Remember the idea of having pro players beat each other up in a tournament? It appears it will happen Aug. 27-28 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The format: Two men in hockey gear skate to center ice and have two minutes to pummel each other into submission. The last of the 32 thugs standing could win up to $100,000.
According to hockeygladiators.com, tickets are $25 and $35, though children under 12 with a parent get in for $15. The site also has a tentative lineup that includes:
Lyndon Byers, who had 1,081 penalty minutes in 279 games with the Sharks and Bruins; Link Gaetz, who once had 326 penalty minutes in 48 games with the Sharks; and Sasha Lakovic, who once had 416 penalty minutes in 49 games for IHL Las Vegas.
Promoter Darryl Wolski to Canada's Globe and Mail: "Some people have said this is tragic for the game. But 75 percent of the Canadians I've talked to have said, "What a neat idea."'
Oil and water
And you thought Lightning coach John Tortorella and Vinny Lecavalier were bad. Chicago's Daily Herald reported Blackhawks coach Brian Sutter and wing Tyler Arnason got into a shouting match at a Nashville bar. You remember Arnason. He rode shotgun with Theo Fleury during last season's topless bar incident. Anyway, the Herald said Sutter might have gotten physical during the incident. "It wasn't physical or anything like that," Sutter said. "I'd like it to be physical with him more. I might have poked him or something, but it wasn't unlike 101 other conversations I've had with him. I hope it worked because he played the game of his life the next night."
Like the Rangers?
Then listen to captain Mark Messier on New York missing the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season and trading Brian Leetch.
"Anybody that's a Ranger fan - or a Ranger - has been disappointed, more than disappointed over the last seven years," he said. "To see it unfold the way it has and see it end with Brian being traded, to me, that's the bottoming out of it."
Five Questions
With Avs right wing Dan Hinote:
Q : When did your family leave Leesburg?
A: We left (for Elk River, Minn.) when I was 3. But my dad was from Sebring, and I had family in Miami and down in the Keys. So every year we'd go back.
Q : Can you compare the two states?
A: The fishing is great in both. The humidity is about the same, and the mosquitoes are about the same.
Q : Is the humidity really as bad as Florida?
A: Maybe not as bad but pretty close. But Minnesota is pretty humid, so it's not a huge difference.
Q : Where do you vacation in Florida?
A: I love going to the Keys. It's real laid-back. I have an aunt and uncle who live there. You walk 10 feet outside their door and there's the canal to the ocean.
Q : Would you retire there?
A: I'd like to keep both. I have family in Minnesota on my mom's side, and Florida is a great spot in the winter. The best of both worlds.
Around the league
Why were Tampa Bay's Andre Roy and Chicago's Johnathan Aitken jawing and pointing fingers from the penalty box after Wednesday's third-period fight? Roy said Aitken was mad Roy did not fight in the first period when asked. "I'm not going to let some rookie tell me when I'm going to fight," Roy said. ... Jeremy Roenick is back training with the Flyers despite a concussion and shattered jaw. "This is what I was born to do," he said. ... The Islanders announced anyone who buys a full season ticket by March 21 will get free tickets to the first two rounds of the playoffs. If the team misses the playoffs, the offer applies to the next time they qualify.
Quotable
"I never got anything like that in Washington. I was like, "Wow."' - Bruins defenseman Sergei Gonchar after hearing fans cheer when he was named first star in his first game in Boston.
- Compiled by Times staff writer Damian Cristodero from personal interviews and information from other news organizations.
