Red Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom sat out Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals Saturday night due to an injured hamstring. The top-line winger took an on-ice spin Saturday morning with his Detroit teammates to test out his injured right leg hours and said he would be a game-time decision. He didn’t make it back onto the ice for the pregame warmup and was scratched from the lineup. Read Original Post Here
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock has a simple way to describe the relationship between himself and his players. “I’m the coach. They play,” he said Saturday before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals. “I have a good relationship with a lot of them. None of them would consider me their buddy. I’m not like that, and I’ve never been like that. Read Original Post Here
The Detroit Red Wings can win the Stanley Cup on Saturday night, even if they may not realize it. Not in actuality, of course. At last check, the NHL still requires a team to win four games to lift the Stanley Cup, not three. No matter, a Red Wings victory on Pittsburgh’s home ice would likely be a devastating blow to a young Penguins team that was waxed by a combined 7-0 score in the first two… Read Original Post Here
Luc Bourdon received his motorcycle license two weeks before his bike veered into a truck on a winding, two-lane road, instantly killing the rookie defenseman for the Vancouver Canucks. Investigators said Friday that Bourdon’s inexperience on a motorcycle may have played a role in his death. “The impact took place in the opposite lane,” Inspector Roch Fortin said during a news conference at…
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The Pittsburgh Penguins knew the Detroit Red Wings would block their path to winning the Stanley Cup finals. Maybe just not this much. Penguins coach Michel Therrien all but begged the on-ice officials again Friday to enforce the obstruction rules, arguing that one of his team’s greatest strengths is being taken away by the Red Wings’ defensive tactics.
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The New Jersey Devils signed free agent defenseman Anssi Salmela of Finland on Friday. Contract terms were not immediately available. The 23-year-old had 16 goals and 16 assists in 56 games with Tappara of the Finnish League last season. His 16 goals were tops among defensemen in the league. Salmela had 36 goals, 42 assists and 208 penalty minutes in 226 games in the Finnish League. Read Original Post Here
Doug Armstrong, fired as the Dallas Stars general manager in November, was hired by the St. Louis Blues as their GM-in-waiting on Thursday. The 43-year-old Armstrong was selected the vice president of player personnel and will become general manager in 2010. The Blues extended the contract of current GM Larry Pleau, whose wife is battling cancer, through 2009-10. Read Original Post Here
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ first victory over the Detroit Red Wings on NBC drew the best overnight rating for a third game of the Stanley Cup finals in six years. Pittsburgh’s 3-2 win on Wednesday night earned a 2.8 national rating and an 18.2 rating in Detroit, beating out the 15.9 rating for the Pistons’ matchup with the Boston Celtics. Read Original Post Here
The Dallas Stars signed defenseman Trevor Daley to a three-year, $6.9 million contract Wednesday. Daley was one of five Stars to appear in all 82 games, finishing with career highs of five goals and 19 assists. He had one goal in 18 playoff games as Dallas advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2000. Read Original Post Here
Some of the NHL’s best young talent is on display during this year’s Stanley Cup finals. The arenas, well, they’re another story. While players and coaches say Mellon and Joe Louis arenas are star venues in their own right, “young” is not a word used to describe two of the oldest in the NHL. Pittsburgh’s home ice is so outdated it almost drove the team out of town. Read Original Post Here
