Hockey Today - Friday, Nov. 9
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SCOREBOARD
Friday, Nov. 9
St. Louis at Chicago (8:30 p.m. EST). The Blues and the Blackhawks play the third of their eight games this season. The visiting team has one win each so far.
STARS
Thursday
-Roberto Luongo, Canucks, made 22 of his 36 saves in the third period and Vancouver held off Calgary 3-2.
-Steven Reinprecht, Coyotes, had two goals and an assist in a 5-2 victory over Dallas.
-Shane O'Brien and Johan Holmqvist Lightning. O'Brien scored twice and Holmqvist made 40 saves to lead Tampa Bay to a 5-1 win at Carolina.
-Dainius Zubrus, Devils, scored his first two goals in a 4-1 win over Philadelphia.
-Viktor Kozlov, Capitals, had a goal and two assists in the second period of Washington's 4-1 victory at Ottawa.
-Carey Price, Canadiens, made 28 saves and Montreal edged Boston 2-1.
SAYING GOODBYE
Former NHL MVP Eric Lindros retired Thursday, ending a career derailed by a series of concussions and other injuries. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound power forward had 372 goals, 865 points and 1,398 penalty minutes in 760 games for Philadelphia, Toronto, the New York Rangers and Dallas. The 34-year-old won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 1995 and was part of the Canadian Olympic team that won gold in 2002.
SNAPPED
Ottawa's team-record eight-game winning streak ended with a 4-1 home loss to Washington on Thursday night. The Senators also lost for just the second time in 14 games (12-2-0). ... Phoenix snapped a six-game home losing streak with its 5-2 win over Dallas. The Coyotes hadn't won at home since a 3-2 victory opening night against St. Louis.
FINALLY
Tampa Bay won its first road game in eight tries this season, 5-1 at Carolina on Thursday night.
RANGER REVIVAL
The New York Rangers scored at least four goals in a game for just the third time in 12 contests in a 4-2 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Despite their offensive struggles, the Rangers have won six of their last eight games and five straight at home.
UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY
Tampa Bay defenseman Shane O'Brien recorded his second two-goal game this month in a 5-1 win at Carolina on Thursday night. O'Brien, who also did it against Atlanta on Nov. 3, only had two tallies in 80 career NHL games entering this season.
STRUGGLING
Glen Murray has one goal in 15 games for Boston after being held scoreless in Thursday night's 2-1 loss to Montreal. He had 32 goals last season and 44 and 41 in the previous two respectively.
FIRSTS
Brandon Dubinsky scored his first NHL goal in the New York Rangers' 4-2 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday night. ... New Jersey's Rod Pelley had his first career tally in a 4-1 victory over Philadelphia.
SIMON SAYS SIT
Philadelphia left winger Simon Gagne was scratched from Thursday's game against New Jersey after complaining of dizziness stemming from a collision with Pittsburgh's Gary Roberts. The hit occurred in the third period of Philadelphia's 3-1 road win Wednesday night. Gagne missed four games due to dizziness before returning Monday night against the New York Rangers.
WHERE'S WES?
Wes Walz is still missing from the Minnesota Wild, who officially granted an indefinite leave of absence for the veteran center on Thursday. The team said Walz requested the leave, but provided no further details. Wild general manager Doug Risebrough and assistant general manager Tom Lynn were unavailable for comment. Walz's agent, Jay Grossman, didn't return a phone call.
MVT IN TORONTO
The Toronto Maple Leafs are the most valuable NHL team, even though the Original Six franchise hasn't captured the Stanley Cup in 40 years, according to Forbes. The value of the Maple Leafs has gone up 23 percent a year since the initial investment by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in 1994 and has a current value of $413 million, $48 million more than the New York Rangers in second place. The Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks rank 12th among the 30 teams with a value of $197 million.
SPEAKING
''Obviously, I would be lying if I said I feel good right now. It's tough for me to be sitting here. I feel a lot of the symptoms from the concussion and so far it's hard for me to walk 200 feet without feeling dizzy and light headed. Pretty much day-to-day stuff I would normally do is tough.'' - Boston's Patrice Bergeron on the effects of the concussion he received after being checked into the boards from behind by Philadelphia defenseman Randy Jones on Oct. 27. Bergeron spoke about the incident publicly for the first time on Thursday and also said that ''NHL players need to respect each other a bit more.''
Friday's key NHL matchup notes
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Toronto Maple Leafs at Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres defeated the Leafs 5-4 on Oct. 15, when Ales Kotalik scored a power-play goal with 3.7 seconds left in overtime. Buffalo improved to 15-5-2 with one tie against Toronto since the start of the 2003-04 season.
Atlanta Thrashers at Florida Panthers
Florida's Olli Jokinen had two goals and four assists last season against Atlanta - all at home. Tomas Vokoun has faced Atlanta only five times, going 1-3-1 with a 1.99 GAA and one shutout.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Detroit Red Wings
Columbus' Sergei Fedorov, who played 13 seasons in Detroit, but has been held without a point in his last seven trips to Joe Louis Arena as a visitor. Detroit is 14-2-2 all-time at home against Columbus.
St. Louis Blues at Chicago Blackhawks
Paul Kariya has scored a goal in both games against the Blackhawks this season. He has 27 goals and 62 points in 55 meetings with Chicago, his second-highest totals against any team.
Colorado Avalanche at Vancouver Canucks
Roberto Luongo has surrendered at least three goals in all his home losses, and he's given up seven goals while losing his last two home starts against the Avalanche.
San Jose Sharks at Anaheim Ducks
This is the first meeting of the season between these teams after Anaheim went 5-2-1 against the Sharks last year.
Wild center still missing, granted leave by team
November 8, 2007
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -Wes Walz is still missing from the Minnesota Wild, who officially granted an indefinite leave of absence for the veteran center on Thursday.
The team said Walz requested the leave, but provided no further details. Wild general manager Doug Risebrough and assistant general manager Tom Lynn were unavailable for comment. Walz's agent, Jay Grossman, didn't return a phone call.
Walz, one of two players remaining from the team's inaugural season in 2000-01, was initially excused on Nov. 1. Lynn has said Walz's situation is not related to health or family.
The 37-year-old, who is in his 12th NHL season, is being paid and counts against the salary cap. He will not count, however, against the 23-man active roster during his absence.
Walz, one of Minnesota's two alternate captains, thought about retiring last spring. Instead, he agreed to a one-year contract for this season, the fourth time he's signed with the Wild. Though his career high is a modest 19 goals and 37 points in 2005-06 and he has missed time to several lower-body injuries, Walz has long been one of the team's most valuable players for his speed, grit and defensive ability. He skated on the first line for the season opener with Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra.
In an unrelated note, Gaborik and Demitra have not practiced this week due to strained groin muscles. Their status for Sunday's game at Colorado is uncertain.
Gagne sustains another injury
NEWARK, N.J. - Simon Gagne appears to have suffered his second concussion of the season.
The Flyers' winger did not play in last night's game against New Jersey after complaining of dizziness and a headache stemming from a hit by Pittsburgh's Gary Roberts late in the third period Wednesday. Sami Kapanen also missed the Devils game with a sprained right knee.
Both players went home yesterday afternoon.
"He didn't feel great after the game," general manager Paul Holmgren said of Gagne.
"He felt a little better this morning, but as the day went on, he felt a little shaky."
Said Gagne: "After the game in Pittsburgh, I felt that something was not going right. I thought maybe it was just the fatigue of the game. I had a good night of sleep; I woke up this morning still feeling that something was not right. I went back to sleep another couple of hours before the game, and when I woke up to go to the game, I was experiencing that dizziness feeling again.
"I know I got hit one time pretty hard. I don't know if this is the reason why I am feeling the way I am today or from the first time this happened."
Gagne will be examined by Gary Dorshimer, the Flyers' physician.
Gagne suffered a concussion Oct. 24 in a game against Florida after being hit by Jay Bouwmeester. Gagne missed four games and needed 11 to recover. This injury, coming so soon after the first, could keep him out of the lineup longer.
"We'll see what our doctors say," Holmgren said. "After the game, he was kind of iffy, didn't really complain that much about it. On the plane, he was fine; this morning, he was OK. We're going to get him checked out."
Flyers coach John Stevens said he wondered whether fatigue had played a role in Gagne's injury.
"I wonder how much fatigue played a part with games and because of two or three days of travel," he said. "We'll get him some rest and see how he responds. He got hit pretty hard."
As for Kapanen, he is expected to be sidelined for seven to 10 days. Stefan Ruzicka, called up from the Phantoms, replaced Gagne in the lineup.
www.philly.com
Panthers recall veteran Cullimore
November 9th, 2007
Sunrise, FL (Sports Network) - The Florida Panthers recalled defenseman Jassen Cullimore from a two-week conditioning stint with their AHL affiliate in Rochester.
The 34-year-old Cullimore, who inked a one-year deal with the Panthers on October 26, has played in 643 career NHL games with Vancouver (1994-97), Montreal (1997-98), Tampa Bay (1998-2004) and Chicago (2005-06), registering 21 goals and 59 assists.
Last season, the 6-foot-5, 245-pound defenseman played in 65 games with the Blackhawks, scoring one goal with six assists.
To make room for Cullimore on the roster, the Panthers returned forward Anthony Stewart to Rochester. Stewart appeared in six games for Florida and failed to record a point. He has four goals and three assists in eight games with Rochester.