ella led Wild defensemen with five goals and had a plus-7 rating entering the game Saturday against the St. Louis Blues. He's scored two overtime goals this season, most among NHL defensemen.We reached out to them at the beginning of the season. It came together pretty quickly, Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher said. About a week ago,Patrick Kane Jersey, [assistant GM Brent Flahr] made an offer and it literally took three or four phone calls to get it done.Marco ScandellaDefense - MINGOALS: 5 | ASST: 3 | PTS: 8SOG: 44 | +/-: 7The Star Tribune reported the average annual value as $4 million.A second-round selection (No. 55) of the Wild in the 2008 NHL Draft, Scandella struggled in his first two NHL seasons in 2010-11 and 2011-12, shuttling often between the Wild and the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League.He spent much of the shortened 2012-13 season in Houston before being recalled before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He's remained with Minnesota since.Scandella,Tomas Kopecky Black Premier Jersey, 24, scored three goals and had 14 assists and was plus-10 in 76 games with Minnesota last season. He would have become a restricted free agent after this season.The Wild have locked up four members of what is considered their young core to long-term contracts. Forward Nino Niederreiter signed a three-year contract in September, defenseman Jonas Brodin signed a six-year contract Oct. 12, and forward Charlie Coyle signed for five more years 10 days after Brodin's new deal.Players have to want to commit too, Fletcher said. They're all very close, they're all good friends. They all have prominent roles on our team. They're very important parts of our present but we're seeing them all take a big step this season. A few of them are just scratching the surface of where they're going to get to, and Marco is certainly one of those guys.
U.S. Hockey Hall of FameHEADLINESAT THE RINKNHL INSIDEROVER THE BOARDSPLAYER SAFETYFANTASYJeff Sauer built coaching success on communicationMonday, 12.01.2014 / 3:00 AM / U.S. Hockey Hall of FameBy David Kalan?-?NHL.com Staff WriterCommentPrintE-mailShare with your FriendsIn decades of coaching, Jeff Sauer had to learn many different ways to communicate with his players.These days, he is using that ability with the American Hearing Impaired Hockey Association.The big thing with the [hearing-impaired] kids is just giving them a chance, Sauer said. By giving them a chance, they really bond together well and they really stick up for each other. ... It's rejuvenated me from a coaching standpoint.Sauer, who will be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame on Thursday,Patrick Kane Jersey Black, has worked with the American Hearing Impaired Hockey Association, of which he is now president, for more than four decades. His relationship with the organization started when, as Sauer tells it,Jonathan Toews Black Premier Jersey, a parent of a deaf player in the Stan Mikita Hockey School for the Hearing Impaired asked if their son and another player could participate in a camp Sauer was running when he coached at Colorado College. Four days later, Sauer was asked if he would continue working with the scho