Empty Netter Assists - 09-15-10
Penguins
-It's kind of easy to forget that Eric Tangradi (above) only has one season of professional experience on his resume.
-Some photos from the Penguins' final game of their rookie tournament in London, Ont. Patrick Killeen kept his eyes on this puck:
-Simon Despres battles with Chicago's Jeremy Morin:
-Geoff Walker battling with Chicago's Nick Leddy:
-Evgeni Malkin, filming a TSN commercial yesterday, appears to have had an unfortunate run in with a set of clippers:
-Either that, or he has "To The Extreme" playing on a non-stop shuffle on his iPod.
-The City-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority is scheduled to vote on the fate of the Civic Arena Thursday.
Atlantic Division
-"I’m confident in my abilities still. I know the birth certificate says almost 40 but I feel almost 25." - Former Penguins forward Bill Guerin (right) on accepting a tryout offer with the rival Flyers.
-"I need to prove what I can bring." - Former Penguins forward Ruslan Fedotenko on accepting a tryout offer with the Rangers.
-The Rangers are still trying to re-sign restricted free agent defenseman Marc Staal.
-Devils defenseman Anssi Salmela will begin the season on long-term injured reserve due to to a knee injury.
-New Jersey will not appeal the penalties levied against them by the NHL for the botched first contract with Ilya Kovalchuk.
Northeast Division
-Unrestricted free agent forward Brian McGrattan, formerly of the Flames, has been invited to the Bruins' training camp on a tryout basis.
-Bruins forward Marco Sturm (right) will begin the season on long-term injured reserve due to a knee injury he suffered in last season's playoffs.
-Sabres defenseman Mike Weber, a Pittsburgh native, is once again fighting an uphill battle to make Buffalo's NHL roster.
-Former Robert Morris defenseman Dave Cowan suited up for the Maple Leafs in the rookie tournament in London, Ont.
Southeast Division
-The Thrashers took a page out of the Penguins' marketing playbook and sent forwards Eric Boulton, Jim Slater, goaltender Ondrej Pavelec and defenseman Boris Valabik out to deliver season tickets.
-"I'm back here to retire." - Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina on re-signing with the club. He was a member of Tampa Bay's 2004 Stanley Cup championship.
-Courtesy of Yahoo's Greg Wyshynski, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has a new Capital One commercial with Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb:
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-After a pretty ugly eye injury in last season's playoffs, Capitals defenseman Tom Poti will be sporting a visor.
Central Division
-"I'm 100 percent ready to go." - Blue Jackets defenseman Rostislav Klesla who missed most of last season due to some pretty severe groin and abdominal injuries suffered in November.
-Courtesy of EN reader Scott Berg, the Blue Jackets have a pre-sale going on for a select number of games including the Penguins' visit Dec. 4 the information, including the password:
-Click here for the direct link for tickets to the Dec. 4 game.
-Don't expect new Red Wings forward Mike Modano and defenseman Ruslan Salei to be roommates on the road.
Northwest Division
-Bruce Ciskie of AOL Fanhouse has a pretty decent story about year two of the Chuck Fletcher-Todd Richards regime in Minnesota. Fletcher is a former assistant general manager of the Penguins and Richards is a former head coach at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Pacific Division
-The Ducks finally agreed to a new contract with restricted free agent forward Bobby Ryan (right). His deal is for five years and a total of 25.5 million. Ryan, the No. 2 pick in the 2005 draft after that stiff the Penguins took, will have a salary cap hit of $5.1 million.
-The Coyotes signed unrestricted free agent forward Eric Belanger, formerly of the Capitals, to a one-year deal worth $775,000.
Adams Division
-The NHL approved a new tiebreaker system for determining playoff seeding. Essentially, the first tiebreaker will be victories in regulation and overtime.
-Unrestricted free agent forward Brendan Morrison, formerly of the Capitals, is still looking for work.
-Former Blues forward Mike Glumac has joined the Straubing Tigers in Germany.
-Happy 81st birthday to former Pittsburgh Hornets forward Dusty Blair.
(Photos: Tangradi-Matt Freed/Post-Gazette; Penguins/Blackhawks-Claus Andersen/Getty Images; Malkin-Pittsburgh Penguins; Guerin-Justin K. Aller/Getty Images; Sturm-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Ryan-Harry How/Getty Images)