Empty Netter Assists - 11-12-09

Penguins

-The Penguins are worth Jim Paek x $111 million.

-Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated gave television broadcasters Bob Errey and Paul Steigerwald (above) some major kudos as a broadcast duo. Having endured some pretty bad local broadcasts by the magic of Center Ice or GameCenter Live, we agree with Farber big time. Steigerwald gets criticized quite a bit, even occasionally in this forum, but he's one of the best local broadcasters in the business.

-Is a three-game losing streak in November really all that bad?

-EN contributor Eric Politowski compiled the Penguins' highlights from Games 8 through 16 of this season:

-Random YouTube Find of the Day: The Penguins' pregame montage at Mellon Arena prior to Game 3 of last season's Stanley Cup Final. The top portion of the video is what appeared on the video board while the bottom portion appared on the ice:

-A goal and two assists from Chris Lee helped the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins beat the Portland Pirates, 6-1. Dustin Jeffrey added three assists while teammate Luca Caputi had a goal and an assist.

-Penguins prospects Brian Strait, Zach Sill and Eric Tangradi all scored their first professional goals.

-With Ben Lovejoy called up to Pittsburgh, the AHL Penguins recalled defenseman Lane Caffaro from Wheeling of the ECHL.

-Wyatt Smith took over as the 16th captain Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' history.

-The list of captains:

99-00: Tyler Wright, Steve Leach, John Slaney
00-01: Slaney, Sven Butenschon
01-02: Jason MacDonald
02-03: Tom Kostopoulos
03-04: Kostopoulos, Patrick Boileau, Kris Beech
04-05: Alain Nasreddine (right), Rob Scuderi
05-06: Nasreddine
06-07: Nasreddine, Micki DuPont
07-08: Nathan Smith, Dennis Bonvie
08-09: Dave Gove, Connor James
09-10: Wyatt Smith

-Former Penguins forward and recent Hockey Hall of Fame Inductee Luc Robitaille will appear on "The Jay Leno Show." We assume you won't be able to watch it outside of Gate 3 at Mellon Arena.

-Happy 34th birthday to former Penguins forward Chris Wells. A failed first-round pick in 1994, Wells was sent to the Panthers in a 1996 trade that brought future 30-goal forward Stu Barnes and defenseman Jason Woolley.

-Happy 61sth birthday to former Penguins goaltender Bob Johnson. Johnson, the father of current Penguins goaltender Brent Johnson, appeared in 12 games for the 1974-75 Penguins going 3-4-1.

-Happy 60th birthday to former Penguins goaltender Paul Hoganson. A sixth round pick of the Penguins in 1969, Hoganson played two games for the Penguins in 1970-71 before jumping to the WHA.

Atlantic Division

-A goal and an assist each from Jamie Langenbrunner and Zach Parise helped the Devils beat the Ducks, 3-1. Martin Brodeur (above) made 31 saves in the victory.

-Langenbrunner was popular with his teammates after a goal:

-Langenbrunner uncorking a shot from the slot:

-To say the least, New Jersey's Tim Sestito was focused on his puck-handling here:

-Check out the goal New Jersey's David Clarkson scored:

-Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf warming up with his shadow:

-Anaheim's Jonas Hiller needed some help from former Penguin Ryan Whitney with this puck:

-"I definitely had this circled on my calendar." - Flyers goaltender Ray Emery on facing his former team, the Senators, tonight.

-Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky is dealing with a broken right hand.

Northeast Division

-Ryan Miller (above) made 28 saves and led the Sabres to a 3-1 win against the Oilers. Buffalo got two assists from Tim Connolly.

-Buffalo's Paul Gaustad took a tumble here:

-Edmonton's Steve Staios put everything he had into this shot:

-Buffalo forward Mike Grier sufferd a groin injury last night.

-Sabres goaltender and former Penguin Patrick Lalime has resumed skating for the first time since suffering a groin injury last week.

-Check out the special mask goaltender Canadiens goaltender Carey Price had made up for Remembrance Day. The poem "In Flanders Fields" is written on each side. One in English, the other in French:

-"I thought it was infantile." - Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey on Allan Walsh, the agent for Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak. Last week, Walsh ripped Halak's teammate, Carey Price, on Twitter.

-The Senators are 27-16-6 (60 points out of a potential 98) since Cory Clouston took over as head coach last season. But that heartless jerk took away Dany Heatley's playing time!!!!!

-Maple Leafs defenseman Mike Komisarek is dealing with a leg injury.

-Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli admitted his interest in former Avalanche forward Peter Forsberg.

Southeast Division

-Shootout goals by Alexander Semin (above) and Chris Clark helped the Capitals edge the Islanders, 4-3. The shootout went 11 rounds. Semin had two goals in regulation while teammate Mike Green added two assists. Mark Streit led New York with a goal and an assist.

-Semin was a popular guy after one of his regulation goals:

-Washington's Semyon Varlamov was popular after winning the shootout:

-Here's the shootout. Part 1. Check out Semin's goal (1:40 mark), Eric Fehr's whiff (8:40) and Varlamov's save on Trent Hunter (9:13). Varlamov had the puck trapped underneath his legs but was sliding into the net. So he reached up and back to grab a hold of the cross bar and keep himself and the puck of the net:

-Part 2 Chris Clark's winner is at the 0:20 mark:

-This video stinks, but check out this regulation goal by Fehr:

-Varlamov stretched out and denied former Penguin Jon Sim on this shot:

-Varlamov and Hunter kept their eye on this puck:

-Hunter put everything he had in this shot:

-Washington's Mike Green and New York's Frans Nielsen kicking up some ice spray:

-New York's Dwayne Rolson getting beat:

-The Hurricanes officially put goaltender Cam Ward on injured reserve due to a lacerated left leg and recalled defenseman Bryan Rodner from Albany of the AHL. Defenseman Joni Pitkanen skipped last night's game due to an illness.

-The Lightning recalled forward Paul Szczechura from Norfolk of the AHL.

-A day after claiming him on waivers from the Oilers, the Panthers put forward Steve MacIntyre back on waviers with the intent of demoting him to Rochester of the AHL.

Central Division

-Shootout goals by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp gave the Blackhawks a 3-2 win against the Avalanche. Cristobal Huet (above, stopping Colorado's Darcy Tucker) made 25 saves in the win.

-Sharp was a popular man after his goal:

-Cool Photo of the Night: The Colorado and Chicago benchs:

-Chicago captain Jonathan Toews made a really odd face while trying to stick handle by Colorado's Scott Hannan:

-Brian Campbell and the Blackhawks warmed up in some camouflage jersey before the game:

-Colorado's Cody McLeod tried to DDT Chicago's Curt Fraser:

-Fraser wasn't a popular guy last night. Colorado's Matt Henricks tried to rough him up too:

-Colorado's Craig Anderson did a belly flop to make this save:

-Chicago's Patrick Kane picked an odd time to start Jazzercizing:

-Vince Vaughn was in the United Center for the game:

-Chances are, Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock probably never had a worse game than his 1,000th career contest. Niklas Kronwall had two goals and an assist for the Red Wings who routed the Blue Jackets, 9-1. Teammate Justin Abdelkader added two goals while Todd Bertuzzi contributed a goal and an assist.

-The Blue Jackets set a franchise record for most goals allowed in a home game.

-As if getting blown out at home wasn't bad enough, the Blue Jackets lost forward Raffi Torrest to a facial injury.

-The Red Wings claimed forward Drew Miller off waivers from the Lightning.

-Blackhawks forward and former Penguin Marian Hossa, who has yet to play this season due to offseason shoulder surgery, declared himself fit for contact drills. Brooks Orpik not available for comment:

-Predators forward J.P. Dumont is expected to return to the lineup after missing three games due to an "upper-body" injury.

Northwest Division

-Oilers forward Liam Reddox was injured in the third period of last night's loss in Buffalo after a hit from behind by Sabres forward Clarke MacArthur. Oilers coach Pat Quinn said, "Watching it on tape, (MacArthur) knew exactly what he was doing."

-The hit:

-Reddox, who was ejected for the hit, deserves a suspension for that one.

-The Avalanche activated forward Darcy Tucker (head) from injured reserve and placed defenseman John-Michael Liles (shoulder) on injured reserve.

-Canucks forward Daniel Sedin suffered a set back in his recovery from a broken foot.

-Flames coach Brent Sutter played some touch football with his players.

Pacific Division

-In his first game with the Kings, Randy Jones recorded a goal and an assist and led Los Angeles to a 5-2 win at Carolina. Teammates Justin Williams (above with Jones, No. 12, and Alexander Frolov, No. 24), Wayne Simmonds and Ryan Smyth each also contributed a goal and an assist. Tuomo Ruutu scored both goals for the Hurricanes who have lost 13 consecutive games.

-We're not goaltending experts, but we're thinking Carolina's Manny Legace played the wrong angle on this shot:

-The Ducks couldn't score on six power plays last night.

-Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere backed off his "I wanna be a starter" hissy-fit from the other day.

-Ducks captain Scott Niedmermayer acknowledged the possibility of being traded this season.

-Anaheim forward Saku Koviu is dealing with a "lower-body" injury.

-Stars forward Fabian Brunnstrom is dealing with a shoulder injury.

-The Staals Pyatts - Phoenix's Taylor and Montreal's Tom - are brothers. And their teams meet tonight.

-Assistant coach and former Penguins defenseman Ulf Samuelsson (right) has been key in the Coyotes' transformation into a playoff contender.

Norris Division

-The NHL's general mangers essentially agreed to push for a ban on head shots by next season.

-Stephen Brunt of the Globe and Mail lauds the group for takings steps to address head shots.

-Do "UFC-style" tactics belong in NHL fights?

-Do yourself a favor and read this story of former Blackhawks forward Bob Carse. After four seasons in the NHL during the late 1930s and early 1940s, Carse enlisted in the Canadian Army. During World War II, he was wounded and captured by Nazi forces. After spending time in a POW camp, Carse was able to return to North America and resume his professional career.

-Former Thrashers forward Ben Simon has joined the Kalamazoo Wings, the ECHL affiliate of the Flyers and Sharks.

-"It sucks, but going to prison changed my life, and it saved my life. I grew up there." - Former Blues forward Mike Danton on the 5 1/2 years he spent in prison after being convicted of trying to hire a hit man.

-Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! gets the dirt on Louisiana IceGators coach Brent Sapergia who did this recently:

-Former Devils coach Robbie Ftorek not impressed:

(Photos: Nasreddine-MySpace; Brodeur, Langenbrunner, Sestito and Getzlaf-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Hiller-Rich Schultz/Associated Press; Price-Habs Inside/Out; Miller-Don Heupel/Associated Press; Gaustad and Staios-Rick Stewart/Getty Images; Semin, Varlamov, Hunter, Green and Roloson-Greg Fiume/Getty Images; McLeod, Huet, Campbell and Kane-Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press; Sharp, Benches, Toews, Hendricks, Anderson, Vaughn-Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images; Jones and Legace-Karl B DeBlaker/Associated Press; Samuelsson-Photobucket)