Empty Netter Assists - 01-01-11

"His toughness is unbelievable, his training, his shooting ability has gotten better the past couple years ... what he's doing now is much more impressive than what I did years ago." - Mario Lemieux (above) on Sidney Crosby.

-"When you get a FedEx letter from Lemieux, you don't say no." - Rod Buskas on playing in yesterday's alumni game.

-Has the Winter Classic "saved" the NHL?

 

-Speaking of the alumni game:

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-Look at this power play: Paul Coffey, Mario Lemieux, Larry Murphy, Kevin Stevens and Ron Francis:

-Coffey challenged by Peter Bondra one on one:

-Rick Tocchet and Francis just being awesome:

-Happy times for Craig Simpson and Dave Hannan:

-Sunny times for Lemieux:

-Peter Taglianetti and Craig Laughlin having a moment:

-Lemieux and Jay Caufield having a moment:

-Former Penguin and Capitals captain Yvon Labre:

-Lemieux keeping warm:

-Murphy keeping his head warm:

-Easy times for Lemieux:

-A photo of both alumni teams:

-Stevens getting down low on Don Beaupre:

-Nick Kypreos trying to get the lowdown from Lemieux:

-Bryan Trottier working hard in the corners:

-Gary Roberts about to unleash hell we assume:

-Hungry times for Greg Adams:

-Determined Face of the Day: Washington's Alan May:

-Here we go Pascal Dupuis. Here we go:

-Jordan Staal screening Brent Johnson:

-Evgeni Malkin and the gray sky:

-Dan Bylsma:

-Fu manchu times for Maxime Talbot:

-Team photo:

-Thirsty times for Fleury:

-Alex Ovechkin has some new skates:

-Sunny times for Bruce Boudreau:

-Mario Lemieux speaks:

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-Marc-Andre Fleury speaks, gets confused by some stupid blogger's question about ketchup bottles:

-Crosby speaks:

-Gary Roberts speaks:

-Ron Francis speaks:

-Paul Coffey speaks:

-Jay Caufield speaks:

-Mike Gershon scored two goals for the Wheeling Nailers in a 4-1 defeat of the Gwinnett Gladiators. Casey Pierro-Zabotel added two assists for Wheeling while Patrick Killeen made 19 saves in the victory.

-Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins captain Wyatt Smith has joined ERC Ingolstadt of the DEL in Germany.

-Happy 53rd birthday to former Penguins forward Dave Hunter. Acquired early in the 1987-88 along with Paul Coffey and Wayne Van Dorp in a deal which sent Craig Simpson, Dave Hannan, Moe Mantha and Chris Joseph to the Oilers, Hunter's Penguins' career amounted to 59 games and 29 points that season. Prior to the 1988-89 offseason, he was transfered back to the Oilers as compensation for the Penguins claiming Dave Hannan off waivers.

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Atlantic Division

-Johan Hedberg made 28 saves and led the Devils to a 3-1 defeat of the Thrashers. Jason Arnott recorded two assists for New Jersey which broke a six-game losing streak and won for the first time since Jacques Lemaire assumed coaching duties Dec. 23.

-Check out this fantastic goal New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk scored against his former team:

-"It’s like my first win ever." - Lemaire.

-And all of a sudden, the Islanders have beaten the NHL's top two teams in the overall standings in back to back games. An overtime goal by P.A. Parenteau gave the Islanders a 4-3 win at Detroit. John Tavares had a goal and two assists for New York, which beat the Penguins, 2-1, in a shootout Wednesday, while teammate Andrew MacDonald recorded two assists. Dwayne Roloson made 38 saves in the victory. Darren Helm recorded two assists for the Red Wings.

-Parenteau's goal:

-Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom made a rare mistake by knocking the puck into his own net:

Northeast Division

-In his second game with his new team, James Wisniewski scored two goals, including on in overtime, and an assist to give the Canadiens a 3-2 win at Florida. Teammate Scott Gomez recorded two assists while Alex Auld made 20 saves in the victory.

-Wisniewski's overtime goal:

-The Canadiens traded forward/antagonist Maxim Lapierre to the Ducks in exchange for defenseman Brett Festerling and a fifth-round pick in 2012.

-Montreal recalled forward David Desharnais from Hamilton of the AHL.

-While Sabres forward Todd Connolly (leg) is expected back in the lineup after missing four games, forward Patrick Kaleta is expected to be sidelined due to an "upper-body" ailment.

-Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson went all Herb Brooks on his team yesterday.

-The Senators recalled forward Jim O'Brien from Binghamton of the AHLt.

Southeast Division

-With forward Jussi Jokinen ("lower body") and defenseman Joni Pitkanen ("upper body") dinged up, the Hurricanes recalled forward forward Zac Dalpe and defenseman Brett Carson from Charlotte of the AHL.

-The Panthers placed forward Steven Reinprect on waivers.

Central Division

-An overtime goal and an assist by Jakub Voracek gave the Blue Jackets a 4-3 win against the Senators. Steve Mason made 35 save sin the victory.

-Pekka Rinne made 22 saves for the Predators in a 4-1 win at Minnesota. David Legwand and captain Shea Weber each recorded two assists for Nashville which snapped a five-game losing streak.

-Alexander Steen had a goal and an assist for the Blues in a 4-3 win against the Coyotes. Teammate Barret Jackman recorded two assists while Jaroslav Halak made 30 saves in the victory. Captain Shane Doan scored two goals for Phoenix.

-With forward Patrick Eaves dealing with an "upper-body" injury, the Red Wings recalled forward Tomas Tatar from Grand Rapids of the AHL.

Northwest Division

-Kevin Bieksa, Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin each had a goal and an assist for the Canucks in a 4-1 defeat of the Stars. Cory Schneider made 44 saves in the victory.

-Only the Sedin twins could score on a biffed shot this bad:

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-Check out the effort on this goal by Vancouver's Raffi Torres:

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-Check out this fake shot/pass by Vancouver's Alexander Edler to set up Henrik Sedin for a goal:

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-Tim Jackman and Tom Kostopoulos each had a goal and an assist for the Flames in a 5-2 win against the Avalanche. Miikka Kiprusoff made 19 saves in the victory.

-The Avalanche has lost on New Year's Eve for four consecutive seasons.

-The Oilers recalled defenseman Shawn Belle from Oklahoma City of the AHL and demoted forward Linus Omark to Oklahoma City.

-The Canucks redmoted defenseman Ryan Parent to Manitoba of the AHL.

Pacific Division

-Jason Blake and Lubomir Visnovsky each scored two goals for the Ducks in a 5-2 defeat of the Flyers. Toni Lydman, Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne each recorded two assists for Anaheim while Jonas Hiller made 35 saves in the victory. Jeff Carter had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia.

-The Coyotes demoted forward Brett MacLean to San Antonio of the AHL.

IIHF World Junior Championships

-Stars prospect Jack Campbell made 25 saves and led the United States to a 2-1 win against Switzerland.

-Highlights:

-Thrashers prospect Carl Klingberg scored two regulation goals for Sweden in a 6-5 shootout win against Canada. Penguins defensive prospect Simon Despres had one assist for Canada.

-Despres has been told to keep his game simple in this tournament.

-Wild prospect Erik Haula scored two goals for Finland in a 6-0 rout of Slovakia.

-Blues prospect Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and three assists for Russia in an 8-3 rout of the Czech Republic.

Smythe Division

-Happy 94rd birthday to former Pittsburgh Hornets forward Ossie Aubuchon.

-Today would've been the 102st birthday to former Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets forward Doc Romnes.

(Photos: Capitals/Penguins-Justin K. Aller/Getty Images, Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press and Jamie Squire/Getty Images)