Empty Netter Assists - 10-04-12
Penguins
-A Penguins fan vented his frustrations at yesterday's season finale for the Pirates above.
-Tanner Glass returned to Vancouver to take part in some informal workouts with some of his former Canucks teammates.
-Goals by Adam Payerl, Paul Thompson, Jayson Megna and Brian Gibbons led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 4-3 preseason win against the Rochester Americans.
-The Canadiens assigned forwards Stefan Chaput, Olivier Fortier, Ian Schultz and defenceman Joe Stejsk to the Wheeling Nailers.
-NHL chief operating officer John Collins had a meeting with several of the league's top sponsors about the lockout.
-Happy 72nd birthday to former Penguins forward Vic Hadfield (right). Acquired from the Rangers in the 1974 offseason in a deal with sent Nick Beverly to New York, Hadfield spent parts of three seasons in Pittsburgh. In 1974-75, Hadfield played in 78 games and was third on the team in goals (31) and fourth in points (78). In that spring's postseason, he saw action in nine games and contributed six goals. Hadfield appeared in 76 games in 1975-76 and scored 31 goals and 65 assists. In the 1976 postseason, he scored one goal in three games. Hadfield's final NHL season was 1976-77. He was limited to nine games and two assists. He retired in the 1977 offseason. In 163 regular season games with the Penguins, Hadfield, one of three former Penguins who captained the Rangers (Andy Bathgate and Jaromir Jagr are the others), scored 140 points, 58th-most in franchise history. In 12 postseason game, he scored seven points. He currently owns a golfing center which bears his name in Oakville, Ont.
-Happy 40th birthday to former Penguins forward Rusty Fitzgerald. A second-round pick in 1991, Fitzgerald spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. As a rookie in 1994-95, Fitzgerald appeared in four games and scored one goal. He played in five playoff games that spring and failed to record a point. His only other NHL season was 1995-96. He saw action in 21 games and scored three points. After missing all of 1996-97 and much of 1997-98 due to a knee injury, Fitzgerald joined the Quad City Mallards of the UHL in the 1998 offseason. In 25 regular season games with the Penguins, Fitzgerald scored four points.
Atlantic Division
-The operators of Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum was cited for 16 violations of workplace health and safety standards, including exposing workers to asbestos. The facility is home to the Islanders.
Northeast Division
-Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov (right) has joined Vityaz Chekhov of Russia's KHL for the duration of the lockout.
Southeast Division
-“We’re in Florida, so that’s pretty good. It’s starting to get cold everywhere else. We’re coming here and working hard and it’s not the best scenario — I would rather be playing games — but afterward we can play tennis or golf. We’re making the best out of a bad situation." - Panthers goaltender Jose Theodore on holding informal workouts with some of his teammates in South Florida.
Central Division
-"It feels, right now, like if we don't give everything that they want, it doesn't really matter. And we will never do that."It's tough to negotiate with yourself, basically. That's what we feel like we're doing." - Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg on negotiations with the NHL.
-Blackhawks forward Bryan Bickell (right) has joined Orli Znojmo of Austria's EBEL for the duration of the lockout.
Northwest Division
-Avalanche forward T.J. Galiardi has joined Bietigheim Steelers of Germany's 2nd Bundesliga league for the duration of the lockout.
-Flames forward Jiri Hudler was released from his contract with Lev Prague of Russia's KHL to rehabilitate an abdominal injury.
Pacific Division
-Former Maple Leafs forward Jay Rosehill has signed a professional tryout agreement with the Norfolk Admirals, the Ducks' AHL affiliate.
-Today's rare bit of good hockey news: The Kings let a nine-year-old girl recovering from a fractured skull spend the day with the Stanley Cup.
(Photos: Penguins fan-Justin K. Aller/Getty Images; Hadfield-Penguins Hockey Cards; Markov-Joel Auerbach/Getty Images; Bickell-Christian Petersen/Getty Images)