Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins is not enjoying his league imposed Spring Break.
Matt Cooke had planned to spend his suspension with savage head hunters on an undisclosed Pacific island, but they asked him to leave because he couldn't resist elbowing and needlessly tripping other tribe members during hunts.
The colourful “Hockey Night In Canada” personality applauded the league for its stiff suspension of Pittsburgh agitator Matt Cooke on Saturday’s “Coach’s Corner” broadcast on CBC.
Cooke was suspended for the rest of the regular season, which worked out to 10 games, plus the first round of the playoffs for elbowing Ryan McDonagh of the New York Rangers in the head in a game last Sunday afternoon.
“It’s almost like a drunk, (he) has to have something done to him to straighten him out,” Cherry said of Cooke. “I believe this kid will straighten out.”
Cherry was far more measured in tone Saturday than he was in a “Coach’s Corner” segment that aired just over a year ago, when he called Cooke “gutless” and “backstabbing” after his hit to the head of Marc Savard left the Bruins centre with a severe concussion. Cooke was not suspended for that hit, a decision that infuriated Cherry.
Penguins agitator Matt Cooke will almost certainly be ordered to pay another visit to the office of N.H.L. judge Colin Campbell in the next few days. With his Penguins tied with the Rangers in the third period, 1-1, Cooke nailed Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonough with an elbow to the head. This is exactly the kind of hit that the league has implemented rules over the last year to eliminate — motivated, in part, by some hits by Cooke to heads of his opponents.
On the NBC telecast, Ed Olczyk predicted Cooke — considered a repeat offender by the N.H.L. — would be suspended for eight games. The Penguins have already paid the price short-term. The Rangers scored goals 11 seconds apart on the power play after Cooke received a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct. The Rangers won the game, 5-2.
“The mortgage of the building is in the number one position of priority,” Leonsis said in a recent interview. “So concerts and horse shows and the NCAA tournament are really important to us because they help us pay the mortgage on the down days. It’s a balancing act, but I probably would have agreed to the NCAAs and this upcoming schedule.”
Only four of the Capitals’ 12 remaining regular season games will be played at home, and while this six-game stretch is not a traditional road trip — the team will return to Washington at least once to practice — the string of consecutive road games beats their longest homestand of four contests in December.
The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan announced over the weekend that it will explore the possibility of selling its 66 per cent majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
The company controls the Maple Leafs, NBA’s Toronto Raptors, the Toronto FC soccer franchise and the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. It also owns the Air Canada Centre.
“The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan has a fiduciary obligation to the people it represents,” said Bettman. “So if they believe there’s a transaction that is fiduciary that they need to engage in, then they’ll do it.”
The prospect of the teacher’s pension fund selling its stake seemed to be a reversal from its public position in December when it said it wasn’t “anxious” to sell its investment. Reports surfaced in December that Rogers Communications (TSX:RCI.B) was trying to buy out the teachers’ piece of the MLSE pie.
Kilmer Sports, which is controlled by Toronto businessman Larry Tanenbaum, holds about 20.5 per cent of MLSE. TD Capital holds the remaining 13.5 per cent.
The NHL found itself under scrutiny Thursday from police, league sponsors and even Prime Minister Stephen Harper over its handling of this week’s devastating hit that put Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty in hospital and gave the league another black eye.
After Montreal police announced that they are investigating whether Boston Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara could be criminally charged for his actions, league commissioner Gary Bettman found himself dropping the gloves to duke it out with Air Canada, one of the league’s corporate sponsors.
It’s all fallout from Tuesday’s game in Montreal, where Chara checked Pacioretty into the stanchion which divides the players’ benches. The brutal high-speed collision caused Pacioretty’s body to twist in mid-air before collapsing to the ice.
“I have no idea,” Callahan said, smiling. “They just handed us our sweaters before the game, and they were the white ones. We should wear white all the time.”
Maybe they should, because everything went right in white against the conference-leading Flyers. The Rangers beat them for the first time in five meetings this season; Callahan, the Rangers’ 25-year-old captain of the future, got his first career hat trick and added an assist; the rookie Mats Zuccarello scored twice for his first multigoal game; and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 24 shots for his league-leading ninth shutout of the season.
The second suspension stems from Gillies’s hit on Minnesota Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck in the second period of the Islanders’ 4-1 victory two days ago. Gillies was ejected from the game after checking Clutterbuck into the boards from behind.
Gillies will forfeit $60,975.60 in salary, NHL.com said, and that money will go to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund. Gillies is considered a repeat offender and forfeits his salary based on the suspension as a percentage of the 82-game regular season.
“By targeting his opponent’s head, three shifts into his first game back from a suspension for a very similar action, Mr. Gillies has forfeited his privilege of playing in the league for 10 games,” NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell said in a statement posted on the league’s website.
With each win they accumulate, the New Jersey Devils begin to believe all that much more. It’s been a season of lows and highs, but the team has been flying high in the second half, posting an 18-2-2 record in their last 22 games, and the talk of a miracle comeback to a playoff spot continues to gain steam.
After defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on Wednesday night, the Devils moved to within nine points of the eighth seeded Carolina Hurricanes (with a game in hand) and 10 points of the seventh seeded New York Rangers (with two games in hand). They also moved up in the standings past Florida Panthers, lifting the Devils into 12th place in the conference.
Last night’s blowout loss to the Rangers was especially disconcerting considering the Capitals should have been well rested by faceoff. Players had two days off after completing their recent road trip, then practiced on Thursday, but the energy clearly was lacking for 60 minutes against New York.
Steve Eminger scored first at 5 minutes 56 seconds of the first period, and Erik Christensen followed with a goal at 14:47. By the time Christensen tallied his second goal at 4:19 in the second period on the power play, the Rangers were well on their way to a victory that moved them within four points of Washington for the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference.
And the 2011 Tim Hortons Heritage Classic left fans with memories of something much more meaningful than a regular-season NHL match.
The thermometer read -8.6 C at the opening faceoff between the Calgary Flames and Montreal Canadiens -and dropped as low as -21 C with the wind chill during the game -but the 41,022 faithful who filled the sold-out stands at McMahon Stadium didn’t seem to care.
“It was worth every penny,” enthused Kim White, bedecked in Flames yellow and red Heritage Classic clothing.
“Yesterday and today, it was fantastic, absolutely wonderful,” added her mother, Jackie White, outfitted head to toe in Habs gear. “We loved every minute of it.”
And Mr. Lemieux’s remarks would be worth taking seriously, if not for the fact Mr. Lemieux employs one of the most offensive goons in the game, and has much to answer for in enabling the sort of travesty he’s now complaining of. Mr. Lemieux signs the pay cheques for Matt Cooke, a left-winger who has been suspended repeatedly by the league for dirty play. His best-known exploit to date was ruining the career of Boston Bruins’ Marc Savard, who has been unable to play at his previous high level since being concussed by Cooke last March. Last week, just days before Mr. Lemieux’s outburst, Cooke was again suspended for a vicious check from behind, in which he clearly left his feet in leaping at a player and driving his face into the glass.
The NHL suspended both Trevor Gillies and Matt Martin of the NY Islanders, as well as Eric Godard of the Pittsburgh Penguins for their roles in Friday night’s fight filled game.
Trevor Gillies of the NY Islanders, shown here stabbing Eric Godard with a shank during Friday's prison riot, was suspended 9 games by the NHL.
The NHL came down hard late Saturday night on two Islanders deemed to be instigators in Friday’s fight-filled 9-3 pummeling of the Penguins.
Trevor Gillies earned a nine-game suspension for an elbow to Eric Tangradi’s head during a third-period melee, and Matt Martin was slapped with a four-game ban for ambushing Pittsburgh’s Max Talbot from behind in the neutral zone to ignite the first scrum in the second period.
Gillies continued punching Tangradi after drilling him with his elbow, and then he appeared to taunt the Pens rookie as Tangradi, whom the Pens claim suffered a concussion, lay prone on the ice.
Penguins forward Matt Cooke has been suspended four games for hitting Blue Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin from behind last night in Pittsburgh.
Tyutin was uninjured by the hit, but he told the Columbus Dispatch it was “the worst hit I’ve ever had from behind. … I wasn’t surprised, not when you see [Cooke] in the highlights all the time for dirty hits.”
Cooke received a five-minute major penalty for charging and five minutes for his fight with Blue Jackets forward Derrick Brassard.
The incident came just two days after Cooke escaped punishment for a knee-on-knee collision with Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin. After Sunday’s game, Washington Coach Bruce Boudreau didn’t hesitate to share his opinion of Cooke.
Cooke “knows damn well what he did,” Boudreau said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s good at it and he knows how to do it. He knows how to pick this stuff. We as a league, we still buy into this [idea] that, ‘Oh it was an accidental thing.’”
As Penguins forward Matt Cooke skated by his crease, DiPietro shoved him in the chest, knocking the noted Penguins antagonist down. A few scrums ensued and DiPietro met his netminding counterpart, Brent Johnson, at the Islanders’ blue line. Both shed their blockers and gloves.
Johnson had never fought in the N.H.L. before, but he is 6-foot-3. DiPietro, smaller by at least two inches, once got the better of former Rangers goalie prospect Al Montoya in a preseason game. Flashing a left hook that seemed to stun even his own teammates, Johnson dropped DiPietro with the one and only punch of the fight.
A sport that takes much pride in the intensity of its competition cranked out another contest where each team reached double-digits in goals and the only thing bruised were goalie stats.
It ended up as an 11-10 victory for Team (Nicklas) Lidstrom over Team (Eric) Staal in an outcome that couldn’t have pleased the 18,680 fans who filled the RBC Center, because all three Carolina Hurricane players in the game — Staal, rookie Jeff Skinner and goalie Cam Ward — were on the losing side.
There was some old-time Broad Street hockey in Philadelphia on Thursday night as the Flyers not only welcomed back Chris Pronger in their dominating 6-2 win over the Ottawa Senators, increasing their Eastern Conference lead, they also took part in some fisticuffs. The two teams combined for 126 penalty minutes, most of which came in the third period as the result of a number of fights.
While Lundqvist’s dominance would be the talk of the locker room for most other goaltenders, it’s reached the point where it’s commonplace in New York.
“He played really good late there. He made some big saves in the third period,” Tortorella said. “It’s a good game for him to bounce back. I think he was a little irritated on the goal against Montreal. But he had some fight to him. Especially at the end — there was a couple of close-in chances that he made some great saves on to secure the win.”
Even with the softie in the Canadiens game, Lundqvist has been sensational the past two games. He’s stopped 67 of 69 shots, and he’s done it playing behind what is now the youngest group of defenseman in the League.
Several players said the ice was soft and there were a few holes, particularly in the corner by the left faceoff circle on the right side of the rink, where puddles formed.
Although the Capitals came off the ice before the NHL’s announcement that the Winter Classic’s start time has been changed to 8 p.m. in order to avoid the rain that’s forecasted for the Pittsburgh area on Saturday, most players said a delay wouldn’t bother them much.
“With the way the ice was this afternoon, it was soft, it was wet,” defenseman Scott Hannan said. “If the temperature would drop and the ice would be a little better, I’m sure that would be good.”
Darryl Sutter stepped down as GM of the Calgary Flames Tuesday morning and assistant GM Jay Feaster will take over in the interim.
The Flames made the announcement just as the players took to the ice for practice.
“Darryl has performed valuable service to the Calgary Flames organization for eight years,” said president Ken King. “He was the leader that ignited a renaissance of Flames hockey, moving us from a non-playoff team to an organization that was viewed as a respected and popular contender each year.
Between elbowing the glass and freaking out on the bench during his team’s current losing streak, it’s no wonder the Capitals have little to no composure when they are forced to play from behind. In the event of a fire or an emergency, Boudreau is the last guy I would want being in charge of the safety of people’s lives. (That and the fact in one of his Real World-like confessions, he had either ketchup or barbeque sauce all over his face).
As Carkner skated away, he appeared to flick or make a blood-flicking gesture towards the Rangers bench.
Rangers players claimed that Carkner did in fact flick blood at them, according to the Ottawa Sun.
“He just skated by, wiped his brow twice, maybe three times and just flicked (the blood) at us. I don’t know why, but that’s what happened,” New York’s Brian Boyle reportedly said after the game. “I was really surprised.”
If it’s not effort, then what is it? Injuries have played a role in the Devils’ woes, but plenty of teams work through injuries. Two seasons ago, the Devils lost goaltender Martin Brodeur for more than half the regular season, and they still won the Atlantic Division.
So, Lamoriello must decide in his heart of hearts whether MacLean deserves more time.
To fire MacLean would be an admission of failure for the coach and the GM. But it would be a small price to pay, if finding a coach who can coax something approaching Kovalchuk’s potential out of the big winger meant getting the Devils back to the postseason.
Hockey, perhaps more than any game, has a litany of high-quality player nicknames. NHL-wide, there’s “The Great One” (Wayne Gretzky), “The Great 8″ (Alex Ovechkin), and many, many others. Here in Nashville, we’re pretty plain – “Toots” (Jordin Tootoo), “Peks” (indeed, its on Rinne’s goalie mask), “Shea Freaking Weber” or “The Beast” for our captain, and many others. At any rate, whether they are hilariously creative or a variation on the player’s name, everybody needs a nickname.
In that spirit, then, we should endeavor to find a suitable nickname for Nashville’s latest backup goaltender, Anders Lindback. He’s 6’6 and from Sweden, so there should be plenty of options, right?
The $6.5 million albatross no longer will hang around the Rangers’ neck to choke the cap. Wade Redden, the most dramatic and expensive blunder of Glen Sather’s 10-year reign as GM, has been placed on waivers.
Redden, who learned the news from Sather this morning after reporting to the Blueshirts’ practice rink ostensibly to skate in preparation for tonight’s pre-season match in New Jersey, will remain on waivers until noon Monday.
When he clears, Redden would then be obligated to report to the Blueshirts’ AHL training camp in Hartford once the newly renamed Whale begins to practice independently of the NHL squad, though the Rangers would surely grant him permission to play with a team in Europe should that option present itself.
It’s expected New York Rangers defenseman Wade Redden will be dealt or demoted before the start of the upcoming season.
Redden’s situation isn’t similar to Souray’s in Edmonton as he didn’t badmouth the Rangers organization nor demand a trade. Given the choice, Redden would prefer to remain with the Blueshirts.
The problem is Redden hasn’t played up to the expensive, lengthy contract he signed with the Rangers two years ago and with the club currently sitting $4.059 million over the $59.4-million salary cap, he’s become a prime candidate to be moved before they open the season against Buffalo Oct. 9.
The game was marked by the high-profile debut of Olympic champion Dominik Hasek. He may be 45, but Hasek is still hungry for titles. “The Dominator” is now in the hunt for the Gagagrin Cup, playing for Spartak. And what a chance it was for Hasek to get his KHL career off to a flying start, as a win over CSKA is always something special for Spartak fans.
With Friday’s conviction of goalie Nikolai Khabibulin on alcohol-related driving charges, the Edmonton Oilers have a problem. They expect to see their nominal No. 1 goalie miss at least part of training camp, depending on whether he gets jail time.
They also could have the opportunity to rid themselves of his burdensome contract, if the conviction could be construed as justification to use morals terms of the collective bargaining agreement.
There’s no doubt the plan calls for Redden to be waived at some point during camp so his $6.5 million albatross of a cap hit can be removed from the ledger when the season commences, no doubt whatsoever.
The construction of the roster, including the recent signing of Alexander Frolov and trade for Todd White, indicates GM Glen Sather expects to have Redden’s space available, and so does pretty much everything the organization is communicating this summer to anyone in the industry who will listen.
Calgary will host the 2011 Heritage Classic, which will pit the Calgary Flames against the Montreal Canadiens.
Gary Bettman poses with Josh Gorges of the Montreal Canadiens and Steve Staios of the Calgary Flames, who kind of looks a little like Ronald McDonald in that new Flames Heritage Classic jersey.
The Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames will take part in the 2011 Heritage Classic on Feb. 20 at McMahon Stadium, home to the Canadian Football League’s Calgary Stampeders. The League made it official during a warm Wednesday afternoon news conference, which took place on the field that will play host to the NHL’s sixth-ever outdoor game.
“Our first regular-season outdoor game was played in Canada, and it’s great to be coming back,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “As everyone knows, the roots of our game are in Canada. And the roots of our game emanate from frozen ponds and backyard rinks in Canada. When you have a heritage as proud and as strong as we do, you want to celebrate it.”
A source told sportsnet.ca that the only way a grievance would not be filed was if the Devils and Kovalchuk restructure the deal. However, the source also said that even if the two parties do re-work the contract, the NHLPA may still elect to file a grievance to prevent the league from taking similar action on future deals.
Kovalchuk’s contract with the Devils was rejected by the NHL earlier this week after the league ruled that the deal violated its salary cap.
Under the signed agreement, Kovalchuk was slated to earn $98.5 million in the first 11 years of the deal and only $550,000 in each of the last five seasons. The extra years tacked on at the end of the deal took the contract through the 2026-27 season and lowered the overall salary cap hit to $6 million.
Places not as good as Katchop that you still might go to anyway:
