Wednesday Chum Bucket: Will the NHL bar players from the Olympics?

While most people covering the lockout agree that the league and players’ association are close, if not in agreement, on most major issues there remains a host of minor disputes the sides have yet to even tackle. One of them is player participation in international tournaments including the Olympics, something Hall of Famer Slava Fetisov believes the NHL will try to ban. [The Fourth Period]
We might find out whether or not that’s actually true as early as today as the sides will be meeting at an undisclosed New York location for the first time since last Thursday’s meltdown. Federal mediators not named Guy Serota will be in attendance, as per PA request. [The Hockey News]
Watch Brodie Brazil interview Ryane Clowe about his role with the San Francisco Bulls, spliced with video footage of Clowe behind the bench. [CSN Bay Area]
Popular Boston Bruins anthem singer Rene Rancourt was signed to a one-game “tryout” by the Worcester Sharks and will be singing the anthem at the DCU Center prior to a WorSharks game on December 16th. [Puck Daddy]
“For his entire career, he has been the caretaker of other people’s victories, the guardian of other people’s triumphs. For his entire career, he has been the repository of all the bitterness from all the people who lost in those same events. There is something to be said for all of that.” Donald Fehr: the hero the NHL deserves, but not the one it needs right now. Seriously though, this piece is on-point and wonderfully written. [Grantland]
Friend of the blog Jeff Angus names Logan Couture’s 2-year, $5.75 million contract the 10th-best value in the league. [The Hockey Writers]
Elliotte Friedman’s CBA-themed 30 Thoughts column explains that realignment will not be discussed at these negotiations, there isn’t anything close enough to a formal league proposal on paper to trigger a union vote and that both sides have entertained the possibility of dropping the puck without a CBA set in stone. [CBC]
One thing I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post on Justin Braun’s injury in Finland: the Sharks could conceivably suspend the defenseman without pay if the season starts before he recovers from his hand fracture. [Pro Hockey Talk]
Tyler Dellow takes a closer look at the impact of contract term limits, which have become a hot-button issue over the past week. [mc79hockey]
Mike Illitch announced plans to construct a new $650 million arena for the Detroit Red Wings that the man with an estimated $2.4 billion net worth will finance entirely with his own mone…oh wait, never mind, he’ll be using tax dollars that would have otherwise gone to Michigan public schools. Just a thought, maybe we should stop spending public funds on arenas that the public is just going to be locked out of anyway. [ESPN]

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