Just as originally planned for this year before the lockout led to its cancellation, Ann Arbor’s Michigan Stadium will host the 2014 Winter Classic on New Year’s Day. (Dave Reginek/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

Alright, no real surprise here. The league finally got around to confirming this morning that the 2014 NHL Winter Classic will be exactly where the 2013 NHL Winter Classic was supposed to be, except this time it will, you know, actually take place.

So we’ll have the Red Wings taking on the Maple Leafs at the Big House in Ann Arbor, Mich. on New Year’s Day for what looks to be the biggest game in NHL history. Certainly the biggest in terms of attendance, and probably in terms of hype as well. Read More…

Under the new CBA, AHL teams chasing the Calder Cup won’t be as handicapped by NHL call-ups. (Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

While general managers still have to worry about what to do with expiring contracts ahead of the April 3 trade deadline, one big concern has been taken off their plates.

The old American Hockey League Clear Day roster deadline, once a hand-in-hand event with the NHL trade deadline, is no more, thanks to the new CBA.

What does that mean? In the past, teams had to determine which eligible players they would make available to their farm teams for the postseason the same day as the trade deadline. Once those decisions were made, NHL teams were limited to four minor league call-ups the rest of the regular season, unless an emergency situation dictated the need for more.

And now? NHL clubs still have to decide which eligible players they want to participate in the chase for the Calder Cup, but they won’t have to worry about the paper transactions — sending players down to the A and then recalling them in time to play that night — that used to take up valuable time on the busiest day of the year.

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If Jack Campbell has a future in Dallas, it likely won’t be while Kari Lehtonen remains the Stars’ No. 1 goaltender. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

To outsiders anyway, it appeared as though the 2010 NHL Draft was falling perfectly for the Dallas Stars. The team had a clear organizational need for a puck-moving defenseman in the wake of Sergei Zubov’s retirement, and the best one in the draft, Windsor’s Cam Fowler, was about to drop right into their lap at No. 11.

When the New York Rangers went off the board to nab Moose Jaw thug Dylan “The Undertaker” McIlrath with the 10th pick, you could see the smile widen on Joe Nieuwendyk’s face.

Dallas’ second-year GM was the picture of cool as he strode to the podium, knowing he was going to get his man.

Jack Campbell.

Wait…what?

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By Allan Muir

We here at Home Ice are unapologetic fans of the odd dust-up on ice. And they don’t come much odder than this one from tonight’s AHL match between the Rockford Ice Hogs and Chicago Wolves.

The final seconds were ticking off with Rockford holding a 2-1 lead when Guillaume Desbiens of the Wolves hammered Rockford’s Ben Smith into the boards in front of his own bench. Problem was, someone didn’t latch the gate properly and the players tumbled through the door. That drew a crowd on the ice and on both benches.

With players pairing off on the ice, Jeremy Morin of the Hogs decided to take a few shots from the bench at Desbiens, who then started throwing at another off-ice Hog, Rob Flick. Veteran tough guy Jim Vandermeer of the Wolves then entered the bench and went after heavyweight Wade Brookbank, while Darren Archibald stood on the Chicago bench and repeatedly speared Rockford’s Joe Lavin, who was dancing with two other Wolves.

That’s fun for the whole family.

By the time it was all straightened out, the officials recorded 27 penalties, including eight misconducts and two game misconducts…but not one fighting major.

Hard to believe there would be this kind of animosity between the farm teams of the Blackhawks and Canucks, eh?

Scott Timmins, here with the Panthers in 2011, was arrested after making himself at home…in a stranger’s house. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

The day could have gone a lot worse for Florida Panthers prospect Scott Timmins.

Not that it went particularly well. Timmins, currently playing with the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL, was arrested Monday morning after allegedly breaking into a home and passing out drunk on a couch.

The home’s owner, Benjamin Garza, confronted Timmins after police arrived and told him, “You’re lucky I wasn’t here because I would’ve put a bullet between your eyes and it would’ve been over for you.”

Garza wasn’t home at the time, but his wife and three kids were. The unnamed woman awoke to find Timmins passed out in the living room. From the police report, it sounds like Timmins, who apparently went big at a local bar, mistook the residence for his own home. Probably not the sort of mistake you should be making in Texas.

Neither the Panthers or Rampage have issued a comment on the incident.

Timmins was a sixth-round pick of the Panthers in 2009. He won two Memorial Cups with the Windsor Spitfires in 2009 and 2010, and made his NHL debut on Feb. 1, 2011. He has appeared in 50 games for the Rampage this season, notching nine goals and seven assists.