Hockey Hits: Oilers arena is underway says Oilers President & CEO Patrick LaForge, Senators conference call, can David Freeman save the Predators and more fallout from the Paul Kelly firing.

News from across the blogs:

• Cult of Hockey:  The only thing that LaForge made clear was that the project is moving ahead “It’s a project now, more than speculation, and it’s underway.”  Sounds quite confident considering the majority of Edmontonians don’t appear to want to spend public money on this project.
• Working the Corners:  Mitchell (three years) and Staubitz (one year) get their new contracts, a new twist on the Vancouver deal, and that Kessel buzz.  Sharks seem to be the team everyone is talking about with all the moves they are making. 
• T.O. Sports:  What if the NHL were still 6 teams?  The talent is just sick.  Being realistic though, I wonder what it would look like with 18 or even 21 teams.
• The Bruins Blog:  Some news and notes on rehabilitating Boston Bruins center David Krejci.  Looks like he should be ready to go for the B’s.
• Sens Town:  Conference call re-cap.  Bryan Murray, Pascal Leclaire, Eugene Melnyk and Cyril Leeder all took part, and here is the recap.
• From the Rink:  Meet the man tasked with saving the Preds: An interview with owner David Freeman.  Very good Q&A with him.
• NHL Fanhouse:  LA’s Rise Depends on super-skilled Kopitar.  This guy has tremendous skill and the young Kings are on the rise in the Western Conference.
• Hitting the Post:  A Wild fan’s first impression of the new, third jersey.  Not ‘wild’ about the colors although I do like the logo.
• Greatest Hockey Legends:  Top ten mustaches.  Is there any more legendary mustache than Lanny McDonalds?
• Blue Seat Blogs:  Donald Brashear is necessary.  He is?  Perhaps if he started skating instead of looking to make cheap hits, he might be.
• Lighthouse Hockey:  Paul Kelly fallout: ex-Islander Patrick Flatley resigns from NHLPA.  This is going to be causing some waves for the next few days as the fallout continues.
• Japers’ Rink:  Re-thinking what you thought you thought about line-matching.  Very good article.
• Faceoff Factor:  Big weekend in the Coyotes saga.  Will the drama never cease.  I think the city of Glendale was right to tell the NHL they need to honor its contract.  What sort of lesson does this send?  Anytime  you are unhappy with the terms of the contract you demand they change.  If that is the case, what is the point of writing up a contract in the first place?
• Hockey Analysis:  Apologies to Luke Schenn – Corrections To Zone Shift.  For all those readers who enjoy reading the breakdown of stats, here is a look at the Leafs.
• PensBurgh:  Senators, Wild, Flyers may be interested in Petr Sykora.  Lots of speculation.
• Litter Box Cats:  Rob Tallas named Florida Panthers goaltending coach.  Despite the Panthers apparent refusal to name a GM, this hasn’t prevented the club from deciding on their next goalie coach and it appears that Florida fans are behind this move 100%.
• Snapshots:  Scouting report of four Red Wings players who stand to lose their jobs if they can’t prove that they’re worth keeping instead of simply promoting a younger, cheaper player to replace them.  Ah the beauty of the Red Wings organization.  You develop so much talent, the moment someone gets too pricey, you can bring someone up from Grand Rapids.  They continue to be an example of what happens when you are very good at development.
• The Hockey News:  The best all-alumni teams.  Cool idea.  We here at Illegalcurve did a similar breakdown of the best Provincial (British Colombia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Maritimes) & U.S. State (Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois/Wisconsin) teams a little while back.