Empty Netter Assists - 9-17-09

Penguins

-Hopefully you didn't draft Paul Bissonnette (above) for your fantasy roster.

-"I just told them we had some interest in Billy (Guerin), but not at the price you're asking." - Ray Shero explaining how he acquired Guerin from the Islanders last season.

-Remember how Marc-Andre Fleury couldn't win the big game?

-Jonathan Bombulie of the Citizens Voice in Wilkes-Barre has the rosters for tonight's Black-Gold scrimmage in Wilkes-Barre and the AHL Penguins' training camp roster.

-They'll be partying in Wilkes-Barre tonight with the Stanley Cup.

-"I know for a fact there's never been a shortage of support (in Wilkes-Barre)." - Sidney Crosby.

-The Wheeling Nailers acquired the rights to defenseman Slavomir Tomko from the Utah Grizzlies in return for cash considerations.

-Happy 58th birthday to former Penguins forward Gene Carr. The Penguins acquire Carr and goon Dave Schultz in a 1977 trade that sent forwards Syl Apps, Jr. and Hartland Monahan to the Kings.

Atlantic Division

-New Jersey forward Patrik Elias (right) underwent groin surgery and will be out of the lineup three to six weeks.

-Devils coach Jacques Lemaire snuffed out any speculation forward Brendan Shanahan would replace forward Jamie Langenbrunner as captain.

-Islanders forward Doug Weight and Sean Bergenheim suffered groin injuries last night.

-The Flyers have been using James van Riemsdyk, the second overall pick in the 2008 draft, on a line with Daniel Briere and Claude Giroux.

-Former Rangers forward Nikolai Zherdev officially signed with Alant of the KHL.

-Shootout goals by Zach Parise and Travis Zajac gave the Devils a 3-2 win against the Rangers. David Clarkson scored two goals in regulation for New Jersey.

-Check out this quality fan video of Parise's shootout goal:

Northeast Division

-The Sabres signed forward Tyler Ennis, a first-round pick in 2008, to a three-year entry-level contract.

-Check out these pictures of Montreal goaltender Carey Price's new mask.

-The Senators aren't wasting time with their new toys. They've teamed former Penguins forward Alex Kovalev and former Sharks forward Jonathan Cheechoo together on a line.

-The Bruins don't need to worry about forward Steve Begin pestering them any longer. He's one of them now.

-Former Maple Leafs captain Rick Vaive was charged with impaired driving in Vaughn, Ont.

-Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defenseman Andy Wozniewski scored the game-winning goal for the Bruins in a 3-2 win at Toronto. Fire Ray Shero.

-Bruins forward and former Penguin Guiallaume Lefebvre fought Toronto forward Phil Oreskovic last night:

-Oreskovic also got into a fight with defenseman Adam McQuaid after landing a big hit on forward Jamie Arniel:

Southeast Division

-The Thrashers demoted forwards Michael Forney, Tomas Pospisil and Matt Siddall and defenseman Scott Lehman to Chicago of the AHL, returned forwards Jimmy Bubnick, Levko Koper, Jeremy Morin, Eric O’Dell and Danick Paquette and defensemen Ben Chiarot and Cody Sol to their junior teams and released forwards Matt Anderson and Darryl Smith, defensemen Mike Looby and Drew Paris, and goaltender Josh Unice.

-Former Penguins defenseman Jim Johnson was named associate coach of the Norfolk Admirals, the Lightning's AHL affiliate.

-Panthers goaltender Scott Clemmensen is a Parrothead.

-Semyon Varlamov isn't the only young Capitals goaltender worth paying attention to. Michal Neuvirth is too.

-Dmitri Kulikov, Florida's first-round pick in this summer's draft, scored a goal and an assist for the Panthers in a 2-1 win at Ottawa.

Central Division

-Chicago forward Kris Versteeg (right) took less money this summer to re-sign with the Blackhawks.

-The Blackhawks demoted Justin Hodgman, Matt Keith and Maxime Tanguay, defensemen Joe Charlebois and Jean-Claude Sawyer and goaltender Joe Palmer to Rockford of the AHL and returned Byron Froese and David Gilbert and defenseman Teigan Zahn to their junior teams.

-Former Penguins defensive prospect Jake Muzzin is getting a chance with the Predators.

-The Red Wings got goals from Kris Draper, Jamie Tardif and Jeremy Williams in a 3-1 defeat of the Flyers.

Northwest Division

-Former Penguins forward Petr Sykora (right) is already fitting in with the Wild.

-Sykora's choice to join the Wild was a last minute decision.

-Minnesota forward Danny Irmen, who had to give up his No. 14 to new forward Martin Havlat, had to also give up his No. 17 with the arrival of Sykora.

-Wild coach and former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach Todd Richards has yet to choose his team's captain.

-Minnesota demoted forwards Peter Zingoni, Brandon Buck, Jon DiSalvatore, Brian Kaufman, Morten Madsen, Carson McMillan, defenseman Jamie Fraser, Maxim Noreau, J.P. Testwuide and goaltender Barry Brust to Houston of the AHL and returned forward Kristopher Foucault, Tyler Johnson and goaltender Matt Hackett and Darcy Kuemper to their junior teams. 

-The Canucks demoted forward Dan Gendur to Manitoba of the AHL, returned forwards Steven Anthony, Prab Rai, Kellan Tochkin and goaltender Morgan Clark to their junior teams and released forward Dusty Collins and defenseman Nolan Toigo from their tryouts.

-Flames forward Rene Bourque is still recovering from offseason ankle surgery.

-"The Penguins just wanted me to be physical and it didn’t really matter about the puck — the Oilers seem to want other things." - Oilers forward Ryan Stone on the difference between his current team and his former team.

-If you want to be a fighter on Oilers coach Pat Quinn's team, you better have some actual hockey skill.

-Sam Gagner and Sheldon Souray each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers in a 3-2 defeat of the Islanders.

-Souray also broke two pieces of glass in the second period with his slap shot:

Pacific Division

-The Kings returned goaltender Jean-Francois Berube, Martin Jones, forwards Brandon Kozun, Linden Vey and defenseman Nicolas Deslauriers to their junior teams and released Tyler Maxwell and defensemen Milan Doczy and Radko Gudas from their tryouts.

-The Sharks demoted defensemen William Colbert, Louis Liotti, Michael Wilson, forwards Matt Jones, Corey Quirk and goaltender Ryan Nie to Worcester of the AHL and returned forward Carter Bancks, Luke Judson, defenseman Marc Cantin, Michael D'Orazio, Taylor Doherty, Samuel Groulx and goaltender Thomas Heemskerk to their junior teams.

-According to David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News, the Sharks will sign former Blue Jackets forward Manny Malhotra.

-For some strange reason, Coyotes preaseason games aren't that popular.

-"This team is going to be gone in a year." - Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes on the future of his franchise.

-The shoulder injury of former Ducks forward and former Penguin Erik Christensen (right) could keep him out for a decent chunk of time.

-Former Ducks forward Joe Motzko has joined ERC Ingolstadt in Germany.

-Stars assistant coach and former Penguins coach Stu Barnes has been charged with improving his team's faceoff winning percentage.

-Brad Richards' shootout goal gave the Stars a 4-3 win against his former team, the Lightning. Richards, Loui Eriksson and James Neal each had a goal and an assist in regulation.

-Shootout goals by Joffrey Lupul and Bobby Ryan gave the Ducks a 3-2 win against the Coyotes. Ryan had two goals in regulation.

-The quality of this video is terrible (Community Server won't let us us the higher quality one from the NHL's site), but check out this shorthanded goal Kings defenseman Jack Johnson scored against the Coyotes Tuesday:

Norris Division

-CBC has hired former Canadiens captain and coach Guy Carbonneau, former Islanders goaltender Glenn Healey and former Hurricanes goaltender Kevin Weekes as analysts.

-Ryerson University in Ontario is investigating using Maple Leafs Gardens as a home arena for its hockey teams.

-This isn't hockey related, but That's Church pretty much captures our thoughts on the G-20 perfectly.

(Photos: Bissonnette-Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press; Elias-Getty Images; Versteeg-Jim Prisching/Associated Press; Sykora-Christian Petersen/Getty Images; Glass-Jimmy Jeong/Canadian Press; Christensen-Gus Ruelas/Associated Press)