Washington Capitals head coach, Bruce Boudreau, has revealed in a new book called Gabby: Confessions of a Hockey Lifer, that Avery made some derogatory comments about his weight during the opening round of last season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

"He told me I was the biggest, fattest bleeping pig he had ever seen," wrote Boudreau. "He told me I was fatter than bleeping Ken Hitchcock. He told me I was going to die because I was such a fat bleep."

Really?  The worst part is that the two of them know each other pretty well since Boudreau coached Avery when he was with the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL in 2003. 

I guess it really shouldn’t be surprising and I can appreciate a little trash talk but when you start telling people that they are going to die because they are overweight, you’ve crossed the line.  I really can’t stand Avery.

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It’s too bad because the 25-year-old is off to a decent start so far this year.  In 11 games he racked up two goals and four assists.  It’s not stellar but it’s good enough to miss in the lineup.  Well, like I’ve been saying about all of the injuries in this first month of the season, it’s better to heal up now than in the postseason so hopefully this will be the last time he’ll be sidelined this year.

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Steve Yzerman, who is now the executive director of Hockey Canada as well as the vice president of the Detroit Red Wings, has said that he is hoping to talk to The Great One about his experiences at the Olympics (really?  Does anyone want to remember how badly Team Canada performed last time?).

Of course, the 2010 Vancouver Games are just months away so I’m sure that the newly appointed Hockey Canada leader is trying to get prepared.  I’m guessing he’s going to ask Gretzky about what went wrong and how to avoid it.  I can provide one bit of insight – pick young, skilled players!  Sheesh.

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"This is a significant announcement for our hockey club," said Mike Gillis. "Alain and his staff have done an excellent job leading our team to two Division titles in three years. I believe strongly in the partnership between management, coaches and players and we are all committed to building a championship team here in Vancouver."

I think that this is great because, despite the fact that the Canucks are among my least favorite teams, I’ve got to say that keeping their core players and their coach is smart since, obviously, they mesh well and really could be dangerous this coming season. 

During his three seasons behind the bench, Vigneault has had a 133-86-27 record with a .595 winning percentage, which is the best performance of any Vancouver coach in the club’s history.

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Dave Tippett has been tapped as the next head coach and will be trying to bring the team to where Gretzky could not in the four seasons he was behind the bench. 

Tippett had a relatively good track record during his time with the Dallas Stars who, under his guidance, made it to the 2008 Western Conference Finals, captured two division titles and made it to the playoffs five times.

Of course, things were pretty nasty for the team last season.  About a million players were injured, including captain Brenden Morrow.  Goaltender Marty Turco was terrible and, naturally, there was the whole Sean Avery crap.

After the team finished 12th, Tippett was fired but I didn’t really agree with it but that’s the nature of the game, right?  Hopefully, he will help Phoenix pull it together this season.

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Gretzky feels that it’s time to move on and was hoping, as the team’s managing partner, that the bankruptcy proceedings would have been finished by now.  I thought it would be decided by now as well and it’s pretty frustrating that the team is just hanging there waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Gretzky said: "Since both remaining bidders have made it clear that I don’t fit into their future plans, I approached general manager Don Maloney and suggested he begin looking for someone to replace me as coach."

Ouch!  Well, hopefully this is a fresh start for everyone involved.  I hope Sidney Crosby is taking notes.  This is one part of Gretzky’s career that he shouldn’t want to duplicate.

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I’m actually pretty excited about this and I’ll definitely try to catch his debut on September 21, 2009 when TSN2 will be covering the pre-season game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Montreal Canadiens at 7:30pm ET.

"I’m happy to finally be among the experts where the issues are many and solutions obvious," said MacTavish.  "I appreciate TSN providing a safe haven for unemployed coaches, as we rehabilitate ourselves towards future employability."

Honestly, I agree with that statement.  Sometimes coaches deserve to get fired and other times, it’s just a matter of them not being the right fit for a specific team.  It sucks because they haven’t done anything to deserve being unemployed so providing their insight into games and the pre-season is actually pretty valuable.  I see it as a win-win situation so I’m happy MacTavish has landed somewhere.

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In what seems like a rare moment between NHL coaches and the team administrators, Julien spoke about how important it is to feel that he has the support of the upper management. 

If a coach feels like no one has any confidence in what he’s doing, I can imagine that it has a really negative effect and I think Montreal and Tampa can take a look at the way this club is run and learn some lessons.

Claude Julien won the Jack Adams Award last season and I believe that he really deserved it.

The Bruins ended last season with an Eastern Conference-leading 116 points but lost in game seven of the second round against the Carolina Hurricanes.

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Oilers GM, Steve Tambellini, seems happy with the deal: "Wayne brings an array of experience from both the NHL and international level. We feel his knowledge of the game will be a compliment to our coaching staff."

Fleming does have great NHL experience after working with Calgary, Philadelphia, Phoenix and the New York Islanders.  He was assistant coach and GM on Canada’s Olympic 1992 silver medal-winning team.

He will join fellow assistant coach, Kelly Buchberger, in working alongside new head coach Pat Quinn and associate coach Tom Renney.

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The Capitals have confirmed the tragic news with GM George McPhee saying: “We are aware of the heartbreaking news.  At this time we ask that everyone respects the privacy of Jose and his family.”

I happen to know the Cloutier family personally since my mother has worked with Véro and Stephanie’s father, Guy Cloutier, many times over the past 35 years and Véronique also worked with my brother during her time on MusiquePlus.

The families of both José and Stéphanie have endured a lot of suffering.  Her father, Guy, was sentenced to 42 months in prison for sexually abusing Quebec singer, Natalie Simard (also a family friend), back in 2004.  That same year, José’s father and brother leaded guilty to charges of loansharking and possession of a restricted weapon.  In 2006, the couple’s daughter, Romy, was born prematurely and had to remain in-hospital.  On the weekend when they were supposed to bring the baby home, José slipped out and went to an awards show where he was seen getting cozy with Paris Hilton.  Somewhere in this whole nightmarish period in their lives, José also tested positive for the banned substance Propecia (but claimed he was taking it for hair loss – um, he’s got a lot of hair) and he was traded by the Montreal Canadiens to the Colorado Avalanche.

This seems like just another very tragic chapter in their lives and I truly hope that they can find comfort in each other.  I cannot imagine how saddened they must be and my heart really goes out to them.

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