Saturday, November 29, 2008

Burke officially introduced by the Leafs

From TSN:

The National Hockey League's worst-kept secret is finally out of the bag, as the Toronto Maple Leafs introduced Brian Burke as their new president and general manager on Saturday. ''You're talking about the Vatican if you're Catholic, you're talking the centre of the hockey universe, you're talking about one of the most important jobs in hockey running the Toronto Maple Leafs,'' Burke said. ''It's a dream job.''

''I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Cliff Fletcher for his professionalism and commitment over the last 11 months,'' President and Chief Executive Officer of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Richard Peddie said. ''I'm delighted that he is going to stay on board with the team as a consultant.''

Burke, the 13th general manager in the club's 92-year history, became available after the veteran NHL executive stepped down from his post as general manager of the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 12.

''I'm extremely honoured to join the Toronto Maple Leafs,'' said Burke. ''This is one of the most prestigious jobs in our game.

''This is an opportunity of a lifetime to work for a team in a world-class city with passionate fans, solid ownership and a rich history. I can't wait to get started.''

Burke was hired by the Ducks in 2005 and helped build the club into Stanley Cup contenders upon his arrival.

With a promising young core of players that included Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, he added veterans Scott Niedermayer, Teemu Selanne, Francois Beauchemin, Todd Marchant and Sean O'Donnell and hired head coach Randy Carlyle. In 2005-06, the Ducks finished sixth in the West and advanced all the way to the Western Conference Final.

The following summer, Burke swung a blockbuster trade deal with the Edmonton Oilers, acquiring former Norris and Hart Trophy-winning defenceman Chris Pronger. The Ducks went on to win the Pacific Division and defeated the Ottawa Senators to capture their first-ever Stanley Cup.

Burke's press conference.


Maple Leafs expected lines for tonight vs Philly

Forwards:
Ponikarovsky - Stajan - Antropov
Kulemin - Grabovski - Hagman
Deveaux - Moore - Stempniak
Hollweg - Mayers - Mitchell

Defence:
Kaberle - Kubina
Schenn - Finger
Stralman - White

Goaltender:
Toskala

Injured players: Blake, Van Ryn, Frogren

Jason Blake is not yet cleared to play. He should make his return on Monday against the Kings.

Richardson retires after 22 years in the NHL

After clearing waivers, Luke Richardson has decided that it's time to hang up his skates, and is expected to make the transition to a coaching position with the Ottawa Senators. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but Richardson is likely to accept an assistant coach position in Binghampton. Richardson has had conversations with Sens GM Bryan Murray about such a move, and it is highly probable that the move will be confirmed in the upcoming weeks.

He did more than was expected last season, which is why the Sens had nothing to lose when they invited him for a tryout in September. He had a solid tryout that landed him a two-way contract.

Richardson would make a good defensive coach to develop the young talent the Sens have on defense: Brendan Bell, Brian Lee, Alex Picard, and the youngters that play in Binghampton.

Luke Richardson, 39, played 22 seasons in the NHL for Toronto, Tampa Bay, Columbus, Edmonton and Philadelphia. In 1,417 games, he scored only 35 goals and 166 assists for 201 points. Richardson was more know for his rugged defensive style of play.

The Ottawa-native was drafted 7th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1987 entry draft. He played 2 junior seasons in Peterborough for the Petes where he recorded 69 points in 122 games.

Senators expected lines tonight vs the Islanders

Forwards:
Heatley - Spezza - Alfredsson
Kelly - Vermette - Winchester
Ruutu - Fisher - McAmmond
Foligno - Bass - Schubert

Defence:
Phillips - Volchenkov
Picard - Kuba
Smith - Bell

Goaltender:
Auld

Injured players: Neil, Shannon

Dean McAmmond should be back in the lineup after missing a game with the flu. As for
Shean Donovan, he left Thursday's game with an upper body injury and did not return. He is likely to miss today's game.

Bruins expected lines tonight vs DET

Forwards:
Milan Lucic - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel
P.J. Axelsson - Patrice Bergeron - Chuck Kobasew
Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Michael Ryder
Shawn Thornton - Stephane Yelle - Petteri Nokelainen

Defensemen:
Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward
Matt Hunwick - Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart - Shane Hnidy

Goalies:
Manny Fernandez
Tim Thomas

Manny Fernandez gets the call tonight as he was the first player to leave the ice at practice. Ty Conklin is expected to be the starter for Detroit as Osgood was in goal yesterday against the Jackets.

Canadiens expected lines vs BUF

Forwards:
Higgins - Koivu - D'Agostini
Latendresse - Lang - Kovalev
A. Kostitsyn - Lapierre - S. Kostitsyn
Begin - Plekanec - Kostopoulos

Defence:
Markov - Gorges
Hamrlik - Dandeanult
Bouillon - Brisebois

Goaltender:
Price

Injured players: Laraque, Tanguay and Komisarek
Healthy scratch: Ryan O'Byrne

The Canadiens have finally decided to try Mathieu Dandenault on defense after a rough week for Ryan O'Byrne. Matt D'Agostini will be inserted in place of Dandy alongside Koivu and Higgins.

Sabres expected lines for tonight vs MTL

Forwards:
Thomas Vanek - Jochen Hecht - Jason Pominville
Clarke MacArthur - Derek Roy - Drew Stafford
Daniel Paille - Paul Gaustad - Mark Mancari
Patrick Kaleta - Adam Mair - Max Afinogenov

Defensemen:
Jaroslav Spacek - Craig Rivet
Tony Lydman - Andrej Sekera
Henrik Tallinder - Teppo Numminen

Goalies:
Patrick Lalime
Ryan Miller

Patrick Lalime will liekly get the start tonight in Montreal as it's the Sabres 3rd game in 4 nights.
Andrew Peters and Nathan Paetsch will be healthy scratches..

Sabres overcome deficit, beat Pens 4-3

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP)—The Buffalo Sabres beat the Pittsburgh Penguins at their own game.

Paul Gaustad broke a tie with his second goal, and Drew Stafford had two goals and an assist in the Sabres’ 4-3 comeback victory over Pittsburgh on Friday night.

The Penguins had won seven of the 11 times they’ve trailed after two periods this season, and were tied for the NHL lead in third-period goals coming in. But the Sabres reversed the tide, capturing a game they were behind in after 40 minutes by outscoring Pittsburgh 2-0 in the final period.

Gaustad’s second of the game came with 3:24 to go in regulation, and sent the Sabres (11-8-3) to their second straight win after losing five in a row.

With the score tied at 3, Gaustad charged the net and redirected Jason Pominville’s pass from the right circle for the winner.

“It’s great that we won but we have to put it behind us and stay consistent,” Gaustad said.

That’s something the Sabres have been unable to do this season. After busting out of the gate with an 8-2-2 mark, they’re currently in a 3-6-1 funk.

But after killing a two-man advantage for the first 52 seconds of the third period, the Sabres went to work and began to clamp down defensively while getting quality opportunities against Pittsburgh’s rookie goalie John Curry. Buffalo outshot the Penguins by a 10-3 margin in the decisive third period.

Sidney Crosby scored twice, and Tyler Kennedy added a goal for Pittsburgh (13-6-3). The Penguins lost in regulation for only the second time this month.

Evgeni Malkin had two assists to boost his NHL-leading points total to 37, and Curry made 28 saves in his first career NHL start.

“You can’t blame him on any of the goals,” Crosby said. “He made some big saves and kept us in it. He did a great job.”

The Sabres tied it at 3 just 3:11 into the third on Stafford’s second goal of the game. Off the rush, Stafford redirected Thomas Vanek’s pass past Curry.

Kennedy opened the scoring with his sixth of the season midway through the first period, but Stafford tied it just 56 seconds later.

The Sabres then took their first lead on Gaustad’s power-play goal at 12:21 of the second.

It was short-lived, though, as Crosby swatted the puck out of the air and into the net after Malkin’s shot bounced off the end boards 34 seconds later.

Crosby connected again with 56 seconds left in the second with his 10th to make it 3-2, wristing a shot past Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller after Malkin stripped Buffalo defenseman Jaroslav Spacek of the puck in the neutral zone.

Notes

Penguins D Philippe Boucher played one shift in the second period, then left the ice and didn’t return because of an undisclosed injury. He is day-to-day. … Miller finished with 27 saves. … The Sabres inducted Dave Andreychuk and former PA announcer Milt Ellis into their Hall of Fame in a ceremony that delayed the start by almost 10 minutes. … Buffalo completed its season-high four-game homestand with a 2-2 mark. … The teams will meet two more times over the next over the next 23 days.

Theodore blanks lifeless Habs

WASHINGTON (AP)—Jose Theodore tried to downplay the importance of his shutout against his old Montreal Canadiens teammates.

Theodore, who spent parts of 10 seasons with Montreal before being traded to Colorado in March 2006, made 28 saves for the first shutout with Washington in the Capitals’ 3-0 victory over the Canadiens on Friday night.

Theodore’s second game against Montreal was a lot better than his first. He allowed eight goals in a loss to the Canadiens on Oct. 21, 2006, with Colorado.

Alex Ovechkin, Tomas Fleischmann and David Steckel scored to help the Capitals win their seventh straight at home—the longest streak since also winning seven in a row from Nov. 17-Dec. 16, 2000. Washington is 9-0-1 at home, and is 15-0-1 since March 9.

This season didn’t start well for Theodore. He was pulled after allowing four goals in 30 minutes in the opening game in Atlanta and, after sitting in favor of Brent Johnson for four games this month, he’s back in favor.

Fleischmann opened the scoring at 11:03 of the first period. In back of his own net, Montreal’s Francis Bouillon tried to flip the puck down the ice, but Fleischmann intercepted it just in front of the net. He tapped the puck to Michael Nylander, who immediately returned it to Fleischmann, and the winger sent it past Jaroslav Halak for his ninth goal of the season. Fleischmann has five goals in his last eight games.

Ovechkin added his 13th goal of the season, and his fourth in the last two games at 3:42 in the third when he skated at Halak, who was making his first appearance in the last seven games, and shot it cleanly past him. Ovechkin has scored in 10 straight games. During those 10 games, he has 11 goals and 11 assists.

Two minutes after Ovechkin’s goal, Washington had a two-man advantage for 1:42, but couldn’t score. About 3 minutes later, Steckel scored his fourth goal of the season.

Theodore was tested in the second period, with the Capitals clinging to a 1-0 lead. Neither team scored, but the Canadiens were clearly more aggressive— outshooting Washington 13-7 and failing to capitalize on some center.

Halak played well, his coach thought, but his teammates didn’t.

“Jaro—that’s where I’m embarrassed,” Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said. “We come up with that kind of game, and that kind of effort—and I’m really sad for him.’

Carbonneau was grudging in praise of the former Canadiens goalie.

“He was lucky at some times,” Carbonneau said. “He made the saves when he had to. We didn’t really test him.”

The victory was Washington coach Bruce Boudreau’s 50th since he took over the team on Thanksgiving Day 2007, tying him for sixth place among Capitals. He reached 50 wins in 84 games, the fastest to the mark in team history.

Notes

Montreal begins a seven-game homestand—its longest in history—on Saturday against Buffalo. The Canadiens’ next road game is Dec. 16 at Carolina. … Capitals D Tom Poti was scratched because of a groin injury. Seven Washington regulars missed the game because of injuries. To replace Poti, the Capitals recalled D Bryan Helmer from Hershey. The 36-year-old Helmer played in his first NHL game since April 2004 with Phoenix.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Senators recall Brian Lee and Zack Smith

Team release:
The Ottawa Senators today recalled defenceman Brian Lee and forward Zack Smith from their AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators.

Lee, 21, started the 2008-09 NHL season in Ottawa, playing in the first five games. He recorded one assist and a +1 rating while averaging 13:03 minutes of ice time per game. In 16 AHL games since being assigned to Binghamton on Oct. 22, Lee has one goal, five assists, 18 PIM and an even rating.

The Fargo, N.D., native played 55 games with Binghamton last season, recording three goals, 22 assists and 51 PIM. Lee finished the season dressing in Ottawa's last six regular-season games and playing in all four playoff meetings against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Lee was Ottawa's first-round pick (ninth overall) in the 2005 NHL entry draft.

Smith, 20, has scored a team-leading nine goals, while adding seven assists and 32 PIM in 21 games with the B-Sens. His 16 points leave him tied for sixth in AHL rookie scoring, while his nine goals are tied for third most among first-year players.

The Medicine Hat, Alta., native played four years with the WHL's Swift Current Broncos, scoring 41 goals, 68 assists and adding 344 PIM in 221 regular season games.

At the completion of the 2007-08 WHL season, Smith signed an amateur tryout contract with the AHL's Manitoba Moose on April 15. He made his professional debut on April 18, recording an assist in Manitoba's playoff game against Syracuse. Smith played in six playoff games with the Moose, recording one assist and no penalty minutes.

Smith was Ottawa's third-round pick (79th overall) in the 2008 NHL entry draft.

Bruins crush Islanders in Thanksgiving matinee

BOSTON (AP)—Blake Wheeler and David Krejci set up each other for scores 10 seconds apart in Boston’s five-goal third period to help the Bruins pull away for their 10th win in 12 games, a decisive 7-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Friday afternoon.

Michael Ryder had a pair of goals for Boston, which resumed its sizzling November pace after losing at Buffalo on Wednesday. The Bruins are 10-1-1 this month.

Chuck Kobasew, Dennis Wideman and Phil Kessel also scored for the Bruins.

Nate Thompson and Richard Park scored for the Islanders.

Manny Fernandez stopped 22 shots for Boston and is 6-0-1 after losing his first start.

With the score tied 1-all, Ryder stole Brendan Witt’s attempted clearing pass at the right circle and beat partially screened goaltender Joey MacDonald with a wrister over his left shoulder 15:16 into the second period. Krejci was screening MacDonald.

About a half minute after Fernandez stopped Bill Guerin with a sprawling stop on a clean breakaway, Wheeler one-timed Krejci’s cross-ice pass past MacDonald to make it 3-1.

On the ensuing shift, Wheeler poked the puck ahead to Krejci along the left boards. Krejci cut around a defenseman and slipped a shot inside the near post.

Wideman made it 5-1 just 2:12 later, and the Islanders replaced MacDonald with Peter Mannino.

Ryder’s second of the game came on a power play with just under five minutes left.

New York jumped ahead 1:46 into the game on its first shot on goal, when former Bruin Thompson fired a shot from the left wing that caromed in off the far post.

The Bruins tied it when Kobasew banged home a rebound from the edge of the crease 3:28 into the second.

Wheeler had a crowd-pleasing move midway into the second when he backhanded a pass between his legs to himself and shifted around Islanders defenseman Mark Streit before being stopped by MacDonald.

The Bruins, looking to join the shopping craze know as “Black Friday,” unveiled their new black third jersey for the game and took the ice to AC/DC’s song “Back in Black” for the first two periods. They also gave out black T-shirts to the first 10,000 fans, attempting a “Blackout.”

Notes

The Bruins held a moment of silence for former player and coach Armond “Bep” Guidolin, who died earlier this week. He was 82. … (Guidolin is the youngest NHL player to ever play the game at the age of 16) . It was the opener of a two-sport, day-night doubleheader. The Celtics were to play Philadelphia at night. … Guerin had a seven-game point streak snapped.

Canadiens expected lines vs the Capitals

Forwards:
Higgins - Koivu - Kostopoulos
A. Kostitsyn - Plekanec - Kovalev
Latendresse - Lang - S. Kostitsyn
Begin - Lapierre - Dandenault

Defence:
Markov - Gorges
Hamrlik - O'Byrne
Bouillon - Brisebois

Goaltender:
Halak

Injured players: Laraque, Tanguay and Komisarek
Healthy scratch: Matt D'Agostini

Alex Tanguay will not play this weekend against the Capitals and the Sabres as he's still feeling the effect of Brad Stuart's hard body check he received on Wednesday. Tanguay suffered a whiplash on the hit and has been experiencing concussion-like symptoms ever since. He's day-to-day.

Sabres expected lines for tonight vs PIT

Forwards:
Thomas Vanek - Jochen Hecht - Jason Pominville
Clarke MacArthur - Derek Roy - Drew Stafford
Daniel Paille - Paul Gaustad - Mark Mancari
Patrick Kaleta - Adam Mair - Andrew Peters

Defensemen:
Jaroslav Spacek - Craig Rivet
Tony Lydman - Andrej Sekera
Henrik Tallinder - Teppo Numminen

Goalies:
Ryan Miller
Patrick Lalime

Ryan Miller will get the start tonight. Daniel Paille will be back in the lineup after missing Wednesday's game against the Bruins because of the flu. Nathan Paetsch will be a healthy scratch. Maxim Afinogenov will likely be back in the press box after playing last game.

However, Thomas Vanek will be a game-time decision tonight because of a leg contusion he suffered when he was hit by Milan Lucic in the 2nd period of last game. The Sabres will dress an extra forward in the warmup in case Vanek can't go (likely Afinogenov).

Edit: John Curry will get his first ever NHL start tonight for the Penguins.

AHL Roundup for Sabres and Bruins

Providence Bruins:
Tuuka Rask is having a good season so far, posting 6 wins and 5 losses in 11 games. He has a 2.78 GAA and a good save % at .909.

Offensively, Johnny Boychuk is leading the team with 21 points (4 g, 17 a) in 19 games. Martin St.Pierre is second with 20 points (5 g, 15 a) in 19 games. Martin Karsums is third with 19 points (7 g, 12 a) in 19 games.

Notables:
Vladimir Sobotka has 14 points in 12 games. Peter Schaefer has only 4 points in 13 games and Jeremy Reich has also only 5 points in 19 games. Matt Lashoff leads the team on defence with 13 points in 15 games.

The Bruins have 11 wins in 19 games this season; they currently rank second in the Atlantic Division with 23 points behind the Portland Pirates (Sabres).

Portland Pirates:
Mark Mancari was having a very good season before being recalled by the Sabres, notching 25 points in 14 games (11 g, 14 a) and a +15 differential. Nathan Gerbe is the team's 2nd scorer with 22 points in 17 games (12 g, 10 a). Tim Kennedy is third with 21 points in 17 games (5 g, 16 a).

In goal, Adam Dennis and Jhonas Enroth have shared the bulk of the work.
Dennis has 6 wins and 2 losses in 8 games, posting a 2.71 GAA and a good save % at .909.
Enroth also has 6 wins and 2 losses, but in 9 games. He has posted a 2.76 GAA and a good save % at .909.

The Pirates are first in their division, with 12 wins and 3 losses in 17 games, giving them 26 points this year.

Bruins expected lines for this afternoon vs NYI

Forwards:
Milan Lucic - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel
P.J. Axelsson - Patrice Bergeron - Chuck Kobasew
Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Michael Ryder
Shawn Thornton - Stephane Yelle - Petteri Nokelainen

Defensemen:
Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward
Matt Hunwick - Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart - Shane Hnidy

Goalies:
Manny Fernandez
Tim Thomas

Manny Fernandez gets the call today and Tim Thomas is expected to get the start tomorrow against Detroit. Joey MacDonald will start for the Islanders.

The mysterious “upper-body injury” that has sidelined winger Marco Sturm for the past four games is lingering concussion-like symptoms.

The Bruins will debut their third jersey today. This will be Game 1 of 16 matches featuring the third jersey this season.

Senators beat Leafs in shootout

OTTAWA (AP)—The Ottawa Senators kept it simple in a shootout against Vesa Toskala and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Rather than trying to deke the goalie, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson beat Toskala with shots to give Ottawa a 2-1 victory on Thursday night in a game overshadowed by the Maple Leafs reaching a deal with former Anaheim GM Brian Burke.

Spezza scored on the Senators’ first attempt.

“He plays a little deeper than most guys so that was kind of my reasoning behind shooting,” Spezza said.

Alfredsson scored on Ottawa’s third attempt to give the Senators their second straight victory.

“Toskala stood on his head but Auldie’s just been rock solid for us,” Spezza said. “He hasn’t allowed too many goals, his numbers are great, he’s playing with a lot of confidence and he seems to be a guy who’s really seeing the puck well and playing really well for us right now.”

Mike Fisher returned to the Senators’ lineup and opened the scoring early in the first. Kulemin drew Toronto even moments later.

Toskala had a great game as he stopped 34 shots to help the Maple Leafs earn a standings point despite extending their losing streak to five (0-3-2).

Ottawa outshot Toronto 35-26 overall, including a 5-0 margin in overtime as Toskala came up with a pair of big stops on Fisher in the final seconds of the extra period.

The Maple Leafs ended a team-record 17-game stretch without being outshot.

The Senators hadn’t played since their 4-1 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday ended a 0-4-2 skid.

Fisher, who missed two games because of a knee injury, got credit for his third goal of the season 3:54 in when his centering pass toward Shean Donovan went into the net off Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle’s skate.

Kulemin tied it 59 seconds later when he tapped in Mikhail Grabovski’s pass through the crease for his fourth goal.

Ottawa left wing Dany Heatley showed his frustration after Toskala stopped his slap shot 12 minutes into the middle period when he skated over to the left side and swung his stick, slamming it hard against the boards.

“It was a pretty good chance and I didn’t really get all of it,” Heatley said.

Jason Smith and Dominic Moore dropped the gloves at the end of the second period.

Notes

Maple Leafs RW Andre Deveaux made his NHL debut. Deveaux, recalled from Toronto of the AHL on Wednesday, had six goals and two assists in 13 games with the Marlies this season. … Donovan left the game in the third period because of an upper-body injury. He didn’t return.

Canadiens call up Matt D'Agostini

MONTREAL, PQ - The Montreal Canadiens announced Thursday night that forward Matt D’Agostini has been recalled from the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL). He will join the team on Friday morning, and will attend the club’s practice at Verizon Center in Washington.

D’Agostini, 22, leads the Bulldogs in scoring, and ranks third in the AHL with 25 points in 20 games (14 goals, 11 assists). He leads the club in goals (14), powerplay goals (5) and shots on goal (64). He also served 16 penalty minutes.

D’Agostini (6-foot, 200 pounds), a right winger from Sault-Ste-Marie, Ontario was selected in the sixth round by the Canadiens, 190th overall, in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He played his first NHL game with the Canadiens during the 2007-08 season.

It is still unknown if D'Agostini will play tonight against the Capitals in Washington.

Bruins assign Matt Lashoff to Providence

Boston, MA - Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has assigned defenseman Matt Lashoff to the Providence Bruins (AHL).

Lashoff was recalled to Boston on November 19 and was a healthy scratch for the Bruins last three games. Prior to his recall, Lashoff appeared in 15 games for Providence and posted 3-10-13 totals and 21 penalty minutes. He split the 2007-2008 season between Boston and Providence and saw action in 18 NHL games, registering 1-4-5 totals and appeared in 60 games for the P-Bruins, tallying 9-27-36 totals.

The 22-year-old Lashoff was originally drafted by Boston in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft and has seen action in 30 NHL games in his career.

Matt Hunwick's recent play forced the Bruins to keep him in the lineup at the expense of Lashoff.

Burke to Leafs: done by the weekend

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Brian Burke have reached an agreement on a contract, which is still not official because he has not signed it, and he could be presented to the hockey public as the team’s new president and general manager on Friday.

A source familiar with the negotiations indicated that the only thing that remains to be done is to get Burke’s signature on the contract, which is expected to happen on Friday. Burke has been in Boston all week with his family to celebrate the U.S. Thanksgiving and did not plan to travel to Toronto until Friday.

The deal is reportedly a 6-year deal worth $18 million, for the rest of this season and the next five years.

It is expected that Cliff Fletcher will remain with the Leafs as a consultant and that Dave Nonis, who was hired by Burke to be a special advisor in Anaheim. Nonis had previously been the general manager of the Vancouver Canucks and interviewed for the Leafs job this summer.

Burke would become the 13th general manager in the club's 92-year history. He stepped down as Ducks GM on Nov. 12.

His arrival in Toronto will be greeted by a few familiar faces. Burke and coach Ron Wilson are former roommates at Providence College while he and player personnel director Al Coates worked together with the Ducks.

Look for Burke to shake things up as the hapless Leafs are going nowhere right now. Cliff Fletcher has done a great job as an interim GM (except the Finger snnging maybe...) He got rid of rotten players like McCabe and Tucker, as well as bust players like Steen and Colaiacovo.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

It's Time for Weber, Pacioretty

The Habs' powerplay needs a shake-up.

Going from 3rd in the league in 07-08 (24.1% on the PP) to 22nd this season (18.6% on the PP) is unacceptable.

While the offensive presence of Mark Streit is missed, the Habs still own some talented offensive defenseman to fill the void. At the moment, however, experiments in the form of Alex Tanguay continue to fail. Tanguay belongs upfront with the likes of Saku Koivu and Alexei Kovalev, not on the blue-line with Andrei Markov.

Considering the Habs are experimenting anyway, why not call-up Yannick Weber and Max Pacioretty?

While Weber has only garnered 2 goals and 7 points in 19 games for the Hamilton Bulldogs, the 5-10, 195 pound offensive defenseman was impressive during the NHL preseason.

Weber, 20, has been establishing himself as top-tier Canadiens prospect ever since his performance for the OHL's Kitcher Rangers (59GP, 20G, 35A, 55PTS, 79PIM) and for the Swiss' WJC club (6GP, 2G, 4A, 6PTS).

Weber's skill set makes him most effective on the PP. The 73rd overall pick for the Canadiens has great hockey sense, allowing him to find holes on the mad advantage. He also possesses a big shot, a quality the Habs have been lacking on the back-end.

That said, Weber's age can potentially hold him back. If his game is not developed at an NHL level, then the Canadiens can send him back down and no harm is done -- sending them right back to square one.

Upfront, the Habs are loaded with skilled forwards, the only problem, however, is the majority of them are small in stature. In come Max Pacioretty, age 20, and his 6-1, 205 lbs. frame to save the day.

Pacioretty, drafted 22nd overall in 2007, is your prototypical powerforward. He'll produce points and wreak havoc for the opposing goaltender.

Pacioretty is exactly what the Habs are lacking -- a big body upfront that can screen the goalie and sacrifice his body to make a play. While young, he displayed a tremendous amount of maturity and poise during his preseason stint with the Canadiens.

Like Weber, he's worth the experiment. If it fails, then the Canadiens are right back to where they started.

Whatever the case, something must be done if the Habs wish to find success on the PP again. If Bob Gainey has to explore the trade route, then so be it.

Ignoring the issue will give the fans a fairly non-eventful 100th anniversary -- unless you consider taking over the all-star ballot an accomplishment.

The Battle of Ontario resumes tonight

Probable Leafs lines for tonight:

Forwards:
Ponikarovsky - Stajan - Antropov
Kulemin - Grabovski - Hagman
Mitchell - Moore - Stempniak
Hollweg - Mayers - Deveaux

Defence:
Kaberle - Kubina
Schenn - Finger
Stralman - White

Goaltender:
Toskala

Injured players: Blake, Van Ryn, Frogren

Probable Senators lines for tonight:

Forwards:

Heatley - Spezza - Alfredsson
Kelly - Vermette - Winchester
Ruutu - Fisher - Donovan
Foligno - Bass - Schubert

Defence:
Phillips - Volchenkov
Picard - Kuba
Smith - Bell

Goaltender:
Auld

Injured players: Neil, Shannon

The Senators also waived rarely used veteran defenseman Luke Richardson today.

Leafs to meet with Sundin in Los Angeles

According to the Toronto Sun, the Leafs would like to schedule a face-to-face meeting on Sunday or Monday to discuss the possibility of Sundin returning to the Leafs.

With the expected hiring of Brian Burke as president and GM any day now, the Sun suggests Burke could get involved in the negotiations.

Sundin has been working out at a facility in Los Angeles and started skating this week. He is expected to meet with his agent, J.P. Barry, next week and narrow down his list of teams from 10 to three or four.

"We've heard his agent say he would like to play by the middle of December, but we keep hearing that Mats hasn't decided anything," Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher said.

In addition to the Leafs, the Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Islanders have all expressed an interest in Sundin.

The Flyers, the Rangers, the Canadiens, the Ducks and the Blackhawks don't have the cap space to sign Sundin unless they trade or demote one or several players.

The Leafs are going nowhere and I don't see Sundin signing with them, expecially since he said he'd like to play for a contender. The Vancouver Canucks, however, have been playing very well lately and have plenty of cap space to sign Sundin. Their 2-year, $20M offer is till on the table. If I had to bet on a team right now, it would be the Canucks who could really use Sundin to improve their young offense.

Northeast division's top scorers

Player POS GP G A PTS Pts/G +/-
Marc Savard, Bos C 22 8 20 28 1.27 12
Thomas Vanek, Buf LW 21 15 5 20 0.95 1
Dany Heatley, Ott LW 20 11 9 20 1.00 -2
Matt Stajan, Tor C 20 6 14 20 1.00 2
Daniel Alfredsson, Ott RW 19 5 14 19 1.00 3
Saku Koivu, Mon C 21 7 11 18 0.86 9
Phil Kessel, Bos RW 22 11 6 17 0.77
Alex Tanguay, Mon LW 21 8 9 17 0.81 5
Jason Pominville, Buf RW 21 8 9 17 0.81 0
Nik Antropov, Tor RW 21 8 8 16 0.76 3
Jason Spezza, Ott C 20 7 9 16 0.80 0
Alexei Kovalev, Mon RW 21 5 11 16 0.76 0
Andrei Markov, Mon D 21 2 14 16 0.76 5
Niklas Hagman, Tor LW 21 7 8 15 0.71 2

Alexei Ponikarovsky, Tor LW 21 6 9 15 0.71 4
Derek Roy, Buf C 21 6 9 15 0.71 -5
David Krejci, Bos C 22 5 10 15 0.68 7
Tomas Kaberle, Tor D 21 2 13 15 0.71 -5
Filip Kuba, Ott D 20 1 14 15 0.75 4

Roy, Miller, help Sabres beat Bruins

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP)—A gritty effort finally produced the results the Buffalo Sabres desperately needed.

Derek Roy scored twice and the Sabres beat the Northeast Division-leading Boston Bruins 3-2 on Wednesday night to snap a five-game losing streak.

After outshooting their previous two opponents—Philadelphia and the New York Islanders—by a 77-51 margin, Buffalo still found itself on the losing end. But against the Bruins, the Sabres were able to convert on their chances to win for just the second time in the last nine games.

Beating the Bruins, who came in tied with the New York Rangers atop the Eastern Conference, added that much more for the downtrodden Sabres (10-8-3), who started the year 8-2-2.

“It just shows we can play with anybody if we play consistent for 60 minutes and pay attention to our system,” said Jochen Hecht, whose short-handed goal in the second period gave Buffalo a 3-1 lead with 15 minutes to go. “If we play our game and keep it simple we can beat anybody in this league.”

Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller made 27 saves to snap a personal three-game losing streak.

Matt Hunwick and Phil Kessel scored for Boston (14-4-4), which had its four-game winning streak snapped. Boston’s Tim Thomas stopped 20 shots in losing for the first time in regulation since a 3-2 defeat at Calgary on Oct. 30.

It was a rare bad outing for the steady Thomas, who allowed more than two goals for the first time since that Calgary defeat, a span of seven straight starts.

Even more unusual was Boston losing in regulation, as they entered having earned points in 10 straight games.

Roy opened the scoring at 9:18 of the first. While in the slot, Roy stole the puck off Boston’s David Krejci’s stick and quickly whipped a wrist shot past Thomas.

Buffalo upped its lead to 2-0 when Roy scored his sixth of the year with a snap shot from the bottom of the right circle that beat Thomas with 1 1/2 minutes left in the first.

Hunwick halved the deficit with his third of the season 4:31 into the second, and Hecht made it 3-1 30 seconds later with a slap shot from the left circle that went off Thomas’ glove.

Kessel cut the lead to 3-2 with his 11th with 10:35 left in the third period. Savard slightly whiffed on his slap shot from the right circle, but got enough of it that Milan Lucic was able to steer it to Kessel, who deposited the puck into an empty net after Miller committed on Savard’s shot.

Notes

Sabres LW Thomas Vanek missed the last half of the second period after absorbing a hit along the boards by Lucic. Vanek sustained a bruise on his leg, but returned for the third period. … Buffalo debuted its third jersey, which is highlighted by the team’s original logo. … It was Roy’s first two-goal game of the season. … Kessel extended his points streak to seven games.

Habs prevail in Detroit

DETROIT (AP)—The Montreal Canadiens clogged up the neutral zone and Carey Price took care of almost everything that managed to slip through.

Price made 32 saves, and Maxim Lapierre, Tomas Plekanec and Christopher Higgins scored second-period goals in Montreal’s 3-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night.

“We didn’t forecheck,” Plekanec said. “We stayed in the neutral zone and tried to make them make turnovers and we did a great job.”

Just the way Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau drew it up.

“They’re a team that likes to control the puck,” Carbonneau said. “Just tried to play as tough as we can in the neutral zone and make them dump it in.”

“I thought they played their system real well,” Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said. “I think we saw their first play was right at the red line and they were backing off and not giving us any speed through the neutral zone. Once we got the puck in we lost a lot of 1-on-1 battles in the corners, couldn’t sustain that pressure that we wanted to.”

Lapierre opened the scoring 5:23 into the second period when his attempted pass from behind the net deflected in off Lidstrom’s skate.

Plekanec’s power-play goal with 7:13 left made it 2-0. His one-timer from the right circle bounced in off of Conklin.

Higgins capitalized on Kirk Maltby’s turnover in the Detroit zone, sliding a backhander from the slot off of defenseman Brad Stuart and past Conklin with 6:23 remaining in the second period.

Franzen foiled Price’s shutout bid with 6:29 left. Franzen took the puck away from Canadiens’ defenseman Ryan O’Byrne in the neutral zone, came in off the left wing, turned O’Byrne around with a couple of moves, cut into the slot and beat Price with a backhander for his 10th goal.

Detroit LW Tomas Holmstrom missed his fourth game because of back spasms.
The Red Wings assigned RW Darren McCarty to their AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids and recalled C Darren Helm. Immediately after the game, Detroit sent Helm back down and recalled McCarty.
Montreal RW Georges Laraque missed his second game with a groin injury. Canadiens’ LW Alex Tanguay didn’t return because of a sore neck after taking a check from Detroit D Brad Stuart along the boards early in the first period. Carbonneau said Tanguay is day-to-day.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Blake out with concussion

Maple Leafs winger Jason Blake will miss Thursday’s game against the Ottawa Senators due to a suspected concussion. Blake was on the receiving end of an open ice hit by Atlanta’s Colby Armstrong in the Leafs’ 6-3 loss to the Thrashers on Tuesday. Armstrong received no penalty on the play.

Enforcer Andre Deveaux has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies. The 24-year-old winger has 6 goals and 54 penalty minutes in 13 AHL games this season. The Leafs' lack of toughness has became apparent in the past few games, that's why they recalled Deveaux from the Marlies.

Boston vs Buffalo showdown tonight

Bruins expected lines for tonight
Forwards:

Milan Lucic - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel
P.J. Axelsson - Patrice Bergeron - Michael Ryder
Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Chuck Kobasew
Shawn Thornton - Stephane Yelle - Petteri Nokelainen

Defensemen:
Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward
Matt Hunwick - Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart - Shane Hnidy

Goalies:
Tim Thomas
Manny Fernandez

Thomas is expected to get the start tonight. Sturm did not make the trip and will miss a 6th consecutive game. Matt Lashoff will be a healthy scratch.

The Bruins are 9-0-1 in their last 10 games. They have 32 points, tied with the New York Rangers atop the East, and face the Sabres on a four-game winning streak.

Sabres expected lines for tonight
Forwards:

Thomas Vanek - Jochen Hecht - Jason Pominville
Clarke MacArthur - Derek Roy - Maxim Afinogejov
Drew Stafford - Paul Gaustad - Mark Mancari
Patrick Kaleta - Adam Mair - Andrew Peters

Defensemen:
Jaroslav Spacek - Craig Rivet
Tony Lydman - Andrej Sekera
Henrik Tallinder - Teppo Numminen

Goalies:
Ryan Miller
Patrick Lalime

Ryan Miller will get the start tonight. Daniel Paille is out with the flu and Nathan Paetsch will be a healthy scratch.

The Buffalo Sabres will face the Bruins having lost five games in a row, sinking into ninth place in the Eastern Conference.

Leafs dead last in save %

The efficiency of their goaltending duo of Toskala and Joseph is perhaps the Leafs's biggest concern this season at they will soon be dead last in save % in the league. Only Dallas has a lower save % (86.7) than the Maple Leafs (86.9), but Turco has improved his game lately.

Check James Myrtle's blog on the goaltending situation in Toronto.

Canadiens expected lines vs the Wings

Forwards:
Higgins - Koivu - Tanguay
A. Kostitsyn - Plekanec - Kovalev
S. Kostitsyn - Lang - Kostopolos
Begin - Lapierre - Dandenault

Defence:
Markov - Gorges
Hamrlik - O'Byrne
Bouillon - Brisebois

Goaltender:
Price

Injured players: Laraque, Latendresse and Komisarek

Thrashers trash Maple Leafs 6-3


TORONTO (AP)—The Atlanta Thrashers handed the slumping Toronto Maple Leafs a lopsided loss.

If Brian Burke takes over as general manager, as expected in the coming days, he surely won’t stand for such poor performances.

The latest dud from the Maple Leafs came Tuesday night with a 6-3 home loss to the Thrashers. Atlanta (8-10-2) entered with the worst record in the Eastern Conference, but rode inspired play by Ilya Kovalchuk and two goals from Todd White to victory.

“We’re playing the same kind of roller-coaster hockey that we did in the start of the year, (when) we managed to be more on the good side than right now,” Maple Leafs forward Niklas Hagman said. “It’s little things. We keep losing 1-on-1 battles. We allowed them to come in front of our net and they pushed us around a little bit.

“That’s something we shouldn’t allow in our building.”

Toronto has surrendered an NHL-worst 78 goals, a fact that surprises new Toronto coach Ron Wilson. He owns the reputation of being a defensive coach, but he is still struggling to get through to this group.

Atlanta had lost three in a row, but the Thrashers gave coach John Anderson the effort he was hoping to see. As a former Maple Leaf and teammate of Wilson, Anderson had this game circled on his calendar since the schedule was released.

The rookie NHL coach was raving about Kovalchuk after watching his star player score a goal and engage Leafs defenseman Ian White in a rare fight.

“That’s the most enthusiasm I’ve seen him have all year,” Anderson said. “He’s got a bit of a bloody nose for it, but I think he’d trade that for a win any day.

Colby Armstrong, Chris Thorburn and Mathieu Schneider also scored for Atlanta.

Nik Antropov, Jeff Finger and Hagman had goals for the Maple Leafs (7-9-5).

In addition to their own play, the Leafs were unhappy with a third-period hit by Armstrong that knocked Jason Blake out of the game with a possible concussion. The Thrashers forward appeared to catch Blake with a shoulder to the head.

“When you watch the hit, the guy left his feet,” Wilson said. “He launched himself, that’s something that we want to eradicate from the game. Blakey was in a vulnerable position.”

It was that kind of night for the Maple Leafs.

Atlanta scored the first three goals against backup Curtis Joseph and that was too big of a hole for the Maple Leafs. Once they fell behind, Wilson shook up his top line—a decision that paid immediate dividends.

Lee Stempniak, in his first game since being acquired from St. Louis, joined Antropov and Matt Stajan. The trio got the Leafs on the board at 7:31.

“We turned the puck over a little bit too much and that’s what they thrive on,” Stempniak said. “The way they play, the systems they play, they’re banking on turnovers and creating their offense off that.

The battle between Kovalchuk and White late in the second period provided a bit of a sideshow for the 19,297 fans in attendance, but it didn’t keep them occupied for long. The crowd booed the hometown Leafs for one of the first times all season.

The building was also half empty for much of the final 20 minutes.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Probable Maple Leafs Lines vs. Thrashers

Forwards:
Ponikarovsky - Stajan - Antropov
Kulemin - Grabovski - Hagman
Stempniak - Moore - Blake
Hollweg - Mitchell - Mayers

Defence:
Kaberle - Kubina
Schenn - Finger
Stralman - White

Goaltender:
Joseph

Burke to manage the Leafs

Brian Burke will become the Maple Leafs new general manager by the weekend.

Burke's deal will include the rest of this season, then a five-year contract that kicks in next season. He made about $1.4 million managing the Ducks, and is expected to see his salary doubled in Toronto.

I presume Fletcher consulted Burke on the acquisition of Lee Stempniak yesterday.

Great article by Damien Cox on Burke.

Around the Leafs


The Leafs learned last night that defenceman Jonas Frogren will be out up to six weeks after an MRI revealed two muscle tears in his arm. The injury occurred in the first period of a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.

The injury to Frogren and the trading of Carlo Colaiacovo to the St. Louis Blues earlier yesterday combined with the injury to Mike Van Ryn have depleted the Leafs blueline.

The Leafs had nine defencemen at one point but are down to six, with Ian White returning to the blue line for the foreseeable future after he performed well at forward for nine games.

Fletcher said there are no plans to call up a defenceman from the minors. Staffan Kronwall leads Toronto Marlies defenders with seven points in 10 games.

Colaiacovo and Steen both said they were shocked by the news they had been traded and, at the same time, were excited at the prospect of moving to a new town.

The deal, which is done in principal, should become final by 4 p.m. this afternoon, once the three players involved have undergone physical exams with their new teams. Stempniak was expected to arrive in Toronto last night, and had a doctor's appointment booked for this morning.

It's expected Stempniak, who has three goals and 10 assists in 14 games, will be in uniform against the Atlanta Thrashers tonight at the Air Canada Centre.

Stempniak was born and raised in the Buffalo area and used to come to Toronto to play in minor hockey tournaments.

It is still unknown with whom Stempniak will play.

O'Byrne's goal sinks...Islanders... I mean Habs



Ryan O’Byrne blamed himself for costing the Canadiens a point. He didn’t blame the Montreal fans for booing him.

O’Byrne allowed the tying goal when he put the puck in his own net on a delayed penalty, and Bill Guerin scored the shootout clincher for the New York Islanders in a 4-3 victory over Montreal on Monday night.

Guerin was credited with the goal on O’Byrne’s gaffe, which made it 3-all at 15:13 of the third period.

After the game, a disconsolate O’Byrne said he didn’t realize a penalty was being called on Sean Bergenheim. So when Doug Weight pressured him on the forecheck, O’Byrne figured he would send the puck back to goalie Carey Price.

But Price was off for an extra attacker, so he wasn’t there to stop it and the puck slid slowly into the net. Parts of the Bell Centre sellout crowd of 21,273 booed for a long time after the goal. Before overtime, fans chanted O’Byrne’s name in derision as the Canadiens filed off the bench toward the dressing room.

“I feel bad. I apologized to everyone in the room,” said O’Byrne, who didn’t see the ice for the rest of the game. “The fans are eager for victories and they had a right to react the way they did.”

Richard Park and Trent Hunter also scored for the surging Islanders, who won for the fifth time in six games.

Steve Begin, Josh Gorges and Maxim Lapierre scored rare goals for the Canadiens, who lost their second consecutive shootout but still have points in four of their last five games.

Everyone on the Canadiens was quick to come to O’Byrne’s defense, especially Gorges, who shot a nasty look toward the crowd after the game.

“I know it’s tough because they expect a lot and we expect a lot out of ourselves as well,” Gorges said. “I know how it feels. I’ve put the puck into my net before. It’s never intentional. It’s a bad break, and nobody feels more sick to his stomach about it than Ryan does.

Bergenheim went straight to the penalty box after the goal, but the Canadiens couldn’t covert on that power play, or another one at 18:34 of the third that stretched into overtime.

Montreal’s top-ranked power play from the past two seasons finished the night 1-for-7 and is 3-for-38 in the last eight games.

Gorges got his goal on a rare power-play shift, and Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said more personnel changes can be expected in an effort to turn it around.

“We’re going to try a lot more experiments because since the beginning of the season we’ve been leaving the same 10 players who are supposed to make the power play work, but it’s not working,” Carbonneau said. “If we have to put the fourth line on the ice to change things up, that’s where we’re at right now.”

In the shootout, Price stopped Hunter but was beaten by Park and Guerin, while on the other end Joey MacDonald denied Andrei Kostitsyn and Alex Tanguay to get the win.

MacDonald stopped 23 shots in regulation and overtime.

Source: AP

Monday, November 24, 2008

Canadiens expected lines for tonight against NYI

Forwards:
Higgins - Koivu - Tanguay
A. Kostitsyn - Plekanec - Kovalev
S. Kostitsyn - Lang - Kostopolos
Begin - Lapierre - Dandenault

Defence:
Markov - Gorges
Hamrlik - O'Byrne
Bouillon - Brisebois

Goaltender:
Price

Healty scratches: Laraque
Injured players: Latendresse and Komisarek

Marc Savard named NHL 1st star of the week


The NHL has named Marc Savard the First Star of the week. Over four games, Savard recorded two goals and six assists to help lead the Bruins to four straight victories.

Savard is now second in the league in assists (19), trailing only Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin (24). He is also the league's 2nd point getter (tied with Alex Semin) with 27 points. Malkin is the league-leader with 31 points.

Savard also has a team-leading +13 rating.

Trade alert!!!

According to Nick Kypreos, the Maple Leafs have traded forward Alex Steen and defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo in exchange for forward Lee Stempniak.

Stempniak, 25, has three goals and 13 points in 14 games this season.

Colaiacovo, whose career has been plagued by various injuries, has played in 10 games this season with the Maple Leafs, recording only one assist. Colaiacovo is currently day-to-day with a foot injury.

Steen, 24, has two goals and four points in 20 games this season. The son of former Winnipeg Jet, Thomas Steen, is having a rough year with the Maple Leafs. He has played on the 4th line most of the season.

The Blues were looking for a puck-moving defenceman due to numerous injuries to their blueine.

Senators send Illya Zubov down

The Senators have sent forward Ilya Zubov to Binghampton (AHL) as they don't play until Thursday.

Zubov managed 5 shots in four games and was quite efficient on a 4th line. He played with youngsters Cody Bass and Nick Foligno.

Bruins unveil third jersey

The team released its third jersey and uniform to the public this morning, showing off a predominantly black look that features the team's alternate logo as the main crest, with the Spoked-B on the shoulders.

The new jersey will go on sale this afternoon at the Bruins Pro Shop.

The Bruins will wear the new sweater for 16 games during the remainder of the year:
  • Nov. 28 vs. New York Islanders
  • Nov. 29 vs. Detroit
  • Dec. 13 vs. Atlanta
  • Dec. 20 vs. Carolina
  • Jan. 3 vs. Buffalo
  • Jan. 10 vs. Carolina
  • Jan. 19 vs. St. Louis
  • Jan. 21 @ Toronto
  • Jan. 29 vs. New Jersey
  • Feb. 10 vs. San Jose
  • Feb. 24 vs. Florida
  • Mar. 5 vs. Phoenix
  • Mar. 15 @ Pittsburgh
  • Mar. 31 vs. Tampa Bay
  • April 2 vs. Ottawa
  • April 7 @ Ottawa
The logo is new and the bear now look s bit more fierce than on the previous logo. Check all the Bruins logos here.

Ian White likely back on defense tomorrow

Due to the injury to Jonas Frogren I an White is expected to suit as a defenceman for tomorrow's game against the Thrashers.

Defencemen Carlo Colaiacovo and Jonas Frogren were absent from practice yesterday, which meant Mr. Versatility (Ian White) was moved back to the blue line to fill the void.

After being a healthy scratch for the first part of the season, White was inserted in the line-up as a forward where he put up very decent numbers - 7 points in 9 games and +5 ratio.

The Leafs even gave him double duty during his forward stints – deploying him as a defenceman on power plays – because of his puck-moving skills and ability to get shots on net.

Frogren who is nursing a muscle problem will likely be out for one week. Colaiacovo is still experiencing pain and swelling on his foot; he remains day-to-day. Mike Van Ryn is out for several weeks after he got injured on a check from behind from Montreal Canadiens' Tom Kostopoulos.

White will likely play on defence tomorrow, unless Carlo makes a miraculous recovery.

Maple Leafs retire Clark number 17


Wendel Clark joined some elite company Saturday night as his No. 17 jersey was raised to the rafters of the Air Canada Centre prior to the Toronto Maple Leafs' home game against the Chicago Blackhawks.

A former Toronto captain, Clark becomes the 16th player to be so honoured by the Leafs, joining the likes of Frank Mahovlich, Darryl Sittler, Borje Salming and Tim Horton who have also had their jerseys raised.

Clark, the No. 1 overall pick by Toronto in the 1985 NHL draft, received a standing ovation fromt he sellout crowd as he took the ice after a video montage of his career highlights was shown. Clark, and his wife Denise and their three children, walked to centre ice following the video.

After he dropped the puck on the ice for the pre-game ceremonial face-off.

Clark, a native of Kelvington, Saskatchewan., scored 260 goals and 441 points in 608 games during three different stints with the Leafs, captaining the team from 1991-94. His 34 playoff goals were the most by a Maple Leaf.

Ironically, in june 1994, Clark was traded to the Quebec Nordiques in a multi-player deal which brought a young Mats Sundin to the Leafs. Sundin would later become the face of the franchise until the 2007-2008 season when he became an unrestricted free agent.

Source : CBC sports

Habs retire Roy number 33


Patrick Roy finally returned back home on Saturday as his famous #33 was retired by the Montreal Canadiens after more than a decade of a bitter separation between Roy and the organization.

Roy arrived through the Bell Centre corridors and walked his way through the crowd before reaching the ice.

"Tonight, I am coming home," Roy said to the noisy, sold-out crowd at the Bell Centre, when his number was raised to the rafters before Montreal played Boston.

Roy won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP twice with the Canadiens, in 1986 and 1993 when Montreal captured the Stanley Cup. In 1986, Roy was a 20-year-old rookie and, seven years later, in 1993, Roy won a record 10 games in overtime, a record that is unlikely to be broke.

Roy's parents (Michel Roy and Barbara Miller), brother and sister, and his three children (Frederic and Jonathan play for his Quebec Remparts) were on hand for the ceremony, along with his first three Canadiens coaches, Jean Perron, Pat Burns and Jacques Demers.

Drafted by Montreal in 1984, Roy made a brief appearance during the 1984-85 season before making the team for good the following season. A Nordiques fan growing up in the Quebec City area, Roy was nonetheless proud to start his career with the Canadiens.

Francois Allaire, his longtime goalie coach, was praised for helping him perfect his butterfly style that spawned a generation of Quebec-developed goalies.

Patrick Roy retired after the 2002-2003 season at the age of 37 year-old.

Roy, inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006, previously had his No. 33 retired by Colorado. He is the sixth NHL player to receive such an honor from two teams.

He won a Calder Memorial Cup with the Quebec Remparts in 2006.

Source: Associated Press

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Maple Leafs expected lines for tonight

Forwards:
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Matt Stajan - Nik Antropov
Niklas Hagman - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin
Jason Blake - Alex Steen – Ian White
Ryan Hollweg - Dominic Moore - Jamal Mayers

Extra: Jiri Tlusty, John Mitchell

Defensemen:
Tomas Kaberle - Jeff Finger
Pavel Kubina - Jonas Frogen
Anton Stralman - Luke Schenn

Extra: Carlo Colaiacovo, Mike Van Ryn both injured

Goalies:
Vesa Toskala
Curtis Joseph

Honouring Wendel Clark

Wendelpalooza is here.

Prior to tonight's Maple Leafs-Chicago Blackhawks tilt at the Air Canada Centre, a banner sporting Wendel Clark’s familiar No. 17 will be hoisted to the rafters in honour of the contributions the rugged forward made to the Original Six team over the years.

In celebration of Wendel Clark Night, all fans attending the game will receive a special Wendel Clark moustache in recognition of No. 17’s trademark facial hair. The crowd will be encouraged to wear them, with organizers hoping to turn the capactity throng into 20,0000 Wendel lookalikes.

The fans might not be the only ones sporting those moustaches either.

“Maybe we’ll all wear them out for the pre-game skate,” goalie Curtis Joseph said, referring to his teammates.

Added rookie defenceman Luke Schenn: “It’s a great idea. I’d do it if other guys do.”

We’ll see.

In addition to the Wendel Clark moustache, the first 5,000 fans in attendance will receive a special Wendel Clark bobblehead.


Source: Mike Zeisberger

Sabres expected lines for tonight

Forwards:
Thomas Vanek - Jochen Hecht - Jason Pominville
Clarke MacArthur - Derek Roy - Drew Stafford
Daniel Paille - Paul Gaustad - Mark Mancari
Patrick Kaleta - Adam Mair - Andrew Peters

Defensemen:
Jaroslav Spacek - Craig Rivet
Tony Lydman - Andrej Sekera
Nathan Paetsch - Teppo Numminen

Goalies:
Patrick Lalime
Ryan Miller

Patrick Lalime will get for tonight's game against the Islanders.
Henrik Tallinder and Maxim Afinogenov will be healthy scratches again.

Senators expected lines vs the Rangers

Forwards:
Heatley - Spezza - Alfredsson
Kelly - Vermette - Winchester
Ruutu - McAmmond - Donovan
Foligno - Bass - Zubov

Defence:
Phillips - Volchenkov
Picard - Kuba
Smith - Bell

Goaltender:
Auld

Healthy Scratches : Schubert, Richardson

Canadiens expected lines for tonight

Forwards:
Higgins - Koivu - Tanguay
A. Kostitsyn - Plekanec - Kovalev
S. Kostitsyn - Lang - Kostopolos
Begin - Lapierre - Laraque

Defence:
Markov - Gorges
Hamrlik - O'Byrne
Bouillon - Brisebois

Goaltender:
Price

Healty scratches: Dandenault
Injured players: Latendresse and Komisarek

Bruins expected lines for tonight

Forwards:
Milan Lucic - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel
P.J. Axelsson - Patrice Bergeron - Michael Ryder
Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Chuck Kobasew
Shawn Thornton - Stephane Yelle - Petteri Nokelainen

Defensemen:
Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward
Matt Hunwick - Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart - Shane Hnidy

Goalies:
Tim Thomas
Manny Fernandez

Thomas is expected to get the start tonight, even if it's a back to back game. Sturm is still out with an injury.

Patrick Roy's greatness

Nearly 13 years ago, Patrick Roy was playing the worst game of his professional career. After finally being pulled, Roy skated past his coach to inform the president of the vaunted Montreal Canadiens that he had just played his last game for them.

On Saturday night, that rift will finally be healed.

Montreal will honor the NHL’s all-time wins leader by retiring Roy’s No. 33 before the Canadiens take on the surging Boston Bruins.

Roy is second in the Canadiens’ storied history with 289 victories and helped Montreal to Stanley Cups in 1986 and 1993, when he won 10 straight overtime games en route to the second of his three Conn Smythe Trophies.

But less than two years after Montreal’s last title, Roy’s divorce from the Canadiens would be as stunning and quick as it was messy.

Facing Detroit on Dec. 2, 1995, Roy gave up nine goals on 26 shots in an 11-1 loss. When he was replaced late in the second period by journeyman Pat Jablonski, Roy snubbed coach Mario Tremblay and leaned over to team president Ronald Corey, who was sitting behind the bench, and said he was through with the Canadiens.

Within days, Roy was dealt with Mike Keane to Colorado for Andrei Kovalenko, Martin Rucinsky and Jocelyn Thibault in arguably one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history.

“I think (we’re) finally gonna put away that December 2nd of ‘95,” Roy said in a conference call this week. “When you get to the NHL they say to you, one game does not make a career. But one game made pretty much (made) my career in Montreal.”

Roy played eight seasons with Colorado, and became that franchise’s leader with 262 victories and 37 shutouts. He went on to win Stanley Cups in 1996 and 2001, and the Avalanche retired his No. 33 in 2003.

That also was when the three-time Vezina Trophy winner left the game as the all-time leader with 551 wins - including 32 against Boston. He still is the leader among goaltenders in games played (1,029), playoff games (247), postseason wins (151) and shutouts (23).

Roy’s regular-season wins record will almost surely be eclipsed by New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur, who has 544 victories but also will be out for much of the remainder of the season after elbow surgery.

Now the co-owner and coach of a junior team in his native Quebec City, Roy will become the 15th Canadiens player to have his jersey retired.

“You have no control on whether your jersey will be retired, but I certainly hoped it would happen one day,” Roy said.

Check this great article if you want to learn more about Roy's illustrious career.

Flyers blank lowly Sabres 3-0

Martin Biron made the Buffalo Sabres pay for plenty of missed opportunities.

Biron made 40 saves for his first shutout of the season and 24th overall in the Philadelphia Flyers’ 3-0 victory over the Sabres on Friday night.

Buffalo misfired on a handful of open nets, hit three posts, and couldn’t muster any luck against a Philadelphia team that won its third straight.

Biron actually looked rather good on his own, making several spectacular saves against his former team to help the Flyers improve to 8-6-4 with their fourth win in five games. He stopped Thomas Vanek with a nifty right pad save on a second-period breakaway, and robbed Jaroslav Spacek on a point-blank slap shot with the Flyers down two men in the first.

Biron also made six big stops over a combined two minutes of a pair of Buffalo two-man advantages in the opening two periods.

“We played a pretty basic game, and Marty did everything that we needed him to do,” said Philadelphia center Jeff Carter, who scored twice. Scott Hartnell also scored for the Flyers, 3-0-1 in their last four road games.

The Flyers won despite playing without former Sabres co-captain Daniel Briere. He missed his fourth consecutive game because of a groin injury.

After starting the season 6-0-2, the slumping Sabres (9-7-3) dropped their fourth straight to fall to 1-5-1 in their last seven games.

Buffalo’s Ryan Miller finished with 22 saves two nights after being pulled early in the third period in Boston after surrendering seven goals. He dropped to 5-1-1 in his last seven starts against the Flyers.

In an effort to shake up its slump, Buffalo sat defenseman Henrik Tallinder and forward Maxim Afinogenov. Right wing Mark Mancari, the second-leading scorer in the AHL, was recalled from Portland and inserted into the lineup, while defenseman Nathan Paetsch played for just the fifth time. The change was to no avail.

“When you haven’t been going good you don’t get the breaks,” Ruff said. “We haven’t been going good.”

Hartnell opened the scoring with just 58 seconds left in the first period. Coming out of the penalty box after serving a minor penalty, Hartnell accepted a long pass from Simon Gagne to go in alone on Miller. Hartnell made a quick move before lifting a backhander over Miller’s left shoulder for his fifth of the season.

Two minutes later, Jason Pominville hit the side of a gaping net before Carter made Buffalo pay, beating Miller with a bouncing-puck wrist shot from the top of the right circle that made it 2-0 with 11:41 to go.
Carter capped the scoring with his team-leading 13th into an empty net with a minute left.

Bruins top Panthers 4-2

Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron had a goal and an assist each to lead Boston to its eighth victory in nine games, a 4-2 decision over Florida on Friday night that moved the Bruins into a tie for the Eastern Conference lead.

“One of the things they preached at the start of the season was positioning,” defenseman Aaron Ward said. “Teams that position themselves well by Thanksgiving have a tendency to really put themselves in good position at the end of the year.”

The Bruins, 11-1-1 in their last 13 games and the winners of seven straight at home, matched the idle New York Rangers with 30 points in the conference race. “I don’t think we feel too good about ourselves,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “Our team has not had to face this kind of thing for a long time … being in first place.”

Phil Kessel and David Krejci added goals for Boston. David Booth and Ville Peltonen scored for Florida, which ended a stretch of eight games in the last 10 on the road. The Panthers play the next three games at home.“It’s been a tough few weeks,” Florida coach Peter DeBoer said. “A team like (Boston), they’ll sting you. You make one mistake and it’s in the net.”

Savard, who has two goals and nine assists during a five-game points streak and three goals and 15 assists in the last 17 games, sent Kessel in on a breakaway to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead just 2:46 of the first period. Kessel has goals in each of the last three games and three goals and three assists during a five-game points streak. He is the first Bruin to 10 goals this season.

After Booth tied it, Bergeron tipped Matt Hunwick’s shot past Tomas Vokoun for his first goal in eight games. David Krejci and Savard scored in the second period as the Bruins peppered Vokoun with 35 shots in the first 40 minutes.

Bruins goalie Tim Thomas made 30 saves to improve to 5-0-1 in his last six games. Ville Peltonen scored his first goal of the season late to make it closer.

Booth’s goal came on a breakaway and was first ruled no goal, even though it appeared to be in. A review confirmed Booth’s sixth goal in the last nine games.

The Bruins, who haven’t lost in regulation this month, are one game from matching their longest home winning streak since Nov. 2-29, 2002. They will face the New York Islanders on Nov. 29 after two straight road games.

Bruins left wing Marco Sturm missed his second straight game because of an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. Boston defenseman Matt Lashoff, recalled earlier in the week, was a healthy scratch. …

Friday, November 21, 2008

Mike Komisarek out 1 month with shoulder injury

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mike Komisarek will be on the shelf for another month with a shoulder injury suffered after a fight with Boston's Milan Lucic last week.

Komisarek has already missed the Habs last 4 games because of a shoulder dislocation. It was originally thought that Komisarek would only miss one week. The Canadiens receive the Bruins and Milan Lucic tomorrow night.

Lucic will become enemy #1 in Montreal and it's expected he will get booed everytime he will touch the puck.

Expect Bob Gainey to make a move very soon, whether it is calling up a rearguard from Hamilton or acquiring a defenseman via transaction.

Sabres expected lines for tonight

Forwards:
Thomas Vanek - Jochen Hecht - Jason Pominville
Clarke MacArthur - Derek Roy - Drew Stafford
Daniel Paille - Paul Gaustad - Mark Mancari
Patrick Kaleta - Adam Mair - Andrew Peters

Defensemen:
Jaroslav Spacek - Craig Rivet
Tony Lydman - Andrej Sekera
Nathan Paetsch - Teppo Numminen

Goalies:
Ryan Miller
Patrick Lalime

Ryan Miller is expected to get the start for tonight's game against the Flyers.
Henrik Tallinder and Maxim Afinogenov will be healthy scratches.

The Sabres have recalled right winger Mark Mancari from Portland, where he was second in the AHL in scoring with 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 14 games.

Bruins expected lines for tonight

Forwards:
Milan Lucic - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel
P.J. Axelsson - Patrice Bergeron - Michael Ryder
Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Chuck Kobasew
Shawn Thornton - Stephane Yelle - Petteri Nokelainen

Defensemen:
Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward
Matt Hunwick - Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart - Shane Hnidy

Goalies:
Tim Thomas
Manny Fernandez

Thomas is expected to get the start tonight.

Matt Lashoff who was called up from Providence is not expected to play.

Canadiens wins 3-2 in shootout


Alex Tanguay scored on Montreal’s fourth shootout attempt to give the Canadiens a 3-2 victory over the Senators on Thursday night. Andrei Markov and Jason Spezza also scored on the shootout.

The Senators’ losing streak reached six games (0-4-2) in which they also managed to score 7 goals.

Dany Heatley gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead 4:21 in with his team-leading 11th goal. Saku Koivu pulled the Canadiens even at 1 with his seventh goal on a power play 13:33 into the first. The Canadiens had 8 shots in a very boring first period; the Senators only managed 4 shots.

There was no goal in the 2nd period, the Habs shot only 3 times and the Sens 7 times, but Steve Begin and Cody Bass dropped the gloves to give the fans something to cheer about.

Nick Foligno put Ottawa ahead 2-1 with his second goal on a power play 4:58 into the third on a rebound where Carey Price didn't know where the puck was. Markov drew Montreal even at 2 with 4:24 remaining in the third. The Russian defenseman drove a slap shot past Auld from the right faceoff circle for his second goal of the season.

Montreal’s Guillaume Latendresse drew a high-sticking penalty after he got his stick up on defenseman Anton Volchenkov in the Senators’ zone with 15.2 remaining in regulation; however, the Senators failed to take advantage of this penalty in overtime.

The Canadiens managed only 21 shots on Alex Auld, who made 19 saves. As for the Senators they shot 25 times on Price, who stopped 23 shots.

The Canadiens will host the Boston Bruins on Saturday after the raise Patrick ROy's number to the rafters. As for the Senators they will receive the NYRangers also on Saturday.

Gainey still after Sundin

As per Sportsnet:

A sputtering power play seems to have forced the Montreal Canadiens to rekindle their interest in Mats Sundin.

Canadiens GM Bob Gainey met Wednesday with Sundin in California, where the 37-year-old unrestricted free agent has been working out as he decides whether to resume his NHL career.

The meeting is an about-face for Gainey, who had said he no longer had interest in Sundin after the team acquired forwards Robert Lang and Alex Tanguay. In late June, Gainey dealt for the exclusive negotiating rights with Sundin prior to the July 1 free agent deadline, but could not come to an agreement.

The Canadiens, though, have had some offensive struggles of late, including a power play that is ranked 26th in the league at 14.8 per cent entering Thursday’s game against the Ottawa Senators.

Though Sundin hasn’t publicly said he will return to the league, sources tell Hockeycentral if all goes according to plan, he and his agent J.P. Barry will put together a short list of teams in which Sundin has interest, one of which Gainey hopes to be.

My take: Gainey being a very clever GM, I'm sure he will find a way to move players and fit Sundin under the cap he deems Sundin would bolster his anemic attack. The Habs need to perform well this season for their centennial.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Projected lines Habs vs Senators

Forwards:
Latendresse - Koivu - Tanguay
Higgins - Plekanec - Kovalev
A. Kostitsyn - Lang - Kostopolos
S. Kostitsyn - Begin - Laraque

Defence:
Markov - Gorges
Hamrlik - O'Byrne
Bouillon - Brisebois

Goaltender:
Price

Healty scratches: Lapierre, Dandenault

Forwards:
Heatley - Spezza - Alfredsson
Kelly - Vermette - Winchester
Ruutu - McAmmond - Donovan
Foligno - Bass - Zubov

Defence:
Phillips - Volchenkov
Picard - Kuba
Smith - Bell

Goaltender:
Auld

Healthy Scratches : Schubert, Richardson

Habs need to find a power play specialist

I guess a lot of fans in Montreal now miss Mark Streit after his departure via free agency to Long Island.

Montreal had last year’s number one power play in the NHL, but they are now sitting 26th with a poor 14.6% success rate, while the Islanders power play has improved slightly from 29th to 25th overall. Streit has 12 points (he would be the Habs' 5th scorer) in 18 games, with only six of them coming with the man advantage.

Many thought Streit would struggle as a full-time defenseman, but he’s only minus-2 on a very ordinary islanders team. Streit has logged the ninth most ice time in the NHL with an average of 25:53 each game, including over six minutes on the power play.

Meanwhile, Ryan O'Byrne and Patrice Brisebois, who play with Roman Hamrlik, Streit's former partner on defense, have a combined 1 goal and 4 assists in 27 games this season...

Streit was the shooter on a very effective 1st unit last season along with Markov, Kovalev, Plekanec and A. Kostitsyn. This season, newly-acquired Alex Tanguay is also manning the point with Andrei Markov.

The latter was asked to be the shooter without great success, Markov being more of a passer than a shooter, as shown by his 1 goal and 13 assists in 17 games this season. As a result, the Habs have became very predictable on the power play, and the defensive team is putting much more pressure on Koivu (0 goal on the PP) and Kovalev (1 goal on the PP).

Guy Carbonneau has yet to adjust his strategy and the problem is more and more evident recently as the Canadiens have lost 4 of their last 5 games.

Will Carbonneau change his strategy or will Bob Gainey pull the trigger and acquire a power play specialist with a hard shot (Philippe Boucher anyone)?

Offensive showdown in Boston

The Boston Bruins were able to overcome at 4-2 deficit in the middle of the 1st period to get a 7-4 win against their Norteast rivals, the Buffalo Sabres. The Bruins scored five unanswered goals to give them their sixth straight win at home and their seventh win in the last eight games. Boston’s last regulation loss was Oct. 30 in Calgary.

Manny Fernandez struggled early, allowing 4 goals on 14 shots in the 1st period, before closing the door for the rest of the game. Ryan Miller had a tough night and was pulled at the beginning of the 3rd period after he surrendered Boston's 7th goal to Phil Kessel.

In the loss, Vanek scored 2 goals and 1 assist. He is now the league leader with 15 goals on the season. Jason Pominville scored in his 4th consecutive game, notching a goal and 2 assists. Teppo Numminen and Daniel Paille finished the night with a -3.

Zdeno Chara and Chuck Kobasew each scored twice in the win. Marc Savard figured in four goals (1 g, 3 a), giving him 600 points in his illustrious career.

The Bruins are now 2-0-1 against the Sabres this season. They will next face each other on November 26 in Buffalo.

The Bruins' next game is in Florida Friday, as for the Sabres they will host the Philadelphia Flyers also on Friday.

Bruins forward Marco Sturm missed the game with an upper body injury