There was never a question about Tim Connolly's skill level. That's what everybody seems to say about Connolly before their voice drops off. What skill level ... and then they finish the sentence with "it's really too bad," or "it's a shame what's happened to him." When you ask hockey people questions about Connolly the first thing they ask in return is: "Can we go off the record?" They want to tell you the story or at least their version of the story. They just don't want their names attached to the Maple Leafs' $9.5 million signing. Among the terms used to describe Connolly are: Soft. Sullen. Difficult. Loner. Spoiled brat. Silver spoon kid. Entitled. Not a team player. Almost the opposite of what you expect most hockey players to be.

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Former Colorado Avalanche star Joe Sakic picked the right time for the first hole-in-one of his life.

Sakic won $1 million on Sunday by making a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nev.

He used an 8-iron on the 162-yard waterfront hole where dozens of yachts and boats anchor during the annual three-day tournament.

Sakic will take home half the check, with the other $500,000 going to Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation for cancer research. The money comes from an insurance policy purchased by the tourney's sponsor.

The former NHL MVP and two-time Stanley Cup winner said he had never come close to making a hole-in-one before.

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced Tuesday that the club has agreed to a five-year contract with restricted free agent Steven Stamkos. The 21-year-old will earn $37.5 million over the course of the deal. Stamkos has played in all 164 games during the previous two seasons, leading the NHL with 96 goals.

Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi isn’t very shy about sharing his opinions. On occasion, he’ll call a Kings player out, as we’ve seen when he criticized Jack Johnson’s lack of structure during his college days at Michigan and Dustin Penner’s perceived lukewarm hustle.

Those are just comments about his own players, though. When other teams make Lombardi mad, things get even more interesting. The Kings general manager has been so incensed by the state of Colin Fraser‘s health (Fraser came to Los Angeles in a trade that sent Ryan Smyth back to Edmonton) that he said: “I would have rather invested my money with Bernie Madoff than invest in Edmonton’s word.”

It was the second instance in which the Kings felt that the player the Oilers sent back in the deal wasn’t healthy enough for their liking. The original deal included Gilbert Brule, but that trade was put on hold when it became clear that Brule wasn’t 100 percent.

The NHL decided to use a mediator to try to resolve the issue between the two teams, but Helene Elliott reports that the session wasn’t successful. Elliott reports that the Kings’ next step would be to file a formal grievance with the league, which would force NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to figure out a solution.

It’s unclear what, exactly, Bettman would do if the buck stops at his office. Maybe the Kings will decide that it’s not worth it, although Lombardi seems like he might want to bring some Zeus-like vengeance upon the Oilers front office. While the latest developments indicate that it might be tough to maintain peace, perhaps Edmonton can sweeten the deal a little bit to soothe some of the wounds (or at least make it certain that Smyth will be back in the fold).

Lombardi’s been pushing all the right buttons – for the most part – during a landmark off-season for the Kings. His show isn’t done yet, though, as he still needs to re-sign star defenseman Drew Doughty and write the last chapter of this saga. We’ll keep an eye on that entertaining situation as the summer unfolds.