Veteran defenseman Andy Sutton has retired, ending a 15-year career beset by injuries.

Sutton played in 676 NHL games, most recently with Edmonton in 2011-12. He also suited up for San Jose, Minnesota, Atlanta, the New York Islanders, Ottawa and Anaheim.

The Vancouver Canucks have no salary-cap space available, a shortage of National Hockey League-ready prospects and lack portability among their key player contracts. Other than that, general manager Mike Gillis’ summer “reset” of the team shouldn’t be a problem.

The week after their second straight first-round playoff elimination, Gillis was still working through his coaching review and a planned summit meeting with ownership, while his top assistant, Laurence Gilman, continued to tour North America for potential minor-league locations.

The really heavy lifting — think Superman shifting the moon’s orbit — still lies ahead. And it doesn’t take a superhero to understand how difficult it will be for Gillis to make even a few impactful roster moves to catch up to the NHL curve towards big, brawny teams.

It took the Canucks years, literally, to configure their team the way it is: skilled, fast and too small up front. The evolution spanned managerial regimes; most of the core players were already in Vancouver when Gillis replaced Dave Nonis five years ago. So the idea that there can be a quick, effective overhaul of the roster is unrealistic.

There can be changes, yes. And no matter how disillusioned some are with the Canucks’ playoff performances since the Stanley Cup Final two years ago, the team may yet be only two or three significant acquisitions away from challenging again for a championship. But a full-scale remake of the Canucks would take at least two or three years, unless Gillis wants to simply gut his team and turn it into the Florida Panthers or another draft-lottery contender.

Since owner Francesco Aquilini fired the last GM who missed the playoffs, calling it unacceptable, and the current crisis is due primarily to two or three terrible weeks over the last two playoffs, it’s unthinkable that Gillis will knowingly sink his team for two or three years.

Assume that he won’t. Figure that his “reset” will begin with a couple of key moves this summer.

Even that modest objective is still easier said than done.

Capgeek.com, the online bible of player salaries and cap space, shows the Canucks are already $100,000 over next season’s $64.3-million-US payroll limit, and that’s with just 17 of the 22 or 23 players Vancouver needs for a roster.

But cap space is easier to fix than most problems. Finally trading backup goalie Roberto Luongo and buying out the final two years of spare defenceman Keith Ballard’s bloated contract, which would cost Aquilini $5.6 million, will create $9.5 million of breathing room under the salary cap. The Canucks would still need seven or eight players for that, but it’s doable.

- See more at: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/h...330/story.html

With the wound still fresh after a quick, painful exit from the postseason, the Wild’s internal evaluation commenced Friday.

The organization began the process of trying to ascertain how things went so south once the calendar turned to April. And it began looking ahead to pertinent offseason questions.

The biggest seems to have been affirmed.

Indications from inside the organization even less than an hour after the Chicago Blackhawks eliminated the Wild on Thursday night were that both General Manager Chuck Fletcher and coach Mike Yeo were safe.

Wild officials met Friday, and following that sitdown, the team sent word to the local media that Fletcher and Yeo would together be available for end-of-the-season interviews Saturday.

That’s a sign both will be back.

Fifteen minutes after the Wild was tossed from the playoffs, captain Mikko Koivu, who had no points for a team that scored seven goals in five games, said he didn’t believe Yeo should take the brunt of the blame for the team’s playoff exit.

“This series is about us not scoring goals,” Koivu said. “That’s the difference. That’s not coaching. It’s the players on the ice.”

Fletcher’s offseason to-do list is extensive.

The questions include: Who’s next season’s No. 1 goalie? Can the Wild add proven finishers, bigger bodies and more speed to a lineup with limited salary-cap flexibility? Is there a way to improve the blue line? And which players end up moving on this summer?

“There’s always changes,” Zach Parise said as he stared dejectedly into the floor of the United Center visitors’ locker room Thursday night. “You don’t know. That’s the way this thing works.”

With the salary cap decreasing almost $7 million, the Wild has only $9 million to play with. As much as this season proved yet again that the Wild still lacks natural scorers, Priority No. 1 will be to determine next year’s No. 1 goalie.

Injuries hit Backstrom

Niklas Backstrom’s contract expires June 30. Josh Harding’s unpredictable health situation — he was diagnosed this season with multiple sclerosis — makes it impossible to enter next season assuming he will be No. 1. Similarly, the Wild’s not about to appoint young Darcy Kuemper No. 1.

Backstrom is the Wild’s all-time leader in victories (184), shutouts (28) and games (369) and ranks second with a 2.43 goals-against average and .917 save percentage.

The problem is he is 35 and injuries the past few years have hit his groin, hips and one of his ankles. He was unable to play this postseason because of a sports hernia.

Backstrom, who tied for the league lead with 24 victories, struggled down the stretch, although he might have been playing hurt. Sports hernias typically occur over time, not because of one harmless-looking reach in warmups.

- See more at:http://www.startribune.com/sports/wild/207015101.html

Council has passed a deal that will see the city of Edmonton and Oilers owner Daryl Katz each put in more money to offset the $55 million shortfall needed to build the new downtown arena.

All but three city councillors voted in favour of the deal. Kerry Diotte, Tony Caterina and Linda Sloan voted against the agreement.

Katz will chip in an additional $15 million through the Edmonton Arena Corporation and another $15 million will come from the Community Revitalization Levy [CRL].

The city hopes to get a $25 million grant from the province's Regional Collaboration Program. Last week, a majority of the Capital Region Board — which represents municipalities around Edmonton — agreed to support the city's application.

Katz, who joined a news conference held after the council meeting by phone, said the project was a "once in a generation opportunity."

"The result today is a landmark agreement that enables our city to move forward in an enormously positive way," Katz said.

Katz thanked Mandel — who he called a visionary — as well as city administration and city councillors for the "extraordinary time and effort" they put towards the project.

He also thanked members of the Capital Region Board for stepping up, as well as the residents of Edmonton.

"I can't tell you how exciting it is for me and everybody at Katz Group to think about having 20,000 people downtown night after night enjoying a game or going to a concert or some other event," he said.

"And the opportunity that creates for existing businesses downtown."

- See more at:http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/...own-arena.html

Patrick Roy is a strong candidate for the Avalanche head coaching job, an NHL source confirmed Sunday.

The former Avalanche goaltender and NHL Hall of Famer is considered a rising star in the coaching ranks and was offered Colorado's head coaching job in 2009 before turning it down. With the job open again, and with fewer personal ties to his job with the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Roy could have renewed interest in coming back to Denver.

Avalanche vice president of hockey operations Joe Sakic would not comment when asked whether he has met with Roy recently to discuss the coaching job. Roy could not be reached for comment.

Roy, 47, has a 307-138-32 record as coach of the Remparts since 2005, including one Memorial Cup championship. When he turned down the Avalanche job in 2009, he listed wanting to coach his youngest son, Frederick, with the Remparts as a major reason. Because his sons — another, Jonathan, also played for the Remparts — have moved on, Roy could feel the time is right to have his first NHL coaching job. He also said at the time that he hoped the Avs might consider him again someday.

- See more at: http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/....5xdaeRKY.dpuf

Roman Cervenka apparently won't be back for a second season with the Calgary Flames.

In fact, he won't even be skating in the NHL next winter.

According to reports from Russia, Cervenka has signed a three-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. Because he is under contract with the Flames until July 5, the move cannot be confirmed.

The 27-year-old Czech forward was a two-time KHL all-star before signing with the Flames last spring, but he struggled to adapt to the NHL.

- See more at: http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/05/15...urg-of-the-khl

Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom has undergone sports hernia surgery.

The team announced that Backstrom's operation went as planned on Thursday morning in Philadelphia. The procedure was done by Dr. William Meyers.

Josh Kroenke will now be keeping just as close a watch on power plays as power forwards.

Already in charge of the Denver Nuggets, Kroenke was announced Friday as the new president of the Colorado Avalanche. He will take over for Pierre Lacroix, who's stepping down after 18 seasons and two Stanley Cup titles. Lacroix will stay with the team as an adviser.

Former team captain Joe Sakic also received a promotion as the Avs overhauled their front office. He's now the executive vice president of hockey operations and will have a big say on just about everything, including the next coach after Joe Sacco was fired last month.

Greg Sherman will remain the team's general manager as the Avalanche try to get back on track after finishing last in the Western Conference and missing the playoffs for a third straight season.

"I like challenges. I've never been one to back down from a challenge in my entire life," Kroenke said. "I don't sleep a lot, because I'm constantly thinking about teams. I'm always paying attention and watching. I'm looking forward to taking these things to new heights."

By many, Kroenke is viewed as primarily a basketball guy, especially since he played at Missouri. The Nuggets won a franchise-record 57 games this season before bowing out to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.

In the meantime, the Avalanche languished in Kroenke's three seasons as the team's governor.

Read more http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/92...nche-president

Vancouver Canucks forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin and defenseman Alexander Edler will play for Sweden at the world hockey championships.

J.P. Barry, the Sedins' agent, confirmed Wednesday the twins will play for their homeland at the tournament. They will leave Vancouver for Stockholm on Friday after attending media availability to discuss the disappointing end of the Canucks' season.

Minnesota Wild goalie Josh Harding left Game 4 against the Chicago Blackhawks after the first period because of a left leg injury.

Harding was injured with about four minutes to play in the first period on a collision with Chicago's Jonathan Toews. Trainers came out to examine him, but he remained in the game and finished the first period.

Beating the Chicago Blackhawks usually requires a certain kind of performance: bruising, aggressive and unflappable.

That's precisely what the Minnesota Wild produced, entertaining the fans at their first home playoff game in five years.

They had a little luck, too, when Jason Zucker blindly sent his bad-angle overtime shot toward the goal.

Zucker scored at 2:15 of the extra period to give the Wild a 3-2 victory on Sunday to pull within 2-1 in the Western Conference quarterfinal series

Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom and defenseman Clayton Stoner did not practice on Thursday, increasing the possibility they will be unavailable for Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Wild forward Jason Pominville also missed Thursday's practice and will not travel to Chicago for Friday's game. He missed Game 1.

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Cory Schneider returned to practice Monday.

However his status for the first game of the Stanley Cup quarterfinals against the San Jose Sharks remained uncertain. Game 1 of the series is Wednesday night.

Colorado Avalanche coach Joe Sacco was fired on Sunday after the team missed the playoffs for the third straight season.

The Avs never got on track in the lockout-shortened season and finished last in the Western Conference.

Sacco was in his fourth season in charge of Colorado and wound up with a 130-134-30 mark. He had one year left on his contract.

Lounging in front of his locker, music blaring in the background, Mikko Koivu chatted about what it meant to the team, the organization and the city to make it back to the playoffs for the first time in five years.

Yeah, but what about him? What did it mean to him?

Only then did the gravity of the moment begin to dawn on the captain of the Minnesota Wild.

"This," Koivu said, "is a big deal."

That's putting it mildly.

Devin Setoguchi broke a second-period tie and Niklas Backstrom stopped 29 shots, helping the Wild secure the last playoff spot in the Western Conference with a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.