Penguins
-Some young punk was running around the streets of Halifax, N.S. setting stuff on fire.
-Kudos to WPXI for sending a reporter to Halifax to cover Crosby's run. Rightly or wrongly, WPXI gets a bad rap for being a "Steelers station," but it covered what was essentially a pep rally for Crosby and Canada at what we assume was considerable expense.
-Crosby's elementary school changed its mascot to a Penguin.
-Sports Illustrated's Michael Farber makes the case for Crosby to be named that magazine's Sportsman of the Year.
-The Penguins have a few players beat up.
-We missed this the other day, but check out this cool shot of Craig Adams and the puck from Monday's game against the Ducks:
(Kudos to EN reader Matt M. for the heads up.)
-The NHL is auctioning an autographed Mario Lemieux Erie Otters jersey on behalf of the Mario Lemieux Foundation:
(Kudos to Sean Leahy of Yahoo! for the find.)
-The Penguins are good people:
-Dan Bylsma talks about his day with the Stanley Cup:
-Ground was broken on a hotel that will sit adjacent to Consol Energy Arena.
-If the Penguins do need another defenseman from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Chris Lee would probably be next in line.
-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton leads the AHL with 50 fighting majors.
-Happy 33rd birthday to former Penguins forward Petr Sykora. Sykora recorded 10 game-winning goals for the Penguins last season, the second-highest total in team history and scored (and predicited) arguably, the most famous goal in the history of the franchise:
-Not to get stuck on Sykora here, but we just remembered this passionate defense he offered of Marc-Andre Fleury following Game 7 of last seasons' Stanley Cup Final:
Atlantic Division
-Two assists from Braydon Coburn helped the Flyers claim a 3-2 win at Los Angeles. Brian Boucher (above) made 37 saves for Philadelphia which won for the seventh time in eight games. Jarret Stoll led the Kings with a goal and an assist.
-Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick seemed like he had issues locating the puck all night:
-Los Angeles' Matt Greene got the best of Philadelphia's Darroll Powe on this check:
-The Devils recalled defenseman Tyler Eckford from Lowell of the AHL and demoted defenseman Cory Murphy.
-Today's Sign the Offseason is Too Dang Short: Devils forward Patrik Elias admitted he is still not fully recovered from offseason groin surgery.
Northeast Division
-The Bruins are negotiating a contract extension with forward Marc Savard who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the season.
-Canadiens forward Brian Gionta will be out indefinitely due to a broken foot. With former Penguins forward Georges Laraque and defenseman Ryan O'Byrne taken off injured reserve, the Canadiens demoted defenseman Mathieu Carle to Hamilton of the AHL.
-For the first time since they moved into Air Canada Centre, the Maple Leafs have failed to sell out their luxury suites.
Southeast Division
-Two goals from Michael Frolik helped the Panthers rout the Sabres, 6-2. Rostislav Olesz and former Penguin Dominic Moore each contributed a goal and an assist for Florida. Fire Ray Shero. Keith Ballard recorded three assists while Tomas Vokoun (above) made 26 saves in the win. Thomas Vanek led Buffalo with two assists.
-Vokoun had a negative reaction to the invasion of his personal space by Vanek's butt:
-We don't want to suggest Florida's Keith Ballard left his feet here, but...:
-The Thrashers demoted defenseman Boris Valabik to Chicago of the AHL for conditioning purposes.
-With goaltenders Cam Ward (leg) and Michael Leighton ("lower body") dinged up, the Hurricanes recalled goaltender Justin Peters from Albany of the AHL. Additionally, defenseman Tim Conboy was demoted to Albany.
-The Hurricanes are hoping Ward can return to the lineup by Dec. 5 against the Canucks.
-Capitals defenseman Quintin Laing will be sidelined four to six weeks due to a broken jaw.
-Panthers forward David Booth had a setback in recovering from a concussion suffered Oct. 24.
-Florida general manager Randy Sexton shot down rumors he was shopping forwards Nathan Horton and Rostislav Olesz.
-In his first nine games of the season, Lightning forward Alex Tanguay had produced all of two points (both assists). In his second nine games, his production jumped to 14 points (four goals, 10 assists).
Central Division
-The Blackhawks recalled forward Bryan Bickell from Rockford of the AHL.
-Resurrecting the franchise isn't enough for Blackhawks president John McDonough. He still wants the Stanley Cup.
-What a rotten day to be a cab driver. Chicago forward Patrick Kane (right) turns 21 today.
-The Syracuse Crunch, the Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate, signed former Hurricanes, Maple Leafs, Capitals and Avalanche forward Bates Battaglia.
-The Blue Jackets loan of forward Nikita Filatov, the club's first-round pick in 2008, is based on nothing more than a handshake agreement.
-Predators coach Barry Trotz is kind of mad at the folks who run the game clock at the Sommet Center in Nashville.
-Former Red Wings forward Sergei Fedorov accused several members of the Detroit organization of being jealous. The dude was married to Anna Kournikova in her prime. What wasn't there to be jealous of.
Northwest Division
-Gilbert Brule, Sam Gagner and Ales Hemsky each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers in a 6-4 defeat of the Avalanche. Lubomir Visnovsky recorded two assists for Edmonton which ended a four-game losing streak. Milan Hejduk had two goals for Colorado which has lost four out of its past five games.
-Lead of the Night: "On a night when Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj fought the puck, the puck emerged the decisive victor." - Adrian Dater, Denver Post.
-Today's attack on an opponent's head is brought to you by Colorado's Ryan Wilson on Edmonton's Ethan Moreau:
-This hit might've been legal, but it's not right. WIlson could've run him over with a spectacular check without targeting the head. Thankfully Moreau was fine.
-To those of you you would argue "that how the sport was meant to be played," the sport also used to forbid forward passing and didn't allow goaltenders to drop to their knees. We don't hear you complaining about those changes.
-Cool Photo of Wilson's fight with Edmonton's Zach Stortini:
-Happy times for the Oilers and their fans:
-With Colorado captain Adam Foote sidelined due to a jaw injury, defenseman Tom Preissing took his spot in the lineup and recorded his first career assist with the Avalanche.
-The Wild recalled forward Danny Irmen from Houston of the AHL.
-Former Avalanche forward Dan Hinote has joined former Colorado teammate Peter Forsberg by signing with Modo in Sweden.
-Flames coach Brent Sutter and Dion Phaneuf aren't BFFS.
-Today's Canadian team to get preferential treatment in regards to swine flu vaccinations is the Vancouver Canucks.
-Vancouver forward Daniel Sedin is hoping to return from a broken foot by Sunday.
-Canucks forward Alex Burrows is dealing with hip and groin injuries.
Pacific Division
-James Neal and Brad Richards each had two assists for the Stars in a 3-1 win at Detroit. Alex Auld (above) made 31 saves in the win which snapped a three-game winning streak for the Red Wings.
-We don't have a lot of sympathy for the Red Wings or their classless fans (Remember the enthusiastic cheers for Sidney Crosby's injury in Game 7 of last season's Stanley Cup Final?) but they totally got robbed on this non-goal by Detroit's Brad May:
-Officials ruled that one of them had blown his whistle and that killed the play. The Red Wings claim the whistle was not blown.
-May had a wild tilt with Dallas' Krys Barch:
-Cool photo of the fight:
-Radim Vrbata had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes who edged the Wild, 3-2. Ilya Brzygalov made 24 saves in the win. Andrew Brunette and Antti Miettinen each had a goal and an assist for Minnesota.
-Wild coach Todd Richards called the loss his team's "poorest performance of the year."
-The Ducks put forwards Ryan Carter (foot) and Saku Koivu (groin) on injured reserve and recalled forward MacGregor Sharp from Bakersfield of the ECHL.
-Normally a strength for the team, the Ducks' goaltending has been pretty spotty this season.
-The "upper-body" injury to Kings forward Ryan Smyth will keep him sidelined up to one month.
-Sharks captain Rob Blake is apparently moonlighting as the Penguins' team doctor:
(Kudos to Kukla's Korner for the find.)
Adams Division
-There are a lot of new faces in the NHL's scoring race this season.
(Photos: Crosby-Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press; Adams-Justin K. Aller/Getty Images; Boucher-Victor Decolongon/Getty Images; Quick and Greene-Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press; Vokoun, Vanek and Ballard-Rick Stewart/Getty Images; Kane-Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press; Wilson-John Ulan/Canadian Press; Oilers fans-Amber Bracken/Edmonton Sun/Canadian Press; Auld and May-Carlos Osorio/Associated Press)
Posted
Nov 19 2009, 01:07 AM
by
Seth Rorabaugh