Sorry to end your week on a downer, but we've got mostly sour news for you this morning. The lone southern collegiate hockey team is in trouble, the Predators get disrespected by a national columnist, and those official scorers who tally up the numbers that we like to crunch on? Well, at least in the NBA, it would appear that their integrity is open to question.

All this and more, after the jump!

Predators News

CCHA shuns the University of Alabama at Huntsville - Nashville Predators Examiner
Earlier this week, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association announced that it had denied the University of Alabama at Huntsville’s application to become a member of the conference in men’s ice hockey. I hope to have more on this next week, but it's a dire time for the UAH hockey program.

Admirals Release Schedule - Admirals Short Shifts
The AHL has released their schedule, and our comrades in Milwaukee aren't exactly thrilled with it...

Power rankings: Chasing the summer blahs - Yahoo! Sports
In breaking news, Ross McKeon is an idiot. He picks Nashville for 29th out of the 30-team NHL, largely because they haven't signed any shiny new free agents this summer. I guess he didn't note that the team barely missed the playoffs despite losing Jason Arnott, David Legwand and Martin Erat at the same time down the stretch, and that Steve Sullivan was only up-to-speed for the final 20 games of the season.

Around the NHL

An Assist For Nick Van Exel: How An NBA Scorekeeper Cooked The Books - Deadspin
A cautionary tale worth reading by those of us who like to dig into the statistical side of hockey, and are concerned about scorer's bias. Take this quote from a former official scorer for the Vancouver Grizzlies: "Partly because I disagreed with the blatant stat manipulation (that I did) and partly because I'm a Laker fan, I gave Nick Van Exel like 23 assists one game. If he was vaguely close to a guy making a shot, I found a way to give him an assist. Afterwards, I fully expected someone to talk to me about it. Indeed they did. A senior management guy - "great job Alex, that'll get this game on Sportscenter tomorrow morning!" We (VAN) lost badly, of course."

KHL - KHL Congratulations To Alexander Medvedev
Now this makes for some hilarious reading - a birthday greeting, from the KHL, to its leader Alexander Medvedev. Check this bit of brown-nosing out: "It's not easy to imagine the number and magnitude of Your daily concerns as OAO Gazprom Deputy Chairman, OOO Gazprom Export General Director and KHL president, a measure of responsibility, devotion and intellectual strength needed to tackle the major public and corporate objectives." Gadzooks!

The view from Phoenix: An interview with 12 News reporter Brahm Resnik - From The Rink
James Mirtle gets the scoop on what's been going on in Phoenix (for years now) for a local newsman and hockey fan. A very insightful interview.

Ducks acquire Artyukhin from Lightning - NHL.com
Brian Burke may be gone, but the Ducks still like the big boys, as they acquire the 6'5" 270 lb. Evgeny Artyukhin from Tampa Bay for Drew Miller and a 3rd-round pick.

Ranger Analysis: Why all of the fuss over Gaborik? - Blueshirt Banter
Joe Fortunato tries to sell the Marian Gaborik signing as much savvier than most people portray it. Sorry, I'm not buying!

Integrity? NHL governors live in glass house - The Hamilton Spectator
We see argument #13,512 made that because the NHL has admitted guys into ownership who then turned out to be crooks, they aren't justified in rejecting Jim Balsillie. In light of the John Spano's and Boots Del Biaggio's, however, doesn't that imply that the NHL should be more selective about who gets in the club going forward, not less?