Hockey Motes On An Early Fall Day

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, - Somewhere, the miserable Bob Goodenow is cringing at the news that Sidney Crosby has signed again in Pittsburgh for $8.7 million a year. Nothing Goodenow hated more than players undervaluing themselves. The good news for Pittsburgh and hockey is that Crosby does what Crosby wants, even if that means selling himself short in the process. If he negotiated up, Crosby would he paid around $14 million next season. But at $8.7 a season, Crosby, a top-six player of all-time on my rating scale, will enter this season as the 42nd highest-paid player in the NHL. In the NBA today, he would rank 183rd in salary, 174th in the NFL and 176th in Major League Baseball. That’s how far the hockey economics and star salaries are behind in the NHL. - The deception of training camp: Left winger Max Pacioretty has started camp on the Leafs’ fifth line, but will almost certainly be in the opening night lineup. Barring injuries of course a few more hockey notes