Empty Netter Assists - Western Conference - 1-27-09

Central Division

-The Blue Jackets put forward Nikita Filatov on injured reserve.

-The Predators recalled forward Ryan Jones and defenseman Alexander Sulzer from Milwaukee of the AHL.

-Nashville has moved forward Steve Sullivan (right) back to the first line.

-The Blackhawks recalled forward Pascal Pelletier from Rockford of the AHL.

-The ironic thing about the All-Star Lame Game related "suspensions" of Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk and defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom is they might actually help Detroit.

-Lidstrom has no regrets over putting his team ahead of the All-Star Lame Game.

-Today's "Datsyuk's and Lidstrom's suspensions are stupid" piece is brought to you by Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News.

-Is marketing the NHL more important than one game in the schedule?

Northwest Division

-The Oilers recalled forward Liam Reddox from Springfield of the AHL.

-Flames forward and former Penguins goon Andre Roy is in some hot water for making a throat-slashing gesture... again. While with the Penguins, Roy was suspended for two games after making the gesture towards Capitals forward Robin Gomez during the 2005-06 preseason:

-Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck is making an impact with his cool name and his physcial play.

-Minnesota forward Andrew Brunette is expected to appear in his 500th consecutive game tonight.

-Canucks forward Kyle Wellwood hasn't had a penalty in 153 games.

Pacific Division

-The Ducks recalled forward Drew Miller and defenseman Brendan Mikkelson from Iowa of the AHL.

-The Coyotes recalled forward Steven Goertzen from San Antonio of the AHL.

-Before coming back to the NHL, Sharks forward Claude Lemieux (right) was up to 250 pounds. "I definitely got fat."

Smythe Division

-Stu Hackel of the New York Times Slap Shot blog wrote a spot-on post about the lack of quality in national NHL broadcasts in the United States.

(Photo: Dave Sandford/Getty Images; "Lemieux"-Photobucket)