Empty Netter Assists - 7-24-09
Penguins
-Prospect Eric Tangradi is slowly recovering from his thumb injury.
-Justin A. Rice of the Boston Globe has a good read on the Olympic hopes of Brooks Orpik (above) and former teammate Ryan Whitney.
-Mike Yeo did his thing with the Stanley Cup in North Bay, Ont. yesterday:
-If you happen to be in Belleville, Ont. Saturday annnnd... just happen to be a fan of Matt Cooke and/or the Stanley Cup... good news.
-If you happen to be in Cole Harbour, N.S. on the birthday of a certain Penguins captain (Aug. 7) annnndddd... just happen to be a fan of the Stanley Cup... good news.
-So... Jaromir Jagr or Evgeni Malkin? Part 2.
-The Stanley Cup actually acknowledges the 2004-05 lockout.
-The PensBlog had a reader send in this video of Penguins prospect Philip Samuelsson as a six-year old:
-It looks like former Penguins goaltender Jean-Sebastien Aubin signed with a team in Germany.
Atlantic DIvision
-New Islanders goaltender Martin Biron said the Islanders were a good fit for his situation. In other words, he needed a job and no one else was offering one.
-The Flyers officially announced the signings of former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Krys Kolanos and defenseman Joey Mormina as well as former Sharks forward Lukas Kaspar and former Lightning forward Jason Ward.
Northwest Division
-Former Penguins forward Brad Lauer (right) was hired as an assistant coach by the Senators.
-The Maple Leafs hired former Flyers forward Dave Poulin as vice president of hockey operations.
Southeast Division
-The Hurricanes avoided arbitration with forward Tuomo Ruutu and signed him to a three-year deal worth a total of $11.4 million.
Central Division
-The Blackhawks officially announced former Penguins forward Marian Hossa will undergo surgery to correct a shoulder injury. He is expected to miss the first two months of the season.
-The Red Wings re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Jakub Kindl to a three-year deal worth a total of $2.65 million. He was a first-round pick in 2005.
-Someone stole $43 million from former Red Wings forward Sergei Fedorov.
-The Blues signed former Flames forward Adam Cracknell and former Devils forward Barry Tallackson.
-Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch has a good piece on former Blue Jackets defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and the emotional toll of free agency.
Northwest DIvision
-The Wild signed restricted free agent forward Kyle Brodziak (right, in white) to a three-year deal worth a total of $3.45 million. His signing rights were acquired from the Oilers in a trade last month.
Pacific Division
-Former Stars forward Joel Lundqvist has signed with Frolunda in the Swedish Elite League. He is the brother of Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.
Adams Division
-We're a few weeks late with this, but Robert Morris released its men's hockey schedule.
(Photos: Orpik-Jamie Sabau/Getty Images; Lauer-Glenn Cratty/Getty Images; Brodziak-Scott A. Schneider/Getty Images)