Empty Netter Assists - 10-07-10

Penguins

-First things first. We need you to help a reader out. An e-mail which just arrived in our inbox:

"I'm going to be stuck in the hockey black-hole that is Atlanta, Ga for the season opener.  I don't suppose you know of a place down there that will have the Pens on TV do you???  Any of your readers from the ATL?????" - Kevin Kirwan

-If you can help Kevin out, please comment down below this post.

-Jonathan Bombulie of the Citizens Voice in Wilkes-Barre tries to figure out this Eric Tangradi situation.

-The Penguins' loss of Simon Despres (above) is the Saint John Sea Dogs' gain.

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-Wheeling Nailers superstar Eric Tangradi speaks:

-Marc-Andre Fleury speaks:

-We would argue you could say this every day, but as far as the Penguins are concerned, today is officially A Great Day for Hockey.

-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goaltender Brad Thiessen discusses his second season as a professional.

-The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins signed forward Ryan Schnell (right) to an AHL contract. Schnell spent all of last season with Wheeling.

-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton released forward Pascal Morency who was in camp on a tryout basis.

-We're a few days late with this item, but the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins took a page out of the Pittsburgh Penguins' book and did the home deliver thing for season ticket holders.

-Brett Wilson had a goal and an assist for the Wheeling Nailers in a 4-3 exhibition loss to the Toledo Walleye.

-Happy 59th birthday to former Penguins forward Bob McManama. A free agent signing in the 1973 offseason, McManama spent parts of three season with the Penguins. As a rookie in 1973-74, McManama appeared in 47 games and scored 19 points. He followed that up in 1974-75 by playing in 40 games and netting 14 points. In eight postseason games that spring, McManama recorded one assist. In his final NHL season of 1975-76, McManama saw action in 12 games and scored three points. Midway through that season, he joined the New England Whalers of the WHA. In 99 regular season games with the Penguins, McManama scored 36 points.

Atlantic Division

-The Rangers officially placed forwards Vaclav Prospal (knee) and Chris Drury (wrist) on injured reserve. Drury (right) is the team's captain.

-The Devils placed defensemen Bryce Salvador (concussion) and Anssi Salmela (knee) on long-term injured reserve, demoted defenseman Matt Taormina to Albany of the AHL and recalled forward Adam Henrique from Albany.

-The Islanders placed goaltender Nathan Lawson (knee) on injured reserve.

-The Islanders demoted forward Matt Martin to Bridgeport of the AHL and returned defenseman Calvin de Haan (Oshawa - OHL) to his junior club.

Northeast Division

-Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is dealing with the flu.

-The Canadiens demoted defensemen Alex Henry, Yannick Weber, forwards Ben Maxwell, Ryan White and goaltender Curtis Sanford to Hamilton of the AHL.

-The Bruins demoted rookie defenseman Matt Bartkowski (right), a Pittsburgh native, to Providence of the AHL.

-The Sabres demoted goaltender Jonas Enroth and forward Matt Ellis to Portland of the AHL.

-The Senators demoted defenseman David Hale to Binghamton of the AHL.

Southeast Division

-With Capitals goaltender Semyon Varlamov (undisclosed) being placed on injured reserve, former Penguins goaltender Dany Sabourin will start the season on Washington's NHL roster.

-Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin wished a happy shaving cream-filled birthday to forward Marcus Johansson:

-The Panthers traded enforcer Andrew Peters to the Canucks in exchange for another enforcer, Darcy Hordichuk. Despite the trade, Peters will remain with the Rochester Americans, Florida's AHL affiliate. After the trade, the Canucks loaned him back to Rochester. For Vancouver, the move frees up $800,000 towards their salary cap.

-Florida also placed forwards Byron Bitz ("lower body") and center Marty Reasoner (knee) on injured reserve, waived defenseman Nathan Paetsch and demoted defenseman Keaton Ellerby to Rochester.

-The Thrashers placed forwards Andrew Kozek (hernia) on injured reserve and Jim Slater (wrist) on long-term injured reserve.

-Atlanta will go without a captain this season but will instead use three alternate captains, forwards Nik Antropov, Andrew Ladd (right) and defenseman Johnny Oduya.

-The Lightning demoted defenseman Matt Roy to Norfolk of the AHL.

-Can Lightning forward Steve Downie continue to stay on the right path and be a smart, disciplined smart player?

-While on their tour of Finland, the Hurricanes hit a place called Sauna Island.

Central Division

-The Blue Jackets named forward Ethan Moreau, Antoine Vermette and R.J. Umberger (right), a native of a certain town near the confluence of three rivers, as alternate captains.

-In the span of 102 days last season, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews won an Olympic gold medal, the Conn Smythe award and the Stanley Cup.

-The Red Wings demoted forward Kirk Maltby and defenseman Derek Meech to Grand Rapids of the AHL.

Northwest Division

-The Oilers loaned defenseman Sheldon Souray to the Hershey Bears, the Capitals' AHL affiliate. The move will take Souray's $5.4 million salary cap hit off the books for the Oilers.

-Forward Shawn Horcoff (right) was named the 13th captain in Oilers history.

-The Canucks recalled defenseman Lee Sweatt from Manitoba of the AHL and demoted forwards Jeff Tambellini, Alexandre Bolduc and goaltender Cory Schneider to Manitoba.

-Are Matt Duchene and Paul Stastny the Avalanche's new version of Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic?

-Is Wild coach and former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach Todd Richards on the hot seat in Minnesota?

Pacific Division

-Goals by Petr Prucha, Radim Vrbata and Taylor Pyatt gave the Coyotes a 3-1 win against Dynamo Riga of the KHL in Riga, Latvia.

-Bright times for Phoenix's Jason LaBarbera:

-Funny Face of the Day: Phoenix's Ed Jovanovski taking a spill under Dinamo Riga's Andris Dzerins:

-The Coyotes demoted defenseman Maxim Goncharov to San Antonio of the AHL.

-The Kings signed forward Jordan Nolan, a seventh-round pick in 2009, to a three-year entry-level contract.

-The Sharks named forward Joe Thornton as the eighth full-time captain in franchise history. Forwards Patrick Marleau, Ryane Clowe and defenseman Dan Boyle will serve as alternate captains.

-Former Sharks/Senators forward Jonathan Cheechoo (right) has joined the Worcester Sharks, San Jose's AHL affiliate, on a tryout basis.

Norris Division

-Former Blackhawks/Canucks/Thrashers defenseman Steve McCarthy has joined TPS of the SM-Liiga in Finland.

-Former Flames/Panthers forward Marcus Nilsson has joined Djurgarden of the Elitserien in Sweden.

-Today would've been the 90th birthday of former Pittsburgh Hornets defenseman Garth Boesch.

(Photos: Despres-Justin K. Aller/Getty Images; Schnell and Horcoff-Claus Andersen/Getty Images; Drury-Bill Kostroun/Associated Press; Bartkowski-Elsa/Getty Images; Ladd-Scott Cunningham/Getty Images; Umberger-Paul Sancya/Associated Press; Coyotes-Roman Koksarov/Associated Press; Cheechoo-Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)