Thursday Evening Odds & Ends

• Two Badgers -- both favorites of Ma60 -- have made THN's Top 10 UFAs who'd like an NHL job but won't likely get one. Sorry, Ma.
  

  3. Curtis Joseph, Goaltender – St. Louis, Edmonton, Toronto, Detroit, Phoenix, Calgary
  CuJo, as he is known, was one of the best goalies on bad to mediocre teams in the modern NHL. Joseph, 42, is fourth all-time in regular season victories (454), but his 352 losses tie him with Gump Worsley for the highest all-time total in that dubious category. He’ll best be remembered for leading average teams in Edmonton and Toronto to playoff upsets.
  
  2. Chris Chelios, Defense – Montreal, Chicago, Detroit
  Fourth all-time in NHL games played with 1644, 12th in penalty minutes with 2,891 and the 10th-highest scoring blueliner ever, Chelios, 47, won three Norris Trophies (1989, 1993, 1996), was runner-up twice (1995, 2002) and played his first NHL game in 1983-84. He won Stanley Cups with Montreal (1986) and Detroit (2002, 2008).



• Jeremy Roenick says Chris Chelios wants to play for the Rangers. I think we kind of already knew that, but hey, the article has some quotes.


• Despite having reportedly "given up hope" on Dany Heatley, the Oilers are wooing Heatley with videos. (If you haven't noticed, everyone at the Edmonton Journal hates Heatley. Me, even though I think he and his agent have mishandled things, I still like Dany. I've been told by a number of people that if he sees you wearing Badger gear at one of his games, he'll give you a little stick salute. I love that kind of stuff.)
  


• The Nashville Old Notes won their division in last week's Snoopy's Senior World Hockey Tournament, winning each game handily and outscoring their opponents 25 to 8. HF's DJ Powers tells me that Danny Geoffrion led the team in scoring -- in 3 games, he had 9 goals and 4 assists for 13 points. Thanks, DJ!
  

• Speaking of the Geoffrion clan, I've been told that the Nashville Predators pushed pretty hard to sign Blake Geoffrion this past April. Blake, however, told them that he preferred to stay in school and finish his degree since he only had 1 year remaining. And while I wouldn't have faulted him if he had signed, I applaud his decision. Sounds like he's got a pretty good head on his shoulders. And needless to say, I'm excited to see him back in the Cardinal & White for another season.

• My favorite quote from today, from WCH: "Apparently not only will North Dakota be changing their nickname, they're also changing their name from the University of No Discipline to the University of Severe Consequences." Nice work, Chris.
  
  The Grand Fork's Herald has UND head coach Dave Hakstol's reaction to events, as well as a summary of the punishment he handed down to current UND player Matt Frattin.
  
  If you missed Frattin's and Joe Finley's shenanigans, you can read about them here. Pretty goofy all-in-all -- no one else's property was damaged (although the street did need to be cleaned up), and no one was hurt. Sure, it was stupid, and no, you can't let them off with a slap on the wrist. But I figure there's a lot of more stupid things they could've done while intoxicated, and I was more amused by their antics than anything else. *shrug*
  

• The Purple Cows have given head coach Troy Jutting a 4-year extension. Shane Frederick has the details.


• Mike Eaves' older son Ben has signed a 1-year 2-way contract with the Nashville Predators. I didn't realize Ben was still playing hockey -- I vaguely remember him getting injured during the 05-06 season and then serving as volunteer in some capacity for BC during the 2006 FF. But apparently after sitting out most of 05-06 and all of 06-07, he played in Finland the past 2 seasons with the Espoo Blues. I hope he makes it up to Nashville, but if not, perhaps we'll get a chance to see him play in Milwaukee.
  


• We previously posted that the NHLPA is advising NHL players not to participate in on-ice activities during Olympic orientation camps. The German Ice Hockey Federation says it's NHL players were forced to pull out of their Olympic training camp, which is currently underway. The NHLPA is denying that claim, stating that they are simply advising players of the risk of participating without adequate insurance. Meanwhile, Joe Thorton just doesn't care.