Empty Netter Assists - 01-18-11
Penguins
-Today's Sidney Crosby story with unnamed sources is brought to you by the Globe and Mail. Apparently his anger over David Steckel's hit might force him to skip the All-Star Game. Not the concussion which has forced him to miss two weeks of real games of actual consequence. And any sort of physical exertion of any kind.
-Brooks Orpik speaks, stares:
-Dan Bylsma speaks:
-Happy 32nd birthday to former Penguins forward Ruslan Fedotenko. A free agent signing in the 2008 offseason, Fedotenko spent two seasons with the Penguins. In his first season with the Penguins in 2008-09, Fedotenko appeared in 65 games and scored 39 points. During the postseason, he saw action in 24 games and scored 14 points, fourth-best on the team, while helping the franchise win its third Stanley Cup title. He followed that up in 2009-10 by playing in 80 games and scoring 30 points. He was limited to six games in the 2010 postseason and failed to record a point. During the 2010 postseason, he joined the Rangers as a free agent. In 145 regular season games with the Penguins, he scored 69 points. In 30 postseason games, he scored 14 points.
-Happy 54rd birthday to former Penguins forward Jim Hamilton. A second-round pick in 1977, Hamilton spent his entire eight-year NHL career with the Penguins. As a rookie in 1977-78, he appeared in 25 games and scored six points. After being limited to two points and and no points in 1978-79, he played in five postseason games that spring and scored three goals. Hamilton played in 10 games in 1979-80 and scored two goals. During 1980-81, he appeared in 20 games and scored seven points. In one postseason game that season, he failed to record a point. The 1981-82 season saw Hamilton play in 11 games and score eight points. He followed that up in 1982-83 by playing in five games and recording two points. In 1983-84, he played in 11 games while netting four points. His final NHL season was 1984-85. After 11 games and three points, he was released midway through the season. In 95 regular season games, Hamilton scored 32 points. In six postseason games, he scored three goals.
-Happy 51st birthday to former Penguins forward Mike Blaisdell. Claimed off waivers prior to the 1985-86 season, Blaisdell spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. During 1985-86, he appeared in 66 games and scored 29 points. In 1986-87, he was limited to 10 games and scored two points. In the 1987 offseason, he joined the Maple Leafs as a free agent.
{youtube width="480" height="385"}OxvUo7NHY34{/youtube}
-Happy 46th birthday to former Penguins forward Andrew McBain. Acqurired in the 1989 offseason along with Jim Kyte and Randy Gilhen in a deal which sent Randy Cunneyworth, Rick Tabaracci and Dave McLlwain to the Winnipeg Jets, McBain's Penguins career amounted to 41 games and 14 points in 1989-90. Midway through that season, he was traded to the Canucks along with Dave Capuano and Dan Quinn in exchange for Rod Buskas, Barry Pederson and Tony Tanti.
-Happy 61st birthday to former Penguins forward Pete Laframboise. Acquired midway through 1974-75 in a deal which sent Ron Jones to the Capitals. His Penguins career amounted to 35 games and 18 games that season. During the 1975 postseason, he appeared in nine games and scored one goal. In the 1975 offseason, he joined the WHA's Edmonton Oilers as a free agent.
Atlantic Division
-Rod Pelley and Mattias Tedenby each had a goal and an assist for the Devils in a 5-2 defeat of the Islanders. Jason Arnott and Mark Fraser each recorded two assists while Martin Brodeur made 27 saves in the victory.
-Check out Tedenby's goal:
{youtube width="480" height="295"}Baeigva8kCI{/youtube}
-Flyers forward Daniel Briere was fined $1,000 for punching Rangers forward Brandon Prust from the bench during a game Sunday:
{youtube width="480" height="295"}XQPqvk-gy4Q{/youtube}
-Islanders defenseman Milan Jurcina is dealing with an "upper-body" injury.
Northeast Division
-Tim Thomas made 31 saves for the Bruins in a 7-0 shutout of the Hurricanes. Captain Zdeno Chara recorded his first career hat trick while teammate Patrice Bergeron had a goal and an assist.
-Chara's hat trick:
-Happy times for Chara:
-Chara and Thomas having a moment:
-Boston's Adam McQuaid and Carolina's Troy Bodie had issues:
-Carolina's Justin Peters having a moment:
-Thomas leads the NHL with seven shutouts.
-An overtime goal and an assist by P.K. Subban gave the Canadiens a 5-4 win against the Flames. Michael Cammalleri and Jeff Halpern each added a goal and an assist for Montreal while teammate Jaroslav Spacek recorded two assists. Carey Price relieved Alex Auld and made four saves to earn the win. Captain Jarome Iginla netted a goal and an assist for Calgary.
-Subban's goal:
{youtube width="480" height="295"}GE91hS178h4{/youtube}
-Check out this laser Cammalleri scored on:
{youtube width="480" height="295"}OEYMjlxoIBo{/youtube}
-It was apparently cold in the Bell Centre last night:
-Auld kept his eyes on this puck:
-The Senators demoted forward Corey Locke to Binghamton of the AHL.
Southeast Division
-Shootout goals by Bryan Little and Alexander Burmistrov gave the Thrashers a 3-2 win at Florida. Little had a goal and an assist in regulation while Ondrej Pavelec made 38 saves in the victory. Stephen Weiss had two assists for Florida.
-The Thrashers scored twice in the final two minutes with Pavelec pulled to force overtime:
-Florida's Scott Clemmensen had issues with this puck:
-Happy times for Little (left) and former Penguin Chris Thorburn:
-There's something that's both amirable yet sad about this photo:
-He's chosen to root for a pretty mediocre (at best) team such as the Pathers yet... it's the Panthers he's chose to root for.
-Thrashers defenseman Zach Bogosian was a healthy scratch.
-With goaltender Chris Mason ("lower body") on injured reserve, the Thrashers recalled former Pittsburgh Forge goaltender Peter Mannino from Chicago of the AHL.
-Panthers forward Darcy Hordichuk got taken out on the bench:
-The Hurricanes activated forward Jiri Tlusty ("upper body") from injured reserve.
Central Division
-The Blackhawks demoted defenseman Nick Leddy to Rockford of the AHL.
-Blue Jackets defenseman Mike Commodore cleared re-entry waivers.
-The Blues signed former Maple Leafs and Canucks forward Kyle Wellwood to a one-year contract. Financial terms were not revealed.
-Predators defenseman Francis Bouillon is dealing with an "upper-body" injury.
Northwest Division
-The Canucks recalled defenseman Chris Tanev and forward Sergei Shirokov from Manitoba of the AHL.
-The Wild recalled forward Cody Almond from Houston of the AHL.
-Former Penguins forward Guillaume Lefebvre has joined the Bakersfield Condors, the Wild's ECHL affiliate.
Pacific Division
-Captain Joe Thornton, Logan Couture and Dany Heatley each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks in a 4-2 win at Phoenix. Antti Niemi made 34 saves in the victory.
-Happy times in Phoenix for Eric Belanger:
-Phoenix captain Shane Doan > San Jose's Kent Huskins:
-Chin-scratching times for Sharks coach Todd McLellan:
-Sharks forward Patrick Marleau appeared in his 1,000th career game.
-Marleau being popular:
(Hat foul.)
-Kari Lehtonen made 23 saves for the Stars in a 2-1 defeat of the Kings. Brad Richards had two assists for Dallas which has won four consecutive games.
-Cool Photo of the Night: Los Angeles' Ryan Smyth and Dallas' Stephane Robidas getting down and dirty for a puck:
-Los Angeles' Jonathan Bernier making his way to the ice:
-Stars forward Jamie Langenbrunner appeared in his 1,000th career game.
-Langenbrunner received a silver stick from general manager and former teammate Joe Niewendyk:
-Courtesy of the Dallas Morning News, check out Stars goaltender Andrew Raycroft's new lid:
(Photos: Hurricanes/Bruins-Michael Dwyer/Associated Press; Flames/Canadiens-Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images; Thrashers/Panthers-Lynne Sladky/Associated Press; Sharks/Coyotes-Paul Connors/Associated Press and Christian Petersen/Getty Images; Kings/Stars-Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)