Sport-scan daily brief

For all Kings ticket information, call 1-888-KINGS-LA (1-888-54647-52)

The Kings and the NHL will release the 2013-14 regular season schedule at a later time (as early as today).

Day Date Opponent City Venue Time (PT)

Sun. Sept. 15 – Coyotes Phoenix Jobing.com Arena 7 p.m. (split squad)

Sun. Sept. 15 – Coyotes Los Angeles STAPLES Center 7:30 p.m. (split squad)

Tue. Sept. 17 – Ducks Anaheim Honda Center 7 p.m.

Fri. Sept. 20 – Avalanche Denver Pepsi Center 6 p.m.

Tues. Sept. 24 – Ducks Los Angeles STAPLES Center 7:30 p.m.

Fri. Sept. 27 – Rangers Las Vegas MGM Grand 7:30 p.m.

Sat. Sept. 28 – Avalanche Las Vegas MGM Grand 7 p.m.

Also, Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports the Wild’s home opener will take place on Thursday, October 3 against the Kings:

There has also been a leaked Florida Panthers schedule making its rounds today, via George Richards of the Miami Herald. This schedule is unconfirmed, though it appears reasonable. Click here to see where and when the Panthers are tentatively scheduled to play other NHL teams.

According to that schedule, Los Angeles will visit South Florida for a matinee on Sunday, October 13, with the Panthers paying Staples Center a visit as part of another afternoon affair on Saturday, March 22. Again, that schedule is unconfirmed and may change.

LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 07.18.2013

714555 Montreal Canadiens

Study finds recent rule changes didn’t reduce rates of concussions in NHL

TORONTO — The Canadian Press

Published Wednesday, Jul. 17 2013, 6:15 PM EDT

Last updated Wednesday, Jul. 17 2013, 6:50 PM EDT

A recent NHL rule change designed to cut down on the number of concussions in the league hasn’t made a difference, a new study suggests.

The research suggests the rule, which outlawed bodychecks aimed at the head and checking from a player’s blind side, has not led to lower concussion rates among pro hockey players since it came into force in the 2010-11 season.

The senior author of the work said the league should take another crack at the rule change, noting that as it stands the wording is too subjective and gives referees leeway not to enforce it.

“If player safety is the prime priority of the NHL in bringing this kind of rule in ... then they need to relook at this in a very serious way and adjust things,” said Dr. Michael Cusimano, a neurosurgeon who heads the injury prevention research unit at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital.

“If it isn’t a priority, I could see them just leaving things the way they are and it’s kind of a Band-Aid response to a major problem.”

The NHL did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment on the article. And the NHL Players’ Association declined to comment because it hadn’t had a chance to review the study.

But another concussion expert applauded the work, saying Cusimano and his team had performed a service by exploring the impact of the rule change.

Dr. Charles Tator, a brain surgeon with Toronto Western Hospital, said the change’s lack of impact has an effect not just in the arenas of the National Hockey League, but on rinks where kids who dream of making it to the NHL some day emulate their professional heroes.

“Professional hockey is still a bad influence on the amateurs,” said Tator, who is project leader for the Canadian Sports Concussion Project at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre.

The study was published Wednesday in the journal PLoS One.

Cusimano and colleagues painstakingly put together data on reports of concussions and suspected concussions — based on reports of symptoms — from a variety of sources. Some of the information came from teams, others from media reports.

The information was gathered for both the NHL and the Ontario Hockey League, which has stricter rules on checks to the head than the NHL does. The OHL rule penalizes any hit to the head of another player, intentional or unintentional.

The data showed that there was no statistical significance in the incidence of concussions in the NHL in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons compared to the 2009-10 season. That latter was the year before the NHL rule change went into effect.

The researchers estimated there were about 5.23 concussions per 100 games in the NHL regular season. Despite its stiffer rule, the OHL didn’t have markedly different concussion rates, clocking 5.05 per 100 games in the regular season.

The analysis also showed that the type of hits outlawed by the NHL rule weren’t actually the major cause of concussions.

About 28 per cent of interactions produced a concussion also generated a penalty call, said Cusimano. In that 28 per cent, the bulk of the penalties were for fighting. “And blindsiding, which was what the rule was initially was written about, was only 4.1 per cent of all those.... But four per cent of 28 per cent is a very small number.”

“I wasn’t totally surprised, but I was disappointed that we weren’t able to show a difference,” Cusimano said.

“Part of it’s the way the rule’s written. Part of it’s the way the rule is enforced. Part of it’s the penalties associated with the rule. And part of it is that concussions are also coming from other causes like fighting, that is still allowed.”

The way the NHL rule is worded gives referees outs to avoid levying penalties for some of the hits, for instance in cases where players are deemed to have put themselves in a vulnerable position.

“So it’s like his fault, because he put himself into a vulnerable position. And this highlights one of the major problems in sport and particularly in hockey these days. We victimize the victim even more, rather than looking at the game and the system and saying: ‘What can we do to reduce these injuries?“’ Cusimano said.

He suggested that if the league wants to get serious about protecting players, it has to raise the cost of concussion-inducing hits, both on the player who inflicts the injury, and on the team which sent him out to do it.

If the player who sidelined Pittsburgh Penguin captain Sidney Crosby for a year was forced to spend as much time off the ice for the injury, the culture of teams might start to change, Cusimano suggested.

“If there were more severe consequences to those who inflict that kind of injury — let’s say that player was out for an equal amount of time as Crosby — that might have more impact,” he said.

Tator estimated that hockey has moved only about 10 per cent of the way down the path it would need to take to make the game safe for amateurs and professionals.

“In terms of injury prevention, it isn’t enough to enact regulations,” he said. “The other half of the coin is enforcement. And if you really aren’t strictly enforcing a rule, the rule is going to be ineffective.”

Globe And Mail LOADED: 07.18.2013

714556 Nashville Predators

Predators prospect Colton Sissons puts pain of injury in past

Jul. 17, 2013 10:35 PM

Tyler Whetstone

In March, Colton Sissons was playing his final regular-season game with the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets in front of friends and family in Vancouver.

The 2012 second-round draft pick of the Predators already had scored two goals and racked up an assist when he ended up at the bottom of a pile and hurt his collarbone.

After the game, he found out it was fractured. He was told no playoffs, no hockey for eight to 12 weeks.

“I didn’t know as soon as it happened,” Sissons said. “I knew I was in a lot of pain, but I thought I just tweaked my shoulder and then I felt in there and realized something wasn’t flat.”

Last week the 19-year-old Sissons participated in Predators development camp, which concluded on Saturday with a scrimmage at Centennial Sportsplex.

The camp marked the first time Sissons was on the ice playing competitive hockey since his injury, and for a player looking to make his way onto Nashville’s roster this fall, every bit of ice time counts.

“I think (development camp) is just showing yourself against your competition,” Sissons said. “All of these guys are fighting for a spot to play on the Predators one day, and you’ve got to show that maybe you’ve got a little bit more than they do bringing to the table.”

Predators chief amateur scout Jeff Kealty didn’t think the injury hurt Sissons’ chances of making the team.

“You know injuries always heal and … he’s a mature kid and a well-prepared kid,” Kealty said. “He had a real good year before he got hurt. He’s healed up now and getting a good summer training in so he should be ready to go come September.”

The Predators are off from official team activities and practices until early September when training camp begins, but that won’t keep players who are fighting for a roster spot off the ice.

“Get faster and stronger and hopefully get my foot in the door come camp,” Sissons said. “I just want to play professional hockey this year, and I’m going to do everything in my power to do so.”

Extension for Clune: The Predators re-signed forward Rich Clune on Wednesday to a two-year, $1.7 million contract extension that starts after the 2013-14 season.

He will make $850,000 in both 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Nashville picked up Clune off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings before last season, and he turned into a solid addition. The 5-foot-10, 207-pounder added toughness to the lineup and a little bit of scoring, with four goals and five assists in 47 games. He was also a plus-3.

Mostly, he ended up replacing Jordin Tootoo, who signed with the Detroit Red Wings last offseason, and did a good job of filling that role.

Clune is in the final season of a two-way contract that pays him $90,000 at the American Hockey League level and $550,000 at the NHL level.

Tennessean LOADED: 07.18.2013

714557 Nashville Predators

Predators sign F Rich Clune to 2-year extension

Wednesday, July 17, 2013 at 12:11pm

By Associated Press

The Nashville Predators have signed forward Rich Clune to a two-year, $1.7 million contract, extending his deal through the 2015-16 season.

General manager David Poile announced the deal Wednesday. Clune will make $850,000 in 2014-15 and 2015-16

Clune, 26, had nine points in 47 games this season and ranked fourth in the NHL with 113 penalty minutes, the first Predator to top the 100-minute mark in four seasons. The Toronto native ranked sixth in the NHL with 159 hits and tied for second with 13 major penalties.

Nashville originally claimed Clune off waivers Jan. 13, and the 5-foot-9, 220-pound left wing has 11 points and 139 penalty minutes in 61 career NHL games.

Nashville City Paper LOADED: 07.18.2013

714558 New Jersey Devils

Devils' Myles Bell lives with past tragedy and future NHL dreams

Rich Chere/The Star-Ledger

on July 17, 2013 at 3:12 PM, updated July 17, 2013 at 3:41 PM

When Myles Bell misses a check or commits a costly turnover, the Devils’ 19-year-old left winger is annoyed. Perhaps even angry.

But for Bell, who endured a real-life tragedy just over two years ago, mistakes on the ice are all relative. He still lives with the memory of what happened in the early morning hours of April 30, 2011, when he lost control of the car he was driving and it flipped over several times in Springbank, Alberta, just west of Calgary.

The accident killed Bell’s 18-year-old girlfriend, Emily Matthewson, who was a passenger in the car. Bell, a defenseman for the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats at the time, wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car. He suffered a broken leg.

“There are things I wish happened differently, but it is life. You have to learn how to live with whatever has gone on,” Bell said today.

“It happened. You can’t take the situation lightly, but I’m trying to take my life in a positive direction. I think coming here is a big step towards that.”

Bell’s name could not be reported in Canada because he was 17 when the accident occurred. According to authorities, the car was traveling 182 kilometers an hour (113 mph) in an 80 kh/h (50 mph) zone when it hit a dip in the road and flipped several times. Matthewson died at the scene while the driver, called “a promising Western Hockey League star” in newspaper reports, walked to a nearby home for help.

A charge of impaired driving was withdrawn and Bell pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death. He received two years probation, a five-year ban from driving and 240 hours of community service. In addition to his own grief, he endured Matthewson’s “enraged” and devastated parents in a Nov. 17, 2011, provincial court hearing.

“Not many people know what that feels like,” Bell said of the tragedy. “I stuck close to my family. They were amazing. They were a big part of getting me through that. The game of hockey, too. After that I really realized that hockey was what I wanted to do with my life.

“I always needed hockey. Other than my mom, dad and sister, it’s my rock. You come to the rink and you can forget about things for a couple of hours. It helped me a lot.”

A defenseman with a 98 mph slap shot, Bell was viewed as a top prospect at the time of the accident. But he wasn’t picked in the 2011 NHL entry draft. He was traded from Regina to Kelowna three months later, but was again passed over in the 2012 draft.

Before this past season, Bell was converted from defense to left wing. In 69 games he scored 93 points (38 goals, 55 assists).

“We were heavy (at defense),” Bell recalled. “The coach and I had a little talk and he asked me if I wanted to give forward a try since I was an offensive D-man. Things started to work out and me and my linemates stayed hot all season.”

The Devils, who followed him closely, took a chance and made him their fourth pick (160th overall) in the sixth round of last month’s entry draft held at Prudential Center.

“I think after the interview he had with all our scouts (at the combine in Toronto last month) and the evaluation from our western scouts, who monitored him all year, we felt there was no risk at this point,” Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said.

“He’s been through a lot. Certain people learn and they learn how to handle themselves after something like that. We have confidence he is 100 percent going in the right direction.”

Being drafted was another step for Bell.

“I met with some teams at the combine, but being an over-age guy you never really know. I was still a little bit surprised to hear my name,” he admitted. “It was awesome, something you wait for your entire life as a Canadian kid growing up. To hear my name called, especially by an organization like this, is a really a dream come true.”

The Devils will not get a true reading on Bell, who’ll turn 20 on Aug. 19, until training camp in September when he faces the pros.

“His shot sticks out,” Lamoriello noted. “He played defense. Who knows? Maybe he’s a potential forward who can score and play on the power play, too.”

His chances of playing in the NHL next season are probably unrealistic. Bell is likely to start in Albany (AHL) or perhaps even back with Kelowna for his over-age junior season.

“If I make it that would be unbelievable but right now I’m still learning the position,” Bell said. “Having been (a defenseman) it makes it a little easier for me to understand the game and read plays before they happen. I kind of have an idea what D-men are going to do.

“I’m still not used to little things like picking pucks up off the wall and forward positioning. There are still times I catch myself in a game standing still trying to think about where I’m about to go. I can be my own worst enemy on the ice. If I can make sure I’m always moving my feet and doing the little things, I think I have a decent shot at playing pro hockey.”

He might not have said that even a few months ago.

“There are always times when you kind of doubt yourself. I had a good support group around me. They always told me to keep going,” Bell said.

The mistakes on the ice are trivial compared to the mistakes he made two years ago.

“In Canada there is the legal stuff that they can’t ask me about what happened. Down here, it doesn’t ruin my whole day to talk about it. It happened and I have to learn how to live with what happened. (Being asked about it) is part of it,” Bell said.

“Guys in the room are all respectful about it. Back in junior there are a select couple of guys that I’ll talk to about stuff. Those are very close friends. I keep it away from the rink. I’m focusing on hockey and on eventually being part of this organization on the NHL level.”

Star Ledger LOADED: 07.18.2013

714559 New Jersey Devils

Devils to shut down Stefan Matteau for rest of prospects camp

Rich Chere/The Star-Ledger

on July 17, 2013 at 10:49 AM, updated July 17, 2013 at 6:55 PM

Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said winger Stefan Matteau will probably be shut down for the remainder of prospects camp because of a minor injury.

"He's still sore," Lamoriello said. "There is no use pushing it. He's fine. He could've skated if we wanted him. For two days it's not worth it."

So Matteau will probably be shut down.

"I think so. I think that's the plan, unless he jumps up and down and says he's better than he was when he was healthy. I'm not sure he's going to say that."

Matteau has missed the last two days of camp. He watched practice today.

David Wiohlberg also did not skate today.

Lamoriello said he hopes to have Adam Henrique and other restricted free agents signed by the end of this week.

"Hopefully we'll have everything wrapped up by the end of the week. That's our intention. Until it's done, you don't know."

He also would like to name an assistant coach by Friday.

The first session today included players Lamoriello said will be invited to training camp in September. In addition to Matteau, they were:

Goalies: Anthony Brodeur, Scott Wedgewood.

Defensemen: Eric Gelinas, Jon Merrill, Reece Scarlett, Seth Helgeson, Brandon Burlon and Damon Severson.

Forwards: Reid Boucher, Blake Pietila, Ben Johnson, Blake Coleman, Myles Bell, Artur Gavrus, Graham Black, Riley Boychuk, Ben Thomson and Ryan Kujawinski.

Those in the second session will be going back to college or were invited to fill out the prospects camp roster.

Second session:

Goalies: Jake Hildebrand, Brandon Hope.

Defensemen: Steven Santini, Matt Killian, Oleg Yevenko, Curtis Gedig and Zach Tolkinen.

Forwards: Miles Wood, Nick Saracino, Derek Rodwell, Ryan Misiak, Conor Sheary, Frank DiChiara, Kyle Gibbons, Dmitry Antipin, Michael Ambrosia, Cody Wydo and Alexander Kerfoot.

"I think (camp) has gone very well," Lamoriello said. "What you do is get an opportunity to see kids together. Also, there are some people we have to make some decisions on.

"The group of defensemen is (as much) quality as we've had as well as quantity. And we have a couple of forwards here that we'll find out in training camp how far away they are when they get with the veterans."

Lamoriello said of the young players: "The biggest transition certainly is intimidation. In other words, here you are with people who have had success and played in the league and people you've watched play. Now you have to be careful you're not watching them rather than playing with them and showing what you can do.

"That's what this does in getting them ready. In past years it was only training camp."

Star Ledger LOADED: 07.18.2013

714560 New Jersey Devils

Fatal crash pushes Devs rookie Bell

By BRETT CYRGALIS

Last Updated: 3:54 AM, July 18, 2013

Posted: 1:22 AM, July 18, 2013

It was so dark it was almost purple, as it can be when you’re in places like the mountains of western Canada. Foot to the gas, Myles Bell was driving 113 mph when he hit a dip in Springbank Road, just outside the city limits of Calgary.

He lost control, and the car began to flip... and flip ... and flip. Wearing no seat belt, the 17-year-old Bell was ejected from the car immediately. The girl secured next to him in the passenger seat, 18-year-old Emily Matthewson, was not so lucky. Bell hobbled on a broken leg to the nearest house, and by the time the ambulances arrived, Matthewson was dead.

“This crime has left me without one of the few things that truly mattered to me,” Bruce Matthewson, Emily’s father, told the court months later, according to the Calgary Sun. “At this point I live in hell on Earth and find it difficult to find a reason to keep on living.”

Two years and two months after the crash that changed his life, Bell stood with his bare feet on a fluffy red carpet, his hockey shorts and shin guards still strapped on and the logo of the franchise that took a chance on him — the Devils — just steps away in the center of the room.

“I had to grow up, I had no other options,” Bell said Monday in a quiet Prudential Center locker room on the second day of the team’s prospect camp. “I had to realize I wasn’t invincible, I wasn’t Superman, and live with it.”

The same year as the crash, 2011, was Bell’s first with his name in the NHL Draft. He was a standout defenseman for the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, but his monster right-handed slap shot was hard to see through the glaring light of his accident, along with court papers stating Bell and Matthewson were intoxicated at the time of the accident. The impaired driving charge was dropped, but Bell sent out a letter of apology and pled guilty to a charge of dangerous driving.

All 30 teams passed.

“It was a hard thing to go through,” Bell said. “But it made me better, personally and as a hockey player.”

Regina general manager Brent Parker had a daughter who was friends with Emily Matthewson, and he cried at the press conference explaining what happened. In September, he traded Bell to the Kelowna Rockets, with whom Bell had a good enough year to be ranked the 46th best skater by Central Scouting — and go undrafted yet again.

That fall, Rangers GM Glen Sather invited him to camp on a tryout basis, and Bell got his first taste of what the NHL and New York could be like, heading to the MSG Training Center in Westchester and being blown away.

“They were great to invite me, and they have such a wonderful facility,” Bell said. “But it just didn’t work out.”

Bell went back to Kelowna, where his coach Ryan Huska moved him from defense to wing so that booming shot could be better utilized. He led the team in goals (38) and assists (55) in 69 games, and Devils president and GM Lou Lamoriello took notice. The two spoke at the NHL combine in Toronto before the draft, and come the 160th overall pick, Lamoriello took a calculated chance.

“We would not have drafted him,” Lamoriello told The Post yesterday, “if we weren’t comfortable with where he’s at.”

Lamoriello has visions of Bell using what he called “an NHL shot” and his experience as a defenseman, to man the power-play point, though that may have to wait. Even with Ilya Kovalchuk now in Russia and the Devils looking for as many good right-wingers as possible, Bell knows he will have to be patient.

“It would be my wish to play here,” Bell said. “But I’ve learned I just have to keep working, and hopefully some good can come of it.”

New York Post LOADED: 07.18.2013

714561 Ottawa Senators

Rule changes had no impact on concussions in NHL, study finds

By Helen Branswell, The Canadian Press July 17, 2013

TORONTO — A new study says a recent NHL rule change designed to cut down on the number of concussions in the league hasn’t made a difference.

The research suggests the rule, which outlawed bodychecks aimed at the head and checking from a player’s blind side, has not led to lower concussion rates among pro hockey players.