TSN Hockey Insiders Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger, and Pierre LeBrun have the latest on available players on the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres, if moving Dave Bolland is a possibility for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Steven Stamkos Olympics situation. Malcolm Smith Jersey Seattle Seahawks . From the moment Thomas Vanek turned down a reported $50 million contract offer from the New York Islanders, the thought was he has to be moved. Is a deal imminent? Pierre LeBrun: Its not imminent but it could happen before the end of the week, of course we have an Olympic trade freeze Friday at 3pm et. In a perfect world the Islanders would look to divest themselves of that big salary of Vaneks so they dont carry it through the Olympics. But that same big cap number is why some of the contenders – and we know that Los Angeles and Pittsburgh have some interest in Vanek – cant deal yet as they are right at the cap. So it makes this deal difficult before the Olympic freeze. To get Vanek, the asking price is three assets: any combination of a first-round pick, a young player, and a prospect. Whatever the combination, Islanders GM Garth Snow is trying to get his big haul here because we know how much he gave up to get Vanek at the start of the season. Bob McKenzie: The Islanders also have another asset in play in defenceman Andrew MacDonald. Heres a guy that is going to unrestricted free agency at the end of the season, hes only making $550,000 right now, but he leads the NHL in blocked shots. And for the last two seasons hes been the minutes leader for the Islanders. There has been a lot of interest in this player. The Islanders could do a deal with him, maybe between $4 million and $5 million a year, which would be a huge increase on what hes currently making, but the Islanders have lots of young defencemen coming and lots of teams are calling. MacDonalds name is definitely in play. And is one of Thomas Vaneks ex-teammates also drawing interest? McKenzie: That would be Steve Ott of the Buffalo Sabres. We all know that Matt Moulson has been drawing interest, with upwards of a double digit number of teams inquiring about Moulsons availability by the deadline. But Ott is attracting that much, if not more attention than Moulson. Obviously keep an eye on the Sabres, theyre at the bottom of the league and ready to offload people. In addition to Ott and Moulson there is the Ryan Miller scenario playing out but also Henrik Tallinder is another guy who could be moved as well as Drew Stafford and Cody McCormick. Dave Bolland hasnt played since November 2. Is he still in play? Darren Dreger: Hes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, so Dave Nonis and the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to have to figure out what option they want to pursue with Bolland. There are three of them: No. 1 is theyll negotiate relatively soon and find out what his number would be to avoid free agency. No. 2 is if they dont like the number at this stage in the season, they wait and use him as their own rental to push for the playoffs. No. 3, which isnt anywhere near as likely as No.1 but is certainly an option, is to trade Bolland if you know that a deal isnt likely to be made. By all accounts, everything is going to plan for Steven Stamkos. His plan is to play Saturday and then make a decision with Team Canada at that point. What is Team Canada doing to manage the situation if Stamkos cant go? Dreger: First of all, there are a couple hurdles Canada has to get by. No. 1: they want to find out what Wednesdays test results are medically speaking on Stamkos. Either way, expect Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman to reach out to at least a couple, as many as four or five, of the replacement players – Claude Giroux, James Neal, Eric Staal, Martin St. Louis – to put them on standby. Then you look to Saturday and if Stamkos is able to play against the Detroit Red Wings, then thats a great sign. Obviously theyll monitor how he feels post-game, then theyll make the decision as to whether he or somebody else gets on the Sunday charter flight. LeBrun: And theres a Stamkos-like situation playing out in Minnesota, obviously not getting as much attention. Mikko Koivu, the best player on the Finnish Olympic team, may not be able to play. This thing is going down to the wire. We know one thing, hes not going to play for the Wild this week. He hasnt played in a month after ankle surgery. Hes still recovering and skated on Tuesday, having felt better than he has in a couple days. But at the end of the day, be it Friday or Saturday, Koivu has to get together with Minnesota team doctors and the Finnish Olympic team to make a call on whether or not hes fit to play in the Olympics. That would be a gigantic loss for Finland. Kevin Williams . As the lowest-ranked of nine unseeded European qualifiers, France was expected to go in the Africa-dominated draw pot — meaning it could not be placed in the same group as a top-seeded European team. Steven Hauschka Jerseys . New Orleans All-Star forward would have difficulty convincing the Hawks. Davis had 34 points, including 13 in the Pelicans fourth quarter, and New Orleans beat Atlanta 111-105 on Friday night. DAVIE, Fla. -- In the stadium program sold at the Miami Dolphins game on Halloween, Richie Incognito was asked whos the easiest teammate to scare. His answer: Jonathan Martin. The troubled, troubling relationship between the two offensive linemen took an ominous turn Monday with fresh revelations: Incognito sent text messages to his teammate that were racist and threatening, two people familiar with the situation said. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Dolphins and NFL havent disclosed the nature of the misconduct that led to Sundays suspension of Incognito, a veteran with a reputation for dirty play. Martin, a tackle, remained absent from practice Monday one week after he suddenly left the team because of emotional issues. Also missing was Incognito, a guard suspended indefinitely late Sunday by coach Joe Philbin for his treatment of Martin. Agents for the two players didnt respond to requests for comment. Martin is with his family in Los Angeles for counselling. The 319-pound Incognito, a ninth-year pro, is white. The 312-pound Martin, who is in his second NFL season, is black. For much of the season, theyve played side by side. The team and NFL continued their investigation into allegations by Martins representatives that he was bullied, and Philbin said Dolphins owner Stephen Ross asked Commissioner Roger Goodell for assistance. The NFL Players Association also planned to look into the matter. "Every decision Ive made, everything weve done in this facility has been done with one thing in mind," Philbin said. "Thats to help our players and our organization reach their full potential. Any type of conduct (or) behaviour that detracts from that objective is not acceptable and is not tolerated." Its unclear whether coaches or management had any inkling of harassment between the players before Martin left the team, and Philbin declined to answer a question about the locker-room culture. Recent rumblings of dissension have also included complaints by young players that theyre pressured to pay more than their share when team members socialize together. After beating Cincinnati in overtime Thursday, the Dolphins had three days off while the Martin story mushroomed. They returned to practice Monday and afterward found nearly 100 reporters and cameramen in their locker room. Teammates praised both Incognito and Martin and expressed regret regarding their absences, but said it was time to get on with business. "The only thing affecting us is we cant even get dressed," said receiver Mike Wallace as he surveyed the media throng. Wallace said he found Incognito to be intense but a good teammate. Newcomer Bryant McKinnie agreed. "When I got here, he was a guy who had everybody laughing and told jokes," said McKinnie, a tackle who joined the team two weeks ago. "I didnt really see the side being portrayed right now." Hazing of young players has a long history in sports, but Incognitos treatment of Martin raised questions about whether coaches or teammates should have intervened. "Its not a thin line. Its pretty obvious stuff that shouldnt be crossed," Tennessee Titans cornerback Jason McCourty said. "You would hope if stuff was getting out of hands, there were guys in the locker room who would step up and maybe nip it in the bud before it got out of control." Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said he was glaad the Dolphins took action against Incognito. OBrien Schofield. "Especially when you try to bully a guy. Thats so classless," Dockett said. "His whole makeup is to play dirty and hurt guys. Everybody knows that. I just dont understand how he got away with it for so long. I think the NFL really needs to buckle down on it now, because its bigger than trying to hurt other guys. Youre trying to hurt guys on your team mentally, which sometimes can actually be worse than hurting someone physically." Philbin said he was unaware of hazing incidents that involved Incognito -- such as hacking into a teammates Facebook page -- shown on the HBO series "Hard Knocks," which chronicled the Dolphins training camp in 2012. Philbin said he never watched the program. "If the review shows that this is not a safe atmosphere, I will take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that it is," Philbin said. "I have that obligation to the players that I coach on a daily basis, and I will do that." Before being suspended, Incognito posted several tweets saying he wanted his name cleared. "Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth," Incognito tweeted, quoting Buddha. Incognito, whos in the final year of a $13 million, three-year contract, has long had a reputation of being among the NFLs dirtiest players. During his first four years, he led the league in penalties for unnecessary roughness, and the St. Louis Rams got fed up with his undisciplined play and released him during the 2009 season. "Theres certain people out there who are just punks, and he wants to be that kind of guy," former Seahawks and Lions defensive end Lawrence Jackson said Monday. "But because hes a lineman, he gets away with a lot of stuff that people dont see. ... Incognito is way worse than anybody I ever played against." However, there have been fewer such complaints since Incognito joined the Dolphins in 2010. Last year he was voted by the leagues players into the Pro Bowl for the first time. He was the co-winner of the Dolphins Good Guy Award, given to the teams most co-operative player by the local media. He also won frequent praise from Dolphins coaches for his leadership, and this year he was voted by teammates to serve as a member of the Dolphins player council. At Nebraska, Incognitos career was cut short when he was suspended in 2004 before his junior season following a locker room altercation with a teammate. He also ran into problems with the law while with the Cornhuskers, and they said he repeatedly violated team rules. Martin protected Andrew Lucks blind side at Stanford before joining Miami as a second-round draft pick in 2012. He has been a starter since the beginning of his rookie season, but has struggled while dividing his time between left and right tackle. Stanford coach David Shaw said people at the school had been in touch with Martin. "Im a Jonathan Martin fan, so my interest is just in him getting back to the point where he gets a chance to play this game that he loves again," Shaw said. "By all accounts hes doing well. Not sure if hes going to rejoin the team this year, or when he is, but I know hes going to get himself back ready to play the game." For the first six games this year, Incognito and Martin were the two players protecting Ryan Tannehills blind side. Their troubled relationship may help explain his NFL-high 35 sacks. cheap jerseyscheap jerseys from china ' ' '
