Empty Netter Assists - 10-25-12

Written by Seth Rorabaugh on Thursday, 25 October 2012 5:28 am.

Penguins

-Today is the NHL's deadline to preserve an 82-game season.

-"The players made multiple core economic proposals on Thursday that were a significant move in the owners direction. We are and continue to be ready to meet to discuss how to resolve our remaining differences, with no preconditions. For whatever reason, the owners are not. At the same time they are refusing to meet, they are winding the clock down to yet another artificial deadline they created." - NHLPA executive Donald Fehr (PG+).

-"I thought 50-50 deal and mechanism to pay players back for reduced value of their contracts in early years of CBA would garner some traction. I guess players want more. Not sure where this goes from here." - NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly.

-Evgeni Malkin had a goal and two assists for Metallurg Magnitogorsk in a 4-3 overtime loss to Donbass Donetsk in the KHL.

-Highlights:

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-Former Penguins forward Domenic Pittis has joined Visp of Switzerland's NLB.

-Happy 78th birthday to former Penguins forward Earl Ingarfield, Sr., the second captain in franchise history. Claimed from the Rangers in the 1967 expansion draft, Ingarfield spent parts of two seasons in Pittsburgh. With the inagural Penguins team in 1967-68, Ingarfield, the first player to wear No. 10 in franchise history, appeared in 50 games and score 34 points. After 40 games and 23 points in 1968-69, Ingarfield was traded along with Gene Ubriaco and Dick Mattiussi to the Oakland Seals in exchange for Bryan Watson, George Swarbrick and Tracy Pratt. In 90 games with the Penguins, Ingarfield scored 60 points.

-Happy 43rd birthday to former Penguins forward Josef Beranek (right). Beranek originally came to the Penguins at the 1997 trade deadline from Vancouver in exchange for future considerations. He finished 1996-97 by appearing in eight games and scoring four points. He appeared in all five of the team's postseason games that season and failed to record a point. After spending the entire 1997-98 season with HC Petra Vsetin in the Czech Republic, Beranek was traded to the Oilers in the 1998 offseason in exchange for Bobby Dollas and Tony Hrkac. He returned to the Penguins at the 2000 trade deadline when the Penguins acquired him from Edmonton in exchange for German Titov. Beranek finished 1999-2000 by playing in 13 games for the Penguins and recording eight points. He appeared in 11 postseason games that season and netted three points. His final NHL season was 2000-01. He saw action in 70 games for the Penguins and scored 23 points. In the 2001 postseason, Beranek played in 13 games and recorded two points. In the 2001 offseason, he joined HC Slavia Praha in the Czech Republic. In 91 regular season games for the Penguins, Beranek scored 35 points. In 29 postseason games, he recorded five assists.

Atlantic Division

-The Islanders announced they will be moving to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the start of the 2015-15 season once their lease at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale expires. The Islanders' agreed to a 25-year lease with the Barclays Center. They have played at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum since their inagural season of 1972-73.

-EN Says: This is a good move for the Islanders and more importantly, the NHL as a whole. The Islanders simply couldn't generate the necessary revenue to compete in Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Barclays Center will allow them to do that. This will put the Islanders in position to be a more competitive team. And ultimately, that benefits the league as a whole.

Geographically, Uniondale is a 28-mile drive from Brooklyn. Culturally, it might as well be Paris to Hong Kong. Brooklyn is on Long Island, but it's not Long Island. But it could be far worse for Islanders fans. They could be in the same boat as Whalers or Nordiques fans.

-The Islanders will not change their name, colors or logo.

-The Barclays Center holds 14,500 for hockey but can be expanded to approximately 15,000.

-Will moving to a state of the art facility help Islanders general manager Garth Snow lure free agents?

-"There's no doubt there's some mixed feelings with the success we had as a team in the Coliseum and the success I had personally there, but life goes on." - Former Islanders Hall-of-Fame forward Mike Bossy.

-The move isn't universally popular among long-time Islanders fans.

-Islanders owner Charles Wang spent many years trying to workout a deal to stay in Nassau County.

-How does the Islanders' move impact the Rangers?

-Devils forward David Clarkson (right) has joined EC Red Bull Salzburg of Austria's EBEL for the duration of the lockout.

Northeast Division

-Sabres goaltender Jhonas Enroth has joined Huddinge IK of Sweden's Division I league for the duration of the lockout.

-Canadiens forward prospect Louis Leblanc, a first-round pick in 2009, will be sidelined four to six weeks after suffering an ankle sprain while playing for the Hamilton Bulldogs, Montreal's AHL affiliate.

Southeast Division

-"They say, 'We're not going to talk to you unless you agree to this.' Its a bully tactic. It's not really negotiating." - Lightning forward and NHLPA negotiation committee member B.J. Crombeen on talks with the NHL.

-Jets forward Evander Kane, currently playing for Dinamo Minsk of Russia's KHL was suspended one game for a dangerous hit against Avangard Omsk defenseman Nikita Pivtsakin.

Central Division

-The Blue Jackets officially hired former Blues executive John Davidson as president of hockey operations. Davidson, a hall-of-fame broadcaster, spent the previous seven seasons with the Blues in the same capacity.

-EN Says: This is a tremendous move for a franchise in dire need of a new direction. Davidson did a wonderful job of steering the Blues through an ownership change and eventually turned them into one of the best teams in the NHL last season. We're not sure how far he can take the Blue Jackets, but they're a better franchise with him on board.