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.
Avery gets 6 game suspension
The National Hockey League came down hard on Dallas Stars superpest Sean Avery Thursday, handing him a six-game suspension for making inappropriate public comments prior to the Stars’ game in Calgary on Tuesday. (The Full Story on TSN)
News
Burke offers front office job to Nonis
Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke has made an attempt to strengthen his front office, offering Dave Nonis the position of Senior Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations. (The Full Story on TSN)
Trades & Transactions:
None
Injuries:
Raffi Torres (LW -Blue Jackets) Out 4-6 weeks after knee surgery.
Patrick Kaleta (RW – Sabres) Placed on indefinite IR.
Brad Lukowich (D – Sharks) Left game early with lower body injury.
Rumours & Gossip:
Havlat on the block?
After recent changes which ended up with Martin Havlat being demoted to the teams 3rd line, speculation suggests the Hawks could be looking to move him at some stage.
Ross McKeon of Yahoo! Sports has a fantastic article today in which he breaks down October 26, the 2nd day in NHL history were all 30 teams played in the same day. Accoring to McKeon, on October 26…
The home team earned two points in nine games, the visitors snatched a pair of points in six. Five of the 15 games needed more than 60 minutes to decide as two ended in sudden death and three required a shootout.
Philadelphia’s Jeff Carter at 3:44 and Washington’s Alexander Semin at 2:17, both even-strength goals, accounted for the winners in sudden death.
Fredrik Sjostrom of the Rangers, Ryan Smyth of the Avalanche and Marian Hossa of the Red Wings scored the deciding goals in shootouts. Henrik Lundqvist, Peter Budaj and Ty Conklin were the winning goalies. In all, shooters went 9-for-24 in the shootouts.
A total of 96 goals were scored in regulation and overtime of the 15 games. Three goals came short-handed (Anaheim’s Travis Moen, Ottawa’s Dean McAmmond and Sean Bergenheim of the Islanders) and one filled an empty net (Jarome Iginla).
Ten of the 15 games were decided by one goal. Four goals was the largest margin of victory (St. Louis 4-0 over Florida).
The power play was very good across the board. Teams combined to covert 30 of 127 chances for 23.6 percent, well above the league average. Vancouver cashed in most, going 4-for-6. The Islanders had the most power-play chances, but went just 1-for-8.
A total of 460 penalty minutes were assessed of which 120 minutes accounted for the 12 fights. New Jersey and Philadelphia, division rivals meeting for the second time in as many days, featured the most bouts with four. The Devils and Flyers accrued the most combined minutes (80) while the Blue Jackets-Wild and Sabres-Avalanche combined for the least (12 each game).
There were a combined 984 shots on goal during regulation and overtime. Carolina’s Cam Ward faced the most. He stopped 57 of the New York Islanders’ franchise-record 60. Florida managed the fewest, only 17 on the road in St. Louis. Five teams replaced their starting goalies because of either injury or ineffectiveness including Montreal, Los Angeles, Columbus, St. Louis and the New York Islanders. Montreal’s Tomas Plekanec led the world with 13 shots (three others were judged to be missed shots). Bill Guerin of the Islanders was in double figures, too, with 10 shots.
There were a grand total of 872 faceoffs. Detroit and Chicago visited the circle the most (82) while San Jose and Tampa combined for the least draws (46). Boston’s Marc Savard (14-4), Vancouver’s Ryan Kessler (16-6), Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour (15-5) and Washington’s Boyd Gordon (13-4) had strong nights on faceoffs while Phoenix’s Olli Jokinen (4-13), Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf (4-15) and Edmonton’s Shawn Horcoff (9-18) struggled.
Teams extended winning streaks (Colorado to five in a row, Detroit to four, Anaheim and Calgary to three and Philadelphia to two) and extended losing streaks (Islanders to three in a row) and had streaks snapped (Montreal had won five in a row, Pittsburgh had won two straight and Washington had lost three in a row).
The 15 games drew nine capacity crowds. The United Center in Chicago housed the biggest showing, a franchise-record 22,690 to see the 698th all-time meeting between the rival Red Wings and Blackhawks. The smallest crowd was an announced 11,219 gathering at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island for the Hurricanes and Islanders. A total of 267,729 attended the 15 games for an average of 17,849 per contest.
The biggest minute-muncher on Saturday was Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom with 32:01 of ice time. Buffalo’s young defenseman Andrej Sekera was the only other skater in the league to log more than 30 minutes (30:44). Philadelphia’s Riley Cote (1:34) and New Jersey’s Mike Rupp (1:44) saw the least amount of ice time.
Of miscellaneous note, Calgary traveled the most miles (1,600 from Nashville to Glendale, Ariz.) while New Jersey traveled the least (less than 100 miles to Philly). … The 30 bench bosses combined for more than 180 seasons of NHL head coaching experience. … Tampa Bay’s Gary Roberts (42 years, five months, two days) was the oldest player performing and Atlanta’s Zach Bogosian (18 years, three months, 10 days) was the youngest.
Injury Updates:
Islanders G DiPietro questionable Vs Rangers New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro will see a doctor on Monday for an undisclosed injury and is questionable to play that night against the New York Rangers.
Red Wings LW Franzen out 3-4 weeks Red Wings forward Johan Franzen will be out for three to four weeks because of a sprained left knee, the team said Sunday.
Blues G Bishop injured Vs Panthers St. Louis Blues goaltender Ben Bishop left Saturday’s 4-0 win over the Florida Panthers in the third period with a lower body injury and did not return. Bishop made 12 saves without yielding a goal before being replaced by Marek Schwarz, who was recalled from Peoria of the American Hockey League earlier in the day.
Blue Jackets G Leclaire suffers ankle injury Leclaire left Saturday’s game 5:24 into the second period with an ankle injury, the Associated Press reports.
Joni Pitkanen: Leg Injury Pitkanen sustained a leg injury late in the second period of Saturday’s
game against the Islanders, and did not return to action.
Maple Leafs Jeff Finger back in action Finger (foot) made his regular-season debut with the Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
Hurricanes C Sutter leaves hospital after concussion Carolina Hurricanes center Brandon Sutter left a Long Island hospital on Sunday after suffering a concussion during Saturday’s 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders.
Sergei Zubov placed on IR Zubov (hip surgery) was placed on injured reserve Tuesday, the National Post reports. (ESPN)
Islanders place trio on IR The New York Islanders on Tuesday placed center Mike Sillinger and defensemen Chris Campoli and Andy Sutton on injured reserve. Sillinger, 37, underwent microfracture surgery on his right hip during the offseason. Last season, he appeared in 52 games, tallying 14 goals and 12 assists. Campoli is sidelined with a shoulder injury and Sutton is out after undergoing surgery on his hand. (Yahoo! Sports)
Lawrence Nycholat to miss start of season Nycholat had back problem flare this week and is expected to start the
season in the injured reserve list, the Vancouver Province reports. (ESPN)
Alexander Semin limited in practice Semin was limited in practice on Tuesday but is expected to play in the
Capitals’ home opener on Friday, the Associated Press reports. (ESPN)
Alex Ovechkin left practice Ovechkin left Tuesday’s morning practice after just 15 minutes, the Washington Post reports. (ESPN)
Johan Hedberg: Toe Questionable for Oct. 10 vs. Washington (Sportsline)
Mike Hoffman: Hand Out until at least mid-October (Sportsline)
Bryan Little: Hip Questionable for Oct. 10 vs. Washington (Sportsline)
Marian Hossa: Groin Questionable for Oct. 9 vs. Toronto (Sportsline)
Georges Laraque: Groin Questionable for Oct. 10 at Buffalo (Sportsline)
Waiver Wire:
TSN.CA: reports the following players have been placed on waivers:
Peter Schaefer – Boston Bruins
Kyle McLaren – San Jose Sharks.
Aaron Downey – Detroit Red Wings
Boyd Devereaux and Steffan Kronwall – Toronto Maple Leafs.
Matt Pettinger and Jason Krog – Vancouver Canucks.
Gilbert Brule – demoted by Edmonton Oilers
Aaron Johnson – Chicago Blackhawks
TSN also reports the Blackhawks have demoted goaltender Antti Niemi and Nikolai Khabibulin remains with the team for now. He’s expected to resume practicing with the club later this week although it’s still possible he could be loaned to a Russian team.
Player Updates:
Ducks name D Scott Niedermayer Captain The Anaheim Ducks named defenceman Scott Niedermayer team captain Tuesday, with Chris Pronger and Ryan Getzlaf serving as alternate captains. Niedermayer, 35, previously served as Ducks captain from 2005-07. (Yahoo! Sports)
Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin expected to start season with Chicago Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin is expected to start the regular season with the Chicago Blackhawks. The 35-year-old Khabibulin had seemed destined to be sent to the minors, traded or opt to play in his native Russia by the time the Blackhawks open their regular season Friday night in New York against the Rangers. (Yahoo! Sports)
Patric Hornqvist: Likely to Skate On Nashville’s Top Line Hornqvist has all but officially secured a roster spot with the Predators, and he’s likely to begin the season on the top offensive line along with J.P. Dumont and Jason Arnott, the Nashville Tennessean reports. (Yahoo! Sports)
Joey MacDonald: Wins Backup Job MacDonald has won the job of backup to Rick DiPietro. (Yahoo! Sports)
Signings, Transactions & Acquisitions:
Ducks clam LW Lidstrom on waivers from Blackhawks The Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday claimed left wing Joakim Lindstrom on waivers from Chicago and assigned him to the Iowa Chops, their affiliate in the American Hockey League.Lindstrom, 24, originally was acquired by Anaheim from Columbus for a conditional pick in the 2010 draft on July 15. He appeared in four preseason games with the Ducks, registering one assist before being claimed by Chicago on Friday. (Yahoo! Sports)
Blackhawks release C Adams The Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday released center Kevyn Adams, one of five moves made by the team to reduce the roster to the league-mandated maximum of 23 players heading into the start of the regular season. (Yahoo! Sports)
Sharks place D McLaren on waivers In a move necessitated by salary cap restrictions, the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday placed veteran defenseman Kyle McLaren on waivers, possibly ending his 4 1/2-year tenure with the club. Waiving McLaren enabled the Sharks to save $2.5 million and get them under the salary cap limit of $56.7 million. (Yahoo! Sports)
Maple Leafs sign D Schenn The Toronto Maple Leafs signed defenseman Luke Schenn to a three-year contract on Tuesday. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Yahoo! Sports)
Kings re-sign C O”Sullivan Patrick O’Sullivan’s holdout is over. A restricted free agent, O’Sullivan on Tuesday signed a new three-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings. Financial terms were not disclosed, but – citing undisclosed sources – TSN of Canada is reporting the 23-year-old center will receive an average of $2.925 million per season. (Yahoo! Sports)
Flames’ Warrener, Eriksson placed on waivers The Calgary Flames placed veteran defensemen Rhett Warrener, Anders Eriksson and forward Jamie Lundmark on waivers Tuesday to get below the salary cap. The three are headed to the Flames’ AHL affiliate in the Quad Cities unless claimed off waivers by another club or traded. Warrener and Eriksson have one-way contracts and reassigning the three players puts Calgary’s payroll $2 million below the $56.7-million cap. (Yahoo! Sports)
Boston Bruins keep promising rookie forward Blake Wheeler, cut five The Boston Bruins cut five players from their roster Tuesday and kept promising rookie forward Blake Wheeler, a first-round draft choice in 2004. The Bruins released forward Peter Schaefer and planned to waive him and assign him to Providence of the AHL. They also placed forwards Nate Thompson and Jeremy Reich on waivers for the purpose of assigning them to Providence, and assigned defenceman Matt Hunwick to Providence and forward Carl Soderberg to Malmo in Sweden. (Yahoo! Sports)
Bruins waive LW Schaefer, C Reich Boston Bruins fans may have seen the last of Peter Schaefer and Jeremy Reich. Schaefer and Reich, along with center Nate Thompson, were placed on waivers by the Bruins on Tuesday as the team hopes to assign the trio to Providence of the American Hockey League. Acquired from Ottawa in July 2007, Schaefer appeared in 63 games for Boston last season, recording nine goals and 17 assists. The 31-year-old left wing added a tally and four points in seven playoff contests. (Yahoo! Sports)
The Red Wings will be without wing Marian Hossa Sunday in the team’s final exhibition game against Buffalo. Hossa developed a sore groin whilst playing Saturday in Toronto and sat out the 3rd period. He mentioned he does not consider the injury serious.
Ranger GM Glen Sather is a seller in a market that appears to feature very few buyers willing to pay 100 cents on the dollar. Sather has postponed a decision on roster cuts only as he has postponed a decision on Brendan Shanahan, who continued to skate at the club’s practice rink throughout the Rangers’ successful European tour.
The Lightning spent the past few days thinking about trade options. Scouts were dispatched to hockey rinks across North America throughout the preseason in search of improvements.
Not long after an NHL owner predicted Sunday that European expansion is “happening”, league commissioner Gary Bettman spoke in non-committal terms on the subject. “It is not on the drawing board”, Bettman mentioned before attending the final of 4 regular season games played in Europe over the weekend.
If starting lineups were devised simply on merit, James Neal could be on the ice Friday at American Airlines Center when the Dallas Stars open the season against Columbus. The salary cap era, however, creates myriad reasons for keeping a player or sending him to the minors, so the fate of the rookie winger remained uncertain on Monday.
It comes as no surprise to hockey fans the world over, but Steve Stamkos has a date with the NHL, and today he got it confirmed by way of a three-year entry level contract worth $2.625 million, and up to $11.1 million in incentives.
“I think sticking in the NHL is obviously the biggest goal of mine right now. It’s one thing to go to training camp and get a sniff at the NHL, but it’s one thing to stay for the full season,” Stamkos said during a conference call from Victoria, British Columbia, where the Lightning are holding a prospect camp. - Yahoo! Sports
Stamkos is rumored to be starting as the Lightning’s 2nd line center, where he could be the setup guy for a number of wingers, including Jussi Jokinen, Ryan Malone, Mark Recchi or Gary Roberts.
Todd Bertuzzi will be shopping for a place to live after the Calgary Flames signed him to a 1 year $1.95 million contract today. Bertuzzi, who had 14G 26A for 40Pts last season for the Anaheim Ducks brings a solid power-forward role to the Flames.
Other moves around the NHL:
The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed center R.J. Umberger to a 4-year deal. Umberger was acquired by the Jackets on June 20 along with a draft pick from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for 2 picks. In 3 years with the NHL, Umberger has scored 49G and 67A. Financial terms were not released.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed RFA Matt Stajan to a 2-year $3.5 million contract on monday. Stajan has scored 56G and 71A in 314 games for the Leafs.
The Carolina Hurricanes have reached a deal with defenseman Dennis Seidenberg for a 1-year $1.2 million contract. Seidenberg played 47 games for the Hurricanes last season and collected 15 assists.
The Philadelphia Flyers have given GM Paul Holmgren a 3-year extension that ensures he stays with the team through 2011-2012.
After nearly 20 years in the NHL, Jaromir Jagr has decided to leave the NHL to play for team Avangard Omsk in Russia. The move comes just a day after splitting from the New York Rangers.
In his career in the NHL Jagr has put up phenominal numbers, collecting 646 Goals, 953 Assists for 1599 Points in 1273 Games, better than a point a game over his NHL career, which has seen him play for 3 teams; Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers.
“It was the toughest decision in my life, hockeywise. … No question about it. I hate making changes,” Jagr told The Canadian Press. - Yahoo! Sports
Other action around the league saw a number of players change homes.
A day after the San Jose Sharks acquired Rob Blake on the blue line, they have acquired another top defenseman in a 4-player trade. The Sharks acquired Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for defenseman Matt Carle, prospect Ty Wishart, a 2009 first-round pick and a 2010 fourth-round pick. The Sharks also acquired 2nd round Draft picks in 2009 and 2010 from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Craig Rivet and a 2010 7th round pick.
The Vancouver Canucks acquired a replacement forward for Markus Naslund today by acquiring Steve Bernier from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a 3rd round pick in the 2009 draft and a 2nd round pick in 2010.
The Pittsburgh Penguins showed their faith in their goalie today by locking up M.A. Fleury to a 7 year, $35 Million dollar deal.
As the off season heads towards the NHL Entry Draft we start to hear a lot about the top draft picks, the best placed teams in the draft and that all common question “will Stamkos go #1?”.
If you’re not aware, Steven Stamkos, center from the OHL’s Sarnia Sting is the rumoured #1 pick.
Today on Yahoo! Sports, Puck Daddy blog, Greg Wyshynski posts a lighthearted look at the draft and lists the top 5 reasons you don’t want to draft Steven Stamkos.
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
In 2 weeks the NHL will face the much talked about Trade Deadline. Like every year, there have been big names mentioned, some of which may surprise you.
Yahoo Sports columnist Chuck Gormley wrote an article recently on the trade deadline, and section in particular really makes you sit back and wonder “what can we expect”…
Last February 27, overzealous general managers orchestrated 25 deals involving 44 players and 28 draft picks in the hours leading up to the trading deadline.
In the 26 days of February before that frenzied finale, another 24 trades involving 47 - Chuck Gormley, NHL@ Yahoo
It is perfectly safe to assume that we can expect a similar frenzy over the next 2 weeks. We’ve already seen one multi-player trade, with Ottawa sending Joe Corvo & Patrick Eaves to Carolina in exchange for Mike Commodore and Cory Stillman.
The big names this year however feature players whom people would least expect to be traded, such as Toronto’s Mats Sundin. He may be the heart and soul, and the leader of that team but it looks like he may be shopping for a new home come late February.
Rob Blake of the L.A. Kings, Brian Campbell off the Buffalo Sabres and Olli Jokinen of the Florida Panthers are 3 others whom many are shocked to see on the block.
Atlanta may be forced to trade Marian Hossa, knowing that he does not intend to stay come the end of the season. As they do have a shot to make the playoffs, trading Hossa could be a shot in the foot. If they keep him however, they risk not getting anything in return when he packs his bags as a Free Agent.
Mike Comrie is rumoured to be on the block in New York and Martin St Louis, who has been in many a trade discussion over the recent weeks is said to be a possible mover in Tampa Bay.
The Anaheim Ducks, who have struggled defensively even with Schneider, Neidermayer and Pronger on the blueline are said to be interested in Rob Blake.
Talk of the early season, the Dallas Stars may end up doing very little in the coming weeks, with the team having found it’s scoring touch and with Marty Turco tearing it up between the pipes.
One thing is for sure, we’re in for a fun ride over the coming weeks.
It comes as no surprise to hockey fans the world over, but Steve Stamkos has a date with the NHL, and today he got it confirmed by way of a three-year entry level contract worth $2.625 million, and up to $11.1 million in incentives.
Todd Bertuzzi will be shopping for a place to live after the Calgary Flames signed him to a 1 year $1.95 million contract today. Bertuzzi, who had 14G 26A for 40Pts last season for the Anaheim Ducks brings a solid power-forward role to the Flames.
After nearly 20 years in the NHL, Jaromir Jagr has decided to leave the NHL to play for team Avangard Omsk in Russia. The move comes just a day after splitting from the New York Rangers.
A picture tells a thousand words.
