Benching goalie Carey Price couldn’t spark Montreal. Now Danny Briere and the Flyers are one win from ending the Canadiens’ season. Briere scored the winner on a rebound with 3:38 left to lift Philadelphia to a 4-2 win over the Canadiens on Wednesday night and a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
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Dallas Stars center Stu Barnes missed Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal series against San Jose on Wednesday night, a day after he took a hard hit to the head. Stars coach Dave Tippett said only that Barnes was “feeling the effects” after taking the shot to the head from Jonathan Cheechoo in the third period of the Stars’ 2-1 overtime victory that gave them a 3-0 series lead. Read Original Post Here
Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella won a Stanley Cup with the team in 2004. Tortorella isn’t afraid to bench underachieving players and has no problem calling them out in public. He’s all about delivering discipline and providing structure, not to mention frank, not-always-G-Rated quotes that help fill sports pages and radio broadcasts. In short, he pretty much has all the credentials Senators general manager Bryan Murray says he’s looking for in a coach to take over his dysfunctional club.
That makes Tortorella perhaps the most colourful possibility among a group of candidates that also includes fellow veteran coaches Bob Hartley, Pat Burns, Pat Quinn, and Terry Murray, Bryan’s brother. Adding to the intrigue, is the fact Tortorella’s status with the Lightning is murky.
Tortorella has one year remaining on his contract with the Lightning, at $1.3 million U.S., but in an end-of-season meeting with general manager Jay Feaster, Tortorella suggested it might be time for him to step aside after the team finished dead last in the NHL standings. After word of those comments leaked out to a Tampa radio station, Tortorella had an about-face, last week claiming he had made a mistake and instead wanted to stay to help in the rebuilding of the franchise.
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This juicy stat, from our friends at Le Journal de Montreal: Colorado goalie Jose Theodore has now lost 13 games in a row in the second round of playoffs.
That includes losses with Montreal in 2002 and 2004, and with Avalanche in 2006 and this spring.
His Round 2 numbers? A 4.42 goals-against average and .866 save percentage
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New York Rangers forward Sean Avery was taken to a hospital in cardiac arrest hours after the team lost a playoff game to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Daily News reported Wednesday on its Web site.
The newspaper reported Avery was unconscious and not breathing when he was taken to St. Vincent’s Medical Center. The 28-year-old arrived about 3 a.m. Wednesday, a hospital source told the newspaper.
A person close to the team told the newspaper Avery had been rushed to the hospital. The Rangers lost 5-3 at home Tuesday night, falling behind 3-0 in their second-round series with the Penguins. Avery had an assist on the Rangers’ second goal in Tuesday night’s game.
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New York Rangers forward Sean Avery has been hospitalized after lacerating his spleen during a playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In a statement Wednesday, the team said the noted agitator was taken to St. Vincent’s hospital after New York’s 5-3 loss Tuesday night and was admitted following a CT scan. Read Original Post Here
Mike Knuble will return Wednesday night to ice for the Philadelphia Flyers from a torn hamstring, however, speed will not likely be a factor, since Knuble never has been the fastest winger on the team. His strength comes as a big scoring forward who takes up space in front of the net and is hard to move or see around. And for that, his return is welcome.
"That will be great to have him back," forward Daniel Briere said. "We certainly could use him, a player like that with size and helping out with the power play, all that. He looks good out there."
Winger Scott Hartnell agreed: "He was skating hard and taking shots and doing one-on-one battles and he didn’t look out of place at all," Hartnell said. "He’s been a big part of our hockey club all season long and we’ve dearly missed him on the power plays, special teams, on the penalty kill. He does it all — he blocks shots and he gets to the net, and that’s a big part of our game, taking the goaltender’s eyes away."
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Why do so many people in hockey — outside of the officials — hate the Philadelphia Flyers?
"To be honest, sometimes I feel that," Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen said Tuesday. "I’m sure there’s a reason. We’ve been suspended a lot of times. Now we’re playing the Canadiens, and they make a big deal about anything. A guy hits me in the face and it’s still a story in Canada. I don’t expect the Canadiens to like us. It’s playoff hockey. I hate them, too."
The image problem goes back to the days of the Broad Street Bullies. The newer problem goes back to the five Flyers suspensions early in the season. Yet the underlying problem is that a lot of people simply don’t like the Flyers’ style. This series has been about the big, bad bullies vs. those lovable guys from Montreal. And the officiating, at times, seems slanted to the North. Those are all "hate" factors
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The Columbus Blue Jackets re-signed defenceman Jan Hejda to a three-year, $6 million contract Tuesday.
The 29-year-old Czech backliner posted 13 assists in 81 games in his first year with Columbus in 2007-2008.
He made his NHL debut with Edmonton two seasons ago and picked up one goal and nine points in 39 contests.
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The Ducks signed forward Ryan Carter to a three-year contract on Tuesday. Per team policy, terms were not disclosed.
Carter registered four goals and eight points as a spare center in 34 games for the Ducks last season. He went scoreless with six penalty minutes in six games as the defending Cup champs fell to Dallas in a six-game Western Conference quarterfinal series.
The Minnesota native was originally signed by the franchise as a free agent out of Minnesota State University in July, 2006.
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