Hyvää uuttavuotta! Gott nytt år! Happy New Year!

Goodbye 2010

Welcome 2011

It's a new year and a new start and with that new start I am "relaunching" The Sin Bin Chronicles.

I want to thank those of you for reading in my first year. Over 3,000 views and the site was only active from May until October. I hope you all have enjoyed the site and continue to return.

As for what The Sin Bin Chronicles will include for this coming year I don't know... we'll see where the hockey world takes us.

A little here, a little there

I want to apologize for the lack of post as of late on here. This blog was designed to be my personal thoughts and stories on things from around the hockey world that did not fit into the other blogs I write for.

Heading into the new season I am seeing that most of my stuff now fits into my many outlets I am now part of. I thank you all for reading and this is by no means a goodbye and I am not going on a leave like The Triple Deke.

I am only saying you can find me on a number of other sites now:


Detroit Sports Nation

The Hockey Writers

Howlin' Hockey

This week I received a very warm welcome over at Hockey Wilderness from the staff and their readers.

I recommend checking out and bookmarking all of the sites - and not just to read me but the other great writers that are also featured on the sites.

Welcome Home

(WILLIAM ARCHIE / DFP)

Don't mess with Finland

Who doesn't love the motivational posters? I remember when I first started going to college the school I was going to had them EVERYWHERE. They were in the halls, the offices, heck I think there were even some in the bathrooms. Needless to say - if you need that much motivation I think you need to make some chances in your life.

Back to topic - so these awesome posters have become an Internet sensation with the addition of the demotivational posters and now everything in life gets a poster. My personal favorite:



(Sorry it is so blurry it was taken with my phone that I clearly need a new one).

And Today's poster of the day with a historical significance. Please take a look at the totals at the bottom - yes those numbers are correct:

Name the connection: Miroslav Satan, Darren Haydar, Antti Pihlstrom

What do these have in common? Okay so they play hockey, in the NHL. That is kind of a given on a hockey blog though isn't it?

Want a hint?

Here is the full list:

Antti Pihlstrom
Barry Legge
Bill Brydge
Darren Haydar
Dave Thomlinson
Fred Robertson
Gerry James
Hugh Currie
Matt Pettinger
Miroslav Satan
Ron Sedlbauer
Ron Tugnutt
Sammy McManus
Scott Lachance
Stephane Quintal
Terry Take
Brian Curran
And for fun lets add myself to this list because I too fit the connection.

Any guesses?

We all were born on October 22 (years differ).

Thanks to those over at the NHL Digest you too can go though and locate which NHL players you share a birthday with. Be sure to check out the NHL Player Birthday Calender over at NHL Digest

Going, going, gone!

It is upon us, the dawning of the Free Agent Frenzy and already it feels like it has begun.

Last night the Nashville Predators traded soon-to-be Unrestricted Free Agents Dan Ellis and Dustin Boyd to the Montreal Canadiens for Sergei Kostitsyn. It looks as if signed Ellis will be part of the Goalie 1A/1B combination in Montreal along with Restricted Free Agent Carey Price (this after the Habs traded the rights to goaltender Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues earlier in the off season).

Will there be more trades today? My guess is probably. Now that the Habs have a head start to talk to Ellis and his agent odds are he will probably sign. Ellis had this to say via Twitter:

Very excited about the trade! Its an honor to be part of a team with such great tradition and passion! Hope we can figure something out!

and...

Hello and Bonjour to all my recent followers! Have not taken French since 9th grade so please give me some leeway!

after an influx of followers on his Twitter account after the announced trade (you can find Dan Ellis on Twitter @dellis39 ).

In other hockey news yesterday the Dallas Stars officially announced that they do not have any plans to offer Mike Modano a contract. After such great send offs both in Dallas and in Minnesota (where the played his last game this past season and even threw on a North Stars jersey) it is possible he will retire. There is no topping the way the fans in both cities treated him (except maybe going out with a Stanley Cup win but then you don't have that individual acknowledgment that he received).



It is possible that this image from the game in Minnesota vs the Wild is the last image we will have of Mike Modano playing in the NHL. Kind of reminds me of another famous picture of a players final step...



Tomorrow's Free Agent Frenzy brings with it the hope for the future and the memories of the past of those players decide to leave the ice.

As of 7 a.m. this morning....

..... there is once again respect for Mikko Koivu.

Just check the shop.nhl site and after a week of research they have come to the conclusion that there really are two "k" 's in Mikko's first name. The listing on Shop.NHL for the third jersey now has the second "k" added to his name.

No respect for Mikko Koivu

We're not all perfect. No matter how much your significant other or your parents tell you that you are - NO ONE is.

Making mistakes is part of life - I get that, I've made many and will probably still make some, I am only 25. I will be the first to admit that I made a mistake in a recent post I made on another website. The person catching my mistake even emailed me to inform me of my blunder (thank you for not posting it in the comments by the way).

So what did I do? I emailed back and thanked the reader for pointing it out to me and then went in and edited the post. Mistake fixed. An entire word I missed. But I was able to insert that word and now all is right with the world (okay so fixing that one mistake didn't bring peace to the Middle East or even find me full time employment).

Now I know you are probably wondering, "What does this have to do with Mikko Koivu?" Last week I had noticed on the Shop.NHL site (via Wild.com) that on the listing for the Mikko Koivu Third Jersey they had misspelled his name to "Miko". Not a huge end of the word mistake but I still emailed them to let them know it was misspelled. After a few more communication with whichever Representative I got they told me...

Thank you for following up with us on this matter. We have submitted a
request for our Operations Department to research this matter further
and correct this error. Please allow 3-5 business days for us to review
this matter.

All you need to do is add the extra "k" to "Miko" So because the matter has yet to be resolved I have decided to start the Twitter hashtag #Respect4Mikko Will anyone post anything? Doubtful. But the Weather Service tells me it is unsafe to go outside today (have to love poor air quality and a heat index predicted to go near or above 100 yet again).

So in recap...

What to do when you make a mistake:
*Own up to the mistake
*If it is something that can be fixed, you fix it (As soon as possible)
*Learn from it
*Think positive
*Don't obsess about it
*Remember that everyone makes mistakes


*** UPDATE ***

It is just before 5 p.m. and I just recived an e-mail stating that the spelling error will be corrected within the next 2-3 days. #Respect4Mikko

NHL Draft 2010 Round One

*Team Taylor vs Team Tyler - Team Taylor may have taken the first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft however that means Taylor Hall is headed to Edmonton to play for the Oilers while Tyler Seguin will head to Boston to play for the Bruins. Which team do you really think won?

*Most Americans ever drafted in the first round of an NHL Draft with 11

*3 Russians, 1 Swiss, 1 Finn, and 0 Swedes in the first round. Remember last year Sweden set their record of having seven Swedes drafted in the first round (Including second overall pick Victor Hedman to the Tampa Bay Lightning) How Swede it use to be.



*Mikael Granlund of Finland was the highest drafted European trained player (9th to the Minnesota Wild)

Where did they go?:
1. Taylor Hall (Canada) to the Edmonton Oilers via Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
2. Tyler Seguin (Canada) to the Boston Bruins via Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
3. Erik Gudbranson (Canada) to the Florida Panthers via Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
4. Ryan Johansen (Canada)to the Columbus Blue Jackets via Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
5. Nino Niederreiter (Swiss) to the New York Islanders via Porland Winterhawks (WHL)
6. Brett Connolly (Canada) to the Tampa Bay Lightning via Prince George Cougars (WHL)
7. Jeff Skinner (Canada) to the Carolina Hurricanes via the Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
8. Aleksandr Burmistrov (Russia) to the Atlanta Thrasers via Barrie Colts (OHL)
9. Mikael Granlund (Finland) to the Minnesota Wild via HIFK (SM-liiga)
10. Dylan McIlrath (Canada)to the New York Rangers via Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
11. Jack Campbell (US) to Dallas Stars via U.S. National U-18Team (USHL)
12. Cam Fowler (US) To Anaheim Ducks via Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
13. Brandon Gormley (Canada) to Phoenix Coyotes via the Moncton Wildcars (QMJHL)
14. Jaden Schwartz (Canada) to the St. Louis Blues via Tri-City Storm (USHL)
15. Derek Forbort (US) to the LA Kings via Tri-City Storm (USHL)
16. Vladimir Tarasenko (Russia) St. Louis Blues via HC Sibir Novosibirsk (KHL)
17. Joey Hishon (Canada) Colorado Avalanche via Owen Sound Attack (OHL)
18. Austin Watson (US)Nashville Predators via Peterborough Petes (OHL)
19. Nick Bjugstad (US) Florida Panthers via Blaine High School
20. Beau Bennett (US) Pittsburgh Penguins via Penticton (BCHL)
21. Riley Sheahan (Canada) Detroit Red Wings via Univ. of Notre Dame (CCHA)
22. Jarred Tinordi (US) Montreal Candiens via U.S. National U-18 Team (USHL)
23. Mark Pysyk (Canada) to the Buffalo Sabres via Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
24. Kevin Hayes (US) to the Chicago Blackhawks via Noble and Greenough School
25. Quinton Howden (Canada) to the Florida Panthers via Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
26. Evgeny Kuznetsov (Russia) to the Washington Capitals via Traktor Chelybinsk (KHL)
27. Mark Visentin (Canada) to the Phoenix Coyotes via Niagara Ice Dogs (OHL)
28. Charlie Coyle (US) San Jose Sharks via South Shore Kings (EJHL)
29. Emerson Erem (US) Anaheim Ducks via Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
30. Brock Nelson (US) New York Islanders via Univ. of North Dakota (WCHA)

Tune in today for the rest of the 2010 NHL Draft live from the Staples Center in LA.

Koivu Jersey Foul UPDATE

I received an email this morning about the Mikko Koivu Jersey Foul on the shop.nhl.com third jersey.

A request has been submitted to the Operations Department to "research this matter further and correct this error". However, it will take 3-5 days to add the second "k" to Koivu's first name.

Even the NHL makes Jersey Fouls

Really? "Miko" Koivu? Is the second "k" taking up too much space to spell out "Mikko"?

The NHL can't even get the name of FIRST (permanent) captain in the history of the Wild right? One would think some where along the lines someone, somewhere had to have gone over and proof read, or even just read the listings.

How has no one affiliated with the site caught this mistake?

Anteeksi Mikko.

***Special thanks to Bryan Reynolds over at Hockey Wilderness for capturing a screen shot of the lovely jersey foul brought to you by the official Shop.NHL.com site for the Minnesota Wild for me.

This week in WTF are you thinking...

This past week left some fan bases wondering "what the..."



The Detroit Red Wings announced that they reached an agreement with forward Todd Bertuzzi. Saying Bertuzzi is not a fan favorite in Hockeytown is a bit of an understatement. Fans were first shocked that he was brought back (it's not that he was horrible and I think in the play offs it looked as if he had finally found his place). What shocked fans was the two year $3.875 million no trade clause contract.



Up in Minne-so-ta the Wild managed to send their fans in to a panic when they announced the team had re-signed James Sheppard. The forward signed a one-year deal for just over $800,000. Not bad, still leaves plenty of room for the free agent frenzy that will hit July 1 and maybe, just maybe, he is working some of those kinks out of his game this summer.

The biggest "W-T-F" moment came from North of the boarder Montreal.

Halak.

In case you you have not heard about Halak's rights being traded to the St. Louis Blues for two prospects (Lars Eller and Ian Schultz). The trade prompted a fan freak out frenzy on Twitter enough to shut it down and cause mass "fail whales" on the social media network. Even after it had started to calm down Halak was still a trending topic WORLDWIDE on the social networking site. That means as many people in the entire world were talking about Halak being traded as they were the World Cup and the vuvuzela annoyance.

At least this piece of gold made it to the Internet...

Help Bäckström design a new mask

For those that do not know I write for The Hockey Writers about the Minnesota Wild. I came across this awhile ago and have forwarded it on via twitter and facebook but thought it was time to pass it on here as well.

If you have kids or know any kids (under 18) that love hockey and are creative (or even if not let them still have a shot who knows) Niklas Bäckström of the Minnesota Wild is having a contest to create a new mask design.

Here is the offical link with detailed information: http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=527141&navid=DLMINhome