Empty Netter Assists - 12-29-11
Penguins
-Welcome back Jaromir Jagr (right).
-“Truly, I don’t think the management, the coaches wanted me to be there." - Jagr on current Penguins management.
-"You want to take his time and space away, but you always want to stay between him and the net because he's so big and strong." - Brooks Orpik on defending Jagr. (PG+)
-"He offers his advice and knowledge to everyone. It's pretty special to learn from him." - Flyers rookie forward Harry Zolnierczyk.
-Welcome back Maxime Talbot. (PG+)
-Sidney Crosby is still dealing with concussion-like symptoms.
-Kris Letang is still not skating due to his concussion.
-Dan Bylsma speaks:
- "Players are so hungry to get better and try to make an impression in that tournament. And you do it while representing your country so it’s a pretty intense tournament." - Matt Niskanen on playing in the IIHF World Junior Championships.
-Shootout goals by Bryan Lerg and Geoff Walker led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 6-5 win against the rival Herhsey Bears. Eric Tangradi scored two regulation goals for the Penguins while teammate Alex Grant recorded two assists. Scott Munroe made 23 saves in the victory.
-Penguins defenseman Carl Sneep left the game in the second period due to an undisclosed injury.
-Denver Manderson and Christiaan Manella each had a goal and an assist for the Wheeling Nailers who beat the Trenton Titans, 5-4. Mikael Bedard recorded two assists for the Nailers while Patrick Killeen made 29 saves in the win.
-Happy 58th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Tom Bladon (right). Acquired in the 1978 offseason along with Ross Lonsberry and Orest Kindrachuk in a deal which sent a draft pick to the Flyers, the "Bomber"spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. In 1978-79, Bladon appeared in 78 games and scored 27 points. During the 1979 postseason, he appeared in seven games and recorded four assists. He followed that up in 1979-80 by playing in 57 games and recording eight points. In that spring's postseason, Bladon played in one game and scored one goal. During the 1980 offseason, Bladon joined the Oilers as a free agent. In 135 regular season games, Bladon scored 35 points. In eight postseason games, he scored five points.
-Happy 50th birthday to former Penguins forward Tom O'Regan. A free agent signing in the 1983 offseason, O'Regan spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins. As a rookie in 1983-84, O'Regan saw action in 51 games and scored 14 points. He followed that up in 1984-85 by playing in one game and failing to record a point. His final NHL season was 1985-86. He played in nine games and scored three points. He was released in the 1986 offseason.
Atlantic Division
-Former Penguins forward Petr Sykora scored two goals for the Devils in a 3-1 win against the Sabres. Fire Ray Shero. Patrik Elias recorded two assists for New Jersey while teammate Martin Brodeur made 22 saves.
-Sykora's second goal:
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-Sykora being popular:
-Happy times in New Jersey:
-But not so much for the the Sabres:
-Brodeur got lost in a storm of snow kicked up by Buffalo captain Jason Pominville:
-Buffalo's Thomas Vanek got the best of New Jersey's Martin Brodeur here:
-Everyone seemed to have issues here:
-Funny Face of the Night: New Jersey's Dainius Zubrus:
-Flyers coach Peter Laviolette stood out in the third episode of 24/7.
Northeast Division
-An overtime goal by Dennis Seidenberg gave the Bruins a 2-1 win against the Coyotes. Tuukka Rask made 21 saves in the victory.
-Goal of the Night: Check out the deft touch on this score by Phoenix's Ray Whitney:
-Fight of the Night: Boston's Adam McQuaid extracted his pound of flesh from Phoenix's Raffi Torres after he elbowed Boston's Andrew Ference:
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-A good loo at the aftermath:
-Happy times for the Bruins:
-Phoenix's Jason LaBarbera had issues with this puck:
Southeast Division
-Alexander Semin scored two goals for the Capitals who beat the Rangers, 4-1. Captain Alex Ovechkin recorded two assists for Washington while teammate Tomas Vokoun made 31 saves.
-Defensive Play of the Night: New York captain Ryan Callahan blocking a shot by Washington's John Carlson and setting up a chance for teammate Brandon Dubinsky to score:
-Happy times in Washington:
-Intense Photo of the Night: Washington's Nicklas Backstrom and New York's Brad Richards prior to a faceoff:
-A good look at the lid of New York's Martin Biron:
-Capitals forward Jay Beagle returned to the lineup for the first time since being injured in a fight with Arron Asham Oct. 13.
-“They’re an opportunistic team. They don’t want to defend. They want nothing to do with it. So what do we do? We don’t allow them to defend on those plays and they go score goals and they get rolling.” - Rangers coach John Tortorella on the Capitals.
-The forecast for the returns of Hurricanes defenseman Joni Pitkanen and forward Jeff Skinner from concussions doesn't look good.
-It looks like the Panthers are on the verge of signing former Wild forward John Madden.
Central Division
-A shootout goal by Colin Wilson gave the Predators a 2-1 win against the Wild. Pekka Rinne made 34 saves for Nashville.
-Cool Photo of the Night: Wild forward and former Penguin Nick Johnson gunning a shot on Rinne:
-Jarrett Bousquet, the agent for Predators captain Shea Weber, ripped the NHL for not acting on a hit by Dallas' Mark Fistric which injured his client Friday. The hit in question:
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-EN Says: This is just another instance of inconsistency from NHL discipline czar Brendan Shanahan.
-The Predators demoted forward Blake Geoffrion to Milwaukee of the AHL and placed defenseman Kevin Klein (illness) on injured reserve.
-The Red Wings activated forward Jan Mursak (ankle) from injured reserve and assigned him to Grand Rapids of the AHL for conditioning purposes.
-“When you don’t win in pro sports, things change. You don’t want to see the guys that you’ve grown with and played with be traded. You don’t want to see guys you’ve played for get fired. You’re playing for jobs now but it’s not only that. You’re playing for pride, too. Everyone in the NHL is competitive and doesn’t want to lose. People say ‘do these guys even care?’ Everyone cares. We have to find ways to win. That’s the bottom line.” - Blue Jackets forward Derek Dorsett on his team's six-game losing streak.
Northwest Division
-An overtime goal by Andrew Ebbett gave the Canucks a 3-2 win against the Sharks. Kevin Bieksa and Alexander Edler each recorded two assists for Vancouver while teammate Roberto Luongo made 33 saves.
-Ebbett's goal:
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-A good look at the goal:
-Check out this snipe of a goal by San Jose's Logan Couture:
-San Jose captain Joe Thornton decided to do this to his counterpart from Vancouver, Henrik Sedin:
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-San Jose's Antti Niemi kept his eyes on this puck:
-San Jose's Justin Braun and Vancouver's Cody Hodgons kicked up some snow here:
-The Canucks recalled forward Mark Mancari from Chicago of the AHL.
-The NHL opted not to act on a hit by Colorado's Cody McLeod which injured Minnesota's Jared Spurgeon Monday. The hit in question:
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-The Flames placed forward Alex Tanguay ("upper body") on injured reserve.
-The Oilers recalled defenseman Colten Teubert from Oklahoma City of the AHL.
Pacific Division
-Jonathan Quick made 38 saves for the Kings in a 2-0 shutout of the Blackhawks. Chicago had a five-game home winning streak snapped.
-Chicago's John Scott > Los Angeles' Slava Voynov:
-Quick kept his eyes on this puck:
-Spitting times for Quick:
-The Kings placed forward Simon Gagne (suspected head) on injured reserve.
-The Stars activated goaltender Kari Lehtonen (groin) from injured reserve and placed defenseman Stephane Robidas (foot) on injured reserve.
IIHF World Junior Championships
-Sabres forward prospect Joel Armia had two goals and an assist for Finland in a 4-1 defeat of the United States. Pittsburgh-area native and Blackhawks forward prospect Brandon Saad scored the United States' only goal.
-Blackhawks forward prospect Ludvig Rensfeldt had a regulation goal and an assist for Sweden in a 4-3 shootout win against Switzerland.
-Devils goaltending prospect Scott Wedgewood made 26 saves for Canada which shutout the Czech Republic, 5-0.
-A goal by Lightning forward prospect Nikita Kucherov led Russia to a 3-1 win against Slovakia.
(Photos: Jagr-Post-Gazette archives; Bladon-Penguins Hockey Cards; Sabres/Devils-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Bruins/Coyotes-Christian Petersen/Getty Images and Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press; Rangers/Capitals-Patrick McDermott/Getty Images; Wild/Predators-Frederick Breedon/Getty Images; Canucks/Sharks-Tony Avelar/Associated Press and Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images; Kings/Blackhawks-Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)