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| Ready to vacate - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting |
With the National Hockey League (NHL) and its owners locking their players out as of Sunday morning, hockey fans are scrambling to get their fix.
No one knows how long this lockout, the third in league history, will last.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) expired on Sept. 15 at 11:59 p.m.
Some are predicting that the lockout will only last one to two months while others are less optimistic that both sides can agree to another CBA in time to hold a full season of play.
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| I've got another pair - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting |
Some players in the league have signed short-term deals to play in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and other leagues in Europe.
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| Shouldn't be away too long - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting |
Numerous NHL teams assigned large contingents of players to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliates in order to keep them playing in light of the situation.
In a press release put out on Sept. 15, Carolina Hurricanes President and General Manager Jim Rutherford, announced that the team had assigned 28 players to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL), and one player to his Canadian Hockey League team.
The 28 players assigned to Charlotte are forwards Nicolas Blanchard, Zach Boychuk, Zac Dalpe, A.J. Jenks, Riley Nash, Victor Rask, Jerome Samson, Justin Shugg, Jeff Skinner, Jared Staal, Brett Sutter, Brody Sutter, Chris Terry, Tim Wallace and Jeremy Welsh; defensemen Brett Bellemore, Justin Faulk, Marc-Andre Gragnani, Michal Jordan, Tommi Kivisto, Justin Krueger, Austin Levi, Rasmus Rissanen, Bobby Sanguinetti, Beau Schmitz and Joe Sova and goaltenders John Muse and Justin Peters.
Defenseman Ryan Murphy was assigned to Kitchener of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).
From other reports, two other players, Jiri Tlusty and Jussi Jokinen had agreed to play overseas for the time being while other Hurricanes players continued to work out on their own in Raleigh, N.C.
Other things to Fall back on
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| Duke vs. NCCU - Blue Devils' Lee Butler & Eagles' Marvin Poole become one - Cheryl Treworgy - prettsporty.com |
The college football season has cranked up and Triangle-area teams have shown flashes of brilliance early in the season.
NC State (2-1), Duke (2-1), and North Carolina (1-2) have shown some great promise early on but each have their challenges to face.
NC State
The Wolfpack has come out the stronger out of all three teams after three games, but is still trying to find its way in firmly establishing its offense and defense to its full potential and expectations.
A decisive 31-7 decision over South Alabama last weekend hopefully set them in motion in getting on the right track.
Duke
The Blue Devils are averaging 50 points scored per game at home, site of both their victories over Florida International and NC Central respectively.
However, the health-challenged Blue Devils suffered a demoralizing loss to #9 Stanford in between both of their wins.
Nonetheless, the Blue Devils have some impressive offensive and defensive performers that will make this an interesting and possibly surprising season for those watching in the seats at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C.
North Carolina
After an explosive 62-0 win over Elon, the North Carolina have had the toughest challenge amongst all three area teams in maintaining their momentum as they are currently on a two-game losing streak.
A significant reason for their struggles on offense against Wake Forest (28-27) and #19 Louisville (39-34) was the absence of running back Gio Bernard.
Coach Larry Fedora doesn't have the Tar Heels too far off the mark, but a 1-2 mark is not where he would like to have his team be at this point in the season.
More news from the Raleigh Sports Examiner on Examiner.com:
The Duke Blue Devils women’s basketball team, under the
leadership of head coach Joanne P. McCallie, has been selected as the
preseason No. 3 team nationally in the Lindy’s College Basketball
preview issue.Duke returns four..
