Penguins
-The Penguins hate clocks. (PG+)
-From the "Completely Awesomely Ironic" department, Flyers broadcaster Keith Jones and executive Bobby Clarke each said Sidney Crosby should be the captain Canada's Olympic team. Mike Richards punched a nine-year-old in response.
-Someone over at LetsGoPens.com spotted this image from a recent Penguins broadcast. It's a list of individual skates for the Penguins:
-The idea that Mike Rupp and Eric Godard each wear skates called "Light Speed" is rather funny. We guess the "Slower Than $#&@!" models were sold out.
-The Penguins average an increase of 74 fans per game during the month of October compared to October of 2008.
-We're not sure if we've posted this yet, but here's the Penguins' pregame montage from Mellon Arena:
-Random YouTube Find of the Day: A Jaromir Jagr highlight video set to some Irish punk rock:
-Pens Universe scored an interview with forward prospect Eric Tangradi.
-Speaking of Tangradi, he's expected to return to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's lineup after recovering from a shoulder injury.
-Former Penguins forward Markus Naslund revealed he requested the trade that sent him to the Canucks for Alek Stojanov. Fire Markus Naslund.
(Kudos to PensBurgh for the find.)
Atlantic Division
-Two goals from Nicklas Bergfors helped the Devils edge the Capitals, 3-2. Teammate Travis Zajac added two assists while Martin Brodeur (above, before a pretty light crowd) made 26 saves in the win. Mathieu Perreault had two assists for Washington which played with out Alex Ovechkin.
-Odd Photo of the Night: New Jersey's Zach Parise and Washington's Semyon Varlamov having a moment:
-Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner celebrating with his teammates:
-Both team's benches:
-The Prudential Center is another Atlantic Division venue that seems to produce some amazing photos: Here are some cool shots from the net. Parise and Varlamov:
-Varlamov not making a save:
-By the looks of things, Varlamov was pretty used to seeing Parise's butt by the end of the night:
-New Jersey's Ilkka Pikkarainen looking like he's trying to pronounce his name:
-New Jersey forward Rob Niedermayer suffered an "upper-body" injury.
-The Devils recalled forward Matt Halischuk from Lowell of the AHL.
-The NHL suspended forward Dane Byers for one game for getting an instigator penalty for a fight late in the third period of Tuesday's 4-1 loss in Vancouver. The fight took place within the final five minutes. Additionally, Rangers coach John Tortorella was fined $10,000 for Byer's actions. Both the fine and suspension are automatic for any player receiving an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of regulation.
-Former Penguins prospect Matt Moulson has developed some chemistry with Islanders forward John Tavares, the first overall pick in this summer's draft. Fire Ray Shero.
Northeast Division
-Ryan Miller (above) made 24 saves for the Sabres in a 3-0 shutout of the Islanders. Thomas Vanek led Buffalo with a goal and an assist. Derek Roy went an insane 14 for 14 in the faceoff circle. New York had a four-game winning streak snapped.
-Buffalo's goals as called by Sabres play-by-play guy Rick Jeanneret. Check out the passing on Vanek's goal:
-Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta got dumped on a pretty nice hip check then got into a skirmish with Islanders goaltender Martin Biron:
-New York's Jon Sim cared not for the impromtu dental examination of Buffalo's Craig Rivet:
-Buffalo's Steve Montador cared not for the butt of New York's Richard Park:
-With former Penguins goaltender Patrick Lalime dealing with a groin injury, the Sabres recalled goaltender Jhonas Enroth from Portland of the AHL.
-Senators forward and former Penguin Jarkku Ruutu is on pace for a career-high 27 goals. Fire Ray Shero.
-The Canadiens recalled forward Tom Pyatt and Ryan White from Hamilton of the AHL.
-The Bruins recalled forward Mikko Lehtonen from Providence of the AHL.
-Boston has been shutout for two consecutive games. The only time the franchise was shutout in three straight contests was in 1928-29, the last season the NHL forbid forward passing in the offensive zone.
-What recession? The Boston Red Sox are reportedly offering sessions on the Winter Classic rink at Fenway Park for a mere $7,000 to $10,000 an hour.
-Former Sabres forward Vaclav Varada has joined HC Kometa Brno in the Czech Republic.
Southeast Division
-Tomas Vokoun made 32 saves for the Panthers in a 3-0 shutout of the Hurricanes. Steven Reinprecht (above) and Cory Stillman each had a goal and an assist. Carolina has lost 10 consecutive games.
-Florida's Rostislav Olesz cares not for the personal space of Carolina's Cam Ward:
-Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour apparently has trouble seeing around his nose these days:
-The Capitals recalled forward Michael Nylander from Grand Rapids of the AHL.
-"I don’t believe in discounts." - Mark Gandler, the agent for Capitals forward Alexander Semin, on the possibility his client, scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, would re-sign with Washington for less than market value.
-Thrashers goaltener Kari Lehtonen, who has yet to play this season due to offseason back surgery, will miss an additional six to eight week following another operation on his back.
-"He's winning so you keep playing him." - Lightning coach and former Penguins forward Rick Tocchet offering a pretty simple, straight forward reason why he keeps playing goaltender Antero Nittymaki over starter Mike Smith.
-The Lightning put forward Ryan Craig on re-entry waivers.
-With former Penguins forward Dominic Moore still recovering from nasal surgery, the Panther recalled former Penguins forward Jeff Taffe from Rochester of the AHL.
Central Division
-Columbus has all kinds of issues. The Blue Jackets activated defenseman Jan Hejda from injured reserve and recalled Derek MacKenzie from Syracuse of the AHL on an emergency basis. Forwards Kristian Huselius (right) is dealing with an undisclosed injury. Forward Derick Brassard is dealing with a hand ailment. And forward Michael Blunden suffered an "upper-body" injury last night. Forward Alexandre Picard is expected to be recalled from Syracuse.
-With defensemen Jonathan Ericsson and Brian Rafalski recovering from illnesses, the Red Wings demoted defenseman Doug Janik to Grand Rapids of the AHL.
-Detroit forward Dan Cleary has been stuck on 99 career goals for 11 games.
-"We’re going to have to fight just to make the playoffs and it’s going to be a grind. To get home-ice advantage would be a miracle. A miracle." - Red Wings executive Jim Devellano being less than optimistic about his team's postseason hopes.
-With forward J.P. Dumont dealing with an "upper-body" injury, the Predators recalled forward Andreas Thuresson from Milwaukee of the AHL.
-With forward Andy McDonald dealing with suspected head injuries, the Blues recalled forward Lars Eller, a first-round pick in 2007, from Peoria of the AHL.
-St. Louis needs bigger contributions from its star players.
-Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews returned to practice for the first time since suffering a concussion Oct. 21.
-Kukla's Korner found this quality video on last season's Winter Classic at Wrigley Field:
Northwest Division
-Two goals by Jarome Iginla (above), including one in overtime, helped the Flames claim a 3-2 win at Dallas. Iginla also recorded an assist while Curtis McElhinney made 38 saves in the win. Karlis Skrastins led the Stars with two assists.
-Iginla's goal:
-Iginla stepped up after being called out by head coach Brent Sutter.
-McElhinney denying Dallas' Loui Eriksson:
-Happy times for the Flames:
-How about the Minnesota North Stars fan on the left hand side?
-Awkward Photo of the Night: Stars goaltender Marty Turco "stopping" teammate Nicklas Grossman:
-Stars forward Mike Ribeiro got a little scared last night:
-Two goals and an assist by Milan Hejduk helped the Avalanche beat the Coyotes, 4-1. Paul Stastny added three assists while Peter Budaj made 27 saves and won his first start of the season.
-The Avalanche played in front of an announced crowd of 11,012, the smalled in the franchise's history since it moved to Denver.
-Coyotes forward Radim Vrbata was going all Michael Jordan with his tongue:
-Vancouver defenseman Shane O'Brien was suspended for one game for spearing Rangers forward Sean Avery from the bench Tuesday.
-It turns out Canucks forward Michael Grabner fractured his ankle during a pregame soccer warm-up.
-The Canucks demoted forward Mario Bliznak to Manitoba of the AHL.
-Oilers forward Shawn Horcoff will be sidelined seven to 10 days due to a shoulder injury.
-Canucks forward Ryan Kesler is the NHL's highest scoring American-born player with 16 points (five goals, 11 assists).
-Today's "neck-stabbing with a bottle" story amazingly doesn't involve a Flyers fan.
-Wild goon Derek Boogaard doesn't exactly score too many goals.
-An employee with Alberta Health Services was fired after it was learned members of the Calgary Flames organization were given preferential treatment with the distribution of swine flu vaccinations.
Pacific Division
-A shootout goal by Dan Boyle (above, scoring on Columbus' Steve Mason) gave the Sharks a 3-2 shootout win at Columbus. Evgeni Nabokov made 26 saves in the win. Anton Stralman led the Blue Jackets with two assists.
-Awesome Photo of the Night: Columbus' Steve Mason lost in a haze of ice spray or fog or Johann Krauss:
-Columbus' Rostislav Klesla didn't exactly appreciate this hit by San Jose's Dany Heatley:
-San Jose's Scott Nichol (right) and Jed Ortmeyer tried to put the squeeze on Columbus' Michael Blunden:
-The Sharks recalled forward Logan Couture, a first-round pick in 2007, and Jamie McGinn from Worcester of the AHL.
-The Stars activate forwards Jere Lehtinent and Mike Modano from injured reserve. Modano had missed 13 games due to a rib injury.
-Coyotes defenseman Kurt Sauer is dealing with an "upper-body" injury.
-Here's a good look at the art on Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov's lid:
-Ehhh... we've seen better.
Smythe Division
-What's the best way to approach the shootout?
-Today's "The NHLPA is a Disaster" article is brought to you by Jeff Z. Klein of The New York Times.
-Erie Otters forward Michael Liambas was supsended for the rest of the OHL's season for a hit that fractured the skull of Kitchener Rangers defenseman Ben Fanelli. Fanelli remains in a hospital and is in serious but stable condition.
-This is the hit in question:
-We're not all that familar with the OHL's rules regarding contact from behind, but Liambas' punishment seems way over the top. Liambas didn't target the head and hit the player shoulder on shoulder. Fanelli just happened to turn to the boards at the last second and struck the boards in a brutal fashion. We're not blaming Fanelli or Liambas for what happened. It was one player applying normal pressure on a forecheck you see countless times in countless games at every level of play. It almost reminds us of Brooks Orpik's hit on Carolina's Erik Cole several years ago:
-One player went to initiate legal contact. The other tried to avoid it at the last minute. The results just happened to turn out horribly in each instance.
-Team Canada will announce its men's roster for the 2010 Olympics on New Year's Eve, one day before the United States reveals its roster.
-Former Capitals coach Glen Hanlon quit as head coach of Belarus' national team three months prior to the Olympics.
-While they link to use quite a bit, we don't nearly return the favor nearly enough. So we're going to give Illegal Curve a free plug for their nifty touques.
-Today would've been the 107th birthday of the incredibly-named Harold "Baldy" Cotton, a former forward with the NHL's Pittsburgh Pirates.
(Photos: Crosby-Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press; Brodeur, Parise, Langenbrunner, benches, Pikkarainen-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Miller, Rivet, Park-Rick Stewart/Getty Images; Reinprect, Olesz and Brind'Amour-Joel Auerbach/Getty Images; Huselius-Harry How/Getty Images; Iginla, McElhinney, Flames, Turco and RIbeiro-Ronald Martinez/Getty Images; Vrbata and Bryzgalov-Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; Boyle-Terry Gilliam/Associated Press; Mason, Klesla and Blunden-Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Posted
Nov 04 2009, 09:59 PM
by
Seth Rorabaugh