Philadelphia Flyers Daily Clips – December 11, 2011

FLYERS Headlines

1. Philadelphia Inquirer – Flyers beat Tampa Bay, but could lose Giroux to head injury 2. Philadelphia Inquirer – Flyers Notes: Flyers coach hoping for a healthy Pronger 3. Philadelphia Inquirer – Flyers Anxiously Await Status of Giroux, Bryzgalov 4. Philadelphia Inquirer – Inside the Flyers: Flyers overcoming adversity 5. CSNPhillly.com – Flyers beat Lightning but may lose Giroux 6. CSNPhilly.com – Now we wait to see if Giroux is OK 7. CSNPhilly.com – Laviolette confident in Pronger-less Flyers' D 8. CSNPhilly.com – Snider Hockey will leave a lasting legacy 9. Delaware County Times – Big win for Flyers comes with bigger losses 10. Delaware County Times – Oh... so NOW Chris Pronger has concussion symptoms 11. Delaware County Times – Flyers' Laviolette: We all feel bad for Pronger 12. Bucks County Courier-Times – Giroux hurt as Flyers win fifth in a row 13. Bucks County Courier-Times – Bernie in the nets, one more time 14. Bucks County Courier-Times – Flyers set to go on without Pronger 15. Camden Courier-Post – Giroux hurt in Flyers victory 16. Camden Courier-Post – Couturier: Few goals, lots of value 17. Camden Courier-Post – How tweet it is: Parent to suit up again 18. Philly Sports Daily – Giroux, Bryzgalov Leave In Flyers Victory Over Lightning 19. Philly Sports Daily – Ilya Bryzgalov Says He Is A “Bad Liar” 20. Philly Sports Daily – Couturier Not Bothered By Skipping World Juniors 21. NHL.com – Flyers keep soaring with 5-2 win over Bolts Tampa Bay Lightning Headlines (FLYERS last opponent)

1. Tampa Tribune – Flyers pull away for 5-2 win over Lightning 2. Tampa Tribune – Connolly happy to play for his country 3. Tampa Tribune – Melee good sign as Bolts try to bond 4. St. Pete Times – Tampa Bay Lightning loses to Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 5. St. Pete Times – Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher won't criticize Steve Downie for Rangers fight 6. St. Pete Times – Tampa Bay Lightning Nuts and Bolts 7. St. Pete Times – Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman has options to bolster defense 8. St. Pete Times – Tampa Bay Lightning loves surging prospect Cory Conacher, but an NHL deal has "timing issues" Adirondack Phantoms Headlines

1. Glens Falls Post-Star – Phantoms top Rochester in overtime NHL Headlines

1. Edmonton Journal – Hockey World: Dec. 10 2. Ottawa Sun – Rink Wrap: Gauthier's last stand? 2 3. New York Post – Time to give up the fighting 4. Denver Post – Dater: Avalanche's Quincey emerging as a leader

5. Newark Star-Ledger – Around the NHL: Islanders' Al Arbour had coaching tactics that translate to all generations

1. Philadelphia Inquirer – Flyers beat Tampa Bay, but could lose Giroux to head

injury

Marc Narducci

The Flyers have continued a season-long trend by winning games and losing players. Despite seeing Claude Giroux depart late in the second period with a head injury and goalie Ilya Bryzgalov leave with 13 minutes, 1 second left in the game, the Flyers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-2, Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers lead the Eastern Conference with an 18-7-3 record (39 points). Giroux was hurt late in the second period when he was inadvertently kneed in the head by teammate Wayne Simmonds. "He was in front of me and I tried to jump over him and I don't know where I caught him," Simmonds said. Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said more would be known Sunday. "Claude was examined by our doctors and held out for precautionary reasons, and we will see how he is," Holmgren said. Giroux, who had two assists to increase his point total to 39, will be examined first thing in the morning, Holmgren said. "I spoke with him and he feels better," Holmgren. "He will get some rest and our doctors will meet with him [Sunday]." Holmgren said Bryzgalov suffered a lower-body injury in the second period. "He wanted to continue and it stiffened up on him in the third," Holmgren said. "We don't think it's serious." Bryzgalov tried to downplay the injury. When asked if he were day to day, he responded, "I am hour to hour." One never knows how the Flyers begin a game, but they are certainly doing a commendable job by the conclusion, especially of late. Following a lackluster first period in which they trailed, 1-0, the Flyers scored three goals in the second and came close on a few other occasions.

It was the fifth consecutive win for the Flyers, all started by Bryzgalov. In Thursday's 3-2 win over Pittsburgh, the Flyers opened with a 3-0 lead. The game before, a 5-4 overtime win at Buffalo, the Flyers began the game down by 3-0. Before that, the Flyers jumped to a 4-0 lead in a 4-2 victory at Phoenix. And in the game that began the win streak, the Flyers trailed by 3-0 before earning a 4-3 overtime victory at Anaheim. Tampa Bay scored the game's first goal when Dominic Moore sent a pass from the left wing to Ryan Shannon, who was stationed at the right post and tipped it in the short side with 8:08 left in the first period. In the first period, too many Lightning skaters were left free in front of Bryzgalov. Things were remedied in the second period. The Flyers began the second period shorthanded after Andrej Meszaros was assessed a two-minute minor for roughing at the 20-minute mark of the first period. It didn't seem to bother the Flyers, who almost tied it up when Kimmo Timonen hit the post on a slap shot while shorthanded. Moments later, while playing at full strength, the Flyers scored two goals within 34 seconds. Danny Briere scored from the right circle after receiving a pass from Simmonds, and then Jaromir Jagr added his 10th goal on a slap shot with 16:48 left in the second period. Simmonds made it 3-1 when his backhander went off the skate of defenseman Brett Clark in the net near the end of a Flyers power play. Late in the period, Jagr almost struck again, hitting the crossbar on a slap shot from the left circle. Tampa Bay goalie Mathieu Garon later made a nice glove save on a Jakub Voracek wrist shot. Vincent Lecavalier cut the margin to 3-2 on a power-play goal 55 seconds into the third period. The Flyers doubled the lead on Matt Carle's power-play goal, a wrist shot off a feed from Briere. Shortly after, Sean Couturier was stoned in front by Garon. Scott Hartnell finished matters with an empty-net goal. 2. Philadelphia Inquirer – Flyers Notes: Flyers coach hoping for a healthy Pronger

Marc Narducci

Coach Peter Laviolette and the rest of the Flyers organization are hoping that injured defenseman Chris Pronger can return, but nobody has any timetable. Pronger was recovering from surgery to his right foot when the Flyers announced on Friday that he has had concussion symptoms and will be out indefinitely. Originally the Flyers had announced that Pronger had a virus. Pronger will be evaluated by concussion specialists Joe Maroon and Mickey Collins in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Since July 2010, Pronger has gone through five operations. He's had arthroscopic surgery on his right and left knee. There has also been surgery on his right foot, his back, and his right hand and wrist. Also this season he suffered an injury to his right eye when hit with a stick against Toronto. Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Wells Fargo Center was the 15th he has missed this season. Laviolette said it was difficult to watch what his all-star defenseman has gone through. "I think everybody feels bad for him, and first and foremost I hope he gets healthy for life," Laviolette said before Saturday's game. "It's never any fun, and if you had injuries nagging you it sucks. I hope he gets healthy first and foremost, period." The painful reality is that the Flyers have to proceed with their leader out of the lineup. "Do we wish we had Chris back? Of course we do, he is a terrific player and defenseman," Laviolette said. "He's not here." Laviolette was perplexed when asked if the Flyers have to prepare for life without Pronger. "I don't know what it means to prepare for life without Chris Pronger," Laviolette said. "I don't know when we are getting him back." The coach remains confident regardless of who is on the ice. "We have a good team in that locker room and I feel we can win," he said. Surviving on the road After Saturday's game with Tampa Bay, the Flyers will be on the road for seven of their next eight games before returning for the Winter Classic against the New York Rangers on Jan. 2 at Citizens Bank Park. The only home game in the next eight will be Saturday against the Boston Bruins.

The Flyers entered Saturday with the most road points in the NHL. They are 10-3-1 on the road for 21 points. Florida also entered Saturday with 21 road points, but the Panthers (10-6-1) had played three more games than the Flyers. 3. Philadelphia Inquirer – Flyers Anxiously Await Status of Giroux, Bryzgalov

Sam Carchidi

It really doesn’t matter what the early spin is on the latest of Flyers injuries. We’ll know more soon enough. General manager Paul Holmgren didn’t seem to sound serious alarms after Claude Giroux suffered a head injury and Ilya Bryzgalov suffered a lower body injury in Saturday’s 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. We’ve learned with the Flyers and really, any professional team, that initial statements mean very little. Holmgren said Giroux was examined by a doctor and was feeling better. He said Giroux was held out of the third period for precautionary measures. When asked if Giroux was experiencing any headaches, Holmgren replied, “not really headaches. This was really just precautionary at this stage.” Not really headaches? Again, it makes no sense to probe into whether Giroux is hurt or not or two what degree. Everybody knows how lingering head injuries can be, but it’s fruitless to speculate because nobody, including the doctors could tell right away. Giroux will be examined again Sunday and more will likely be known. Teams, and it’s not just the Flyers, tend to suggest a player isn’t seriously hurt at first. And it’s not just with head injuries. How many tweaked hamstrings or groins turn into an extended time off for athletes of any sport? Teams can’t be blamed for wishful thinking. In this media driven world, we all want immediate answers. With most injuries, more is known as the days go by. Bryzgalov tried to make light of things. At first he told the media that he left the game for an equipment issue. Of course he departed with 13:01 left in the third period and no equipment issue takes that long to take care of.

When he was pressed, Bryzgalov finally came clean. “I’m a bad liar,” he said. That drew plenty of laughter, but no disagreement. Then Bryzgalov decided to tell the truth. “It was starting to bother me more and more during the game and we decided to be safe,” he said. Both Holmgren and Bryzgalov seem to think he shouldn’t be sidelined. We’ll see. The Flyers have survived so many injuries and still lead the Eastern Conference, but losing Giroux, who has played at an MVP level, would be the biggest of challenges to overcome. One thing about Flyers coach Peter Laviolette is that he continues to have the mentality that he’ll compete with the available players. Nobody is probably more frustrated by the rash of injuries the Flyers have suffered, but Laviolette never makes excuses and attempts to plow along. “Certainly any time a player is removed from the lineup it’s disappointing,” he said. “You know Claude is off to a terrific start and has been a very important piece for a lot of different reasons for our club, and any time a player like that comes out of the game you’re missing him.” Then quickly Laviolette brought out the positive aspects of his team and how the Flyers played in the third period without Giroux. “I thought the guys really picked it up for him in the third period and played an excellent defensive period, still created some scoring chances and we were able to win the game and that’s a good thing, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see right now,” Laviolette said. Waiting will be the most difficult part – for Giroux and the Flyers alike. 4. Philadelphia Inquirer – Inside the Flyers: Flyers overcoming adversity

Sam Carchidi

Captain Chris Pronger has missed 15 games and will be evaluated by two concussion specialists Wednesday. Danny Briere, the Flyers' leading goal scorer last season, is still

searching for chemistry with his new linemates. Ilya Bryzgalov, the goalie with $51 million worth of expectations, has been alarmingly inconsistent. Yet the Flyers, despite injury problems, despite playing with as many as seven rookies in their lineup, have climbed among the NHL elite. Which raises the question: What happens when (if?) Pronger returns, Briere gets in sync, and Bryzgalov plays like the Flyers expected? Is this the year the Stanley Cup drought - most of the Flyers weren't close to being born when the franchise last won the title in 1975 - finally ends? Well, it's all about timing, about being healthy and hot - and having favorable matchups when the playoffs roll around. For the Flyers, there is a lot of uncertainty because of Pronger's situation. If he returns at full strength in, say, a month or two, the Flyers figure to make a strong run. If it's determined he won't return, general manager Paul Holmgren may have to add a veteran defenseman. But even with Pronger's latest medical news, there are positive signs in Flyerdom, including the character the team showed in its gritty 3-2 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday. The Flyers were coming off a draining 5-4 overtime win in Buffalo the previous night, a game in which they expended lots of energy to overcome a 3-0 deficit. The Penguins were off the previous night. They were rested and waiting. But it was the Flyers who had the early jump, bolted to a 3-0 lead, and then held off the Penguins. The Flyers looked exhausted in the third period, but they got solid goaltending from Bryzgalov and they endured. On and off the ice, this team is closer than last year's. You can feel the camaraderie when you enter the locker room. You can even feel it in the players' good-natured tweets on Twitter, many of which are generated by winger Scott Hartnell. Hartnell is one of the many reasons the Flyers have withstood the loss of Pronger. Without their defensive leader, the Flyers have had to win a lot of high-scoring games - and they have done just that. In his last nine games before facing Tampa Bay on Saturday night, Hartnell had seven goals. He had also scored in four straight games.

Being reinserted onto the power play, Hartnell said, has keyed his resurgence. Ditto being put on a line with Claude Giroux - if the season ended today, he would be the league's MVP - and ageless Jaromir Jagr. "You're not going to get many points if you're not on the power play," Hartnell said. "Being right in front of the net where all the action happens, I've been able to get some shots, and you'll get some breaks and things like that. And obviously playing with Giroux, who's been having a great year, leading scorer in the league. And obviously Jagr, he seems like he hasn't lost a step since the early '90s. "So, it's a lot of fun. It's awesome coming to work every day knowing you're playing with those guys, and I don't take it for granted. I'm just trying to work hard every day in practice." Besides creating havoc in front for opposing goaltenders, the carefree Hartnell has become one of the team's leaders. He keeps things loose in the locker room and doesn't take himself seriously. Witness how he pokes fun at himself for his frequent, um, falls on the ice. On Twitter, #hartnelldown has become a popular hashtag. Some Flyers even use it in tweets, including Hartnell. After he fell down while scoring in Thursday's win over the Penguins, Hartnell did a TV interview and told Steve Coates he "finished with a hartnelldown there at the end." Hartnell said he finds out on Twitter how many times he has fallen down in a game. "It's hilarious," he said. Flyers winger James van Riemsdyk tweeted after Thursday's game: "Another epic #HartnellDown in warmups. Does that count toward the total? #doublerunners" Hartnell's pratfalls - he supposedly has fallen about 120 times this season - are amusing as long as he continues to produce. He is in one of the best goal-scoring streaks of his career, prompting this hashtag: #HartnellUp. 5. CSNPhillly.com – Flyers beat Lightning but may lose Giroux

Tim Panaccio

Not even a five-game win streak can make Flyer fans feel good.

Not even Peter Laviolette’s club gaining some additional ground as the No. 1 overall seed in the Eastern Conference. That’s because Claude Giroux, the NHL’s leading scorer with 39 points, may have a concussion. Giroux, who picked up two assists in Saturday’s 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning, also took an accidental knee to the back of his head from teammate Wayne Simmonds (see blog post). With 2:10 left in the second period, Simmonds was chasing a play up ice, he attempted to hurdle over a partially-fallen Giroux. He ended up kneeing Giroux in the back of the head. Giroux went off with 2:02 remaining. “He was falling, he was right in front of me, I was on the backcheck … I tried to jump over him and I don’t know where I caught him,” said Simmonds, who admitted he had no idea how hard he hit Giroux. Giroux sat on the bench and had a long discussion with trainer Jim McCrossin as the period wound down. “I don’t think we’re going to lose him, I hope he’ll back the next game,” Giroux’s linemate Jaromir Jagr said. “I think he’s going to be OK. He’s a tough guy. He’ll be back. I don’t think he’s going to be out. That’s my prediction.” Given the concussion ramifications that have dogged the Flyers, this injury deserves close attention in the days that follow. Recent and past history has shown that concussions often don’t show up for days. Regardless, the incident marred an otherwise terrific effort by the Flyers. “Certainly, any time a player is removed from the lineup, it’s disappointing,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “Claude is off to a tremendous start. He’s been a very important piece for a lot of different reasons to our club. “When a player like that comes out of the game, certainly, you are missing him. I thought the guys really picked it up for him in the third period … That’s a good thing and I guess we’ll wait and see [on Giroux] right now.” If that wasn’t tragic enough, starting goalie Ilya Bryzgalov left the game early in the third period with an apparent thigh injury. Sergie Bobrovsky, who filled in, had a couple of quality saves to preserve the victory.

Think about it. The Flyers played the remainder of the game without their top center, or No.1 goalie and of course, without Chris Pronger, their top defenseman. “Through the season, we’ve experienced injuries and everyone has to step up,” Scott Hartnell said. “Battle that much harder ... All of us have to step up. It’s on us in here.” It was a competitive game too, as Vinny Lecavalier threw some doubt into the picture with a power-play goal to start the third period, cutting the Bolts’ deficit to 3-2. That power play was the result of a bad interference penalty from Matt Carle to start the period. Carle atoned for it soon after with a power-play goal to regain the two-goal lead. Bryzgalov made his fifth straight start in net and posted his fifth straight win although he never returned. The game seemed to lack for any kind of spunk, but then again, when you consider the Flyers were coming off two emotional games against Buffalo and arch-enemy Pittsburgh, a letdown is not unusual. “We didn’t have our legs and were one step behind them,” Jagr said. “Good thing we were only down 1-0 … Sometimes you gotta find a way to win the hockey game and we did it without our legs. “Something happens when you have back-to-back, then a day off and then the next day at the morning skate you don’t find the legs in the first period. But we did a good job and changed everything in the second period. We were dominating.” Tampa had consecutive rushes midway into the opening period where the Flyers left the slot wide open. Twice Bryzgalov had to fend for himself. He made a brilliant save on Steve Downie’s drive from Ryan Malone on the first rush, then less than a minute later, Dominic Moore sent a longer pass across the slot for Ryan Shannon’s one-timer. Bryzgalov didn’t get that one, as the Bolts went ahead 1-0. Again, however, the Flyers were strides behind. The period ended with Andrej Meszaros picking up back-to-back penalties. His last one at the buzzer for roughing carried over into the second period gave the Bolts a power play to start. As usual, the Flyers penalty killers were up to snuff, killing it off, then stunning goalie Mathieu Garon for a pair of goals in 34 seconds, forcing Bolts coach Guy Boucher to burn his time out.

Simmonds set up Danny Briere’s ninth goal with a steal in neutral ice. Off transition, Simmond hesitated, allowing Briere to set into the slot before passing him the puck for a deadly shot that tied it at 2:38. The Flyers came right back on the next shift with Jagr getting his 10th goal off the rush at 3:12, giving the Flyers a 2-1 lead. It was also Jagr’s 656th career goal, tying him with Brendan Shanahan for 11th place overall in the NHL (see blog post). The Flyers got their third goal off another wacky deflection at 14:49. Simmonds tried a blind, backhanded pass in the slot. The puck ricocheted off a Tampa skate into the net for his seventh goal, making it 3-1. “Starting to get more comfortable, trying to do the little things right and they're paying off, as of now anyway,” Simmonds said. “I'm just trying to go to the net and trying to make hard strong plays along the wall. Tonight was … I thought it was a lucky goal, but I'll take that one.” His goal was soon followed by the collision with Giroux. Rookie Sean Couturier and Briere each alternated between Hartnell and Jagr in Giroux’s absence. Couturier looked comfortable. “He did a really nice job in the third period,” Laviolette said. “We double-shifted him in that line and back in his line. “A young kid. Lots of energy. He played extremely well. That’s a real positive for our team.” It may be a rather significant “positive” in the days ahead, depending upon Giroux’s status. 6. CSNPhilly.com – Now we wait to see if Giroux is OK

Tim Panaccio

Claude Giroux took a knee to the back of the head from teammate Wayne Simmonds in the third period and was evaluated by team doctors but did not return. 12/10/11 General manager Paul Holmgren was doing his best to think positively, but he knows over the next several days, the Flyers and their fan base will be on edge. Is Claude Giroux OK or is he concussed?

“He was evaluated by our doctors and held out for precautionary reasons in the third period,” Holmgren said. “We’ll evaluate him [Sunday] and see how he is.” Giroux, who is the NHL scoring leader with 39 points, took a knee to the head with 2:10 left in the second period of Saturday’s game against Tampa Bay. He was struck by his own teammate, Wayne Simmonds. Simmonds was chasing the play up ice with Giroux partially fallen in his path. As Simmonds approached, he attempted to hurdle Giroux yet caught him in the back of the head with his knee. Giroux went to the bench, was examined at length by trainer Jim McCrossin, and did not return to the game. Holmgren said Giroux did not have a headache. “This is really precautionary at this stage and we didn’t want to put him back in,” Holmgren said. “This is December and he is one of our better players, so we want to err on the side of caution.” Given the possibility that days from now this could become a latent concussion, all eyes will be upon Giroux to see how this unfolds. The Flyers already have Brayden Schenn sitting out with a concussion, not to mention Chris Pronger, who is believed to have an eye concussion. An official diagnosis on Pronger will be made Monday in Pittsburgh when Pronger sees noted neurologist Joseph Maroon. Bryzgalov hurt Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov left the game seven minutes into the third period and had his right thigh examined. “Ilya has had an injury issue, lower body after the second period and wanted to continue and it stiffened up on him,” Holmgren said. “We don’t think it’s anything serious.” He is expected to be available when the Flyers meet the Capitals in Washington on Tuesday. First, Bryzgalov said it was an equipment issue. Then when pressed as to why he didn’t return at a stoppage, he admitted, “I’m a bad liar.” “It’s an old boo-boo and was sore a little bit,” he said. You’re day-to-day?

“Not even hour to hour,” he replied. Into 11th place On Saturday, Jagr tied Brendan Shanahan for 11th place on the all-time NHL goal chart with his 656th-career marker (see blog post). Loose pucks Scott Hartnell and Giroux have points in five straight games … Danny Briere has goals in consecutive games … Jagr has four goals in five games for December … Wayne Simmonds has three goals in five games … The Flyers have won five games in a row, matching their longest winning streak since they won five in a row from December 9-18, 2010. … Five Flyers had two-point games vs. Bolts. 7. CSNPhilly.com – Laviolette confident in Pronger-less Flyers' D

Tim Panaccio

The Flyers react to the news of Chris Pronger being diagnosed with concussion-like symptoms and being out indefinitely. 12/9/2011 Peter Laviolette thinks that his team can win now, the way it is. (US Presswire) When Carolina’s Erik Cole suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck back in March of 2006, coach Peter Laviolette had no expectations of a return. “They said he wouldn’t be back,” Laviolette recalled on Saturday before facing Tampa Bay. “But when they said that, I don’t know if they took into account that we would be in the Final June 18 and June 20. Eventually, players heal and get healthy.” Cole played Games 6 and 7 as Carolina won the Stanley Cup over Edmonton. Which brings us to Chris Pronger. No one knows if, or when, the Flyers captain will return from now appears to be an eye concussion – yes, such concussions do exist. Does Laviolette proceed as if Pronger, like Cole, isn’t coming back? “I’m not sure exactly what that means,” Laviolette replied. “We don’t change our game. We don’t change a game based on the fact [Martin] St. Louis is not in for [Tampa Bay] ... “We’ve recalled some guys from our minor league affiliate, who have filled in admirably ... There is still an expectation we will get him back at some point. I don’t think there is any answer for that … I don’t know what it means when we do prepare now for life without Chris Pronger.”

Laviolett’s top four defensemen, Kimmo Timonen (22:03), Matt Carle (22:22), Braydon Coburn (21:55) and Andrej Meszaros (20:34) have already seen their minutes climb slightly. They could climb higher as the season moves along. Rookie Marc-Andre Bourdon (13:18) has shown not only is he capable of playing above expectations, but likely deserves more minutes. Fellow rookie Kevin Marshall (9:05) is not at Bourdon’s physical level, but hasn’t hurt the Flyers either. “With regard to those guys, it’s kind of like the [Sean] Couturier line,” Laviolette said. “And Matt Read. These guys have never really had an opportunity in the NHL like they do now. So, what you do now give them opportunity and watch to see how they respond. “So far they have responded well. Bourdon has been called on a little more than Marshall and they both have played well. Bourdon has looked good. He’s heads up. He’s physical He’s done a nice job. You guys see that as well. Opportunity is one thing. What you do with opportunity is another.” Laviolette says to forget about minutes played. “You don’t see any of our defenseman playing 32 minutes,” Laviolette said. “Once in a while because of overtime and just a ridiculous amount of penalties we’ve taken we’ve gotten a defenseman up to 28.” Coburn logged 28 minutes recently against the Rangers. Can you increase the minutes for the rookies? “I don’t need to do anything,” Laviolette said. “I don’t know where you’re going with this. We’re winning games…” Laviolette says he feels genuinely bad for Pronger, who missed his 15th game overall last game (grand total of several injuries). “First and foremost, I hope he gets healthy for life. It’s never any fun. You guys know this. You’ve had an injury. You’ve had something that’s bugged you or nagging you. It sucks. I hope he gets healthy first and foremost and feels good.” Laviolette gets an injury report update every day from the medical staff. He sees general manager Paul Holmgren almost daily. They don’t talk trades, he said. “Those conversations don’t necessarily take place like that because they are not announcements that are made,” Laviolette said. “I’m in there every day, living it with Paul and he coaches and players and injuries happen every time.”

What if Holmgren were to ask him whether he is comfortable going to February or even the end of the year without Pronger? “I am extremely comfortable with the players in that room tonight,” Laviolette said, looking at the dressing room door at Wells Fargo Center. “To feel that we can go out and big a big win. Just like I was with the Pegnuins. Just like I was going into Buffalo.” That sounds like coach speak to us. “That’s not coach speak,” he replied. “How did we do those games? The Flyers won. “Paul and I have a great relationship,” Laviolette said. “We talk almost every day. I am not the general manager, I am the coach, but we talk every day. “There [are] always conversations. That being said, I want to be clear, that team in there, just beat the Penguins just jumped up to first and man, I sure would like to extend that lead tonight. And I believe they can do that. That team in there tonight.” 8. CSNPhilly.com – Snider Hockey will leave a lasting legacy

Tim Panaccio

Already a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Flyers founder Ed Snider receives another honor on Monday when he will be enshrined into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. The 2011 Class also includes Chris Chelios, Gary Suter, Mike “Doc” Emrick and Keith Tkachuk. Of all his many accomplishments since 1967 as the club’s chairman, Snider’s one, lasting legacy that he knows will outlast him forever is the work with Snider Hockey and its fore-runner, the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation. Snider talked about this last week on Sirius/XM radio during Gary Bettman’s weekly hockey show. “Well, basically Gary [Bettman], we started this foundation a little over five years ago and several years ago the city was going to close the rinks because of lack of funds,” Snider said.

“We stepped in and said we would run them. They were somewhat dilapidated, a lack of real investment over the years. They were built in the 50s and 60s and they had been neglected in recent years. “So, we took them over and cleaned them up as best we could. Our program really was great, but it only ran from November to March because they were open-air rinks. They had roofs but no sides. “They really weren’t adequate for more than those few months. Now, we put in $6.5 million and the state and city put in $6.5 million. So, we have taken $13 million and made them beautiful and magnificent rinks.” Hockey is now 365 days a year at those rinks, thanks to the partnership between Snider Hockey and the City of Philadelphia. At this point in his life, Snider, who turns 79 in January, wants people to remember not so much that he won two Stanley Cups, but that he’s left behind something for generations of youths who never saw the Broad Street Bullies and wouldn’t know Bob Clarke or Bernie Parent but understand what Snider Hockey has given them in life. “It is more about the kids,” Snider said. “Hockey is obviously something I know very well and I was trying to figure out a way in which we could help inner-city kids, who needed a lot of help, as we all know in every city in this country, unfortunately. It came to me that I could do it through hockey. “So, we made the program and did it with the high schools and junior high schools due to a cooperation of a great school superintendent, named Paul Vallas, that was here in Philadelphia at the time. “We would bring kids into the Philadelphia Flyers Skate Zones, the University of Pennsylvania rink and other rinks that we contracted with and we started the program. In its infancy it was really great but it has just grown tremendously over the years.” More than 2,500 kids have been through Snider Hockey and the program is expected to reach 10,000 within three years. 9. Delaware County Times – Big win for Flyers comes with bigger losses

Anthony SanFilippo

PHILADELPHIA — The Flyers finally found a way to beat the Tampa Bay trap, but it may have come at a steep cost.

Claude Giroux, the NHL’s leading scorer, assisted on two goals in the second period what became a 5-2 Flyers victory. But it’s what happened to Giroux at the end of the period that is the cause for concern. Trying to swipe a puck away from Tampa’s Ryan Shannon, Giroux went down on all fours in the neutral zone. He never saw teammate Wayne Simmonds skating hard behind him. Simmonds tried to vault over Giroux, who came up to his knees, then was drilled in the back of the head by Simmonds’ left knee. Giroux went down again, rose and skated to the bench, briefly talked to the trainers, then went down the tunnel to the locker room, not to be seen again. “He was evaluated by our doctors, held out for precautionary reasons and will be re-evaluated tomorrow,” Flyers’ general manager Paul Holmgren said. “He doesn’t really have a headache — nothing like that. It’s more precautionary than anything else. It’s a game in December and he’s one of our better players so we wanted to err on the side of caution.” Holmgren didn’t call it a concussion, he also didn’t call it an upper body injury. Hey, at least he didn’t call it a virus. Compounding matters, midway through the third period, goalie Ilya Bryzgalov seemed to injure himself and skated off the ice, replaced by Sergei Bobrovsky. After the game, Bryzgalov tried to pass off the injury as an equipment problem, but that didn’t fly at all. “I’m a bad liar,” Bryzgalov finally admitted. “It’s an old boo-boo, that’s it. It was bothering me more and more during the game and we decided to play it safe.” Asked if he was day-to-day, Bryzgalov said, “more like hour-to-hour.” If there were two players the Flyers could ill afford to lose for any stretch of time at this point, it would be Giroux and Bryzgalov. Yet they found themselves in the closing minutes of a hockey game without either of them. A good second period had put the Flyers on top, though. Simmonds, who aside from knocking Giroux silly played a fine game, made a deft move to strip the puck from Dominic Moore in the neutral zone then fed Danny Briere for a snap shot from the right circle to tie the score, 1-1.

Just 34 seconds later, Jaromir Jagr put the Flyers ahead for good with a slapper from the high slot. It was Jagr’s 10th goal of the season and it tied him with Brendan Shanahan for No. 11 on the all-time goal scoring list in the NHL at 656. Simmonds and Matt Carle added power-play goals and Scott Hartnell scored into an empty net, scoring in his fifth straight game. 10. Delaware County Times – Oh... so NOW Chris Pronger has concussion

symptoms

Anthony SanFilippo

We knew it when the word "virus" first came out of Paul Holmgren's lips. We knew it when we saw Chris Pronger doing an off-ice work out a few days later - because nobody with a nasty contagion would put his teammates at risk of catching the same illness by hanging around them in the Petri dish better known as a hockey locker room. We knew it when Pronger first spoke to the media following the announcement of the virus and he debunked that diagnosis and said it wasn't a virus. We knew. The Flyers just chose not to acknowledge it - until today. Pronger, who was already on the shelf until Christmas recovering from a minor surgery to clean out some loose bodies in his left knee, is now out of the lineup indefinitely with concussion-like symptoms. Pronger will now see concussion specialists Dr. Joe Maroon and Dr. Mickey Collins, both of whom are based in Pittsburgh. If the names sound familiar, they are - they are the same docs who dealt with Sidney Crosby's concussion and post-concussion symptoms. And if their track record with precaution is any indication - it could be a good while before the Flyers captain returns to the ice. Pronger did pass a baseline test recently, but that is no longer a tried and true indicator of whether a player has recovered. Baseline tests compare your score post head trauma to a similar test taken pre-trauma, however, many athletes throw the initial test to have a lower cognitive score to attain while possibly dealing with a concussion.

"Over the last few days he's had some difficulties," Holmgren said. "A fairly persistent headache, just sluggish feeling - so we're just trying to do the right thing here and get him checked out." Holmgren still wouldn't call the injury a concussion, saying "I don't know that we know that," but he sure had no problem calling this malady a virus, even though there's a far better chance of it being a concussion then there ever was it being a virus. "I don't know that we'll ever know that (it wasn't a virus)," Holmgren said. "We didn't know what we were dealing with then and I'm not sure we do now." The immediate reaction is to assume these symptoms are related to the eye injury he suffered in October, but Holmgren was quick to temper that belief too. "He played four games after that particular incident after missing some time," Holmgren said. "I talked to him after the game in Winnipeg and he said he didn't feel great in that game. He didn't feel like himself... "Just over the last two or three days he's got a fairly persistent headache and a really sluggish feeling." Brayden Schenn, who is in the middle of a rookie year that he'd like to forget, is also out indefinitely with a mild concussion suffered, who took a blow to the face in Phoenix last week and said he doesn't feel like himself. The Flyers aren't in a rush to add another defenseman, but Holmgren admitted that he talks to GM's all the time, so something could always "pop up" at any time. But if it turns into a long-term thing.... "We'll see what happens over the next little while," Holmgren said. Hopefully we'll get some better news after Chris visits the doctors in Pittsburgh and we'll see what happens from there." 11. Delaware County Times – Flyers' Laviolette: We all feel bad for Pronger

Anthony SanFilippo

PHILADELPHIA --- There won’t be a Chris Pronger concussion update until at least Monday. That much is certain. Another certainty is the Flyers have to start thinking about life without their captain for quite a while longer than his original timeframe, which had him returning in time for the Winter Classic.

Any assumption now would be purely speculative, but at the same time, it shouldn’t be denied there’s a chance life will move on without Pronger for a lot longer than expected. “Everyone feels bad for him,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “I hope he gets healthy for life. It’s never any fun… It (stinks). I hope he gets healthy first and foremost and feels good. Period. “There is still an expectation we will get him back at some point.” If nothing else, the Flyers have proven they can win without Pronger on the ice. This season they have played one more game without their leader than with him and have kept a pretty good pace. The Flyers are 8-3-2 with Pronger, 9-4-1 without him. Last season, in the 32 games that Pronger missed, that Flyers team was 16-9-7 without their stalwart defenseman. They’ve done so by relying heavily on their other four veteran defensemen, Braydon Coburn, Matt Carle Kimmo Timonen and Andrej Meszaros. Rookies Marc-Andre Bourdon and Kevin Marshall have filled in admirably with minor minutes, but it’s primarily been a four man operation. Which begs the question, Can the Flyers keep rolling with just four reliable defensemen to play the big minutes? “You don’t see any of our defensemen playing 32 minutes,” Laviolette said. “Once in a while because of overtime and just a ridiculous amount of penalties we’ve taken, we’ve gotten a defenseman up to 28. On a regular basis, a consistent basis, they are typically under 25. Matt Carle could play 34 or 35 if we wanted to. He’s a young guy. There are lots of players in the league who play 30 minutes on defense. We’ve just chosen not to do that. “We’re winning games. I don’t know how the game is going to go. I don’t know whether (Bourdon and Marshall) get two minutes or 20 minutes. They’ve filled in admirably. Our big guys have stepped up. They’ve done a nice job.” That’s great, but can they maintain this? Can they carry this through a brutal travel schedule in December into January and then February or longer? Or do they need to break up what has been working so well offensively to acquire the needed presence on the blue line? “I want to be clear,” Laviolette said of his guys, “that team in there just beat the Penguins, just jumped up to first and man, I sure would like to extend that lead. And I believe they can do that.”

12. Bucks County Courier-Times – Giroux hurt as Flyers win fifth in a row

Wayne Fish

PHILADELPHIA — The old expression “all that glitters is not gold’’ could apply to the Flyers’ win over Tampa Bay on Saturday night. True, the Flyers erupted for three second-period goals and held on for a 5-2 win over the Lightning. It was the Flyers’ fifth straight win and kept them in first place both in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference. But any celebration was tempered by an injury to NHL leading scorer Claude Giroux late in the second period. Giroux left the ice after a collision with teammate Wayne Simmonds. Giroux was traveling through center ice when he was struck in the back of the head by Simmonds’ knee as he tried to jump over the sprawled player. General manager Paul Holmgren said Giroux was kept out of the game for precautionary reasons, the unspoken implication being that no chances were taken with Brayden Schenn already out with a concussion and Chris Pronger sidelined with concussion-like symptoms. “Claude was evaluated by our doctors,’’ Holmgren said. “He was held out for precautionary reasons. We’ll evaluate him (Sunday) and see how he is. “He doesn’t really have a headache or anything like that. This is precautionary; we just didn’t want to put him back in there at that time. It’s a game in December and he’s obviously one of our better players. We’ll just err on the side of caution.’’ Before getting injured, Giroux had two assists in the game to push his point total to 39. Simmonds said: “He kind of fell and he was right in front of me. I was on the backcheck and I still wanted to try to get in the play. So I tried to jump over him. “I don’t know where I caught him, I was just trying to get back in the play. (After the game) I asked him how he was feeling. “It (the collision) was kind of fast. I turned around and he was still on the ice. Obviously, I was worried about him.’’ Giroux assisted on Jaromir Jagr’s go-ahead goal at 3:12 of the second period and also set up Simmonds for a power-play score at 14:49.

If Giroux is lost for any significant amount of time, it would no doubt have an impact on the Flyers. “Through the season we’ve already experienced some injuries,’’ Scott Hartnell said. “Everyone has to step up and battle that much harder.’’ Added Jagr: “I hope he’s going to be back next game. I think he’s going to be OK. He’s a tough guy. “I don’t even want to think about it. I think he’ll be out at most two games. That’s my prediction.’’ Ilya Bryzgalov picked up the win in goal for the Flyers but he also left the game with 13:01 in regulation time for an injury. He was replaced by Sergei Bobrovsky. Holmgren said Bryzgalov has a lower body injury “that stiffened up on him.’’ He expects the goalie, who was seen rubbing his right thigh as he left the bench, to be ready to play again in a day or two. Bryzgalov tried to pass off the incident as an equipment problem, but then added with a smile, “I’m a bad liar!’’ Tampa jumped to a 1-0 lead at 11:52 of the first period on a goal by Ryan Shannon but the Flyers answered at 2:38 of the second when Daniel Briere’s shot eluded Mathieu Garon. Then Giroux went to work. He left a perfect drop pass for Jagr, who blasted home a shot from 35 feet. Later, Giroux found Simmonds open at the left post. Simmonds’ banked a backhand shot off defenseman Brett Clark’s right skate into the net. Vincent Lecavalier took advantage of a power play to cut the lead to one at 55 seconds of the third period but the Flyers used a power play of their own to get a goal from Matt Carle. Short shots Jagr’s goal was his 10th of the season, giving him 18 straight 10-or-more goal seasons, tying him with Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne for the NHL active player lead. ... Also, Jagr’s goal was career No. 656, tying him with Brendan Shanahan for 11th place on the all-time NHL goal list. ... Simmonds’ goal was his third in the last four games. ... Hartnell extended his goal-scoring streak to latest five with an empty-netter. 13. Bucks County Courier-Times – Bernie in the nets, one more time

Wayne Fish

Bernie Parent was and is probably the most popular Flyers player of all time. He knows that, and this was one last chance to show his appreciation for the fans’ support. The Hall of Fame goaltender originally wasn’t going to play in the Winter Classic Alumni Game. But then he got to thinking — why not? The game on Dec. 31 will be an opportunity to tip his hat to the Flyers’ faithful in what is expected to be a sold-out Citizens Bank Park. “At first I didn’t feel like it ... then I thought about it and thought about it, and you look at the fans and you can’t be selfish about something like this,’’ he said the other night. “They supported us for so many years, I know in my case for 12 years. Why not go out and wave to the people and maybe play 10 minutes, and that’s why I made the decision.’’ Two of the Flyers’ other Hall of Famers, Bob Clarke and Bill Barber, were also fan favorites. But they never got the reception to match the chants of “Bernie! Bernie!’’ at the old Spectrum. No doubt, those chants will be heard one last time at the ballpark. That’s another reason Parent probably changed his mind. “I think at the beginning, I was maybe putting too much pressure on how I should perform,’’ he said. “You go there and have fun. You go out there and wave to the people and let them see you one more time ... probably the last time. That helped me make the decision.’’ Will Bernie go through the same pre-game ritual as he did 30 or 40 years ago? “In those days, you had a big steak in the afternoon,’’ he said. “That’s terrible, but that’s the way it was in those days. You slept a little in the afternoon, and then I watched The Three Stooges. That brought results, so that was my philosophy.’’ That’s about as down to earth as a hockey player can get and that’s part of what has made Parent the legend in Philadelphia that he is. Realignment realization Most of the new NHL realignment looks pretty good from this vantage point. Getting back to a system in which everyone plays everyone home and away is good for the fans and probably good for the sport. But there is one element of the plan that could create some injustice. Under the current system, conference winners are guaranteed to play the eighth-strongest team in the conference in the first round of the playoffs.

With the new plan, things are a little different. Let’s say the Flyers finish first in their new seven-team conference next year with 110 points. And let’s say the Rangers finish fourth with 100 points, which just happens to be the fourth-highest point total in the NHL for the season. That means the Flyers would have to beat New York, the fourth-best team in the league, just to get out of the first round. That scenario was put to several Flyers early in the week, and most just shook their heads and said something like, “it is what it is.’’ In other words, our union is going to vote for it (the NHLPA has to ratify it before it goes into practice) because they seemingly couldn’t up with anything better. 14. Bucks County Courier-Times – Flyers set to go on without Pronger

Wayne Fish

PHILADELPHIA — Chris Pronger has taken a turn for the worst, enough so to have him sent to be examined by some of the top neurologists in the country. The Flyers’ captain, who had been suffering what the team said were symptoms similar to a virus the past couple weeks, started to feel so bad that the team is sending him to see specialists Dr. Joe Maroon and Dr. Mickey Collins in Pittsburgh for concussion testing. Even though Pronger is currently sidelined from hockey action by left knee surgery, general manager Paul Holmgren wants to get this more critical health issue resolved. “I think over the last few days he’s had some difficulties . . . a fairly persistent headache, just sluggish feeling, so we’re just trying to do the right thing here and get him checked out by the doctors in Pittsburgh and just see what we’re dealing with,’’ Holmgren said in a conference call. “Is it a concussion? I don’t know that we know that. We want to get a better idea, obviously.” Holmgren said there’s no way of knowing if the hit Pronger took in the eye (off the stick of Toronto’s Mikhail Grabovski) on Oct. 24 might be the cause of the problem. Pronger missed six games with the eye injury, played five games, than has missed the last eight games with a combination of the health problem plus the knee surgery. “I looked yesterday and I think he played four (actually five) games after that particular incident after missing some time,’’ Holmgren said. “I talked to him after the game in

Winnipeg (Nov. 19) and he said he didn’t feel great in that game. He didn’t feel like himself. “We got him checked out after that game and before our next game, and then obviously the dominoes started to fall with his knee, and we said a virus at first because we weren’t sure what we were dealing with. Just over the last two or three days he’s got a fairly persistent headache and a really sluggish feeling.” Rookie Brayden Schenn was also diagnosed with a concussion on Friday and Holmgren said both players undergo similar tests. “The protocol that we utilize now for concussions, obviously it’s very thorough. We’re going through a similar thing with Brayden Schenn right now. I know he got hit in the nose in the game in Phoenix, or just below his nose . . . felt great and continued to play in the game, felt fine on the way home. “I think we had an off-day the next day, came in Monday and he didn’t feel great. We kept him off the ice . . . he got checked on Tuesday, did an IMPACT test and passed that. He went out for practice, felt pretty good halfway through practice, and then came off at the end of practice and didn’t feel great. So we’re going to shut him down. Those are the rules and that’s what we’re dealing with.” Pronger had been tested earlier and passed. “I don’t think he’s had one since then,’’ Holmgren said. “He passed the first one, this is going back actually before the first game he missed from what we said was a virus. We haven’t given him one since. Most of this has just come up in the last two or three days where he’s just got these symptoms that seem like concussion-like symptoms. So we’re going to get him checked.” Maroon was involved in the treatment of Ian Laperriere, who hasn’t played in more than a year due to persistent concussion symptoms. Maroon is also treating Sidney Crosby. Obviously, Pronger is frustrated. “I feel bad for Chris,’’ Holmgren said. “He’s a very experienced hockey player that still wants to play the game at the highest level. I know this last year for him has been very frustrating, with the injuries he had last year and to have to deal with what he’s dealt with this year. He’s frustrated.’’ Coach Peter Laviolette said the Flyers are prepared to play without Pronger. Going into Saturday night’s game, the Flyers were 9-4-1 without Pronger in the lineup, 8-3-2 when he’s in. “We don’t change our game,’’ Laviolette said early Saturday night. “We don’t change a game based on the fact (Martin) St. Louis is not in for (Tampa Bay).

“We have a style and an identity and we go out and play it. We may rely on others more. We’ve recalled some guys from our minor league affiliate who have filled in admirably. It is what it is. We didn’t have him two games ago or four games ago and we don’t have him tonight. I don’t know when we will.’’ 15. Camden Courier-Post – Giroux hurt in Flyers victory

Randy Miller

PHILADELPHIA — You just never know what you’re dealing with when it comes to head injuries.

Look at Chris Pronger, whose mystery virus has turned into concussion symptoms that have the Flyers captain out indefinitely.

And so, early speculation that NHL scoring leader Claude Giroux apparently escaped serious injury when taking a knee to the head Saturday night must be viewed as an optimistic preliminary diagnosis.

It was a scary night for the Flyers, who lost goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to what appears to be a minor lower-body injury during a 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning that stretched their winning streak to a season-best five games.

Giroux was having another big night with two assists, which padded his league scoring lead, then was done for the night after taking a violent knee to the head courtesy of teammate Wayne Simmonds.

“This was really just precautionary at this stage where we just didn’t want to put him back in there,” Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said.

“It’s a game in December, and obviously he’s one of our better players, so we’re erring on the side of caution here.”

Just after a Flyers powerplay expired, Giroux was battling Tampa Bay center Ryan Shannon for the puck near center ice in the final two minutes of the second when Simmonds got in the way.

Simmonds, who scored a power-play goal just a few minutes earlier to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead, jumped in an attempt to miss Giroux, but caught him hard in the back of the head with his left knee.

“He kind of fell and he was right in front of me,” Simmonds said.

“I was on the backcheck and I still wanted to try to get in the play, so I tried to jump over him. I don’t know where I caught him. I turned around and he was still on the ice.

“Obviously, I was worried about him.”

Giroux skated to the bench without assistance and sat there looking dazed for a few minutes before heading back to the Flyers dressing room in the final seconds of the period and not returning.

As if the Flyers needed more misery, Bryzgalov exited 6:49 into the third with the Flyers up 4-2. “It was an equipment issue,” Bryz said before changing his mind and saying, “No, I’m a bad liar. It’s an old boo-boo. It’s still sore a little bit.”

The possible injuries dampered a festive night for the Flyers, who won for the third time in four days.

It was a milestone game for Jaromir Jagr, who tied Brendan Shanahan for 12th all-time in goals by scoring 3:12 into the second to break a 1-1 tie.

Friday, Shanahan, the NHL’s chief disciplinarian, met with the Flyers in Voorhees to discuss dirty hits.

“We talked about it at the meeting, and (Shanahan) said he wanted to suspend me,” Jagr said.

“I said, ‘How you going to suspend me? I don’t have a hit yet this year!”

Afterward, Giroux’s injury worried Flyers despite initial reports the head injury may not be serious.

“We’re hoping and praying for the best right now,” said Danny Briere, who tied the game at 1-1 34 seconds before Jagr put the Flyers ahead.

“There’s nothing more we can do.

“The team probably did the right thing by not letting him go back and try to make sure everything is OK before they let him go back on the ice.

“We’ll see what the next couple of days bring.”

16. Camden Courier-Post – Couturier: Few goals, lots of value

Randy Miller

PHILADELPHIA — Flyers rookie Sean Couturier celebrated his birthday this week in Buffalo with a postgame Pepsi. Still just 19, that’s his beverage of choice, at least for another two years.

His best gift?

“I didn’t get much,” Couturier said with a boyish grin Saturday before the Flyers’ 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Well, Mom and Dad phoned to say they’d framed one of his first Flyers game jerseys, but it’s still back home in Canada.

That’s OK, the Flyers won on his birthday, and Couturier got all that he really wanted back in the fall when he earned his way onto the roster with another year of juniors eligibility.

Friday, Tampa Bay and Anaheim took teens off their rosters so that they could play in the World Juniors Championships later this month.

The Flyers could have done the same for Couturier, who played last year and was eligible again, but management didn’t bother to give it a thought.

“He’s an integral part of our team, I don’t know why we would loan him anywhere,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said of Couturier, the eighth overall pick in this year’s NHL draft. “It’s different for a player that’s in or out of the lineup, but Sean’s done a terrific job. It would be tough to fork over a guy like that.”

Laviolette keeps offering praise even though Couturier hasn’t scored in 14 games after putting up 3 goals and 8 points over his first 16 NHL contests.

“You always want to get points, but it’s going to come in time and I’ve got to be patient,” said Couturier, whose last points came Nov. 5, his first career two-goal game in the Flyers’ 9-2 blowout of Columbus. “Meanwhile, I gotta focus on doing all the right things because the coach has confidence in throwing me back out there.

“It’s kind of a similar situation as my first year of juniors. I was kind of a fourth-line, third-line guy and just trying to do whatever I can to help the team.”

Couturier has been contributing centering the Flyers’ fourth line and killing penalties, and Saturday he was on the top line for the third period with Claude Giroux injured.

“When we go to important faceoffs against top players, we use him,” Laviolette said. “In a lot of crucial situations, he’s been terrific in every aspect of the game.”

Couturier’s won just 45.7 percent of his faceoffs after losing eight of 12 against the Lightning, but he’s still a break-even 37-37 over his last nine games after going 70-90 in his first 18.

“It’s a lot different (doing faceoffs) than juniors,” Couturier said. “Guys are faster and stronger.”

His plus-minus rating, in the black all season, is plus-8, tied for third on the Flyers behind Scott Hartnell (plus-17) and Kimmo Timonen (plus-10).

“Our message to [Couturier] has been consistent, which is he’s doing a tremendous job,” Laviolette said.

17. Camden Courier-Post – How tweet it is: Parent to suit up again

Randy Miller

The accent is still there and thick as ever. You can hear it in every word Bernard Marcel Parent speaks, even though the transplanted French-Canadian, known to all as Bernie, has been a South Jersey/Philly guy now for more than four decades.

Bernie has aged well, too. His hair and beard are silver, but the Flyers goaltending great doesn’t look or feel 66.

“I’m in my prime,” he said the other day. “You may question that, but I’m not.”

Not that it matters, but we’ll see about that come New Year’s Eve at Citizens Bank Park because Flyers fans will get their wish.

As good as Bernie looks and feels, the truth is he preferred just being a spectator in the Winter Classic alumni game. He was fine in his original role as an ambassador even though many of his Broad Street Bully teammates committed to suiting up in black and orange one more time, fellow Hall of Famers Bob Clarke and Bill Barber included.

Bernie kept thinking of his age and that he’s been retired since 1979. He figured he’d only wind up embarrassing himself.

But like the Grinch, who eventually discovered the real meaning of Christmas, Bernie came to understand that this Winter Classic prelude is more of a celebration of the Flyers (and New York Rangers) history than an exhibition. When the alumni rosters came out two weeks ago, many Flyers stars from different eras committed, but their alumni team was stuck with two goalies who never were great (nor popular) in Philly or any other NHL city, Mark LaForest and Neil Little.

And so, Flyers fans used social media to plead their case. Bernie lives in Wildwood, but does a lot of tweeting to update everyone on his frequent area appearances. Over the last two weeks, he received so many tweets begging for him to reconsider that he finally gave in.

“You look at the fans and you can’t be selfish about something like this,” Parent said the other day.

“They supported us for so many years. … Yeah, they made me realize why not go one more time? I think at the beginning I was maybe putting too much pressure on how I should perform. You go there and have fun.”

Bravo.

This will be fun, and making the whole day even better will be the outdoors factor.

“I look forward to that game,” he said. “Hopefully, we get a cold day and it’ll bring back some good memories.”

Growing up in Montreal, Bernie played a lot of pond hockey in sub-freezing temperatures, but he wasn’t like a lot of kids from Canada who were skating by the time they were walking. He didn’t even play hockey until he was 12.

“I’ll share this story,” he said, turning the clock back to 1957. “I wanted to become a defenseman, so I put the equipment on and you go around the ice, and depending on your time, the coach would put you in position … forward, defense or whatever.

“Most of the players went around the ice in 14 seconds and I did mine in 21 seconds.

“He looked at me and said, “Goaltender.” And then the first game, I had 21 goals against. And then he looked at me again and said, ‘Get out of here.’”

Bernie laughed, then added, “But I practiced and [the coach] gave me one more chance. We won that game and I was on my way. Outdoor game.”

Bernie went on to have a 14-year NHL career that included two fabulous stints in Philly, the second of which made him a hero here forever as the star goalie on the Flyers’ 1973 and 1974 Cup teams.

Later this month, Parent’s No. 1 Flyers jersey will come out of retirement and he’ll pull out the same pads and mask that he used playing his final NHL game in February 1979. His ending was sad: The blade of teammate Jimmy Watson’s stick entered an eye hole in Parent’s mask, causing a career-ending injury and permanent vision problems.

Bernie plans on playing 10 minutes, and who cares if he lets in 5 goals?

Wouldn’t matter. No matter what happens, this will be Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle playing Old Timer’s Day games at Yankee Stadium, not a Willie Mays 1973 World Series moment.

Maybe for old time’s sake, Bernie will repeat his old pre-game routine.

“In those days you had a big steak,” he said. “You slept a little … and then I watched The Three Stooges! That brought results, so that was my philosophy.”

Entertaining, not winning, is what will matter on New Year’s Eve, and it’s great that Bernie will be part of it.

Joe Watson, Jimmy’s older brother and another Broad Street Bully, tried and failed to rally up everyone for one more game in recent years.

“I suggested to Joe, ‘Maybe we should try playing golf a little bit more,’” Bernie said.

Now, thanks to tweeting Flyers fans, Bernie is completely onboard.

“To go out on the ice one more time just to perform in front of our people, that’s a beautiful thing,” Bernie said.

“You go out there and wave to the people and let them see you one more time, probably the last time.”

And that’s a beautiful thing.

18. Philly Sports Daily – Giroux, Bryzgalov Leave In Flyers Victory Over Lightning

Dave Isaac

WELLS FARGO CENTER — The Flyers will gladly take the two points in the standings after their 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, but they will not be happy if Claude Giroux or Ilya Bryzgalov misses serious time. The NHL’s leading goal scorer left the game in the second period after taking a knee from teammate Wayne Simmonds to the back of his head. He did not return to finish the game, but he did get a pair of assists in the middle stanza before leaving the game. In the third period, Bryzgalov left the game and after a brief stint in the tunnel, returned to the bench but never took the ice again. Before they were down a player, they were down a goal. Dominic Moore made a perfect cross-ice pass past Kevin Marshall and Max Talbot right to the stick of Ryan Shannon who had a lot of net to shoot at and made it 1-0 Lightning. The Flyers went to the locker room down by two in shots after a pretty uneventful first period. It wasn’t the normal fast-paced game and didn’t even have anything to do with Tampa’s 1-3-1 trapping scheme. But in the second period, the Flyers got things going. Simmonds stripped a Lightning play of the puck and fed Danny Briere who took a slapshot from the slot top shelf to get the Flyers on the board. But recently, the Flyers have been gotten goals in three’s and Saturday was no different. Only 44 seconds later, Giroux made a drop pass to Jagr who scored his 10th of the year. Simmonds later tallied on the power play when he took a blind backhander from the side of the net and got some help from Brett Clark’s right skate, which deflected the puck behind Mathieu Garon. After the Giroux injury, the Flyers seemed to lose a step, but it got worse.

Bryzgalov made 14 saves on 16 shots, but before he could face a 17th shot, he left the game in the third period and didn’t return. The Flyers did add an insurance goal, to counter a Vincent Lecavalier tally in the final stanza, but right now the concern isn’t with the two points that keeps the Flyers atop the Eastern Conference. It’s the health of two very important pieces of their puzzle. 19. Philly Sports Daily – Ilya Bryzgalov Says He Is A “Bad Liar”

Dave Isaac

WELLS FARGO CENTER — With seven minutes to go in the third period, Ilya Bryzgalov left the ice and Sergei Bobrovsky relieved him. He was briefly in the tunnel, speaking with a trainer and reemerged on the bench with his mask resting on top of his head. “It’s an equipment issue,” said the goalie after the game. Are you sure about that? “Yeah it was…no, I’m a bad liar.” Sure, the one-liner is funny, but a potential injury is not. “It’s an old boo boo, that’s it,” said Bryzgalov. “It starts for a little bit.” He said he was able to go back in the game, but Peter Laviolette said there was no thought to putting him back in. General manager Paul Holmgren said that he expects Bryzgalov to be available for the next game and the goalie did him one better and said he’s not day-to-day, but rather “hour-to-hour probably.” Bryzgalov was seen rubbing his right thigh in the tunnel, but wouldn’t confirm the injury. “It was an injury issue, lower-body,” said Holmgren. “After the second period he wanted to continue and it stiffened up on him during the third.” “It was starting to bother me more and more during the game and we decided to be safe,” said Bryzgalov. The goalie didn’t appear to be limping and was joking around with his five-year-old son Vladdy in the locker room after the game. The Flyers are bracing for the worst with Claude Giroux’s head injury, but they seem to have dodged a bullet with Bryzgalov. 20. Philly Sports Daily – Couturier Not Bothered By Skipping World Juniors

Dave Isaac

WELLS FARGO CENTER — Forty-two young Canadians are currently on the roster for the IIHF World Junior Championship in late December. Two are current NHL’ers. Neither is named Sean Couturier, but the 19-year-old rookie is just fine with that. In his eyes, he got to represent his country last year. Now he’s moved on to bigger and better things in the NHL. “I’m really happy to be here,” said Couturier. “The Winter Classic is at the same time, so that’s going to be a great experience. Both are great games, but it’s good to be here.” In last year’s World Junior Championship, Canada lost in the Gold Medal game to Russia, 5-3. On the way there, Couturier had two goals and one assist in seven games in the tournament. Fast forward a year and not only did Couturier get drafted in the top 10, but made the Flyers’ roster and has such a key role that the team won’t part with him, not even for just a tournament. “He’s an integral part of our team,” said Peter Laviolette. “I don’t know why we would loan him anywhere. It’s different for a player that’s in or out of the lineup, but Sean’s done a terrific job, a real nice job for us. He’s talented in many ways. It would be tough to fork over a guy like that.” Couturier hasn’t had a point in 15 games for the Flyers, but he plays on mostly the fourth line and the penalty kill, two roles that don’t really require much in terms of scoring. That’s not to say he isn’t capable. Laviolette knows he can count on his rookie centerman. When Claude Giroux left Saturday’s contest, Couturier helped fill in on his line with Scott Hartnell and Jaromir Jagr. “I thought that he did a really nice job in the third period,” said Laviolette. “We double shifted him between that line and his line; you know young kid, lots of energy. He played extremely well, and I think that’s a real positive for our team.” It’s the coach’s confidence in him that helps the 19-year-old in thinking that staying in the NHL is the right decision. General manager Paul Holmgren didn’t even approach Couturier to see if he wanted to play in the tournament. With all the injuries, the Flyers literally can’t afford to be without Couturier, but they probably wouldn’t want him to leave anyway. “They didn’t really talk to me at all,” said Couturier. “It means that they care about me here. It’s just fun to be here.” Not only is it fun, but it’s more challenging for Couturier who wasn’t used to the heavy dosage of games every week playing for the Drummondville Voltigeurs

“The schedule is lot busier than juniors, 82 [NHL] games … you gotta be ready to go every day,” said Couturier. “We played 68 games [in Juniors], but we only played on weekends. Last year, in 58 games, he had 36 goals and 60 assists. It was his third season in the QMJHL and he had a lot of fun, the World Junior Championship included. Aside from a few superlatives in the NHL, playing for his country — Couturier moved north of the border from Phoenix only a couple months after he was born — has been the highlight of his hockey career. “For sure,” said Couturier. “It was a great experience last year playing against the best in the world in my age group. It was a lot of fun.” These days, the competition is older and in most cases far more experienced than he is. And regardless of his point total, he’s doing just fine. 21. NHL.com – Flyers keep soaring with 5-2 win over Bolts

Adam Kimelman

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Flyers got two points by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Saturday for their fifth consecutive win, but may have lost the NHL's top scorer in the process. The victory was overshadowed by the loss of Claude Giroux, the NHL's leading scorer, late in the second period. Giroux fell to his knees trying to make a defensive play in the neutral zone and teammate Wayne Simmonds, who was charging up behind Giroux, tried to leap over him. He didn't quite make it, and his knee appeared to strike Giroux in the side of the head. Giroux did not come out for the third period. Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said Giroux was evaluated by doctors at the Wells Fargo Center, and will meet with the doctors again Sunday. When asked if Giroux was suffering from any concussion-like symptoms, Holmgren said no. "Not really a headache or anything like that," Holmgren said. "This is really just precautionary at this stage. We didn't want to put him back in there at that time. It's a game in December. Obviously he's one of our better players, so we'll err on the side of caution." Giroux's two assists Saturday extended his point-scoring streak to five games, and extended his League-high point total to 39.

With the Flyers already missing top defenseman Chris Pronger indefinitely with concussion-like symptoms, losing Giroux -- who leads the team in goals, assists, points and game-winning goals, leads the team's forwards in ice time and plays on the top power-play and penalty-killing units -- would be devastating. "He's our best player," linemate Scott Hartnell said. "He's a big catalyst for us. He's so strong on pucks, he's great defensively. Obviously we know what he can do offensively. If he's out we're going to miss him big-time." Simmonds had a goal and an assist for the second straight game, Danny Briere and Jaromir Jagr scored 34 seconds apart early in the second, and Matt Carle and Hartnell also had goals to lift the Flyers. Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 14 of 16 shots for his fifth straight win. Bryzgalov also suffered an injury, leaving the game 6:59 into the third period with a lower-body ailment. He was replaced by Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped all three shots he faced in his first action since Nov. 26. Bryzgalov called the injury an "old boo-boo" that began bothering him in the second period. When he tried to play through it in the third, the affected area stiffened up on him. "It started to get sore a little bit," Bryzgalov said. "It started bothering me more and more during the game. We decided to … be on the safe side." Holmgren said he expects Bryzgalov to be available for the Flyers' next game, Tuesday in Washington. Ryan Shannon and Vincent Lecavalier scored for the Lightning, who lost for the sixth time in the last seven games. Mathieu Garon made 25 saves for Tampa Bay. Shannon gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. Shannon got the puck into the Philadelphia zone and tossed it to open space on the left side of the ice. Dominic Moore chased it down and threw a nice pass back across to Shannon, who scored his second of the season from in close. However, Tampa couldn't take advantage of three power plays, getting just two shots on net. After the third chance, the Flyers turned on the jets, scoring twice in just over half a minute. "We played really well in the first, and for some reason, in the second period we took a few more penalties, we had a few turnovers," Garon said. "They have a great team. They came out really strong (in the second) and they were shooting the puck from everywhere."

Briere started the barrage by scoring his ninth of the season at 2:38. Simmonds started the play by tipping the puck away from defenseman Victor Hedman in the neutral zone. He grabbed the loose puck, carried it into the Lightning end and found Briere in the right circle. Briere's shot beat Garon high over his glove. Jagr then put Philadelphia ahead when he took a drop pass from Giroux in the high slot and fired a laser over Garon's glove at 3:12. The goal was the 656th of Jagr's career, tying him with Brendan Shanahan for 11th on the all-time NHL list. Jagr said he had a chance to talk to Shanahan on Friday during a visit to the Flyers' practice site. Shanahan, the NHL's Vice President of Player Safety, was reviewing legal and illegal hits with the players. "He said he wanted to suspend me," Jagr said with a laugh. "I said, 'How are you going to suspend me? I don't have a hit this year.'" The Flyers made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 14:49 when Simmonds' backhand shot from in close hit off the skate of Tampa Bay defenseman Brett Clark and popped over Garon and into the net for Simmonds' seventh of the season. After going without a point for seven games, Simmonds now has three goals and two assists in his last four games. After his two-point night Thursday against Pittsburgh, it's the first time Simmonds has back-to-back multi-point NHL games. "I'm starting to get more comfortable, trying to do the little things right, and they're paying off, as of now anyway," Simmonds said. "I'm just trying to go to the net and trying to make hard, strong plays along the wall. Tonight was ... I thought it was a lucky goal, but I'll take that one." Lecavalier got the Lightning to within one just 55 seconds into the third period when he scored a power-play goal. Carle was whistled for interference just 11 seconds in, and the Lightning took advantage after being held to just two shots on their first three extra-man chances. Carle snapped a 13-game goal drought with a power-play goal at 4:55. Matt Read started the play by taking the puck from Eric Brewer in the Lightning end. Read gave it to Briere, who spotted Carle open in the circle. He beat Garon up high for his first goal since Nov. 5. Hartnell hit the empty net with 28.0 seconds, extending his goal-scoring streak to a career-best five games. Tampa Bay Lightning Articles (FLYERS last opponent)

1. Tampa Tribune – Flyers pull away for 5-2 win over Lightning

Erik Erlendsson

Too many turnovers and not enough goals.

It sounds like a broken record describing the Lightning lately, and that was again the case in a 5-2 loss to Philadelphia on Saturday in front of 19,772 fans at Wells Fargo Center.

The loss was the sixth in the past seven games for a Tampa Bay team still looking to resolve its issues after dropping to 12-15-2 on the season, nine points behind Southeast Division-leading Florida and five points behind eighth-place Washington.

Saturday's showing looked eerily similar to many of the team's losses throughout the season.

"We just killed ourselves, we sabotaged ourselves one more time,'' Lightning coach Guy Boucher said. "This has happened since the beginning of the year.''

A lack of offense has also contributed to the stumble down the standings as Tampa Bay has scored two or fewer goals in 10 of its past 11 games. The Lightning's record in that span is 3-8, with two of those wins coming in either overtime or a shootout.

"We are not going to win many games when we are giving up four or more goals and not scoring more than two, so it's frustrating,'' center Steven Stamkos said.

Ryan Shannon got the Lightning on the board first — a rarity on the road — when Dominic Moore made a crisp cross-ice pass to an open Shannon on the back post for his second goal of the season at 11:52 of the first. The goal stood up through the first period, though Tampa Bay had two power-play chances — one late in the first and then another to start the second, but failed to build on the lead.

"If we score a big one to make it 2-0, it could be a different game,'' center Vinny Lecavalier said.

Instead, the failed conversions came back to haunt the Lightning as the Flyers scored twice in a span of 34 seconds in the second period, the direct result of neutral zone turnovers.

First, a turnover at center ice by Bruno Gervais turned into a Danny Briere goal that went high to the glove side at 2:38 to tie it. Then, another turnover at center ice when Nate Thompson lost the puck led to a Jaromir Jagr wrist shot – high to the glove side after the shot hit Victor Hedman's stick — that gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead.

The Lightning spent most of the remainder of the period killing off three consecutive penalties, with the second one accounting for Philadelphia's third goal as Wayne Simmonds tried a blind backhand pass through the crease that caromed directly off Brett Clark and into the net with 5:11 left.

Garon made an incredible rebound save with the paddle of his stick to stop Sean Couturier's rebound chance in the final seconds and prevent further damage.

Tampa Bay pulled to within a goal 55 seconds into the third period when Lecavalier put a wrist shot through the legs of Ilya Bryzgalov for a power-play goal. But the Flyers answered right back with a power-play goal courtesy of a touchy boarding call on Steve Downie, as Matt Carle scored on a wrist shot to the short side at 4:55.

The Lightning, meanwhile, didn't even get a sniff at a comeback opportunity as they went 13:01 without another shot on goal after Lecavalier scored. They finished the third period with just four shots on goal

"Two turnovers and they get the lead, we take penalties — and I'm not so sure about all these penalties — and then we have tons of opportunities in the third period to shoot and we don't shoot,'' Boucher said. "When you put it all together, we can't win this one.''

2. Tampa Tribune – Connolly happy to play for his country

Erik Erlendsson

Rookie LW Brett Connolly got excited after being told he was not going to be with the Lightning for the next three weeks.

Of course, staying in the NHL is the top goal for any hockey player, but getting the chance to play for your country on home soil is a rare opportunity for any 19-year-old. Connolly departed for Calgary, Alberta, early Saturday morning to join Team Canada and prepare for the World Junior Championships, which get under way Dec. 26 in Calgary and Edmonton. This will be Connolly's second appearance in the World Junior tournament after helping Canada to a silver medal last year in Buffalo, N.Y.

Connolly was informed of his selection by Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman after Thursday's win over the Rangers.

"It's an exciting time,'' Connolly said. "I'm fortunate enough to get a second chance to win a gold medal for my country. I'm looking forward to playing a bigger role this year and being a leader. And hope to get a gold medal."

In recent games, Connolly's ice time has dipped, and he had just one point in his past 10 games while playing third-line minutes. With Canada, he is expected to log heavy minutes and be one of the team's top players as one of the few returning from last year. He will return to the Lightning at the conclusion of the tournament.

"I'm going to play in every situation, and for me to play against the best players in the world in a pressure-filled environment, it's going to be good for me,'' he said. "I'm looking forward to performing and helping the team win. That's the main goal, be there

and be a leader and help the team win a gold medal. When you put that maple leaf on and play for your country, it's an honor, so I'm very excited to get there.''

Road trip

C Blair Jones enjoyed quite an adventure getting to New York City on Thursday after he was recalled from the American Hockey League. After a 10-hour bus ride through the middle of the night from Norfolk, Va., to Binghamton, N.Y., Jones was preparing for a 1 p.m. practice when he was informed of the call-up. He was told to await flight options, but when none were available, the team tried to arrange for a town car. When that plan fell through, Jones had to take a taxi.

"I jumped in the cab and told him New York City,'' Jones said. "He said that it was kind of a long ride and asked if it was all right if he could stop and pick up his wife. I said, 'I guess so,' and we all went off.''

During the 31/2-hour ride from upstate New York the driver had to stop for gas, so Jones picked up a sandwich from Subway, which served as his pregame meal, as he sat and listened to music on his headphones.

"Then we get into New York City to get to the arena and he didn't know where to go,'' Jones said. "He was stopping people on the street, asking people where to go, and we finally get there and I think I arrived about a minute before the (team) bus.

"So that was a long day. … It was a fun experience and a good story for down the road.''

Fine work

There was some concern that RW Steve Downie might be hit with a suspension for leaving the bench during the second period of Thursday's game and getting involved in the fight that broke out after the "shotgun" goal celebration by New York's Artem Anisimov.

But the league deemed the situation a legal line change — if it was ruled an illegal line change Downie would have incurred an automatic 10-game suspension — and Downie did not throw any punches. He was given a 10-minute misconduct penalty along with a roughing call.

While a suspension still could have been handed down by NHL vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan, Downie instead is expected to get a warning and a fine. The maximum fine allowed under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement is $2,500.

Nuts and Bolts

The team will hold a Toys for Tots drive during the next two home games, on Dec. 12 and 15. Fans who bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate will receive a complimentary ticket for one of three select games, with a maximum of four tickets per person. Members of the Marines Corps, along with Lightning players' wives and girlfriends, will be on the

west plaza before games collecting the donations. … D Pavel Kubina has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 3 and is eligible to return before Monday's home game against New Jersey.

3. Tampa Tribune – Melee good sign as Bolts try to bond

Erik Erlendsson

The Lightning enjoyed unexpected success last season for three primary reasons – they worked extremely hard each night, scored power play goals and benefitted from strong team chemistry.

This season, the only element of the three prevalent on a consistent basis has been the hard work. Maybe not as hard as last year, but for the most part, the work ethic has been there.

Team chemistry, so noticeable throughout last season, has not stood out as much. Line combinations have not clicked like a year ago as Boucher has shuffled the decks quite a few times looking for something to gel. Last season the chemistry might have come together so quickly due to a "let's prove everybody wrong'' mentality, with so many new players and a new coaching staff.

There hasn't been one of those rally together moments so far this season, though one may have occurred Thursday at Madison Square Garden. When Artem Anisimov celebrated a goal by pretending to use his stick as a gun and fire a shot at the Lightning net, captain Vinny Lecavalier immediately went after the Rangers rookie and set off a mini melee.

Could that, along with the loss of Marty St. Louis to injury for an extended period of time, turn out to be a galvanizing game for Tampa Bay?

Only time will tell, but it was a moment when the team came together.

"Our players reacted right,'' Lightning head coach Guy Boucher said. "I think our captain (Lecavalier) set the tone for the rest of the game. He went in and a guy like (Marc-Andre) Bergeron, who is not a fighter, he goes in, and all our guys went in, Stammer was in. So guys are standing up for each other and that's always a very, very good sign.

"We know that last year we had good chemistry, good people who cared about each other, we still have that … and a display of team spirit and team character, caring like that always has a good effect, whether it's in the short term or the long term. And it started with our captain, who makes a statement that we are not going to take that.''

The power play, however, still looks discombobulated at times, and despite quality scoring chances, the puck has not been going in the net.

Last season the Lightning ranked third in total power play time and 5-on-4 time, but this year they are last in the league in 5-on-4 power play time and rank 26th in total power play time entering Saturday, converting just 12-of-84 opportunities (14.3 percent).

The real failures on the power play this year, however, have come in the other power play chances, either 4-on-3 or 5-on-3 situations.

Tampa Bay led the league last season in both scenarios, going 11-for-21 in 5-on-3 opportunities and 5-for-10 in 4-on-3 chances. In 16 minutes, 20 seconds of total 5-on-3 time, the Lightning had three more goals than any other team when having a two-man advantage.

This season, despite ranking seventh in 5-on-3 time, Tampa Bay is just 1-for-8 with the two-man advantage, a point very noticeable on Thursday against the New York Rangers. The Lightning had two opportunities in the second period on a two-man advantage that could have given the team a boost, but instead came away empty.

In 4-on-3 chances this season, despite having 5:28 of time – fourth-most in the league – Tampa Bay is just 1-for-5.

"Every game that you don't score on the power play you are ticked off and wonder where you go,'' Boucher said. "We just have to put the darn thing in. I think it's just like everything else, you have to go back to basics and you have to grind it out. The plays are there, and if they are not scoring, it's not about the plays so it becomes about getting an ugly goal and then slowly after that we'll start thinking about plays.''

4. St. Pete Times – Tampa Bay Lightning loses to Philadelphia Flyers 5-2

Damian Cristodero

PHILADELPHIA — It would be easy to look at the turnovers that cost the Lightning two second-period goals as the turning point in Saturday night's 5-2 loss to the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center.

But that, Vinny Lecavalier said, would be missing the point.

The game might have been different, Tampa Bay's captain said, had the power play come through in the clutch.

Instead, the Lightning (12-15-2) failed on two key chances to add to a 1-0 lead and got zero — zero — shots in the process.

"You make it 2-0, it could be a different game," Lecavalier said. "That's where games get turned around."

The turnaround came when Danny Briere and Jaromir Jagr — off turnovers by Bruno Gervais and Nate Thompson, respectively — scored in 34 seconds to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead 3:12 into the second period.

Philadelphia's third goal in the period, by Wayne Simmonds, ricocheted past goaltender Mathieu Garon off the skate of Tampa Bay defenseman Brett Clark.

Lecavalier scored a power-play goal to make it 3-2 55 seconds into the third period, but the downward spiral was too much to overcome.

Matt Carle's power-play goal four minutes later made it 4-2, and the Flyers outshot Tampa Bay 32-19, including 11-4 in the third period and 26-11 in the second and third combined.

But the lack of a timely power-play goal — and that Tampa Bay mustered just three shots in 6:44 playing with the extra man on four power plays — irked the Lightning most because it has been a season-long problem.

"It's frustrating," center Steven Stamkos said. "We're trying different looks. We're just not getting enough shots. It's not helping us win hockey games like it has in the past."

The power play entered Saturday 24th in the 30-team league at 14.3 percent. Its road power play was 27th at 10.2 percent and including Saturday is on a 3 for 33 skid.

Last season Tampa Bay's power play was sixth overall at 20.5 percent and ninth on the road at 18.4 percent.

This season's team also seems not as determined to get into the slot, create traffic and battle.

"You've got to go back to basics," coach Guy Boucher said. "It's not about the plays. It's about grinding it out and getting ugly."

Tampa Bay's turnovers were ugly. And Briere and Jagr both beat Garon high to the glove side, where Briere said the scouting report said to shoot.

"We can't sabotage ourselves," Boucher said.

That said, it was Tampa Bay's failure on the power play that set the stage.

"You score a big goal," Lecavalier said, "and it's a totally different game."

5. St. Pete Times – Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher won't criticize Steve

Downie for Rangers fight

Damian Cristodero

PHILADELPHIA — The 10-game stretch leading to Thursday's game with the Rangers had been good for Steve Downie.

The Lightning right wing, whose 65 penalty minutes entered Saturday fourth in the league, had committed just one two-minute minor infraction.

And coach Guy Boucher wasn't about to criticize Downie for his part in Thursday's fracas with the Rangers' Artem Anisimov, even though GM Steve Yzerman said Downie might be fined by the league.

"I know one thing," Boucher said, "our players acted right."

C Vinny Lecavalier, D Marc-Andre Bergeron and Downie took turns trying to get at Anisimov during the second period of Tampa Bay's 3-2 shootout victory. Anisimov held his stick like a rifle and pretended to shoot at G Mathieu Garon after scoring. Downie, coming over the boards on a line change as the confrontation began, sat on top of the boards watching until the scrum heated up, then joined in. He was called for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct.

The league has not taken action against Downie, who was called for boarding against the Flyers in Saturday's 5-2 loss.

"He's trying to keep himself on the ice," Boucher said. "He's trying to stay focused. … Obviously, it's a fight for him to make sure he's in line with that. But he's been really good about it."

CONACHER RISING: Norfolk's Cory Conacher leads all AHL rookies in scoring with 29 points on 14 goals and 15 assists, continuing the play that made him a top training-camp story.

"His play away from the puck, his overall understanding of the system has really come together," Norfolk GM Julien BriseBois said. "He's been a really good addition to our organization, and right now he's looking like a good prospect for the NHL."

First, Conacher, 21, under a minor-league deal, must sign an NHL contract. The Lightning owns Conacher's rights until July 1, when he can become an unrestricted free agent. BriseBois said Conacher and his agent have been told "we are planning on signing him."

"But there are timing issues," BriseBois said, so the team is "holding pat." Because Conacher is older than 20, he will lose one of the three years in which he is exempt from waivers as soon as he plays one pro game under an NHL contract. In that sense, it would be better for Tampa Bay to sign him after the season.

"We have other players (in Norfolk) doing really well in terms of who we call up next if we need a player," BriseBois said.

MEDICAL MATTERS: RW Marty St. Louis (facial fractures) flew to Tampa after spending Friday at his Connecticut home with wife Heather. … D Pavel Kubina (lower body), on injured reserve, is eligible to play. Boucher said his return depends on his conditioning. … C Nate Thompson played after missing one game with an upper-body injury.

ODDS AND ENDS: The Flyers did not use the stall tactics that caused a ruckus the last time the teams met. … Garon made one of the season's best saves in the game, stopping Sean Couturier with his left leg and stick twice as the puck slid toward the net. … Tampa Bay blocked a season-high 26 shots.

6. St. Pete Times – Tampa Bay Lightning Nuts and Bolts

Damian Cristodero

Unable to find a flight from Binghamton, N.Y., that would get to New York in time, and with no Town Cars available, F Blair Jones on Thursday took a 31/2-hour cab ride to Madison Square Garden for the game against the Rangers after being called up to the Lightning from AHL Norfolk.

But it wasn't just any cab ride. The driver picked up his wife, and they blared country music.

"I don't blame him. It's a long drive back," Jones said of the driver getting his wife. About the music, "That was bad for me."

"It was all kind of funny," Jones said. "I don't think they grasped the concept of what I was going to New York for."

Jones said he got to the Garden "about a minute" before the bus pulled up with the team. His pregame meal?

"We stopped to fill up with gas, so I got a (chicken teriyaki) sandwich from Subway."

Root, root, root

When RW Adam Hall heard Michigan State's football team will play in the Jan. 2 Outback Bowl in Tampa, he checked the Lightning schedule to see if he could attend.

Hall, 31, is a 2002 graduate of the East Lansing school and said the teams there had a good relationship.

"It was great," Hall said. "We really supported each other when I was there. I remember we were in the playoffs and some of the basketball guys came to our games. It's nice to have that kind of closeness."

But with the Lightning on Jan. 2 leaving for a three-game road trip, Hall won't be going to the Outback Bowl.

Too bad, he said. "It would be kind of cool."

7. St. Pete Times – Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman has options to bolster

defense

Damian Cristodero

By now, there has to be some concern within the Lightning that Mattias Ohlund will not play this season, much less soon.

The defenseman has not skated in several weeks because of pain that has persisted in his knees despite Oct. 11 arthroscopic surgeries on both to clean out what the team called "loose bodies."

Ohlund is frustrated by the situation, the team is as well, and fans are wondering what GM Steve Yzerman is going to do.

He has several options.

• He can stick with what he has. Bruno Gervais has done a credible job as a No. 6 defenseman in the absence of injured Pavel Kubina, so for now, at least, there is no reason to panic.

• Yzerman could get aggressive and call up Radko Gudas or Mark Barberio from AHL Norfolk. Barberio had three goals and 19 points and was plus-11 through his first 23 games. Gudas, a big hitter, had four goals and nine points and was plus-4.

Yzerman, though, is not one to rush a prospect, and long term he believes those players are better served playing big minutes in Norfolk than a supporting role with the Lightning.

• He could make a trade. Yzerman would love to obtain a steady defender with speed. But so would just about everybody else. Tampa Bay doesn't have the depth to deal a primary roster player, and to get something significant, Yzerman would have to give something significant. He also has little interest in dealing top prospects or high draft choices.

Then there is the matter of what is available. It still is early in the season (meaning most contracts still have a lot of money pending) and teams are so bunched together in the standings (meaning not many are out of playoff contention) that teams are more interested in shedding bad contracts than worrying about paring those they cannot sign for next season.

The Hurricanes were desperate to dump floundering Tomas Kaberle and his $4.25 million annual salary through 2013-14. Shockingly, they found a taker in the Canadiens last week. That is the current market.

Yzerman is patient. Expect him to wait for what he believes is the right situation, whether it comes sooner or later.

8. St. Pete Times – Tampa Bay Lightning loves surging prospect Cory Conacher,

but an NHL deal has "timing issues"

Damian Cristodero

Norfolk’s Cory Conacher entered Saturday leading all AHL rookies in scoring with 27 points on 13 goals and 14 assists, continuing the fine play which made him one of training camp’s best stories.

“His play away from the puck, his overall understanding of the system has really come together over the course of the last month,” Norfolk GM Julien BriseBois said. “He’s been a really good addition to our organization and right now he’s looking like a good prospect for the NHL.”

First, Conacher, 21, must sign an NHL contract. He currently has a minor-league deal. The Lightning owns Conacher’s rights until July 1, when he can become an unrestricted free agent. BriseBois said Tampa Bay has informed Conacher and his agent “we are planning on signing him.”

“But there are timing issues,” BriseBois added, so the team is “holding pat.”

Because Conacher is more than 20 years old, he will lose one of the three years in which he is exempt from waivers as soon as he plays one pro game under an NHL contract. In that sense, it would be better for Tampa Bay to sign him after the season.

“We have other players (in Norfolk) doing really well in terms of who we call up next if we need a player,” BriseBois said.

Adirondack Phantoms Articles

1. Glens Falls Post-Star – Phantoms top Rochester in overtime

Tim McManus

GLENS FALLS -- This time, the Adirondack Phantoms got to play the part of heartbreakers.

After three straight final-minute losses, one harder to swallow than the other, Ben Holmstrom and Garrett Roe made sure the shoe went on the other foot Saturday. Holmstrom scored the game-winner 2:06 into overtime on a power play to give Adirondack a 3-2 victory over Rochester and snap the Phantoms' three-game losing streak before a crowd of 4,232 at the Civic Center. "We let the last few games kind of slip away and it was nice to pull one out the other way," Holmstrom said. Things looked dire after Rochester's Evan Rankin scored to give Rochester a 2-1 lead with under just under 10 minutes to play. But this would be no carbon copy of the previous three. Roe, battered by high hits from the Americans all night, got the equalizer less than three minutes later on a pretty feed from Dan Jancevski. Jancesvski looked like he was going to shoot from the point, which sent the Americans' defenseman into a slide. Jancevski side-stepped him and slid the puck to Roe at the post, who re-directed it high into the net. "The last few nights we got scored on late, things went the wrong way for us," Roe said. "Tonight, we got scored on and we responded. We showed a lot of character coming back and not giving up at all." Roe, a free agent signing out of St. Cloud State who is third on the team with 16 points, also assisted on Holmstrom's game-winner. His line with Jason Akeson and Tye McGinn gave the Phantoms many of their best chances during the two games this weekend. Both Roe and Denis Hamel nearly scored in the overtime period before Akeson drew a high-sticking penalty that gave the Phantoms a power play for the final 3:28 of overtime. "(Roe's) been an important guy most of the season. He plays all situations, he plays hard every night," Holmstrom said. " I don't think it was any surprise he was a factor in all those goals tonight. He comes to play every night." The win salvaged another terrific effort by Michael Leighton, making his eighth straight start in goal. He had allowed just five goals in his previous three games, all losses as the Phantoms sputtered offensively. Leighton made 29 saves on Saturday. "Those times when it's not going your way, it's no secret Leighton, how huge he's been. When you got a guy like that to lean on then you can be a little opportunistic," Holmstrom said. "He's been by far our best player the last four games."

Through two periods, the Phantoms' offense showed little signs of waking from its December slumber. Shane Harper's first-period goal broke a more than 150-minute scoreless streak and gave the Phantoms a 1-0 lead. It seemed an early sign that some newly shuffled lines might help the Phantoms break their slump. Promoted to the top line, Harper used his get down the wing and finish a two-on-one break with Denis Hamel. But there was little to come after that. The Phantoms had just 12 shots through two periods. Rochester tied it on a power-play goal by Rankin 4:45 into the second, which ended the Phantoms' successful penalty killing streak at 34. This time, however, the Phantoms had an answer. "We've been battling the last few nights and things haven't gone the way we planned," Phantoms coach Joe Paterson said. "It was nice to see the players get rewarded for their hard work and effort." Loose pucks: Saturday's game was the 801st in Hamel's AHL career. ... Johan Backlund dressed for the second straight game as the backup as Jason Bacashihua deals with a minor issue. He's not expected to miss much time. ... Andrew Rowe sat out after making his season debut on Friday. Luke Pither replaced him in the lineup. Rochester (11-10-3-1) 0 1 1 0 - 2 Adirondack (14-9-1-1) 1 0 1 1 - 3 First period - 1, Adirondack, Harper 4 (Hamel), 11:13. Penalties - Kessel, Adk (tripping), 11:52; Morrisonn Rch (interference), 16:21. Second period - 2, Rochester, Rankin 3 (Morrisonn, Varone), 4:48 (pp). Penalties - Hamel, Adk, (hooking), 3:52; Holmstrom, Adk (slashing), 8:29; Rankin. Rch (hooking), 8:32. Third period - 3, Rochester, Rankin 4 (Varone, Foligno), 10:52; 4, Adirondack, Roe 3 (Jancevski, McGinn), 13:06. Penalties - Crawford, Rch (holding), 14:38; Holmstrom, Adk (roughing), 14:38; Pither, Adk (slashing), 16:08. Overtime - 5, Adirondack, Holmstrom 6 (Roe, Hamel), 2:06 (pp). Penalties - Schiestel, Rch (double minor-high-sticking), 1:32. Shots on goal - Rochester 4-14-13-0-31; Adirondack 6-6-9-7-28.

Power-play opportunities - Rochester 1/4; Adirondack 1/3. Goalies - Rochester, MacIntyre 4-7-1 (28 shots-25 saves); Adirondack, Leighton 11-8-0 (31 shots-29 saves). Referee - Ragusin. A - 4,232. NHL Articles

1. Edmonton Journal – Hockey World: Dec. 10

Jim Matheson

EDMONTON - Who’s Hot: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins leads the NHL in scoring on home ice with 24 points. Little wonder we’re hearing “Noooge” night after night at Rexall Place. Who’s Not: Steve Downie was productive for the Tampa Bay Lightning last season, but he has just six points and is minus-12. Marquee Matchups: Sunday: San Jose Sharks goalie Antti Niemi, who hardly ever loses against his old team, is in Chicago to face the Blackhawks. Tuesday: Jimmy Howard and the Detroit Red Wings are in Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins and Sidney Crosby, if he’s back from his precautionary sit-down. Panthers early-season surprise Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon had little pain for his club’s gain in the first two months of the NHL season until he had to go to Mass General Hospital in Boston in the wee hours of Thursday morning after a nice meal and a relaxing night to get rid of a troublesome kidney stone. “Disease of the Irish … it’s not the first time,” said Tallon, talking on his cellphone while waiting for the results of some tests to see if he needed surgery. “Usually I can pass the stones, but I’ve had three surgeries before this. What’s the kidney stone pain like? Worse than a hip dislocation or a broken leg.”

Tallon’s surprisingly good club — along with Minnesota Wild, the biggest surprise of the first third of the season — has had some injury problems. Forwards Scottie Upshall, Marcel Goc and Matt Bradley have all been hurt and Mikael Samuelsson (groin) finally played his first Panthers game against the Boston Bruins, six weeks after Tallon got him from the Vancouver Canucks for David Booth. But, nothing has slowed them down. The Panthers went into Boston this week and knocked them off 2-0. The next night, dog-tired, they lost 2-1 in OT in Buffalo. Going into Saturday’s action, they were tied with the Flyers for second (37) in overall points in the league. The former Chicago Blackhawks GM was like the shopper who wins five minutes in a grocery store to race up and down the aisles and stuff as much as he can in a cart when free-agency opened last July 1. Miles from the mandated $48.3-million salary-cap floor, Tallon traded for Blackhawks defenceman Brian Campbell (giving up forward Rostislav Olesz, now in the minors), gladly taking on Campbell’s $7.1 million cap hit for five more years. He dealt for another ex-Blackhawks winger, Kris Versteeg (second and third-round picks), after he struggled through medical problems and inconsistency with the Toronto Maple Leafs, then the Philadelphia Flyers. He signed forwards Tomas Fleischmann, Tomas Kopecky, Sean Bergenheim, Upshall, Goc and Matt Bradley, defenceman Ed Jovanovski and goalie Jose Theodore. Tallon was open for business on July 1; it seemed like everybody got a four-year contract for $3 million to $4 million. They now have a team salary of over $54 million. Amazingly, all the disparate parts seem to have fit, along with inspired play by holdover Stephen Weiss. Weiss, Fleischmann, who has had two scary blood clot problems the last couple of years, and the reawakened Versteeg have 89 points as a line. They are the best line in the league, right now. Versteeg and Fleischmann (60 per cent on faceoffs) are plus-16 and Weiss is plus-15. Who figured that? On top of that, Tallon hired the right coach, Kevin Dineen, who should have been an NHL head man long before this. “We went into this summer feeling we needed to compete more and needed more NHL professional guys. Character was vital,” said Tallon. “Fleischmann was the most skilled guy out there. We had results (blood clots) from the doctors he’d seen in Washington (before he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for Scott Hannan last season) and we had it verified from the Cleveland Clinic. Any time you sign a guy there’s a risk, but we were confident we had a handle on it.” The Detroit Red Wings were also very interested in Fleischman in July because they had originally drafted him (he and Kyle Brodziak were linemates in Moose Jaw). They dealt him to Washington seven years ago to get Robert Lang. The Red Wings apparently were

a little leery of Fleischman’s medical history, plus they wouldn’t have given him a four-year $16-million deal. But Tallon had money to burn. Versteeg, like Campbell, won a Stanley Cup for Tallon in Chicago, so there was a comfort level there. “He wasn’t happy (in Toronto) and he’s played hurt the last few years with double sports hernia and screwed up his back. But I know what makes him tick. We had a good relationship in Chicago. It was easy to fix,” said Tallon. And Campbell, who has 24 points? The Blackhawks were looking to divest themselves of Campbell’s salary because they felt Nick Leddy could fill a top-four role at $900,000. Tallon and his successor, Stan Bowman, made one deal last winter — Jack Skille to Florida for Michael Frolik and goalie Alexander Salak. “Very few teams would have -taken the contract, but it was -doable in our payroll and we didn’t have his element (puck-rusher) in our system. That sent a message to the other (free-agent) guys. Once we got Soupy (Campbell), everything fell into place,” said Tallon. Weiss may be the biggest surprise. He was dying on the vine after they took him fourth overall in 2001. He had 333 points in 557 games, a good player on a bad team. “The first day I got the job I asked him if he wanted to be a part of this (overhauling the team). He said, ‘Yes, I do.’ I had many opportunities to trade him and I wouldn’t. I felt he deserved this (sticking around). He’s been terrific, kind of the glue,” said Tallon. Did every agent have his number on speed dial this past summer? “Yeah, yeah. They knew where to go,” said Tallon. “We told the agents we wanted to change the dynamic and the culture and the history in Chicago helped us. Also, what’s so bad about playing in Florida? It’s beautiful.” So did hiring Dineen, a consummate pro as a player and a very good coach for five years in the AHL. He interviewed in Columbus and was in the final three there, but the Blue Jackets opted for Scott Arniel after Guy Boucher was offered the job, then decided he’d rather work for the Lightning in Tampa Bay. “I knew Kevin’s father, I knew his family. I watched him play. I watched him coach,” said Tallon. “He’s a heart-and-soul guy. He gets his message across in a positive, -reinforcing way. He’s real solid,” said Tallon

The Panthers have traded some draft picks, but the cupboard is stocked with kids on the way, too. They have one hidden gem, young defenceman Dmitry Kulikov, on their roster. “He’s going to be a stud,” said former Panther Darcy Hordichuk. “We’ve got lots of room for kids like (Jonathan) Huberdeau, (Curtis) Howden, (Alex) Petrovic, (Rocco) Grimaldi.” Are the fans buying in? “We’ve had three Mondays and two Sundays at home, not ideal dates. With weekend games and good teams coming in, we’re getting 17,000, 18,000. Our game-day sales of tickets are up 40 per cent and we’re getting a good vibe, a good buzz. We’ll get there,” Tallon said. Western Conference There were high-fives all the way around when Steve Yzerman, never forgetting the fact that Hockey Canada gave him the shot to put together the 2010 gold-medal team in Vancouver, let winger Brett Connolly go to the world junior squad. Also some generosity from Ducks GM Bob Murray, who’s loaning banging forward Devante Smith-Pelly, presumably thinking he’s got a train-wreck of a team and the kid might like to win some games before he has to tug on an Anaheim jersey again. Connolly will be a top-six guy on Don Hay’s team; Smith-Pelly will give some sandpaper to a team light on guys who run over people. “Our right side was sort of a weak spot for us, but it increases our skill, size and physical element. Smith-Pelly (the star of the summer evaluation camp in Edmonton) is noted for hitting and that’s infectious. I think Smith-Pelly will be like a Mike Grier in the NHL,” said Kevin Prendergast, who picked the players for the selection camp in Calgary which starts Sunday. Brandon’s Mark Stone, who leads the WHL with 65 points in 33 games (27 goals), will likely be the first line right winger. “We had a wish list to get one of last year’s centres back (either Ryan Johansen from Columbus or Sean Couturier from Philadelphia), but I talked to Scotty (GM Howson of the Blue Jackets) and he said Ryan was playing too well. The guy we were really hoping for was Erik Gudbranson on defence, but Florida’s not giving him up. They’re scared because they have 13 games in the time (selection camp and tournament) and they’re reasoning is ‘the minute we give up Gudbranson we get two defencemen hurt and we’re screwed for a month.’

Guys being loaned by NHL clubs are pretty much locks on the team. If not, as Prendergast says, “You better have a bloody good reason for cutting a guy or you’ll never get another one.” It’s hard to believe the Oilers wouldn’t let them have Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “Yeah, I’m shocked,” deadpanned Prendergast. Winger Brett Bulmer, who started the year with the Minnesota Wild and played nine games before going back to the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets, could be a role player on the club. He’s got 23 points in 15 games for the junior Rockets. Prendergast said likely first-line winger Huberdeau (third pick in last June’s draft, but out with broken foot) will be examined by Hockey Canada’s doctors in Calgary and they don’t expect him to be on the ice until Monday. Defenceman Ryan Murray (Everett Silvertips, high-ankle sprain) played his first game in seven weeks Friday in a loss to Spokane. “It was sore at times, but it went away,” said Murray, who will likely be a top-three pick in next June’s draft. Who gets the No. 1 goaltending job is up in the air. Returnee Mark Visentin (Phoenix Coyotes draft pick) and Tyler Bunz (Medicine Hat Tigers, Oilers draft pick) have the inside track. Scott Wedgewood (Plymouth Whalers, New Jersey Devils draft pick) and Louis Dominquez (Quebec Remparts, Coyotes draft pick), who were at the summer evaluation camp in Edmonton, are also in the mix. “Last year we thought Olivier Roy (playing for the Oilers’ Stockton Thunder East Coast Hockey League farm club) was clearly ahead coming out of camp and Visentin didn’t get enough action (early in the tournament). This year, whatever two guys are picked, I would think we’d go 1-1 in the first two tournament games and the guy they settle on will play against the Swedes in the third game. They’re a power,” said Prendergast. Prendergast thinks the Russians have “the highest skill level” and the Americans “are huge.” This ’n’ that The Red Wings, with $5.6 million in cap room, would probably like to add another offensive top-six or top-nine player at the deadline. It’s no secret Detroit GM Ken Holland has long been an Ales Hemsky fan. He stuck a dagger in their hearts in the first round of the 2006 playoffs in Game 6 in Edmonton. The Oilers winger, who is an an unrestricted free-agent July 1, would cost the Oilers about $1 million in cap hit if they wanted him at the deadline. The Red Wings would also like an extra, veteran defenceman in the late Ruslan Salei mould … Some folks might like to kick a guy when he’s down,

but Los Angeles Kings winger Ethan Moreau clearing waivers and being sent to the AHL in Manchester, N.H., Saturday is a certain indication his body is wearing out at 36. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. He’s played hard for 928 games. The Kings didn’t want to send kids Andrei Loktionov or Slava Voynov back to the minors with Willie Mitchell back, so they waived Moreau … The Kings saluted the colourful (fur coats, pink satin suits) Bernie Nicholls Saturday on Legends Night. Nicholls scored 70 goals one year with Wayne Gretzky passing him the puck — one of only eight players in history to hit 70. After every goal there was the fist pump. “The Pumper-Nicholl,” said Hall of Fame play-by-play man Bob Miller … Jason Arnott, the Oilers’ first draft pick in 1993, just played his 1,200th game. Only 89 players can say they played that many games and he’s sixth most among active guys — Nick Lidstrom, Roman Hamrlik, Jaromir Jagr, Teemu Selanne and Brian Rolston. “It’s been a heck of a ride,” said Arnott, who scored the series winner for the Devils to win the Cup in 2000, over current St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock’s Dallas Stars … Lest you think Zach Parise didn’t know what he was doing on his penalty shot that Carey Price stopped Saturday, Parise is six-for-seven on shootout tries this season and scored on a penalty shot against the San Jose Sharks’ Antti Niemi in October. Eastern Conference Montreal Canadiens coach Jacques Martin says they got defenceman Tomas Kaberle because “we need somebody to quarterback our power play.” Excuse me, but what have they been watching these last several months? Kaberle was a huge disappointment on the point in Boston — eventually the Bruins took him off there — and he did little in Carolina. Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford was desperate to unload Kaberle’s contract which has about $11 million left on the three-year deal Rutherford admits he blew when he signed him this summer. Dealing for Kaberle is an admission that Andrei Markov isn’t coming back any time soon, but this trade of Jaroslav Spacek for Kaberle boggles the mind. Chances are Kaberle will give the Habs an initial burst of offence like in any trade as players try to impress (two assists vs. New Jersey Saturday), but Kaberle likes to play at his own tempo. As one NHL executive says “the pace of the game is so high now, you can’t slow the game down to your speed. Players get on you too fast on the power play.” This deal is all on Habs GM Pierre Gauthier. I like Lars Eller for Jaro Halak; Eller is going to be a good one. But this trade for Kaberle? *** Getting the game-puck for his first NHL win for Carolina coach Kirk Muller was a shade different feeling than his first win as a head coach with Queen’s University. “Few more people watching here (Rexall Place, 16,839). There was maybe 50 or 60 people and 30 were family members,” Muller said, jokingly. The $10,000 that was to

come off Muller’s cheque because he’s the coach and one of his players, Tim Gleason, engaged in a fight in the last five minutes of Wednesday’s game here with Andy Sutton, has been rescinded. This ’n’ that Under what are the odds of this dept.: the same cop who was there when Matthew Barnaby was charged in his domestic dispute with his ex-wife, also pulled him over and charged him with impaired driving, going down a busy street with only three tires on his Porsche SUV. -Buffalo, N.Y., is a small town, but -really? I hope Barnaby gets the help he needs, but he’s lost his job at ESPN and he might get deported. “I hope he’s got a good lawyer, but he’s going to need one,” said a Buffalo area district attorney … Hockey players know trades are part of the business, but Spacek was hugely popular in the room in Montreal with his colourful sense of humour. Kaberle is way quieter … If the Molson people pull the plug on Gauthier and Martin at season’s end because the fans in Montreal are getting very restless, you can expect Julien Brisebois, Steve Yzerman’s right-hand man to get the manager’s job. Coach? He has to be French-Canadian doesn’t he? The Habs, by the way, have had 14 coaches in the last 30 years. They’ve had a tough time getting it right … People keep talking about the one suit Washington Capitals coach Dale Hunter owns, but in fashion terms, how about Hall of Famer Al Arbour? One of his former New York Islanders players said he had dress pants tailored to fit into his skates when he was running a practice. Arbour’s ties didn’t always match his sports-jackets, but man he could coach … This is now five surgeries and a concussion in the last 16 months for Philadelphia captain Chris Pronger. He says his body isn’t breaking down, but if not the gods are dumping on him big-time. Meanwhile, Brayden Schenn has had a broken foot, a bad shoulder and now a concussion after a Raffi Torres hit as he tries to start his NHL career with the Flyers after the Mike Richards trade in June … Hunter isn’t as big of a fan of Jeff Schultz on the back-end as former coach Bruce Boudreau. Schultz played 3:35 against the Ottawa Senators and was scratched against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hunter said he “didn’t fit” against the Sens. The feeling is he’s too mild-mannered and his foot speed is an issue at six-foot-six, 235 pounds … If Ryan Nugent-Hopkins looks 14, Jeff Skinner looks about 12, but there’s no denying Skinner’s talent as a scorer. He buried a shot in the slot against the Oilers, even though he seemed to shoot it right at goalie Devan Dubnyk. “I remember Chico Resch asked Mike Bossy once about scoring goals. Bossy said ‘the net hasn’t moved in 100 years. I know where it is. I never look at it when I’m shooting,’ ” recalled New Jersey scout Jan Ludvig, who played for the Devils and long ago for the Oilers in the World Hockey Association. “Maybe that’s why I always missed the net by a few inches. It kept moving on me.” … Canadiens goalie Carey Price is easily one of the NHL’s top six goalies, but in shootouts he may as well be a beer leaguer. He’s stopped eight and given up nine goals in the 17 shots he’s faced in the six skills contests he’s lost this year ... Billionaire Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula is also in the sports agency business for NFL players. He just acquired France All-Pro Athlete Management out of Atlanta. They represent over 50 NFLers … Panthers D-man Brian Campbell got his first penalty of the year, in his 28th game, but it wasn’t a hook or a hold. He accidentally shot the puck over the glass in Boston on Thursday ... Bernie

Parent, who’ll be playing in the Legends game for the Flyers on New Year’s Eve agains1t the Rangers greats, says his pre-game routine may change from his heyday in the 70s. “Then I had a big steak, a nap and I’d get up and watch an episode of the Three Stooges,” Parent said, laughing. By the numbers: 533: Consecutive games played for Jay Bouwmeester, longest current streak. 11: One-goal wins for the Wild this year. 32: Players the injury-riddled Wild have used this year, tied with Winnipeg for the league high. He Said It: “The last time I had the pads on? Two or three years ago when two-year-old kids were shooting at me at the (Philadelphia Flyers’ wives) carnival.” Hall of Famer Bernie Parent, now 66, after deciding he will suit up for the Philadelphia Flyers alumni team on New Year’s Eve against the new York Rangers alumni team. Matty’s Short Shifts • Tyler Seguin missed a Boston Bruins team meeting because he screwed up his alarm? He has a roommate on the road, doesn’t he? Did the roomie not think to get on his cellphone to Seguin and ask where the heck he was? Or go a few floors up to their hotel room? Tyler said he had his alarm set on Boston time, but he’d actually have an extra hour (Central time) to play with because the Bruins were in Winnipeg to play the Jets. Like I said, just asking. • The NHL will probably take the easy way out and rename the four conferences geographically instead of going the jazzier route most people prefer — renaming them for great players. The league opted to name their four divisions after builders (Smythe, Norris, Adams and Patrick) from 1974 to 1993 when 1980s players had little feeling for Conn Smythe or James Norris. But, believe me, today’s players know who Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux were. There might be a push that the Habs be represented by Henri (Rocket) Richard or Jean Beliveau, instead, but give the conferences names, not time-zones or general areas on a map. That’s boring. • Tampa Bay Lightning winger Martin St. Louis losing his consecutive games streak at 499 because teammate Dominic Moore hit him in the face with a wild shot in practice, is a cruel way to miss your first game in six years. He broke his finger in November of

2005. Face and nasal fractures this time around. When he returns, it’s conceivable St. Louis might have to wear a cage for a time. • Curt Fraser is coaching TSN commentator Ray Ferraro’s son on Detroit’s AHL farm team in Grand Rapids. “Curt was my last NHL coach (Atlanta). Strange, eh? He coached me to end my pro career and Landon to start his?” said Ferraro. • I know hindsight’s always 20-20 even with my glasses which buddies say are always dirty, but were there actually 21 kids better than Claude Giroux in the 2006 first-round? Giroux could win the scoring title and is a slam-dunk to be on Canada’s next Olympic squad in Sochi, Russia, if the NHL sends over its players. Here’s who went before him: Bobby Sanguinetti, David Fischer, Mark Mitera, Chris Stewart, Trevor Lewis, Ty Wishart, Riku Helenius, Jiri Tlusty, James Sheppard, Derick Brassard and Erik Johnson, who went No. 1. I have no problem with Jordan Staal or Jonathan Toews or Nicklas Backstrom or Phil Kessel being picked ahead of Giroux. • Claude Noel is doing a very nice job as the Jets coach, but former Anaheim Ducks head man Randy Carlyle is a longtime favourite of the one-time Manitoba Moose hierarchy who are heavily involved with the NHL club (team president and part owner Mark Chipman and assistant GM Craig Heisinger). Nobody’s saying Carlyle is going there, but it’s tough to overlook the history. • If the Islanders aren’t in the playoff hunt in February, would they move Steve Staios? He’d be a perfect No. 6-7 guy for a Cup contender. How about the Bruins? Or would they look at Cory Sarich in Calgary. He’s won a Cup in Tampa Bay and he’d be a $900,000 pickup. Boston actually could use a puck-moving D-man more, like a Brian Campbell or Dan Boyle, but not many teams are trading those • Did anybody take Jason Chimera in their fantasy pool? More goals than Ovechkin, Iginla and Malkin. Great year for one of the game’s good guys, but did he secretly have hand-transplant surgery this past summer? On pace for 30 goals. • Everybody talks about the baby-faced Oilers, but they’re only the fifth youngest team, on average. The Colorado Avalanche (25.7) are the youngest with Buffalo (25.9), Nashville (26.2) and Minnesota (26.3) ahead of the Oilers (26.4). Oldest team: Detroit (29.4). • What do you pay Kyle Brodziak, who’s an unrestricted free-agent in June? He’s a bargain at $1.15 million for the Wild, playing 17- minutes as their No. 3 centre. I’d say $2.5 million. He’s one the Oilers let get away, thinking he wasn’t aggressive enough. • Assistant coach Rick Wilson deserves a lot of credit for the Minnesota Wild’s revolving-door defence with so many young guys — Jared Spurgeon, Marco Scandella, Nate Prosser, Clayton Stoner. Spurgeon and Scandella are both playing more than 20 minutes a night.

2. Ottawa Sun – Rink Wrap: Gauthier's last stand? 2

Bruce Garrioch

OTTAWA - Pierre Gauthier’s latest move could be his last. The Canadiens GM is either desperate or on thin ice after acquiring defenceman Tomas Kaberle and his $4.25-million cap hit for two more seasons from the Hurricanes on Friday in exchange for blueliner Jaroslav Spacek, a potential unrestricted free agent next July. The decision to make the move has left many believing that Gauthier is through waiting for injured defenceman Andrei Markov, who had surgery again on his injured knee last week. While he’s supposed to return by February, Markov’s chances of playing at all this season have never been more in doubt. You have to wonder what possessed Gauthier to give the 32-year-old Markov (who played seven games last season) a three-year, $15.75-million contract in the off-season. Couldn’t Gauthier have offered Markov a deal with incentives for games played in case this happened? The talk in NHL circles is this decision to acquire Kaberle had better work for Gauthier. The Habs are hovering around 11th place in the Eastern Conference and if they miss the playoffs after an early exit last spring, you have to think that could be it for Gauthier and coach Jacques Martin. THIS ’N’ THAT There was an update on the sale of the Blues during the NHL’s board of governors meetings last week in Pebble Beach, Calif. Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer is trying to get the financing in place to complete the purchase of the team and his window of opportunity closes on Dec. 31. Many wonder if it is going to go through ... Since a coaching change hasn’t brought the desired results, Capitals GM George McPhee has been working the phones trying to shake up his struggling club. While the Caps would love to move Alexander Semin, there is no market for a struggling, underachieving winger making too much money these days. OFF THE GLASS Don’t think Devils G Martin Brodeur, who could be in his final season, will be going anywhere at the trade deadline as a rental. It’s not like the 38-year-old needs to be dealt

so he can win a Stanley Cup before he retires. He already has three rings. He has nothing to prove ... The Bruins will have a decision to make on C Chris Kelly sometime this season. An alternate captain, he’s a UFA July 1 and there’s been speculation in Boston he’ll be signed to a contract extension. There haven’t been any talks with the Bruins yet. The Senators will be keeping a close eye on the situation. Kelly makes his off-season home in Ottawa and it would only make sense for the Senators to try to bring him back if he’s available. THE FINAL BUZZER You have to feel for fans of the Blue Jackets (if there are any left). With Columbus sitting in the basement in the Western Conference, coach Scott Arniel is somehow still employed and Craig Patrick was just brought aboard to advise GM Scott Howson. At the very least, many feel Arniel should have been fired and replaced with old Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock. The Blues’ decision to hire Hitchcock has worked wonders in St. Louis. With W David Perron back, the Blues have the chance to make the playoffs ... Amid all the back-slapping and glad-handing that’s gone on with the NHL’s realignment plan, has anybody bothered to ask the NHLPA what it thinks? The players have to approve a major change to the CBA. Just sayin.’ RUMOURS DU JOUR The self-imposed holiday roster freeze for Brian Burke kicked in Friday, but the Maple Leafs GM might be willing to make moves once it’s lifted. The Leafs could be looking for help in the middle, especially with Tim Connolly struggling with injuries. Columbus C Derick Brassard could be an option. League sources say Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson was spotted at the Marlies game last Saturday in Toronto. Apparently, he was in the corner and didn’t want to be noticed. Brassard has a cap hit of $3.2 million for the next two seasons, so Howson can’t afford to let coach Scott Arniel bury Brassard on the fourth line or in the press box much longer. The situation is going to come to a head and Brassard could certainly make sense for the Leafs ... Nobody is sure what’s wrong with the Kings, but they better find their way out of this mess soon. I’m told GM Dean Lombardi has been one of the most aggressive working the phones and is determined to make changes because he certainly can’t afford to miss the playoffs. He’d move W Dustin Penner in a second. When Kings president Tim Leiwicke and Lombardi ate their words and gave D Drew Doughty a king’s ransom, they talked about winning the Stanley Cup. If they miss the playoffs, you have to wonder what’s going to happen in Tinseltown. 3. New York Post – Time to give up the fighting

Larry Brooks

BUFFALO — In this space on March 15, I recounted the late Derek Boogaard’s reaction 10 days previously upon learning renowned and troubled NHL heavyweight Bob Probert,

at the time of his death at the age of 45, had been found to have been afflicted with the degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy. “Live by the sword, die by the sword,” is what Boogaard said on March 5 at the Rangers’ practice rink in a moment of tragic prescience. For nine months later, following the work of medical researchers at Boston University that was reported in John Branch’s landmark series in The Times at the beginning of this week devoted to the life and death of Boogaard and the culture of hockey in which No. 94 was bred, we know that to have been the case. We cannot know precisely the direct cause or effect between the punches Boogaard took to the head fighting his way into and across the NHL and his death at the age of 28 because of mitigating factors including genealogy and this gentle soul of a man’s addictions. It is one thing not to know. It is yet another to not want to know. And it is this stance that apparently has been adopted by the commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman, and as policy by the Board of Governors, who somehow believe fighting must be preserved for entertainment’s skate regardless of the destruction and cost in the quality of human lives it leaves in its wake. The NHL and the NHLPA already have taken steps in the wake of Boogaard’s death to amplify efforts to educate the players to the dangers of painkillers and to much better regulate the availability and dispersal of such. Additional changes in policy are under review. Because Boogaard had been enrolled in the NHL/NHLPA Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Program last season, every drug prescription he obtained through the Rangers was approved by physicians in the program. In addition, the Rangers were never given more than a few hours’ notice before Boogaard was subject to random drug-testing as a member of the program. Not everyone is savable. The program though, has saved numerous lives. I believe in the strength of anonymity, but I also believe entering a program such as this carries no stigma. And I also believe as the program itself has come under scrutiny, there would be great value if a player in the program were to come forward and explain its importance. Fighting in hockey is from another era, just like the three-martini lunch, just like the winking-and-nodding at the individual who gets behind the wheel after indulging in that lunch. Game 7 of the epochal 1994 Eastern Conference Finals between the Rangers and Devils stands as the greatest hockey game ever played at the Garden. There wasn’t a single fight in the masterpiece theatre of the Blueshirts’ 2-1 double overtime victory.

The argument that eliminating fighting from the game would deprive a cross-section of players like Boogaard from pursuing their dreams to play in the NHL is a specious one, because for every young man like Boogaard, there is at least another with more skill and just as much heart who leaves the sport because he doesn’t want to absorb punches to the head in order to get to the NHL. The argument that fighting is entertainment represents nothing more than pandering. If people would pay to watch Russian Roulette, if people were desperate enough to participate in such an event in exchange for riches that would go to the survivors, would we stage such a spectacle; would we televise it? See, these heavyweights in the NHL, these good men such as Colton Orr in Toronto, they are playing Russian Roulette. Boogaard, he was playing Russian Roulette. Maybe once we didn’t know that. Maybe once we could pretend not to know that. There is no such pretense now. There is a difference between not knowing and not wanting to know. And it’s a shameful one. May Derek Boogaard rest in peace that he did not know when he was on the ice. 4. Denver Post – Dater: Avalanche's Quincey emerging as a leader

Adrian Dater

Ryan O'Reilly has been the best overall Avalanche player this season. The talented center has 21 points through 30 games (six goals, 15 assists). (Jack Dempsey, The Associated Press )I swore I'd do only one or two of these types of "thinking out loud" columns during the season, so this is No. 1. We're getting kinda sorta near the midpoint of the NHL season, so it's time. Most overachieving Av so far: Kyle Quincey. One point in 21 games last season, 16 points in 29 games this season. He is showing good, strong, physical play and is emerging as one of the locker room leaders. Most disappointing Av so far: Paul Stastny. Good guy, good heart, but sorry. The numbers just aren't good enough. Two questions some people ask a lot about him: 1) Did getting a huge contract too soon hurt his drive? And 2) Did the fact his father, Peter, ripped GM Greg Sherman for the Chris Stewart-Erik Johnson trade last season create discomfort for Paul Stastny in the dressing room?

Best overall Av so far: Ryan O'Reilly. Nobody works harder off the ice than this guy, and it's starting to show on the ice. His third period/ OT/shootout performance against St. Louis last weekend was one to copy and save in the DVD case. Most surprising NHL team: Florida Panthers. Hey, remember when people around these parts thought Jose Theodore was all washed up and wasn't worth anything to re-sign? His record since leaving the Avs in 2008 is 88-40-18. His save percentage for Florida after Thursday's shutout at Boston was .929. Most disappointing NHL team: Washington Capitals. Goalie Tomas Vokoun referred to himself the other day as a "team employee" when asked his thoughts of not starting against his old team, Florida. Esprit de corps right there. Then the Caps went out and lost 5-4. Alex Ovechkin is on pace for his worst season as a pro, with nine goals in 27 games. And he can't even blame it on Bruce Boudreau anymore. Best goalie: Tim Thomas. Do you realize he was once an Avalanche prospect? Don't cry too much over that, because it was in the early days of Patrick Roy's tenure here. But last season's Cup champion goalie has the Bruins on top of the division with a .941 save percentage. That works. Best position player: Claude Giroux. After Thursday's games, he led the league in scoring with 37 points. If he wins the scoring title, he'll become the first Flyer in team history to do it. Most overachieving NHL player: Milan Michalek. The Ottawa forward had 18 goals in 66 games last season. He has 18 already, best in the NHL, after 29 games. Most disappointing NHL player: Eric Staal. He has come on a bit of late for Carolina, but still — seven goals through his first 30 games, with a minus-17. Shocking numbers for a guy with his talent. Thing I'm most worried about: That Rangers coach John Tortorella will be too self-censored for the upcoming HBO Winter Classic specials. If we don't get one off- the-rails Torts rant, either to his team or the media or both, then I'll become very sad and quiet. Thing I'm least worried about: Another NHL lockout. No way the players and owners are going to go through that Andy Dufresne-Shaw- shank escape tunnel one more time. Right? This recent talk I'm hearing of NHL owners possibly planning to demand the same 50-50 split in revenue, a la the NBA lockout, is faulty economics (NHL players currently get 57 percent of revenue). The talkers realize there is a lot less money in hockey for the owners to get greedy about than the NBA. Right? Right? Of course they know that. Right?

5. Newark Star-Ledger – Around the NHL: Islanders' Al Arbour had coaching

tactics that translate to all generations

Rich Chere

The Devils' Lou Lamoriello was one of the first GMs to openly admit that an NHL coach is on borrowed time the moment he is hired. Sentimentality does not enter into Lamoriello’s thinking when he hires a coach. And he isn’t the least bit embarrassed or irked at all the jokes about how many head coaches he’s hired and fired. A coach’s impact on players ends quickly in today’s NHL, Lamoriello maintains, and when that happens it is the duty of the GM to make a change whether the coach is at fault or not. The firings of Paul Maurice, Bruce Boudreau and Randy Carlyle already this season? It’s unlikely Lamoriello saw anything wrong. He certainly wouldn’t have been surprised. Former NHL coach and GM Harry Neale Roy MacGregor told the Toronto Globe and Mail last week that the days of powerful coaches who ruled the roost — like Punch Imlach, Fred Shero and Scotty Bowman — are long gone. “I don’t even know if those guys could coach the way things are today,” Neale said. We think there is one notable exception, and that’s Al Arbour. “I think Al was the greatest coach of all time in that he balanced the winning with a personal touch. Nobody did that. Nobody,” said ex-goalie Chico Resch, who played for Arbour with the Islanders. “I think those factors have become more important than ever. “When you are dealing with modern-day athletes who are used to not being told no, given a tremendous amount and not being severely disciplined you really have to do it with a personal touch and tact. Al was always the best at that. And he could do it in a way that he never left the person he was doing it with embarrassed. They always say Scotty Bowman and Al were the greatest and I’d pick Al just because of his personal touch.” Hall of Fame defenseman Denis Potvin offered his view. “I think Al Arbour retired because he thought he wasn’t getting through to the players, but a 42-year-old Al Arbour would definitely be able to coach in this era,” Potvin said. “Much like it’s a fallacy that Brad Park or Bobby Orr or myself couldn’t play today. It’s a total fallacy. If a player like Marty Brodeur can make adjustments from 1993 to now, the top players would.” What made Arbour so great?

“It was the communication factor,” Potvin said. “Not so much that he said, ‘Hey, how’s your family?’ But he knew what the buttons were. It’s still like that today. How do you get (Ilya) Kovalchuk motivated? I think you’ve got to know the right buttons and play him accordingly. “It’s a bit of a reward thing, as well. Players love to play the game. They want to be successful. If you have the ability to put a guy in a position where he’s going to be happy and successful, is there anything better?” A CAREER AND LIFE DERAILED There is a new book out in Canada, written by Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, called “The Lost Dream.” It’s the story of former Devils forward Mike Danton, agent David Frost and the player’s estranged family. It is both a disturbing and riveting account of how Danton threw his NHL career away and wound up in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in 2004. Danton was drafted by the Devils (as Mike Jefferson) in 2000. He often spoke to The Star-Ledger about his father, who had been in prison for a drug trafficking scheme and other offenses before he was born. “I drink. I drink too much,” Steve Jefferson is quoted in the book. “To this day, I still smoke weed. I’ve done some stupid things. But I don’t think any of that makes me a bad person.” A year before the Devils drafted him, Jefferson didn’t show up when invited to come to New Jersey to be tested. A year later, director of player personnel David Conte recalled in the book: “We had some questions for him. We didn’t know an awful lot about David Frost, but we had heard about him. We had to ask. Mike had those problems at the Memorial Cup and we wanted to talk about that. But from the time we first met, I think he was almost the opposite of what we expected. I really liked the kid. To this day, I can honestly say I like him. He’s very likeable” Danton’s days with the Devils are in the book, although it would have been appropriate to credit The Star-Ledger for his exclusive quote: “I’m not going to drink Lou’s Kool-Aid anymore” when he refused to report to Albany after Lamoriello sent him to the minors in 2002. Lamoriello is quoted: “What everybody noticed was that he was always on the phone. The minute the game ended, he was on the phone. The minute practice ended, he was on the phone … I don’t knew who he was talking to on the phone, but over time I’ve assumed it had to be Frost … It made people uncomfortable.” Danton, 32, is now playing for IFK Ore in Sweden’s Division I-C.

Danton’s mother, Sue, is quoted in the book saying: “I think if a doctor told (her husband) Steve he had two weeks to live, and he got to do whatever he wanted to do with the rest of his life, the first thing on his list would be to kill Frost. I know I’ve thought about it myself. I know Tom’s thought about it. We’ve talked about it�” Danton’s father, Steve, said of killing Frost: “I think about it a lot�” Be forewarned: This is not a hockey book for children. ETC. There may be no job security among NHL head coaches, but at least the Carolina Hurricanes showed some faith in Kirk Muller. The former Devils captain got a four-year contract from the team when he replaced Paul Maurice. When Muller, John MacLean, Pat Verbeek and Joe Cirella were all young players for the Devils, they shared a house in Passaic one season. The Devils didn’t want them living together the next season, so the four players got neighboring homes in Little Falls. “We just moved right next door to each other. I think my porch touched Kirk’s porch,” Verbeek remembers. “We could literally walk right next door to each other’s place.” Hurricanes backup Mike Murphy became the first goalie in NHL history to get a loss without allowing a goal, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Murphy came in for Cam Ward during Tuesday’s loss to the Calgary Flames, stopped two shots, was pulled for an extra attacker and watched the Flames score their seventh goal of the night. Since Carolina scored twice to make it a 7-6 game, Murphy got the loss. It was his NHL debut. Murphy had been a late call-up Monday when Brian Boucher was hurt in practice. “The eight or so minutes that I played seemed to go by a lot quicker than eight minutes,” Murphy told the Raleigh News & Observer. “It may have only been eight minutes but it was eight minutes of living out a dream. I’m the backup goalie, so you go in and do what you can for the team. You don’t like that your team is losing. Cam Ward is such a great goalie and great person, I’ll take a loss for him any day. I’ve known Kirk Muller since I was 12 or 13. I’ll always remember he was the coach who gave me my first chance to play. It was awesome.“ The Boston Bruins were trying to nip a potential problem in the bud when they made Tyler Seguin a healthy scratch Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets. The team arrived in Winnipeg at 2 a.m. that morning after playing the night before in Pittsburgh. Seguin, 19, either overslept or decided not to show up for a meeting the next morning. It apparently happened quite a few times last season and Seguin was actually scratched once for the same reason, but it never became public. “It’s a mistake, something you can only learn from and move on,” Seguin said. “I know it wasn’t professional and that it has consequences. Anytime you go up in the stands it’s not something I’m happy with. I told myself after last year that I never wanted to be back up there and I was again.”

They got to the Stanley Cup finals last spring, but some are questioning the Canucks’ team toughness after a game against the Colorado Avalanche. Kevin Bieksa lost a couple of teeth from a Davy Jones elbow. Shane O’Brien cross-checked Henrik Sedin in the back. Only a reluctant Victor Oreskovich seem to take exception to the incidents. “I don’t think we have any one guy who’s going to scare you out of the building,” Aaron Rome said, “so for us it’s about attacking teams as a group and sticking up for one another.“ Manny Malhotra said the best retribution is Vancouver’s power play. “I think every team realizes the importance of points and when you put our team on the power play and the (Sedin) twins go to work, I think it keeps teams at bay,“ Malhotra said. On the same day Albert Pujols left St. Louis and signed with Anaheim, the Ducks happened to be in town to face the Blues. Those running the Jumbo-tron at Scottrade Center offered some comparisons between the two cities and several times showed a picture of Pujols in an Angels hat. Not surprisingly, that drew loud boos from the crowd. The home crowd did leave happy when the Blues won the game. Blues center Jason Arnott, 37, became the 89th player in NHL history to play in his 1,200th NHL game Thursday night. Among active players, Arnott trailed only Nicklas Lidstrom (1,520), Roman Hamrlik (1,334), Jaromir Jagr (1,295), Teemu Selanne (1,286) and Brian Rolston (1,209). “It’s been a fun ride,” he said. “A dream come true. Any kid that wants to play hockey in Canada in a small town growing up just dreams of playing one day, one game in the NHL. I’ve had the opportunity to play 1,200. It’s been a heck of a ride. I’ve enjoyed every moment.” Former Buffalo Sabres enforcer Matthew Barnaby may be facing deportation after he was arrested for DWI when he drove his Porsche SUV down a busy street in the Buffalo suburb of Clarence. Barnaby, who was driving on the rim with a flat tire, previously had charges suspended for a domestic dispute with his ex-wife and her boyfriend earlier this year. In that incident Barnaby punched out the garage door at his former house, as well as his own truck window. ESPN has already fired him and there are those who wonder if his career as an NHL fighter has had an effect on his erratic behavior. As the Buffalo News points out, in the past year he has been through a divorce, been arrested for a domestic dispute, was arrested for DWI, lost his job with ESPN, lost girlfriend and ESPN host Michelle Beadle and could be kicked out of the country. This just in: According to Carolina’s broadcasters, Andreas Nodl, heretofore has decided his name is pronounced “noodle.” Alex Ovechkin may have had his best game of the season in Ottawa on Wednesday, but he was fortunate to avoid a suspension when observers say he speared Chris Neil. “I try to skate,” Ovechkin told the Washington Post. “I’m not that kind of player. Everybody

said it was spear, but I don’t try to spear somebody. We’re all players and I’m not that kind of guy. I was surprised at what happen. I did not know.” The Blue Jackets hired former Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins GM Craig Patrick, 65, as a senior adviser. Patrick will continue to live in Pittsburgh and act as a sounding board for Scott Howson. “The urge to come back has always been there. For the last three years, I really wanted to get back in. Very few teams have such opportunities for experienced people to come in and help out,” Patrick said. “The feeling I get from Scott and his staff is I’m going to have opportunities to go work in every aspect of the organization. See prospects, watch the minor team, watch the major team. Any way I can help and improve the situation, that’s my role.” STILL PLAYING Insiders say the Devils are pinching pennies these days, but they are still paying four players who are no longer with the club a total of $8.65 million. Player, Current team, Devils buyout, Devils cap hit Jay Pandolfo, Islanders, $1.67 million, $833,333 one yr. Colin White, Sharks, $4 million, $1 M two yrs. Trent Hunter, Kings, $2.67 million, $1.33 M two yrs. Andrew Peters, Retired, $333,333, $166,667 this yr.

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