Empty Netter Assists - 10-10-09

Penguins

-"Anybody who knows me personally knows I'm definitely not a savage. I just play the game hard." - Flyers forward Scott Hartnell on well.. you know.

-"It’s tough to sum up a season on a ring, but I thought they did a real nice job." Kings defenseman and former Penguin Rob Scuderi describing the Stanley Cup championship ring delivered to him by Penguins owner Ron Burkle.

-John Curry made 25 saves for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 3-0 shutout loss at home to the rival Hershey Bears.

-Happy 47th birthday to former Penguins goaltender Roberto Romano (right). Romano, who actually retired in 1984 at the age of 22 after virtually being used as target practice by Penguins opponents over parts of two seasons, led a mediocre 1985-86 team with 21 wins and recorded the club's only two shutouts that season.

-Happy 63rd birthday to former Penguins forward Pete Mahovlich. Mahovlich, an all-star with the Canadiens, came to Pittsburgh along with forward Peter Lee in a 1977 trade that sent Pierre Larouche to Montreal. He led the 1977-78 team in plus/minus with a plus-4. Mahovlich, who spent one season with the Pittsburgh Hornets, is currently a scout with the Thrashers.

-Happy 49th birthday to former Penguins forward Ron Flockhart. Flockhart was the second-leading goal-scorer (27 goals) on the dreadful 1983-84 team which was the worst in the NHL that season.

-Happy 37th birthday to former Penguins forward Brian Holzinger (right). Holzinger was one of four players who scored a shorthanded goal for the also dreadful 2003-04 team which also finished last in the NHL that season. Ryan Malone, Rico Fata and Tom Kostopolous were the others.

Atlantic Division

-Turnovers killed the Flyers in their loss to the Penguins Thursday.

-Philadelphia defenseman Chris Pronger faces his former team, the Ducks, tonight.

-The Rangers demoted forward Evgeny Grachev to Hartford of the AHL.

Northeast Division

-The Canadiens unveiled a monument with the 761 names of every person who has played at least one game for the franchise.

-Montreal enforcer and former Penguins forward Georges Laraque is doing PSAs for PETA.

-Senators forwards Chris Neil and Jason Spezza (right) nearly got into a fight during practice.

-After getting routed by the Ducks at home Thursday, Bruins coach Claude Julien went all Herb Brooks on his team in practice yesterday.

-Former Sabres captain Pat LaFontaine is running in the New York Marathon.

Southeast Division

-A goal and two assists from Jussi Jokinen helped the Hurricanes rout the Panthers, 7-2. Teammates Rod Brind'Amour, Matt Cullen and Tuomo Ruutu each contributed a goal and an assist.

-Thrashers forward and former Penguin Colby Armstrong sure likes his sushi.

-Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin isn't wavering on his determination to play in the 2014 Olympics.

-Washington had demoted forward Eric Fehr to Hershey for conditioning purposes. But as he was driving I-270, he was called on his cell phone by coach Bruce Boudreau and literally told to make a u-turn in Frederick, Md. so he could return to the Capitals.

-Tampa Bay rookie defenseman Victor Hedman (right) has proven he belongs in the NHL so far.

-Correction: We incorrectly wrote former Stars forward Mark Parrish had signed with the Milwaukee Admirals, the Predators AHL affiliate. He had actually signed with the Norfolk Admirals, the Lightning's AHL affiliate.

-Whose bright idea was it to have two teams with the same name in the same league?

-Former Lightning forward Robert Petrovicky has joined HC Dukla Trecin in Slovakia.

Central Division

-Big loss for the Red Wings here. Forward Johan Franzen will be out of the lineup at least four months due to a torn ACL in his left knee.

-An ankle injury has landed Blues defenseman Barrett Jackman on injured reserve.

-St. Louis demoted forward D.J. King to Peoria of the AHL for conditioning purposes.

-Thirteen people were injured Friday when an escalator malfunctioned following the Blues' home opener at Scottrade Center.

-The Blackhawks demoted forward Bryan Bickell to Rockford of the AHL.

-Former Blue Jackets defenseman Christian Backman has joined the Frolunda Indians in Sweden.

-Predators forward Joel Ward (right, with Columbus defenseman Jan Hejda) is expected back in the lineup tonight after missing his team's first two games due to a groin injury.

-When the Predators face the Sabres tonight, it feature a meeting of the two longest tenured coaches in the NHL; Buffalo's Lindy Ruff (904 games) and Nashville's Barry Trotz (822). Detroit's Mike Babcock and Anaheim's Randy Carlyle are tied for the third longest tenure at 331 games each.

Northwest Division

-Former Flames star Theo Fleury revealed he was sexually abused by his former junior coach, Graham James.

-The NHL fined Oilers head coach Pat Quinn $10,000 (U.S.) over comments in which he criticized Flames captain Jarome Iginla for injuring Edmonton defenseman Sheldon Souray. Quinn suggested during his playing days, a teammate would've taken a stick to Iginla's head in retribution.

-This was Iginla's hit on Souray, and his ensuing fight with Edmonton's Ethan Moreau:

-Canucks forward Daniel Sedin is dealing with a foot injury.

-Wild coach and former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins coach Todd Richards benched forwards Martin Havlat and Petr Sykora, a former Penguin, during Minnesota's 6-3 blowout loss at Los Angeles Thursday.

Pacific Division

-Mike Ribeiro and Brad Richards each had a goal and an assist for the Stars in a 5-2 win at Calgary. Teammate Stephane Robidas added two assists. Alex Auld made 21 saves in his debut with Dallas. The Flames suffered their first loss off the season.

-The Stars activated forward Warren Peters from injured reserve and demoted him to Texas of the AHL.

-The Kings activated forward Richard Clune from injured reserve and demoted him to Manchester of the AHL.

-Ducks forward Bobby Ryan, a native of Collingswood, N.J. (a 15-minute drive to Philadelphia), will be playing in his backyard tonight.

-This is a few days old, but check out how Ducks forward Corey Perry scored against the Bruins Thursday:

-The Coyotes are doing their own white-out tonight for their home-opener.

-Losing his team's captaincy hasn't changed Patrick Marleau's game.

Adams Division

-How big of a threat is swine flu to NHL teams?

-Robert Morris' men's team defeated Queens, 8-4 in an exhibition game.

-We dropped the ball on this, but Robert Morris' women's team has been playing for a week now. They lost to Boston University last night, 4-3, in overtime.

-Ryan Lambert for Yahoo! has a guide to all 58 U.S. college men's hockey teams in Division I. Part 1. Part 2.

(Photos: Romano-eBay; Holzinger-Lake Fong/Post-Gazette; Spezza-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Hedman-Dave Sandford/Getty Images; Ward-Frederick Breedon/Associated Press)