Empty Netter Assists - 10-05-10

Penguins

-Maxime Talbot (above) wants some tunes.

-Sidney Crosby and Brook Orpik practiced yesterday. Arron Asham did not.

-The Penguins must have their roster down to 23 players by Wednesday, 3 p.m (PG+).

-Brooks Orpik speaks and stares intensely:

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-Sidney Crosby has a new commercial where builds up his calf muscles:

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-A good look at Chris Kunitz's slew foot on Detroit's Valtteri Filppula from Sunday's game:

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-Mike Comrie didn't come to Pittsburgh for money.

-Former Penguins forward Chris Bourque has left HK Atlant of the KHL and joined Lugano of the NLA in Switzerland.

(Kudos to Da' Guins Blog for the heads up.)

-ESPN's John Buccigross will miss the Civic Arena.

-Happy 78th birthday to former Penguins all-star forward Dean Prentice (right). Claimed from the Red Wings in the 1969 offseason in an intra-league draft, Prentice spent parts of two seasons in Pittsburgh. In 1969-70, he led the team with 26 goals and 51 assists. His goal total was a franchise record at the time. Prentice was also selected to the all-star game that season. In that spring's playoff, Prentice appeared in 10 games and scored seven points. He followed that up in 1970-71 by once again leading the team with 21 goals and scoring 38 points. Prior to the 1971-72 season, he was traded to the Minnesota North Stars in exchange for cash. In 144 career regular season games for the Penguins, Prentice 89 points, 87th most in franchise history.

-Happy 44th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Fredrik Olausson (right). Acquired early in the 1996-97 season along with Alex Hicks in a deal which sent Shawn Antoski and Dmitri Mironov to the Mighty Ducks, Olausson, one of 15 Swedes who have suited up for the Penguins, spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. He finished 1996-97 by appearing in 51 games for the Penguins and scoring 27 points. In that spring's postseason, Olausson saw action in four games and recorded one assists. In 1997-98, Olausson played in 76 games and netted 33 points.The 1998 postseason, saw him play in six games and recorded three assists. In the 1998 offseason, Olausson re-joined the Mighty Ducks as a free agent. In 127 regular season game with the Penguins, Olausson scored 60 points. In 10 postseason game, he netted four assists.

-Happy 63rd birthday to former Penguins goaltender Gary Edwards. Claimed off waivers midway through the 1981-82 season from the Blues, Edwards ended his 13-year NHL career by appearing in six games for the Penguins that campaign. He went 3-2-1 with a 3.67 goals against average and one shutout. He retired in the 1982 offseason.

-Oh... and happy 45th birthday to some guy the Penguins drafted ahead of Kirk Muller in 1984.

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Atlantic Division

-The Rangers signed former Penguins forward Ruslan Fedotenko to a one-year deal worth $1 million. Fedotenko was in training camp on a tryout basis.

-"I need to find a place to live. I still have no clothes, no nothing. I feel like I showed what I can show." - Fedotenko.

-The Flyers cut former Penguins forward Bill Guerin (right) and demoted defensemen Marc-Andre Bourdon, Erik Gustafsson, forwards Jon Kalinski, Mike Testwuide, David Laliberte, Ben Holmstrom and goaltender Johan Backlund to Adirondack of the AHL. Guerin was in training camp on a tryout basis.

-The Devils demoted forwards Jacob Josefson,  Mattias Tedenby, goaltender Mike McKenna and defenseman Matt Corrente to Albany  of the AHL and placed defenseman Rob Davison on waivers.

Northeast Division

-Canadiens forward Mike Cammalleri was suspended for one game for a slashing incident involving Islanders forward Nino Niederreiter in a preseason game. And if you want to feel bad for yourself, Cammalleri will forfeit $32,258.06 in salary for the slash.

-Senators defenseman and former Penguin Sergei Gonchar (right) was served with a $5 million (U.S.) malicious prosecution lawsuit by golf course developer Ken Jowdy who was accused in a 2009 suit by Gonchar and other current and former NHL players of blowing $25 million of their money on porn stars, strippers and parties in a real estate deal gone bad. Others named in the lawsuit by Jowdy include former NHLers Glen Murray, Jason Woolley, both also former Penguins, Mattias Norstrom, Jozef Stumpel and Jere Lehtinen, currently a free agent.

-If you can imagine such a thing, the Senators' goaltendering was pretty bad in the preseason.

-Check out this shootout goal by Senators forward prospect Kaspars Daugavins for the Binghamton Senators, Ottawa's AHL affiliate in a preseason game this past weekend against the Hamilton Bulldogs:

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-The Maple Leafs demoted forwards Luca Caputi, a former Penguin, Christian Hanson, a Pittsburgh native, Nazem Kadri, and goaltender Jussi Rynnas to Toronto of the AHL and placed forwards Jay Rosehill, Mike Zigomanis, a former Penguins and former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defenseman Danny Richmond on waivers.

-Maple Leafs overlord Brian Burke said he expects his team to reach the postseason.

Southeast Division

-The Hurricanes got goals from Tuomo Ruutu, Patrick Dwyer and Jeff Skinner in a 5-3 loss to SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.

-This game got a little bit more physical than prior exhibition games between NHL teams and European squads. Tim Gleason and SKA St. Petersburg's Alexei Petrov kind of had a fight:

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-And if you want to call this a fight, Carolina's Jay Harrison and SKA St. Petersburg's Maxim Rybin also had one:

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-A good look at the "fight:"

-Carolina coach Paul Maurice pulled captain Eric Staal from the game and pretty much accused SKA St. Petersburg players of targeting his knees.

-Lightning defenseman Mattias Ohlund will be sidelined for at least two weeks due to a right knee ailment.

-The Thrashers demoted forwards Fredrik Pettersson, Patrick Rissmiller, defensemen Arturs Kulda and Andrey Zubarev to Chicago of the AHL.

-The Capitals signed goaltender Philipp Grubauer, a fourth-round pick in this summer's draft, to a three-year entry-level contract.

-With several players dinged up, the Panthers are temporarily moving defenseman Nathan Paetsch from defense to forward.

Central Division

-St. Louis will unveil a statue of former captain Brett Hull (right) outside Scottrade Center prior to Saturday's game with the Flyers.

-The Blues demoted forwards T.J. Hensick, Ryan Reaves, David Spina, defensemen Dean Arsene and Nathan Oystrick to Peoria of the AHL.

-The Blackhawks demoted forward Jeremy Morin (right) to Rockford of the AHL.

-Chicago has reached an agreement to place the logos of a local pizza chain on their practice jerseys.

-The Blue Jackets demoted forwards Ben Guite and Tom Sestito to Springfield of the AHL.

-The Red Wings demoted forward Jan Mursak to Grand Rapids of the AHL.

-Detroit also placed forward Mattias Ritola on waivers.

Northwest Division

-A hat trick by Cal Clutterbuck led the Wild to a 5-1 defeat of Ilves Tampere of the SM-liiga in Finland.

-The Flames signed forward Brendan Morrison to a one-year contract worth $725,000. Morrison was in the Canucks' training camp on a tryout basis and was cut Sunday.

-Calary placed defenseman Matt Pelech and forward Cam Cunning on waivers.

-The Oilers demoted forwards Linus Omark and Chris Vande Velde to Oklahoma City of the AHL and placed forwards Alexandre Giroux, Ryan O’Marra, Ben Ondrus, Liam Reddox, defensemen Shawn Belle and Richard Petiot on waivers.

-The Canucks placed forward Joel Perrault on waivers.

Pacific Division

-The Kings signed goaltender goaltender Jonathan Bernier (right) to a two-year contract extension worth a total of $2.5 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $1.25 million.

-Los Angeles placed forward Richard Clune and goaltender Erik Ersberg on waivers.

-The Ducks demoted forwards Josh Green and Maxime Macenauer to Syracuse of the AHL.

-The Stars demoted defensemen Severin Blindenbacher, Philip Larsen, forwards Aaron Gagnon and Tomas Vincour to Texas of the AHL.

Adams Division

-Bill McCreary (right) will be able to afford moustache cream for four more years. The NHL and the league's officials' union reached an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement for four years.

-Jeff Z. Klein of the New York Times explains the NHL's new rules regarding goaltending equipment.

-Former Coyotes/Rangers forward Enver Lisin has joined Evgeni Malkin's former team, Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL.

-Happy 94th birthday to former Pittsburgh Hornets defenseman Bob Whitelaw.

(Photos: Talbot and Morin-Claus Andersen/Getty Images; Prentice-Penguins Hockey Cards; Olausson-John Heller/Post-Gazette; Guerin-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Gonchar-Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images; Harrison-Associated Press; Hull-Sports Illustrated; Bernier-Christian Petersen/Getty Images; McCreary-Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)