Avery Alert: With so much news surrounding the Sean Avery situation, our new section “Avery Alert” will bring you all the news comments you need in one handy location. Don’t worry though, this section will only last a short time and will stop once we all get sick off hearing about Avery.
NHLPA Plans to file grievance on Avery suspension
The National Hockey League Players Association is planning on grieving Sean Avery’s 6-game suspension. The PA believes NHL commissioner Gary Bettman handed down a summary suspension before the hearing, constituting a violation of the collective bargaining agreement. The CBA suggests for off-ice discipline a hearing must take place before action is taken. (The Full Story on TSN)
News
Wild keeping Gillies from World Juniors
While Team Canada’s December camp roster for the World Junior Hockey Championship has room for additions, forward Colton Gillies will not be one of them. (The Full Story on TSN)
Wilson puts struggling leafs through early morning skate
For most NHL teams taking a road trip through a warm and sunny locale, a round of golf is usually on the schedule. But for a Toronto Maple Leafs club that dropped two of three games after a humiliating loss to the Phoenix Coyotes, it’s a good ol’ fashioned bag skate. (The Full Story on TSN)
Can the Stars start fresh without Avery?
While it has been made clear that the Dallas Stars aren’t interested in getting Sean Avery back in their lineup anytime soon — if at all — are there any other opportunities that might work with other teams around the NHL? (The Full Story on TSN)
Canucks GM Gillis believes Sundin decision imminent
As Mats Sundin continues to ponder his future, Canucks general Mike Gillis is once again attempting to convince the Maple Leafs all-time leading scorer that Vancouver should be his destination of choice. (The Full Story on TSN)
Trades & Transactions:
None
Injuries:
Sam Gagner (C – Oilers) Day-to-Day with concussion.
Owen Nolan (RW – Wild) Day-to-Day with lower body injury.
Robert Nilsson (LW – Oilers) Placed on Injured Reserve.
Rumours & Gossip:
Possible trade locations for Avery?
Could there be a trade involving Sean Avery? An article allegedly from TSN lists 5 teams who could provide possible trade locations for the forward. All would involve long term contracts that have not paid off; Dustin Penner (LW – Oilers), Jason Blake (LW – Maple Leafs), Radim Vrbata (RW – Lightning), Rostislav Olesz (LW – Panthers) & Sergei Samsonov (LW, Hurricanes).
Tobias Stephan (G – Stars) earns our player of the day for his win over the Minnesota Wild. Stephan played in only his 2nd ever NHL game. His last game, almost a year ago was on the road in Chicago, a game where he played solid but lost the game in overtime. A year is a long time to wait to prove you can play at this level, but Stephan did that today.
Stars of the day:
Teemu Selanne (Ducks), got his game on with a hat trick against the Detroit Red Wings
Tobias Stephan (Stars) made his NHL debut for 2008 with a 4-2 win over the Wild
Ryan Getzlaf (Ducks) had 5 assists in the Ducks win over the Red Wings
Matt Stajan (Maple Leafs) scored 2 goals in the Leafs shootout win over the Devils
Pavel Datsyuk (Red Wings) scored a pair against the Ducks
…and there were none:
Going into todays game the Wild had no suffered a regulation loss this season, the only team remaining to do so. Tobias Stephan and the Stars put and end to that with a solid 4-2 win over the travelling team.
Demoted:
Jordan Staal has been demoted to the third line during Wednesday’s Penguins practice.
Trade Deadline moved:
The NHL has announced that the Trade Deadline will be moved back to March 4. The change has been approved by both the NHL and the NHLPA.
oh, they’re hurt:
Sergei Zubov (Stars) should be back in the Stars lineup this Saturday.
Randy Jones (Flyers) could resume skating in 2 weeks and should be back on the team before Christmas.
Jere Lehtinen (Stars) is rumored to begin skating again soon.
Tim Connolly (Sabres) is unlikely to play this weekend with a back injury.
Pascal Leclaire (Blue Jackets) is looking at a second opinion after his MRI revealed just a sprained ankle.
Bryan McCabe (Panthers) began skating on his own Monday.
Rick DiPietro (Islanders) will not be on the upcoming road trip.
He shoots… the scores:
Toronto Maple Leafs 6 – 5 New Jersey Devils (shootout)
A pretty cool video that was featured on mapleleafs.com, thought I\’d share with you guys, hope you like it. Video Courtesy: http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/
Not long after the Friesen goal, Jay Pandolfo sends a pass across the ice to John Madden who wrists a shot that Rick DiPietro gets a piece of, but not all off, as it trickles into the net to put the Devils ahead 3-2! Clip is (c) Fox Sports NY/MSG+ and the NHL and no copyright infringement is intended against them.
Brad Boyes makes a nice dangle around Richard Petiot, and puts a nice wrist shot over the glove of Cujo. Check www.nowhockey.com for uncompressed video, fantasy hockey, fantasy gambling, and discussion on the latest news from the NHL.
After 18 seasons in the NHL, 2 MVP awards and 6 Vezina Trophies, “The Dominator” Dominik Hasek has announced his retirement.
“Physically, I’m felling great—as well as ever,” Hasek said Monday as he announced his retirement. “I just don’t feel that I’m ready to compete on the highest level.“I need motivation. Right now, I don’t feel it’s there and I don’t want to disappoint anyone.” - Yahoo! Sports
Hasek was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks and spent his rookie years as backup to Ed Belfour. In his career he spent 2 seasons with Chicago, 9 seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, 4 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and a short 1 season stint with the Ottawa Senators.
During his career, Hasek has won:
Hart Memorial Trophy for MVP twice (nominated 5 times)
Lester B. Pearson Award twice (nominated 3 times)
Vezina Trophy 6 times
William M Jennings Trophy 3 times
Stanley Cup in 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings
The 2002 gold medal at the Nagano Olympic Games for the Czech Republic
Hasek has named on:
NHL first All-Star Team 5 times
NHL All-Rookie Team in the ‘91 and ‘92 season
NHL All-Star Game 5 times (although did not play in 2000 due to injury)
In his NHL Career, Hasek played a total of 735 games, totaling 42836 minutes of ice time. He collected 389 wins, 223 losses, 82 ties and 13 overtime losses with 81 shutouts. His career GAA and SV% stand at 2.10 & .922 respectively.
It took 129 minutes to achieve, but the Dallas Stars finally eliminated the pesky San Jose Sharks from the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Brenden Morrow netted the puck 9:03 into the 4th overtime period to give the Stars their first Conference Finals appearance since 2000.
Marty Turco faced 61 shots in the epic battle, making him the 1st star of the game. Evgeni Nabokov of the Sharks was 2nd star and Brenden Morrow was 3rd.
The Dallas Stars now go on to face the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference finals.
Earlier tonight the Pittsburgh Penguins eliminated the New York Rangers, making way for an all Pen State EC final between the Penguins and Flyers.
The Dallas Stars tried again to eliminate the San Jose Sharks today, but failed to achieve the task as the Sharks rallied to win in overtime, 3-2.
Jere Lehtinen opened the scoring for the Stars. Brenden Morrow put the Stars up 2-0 going into the third period. The 2nd period saw not one, but two waved off goals by Brenden Morrow. In the third Milan Michalek and Brian Campbell evened the score, taking the game to overtime, where Joe Pavelski netted the game winner in the 2nd minute of OT.
“Every game we lose, we give them more life, but I like our position better than theirs,” Morrow said. “The third period was our downfall. We have to move on, earn our breaks. We earned this 3-2 lead.”
- Yahoo! Sport
For the Stars, Hope, Joy, Bliss, Excitement. For the Sharks, Dismay, Fear, Concern.
4 minutes into the overtime period, unlikely hero, Mattias Norstrom shoots a wristshot from the blue line. This isn’t the first wrister he’s fired in this series, and it probably wont be his last. But todays was different, because it managed to go through all the traffic, past Nabokov and into the net.
And with that, the Stars took a very convincing 3-0 series lead over the (#1 contender going into the regular season) San Jose Sharks.
“I tried to get it on net, it went off a stick. Fortunately, it went in,” said Norstrom, sounding as shocked as anyone about his game-winner.
- Yahoo! Sports
After 18 seasons in the NHL, 2 MVP awards and 6 Vezina Trophies, “The Dominator” Dominik Hasek has announced his retirement.
A picture tells a thousand words.
