The 2013/14 hockey season ended 117 days ago with the Los Angeles Kings lifting the Stanley Cup. The 2014/15 season starts on Wednesday night (or, here in the UAE, early Thursday morning) with the Montreal Canadiens visiting the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The off-season brought six new coaches, several richer players, a banned move, a name change and a passel of player movements. Here’s a recap:
The Florida Panthers hired Gerard Gallant as their coach. He had been an assistant for Montreal and played more than 600 NHL games. “I like to score goals,” he said.
The Vancouver Canucks hired Willie Desjardins as their coach. He had been coach of the year in the American Hockey League, one rung below the NHL. “I want us to play hard every night,” the native of Climax, Saskatchewan said.
The Pittsburgh Penguins hired Mike Johnston, ex of the Portland Winterhawks, as their coach. He didn’t say much.
The other new coaches are Bill Peters in Carolina, Barry Trotz in Washington and Peter Laviolette, who succeeds Trotz in Nashville.
The Phoenix Coyotes changed their name to the Arizona Coyotes, thereby extending their geographic reach to yet more people who don’t care about hockey.
The Florida Panthers chose Aaron Ekblad, a big defenceman with a scoring touch, first overall in the draft. Last player chosen: Jacob Middleton, a defender from Wainwright, Alberta who went to the Los Angeles Kings.
Chicago locked up Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane with contract extensions running through the 2022/23 season for $84 million (Dh308.5m). That's $84 mill each.
Montreal avoided an arbitration hearing with the team’s talismanic defenceman, PK Subban, by signing him to an eight-year deal for $72m.
At the other end of the scale, Dany Heatley, ex of Atlanta, Ottawa, San Jose and, most recently, Minnesota, signed with Anaheim for one year for $1 million dollars.
Sidney Crosby decided not to get wrist surgery. He had jammed his right wrist when a St Louis Blue hit him in a March 23 game. The injury explains why Crosby was so-so in the play-offs. Crosby says the wrist is back to “100 per cent”.
The Winter Classic site was announced: the outdoor game will feature Chicago at Washington in Nationals Park, a baseball stadium, on the afternoon of January 1.
After 18 seasons, Saku Koivu called it quits. Teemu Selanne did the same, after 21 seasons.
And in an attack on fun, the league banned players from doing the “spin-o-rama” move during shootouts or penalty shots.
The off-season’s most important changes involved neither coaches nor rules but, of course, players. And these moves had a uniform direction: towards the western United States.
The league’s three best teams are in the US west: Anaheim, Chicago, Los Angeles. This has led to an arms race as the big three try to surpass one another, and the teams around them run hard just to stay close.
In the east, it’s different. No team is supreme and anybody (well, not Buffalo) can picture themselves going deep in the play-offs.
To further break it down, within the west there is a class divide, with the Canadian teams on the wrong side of the tracks.
Calgary and Edmonton are gestating. And while Vancouver plugged their hole in net by signing Ryan Miller away from St Louis, the Canucks made the off-season’s biggest move by sending the talented two-way centre Ryan Kesler to Anaheim for youngsters.
And then, when free agency kicked in on July 1, a flurry: Thomas Vanek to Minnesota from Montreal; Jarome Iginla to Colorado from Boston; Brad Richards to Chicago from the Rangers; and, in a trade, Jason Spezza to Dallas from Ottawa for a bag of magic beans.
LA stood pat in the off-season. The Kings had struck during their play-off run, signing Marian Gaborik (obtained in a trade with the east’s Columbus two months earlier) to a seven-year deal worth $34.1m.
There were zero significant moves from west to east in the off-season.
Now let’s have some predictions.
The finalists in the west will be two of the conference’s big three – Anaheim, Chicago, Los Angeles.
For the eastern finalists, it will be among Boston, Montreal and – let’s try an upstart – the New York Islanders, who finally have a decent goalie in Jaro Halak.
Stanley Cup prediction: Anaheim over Montreal.
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UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures and results:
Monday, UAE won by three wickets
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
THE BIO:
Favourite holiday destination: Thailand. I go every year and I’m obsessed with the fitness camps there.
Favourite book: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It’s an amazing story about barefoot running.
Favourite film: A League of their Own. I used to love watching it in my granny’s house when I was seven.
Personal motto: Believe it and you can achieve it.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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UAE central contracts
Full time contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Usman, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid
Part time contracts
Aryan Lakra, Ansh Tandon, Karthik Meiyappan, Rahul Bhatia, Alishan Sharafu, CP Rizwaan, Basil Hameed, Matiullah, Fahad Nawaz, Sanchit Sharma
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
SERIE A FIXTURES
Friday Sassuolo v Benevento (Kick-off 11.45pm)
Saturday Crotone v Spezia (6pm), Torino v Udinese (9pm), Lazio v Verona (11.45pm)
Sunday Cagliari v Inter Milan (3.30pm), Atalanta v Fiorentina (6pm), Napoli v Sampdoria (6pm), Bologna v Roma (6pm), Genoa v Juventus (9pm), AC Milan v Parma (11.45pm)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
