Empty Netter Assists - 09-14-12

Penguins



-"When it comes down to it, both sides have to be willing to sacrifice a bit. I feel like our side is doing a little bit of that, and it doesn't seem like they're really willing to do that." - Sidney Crosby (above) on negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA.

-Crosby speaks:

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-The NHL conducted a board of governors meeting and all 30 teams voted to stage a lockout if a new collective bargaining agreement isn't reached by Saturday.

-"The bottom line is this: the league is not well managed, it's not well structured, and that has to change. Ownership and Bettman can't expect the players to assume the whole burden of those problems. Gary Bettman doesn't want to admit that his southern strategy was a bad strategy, back in the 1990s. It is his intransigence around this issue that's created this problem." - Economist Andrew Zimbalist.

-Jonathan Bombulie of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice catches up with defenseman prospect Brian Dumoulin (right).

-The Wheeling Nailers re-signed forward Cam Fergus and signed defenseman Tim Corcoran.

-Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defenseman Daniel Fernholm has joined HV71 of Sweden's Elitserien.

-Consol Energy Center has entered a bid to host the Atlantic Coast Conference's men's basketball tournament.

-Happy 62nd birthday to former Penguins forward and captain Orest Kindrachuk. Acquired in the 1978 offseason along with Tom Bladon and Ross Lonsberry in a trade which sent a first-round pick to the Flyers, Kindrachuk spent three seasons with the Penguins and served as the team's captain during that entire span. In 1978-79, Kindrachuk appeared in 79 games, led the team with 42 assists and scored 60 points, second-most on the team. In that spring's playoffs, Kindrachuk appeared in seven games and led the team with five points. He played in 52 games in 1979-80 and contributed 46 points. His final season in Pittsburgh was 1980-81. A back injury limited him to 13 games and 12 points. In the 1981 offseason, he joined the Capitals as a free agent. In 144 games with the Penguins, Kindrachuk scored 118 points, 69th-most in franchise history.

Atlantic Division

-"I think the union is much better this time around. We're more informed, we're more open. You can lock in [to information] on your phones. We know what's going on." - Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen (right) comparing Saturday's potential lockout to the 2004-05 lockout.

-The Rangers placed forwards Tommy Grant, Micheal Haley, Chad Kolarik, Kris Newbury, Brandon Segal, defensemen Sean Collins, Logan Pyett and Mike Vernace on waivers with the intention of demoting them to Connecticut of the AHL.

Southeast Division

-The Panthers assigned defensemen Michael Caruso, Nolan Yonkman, forwards Andre Deveaux, Jean-Francois Jacques, Greg Rallo, Casey Wellman, James Wright and goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris to San Antonio of the AHL.

Central Division

-The Red Wings signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo to a two-year contract worth a total of $5 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $2.5 million. Colaiacovo, 29, appeared in 64 games last season and scored 19 points (two goals, 17 assists).

-EN Says: This is a shrewd signing. The Red Wings are a little lean on defense after losing Nicklas Lidstrom to retirement and Brad Stuart to a trade. Colaiacovo isn't going to replace either of those players, but he's more than adequate in terms of being a top-four defenseman who can log upwards of 20 minutes a game. He's a strong positional defender who can chip in occasionally on the power play.

-The Red Wings re-signed restricted free agent forward Justin Abdelkader (right). Exact terms were not reported. Abdelkader, appeared in 81 games last season and scored 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists).

-The Predators re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Jonathon Blum to a one-year, two-way contract. In 33 games last season, Blum, a first-round pick in 2007, scored seven points (three goals, four assists).

-The Blue Jackets assigned defenseman Ryan Murray (Everett - WHL) and forward Boone Jenner (Oshawa - OHL) to their junior teams.

Northwest Division

-“He really loves his lockouts." - Wild forward Zach Parise on Gary Bettman.

-The Canucks signed undrafted defenseman Evan McEneny to a three-year entry-level contract.

-Former Robert Morris goaltender Brooks Ostergard has joined the Orlando Solar Bears, the Wild's ECHL affiliate.

Pacific Division

-Unrestricted free agent forward Shane Doan (right) is expected to formally sign a contract - assumed to be with the Coyotes - today.

-Members of the Kings - including executives Luc Robitaille (right) and Tim Leiweke - traveled to Ground Zero yesterday to pay tribute to former scouts Garnet "Ace" Bailey and Mark Bavis. Bailey and Bavis lost their lives during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Their names are part of the monument at the World Trade Center site:

(Photos: Crosby-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Dumoulin-Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images; Timonen-Al Bello/Getty Images; Abdelkader-Justin K. Aller/Getty Images; Doan-Christian Petersen/Getty Images; Kings-Mike Stobs/Getty Images)