Detroit general manager Ken Holland says that Jiri Hudler will not return to the team this season. "He's playing in the KHL, he's gone, but at some point in time we'll suspend him," Holland told ESPN. "He'll come off our cap but we'll continue to own his rights." The IIHF has refused Hudler his transfer card, which means that he can't play in the KHL as expected. Detroit doesn't have the cap space for Hudler.

The Senators are trying to trade Dany Heatley and are looking to avoid a "sideshow" in training camp. "They don't want him in camp and that could change the way negotiations have gone," an NHL executive told the Toronto Sun over the weekend. "[GM Bryan] Murray has spent almost three months trying to get his best deal for this guy and it's going to be a total sideshow if Heatley shows up at camp. Not for the players. Heatley will be the only one who has to deal with it on a daily basis. "The reality is he's going to get dealt at some point or another, so Murray may as well get it done now."

Joe Sakic is content with his decision to retire and insists that he won't be returning to the NHL. Sakic, who retired in July, said that he understands what Brett Favre has dealt with in recent summers. "It's your competitive juices, yeah. You do that for your whole life, and when you get away from it, I know when training camp is rolling around, you get excited for that competition and you have that goal of winning. I don't think that competitive spirit ever leaves you. When you're retired, you've just got to find something else to do," Sakic, who has taken to playing golf, told the Denver Post.

Former Canadiens coach Jacques Demers was appointed to the Canadian Senate on Thursday. Demers is a Stanley Cup-winning coach and has spoken out about his battle with illiteracy. "I've worked so hard these last four years to improve my reading and writing. All of a sudden, they name me senator. It's just incredible," Demers said on the Web site of RDS TV, where he's a hockey analyst. "I always worked hard in my life. First, to become a coach. Then in broadcasting. I was able to demonstrate that despite a limited education, you can accomplish good things."

If the NHL is able to buy the Coyotes in U.S Bankruptcy Court, they'll work quickly to get a new lease in Glendale. If no deal is forthcoming, the NHL will to turn to a buyer to move the team elsewhere. "I think we've got to get the lease situation resolved or not by the end of this calendar year," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Associated Press on Thursday.

Peter Forsberg isn't giving up on a comeback to the ice for Sweden's Modo. Forsberg attempted a comeback in February, but only played two games before his injured foot forced him to cancel the rest of the season. On Thursday night, Forsberg was back on the roster. "It felt really good, no problems at all," Forsberg told the Denver Post.

The International Ice Hockey Federation is refusing to grant Jiri Hudler his transfer card. That means he can't practice or play for his new KHL team, according to Sovietski Sport. The Russian league is under the domain of the IIHF.

The NHL is offering about $140M to purchase the Coyotes in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and would avoid a sticky issue still facing the case by accepting the existing lease to play in Glendale, according to an Associated Press report on Wednesday.

Islanders center Mike Sillinger is retiring after 17 years in the NHL because of an injured left hip, according to an Associated Press report. The 38-year-old Sillinger announced his decision during a conference call Wednesday.

A group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf has pulled out as a potential buyer of the Coyotes just as the NHL filed a bid in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to purchase the team and keep it in Arizona, as reported by the Associated Press on Tuesday.