Empty Netter Assists - 09-24-10
Penguins
-"We're allowed to swear, right, in the show?" - Marc-Andre Fleury (above) on HBO's "24/7."
-"Well, if I'm gonna say some bad words it's gonna be Russian words. - Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin on "24/7."
-Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! has a little bit more information on "24/7."
-Fire Ray Shero. Right?
-Chris DeVivo, the Penguins' director of all things technical, discusses some of the high-tech happenings in Wednesday's first game.
-Don't write off Tim Wallace (right) just yet.
-Jonathan Bombulie of the Citizens Voice in Wilkes-Barre has a preview of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' training camp roster.
-Former Penguins forward Dan LaCouture has joined Lorenskog in Norway.
(Kudos to EN reader @Apolli0n, the only Norwegian EN reader we're aware of, for the heads up.)
-Happy 29th birthday to former Penguins forward Tomas Surovy. A fourth-round pick in 2001, Surovy spent parts of four seasons with the Penguins. As a rookie in 2002-03, Surovy appeared in 26 games and scored 11 points. He followed that up in 2003-04 by playing in 47 games and scoring 23 points. Following the 2004-05 lockout, Surovy set career highs in games (53) and points (23) in 2005-06. He joined Lulea in Sweden in the 2006 offseason. In 126 games with the Penguins Surovy scored 59 points. He is currently a member of Dinamo Riga in the KHL.
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Atlantic Division
-Marian Gaborik scored two goals, including one in overtime, and led the Rangers to a 4-3 defeat of the Devils. Teammate Alexander Frolov had a goal and two assists while former Penguins prospect Chad Johnson made six saves to earn the win. Fire Ray Shero.
-Check out Gaborik's goals:
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-Check out Frolov's steal and goal:
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-Rangers forward and former Penguin Ruslan Fedotenko went all Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and decided to do a belly splash on New Jersey's Martin Brodeur:
-New York's Brandon Prust and New Jersey's Bradley Mills had issues:
-Former Penguin Erik Christensen centered Gaborik and Frolov last night. Fire Ray Shero.
-Rangers goaltender Martin Biron might be one of the most important free agent signings in the Atlantic Divison this summer.
-Speaking of Biron, check out his new lid:
-Flyers forward Scott Hartnell has something to prove after a pretty cruddy 2009-10 season.
Northeast Division
-A game-tying and shootout goal by former Penguin Colby Armstrong led the Maple Leafs to a 3-2 shootout win against the Flyers. Fire Ray Shero.
-Toronto forward and Pittsburgh native Christian Hanson blew up the water bottle of Philadelphia's Sergei Bobrovsky:
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-It wasn't all good for Hanson. He was on the wrong end of this illegal hit by Philadelphia's Jon Kalinski:
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-Toronto's Mike Brown is sporting a fierce fu manchu:
-Toronto forward and former Penguin Tim Brent > Philadelphia's Ben Holmstrom:
-Maple Leafs forward and former Penguin Luca Caputi has finally filled out his power forward frame. He's weighing a robust 217 pounds. Fire Ray Shero.
-The Senators are kicking the tires on a intriguing line of Mike Fisher, Alex Kovalev and Peter Regin.
-The Maple Leafs returned Jamie Devane forwards (Plymouth - OHL), Josh Nicholls (Saskatoon - WHL) and Ken Ryan (Windsor - OHL), and defenseman Barron Smith (Peterborough - OHL) to their juniors teams, demoted forwards Richard Greenop, Justin Hodgman, Dale Mitchell, Mikhail Stefanovich, defensemen Josh Engel, Drew Paris and goaltender Andrew Engelage to the Toronto of the AHL and cut forward Michael Liambas.
Southeast Division
-Eric Staal (above, with Nashville goaltender Pekke Rinne and defenseman Alexander Sulzer) and Bobby Sanguinetti each had two assists for the Hurricanes in a 3-1 win at Nashville. Justin Peters made 27 saves in the victory.
-Funny Face of the Night: Nashville's Taylor Beck defending a shot by Carolina's Joe Corvo:
-David Booth scored two goals and led the Panthers to a 3-2 win against the Bruins.
-Florida's Andrew Peters and Boston's Lane MacDermid had issues:
-Florida's Kenndal McArdle and Boston's Jared Knight kept their eyes on the puck:
-The Panthers demoted defensemen Michael Caruso, Adam Comrie and Colby Robak to Rochester of the AHL and released defenseman Mike Kostka.
-The Thrashers are giving former Penguins forward Chris Thorburn a crack at center.
-The Lightning is tinkering with a scary-looking power play composed of forwards Simon Gagne, Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis and defenseman Pavel Kubina.
-The Capitals demoted forwards Trevor Bruess, Boyd Kane and Joel Rechlicz, defensemen Josh Godfrey, Johann Kroll, Dustin Stevenson and Dylan Yeo to Hershey of the AHL.
Central Division
-Blackhawks defenseman Nick Boynton was suspended for one regular season game by the NHL for making a throat-slashing gesture to Lightning forward Blair Jones in an preseason game.
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-Coming off a career-high 22 goals last season, the Blackhawks expect even more out of forward Troy Brouwer this season.
-Red Wings forward Johan Franzen's thigh injury is day-to-day.
-Of all people, it was Red Wings forward Todd Bertuzzi who defended a teammate who was dropped by a perceived dirty hit.
-The Blue Jackets returned forwards Dalton Smith (Ottawa - OHL), Petr Straka (Rimouski - QMJHL), defensemen Brandon Archibald (Sault Ste. Marie - OHL) and Austin Madaisky (Kamloops - WHL) to their junior teams and released goaltenders Riley Gill and Dan Taylor.
Northwest Division
-Magnus Paajarvi had a hat trick and an assist for the Oilers in a 5-2 defeat of the Lightning. Teammates Kurtis Foster and Alex Plante each recorded two assists while Devan Dubnyk made 19 saves in the win.
-The video is a little fuzzy, but check out Paajarvi's hat trick:
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-"I never had hats thrown at me." - Paajarvi on his hat trick.
-Check out the brutal play by Lightning goaltender Dan Ellis which led to a goal by Edmonton's Taylor Hall:
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-Awkward Photo of the Night: Hall and Tampa Bay forward and former Penguin Ryan Malone:
-Avalanche forward Peter Mueller is out indefinitely due to a concussion suffered in a preseason game Wednesday. Mueller was sidelined much of last season due to a concussion.
-Wild goaltender Josh Harding is still recovering from offseason hip surgery.
-Minnesota demoted forwards Brandon Buck, Jarod Palmer, Joel Broda, Jean-Michel Daoust and goaltender Josh Tordjman to Houston of the AHL and returned goaltender Darcy Kuemper (Red Deer -WHL), defensemen Josh Caron (Kamloops -WHL) and Colton Jobke (Kelowna -WHL) to their junior teams.
-The Wild signed defensemen Josh Caron, Colton Jobke and Jared Spurgeon to entry-level contracts. All three attended Minnesota's rookie camp on a tryout basis.
Pacific Division
-In split-squad action, an overtime goal and an assist by Shane Doan helped the Coyotes claim a 2-1 home win against the Kings. Oliver Ekman-Larsson added two assists while Ilya Bryzgalov made 24 saves in the victory. Former Penguin Alexei Ponikarovsky scored Los Angeles' only goal. Fire Ray Shero.
-In the other game, Al Montoya made 19 saves and led the Coyotes to a 3-1 win at Los Angeles. Garrett Stafford recorded two assists.
-Ponikarovsky being popular:
-Fire Ray Shero.
-Phoenix's Ryan Hollweg is sporting a pretty fierce moustache:
-Second Funny Face of the Night: Phoenix's Nolan Yonkman who apparently noticed the lack of deodorant on Los Angeles' Kevin Westgarth:
-A good look at Bryzgalov's lid:
-A good look at the lid of Los Angeles' Jonathan Bernier:
-Coyotes forward and former Penguin Paul Bissonnette had issues with Los Angeles' Kyle Clifford:
-We don't want to say the Coyotes have attendance problems, but...:
-The Coyotes re-united their "Czech Line" of Peter Prucha, Martin Hanzal and Radim Vrbata.
-The Ducks demoted Nick Bonino, Rob Bordson, Nicolas Deschamps, Brandon McMillan, Kyle Palmieri, defensemen Joe DiPenta, Mat Clark and Mark Mitera to Syracuse of the AHL and returned forwards Emerson Etem (Medicine Hat - WHL), Devante Smith-Pelly (Mississauga - OHL), Peter Holland (Guelph - OHL) and defenseman Scott Valentine (Oshawa - OHL) to their junior teams.
-For the first time since 1997, someone other than Ed Belfour or Marty Turco is entering the season as the Stars' No. 1 goaltender. Welcome aboard Kari Lehtonen.
-The Sporting News named Ducks enforcer George Parros (right), a native of Washington, Pa. and a Princeton graduate, as the fourth-smartest athlete in professional sports. No. 3 was Pirates pitcher Ross Ohlendorf.
Smythe Division
-The family of former Red Wings/Blackhawks enforcer Bob Probert, who passed away this summer, has agreed to donate his brain to researchers at Boston University who are studying the long-term effects of head trauma.
-Today would've been the 108th birthday of Albert Holway, a defenseman with the NHL's Pittsburgh Pirates.
(Photos: Fleury-Peter Diana/Post-Gazette; Wallace-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins; Devils/Rangers-Al Bello/Getty Images; Flyers/Maple Leafs-Claus Andersen/Getty Images and Canadian Press; Hurricanes/Predators-Frederick Breedon/Getty Images; Panthers/Bruins-David Duprey/Associated Press; Lightning/Oilers-Canadian Press; Kings/Coyotes-Chris Carlson/Associated Press, Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press and Christian Petersen/Getty Images; Parros-Mark Avery/Associated Press)