Headshots: October 5th

I imagine most Canucks fans are excited of the prospects of the NHL coming to Seattle. With Chris Hansen’s arena getting approval from Seattle’s city council, that dream is more and more looking like a reality.

The rough timeline – one or two years for an NBA team, and three or four years for an NHL team. An NBA team would be able to play at a renovated Key Arena as a temporary home, while an NHL team wouldn’t – Key Arena isn’t fit for professional hockey in terms of seating (there would be thousands of seats wth obstructed views).

I have written some posts on the issues facing the Seattle group over at The Hockey Writers | Business.

Here they are:

The Chicago Wolves are in action against the Peoria Rivermen tonight. Notable players to watch for on each side:

For the Wolves – Kevin Connauton, Alex Friesen, Darren Archibald, and Alexander Mallet.

For the Rivermen – Jaden Schwartz (former Canadian WJC team member), former WHL star Brett Sonne, and former Vancouver Giant Brent Regner.

The Stanchion’s fake Canucks season continues with a heated affair in the preseason against the San Jose Sharks. The fake Twitter war between Eddie Lack and Roberto Luongo is the best thing to happen since the lockout was announced.

Eddie Lack hasn’t even played a game with the Canucks yet (regular season), but he is already a fan favourite. He is personable, engaging through social media, and quite funny. In fact, the Canucks have three really funny goaltenders. Luongo’s Twitter account is one of the best around (and not just for sports, but public commentary), and Cory Schneider is known to make fun of Kevin Weekes and impersonate his teammates in the same interview.

Kevin Bieksa’s charity game out at UBC is slated to have a special guest referee. No, not Vince McMahon, but "Big" Al Bieksa, the father of our favourite two-way defenseman. Kevin is a bit worried about his dad stealing the show.

Here is a great interview with the author of a new book on Gary Bettman. Jonathon Gatehouse wrote "The Instigator: How Gary Bettman Remade the League and Changed the Game Forever," and he sat down to discuss the book with the New York times Slapshot Hockey blog.

Some positive news, too:

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all of our readers. If you want to catch some hockey, head out to the Giants game against Medicine Hat tonight. I will be there to get a look at Tigers captain Hunter Shinkaruk, who should be a top five pick at the draft next June.