Empty Netter Assists - Western Conference - 12-08-08
Central Division
-Andrew Ladd had a goal and three assists for a career-high four points and led Chicago to a 7-1 rout of the Coyotes. Ben Eager of all people added two goals for Chicago.
-Chicago's Kris Verteeg and Phoenix' Kyle Turris, two of the more high-profile rookies in the league, got into a fight last night:
-Versteeg received an instigator penalty for that. Since it occured within the final five minutes of the game, he'll need to serve an automatic one-game suspension.
-Check out this goal Chicago's Jonathan Toews scored against Detroit Saturday:
-Another one of those quality Blackhawks All-Star Game "political" ads:
-Columbus defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen suffered a pretty gruesome-looking injury when he got into a fight with Anaheim's Ryan Carter last night:
-Thankfully, Tollefsen wasn't seriously injured.
-Lewis Lazare, a columnist with the Chicago Sun-Times, seems really bitter about the Winter Classic.
-Reebok will be running a promotion during the Winter Classic. Fans present at the game and viewers will be asked to identify the one player on the ice with Reebok's logo on their jersey.
-Forward Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson (right) have been key to Detroit's hot start.
-Red Wings forward Dan Cleary is making the most out of his chance to play with Pavel Datsyuk and Marian Hossa.
Northwest Division
-If you're a Penguins fan, send some a thank you card to Miikka Kiprusoff. The Flames goaltender recorded his 29th career shutout by making 31 saves and leading Calgary to a 3-0 win against the Rangers.
-Shootout goals by Wojtek Wolski, Marek Svatos and Milan Hejduk gave the Avalanche a 5-4 win against the rival Canucks. Hejduk had a goal and two assists in regulation.
-Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa is dealing with a neck injury.
-With forward Brandon Prust dealing with a jaw injury, the Flames recalled forward Warren Peters from Quad City of the AHL and sent him back down in the course of a day.
-Flames forward Todd Bertuzzi still keeps in touch with his former Canucks teammate, Rangers forward Markus Naslund.
-Things are starting to get nasty between the Wild and the agents of forward Marian Gaborik.
-Days 5, 6 and 7 of the tribute to former Canucks captain Trevor Linden:
Pacific Division
-Ryan Getzlaf scored two goals for Anaheim in a 5-3 defeat of the Blue Jackets. Bobby Ryan contributed a goal and an assist while Washington, Pa. native George Parros had two assists for Anaheim.
-Getzlaf scored the 3,000th regular season goal in Ducks history last night.
-Stars forward Sean Avery allegedly called Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf and actress Elisha Cuthbert and apologized for his comments.
-Avery's antics have overshadowed several other compelling stories in the NHL.
-As if things weren't just going so swell for the Stars, rookie forward Tom Wandell, a recent call-up from a team in Europe, was injured ins his first practice with Dallas.
-Sharks forward Devin Setoguchi has been one of the NHL's top surprises this season.
Smythe Division
-Sergei Zinoviev, a center with Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL and one of the top players in that league, is a free agent after a dispute with management.
-The shootout is one of the few things the NHL does right.
(Photo: Samuelsson-Claus Andersen/Getty Images)