The big news in most hockey circles at the moment is about a player's retirement. However, this player is only 19 years old. Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Stefan Legein (selected in the 2nd round, 37th overall in 2007) decided that his hockey career is over. It's a curious decision for such a high pick. If he had been a late round pick, it might be a little more understandable, but for the 37th player picked in the draft it's just...well, confusing. Right now, there's no reason readily available as to why he decided to call it quits, but one would have to suspect that the game just wasn't fun anymore. Even if you're a great talent, if you don't enjoy doing something, you probably won't do it as well as you could. Interestingly, reports state that Legein's father, who hadn't heard about the decision until press contacted him for information, said that his son hasn't quit until training camp starts. Sounds like Stefan has a long talk with his father coming. So what are the Blue Jackets to do? Unfortunately, there isn't much they can do. They aren't entitled to any compensatory draft picks due to this retirement. They may have other prospects available to them, but still, losing a second round pick could hardly be considered helpful to a team (in most cases). Any thoughts on the situation? Will he change his mind? What caused the decision? Let me know what you think about this whole deal in the comments.

There's a new trend in the NHL that is starting to bug me a little bit.  A lot of players are thinking they are supermen and are trying to continue their careers into their forties.  Chris Chelios and Gary Roberts come to mind immediately.  These guys were both drafted to the NHL before I was born, and Chelios has been playing in the NHL longer than I've been alive.  These are only two examples of player who are still playing (and playing at an NHL level) well past their prime.  However, while these guys still love hockey, and I have little doubt they do, the consequences of such players continuing to impress people by coming back year after year to play a slightly more degraded game seem to be getting lost. 
Each season older players come back and decide to push it for another year, while they seem like warriors in most fans eyes, some even gaining a cult following (See Gary Roberts during his time in Pittsburgh), what few realize is that these older players not wanting to get old are preventing younger players from getting the chance to break into the NHL.
Of course, that's not always the case.  And it makes sense that if you have a situation where you have a couple proven, but ageing scorers, they will be a better bet that trying to bring in that rookie.  It also helps allow rookies more time to develop, and lets teams try and stay competitive while their draft picks take their time and develop into NHL level players.
Unfortunately, while these are good thoughts, they may not translate into results.  A player held from the NHL too long may be unable to adjust to the game, and may never develop as he would have been projected.  Also, when you have older players taking that spot, a younger player might not get to develop that team chemistry that is so vital towards building a championship team.  Chemistry is the reason I think the Red Wings beat the Penguins for the cup this year (well, that and the Pens spotting the Wings two games).  The Red Wings have kept the majority of that team together for years.  The Penguins, however, made some big trades, losing Colby Armstrong, team jokester and Sir Sidney's best friend, in the process.  It's no secret that Armstrong benefitted from playing on a line with Crosby, that's what chemistry does.  In free agency this year, the Pens lost Ryan Malone, a part of the "Steel City Line," another example of chemistry in action.
While it's nice to see players that I remember from my childhood, it's somewhat weird when I remember them as old, even in my childhood.  There's no denying that these players have taken amazing care of themselves.  They've persevered, taken special diets, and worked hard to reach this level of athletic ability so as to be able to play for so long.  That is quite admirable.  But sometimes, you have to know when to call it quits.  And then, if you get the itch for hockey, it means look into coaching.

I'm not sure why the NHL doesn't want to believe that goaltenders are getting better.  Go back twenty to 25 years, there were a lot more goals scored, which apparently equals more exciting hockey.  Of course, this isn't a result of the dominance of the stand-up goaltending style.  Actually, there were very few restrictions overall, less the further back you go.  That's rather ironic.  The NHL keeps reducing pad sizes for goalies, and putting more restriction on them, but goals have overall still continued their downward production trend.
So the NHL is going to reduce pad size and make goalies remove a number of superfluous flaps and such.  Removal of the unnecessary flaps makes sense.  I know that if I'm watching a hockey game, the last thing I want to see is the puck miss the net or hit a post because it just caught a piece of some loose hanging scrap.  However, keep cutting back and cutting back on the pad size, and sooner or later a puck is going to nail some unfortunate goalie in a lightly or unprotected area and seriously injure him.
Perhaps this is the subtle motivation of this change.  Yeah, that sounds like a far-fetched conspiracy theory from Coast-to-Coast.  But consider this:  Last season, the Penguins lost Marc-Andre Fleury to a high ankle sprain.  They have backup Dany Sabourin, and need another, calling up Ty Conklin from the minors.  So what happens?  Sabourin struggles, but Conklin comes in and just dominates for most of the time that Fleury is out (My first entry in this blog is actually about what the team should do when Fleury was healthy again, and includes a number of stats).  Even before the Penguins acquired him, many people believed he would be relegated to the AHL or maybe Europe until he decided to call it quits.   However, because of one freak accident, he gets a second chance, and incidentally, won himself a $250K raise on the contract he recently signed with Detroit.  Just like that, he is once again an NHL-level player.
Now, I am not about to say that this case will be typical.  This is likely a rare case.  But, with all the subpar goaltending in the league right now (Many people will likely agree that a number of teams need some serious goaltending help), if a starter goes down, and a call up performs valiantly, that call up may earn themselves a roster spot.  Heck, they might even steal the starter's job.  This would leave a team with three NHL level goaltenders, and if the team doesn't want to carry three goalies, they would have to demote one to the minors or even trade one of them, providing a dispersal of goaltending talent.
That's a pretty big reach, I know...especially considering the NHL just wants to up scoring.  However, isn't it a rather intriguing thought?
Anyway, what really surprises me is that the leader of the group that is suggesting these reductions (at least this most recent one) is former NHL goaltender Glen Healy.  I forget where I saw that, but I was rather surprised when I saw that a goaltender who played in the era of big pads, and had to deal with a number of pad reductions in his career would approve another shrink in protection for today's goalies.
Really, my problem with this is that goaltending depth really is almost non-existent in hockey today.  Teams such as the Penguins that have a great number one but only average number two would usually sink after losing that number one.  The Pens lucked out that Ty Conklin proved to be in the best form of his career in the NHL.  Another example would be the New Jersey Devils before they signed Kevin Weekes a year ago.  They were a championship caliber team, but for as long as I can remember in the Brodeur era, the backup goalie was a rotating door of young goalies that wouldn't get 15 starts in a season.   If Brodeur went down in one of these seasons, the Devils are left with a largely untested NHL goaltender.  It's like that in much of the NHL right now, though.  Many of these goalies with a fragile psyche are losing it then never recovering.  When's the last time you heard anything about Roman Cechmanek? 
The NHL needs to quit with these pad reductions, and maybe try doing something with the offensive side of the game to increase scoring.  The problem isn't that goalies have too much padding; it's that the offensive side of hockey has remained unchanged for many years.  Defensive and goaltending styles have developed continually, while offenses stopped developing and haven't started again.

Oh Mats Sundin. When will the media circus surrounding the biggest name in free agency die down? I guess you'll have to be signed before that happens. And as far as NHL news, you're about it.
I think a lesser known part of the interest in Mr. Sundin might be that, all things considered, he's one of the last players who has played for only one team (well, maybe not one, but for all intensive purposes, the Nordiques aren't being counted here) his whole career. There's something venerable about that, especially in this age of hockey, where one good season can earn you a huge contract (See: Ryan Malone) somewhere else, and even franchise players can be lured away by the chance to play for a "Cup Contender."
Perhaps that is what is occurring here. Sundin has yet to win a Stanley Cup, and some move vocal hockey pundits believe that without a cup, you shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame (a rather ridiculous statement, considering the Stanley Cup is a team accolade). Though, in all honesty, that would be understandable from the hockey fan's point of view. Still, it leaves me a little saddened. My whole hockey-watching life has seen Mats Sundin play the Maple Leafs. It would be similar to the two times I watched Mario retire on television.
However, Mats may just be interested in seeing how much he can potentially get from other teams. He may even give the Leafs a chance to match any offer, though that's a bad career move if he wants to win a Cup, as Toronto has finally decided to officially start rebuilding.
It'll be a different place in Toronto if Mats Sundin really is going to leave. While it may be a good move for his career, I think it may prove to be a bad move for his legacy.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have done something unheard of in the NHL.  But in a good way.  They decided to add one extra preseason game.  Now, with all the risks of losing a player in preseason games, how is adding another one good?  Well, there's something special about this extra game.  It's free. 
The Leafs added a game on September 22 against the Buffalo Sabres, which will be free to the public.  You see, most of the seats at the Air Canada Centre are held by season ticket holders which, while it brings in money, guaranteed, it doesn't provide access to the games to Toronto's youth.  The Leafs' ownership wants to allow younger fans and whole families into the games, people who normally wouldn't be able to attend a game.
This is an absolutely genius move by the Maple Leafs organization.  A team that is now rebuilding will show off some of its young talent, help build the fan base, and recruit the next generation of season ticket holders.  It may even make the team bigger than it already is in Toronto. 
From personal experience, while watching hockey is a nice option to have, nothing compares to actually being at the arena, surrounded by masses of fans (even sometimes opposing fans), and being able to see all the small elements of the game that just won't fit within the camera's view.  I can recall one time that I taunted David Aebischer (during his time in Montreal) mercilessly throughout the game.  It's small things like being able to do this that make going to a game so much better.
So, I offer my best wishes to the Maple Leafs organization for taking a chance with little risk, but a lot of potential reward.  You're giving fans an opportunity that they might not have otherwise, and it really just makes me happy to see that hockey is still a sport that should (and in this game's case) can be enjoyed by everyone.