Luc Robitaille's Son Launches Music Career

Luc Robitaille enjoyed a very successful NHL career. He was one of the most prolific scorers with the Los Angeles Kings and won a Stanley Cup championship with the Detroit Red Wings. His 16 year old son Jesse plans on making it to the big time in a different way.

Jesse is launching a music career and is going by the name Jesserae. Although he is young he says he doesn't do the Justin Bieber style (sugary pop) and sings "rock, soul, and groove". He plays the guitar and is more acoustic rock than teeny bop. Even though he hasn't hit it big, he has garnered around 40,000 hits on Youtube. Jesserae will be taking a tour of the Midwest and Robitaille is supportive of his son's choice of career.

"It's totally fine by me," Robitaille said. "As long as I see him working hard, which he is doing, I'm a happy man and I'll do everything to support him."


Sounds like he won't be getting by on the family name. This isn't the first child out of the family to make it in another line of entertainment work. Luc's stepson, Steven R. McQueen went into the acting field and Robitaille advised him not to take the Robitaille name. McQueen is the grandson of Steve McQueen. The R is a tribute to Robitaille.





 

Quote Of The Week: Dean Lombardi

After some alledgedly shady dealings with the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi had some words for the Oilers organization. This all comes on the heels of the Ryan Smyth trade, where Lombardi initially agreed to take forward Gilbert Brule in exchange for left wing Ryan Smyth but balked when he said the Kings’ lawyers determined Brule had not been procedurally cleared following a concussion. Unwilling to void the trade because Smyth had asked to leave Los Angeles -- and because Smyth’s departure would take a huge burden off the Kings’ salary cap -- Lombardi agreed to instead take center Colin Fraser and a seventh-round pick in the 2012 draft.

Fraser had yet to be medically cleared to play, but Oilers General Manager Steve Tambellini led Lombardi to believe Fraser was close to being cleared. However, Lombardi said the Kings’ doctors found not only an unhealed fracture but an alarming cyst in Fraser’s foot and a blood disorder. Lombardi said Fraser will require surgery that would keep him out four months.

Talk about getting robbed. Of course Lombardi wasn't too pleased about this.

“The bottom line for me, I would have rather invested my money with Bernie Madoff than invest in Edmonton’s word.”

Of course Tambellini happened to be traveling and has no response.


 

Former NHL Player, Matthew Barnaby, Arrested After Domestic Violence Incident

Former Buffalo Sabres forward, Matthew Barnaby,  is scheduled to be arraigned this morning in Amherst Town Court on multiple charges stemming from a domestic violence incident this evening in Getzville, Amherst Police said.

Barnaby was charged by Amherst Police with criminal mischief, criminal trespass, harassment, criminal contempt and aggravated harassment. The domestic incident involved two victims. Something must have been terribly wrong for Barnaby to go off the deep end. This is sad for all involved, especially the victims who had to go through this ordeal. I'm not taking sides it's just that nobody wins in these kind of situations.

The incident happened around 6:15 pm at a Getzville home and Barnaby was arrested a short time later. He was expected to spend the night in the Amherst Town Jail.

Barnaby is currently an analyst for TSN and ESPN. I wonder how the worldwide leader is going to handle this. Will they fire him ala Harold Reynolds or will they give him time off to get this cleared up like they did with Jalen Rose. I'm betting on the former more than the latter.

Former NHL Enforcer Brashear To Try His Hand At MMA

Former NHL tough guy Donald Brashear has been busy in a low level hockey league since being bounced out of the league in 2010. There just wasn't any room for in the league for a one dimesional pugilist that amounted to a professional bouncer.

Brashear has now decided to take those "handy" skills to the world of MMA. Brashear signed with a Canadian promotion called Ringside MMA.  Brashear was capable of handling himself on the ice, but the octagon is a whole different story. Ask street brawling legend Kimbo Slice how hard it was to make the transition to MMA.

According to Patricia Vincent of MMADiehards.com, there is a different reason why Brashear has changed course and hung up the skates. He's running from the law.  

Now playing in the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH), Brashear has recently been investigated for an incident that allegedly occurred at the end of a game against the Trois-Rivières team on March 25. Charges of assault were filed against Brashear, who was also suspended for five games.



The complaint has been filed against Brashear, on behalf of the alleged victim, Eric Labelle, by the Trois-Riviere team, Caron et Guay, and is now in the hands of the crown prosecutor.

Brashear hasn't yet applied for his license so him going to fight might be a moot point. I he does get licensed he could debut at the June 4th show in Quebec City (Ringside 11). I'm no fortune teller, but I don't see a bright future for Brashear in MMA.

Coach Wanted To Fight Jaromir Jagr

This comes from Yahoo sports' Puck Daddy blog.(http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Jaromir-Jagr-s-KHL-coach-wanted-to-fight-him-aft?urn=nhl-wp974)

Never a dull moment in the KHL, it seems.


During the seventh playoff game between Jaromir Jagr's Avangard Omsk and Sergei Fedorov's(notes) Metallurg Magnitogorsk, which Metallurg won to advance to the next round to play Alexander Radulov's(notes) Salavat Yulaev, the news surfaced that Avangard fired their coach before the second period of that Game 7.

Avangard claimed that this was not the case and that Raimo Summanen, the coach, was having "health issues" before the game. The team said he was not fired at all, but sent to Finland for medical check ups.

NHL fans may remember Summanen from his days in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers. Summanen has a 1984 Stanley Cup ring and can actually be seen on the first Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup winning picture, even though his name was not engraved on the Cup because he did not officially qualify, having played only two regular season and five playoff games for the Oilers.

Now, after his departure, Avangard players shed some light on their now former head coach, whom they said had a major conflict with the players. According to an anonymous member of the team:

"He made Jaromir Jagr the scapegoat of the playoffs. Summanen even went after Jagr with his fists after [a Game 6 victory] in Magnitogorsk. He was jumping around [Jagr], challenged him to a fight. Jagr, of course, didn't want to fight."

Kirill Belyakov from Sovetsky Sport spoke with some players from Avangard who didn't want to disclose their names. Among their comments:

"He [coach] couldn't work with anyone! The Finn just got us with the constant F-bombs. And that was happening the entire season... Everything was building up for a long time. Summanen psychologically pressured players, putting them down. And in the playoffs you know what kind of pressure there is. So all the guys couldn't take it anymore and told him everything we thought about him."

Who does he think he is, Bob Knight?

Loose Ends

When was the last time you heard of a hockey player being tossed for a loose jersey? Same here. It hardly happens if it happens at all. Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins had it happen to him.

Letang received a game misconduct for not having his jersey tied down. He didn't loop the belt through the tab on the back of his jersey which was caught while he was duking it out with Travis Zajac of the New Jersey Devils.

How about that? Getting kicked out for not tying up some loose ends and not for fighting. Well as they say rules are rules. But rules are made to be broken and this is one the NHL should've let go. At least let him go to the locker room and have the equipment manager hook him up.

Rule 46.13 states that jerseys not  “tied-down on”  on player who egnages in fisticuffs and that jersey become dislodged, a game misconduct must be called. A player doesn't receive the sanction if his jersey comes off even when its tied down due to equipment failure, although it does have to be reported to the NHL.  

I think this is a rule that sould be modified. 

Mario Lemieux Not Happy With The NHL

After a game which looked more like ESPN's Friday Night Fights instead of hockey, Pittsburgh Penguins owner Mario Lemieux isn't too happy with the way the NHL handled the punishment between the Penguins and New York Islanders. He's so disappointed that he's questioning himself whether he wants to stay in the league. He also said the Islanders should bear responsibiltiy for their failure to control their players.

The game featured 346 penalty minutes, 10 ejections, 15 fighting majors, and 20 misconducts. Sounds like a rough night at the saloon.

“Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn’t hockey. It was a travesty,” Lemieux said. “It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that. The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed,” he said. “We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players. We must make it clear that those kinds of actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary action. If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to rethink whether I want to be a part of it.”


Come on Mario, the Islanders' Trevor Gillies received a nine game suspension and Matt Martin for four games. The Isles' were hit with a $100,000 fine. All this for the Penguins' goalie Brent Johnson's Clubber Lang beatdown of Isles' goalie Rick DiPietro. What more do you want. All you guys got was one player drawing an automatic 10 game suspension for leaving the bench and no fines. Pittsburgh got over and Islanders GM Garth Snow wasn't too happy about that.

“When I saw the suspensions on both sides and the fines, I was a little bit surprised it was just our club that got fined, Snow said Sunday before the Islanders played at Buffalo. You can ask the league about it. There’s nothing we can do about it but put it behind us and get ready for Buffalo. I’m very proud that our team showed restraint,” Snow said. “We came to play hockey and obviously, there’s a lot of things that happen in the course of a game. I’m proud of the way our team competed, and I’m going to support my guys.”


The fines and suspensions were one sided indeed, but next time any of your goalies decide they want to square off with someone tell him to stay in the crease. I'm not choosing sides, but this was nothing more than retaliation for the Johnson-DiPietro throwdown. If you want to compete hard than fine, fighting is a part of the game. I'm not part of the hockey elite but I know all that foolishness doesn't belong in the game.

  





 

I'm Sorry

Too bad there aren't many professional athletes like the Pittsburgh Penguins' Mike Rupp. I don't know him personally but I have to give him some credit for how he repaid a fan.

The Penguins forward was warming up for a game and hit the boards, accidentally knocking over a fan's beer. Instead of being a jerk he gave the fan a puck and some cash to pay for the beer.

"Mike felt terrible about it, so he asked the trainer to grab $10 out of Rupp’s wallet," Rupp’s agent Allan Walsh told the Toronto Sun.


"He then wrote an apology on a puck, signed it and taped the $10 bill around it. He went over to the glass, got the guy’s attention and tossed the puck over to him."

I'm sure Rupp has a fan for life.

It's Good To Be Picked Last

Usually when someone gets picked last in a game on the playground, or anywhere else for that matter, is a bad thing. Except if your the Toronto Maple Leafs' Phil Kessel. Kessel received a car for being picked last with the 36th pick in the first NHL fantasy draft for the All Star Game.

Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward was the first pick by Team Staal, teammate Eric Staal. Kessel was picked by Team Lidstrom, captained by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom. If I knew that hockey paid well and gave away cars I would've took up the sport as a kid.    

Islanders Block Red Wings For Nabokov

The New York Islanders placed a claim on free agent goalie Evgeni Nabokov which blocked the Detroit Red Wings' one year deal with the 35 year old goalie.

Nabokov hasn't reported to the Islanders which leaves them with the option of suspending him without pay or putting him back on waivers. If I'm the Islanders, I put him on waivers because you know he doesn't want to go to play for that crap squad in Long Island.

I'm no hockey honk or anything like that, but why did the Islanders sign him? They aren't going anywhere and haven't since the 1980's. I know you guys have goalie problems with injuries and all right now, but you're nowhere close to winning anything and having Nabokov aboard makes no sense. If you were close it's a good pickup. The Isles haven't contended for anything in over 20 years.

Chris Osgood echoes my sentiment. "The Islanders are terrible so I'm not sure why they did that," Osgood said.

Danton Wants To Come Back To The NHL

After being away from the big time, about 6 years to be exact, former New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues player Mike Danton says he wants to return to the NHL. If you recall Danton was imprisoned for a 2004 conviction in a murder for hire plot.

See more about the case here   http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/danton/

Danton's parole ends Friday and he will be free and clear to travel wherever he pleases. He was freed from a U.S. prison in March 2009. He has been out of the league for 6 years and is now playing for the St. Mary's Huskies in Halifax. Far away from the bright lights of the NHL.

Danton realizes it would be a long climb back and knows teams would be careful since he has a conviction. There's no Oakland Raiders type of owner in the NHL so it'll be hard for him to get a sniff from anyone. He basically blackballed himself right out of the league. You never know, athletes in every sport have gotten a second chance. If it is shown he could help a team out I'm sure they would be quick to sign him. Hockey fans stay tuned.  

Probert passes at age 45

Former NHL and Detroit Red Wing tough guy, Bob Probert passed away today in Ontario at age 45.  Probert played 16 seasons in the NHL for the Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks.

Probert collapsed on a boat in Lake St. Clair and crews performed CPR before he was transported to Windsor Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Probert was a key member in the rise of the Red Wings in the mid 80s, until he ran into off ice troubles,mostly fighting a drug and alcohol problems. Locally the fans in Detroit always had a soft spot for him despite his troubles and playing for the hated Blackhawks. Probert also was known as one of the toughest men to play the game during that time. Everyone that knew him, says he was a great guy and the fans in Detroit could identify with him. Its sad to hear of his passing.