Empty Netter Assists - 02-15-11
Penguins
-"My own feeling is that I find that players just aren't as afraid to hurt somebody." - former Penguins forward Rick Tocchet (above) on the state of hockey today.
-"You look at Trevor Gillies. He’s a first time offender. He hits a guy, throws a few punches, he gets a nine-game suspension. The guy’s got a wife, two kids and plays in the East Coast Hockey League and AHL most of his career and now he’s going to lose $35,000. And it’s not right. Obviously, the league has their job and not mine, but in here, we feel for him. It hurts not to have Trevor in lineup for nine games. It hurts me, personally, my buddy, out $35,000.”- Islanders forward Zenon Konopka on teammate Trevor Gillies who hit Penguins forward Eric Tangradi in the head and proceeded to punch him in Friday's Penguins-Islanders game.
-Rant: Does Konopka just not get it? Gillies knew what he was doing. He knew there was the potential for being suspended. If providing for for his family is such a large concern, he doesn't break the rules.
-And the idea that Gillies' family is in danger over his suspension is laughable. Gillies' NHL salary is $500,000. If you subtract, the $35,000 he'll lose according to Konopka, the Gillies household will "only" pull in $465,000 this season, more than 98.3 percent of other American households. When does the clothing drive begin for the "suffering" Gillies children? Instead of ripping down his Mario Lemieux poster as he threatened to do, maybe he could sell it on eBay and donate the proceeds to Gillies' "poor" family.
-"I think Mario is one of the most well-respected, intelligent people in the game," the Tampa Bay Lightning GM said Monday on a conference call. "I would encourage him (and) I think we should all encourage him to get more involved with the league because he has a lot to offer." - Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman (right).
“That’s the last guy we want saying he doesn’t want to be part of the game. He’s right up there with Gretzky, he still has a presence even when he’s not on the ice. You see him in the building, you’re a little kid again, it’s Mario Lemieux.” - Canadiens forward Scott Gomez.
-Dustin Jeffrey isn't going away anytime soon.
-Two years ago today, everything changed for the Penguins and Dan Bylsma.
-The always talented Jim Shearer documented the Penguins' recent day at Central Park:
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-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goaltender Brad Thiessen was named the AHL's goaltender of the week.
-Peter Delmas made 19 saves for the Wheeling Nailers in a 3-2 loss to the Kalamzoo Wings.
-Happy 39th birthday to the second-best player in franchise history (so far).
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--Happy 44th birthday to former Penguins forward Craig Simpson. A first-round pick in 1985, Simpson spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins. As a rookie in 1985-86, Simpson appeared in 76 games and scored 28 points. He followed that up in 1986-87 by playing in 72 games and scoring 51 points. After 21 games and 26 points in 1987-88, Simpson was traded to the Oilers along with Dave Hannan, Moe Mantha and Chris Joseph in exchange for Paul Coffey, Dave Hunter and Wayne Van Dorp. In 169 games with the Penguins, Simpson scored 105 points, 69th-most in franchise history. He is currently a broadcaster with CBC.
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-Happy 67th birthday to former Penguins goaltender Andy Brown. Acquired midway through 1972-73 in a deal which sent draft picks to the Red Wings, Brown, the last goaltender in the NHL who didn't wear a mask, spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. He finished 1972-73 by playing in nine games, going 3-4-2 with a 4.73 save percentage. In 1973-74, Brown played in 36 games, went 13-16-4, had a 3.53 goals against average, one shutout and set an NHL goaltending record with 60 penalty minutes. In 45 games, he had a 16-20-5 record with a 3.78 goals against average and one shutout. In the 1974 offseason, Brown joined the Indianapolis Races of the WHA as a free agent.
-Happy 34th birthday to former Penguins forward Ronald Petrovicky. A free agent signing in the 2006 offseason, Petrovicky's Penguins' career amounted to 31 games and six points during the 2006-07 season. Petrovicky's most famous moment as a Penguin came when he knocked out Maple Leafs forward Kris Newbury in a fight (below). The following the offseason, he joined HK Dukla Trencin of the Slovakian Extraliga as a free agent.
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-Happy 49th birthday to former Penguins forward Mitch Wilson. A free agent signing in the 1986 offseason, Wilson's Penguins' caree amounted to 17 games and three points in 1986-87. After spending the next four seasons with the team's IHL affiliate in Muskegon, Wilson was released in the 1991 offseason.
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Atlantic Division
-The Flyers acquired forward Kris Versteeg from the Maple Leafs in exchange for first- and third-round pick this summer.
-Thinking Out Loud: Versteeg (right) is a nice complementary role player. And he had a solid playoffs last year for the Blackhawks who beat the Flyers for the Stanley Cup. But this is a steep price for someone who is nothing more than a second-liner. And he'll have trouble cracking the top six on the Flyers who have as much depth up front as anyone else in the NHL.
-With goaltender Nathan Lawson (knee) activated off injured reserve, the Islander demoted goaltender Mikko Koskinen to Bridgeport of the AHL.
Northeast Division
-Senators forward and former Penguin Alex Kovalev is heating up just in time for the trade deadline. He has eight points in his last six games.
-The Maple Leafs recalled forward Christian Hanson, a native of Pittsburgh, from Toronto of the AHL.
-Toronto is 20-16-3 with former Penguin Colby Armstrong in the lineup and 3-11-3 without him.
Southeast Division
-The Capitals clarified defenseman Mike Green's head injury as "inner ear trauma." Green (right) was injured when he struck in the head by a slap shot by Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik Feb. 6.
-The Thrashers demoted defenseman Arturs Kulda to Chicago of the AHL.
-The Hurricanes demoted forward Zac Dalpe to Charlotte of the AHL.
Central Division
-Andy McDonald had a goal and an assist for the Blues in a 3-2 win against the Canucks. Alex Pietrangelo recorded two assists for St. Louis while Jaroslav Halak made 23 saves in the victory.
-It wasn't all bad for the Canucks. Check out this save by Vanouver's Roberto Luongo on St. Louis' Brad Winchester:
Northwest Division
-Olli Jokinen and David Moss each had a goal and three assists for the Flames in a 9-1 rout of the Avalanche. Curtis Glencross added two goals and an assist for Calgary while teammate Jarome Iginla scored two goals. Miikka Kirpsusoff made 17 saves in the victory. Colorado has lost eight consecutive games.
-Avalanche forward Philippe Dupuis was ejected for this dangerous knee on knee hit on Jokinen:
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-Colorado's Peter Budaj having a moment:
-McMahon Stadium in Calgary looks ready for Sunday's Heritage Classic:
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-Avalanche forward Peter Forsberg officially announced his retirement.
-Already dealing with injuries to defensemen Keith Ballard (knee) and Dan Hamhuis (head), the Canucks saw defenseman Andrew Alberts go down last night due to a wrist injury.
-Thinking Out Loud: The Canucks have issues on defense and a slight surplus of top-six forwards. Just saying.
Pacific Division
-Ray Whitney had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes in a 3-2 win against the Capitals. Teammate Radim Vrbata recorded two assists while Ilya Bryzgalov made 29 saves in the victory.
-Check out this nifty goal off a two on one by Phoenix's Vernon Fiddler:
-It wasn't all bad for the Capitals. Check out this save by Washington's Michal Neuvirth on Vrbata:
-Cool Photo of the Night: Washington captain Alex Ovechkin during the national anthem:
-Ovechkin > Phoenix's Shane Doan:
-Washington's Brooks Laich being popular:
-Stars forward Brad Richards is dealing with a suspected head injury.
-The Stars recalled forward Francis Wathier from Texas of the AHL.
(Photos: Tocchet-Justin K. Aller/Getty Images; Konopka-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Yzerman and Lemieux-Photobucket; Versteeg and Green-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Flames/Avalanche-Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; Capitals/Coyotes-Christian Petersen/Getty Images)