Ah yes, it's a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I'm lounging around, checking email when all of a sudden a KHL press release pops up in my inbox with the latest posturing from them in their cold war with the NHL. All of a sudden, things are a bit chilly.

It's clear that these two organizations don't have a lot of love for each other, clearly not taking the Beatles' advice that 'all you need is love'. They have been fighting over the transfer of players for the past few months -- the same amount of time that the KHL has been an actual, existing organization. But remember, they have yet to actually play any hockey games. Nonetheless, they know who their main competition is when it comes to the top players and the KHL is refusing to back down to the Old Guard.

In the release that I received today by email, the KHL had sly course of action. The beginning of the headline reads "KHL Extending Moratorium on Transfer of Players from NHL..."

I thought to myself, 'wow, are they actually starting to get along?'

But when you assume things like I did, well, you know how that goes. The rest of the title told the story and I didn't even need to read the release itself. I had a good laugh when I saw the words "... Until First Violation by NHL" as the end of the title.

Clearly, this is a cold war that probably isn't going to end anytime soon -- at least not with little shots like that across the bow. If you're interested, the release in it's entirety is after the jump.

Johnny Oduya has a really cool name, but that doesn't get the New Jersey Devils defensemen all that much attention. After being selected in the 7th round by the Capitals way back in 2001, the Caps gave up on him fairly quickly and he headed back to Europe, probably thinking he'd never get a shot in the NHL.

The New Jersey Devils, in search of a cheap defenseman to plug into their blue line, ala Brian Rafalski, signed Oduya away from the Swedish league, and the bullish defenseman has quietly become one of the better defensive defensemen in the NHL.

Oduya had 26 points and was +27 (eighth best in the league) in 75 games last season, suggesting he is a pretty solid piece of work. There is more, however, than meets the eye.

One of my favorite bloggers, the man who runs The Puck Stops Here, crunched some numbers to come up with an Adjusted +/- stat. Basically, how does a player affect the game while he is on the ice compared to when he is off the ice?

The top defenseman on the list? Johnny Oduya! That's right, he ranks even higher than pretty boy Nicklas Lidstrom.

Does this mean that Oduya is the NHL's best defensive defenseman? No. The stat does have flaws, but it does highlight the fact that Oduya's defensive play is excellent, and his effect on the New Jersey Devils is very much understated.

And for all of this, the New Jersey Devils had to pay a paltry $600,000 in salary to Oduya last season. Kinda makes that Jeff Finger contract look even worse than it already does.

For a team that has seen far too many talented players leave for other, warmer, locales, the Buffalo Sabres must be thrilled that goaltender Ryan Miller actually decided to stay in Buffalo ... for five more seasons!

Yes, the Sabres announced this morning that Miller Time signed a 5-year deal worth $31.25 million, avoiding the loss their #1 netminder to unrestricted free agency, and avoid a Brian Campbell-like distraction from happening in the future.

My only beef with Ryan Miller is that he hasn't done enough to justify the incredible amount of hype and attention he gets from the media, and this rather large salary increase he's getting. Last season, Miller put up just a paltry 90.6% save percentage, which put him in the lower half of starting goaltenders. Before that? 91.4% and 91.1%, which is good, but not great. I certainly expect more.

That said, Miller is 28 and in his ultimate prime. The fact that the Sabres were able to lock him up for the rest of his peak period will allow them peace of mind and the freedom to worry about the rest of the roster. Given the Sabres troubles keeping their own players, perhaps they had to pay a "Cold Weather Premium"?

On another note, the Sabres better hope Patrick Lalime can give Miller a break now and then. Playing 76 games last season certainly took a toll on Miller, and it was obvious that he couldn't handle a Martin Brodeur-like workload.

Of all of the NHL coaches who we could consider on the Hot Seat, Ted Nolan wasn't one I expected to be fired any day soon. The Isles seemed to love the guy enough to bring him out of his blacklisted exile, and he was a key component of their five-headed management strategy.

So, I was rather shocked to see that Ted Nolan is no longer employed by the Isles. The team made the announcement this morning on their official website.

New York Islanders General Manager Garth Snow announced today that Ted Nolan will not return next season as the team's head coach. Nolan had one season remaining on his contract.

"Ted has helped us achieve some success over the last two seasons, however it has become clear that we have philosophical differences and have decided together to part ways," said Snow. "Since last season and continuing into the summer, I have realized we do not share the same philosophies. I would like to thank Ted for his two years with the team and wish him the best.

Nolan was the darling of the NHL after leading his rag-tag bunch to a 40-30-12 record in 2006-07, and a rare playoff birth. Last season wasn't so good, however, as the Isles fell to 35-38-9 record.

It's a shame that Nolan is taking the fall for Garth Snow's poor management moves, but it's not as if Nolan is completely blameless.

Yes, the Isles don't have a great roster, but how can you explain the exceptionally poor performances from scoring threats such as Miro Satan, Mike Comrie, and Bill Guerin? The Isles Power Play finished 29th and their PK was also in the bottom half of the league.

In the end, Nolan simply didn't have his troops playing hard enough or tight enough, and Snow put together a roster full of defensive liabilities. As is almost always the case, the coach takes the fall.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, under Interim/Semi-permanent GM Cliff Fletcher, have been busy this summer trimming the fat from the roster in anticipation of a new GM *cough*Brian Burke*cough* coming in to right the ship. Kyle Wellwood's fat ass, Darcy Tucker's temper, and Andrew Raycroft's five-hole have all been told to get the hell out, and Trader Cliff isn't done yet.

Cliff's next target seems to be Bryan McCabe, the highly-paid defenseman with the big shot and woeful defensive ability.

The problem? McCabe has a no-trade clause, a huge contract, and the Leafs are unwilling to pay to have the rest of his $10M contract bought out.

The solution? According to The Sports Network, the Leafs could strong-arm the guy and MAKE McCabe want to leave.

Sources tell TSN the Maple Leafs approached McCabe's agent, Ian Pulver before the NHL Entry Draft hoping to encourage the veteran defenceman to waive his no-movement clause to open the door for a trade.

However, this time, whether intended or not, Toronto turned up the heat and according to sources, hinted McCabe may be asked to stay home, rather than join his teammates for training camp if he wasn't willing to change his mind.

Of course, these 'sources' could easily be the janitor at the Air Canada Centre, or Cliff Fletcher's nephew's brother's friend. Take it all with a grain of salt.

All I can say is that IF the Leafs decided to play such games, they can ensure themselves that future free agents are going to stay the hell away from Leafland. What player is going to want to put up with that? It's not McCabe's fault the Leafs lavished him with one of the worst contracts this decade.

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.

It's been a rather frustrating year for Sidney Crosby as he's fought an ankle injury and watched as Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin steal his spotlight. With just six points in six March games, Crosby wasn't much of a factor as the Penguins battled the likes of the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers to Atlantic Division supremacy.

Last night, Sidney finally put his stamp back on the team with a two-goal performance in the Penguins 4-2 win over the Flyers. With the win, the Pens win the division for the first time since 1998, and can finish no lower than second place in the Eastern Conference.

"We ended up losing Crosby (for 28 games) and Marc-Andre Fleury (for three months) and so many other guys during the course of the season, and we were just trying to focus and maintain our position to make the playoffs," coach Michel Therrien said. "The guys surprised me with their commitment."

Another interesting note: The Penguins sold out all 41 home games for the first time in their 41 year history. Given the team's past attendance problems, this is just more icing on the cake for the revived antarctic dwellers. Still, I find it amazing that they never sold out a season back when Mario Lemieux and the Pens were winning Stanley Cups. What the hell?

The NHL is always looking for more ways to squeeze money out of its fan base, so the fact that the NHL wants tighter control over ticket resales is not surprising. Why just sell the ticket once when you can sell it again and make even more profit? That's the thinking behind the NHL's new partnership with the monopolistic Ticketmaster (who already control sales for 26 of 30 NHL clubs).

The National Hockey League (NHL) and Ticketmaster today announced they have entered into an exclusive multi-year agreement to create an NHL resale ticketing service to be powered by Ticketmaster. As part of the agreement, Ticketmaster has been named the "Official Resale Ticket Provider of the NHL."

"We could not be happier that the NHL has selected Ticketmaster to provide to fans the best possible resale experience," said Eric Korman, Ticketmaster Executive Vice President. "Hockey fans will benefit from greater protection, flexibility and the unparalleled efficiency of our technology. The NHL wins by providing to fans the ability to resell tickets in a safe and secure environment. Our partnership will also make it easier for the League and its teams to connect with its millions of fans directly."

Protection. Yes, let's bring out the scare tactics, shall we? How could fans possibly feel safe purchasing tickets from somebody on eBay or Craigslist? *Gasp* While buying tickets from a scalper or somebody else you have never met has always had an element of risk, it's not as if there is widespread fraud among existing ticket agencies and the average fans who just want to unload their ducats.

Let's face it, Ticketmaster is king of the service charge. By being able to resell the tickets, Ticketmaster will be getting at LEAST twice the amount of fees on a single ticket. The NHL clubs? They can buy back their tickets at a lower rate, and then sell the ticket for a nice markup. Why let the scalper get the profit when the team can do that itself?

I believe the NHL has every right to want to control the usage and sale of its product (my hometown Canucks already do this), but this whole exercise of double dipping, especially with Ticketmaster involved, just makes me queasy. Instead of providing a forum for the fans to sell/exchange their tickets with each other, the teams simply pull out the cash grab and shamelessly scalp their own product.

Want to score some free hockey tickets? Well, if you live in Nashville, and are considered 'needy' (which could be said for most any female living in that city), you just may be in luck!

Thanks to a judge's order that $500,000 of a lawsuit settlement, regarding lawyer's fees, had to be donated to charity, some lucky peeps in Nashville are going to be able to see Martin Erat and Martin Gelinas, for FREE!

A court battle between a giant drug benefit company and its stockholders may wind up putting $400,000 worth of free hockey tickets in the hands of Nashville's needy.

If none of the lawyers balks, as many as 20,000 people could get free tickets to see the Nashville Predators, with the first passes handed out as early as January, one official said.

"I'm excited about it because we just have so many opportunities to provide a day of entertainment and fun and excitement for so many different groups," said Howard Gentry, CEO of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce's Public Benefit Foundation.

Of course, why give needy people things like shelter, food, and clothing, when they can go see a hockey game! *eyeroll*

If these people are smart, they'll give the tickets away to children's groups. Introducing the game to the younger generation just may get some of them hooked for life, and allow the kids to grow up as hockey fans. It's little use trying to convert a 40-year old NFL fan, who will probably spend half the game confused about the fact that the players don't take a 2-minute break after each pass in completed.

Relationships between Americans and Canadians require some amount of work to get around all of the cultural and other differences between the two countries. Besides differing views on health care, accents (ask a Canadian how to say 'futile'), and months in which to celebrate Thanksgiving, Americans have to know a thing or two about hockey if they are to successfully date and mate with a Canadian.

It should be no surprise, then, that the sugary Hilary Duff has a few things to learn if she's going to continue dating her hockey-playing beau, New York Islanders' center Mike Comrie.

From People Magazine, her sister, Haylie, spills the beans:

"I actually caught her with a copy of the Hockey for Dummies book," Duff, 22, said at the opening of the Foley+Corinna store in West Hollywood. Big sis says she "adores" Comrie – and says it's actually distance that makes things work between him and 20-year-old Hilary. "He lives in New York and she lives here, and they really put in a big effort to see each other."

Awww, isn't that cute. Perhaps we ought to pick up a copy of "Dating Overpaid Self-Absorbed Celebrities for Dummies" for Mike Comrie, so that he's on an even level in this relationship?

Previously on FanHouse:
Mike Comrie Gets a Public Duffing.
Mike Comrie Just Made Life Miserable ...
Hockey Player Mike Comrie Snags Hillary Duff

Willie O'Ree played only 45 games in the NHL, but his impact will forever be felt as the man who broke the NHL's color barrier and opened eyes to the fact that Black men could, indeed, play hockey.

In an effort to diversify the NHL among American players, the NHL hired O'Ree as their diversity ambassador, a job that Willie has worked many long and hard hours on. O'Ree is quite recognized in the hockey community for the role he continues to play in exposing youth to the game, and the general NHL fan-base ought to give the guy a bit more appreciation, in my not-so-humble opinion. While the NHL works hard to raise ticket prices and squeeze every little penny out of us who watch the game, few in the NHL's head offices seem to want to actually grow the game at a grassroots level.

The Boston Globe has a great in-depth feature of O'Ree's efforts, and notes that the NHL is still very much 'white bread':

According to the NHL, O'Ree has exposed more than 40,000 kids to the sport since he began working for the league in 1996. When he meets them, generally at schools or clinics or camps, O'Ree always asks of them one thing: to give the game a chance. "If you don't like it," he tells them, "you can walk away." The odds are long that any of the kids he meets will follow in O'Ree's footsteps, but they're particularly long for the black kids. It took 41 years for a black player to appear in an NHL game, and after O'Ree did so, another 16 years passed before the next one made it. In the 90-year history of the league, there have only been 40 black players; 14 of those filled NHL roster spots during the 2006-07 season, comprising about 2 percent of the league's makeup.

While black kids are not as likely to face slurs and abuse in today's environment, the cost of the game would prohibit many of them from ever getting to experience the game. Cost has always been an issue for anyone looking to get their kids into hockey, and it's something the NHL ought to look at more. It's not as if there aren't talented kids who don't want to play, but their parents will definitely choose soccer, basketball, baseball, or football, as those sports cost drastically less than ice hockey.

Previously on FanHouse:
Everybody Hates Chris, but Loves Willie.