invited to check them out.

As for other hockey news, there is some. We'll cover that, and offer some final words on the NHL's version of the "Final Four" after the jump.