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FlightZone: Proud Canadian Mounties Charge Mike Richards

Former(?) Los Angeles Kings forward Mike Richards has been charged with possession of a controlled substance while entering Canada, serving as a reminder to our American friends that Rick The Proud Canadian Mountie is not to be trifled with. According to the CBC, "Court documents confirm that the controlled substance in question was oxycodone".

There's really not much more to be said at the moment, aside from Greg Wyshynski's reminder that "Kings GM Dean Lombardi could have avoided all of this had he acted with his brain instead of with his heart on Richards last year."

Live and learn Lombardi, live and learn.

And now the news.

Central Division

Luke Lapinski takes a look at four questions facing the Colorado Avalanche. They may yet surprise us all, but when questions over the team's d-corps are answered with Nikita Zadorov, Francois Beauchemin and 'maybe Erik Johnson will be less injured', I wouldn't bank on a 2015-16 playoff appearance. (Today's Slapshot)

Lexus and the Dallas Stars have reached a new five year marketing agreement, giving life to the "Lexus Platinum Club" seating area. They're also currently sponsoring the Dallas Stars Little Rookies program and Dallas Stars Youth Hockey Program, and will reportedly support further community initiatives as part of the deal. Now if only they could get a little patch on the NHL jersey. (Dallas Business Journal)

The St. Louis Blues have lost solid-if-a-bit-underwhelming Patrik Berglund for at least four months following a shoulder injury. In somewhat related news, they're also bringing Scott Gomez to camp on a PTO. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Your Manitoba Moose have released their regular season schedule, which is exciting. Here's an interesting quirk of the schedule: "The only Eastern Conference team the Moose will face during the regular season is the Toronto Marlies, who they will play eight times." **marks eight games on the calendar** (Moose Hockey)

In case you missed it, some hack is trying to give you fantasy advice. Go and yell at him. #ShamelessPlug (Arctic Ice Hockey)

And All The Rest

As if Sabres fans didn't have enough to get excited over, now reports say they're in on Cody Franson and have offered him a two-year contract. This house of cards still likely falls apart if Robin Lehner isn't up to the task, though with GM Tim Murray he'd probably whip up another trade to fix the goaltending. (Yahoo! Sports)

The Carolina Hurricanes have signed Elias Lindholm to a two-year extension worth $2.7 million per. Add this to the list of bridge deals signed which teams may come to regret later on. (ProHockeyTalk)

Speaking of Carolina, owner Peter Karmanos is still looking for a buyer who will let him keep control over the franchise. I can't imagine why businessmen wouldn't agree to those terms. (The News & Observer)

New LA Kings defenceman Christian Ehrhoff was signed with a clean bill of health, which was to be expected. It's also especially good news considering the ongoing Voynov situation: "The current hurdle with Voynov is his immigration status, which has not yet been resolved. Should his immigration status be resolved, the league’s investigation will then take place." (LA Kings Insider)

It's all Kings news, all the time here at Arctic Ice Hockey, as the team has also signed undrafted Owen Sound Attack defenceman Damir Sharipzyanov to an entry-level contract. I continue to have a vague, unquantified notion that undrafted free agents playing in Canadian Major Junior leagues are a resource largely unexploited by NHL teams. (ProHockeyTalk)

Brace yourselves, people: Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello are important to the New York Rangers' continued success. (NHL)

And finally, Dylan McIlrath is apparently still considered a Top 5 prospect in the Rangers' system, which may or may not be a condemnation of their organizational depth. Robin Kovacs or Magnus Hellberg, anybody? (NHL)

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