Empty Netter Assists - 11-10-09

Penguins

-Does Eric Godard (above) deserve a regular spot in the lineup?

-Penguins president David Morehouse suffered a heart attack. Trainer Chris Stewart came to the rescue.

-The Pensblog has details on the health of Penguins public address announcer John Barbero.

-This is a few days old, but here are the pre-game ceremonies from Saturday's Hockey Hall of Fame Game between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs. Former Penguins Scotty Bowman, Luc Robitaille and Bryan Trottier participated:

-Rich Hammond of LA Kings Insider has a picture of Robitaille's plaque in the Hockey Hall of Fame:

-Hammond also has a shot of Robitaille's new ring:

-News flash: Mario Lemieux is a good person. He visited a 12-year-old kid in the Chicago area suffering from leukemia.

-Jonathan Bombulie of the Citizens Voice in Wilkes-Barre has your new line combinations for the AHL Penguins.

-Today would've been the 64th birthday of former Penguins goaltender Al Smith. "The Bear" was popular with Penguins fans for his willingness to fight, but during his two seasons in Pittsburgh, he only recorded 24 wins in 92 games.

-Happy 59th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Bob Stewart. Stewart, who ended his nine-year NHL career by spending the 1979-80 season with the Penguins, holds the NHL record for the worst career plus/minus mark of minus-260.

Atlantic Division

-The acceptance speech of former Rangers captain Brian Leetch at last night's Hockey Hall of Fame ceremonies:

-Leetch is still the last defenseman to reach the 100-point mark. He had 102 in 1992-93.

-The acceptance speech of Devils CEO/president/general manager Lou Lamoriello at last night's Hockey Hall of Fame ceremonies:

-Flyers goaltender Ray Emery gets to face his former team, the Senators, Thursday.

-Philadelphia recalled Oskars Bartulis from Adirondack of the AHL.

Northeast Division

-The Sabres put forward Adam Mair on waivers.

Southeast Division

-With goaltender Cam Ward down with a left leg injury, the Hurricanes signed former Blues goaltender Manny Legace to a one-year, two-way contract. Legace had been playing with the Chicago Wolves, the Thrashers' AHL affiliate.

-Legace is returning to the organization that drafted him in 1993. It was still the Hartford Whalers back then.

-Capitals forward Michael Nylander cleared waivers. The team is essentially trying to dump his $4.875 million hit off the salary cap..

-Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin announced he will "probably" be back in a week from his "upper-body" injury.

Central Division

-A goal and two assists from Troy Brouwer (above) helped the Blackhawks beat the Kings, 4-1. Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp each contributed two assists.

-The Blackhawks had forwards Ben Eager and Jonathan Toews return to the lineup from concussions last night.

-Happy times for Toews and his fans:

-Los Angeles' Matt Greene got the best of Chicago's Andrew Ladd in this photo:

-Los Angeles' Jonathan Quick went all out on this save against Chicago's John Madden:

-Chicago's Brian Campbell banked a puck off the shoulder of teammate Andrew Ebbett and into the net:

-The acceptance speech of former Blues captain Brett Hull at last night's Hockey Hall of Fame ceremonies:

-The acceptance speech of former Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman at last night's Hockey Hall of Fame ceremonies:

-With forwards Valtteri Filppula, Johan Franzen and Jason Williams all sidelined, the Red Wings really need forwards Patrick Eaves and Ville Leino to step it up.

-The Blue Jackets are 3-0-1 since forward Jason Chimera started growing a moustache.

Northwest Division

-The NHL suspended Flames forward Curtis Glencross for three games following this hit to the head of Rangers forward Chris Drury:

-Officially the league stated that Glencross was suspended for "delivering a high hit to an unsuspecting"  Drury.

-We agree with the league in this instance, but in no way it is consistent. We're assuming Florida's David Booth wasn't suspecting when he was clobbered by Philadelphia's Mike Richards last month:

-Yet Richard received no supplemental discipline for his actions.

-Speaking of head injuries, the Wild confirmed former Penguins forward Petr Sykora is dealing with a concussion.

-Avalanche forward and former Osward State Correctional Facility inmate Ryan O'Reilly leads all NHL rookies with 14 points (four goals, 10 assists).

-The Oilers put tough guy Steve MacIntyre on waivers with the hopes of demoting him to Springfield of the AHL.

-Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo resumed practicing for the first time in two weeks. He has been dealing with a rib injury and illness.

Pacific Division

-The acceptance speech of former Kings captain and Penguins forward Luc Robitaille at last night's Hockey Hall of Fame ceremonies:

-With goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere returning from a groin injury, the Ducks demoted goaltender Justin Pogge to Bakersfield of the ECHL.

-Do yourself a favor and check out this story on Sharks forward Jed Ortmeyer and his daily battle with a blood disorder.

Adams Division

-The Post-Gazette's Dave Molinari. A hall-of-famer.

-Is the "Trapezoid," (AKA, the "no-play" zone for goaltenders) the reason for so many injuries?

-We're a day late with this, but 20 years ago, just about everything, including the world of hockey eventually, was changed dramatically:

-Non-Hockey Note of the Day: Happy fifth birthday to Firefox:

(Photos: Godard-Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images; Legace-Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images; Brouwer and Greene-Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press; Toews and Quick-Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)