Philadelphia Flyers Daily Clips – December 25, 2011

FLYERS Headlines

1. Philadelphia Inquirer – Inside the Flyers: Players' excitement for Classic is building 2. Philadelphia Inquirer – Flyers send Sestito, Holmstrom to Phantoms 3. CSNPhilly.com – Flyers know they must be better vs. Rangers 4. Bucks County Courier-Times – Flyers have work to do before Classic 5. Philly Sports Daily – Jaromir Jagr Doesn’t Mind The Boos 6. NHL.com – 2012 Winter Classic: CBP ice taking shape after first spray NHL Headlines

1. Edmonton Journal – Jim Matheson's Hockey World: Dec. 24 2. Montreal Gazette – Montreal Canadiens fans turned into nation of Scrooges 3. New York Post – Montreal coach faces French disconnection 4. Minneapolis Star-Tribune – Sunday Insider: Aeros feel Wild's pain 5. Minneapolis Star-Tribune – Michael Russo's short takes: Dec. 25 6. Denver Post – Dater: Santa likes the NHL too 7. Newark Star-Ledger – Around the NHL: Montreal Canadiens face a flap over their English-speaking coach 8. TSN.ca – Crosby top sports story of the year; TSN.ca users vote Jets 9. TSN.ca – World Juniors gets NHL players betting and bragging 10. ESPN.com – Weekend notebook: surprises of 2011-12

FLYERS Articles

1. Philadelphia Inquirer – Inside the Flyers: Players' excitement for Classic is

building

Sam Carchidi

The Winter Classic is easily the most eagerly anticipated regular-season game on the Flyers' schedule. For several reasons. For one, the national buildup and accompanying HBO series, 24/7, have given the matchup - the Flyers face the rival New York Rangers on Jan. 2 at Ryan Howard's favorite ballpark - a Super Bowl-like feel. For another, playing outdoors takes the players back to the innocence of their youth, back to when they skated on neighborhood ponds, screaming with glee during pickup hockey games. Or, perhaps, just screaming.

Maybe screaming is a slight exaggeration, but Andrej Meszaros, the Flyers' dependable 26-year-old defenseman, admits he is one of the few NHL players who despised playing on a river or a pond during his younger days. The player known as "Mez" didn't fear getting hit with a puck or stick. He feared falling through the ice. "I was always scared and terrified of going on the river because I wasn't sure if it was going to be frozen enough, so I just played street hockey," he said the other day, laughing. "It was safer, you know! "I tried to always play inside," added Meszaros, who grew up in Slovakia. "I never played outside, but my buddies used to play on the river." He paused. "Actually, I did play outside. It was like a basketball court and they put water on it and it froze. It wasn't a river, so I wasn't afraid of falling through." There will be no fear, of course, when the Flyers skate at Citizens Bank Park. "Hopefully the weather will be good, and it'll be nice and sunny and a full house," Meszaros said. "I never dreamed of doing this. My dream was to play in the NHL, and to play outside is special. My family is going to be here, so I'm really excited for them to be here and watch me play outside." This will be Meszaros' first outdoor game, but many Flyers played in the 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway Park, where the Boston Bruins were outplayed for most of the game but rallied for a 2-1 overtime win. "It will be very cool. I can't wait," Flyers center Danny Briere said. "The first time around, I thought it was going to be a gimmicky kind of game, but looking back, it was one of the best experiences of my career. And it's not just the game itself. It's everything around the game - the practice outside the day before, the family skate, the preparation. "You walk in and look up at the sky. That's one of the things that's so cool about it. I was totally wrong in my first impression I had when I found out we were playing at Fenway. So this time round, I'm really looking forward to it and I'm a lot more excited." A lot of the Flyers, including Briere, said the highlight of the 2010 Winter Classic was having an outdoor practice that was accompanied by snow the day before game in Boston. When you watched the giggling, smiling players throwing snowballs at each other as they practiced breakaways, it was like a time machine had taken them back to their youth. It was a scene that Norman Rockwell would have enjoyed painting.

"It started snowing and that was the most perfect setup you could possibly hope for," Briere said. "I don't know the forecast for this year's game" - 50 degrees and mostly clear was predicted entering the weekend - "but that's what I remember the most from the first one." Defenseman Matt Carle said the Winter Classic "has taken on a life of its own. I don't want to say it's compared to the Super Bowl or anything, but it's a pretty important game and you want to win it. To be able to play in one was great, and to be able to play in two is even more special, especially to play it in Philly. It's going to be unbelievable." Because the rink is set back from the stands, the players feel as if they are in their own little world. "When you're on the ice out there, it's almost like you're in your own surroundings. The crowd is so far away. You can hear them, but it's pretty quiet on the ice," Carle said. "It's pretty cool. It's almost like a calm out there and you can communicate, but at the same time, there's 50,000 people there, so it has a pretty special feel. I don't know if it's like that in the football stadiums because obviously I've never played there, but in the baseball stadiums, that's how it seems to work. And it's a big thrill to be out there." Carle playfully used an Ilya Bryzgalov-ism when describing what it's like to play outdoors. "It's pretty rare when you look up and you can see the sky - or the whole universe, if you want to quote Bryz," Carle said with a grin. "It's neat. The last time in Boston, the weather was perfect. I remember how crazy it was with the weather leading up to the game. . . . They were anticipating rain because it was supposed to be a little warmer, but when the game rolled around, it was 32, 35 degrees, and when the overtime started, it started sprinkling snow. It was a perfect setting, and you just hope for that because it makes it that much more special. It even adds to it if a little snow falls, because when you were a kid and skating on ponds and outdoor rinks, that's what you pictured it as." To Carle, the Winter Classic conjures memories of playing outdoors when he was a teenager in Alaska, where he and his friends would clear the snow off a huge marsh and play pickup games. To Bryzgalov, it stirs thoughts of about 15 years ago, when he played for a team at an outdoor rink in Russia. "It was really cold. Big, drunk crowd. Fights. It was very entertaining because fans was right behind the boards," Bryzgalov said. Bryzgalov hopes rain doesn't affect the game.

"We'll have to wear swimming gear and Speedos," he said. "Rangers vs. Flyers [in] water polo!" Now that is a scary thought. 2. Philadelphia Inquirer – Flyers send Sestito, Holmstrom to Phantoms

Sam Carchidi

The Flyers, enjoying a brief break, loaned forwards Tom Sestito and Ben Holmstrom back to the Phantoms because centers Sean Couturier (head injury) and Brayden Schenn (concussion) appear close to returning. The Flyers will resume practicing Monday in Voorhees at noon. Practices are free and open to the public. They play on Tuesday in Tampa against the Lightning. The Flyers are 7-2-1 in their last 10 road games, with both losses against the Rangers. Speaking of the Rangers, New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist had his home scoreless streak against the Flyers snapped at 193 minutes, 55 seconds - more than three games - when Andrej Meszaros scored in Friday's third period. The streak was the longest ever by a goalie in his home building against the Flyers, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The old record was 182:09 by St. Louis' Jacques Plante from 1969 to 1970. 3. CSNPhilly.com – Flyers know they must be better vs. Rangers

Tim Panaccio

NEW YORK – Twice this season, the Flyers have come into Madison Square Garden and gotten tarred and feathered by the Rangers. They lost 2-0 in November and now 4-2 on Friday night. The next meeting with the Rangers will be the Winter Classic on Jan. 2. “We’ve got to be better,” Scott Hartnell said. “Two times in a row we’ve come in here and got outworked, outbattled and outscored … This is gonna hurt.” When HBO airs Episode 3 of it’s “24/7” next week, this one will show the Rangers winning the physical side of the game, jumping out 4-1 and making Peter Laviolette’s club look bad once again.

All of which should serve as vengeful motivation for the next meeting at Citizens Bank Park. “There will be footage,” Hartnell was saying hours before Friday’s game. “You want to play well every game. It’s a big game for us. “It’s on TV, all these points are huge in the standings, whether it’s on HBO or not. We want to come out strong and be physical and skate and do all the things we do well to help us win the game.” The Flyers came out strong, skated, did all the things they were supposed to do early, but didn’t get quality chances on goalie Henrik Lundqvist and were again victimized with deflected goals. “It wasn’t Flyer hockey out there,” Hartnell said after the game. Now they can stew about it over Christmas before heading to Tampa Bay next Tuesday, before meeting cross-state rival Pittsburgh on Thursday. They need to collect some points before meeting the Rangers in the Winter Classic or they’ve going to find themselves slipping further in the bunched-up Eastern Conference overall standings. The streak ends Andrej Meszaros’s goal at 10:21 of the third period snapped a shutout streak of 193:55 that Lundqvist had against the Flyers at Madison Square Garden. That streak dates back to a second-period goal scored by Dan Carcillo in the Flyers’ last win at the Garden on Feb. 20, 2011. Forget about an empty-net goal scored later in that game. Lundqvist had shut out the Flyers in their last two trips to Broadway. According to Elias Sports Bureau, this streak is the longest by an opposing goaltender in his own building against the Flyers in franchise history. The previous record was 182:09 held by Jacques Plante when he played with St. Louis from Feb. 19, 1969 to Jan. 7, 1970. Think about it. Jacques Plante to Henrik Lundqvist with no one else in between, all those decades apart. It’s nuts. Plante’s games:

STL 3, PHI 1 (2/19/69) STL 8, PHI 0 (11/1/69) STL 3, PHI 0 (12/20/69) STL 2, PHI 2 (1/7/70) 4. Bucks County Courier-Times – Flyers have work to do before Classic

Wayne Fish

NEW YORK - They're calling it the Winter Classic but if the Flyers don't make some quick adjustments against the New York Rangers, the name might have to be changed the Winter Fiasco. So far this season, the Rangers have the Flyers' number. Exhibit A: A 2-0 Ranger win on Nov. 26 in New York. Exhibit B: A 4-2 New York victory this past Friday night, also at Madison Square Garden. To turn this trend around before the Jan. 2 showdown at Citizens Bank Park, the Flyers will have to figure out how to successfully execute their league-leading offense against the invaders and their exceptional goalie, Henrik Lundqvist. Before a late Andrej Meszaros goal, the Flyers had not scored a goal in 170 minutes, nine seconds in New York. Technically, the Flyers are playing fairly even to the Rangers. They held New York without a shot for the first 15 minutes of the game. But then the Blueshirts ratcheted up the intensity and the Flyers couldn't match it. "Maybe they wanted it more than we did,'' was goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov's blunt assessment. Suddenly, the Flyers, recent winners of seven straight games, find themselves looking up at the first place Rangers. "It's disappointing,'' Meszaros admitted. "It was for first place. We didn't play that badly, we just didn't bury our chances. "It's difficult to swallow. The next one we play (the Winter Classic) is going to be huge.'' Is this going to put a bigger chip on the Flyers' shoulders heading into the Classic on Jan. 2? "I don't think we didn't try tonight,'' coach Peter Laviolette said. "I don't think it was a lack of effort. There were a couple tough breaks, we had a hard time getting it past them.

"I think it builds up (the intensity) for the Winter Classic. We're looking forward to it, there are a couple games before (Tampa on Tuesday, Pittsburgh on Thursday). The Rangers are a good team, we've had a good year. It probably does add some fuel.'' Unless they want to get embarrassed in front of 47,000 fans and a large national TV audience, the Flyers better come up with some answers. According to Jaromir Jagr, one thing the Flyers shouldn't do is try to turn up the intensity. That doesn't usually work. "The game, when you have two very good teams, you cannot play on emotion,'' he said. "On emotion, you can win one or two games but not nine of 10. They're a very good team, so are we. We're missing some good players. Maybe it will be different if we have Danny Briere (bruised right ring finger), we'll have more skill.'' Record drought: Meszaros's goal at 10:21 of the third period snapped a shutout streak of 193:55 that Lundqvist had against the Flyers at Madison Square Garden. It dates back to a second-period goal scored by Dan Carcillo in the Flyers' last win at the Garden, on Feb. 20, 2011. (It does not include an empty-net goal scored later in that game.) Lundqvist had shut out the Flyers in their last two visits to MSG. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the streak is the longest by an opposing goaltender in his own building against the Flyers in franchise history. The previous record was 182:09 held by Jacques Plante when he played with St. Louis from Feb. 19, 1969 to Jan. 7, 1970. Short shots: The Flyers upgraded the conditions of Brayden Schenn (concussion) and Sean Couturier (head injury) to "day to day.'' 5. Philly Sports Daily – Jaromir Jagr Doesn’t Mind The Boos

Dave Isaac

NEW YORK — Jaromir Jagr hears the boos. He just doesn’t pay them any attention. At 39-years-old, he’s got more important things to be worried about. Friday night in New York marked the second time this season visiting a team that he had played for before and the fan base subsequently welcomed him with boos. Every time he touched the puck at Madison Square Garden, they poured it on. But why? When Jagr was a Ranger he pulled the team from mediocrity and brought them to the playoffs after seven years of early tee times. “I didn’t hear much,” said Jagr. “When I’m in the game, I don’t hear it. It wasn’t that bad.”

He was booed in Washington earlier in December, and he said that didn’t bother him either. “I’m not 22 anymore,” he said. New York was no different, but at the same time, he knows it will get worse. His season, especially with how productive it’s been, has been building up to a boiling point. “It’s gonna be a lot worse in Pittsburgh, no question about it,” he said. “If you want to hear boos, go to Pittsburgh.” On Dec. 29 he will return to Pittsburgh, the team that made him famous and the team that feels slighted because he signed with the hated Flyers instead of the team he began his career with. The expectation in Western Pennsylvania was that No. 68 would hang in the rafters someday, but that doesn’t seem likely now. What does seem likely, is that the worst from the fans is yet to come. Good thing for Jagr, it doesn’t seem to bother him. He’s prepared. 6. NHL.com – 2012 Winter Classic: CBP ice taking shape after first spray

Adam Kimelman

PHILADELPHIA -- Christmas morning came a day early for NHL Senior Facilities Operations Manager Dan Craig. Craig awoke Saturday morning to a clear, cold day -- perfect for making ice. So at 9:35 a.m., Craig and his crew dragged a hose onto the rink he's helped build over the last five days and started spraying the first drops of water that over the next 2-3 days will freeze into the first inch of ice the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers will skate on at the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. "Last night everything went well," Craig told NHL.com. "We got the balance on the floor we want, we got the temperature we wanted. We could have started going last night, but we wanted to make sure the guys are rested because we're going to be running hard from here on out. Got up this morning, the temperature was right in the mid-30s out here, the wind is down. We're ready to put down the first spray and make sure all the slush we put in last night on all the joints is in good shape and go from there." It takes about 10,000 gallons of water to make an inch of ice on a hockey rink, so this won't be a quick process. "That will be at least two days, maybe we'll be into the third day until we get a full inch," said Craig. "Now that we're here, the guys are staying here all the way through, we will

just take our time and spray for a couple hours, go away, come back, spray for a couple hours, turn around and come back." Helping aid the process is Craig's crew as well as members from the ice crew at the Wells Fargo Center next door. "We're fortunate to have, and have in most ballparks, two outlets for water," said Craig. "We have the guys from the Wells Fargo Center are over here, we're going to put them on one end of the rink and we'll put the NHL guys that have stayed over on the other end. We're going to have three people on each hose and one will spray one half and one sprays the other." The work has to be timed around the sun's presence on the aluminum ice trays. When the sun's out, even with the cold temperatures, it doesn't really work well with ice-making. Craig's goal is to put down some water during the day Saturday and see how things react when the sun gets on it, and how it reacts when the sun isn't directly over the rink surface. "We'll play with it, because there's no pressure on us right now," said Craig. "We're relaxed. We'll see what the truck can do. We want to see how it (the rink surface) reacts when the sun gets on it, that's what we want to see. Because if I only work at night and I don't see how it works, how the truck is going to react, and how much water I put down -- those are things you work towards." NHL Articles

1. Edmonton Journal – Jim Matheson's Hockey World: Dec. 24

Jim Matheson

EDMONTON - Who’s Hot: Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler had a slow start with the Jets, but has 16 points in his last 16 games Who’s Not: Carolina captain Eric Staal only has four even strength goals all year for the Hurricanes and is minus-21 Marquee Matchups: Wednesday: The Vancouver Canucks are in San Joseto face the Sharks, two heavyweight Western Conference foes Friday: The Detroit Red Wings take on the Blackhawks in Chicago in another big matchup

Hemsky on the move? Here’s what we know about Edmonton Oilers winger Ales Hemsky. Teams have started asking questions. “How are his shoulders?” an NHL executive asked. “Where are the points? Is it just because he’s not on the first power play anymore? I saw him on TV the other night and he didn’t look good,” said another NHL team official. With his contract running out on July 1, Hemsky isn’t doing himself, or the Edmonton Oilers, any favours with a mystifying lack of offence one day before Christmas. He doesn’t help himself by almost always being the first guy off the ice at practice either, although the club says he’s undergoing treatment for something, but that’s another story for another day. He’s done that for a long time. Forget the fact he has three goals; he’s never been a big scorer. He only has 117 career goals in over 500 games, but he’s always been able to set up other people. Not this year. He has eight assists. Apart from three weeks on the sidelines to get his repaired shoulder stronger, he’s stayed in one piece, well enough to play about 16-1/2 minutes a night. But there’s little flash. He’s only had three games where he’s had more than one point. Against the Bruins in Boston, against the Predators in Nashville and against the Columbus Blue Jackets here. He has points in eight games this season. I’ve watched Hemsky for nine years now — I’ve always talked him up to visiting reporters and other management types who don’t see him that often about his terrific skill-set which can be off-the-charts on some nights — but I can’t remember seeing him this ordinary. He’s trying but, it pains me to say it, there’s not nearly enough conviction to his game, not for somebody with an A on his jersey. His body language hasn’t been good. He should be burning inside to show the Oilers he’s every bit as good as second-year man Jordan Eberle (36 points), but he’s not. If his repaired shoulders simply aren’t strong enough (he played games last year with a bad shoulder before agreeing to surgery), we’ll give him marks for playing the games. But I don’t see the Oilers signing him again. I think it’s time to turn the page. He needs a change of scenery. He’s been the most creative player on the team for 500 games or so, but he’s got company now. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is a Hemsky-like passer. Eberle is the No. 1 right-winger today. What could Hemsky bring in a trade, with his injury history (two shoulder operations and several other problems)? He’s definitely not going to bring a top-three defencemen, preferably a puck-mover like the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Kris Letang.

So you can forget getting a high-end NHLer. The only way the Oilers are getting one of those guys is to trade one of their kids, somebody like Magnus Paajarvi, and they aren’t doing that. They may have to sign a free-agent D-man this summer. Lest you think there is no market for Hemsky, guess again. He’s only 28, not 33. The Oilers got a first-round draft pick from the Los Angeles Kings for the fans’ pinata Dustin Penner last February. They turned that into high-end Swedish prospect defenceman Oscar Klefbom (19th overall choice), who will be a huge part of his club’s world junior squad, and another blue-liner, Colten Teubert, who has played 10 Oilers games (14 minutes a night). He looks like somebody who could be a solid No. 5 or 6 defender down the road, somebody with some bite. There is a market for just about everybody. Did you think anybody would take Tomas Kaberle off the hands of Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford? If Hemsky is traded to any team, it’ll definitely be to a contender or a team that has to make the playoffs, even for only one round to make some money for the owner. The Red Wings, for sure, are in the picture (Hemsky has 17 points in 27 games and some sterling work against Detroit in the 2006 playoffs). I suspect the Predators, dying for some offence (19 points in 25 career games), the Penguins, always looking for a top-six winger, and New York Rangers are in the mix, too. I can’t imagine the Oilers would make another deal with the Kings, but stranger things have happened. Nashville was in the running for Ladislav Smid last year, so it’s not like Oilers GM Steve Tambellini and his Predators counterpart, David Poile, haven’t talked about other things in the past. The difference between Hemsky and Penner, apart from body-type, is this: Penner had another year left on his contract. Hemsky will be a rental. You don’t give up as much for guys you might only have for two or three months. The Oilers have gone the other way, grabbing Sergei Samsonov from the Boston Bruins in March of 2006. They gave up Marty -Reasoner, Yan Stastny and a second-round pick that continues to haunt them. With that pick, the Bruins took Milan Lucic. Samsonov helped them get to the Cup final with 15 points in 24 playoff games, after 16 in 19 league games, but they lost out on the chance at Lucic. Rentals don’t usually bring a whole lot. They bring quantity, but quality? In February of 2008, Marian Hossa, then 29, was traded from the Atlanta Thrashers to Pittsburgh Penguins for Colby Armstrong, Eric Christensen, Angelo Esposito and a first-round draft pick. But Hossa was a more durable player than Hemsky, also a guy who had a 100 and 92-point seasons with the Thrashers. Only Armstrong is an NHL regular, and

the first-rounder, Daulton Leveille, is still playing college at Michigan State. But he’s not a star. The question with all unrestricted free agents is whether you wait until trade deadline day (Feb. 27, 2012), when there’s e’s former associate coach Brent Peterson has a slice of his life back after his long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Peterson had a remore of a bidding war, or you grab them earlier so can assimilate with the new team and you have a better read on whether you want to keep them past the playoffs. Plus teams like to wait until a player’s contract is dwindling. In Hemsky’s case, he has a cap hit of $4.1 million. Western Conference: Nashville’s former associate coach Brent Peterson has a slice of his life back after his long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Peterson has recent surgery to implant a neuro-stimulator in his chest to fix some of his problems with walking and a right hand that simply wouldn’t work. Doctors drilled six holes in his skull and ran some wires from his ear down his neck to a Pacemaker-type battery pack. “This is a medical miracle. It doesn’t work for everybody, but I can’t ask for anymore than I just got,” Peterson said on his cellphone this week. Prior to the operation he was shuffling when he made his way down corridors at the hockey rink and his right hand was completely closed. He’s never going to be back on skates because his balance isn’t good enough, but “I think I’ll be back playing golf. I shuffled in (for the surgery) and I walked out (hospital). I was walking on the treadmill the other day for half an hour and hope to get running in a couple of weeks.” Peterson can even go dancing now? Or does he have two left feet? “No, no. I’m good. I can’t do the two-step on the ice, but I can on the dance floor,” he said. He knows the procedure isn’t the magic elixir — it’s going to take several months for the doctors to regulate the stimulator so he’s not too hyper — but his Parkinson’s symptoms will be controlled considerably better than they were taking pills. “I haven’t taken any medication in three days,” said Peterson, who lived on pills before the deep brain stimulation procedure. He’s still not sleeping great, he was getting by with a couple of hours a night, but that will come with time. The doctors shaved his skull and he says he doesn’t mind the look, except that “I’ve got stitches everywhere. My head was fine, but it really hurt when they ran the wires down my neck. I’ve got big lumps there, but that’s the least of my worries.” The neuro-stimulator will have to be replaced every three to five years.

“They’ll open me up and put another one in the pocket.” Poker face Former Swiss national team coach Ralph Krueger got a kick out of the wild story back home about longtime Davos coach Arno del Curto leaving a recent league game to play poker at a tournament. “Arno’s like my neighbour, he’s a good guy. But he does eccentric things. He’s coached in Davos for 13 years and runs that team with an iron-fist. To keep things fresh, Arno would do something like that (leave to play cards),” said the Oilers associate coach Krueger. “He was the best Swiss-born coach when I was there, the only one who was able to hold on to a job. As a Swiss-born coach, I think he could get away with this (poker). I don’t think a foreigner could.” “I had to be there (poker tournament). It was my table’s turn. I was lucky, my team was leading 3-0 and the players kept it that way,” del Curto said. This ’n’ that Andy Sutton, who played with Teemu Selanne in Anaheim says he’s “a freak of nature. He’s got this stutter step, a sixth gear that he uses on defencemen.” Don’t be surprised if Ducks GM Bob Murray’s phone is ringing off the hook at the trade deadline, but the only place I’d see Selanne agreeing to play is back in Winnipeg if the Jets are in a playoff hunt. • Hall of Famer and now Toyota car dealership owner Paul Coffey says he saw Ryan Smyth with the smelling salts on the Oilers bench during a recent game. “During a game? I can’t remember taking any big hits, but I do use the salts before games. Wakes up my brain,” Smyth said. • The Blue Jackets could be faced with a major predicament at the draft next June if they get the No. 1 pick. Do they take Russian forward Nail Yakupov after missing the boat on Nikolai Zherdev and Nikita Filatov? Ken Hitchcock had it bang-on about Filatov, who is back in Russia. He didn’t think he had the stomach to go into the areas where you have to score goals in the NHL. Zherdev? He was too much of a freelance. Jimmy Howard, a garrulous goalie (not a whole lot of those), was talking up the world juniors this week when he was here. He got to play for Team USA in the 2003 championship in Halifax. “What do I remember about that tournament? I remember the Russians lit me up in the first game,” said Howard. Alex Ovechkin had three goals. Patrick O’Sullivan scored for the Yanks from Ryan Whitney in the 5-1 loss.

• Rob Brown isn’t sure if there’s any formula to ending concussions; all he knows is he had way too many. “I probably had 10, three real bad ones. After the last one when I was playing for the Chicago Wolves, I couldn’t remember my children’s names. That’s not a good thing,” said Brown. • When asked who the best Russian-born player in today’s NHL was Nikolai Khabibulin, cut right to the chase. “(Pavel) Datsyuk. Not even close,” said the Oilers goalie, who loves the 200-foot game Datsyuk plays, also his ability to make so many tough plays look easy. • “If he cheated like a lot of offensive guys (more intent on playing with the puck than without it), he’d win the scoring title every year,” said Brown. Edmonton Oil Kings GM Bob Green absolutely loves Montreal Canadiens draft pick Brendan Gallagher (Vancouver Giants), who figures to be a solid third-line NHLer with his hands and his never-say-die attitude. He was terrific at Montreal’s camp this fall. “It still bugs me to this day that I didn’t take him in the bantam draft. He had heart, always had the puck on his stick and always was involved in the play, but … He was really little. He went in the ninth round,” said Green, who feels Gallagher will be a going concern on Canada’s world junior team. • The Ducks’ penalty-killing has gone south under new coach Bruce Boudreau, giving up 10 goals in 32 tries. “It’s kind of deteriorated hasn’t it?” said Boudreau. • Milan Hejduk, the longest-serving Colorado Avalanche player and now their captain at 35, is now playing with former Kitchener Rangers captain Gabriel Landeskog (18) and Ryan O’Reilly (20). Landeskog was eight and O’Reilly 10 when Hejduk won a Cup in Colorado in 2001. “We all had our BlackBerrys and iPhones at camp and Hejdy pulls out this big rock from his back-pocket. I don’t even know what it was,” said Landeskog. Hejduk swears he’s had an iPhone for a year but people are skeptical. Eastern Conference It would be a marvellous story if Detroit Red Wings veteran D-man Nick Lidstrom tied Bobby Orr’s record for Norris trophies (eight) this year, but at 41 he might only be a Norris finalist (top three), not the winner. It’ll likely go to Nashville’s Shea Weber or Boston’s Zdeno Chara; both horses with devastating shots. Weber has more offence, but Chara is impossible to navigate around. Chara’s is the best player on the NHL’s best team. What sways it for former Montreal Canadiens assistant coach Perry Pearn is Chara’s under-the-surface nasty demeanour. “I’d say it’s Chara (as No. 1 D-man) because he’s got something nobody else has. Guys are legitimately afraid of him,” said Pearn, who was in Ottawa when Chara was making his way as a raw-boned kid for the Senators. “I remember one night Chara grabbed Bryan McCabe, shook him two or three times, then he threw him down and one-punched him. McCabe was scrambling on the ice, and when

he finally got back to his feet, he just hugged Chara as tightly as he could. I’m sure if you’d have asked McCabe was he was thinking after that fight he’d have said ‘holy, man.’ ” Another time, an Atlanta tough guy Francis Lessard was running around and Chara stepped up for Ottawa. “He hit Lessard so hard on the helmet, he split his forehead wide open. He was bleeding so badly as he skated by our bench, he might have been thinking ‘it’s all over for me,’ ” said Pearn. The Queen is out in the ’Peg If you’re into nostalgia, you might want to know that the old picture of the dour Queen Elizabeth that used to hang from one end at the now torn-down Winnipeg Arena, is in a warehouse in Whitby, Ont. these days. The custodians plan on selling it, but True North, the current Jets owners, don’t want to relive the past. They bowed to the wishes of the Winnipeg citizenry and went back to the Jets name when they probably had other names in mind, but the Queen’s mug doesn’t fit. Jets fans can probably live with that; they’re more interested in commemorative licence plates. As we said last week, they sold 20,000 at $70 a plate, in about two days and plan another production run. Proceeds go to the Jets and the Manitoba Public Insurance folks, who look after licence plates in that province. This ’n’ that • Tampa Bay Lightning assistant GM Julien Brisebois will definitely be on the short list if Habs GM Pierre Gauthier gets fired after this year, but several people look at Steve Yzerman’s right-hand man as “more of a numbers guy (contracts) than a hockey guy.” Maybe, but he is a sharp guy. There’s other candidates who speak French — Claude Loiselle, who worked for seven years in the NHL’s hockey operations department and is part of Brian Burke’s Maple Leafs inner-circle in Toronto, and the colourful Marc Bergevin, the assistant GM of the Chicago Blackhawks. Bergevin would keep everybody loose with his dry wit. I agree with Elliotte Friedman that the Habs might just try to twist Bob Gainey’s arm to come back. • They keep saying Capitals defenceman Mike Green is only out with a groin strain in Washington? Nineteen games with a right groin strain? This has all the makings of a sports hernia to me, but then I’m not a doctor. Caps defenceman Tom Poti only played 21 games last year and failed a camp medical this fall and is on long-term injury status with groin problems. He may never play again. You can catch a cold from somebody else. But this?

• Funny tweet from Brad Ziemer, the crack Canucks scribe from the Vancouver Sun. “Maybe #Habs and Tampa Bay could solve their problems by swapping coaches.” Guy Boucher, who used coach the Habs farm squad, for Randy Cunneyworth, who wouldn’t have to worry about saying bonjour mon ami. Boucher could use some saves from his netminders in Tampa, and badly misses the guidance of assistant coach Wayne Fleming, ill with cancer, too. The Tampa Bay players last week sent the former Oilers assistant coach Wayne Fleming a card with personal messages of support and a reclining medical chair so he’d be more comfortable watching their games on TV. • Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson kept his Movember moustache through Christmas so he and his brother Henric could have a family photo with their dad Hasse, who’s long sported a ’stache. The family is visiting Daniel in Ottawa over Christmas. Alfredsson is still a point-a-game player at 39, but isn’t sure if he wants to play out the final year of his contract ($1-million salary). The Sens could trade him to a contender for sure, but his cap hit is $4.875 million. • Lightning winger Martin St. Louis is back wearing a full cage mask, just two weeks after breaking several bones in his face when a puck smashed into him in practice. “I was hoping some scouts would be in the stands so I might get drafted,” said St. Louis, who last wore the full facial protection at U of Vermont. He lit it up there, but no NHL team drafted him because they felt he was too small. • They’re unveiling a Phil Esposito bronze statue outside the newly named Tampa Bay Times rink on New Year’s Eve. Esposito brought hockey to Tampa Bay 20 years ago. “This is a big deal, like having your number retired. It’ll be there forever,” said Esposito. He Said It: “We all love him in here so far. He’s very demanding, very honest with us too. He’s so different from Terry. More vocal, just different.” Lon Angeles Kings defenceman Drew Doughty on Darryl Sutter taking over from Terry Murray as their coach By the numbers: 13 Rick Nash’s plus/minus in 16 Columbus road games 13 straight road games lost by the Anaheim Ducks 3 Blue Jackets power-play goals on the major penalty to the Nashville Predators Brian McGrattan Thursday was the first by an NHL team since Philadelphia did it Feb. 21, 2004

Matty’s Short Shifts • Is it possible the Oilers come to Ryan Smyth in late February and tell him there’s half-dozen contenders looking to trade for him because he’s an unrestricted free-agent? Absolutely, and, if the Oilers frame it right, they can assure No. 94, who should probably have his number retired here one day, that they’ll re-sign him after July 1 so he’ll have the best of both worlds. • Maybe I’m off-base, but would Columbus GM Scott Howson actually bring in somebody who might replace him, Craig Patrick, or did the ownership talk to the NHL head office and ask who might be available to help advise on a messy situation? This is like Jay Feaster, a good smart man, coming into Calgary as assistant GM before Darryl Sutter left the Flames, isn’t it? I’m a big Howson fan, there isn’t a more honest guy in the game, but can he survive this? Heck, maybe the Jackets ownership goes to Ken Holland’s right-hand man Jim Nill after the season and offers him the moon to be their GM. • How many times do you trade a guy who winds up scoring 500-plus goals and the kid you get back also does the same? Not a bad deal: former Calgary Flame Joe Nieuwendyk and his 564 goals were sent to the Dallas Stars for Jarome Iglina, who’s closing in on 500. Iginla had exactly 250 goals before the lockout when the NHL allowed clutch ’n’ grab and about the same since. “You’d see big men draped all over him and he’d fight through two checks to score,” said former Flames centre Craig Conroy. • Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, who incredibly isn’t on the all-star ballot, is on pace to break Martin Brodeur’s record for wins in a season (48), with 20 already. He could play 70 games this year. Detroit doesn’t seem to have a ton of faith in its backup goalie Ty Conklin (1-4, 3.23 avg., .889 save percentage) so Howard is out there pretty much morning, noon and night. The problem with that is possibly burning him out before the playoffs. I suspect Howard will be in the all-star game in Ottawa somehow. • I like Terry Murray. I hope he gets another NHL job, but at his age (61) and with the NHL trending younger with the odd Ken Hitchcock or Darryl Sutter blip on the screen, I’m not so sure he won’t hook up with another team as an NHL associate coach. • People who have watched Scott Gomez closely for the last couple years say his problem is finding the conviction to be the same player that won two Cups in New Jersey. He can keep up with today’s racehorse game, but at 32 he’s not willing to put the work in to be as good as he can be. That’s a shame. • Why has Vincent Lecavalier’s offence fallen off so much? “It’s his skating,” said one NHL GM. Lecavalier is only 31, but he’s had a roller-coaster career. Highs (108 points one year, 92 another) and lows (37 points in his fourth NHL season and what looks like two straight 50-plus seasons). He’ll hit 1,000 NHL games this year if he plays 66.

• It doesn’t look good that Avalanche coach Joe Sacco is going with 35-year-old J.S. Giguere, who is now moving better in net after hip surgery last year, and sitting Semyon Varlamov after giving up their first-and second-round draft picks next June to the Capitals for the young goalie. That was a pretty steep price for Varlamov. 2. Montreal Gazette – Montreal Canadiens fans turned into nation of Scrooges

Pat Hickey

MONTREAL - Bah, humbug! The Canadiens have turned hockey’s most rabid fan base into a nation of Scrooges. Charles Dickens’s Ebenezer was incapable of seeing good in the world. The modern-day version can’t see much good in the Canadiens. In less than a week, the Canadiens have gone from a team hoping to gain a playoff spot to a team searching for an identity. The optimists will say the Canadiens are only four points out of a playoff spot. The realists will point out that the numbers don’t tell the entire story. Most of the teams the Canadiens are chasing have games in hand, and the Canadiens have zero momentum after losing five in a row. Four of those losses have come after Jacques Martin was fired as head coach and replaced by Randy Cunneyworth on an interim basis. One of the big knocks against Martin was the Canadiens’ failure to hold the lead in the third period. In the past week, they haven’t had any leads to fritter away. This is not a knock on Cunneyworth, who has been placed in an untenable situation. He has come under fire because he can’t speak French. He is the interim head coach, with the emphasis on interim. The best Cunneyworth can hope for is that he does enough between now and April to show another organization that he’s head-coaching material. In one respect, Cunneyworth is a disappointment to fans – and some of his players – because his coaching philosophy mirrors that of Martin. At the news conference to announce his appointment, Cunneyworth said he would coach the way he played, and he was a hard-working, lunch-bucket type. If some players tuned out Martin, they haven’t given Cunneyworth a chance. Everyone has to understand that this isn’t a team equipped to play a wide-open game. The Canadiens' only hope is to outwork teams and rely on goaltender Carey Price to cover up for their miscues. But there have been too many mistakes, which is why Price has surrendered 19 goals in his last five starts.

In the wake of Thursday’s embarrassing 4-0 loss in Winnipeg, an angry Price said it was important for the players to follow the game plan, and if they didn’t there would be changes. But this team has run out of changes that can be made, outside of a full commitment from the entire roster. The Canadiens fired assistant coach Perry Pearn to send a message to Martin. They dumped Martin to send a message to the players. In Winnipeg, Cunneyworth delivered a message of his own when he made P.K. Subban and Lars Eller healthy scratches. But the message was lost on the players, who may have delivered their worst performance of the season. The veteran defencemen on the ice Thursday made glaring errors, which sometimes led to goals and sometimes merely made life miserable for Price. He had to make back-to-back short-handed saves on Tanner Glass and Jim Slater after Tomas Kaberle was caught out of position. Kaberle is the one change the Canadiens have made in personnel. He was brought in to quarterback the power play, which went 0-for-5 Thursday. There have been signs of life on the power play recently, but here’s a sobering statistic: Before Kaberle arrived, the Canadiens ranked 28th on the power play, with a success rate of 12.5 per cent. They go into the Christmas break 29th, with a success rate of 12.3 per cent. If you look at the current losing streak, you can understand the losses in Boston and Chicago. The Bruins and Blackhawks are two of the elite teams in the NHL. But there’s no reason to lose at home to New Jersey or on the road to Winnipeg. These are two of the teams the Canadiens have to pass in the standings. Price said there will be changes, but that’s unlikely except for the return of injured players like Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez and Andrei Markov. None of these players is currently skating. Another trade is unlikely before the deadline, because the players the Canadiens would be willing to part with are (a) underachieving, (b) overpriced or (c) both of the above. To use one of Cunnyworth’s expressions, it’s time to don the work boots and hard hats. That’s the only way out of the current mess. 3. New York Post – Montreal coach faces French disconnection

Larry Brooks

It is a cultural issue, a political issue, and not a hockey one that is leaving scars in the great city of Montreal in the wake of the appointment of English-only speaking Randy Cunneyworth as head coach of the Canadiens. They are Les Bleu, Blanc et Rouge; Les Glorieux; an iconic franchise in the province of Quebec where French is the lone official language as mandated by the Official Language Act of 1974 and augmented by the Charter of French Language three years later. This is not about the trade for Scott Gomez, the signing of Michael Cammalleri or the decision to go with goalie Carey Price rather than Jaroslav Halak. This is not about whether Cunneyworth can construct the proper line combinations or defense pairings. This is about the very essence of the franchise. It is an issue unique to Montreal in North American pro sports and it is one Francophones are best equipped to address. Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur, a native of Montreal whose father, Denis, served for decades as the Canadiens’ official photographer, is conflicted about the appointment of Cunneyworth. So, too, is Rangers netminder Martin Biron, a native of Lac-St-Charles, Quebec, who has nothing but praise for the man, having known him as a teammate in Buffalo. “I’m divided,” Brodeur told The Post. “Where I play hockey, I think you have to go with the best, whatever you think is the best. “But saying that, I’m from Montreal, I understand the people. They love the communication, to get the right answers, and they feel they get that from a bilingual leader. They’re making a big deal of it, but again, I’m divided on it because of me knowing how hockey works. “But the people are proud of their heritage and language, and they think if they let this go now, what’s going to happen? Are we ever going to see another French [coach]? That’s the attitude I think people have. “That’s not right or wrong, you’re not in their shoes,” Brodeur said. “Me, I’m in between because I’ve left Montreal, but I understand what they’re going through a little bit.” Biron is similarly divided, recognizing the sensitivity of the subject that also is colored by his relationship with Cunneyworth. “I’m very proud of my heritage and culture — I listen to French music, I read the French papers — but from the standpoint of having a winning team, I think you want to have the best coach before you think about the language,” Biron told Slap Shots. “It’s such a difficult situation because probably 80 percent of the media is French-speaking, and it’s

obviously very important to the people to be able to have communication in their own language. “But what everyone there has in common is that they want the Montreal Canadiens to be successful, and what I would say is that knowing Randy well from playing with him on the Sabres, he’s a great hockey guy and an unbelievable person and if there’s one guy who can handle the situation, it’s him. I’d say let’s give the guy a chance and see what he can do.” Brodeur and Biron agree that an effort to learn French and become part of the heritage is at least equally important as a Canadien’s first language. “If you get the support of the people around you and try to learn, there are good things to be done,” said Brodeur, who is greeted as a hockey hero when he plays in Montreal. “There’s a reason why they love Bob Gainey, why they love Larry Robinson over there, because they’re English guys who learned the language, or made efforts, and that’s all it takes. “It’s people who acknowledge that they don’t speak French but they’re going to try. They think it’s great. They love Shelly [Souray] because once in a while he’ll say something in French. When he got traded [from the Devils to the Canadiens], I told him, ‘You better say something in French, learn three words and use them as much as you can. People will appreciate that.’ ” Biron grew up rooting for the Nordiques. Indeed, he tells the story of attending the famous Alex Kovalev/Andy Van Hellemond Game 2 of the 1995 playoffs as a 17-year-old wearing a Nordiques T-shirt. “When Joe Sakic was the Nordiques’ captain, every once in a while he would say something in French, and all the people appreciated it so much,” Biron said. “Joe was showing that he respected the people and the culture of Quebec, and he was respected for that.” But engulfed in a firestorm, Cunneyworth may not have a chance. “I don’t know if it’s too late,” Brodeur said. “You have to be into it right from the get-go. You have to understand the people. “I feel the best has to be in place, and if [GM] Pierre Gauthier feels this is the best, that should be it. But you can’t turn your [back] on the language of the people.” Merry Christmas, friends. Joyeux Noël, mes amis.

4. Minneapolis Star-Tribune – Sunday Insider: Aeros feel Wild's pain

Michael Russo

On Dec. 2, Houston Aeros General Manager Jim Mill ran into a pickle. The Aeros, the Wild's American Hockey League affiliate, were in Rochester, N.Y. The next afternoon, they had a game against the Toronto Marlies. Back in Minnesota, Niklas Backstrom strained his groin, meaning the Wild, about to board an aircraft for a five-game road trip, needed a goalie. In parachuted Matt Hackett. That left the Aeros with one goalie, Darcy Kuemper. "I began dialing folks. I called [Maple Leafs exec] Dave Poulin and asked if the Maple Leafs or [AHL] Marlies had a practice goalie that could back up Kuemp," Mill said. "But they were all university kids, and you can't sign junior kids." So Mill called Wayne Cowley, who led the Cape Breton Oilers to a Calder Cup in ... 1993. Mill knew Cowley because it was Mill who replaced Cowley on the East Coast Hockey League Raleigh Icecaps when Cowley signed with the Edmonton Oilers that year. These days, Cowley owns a bar called Bottom Line on Front Street in Toronto across from the Air Canada Centre. Cowley's last pro hockey game was in 2000, with Flint of the United Hockey League. Nevertheless Cowley, one day before his 47th birthday, signed a pro tryout agreement with the Aeros and backed up Kuemper against the Marlies. "I don't know who ran the bar that night," Mill quipped. The Wild has been decimated by injuries, which has led to a constant revolving door of reinforcements between St. Paul and Houston. If you include call-ups Kuemper and Chad Rau, who never saw action, the Wild used 36 players in 36 games. That has created a trickle-down effect that has stressed the Aeros. Take Dec. 17. The Wild lost to the Islanders in a game in which Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Mikko Koivu, Guillaume Latendresse, Devin Setoguchi and Casey Wellman didn't play. Afterward, the Wild reassigned Cody Almond and recalled Rau and Jed Ortmeyer. "That left the Aeros short, and we already had [defenseman Kyle] Medvec playing up front," Mill said. "So I called Rio Grande Valley, who happened to be in Wichita. We

were in Oklahoma City. So we had to get Chad and Jed back to Houston for a flight to Vancouver. "Rio Grande Valley was busing to Allen, which is outside of Dallas. I got a cab for Aaron Lee from Allen to Dallas International so he could get on a direct flight to Houston for the game that day. It's not always that complex." Mill was on the phone until 2 a.m. For such circumstances, he has an ever-deepening list of ECHL players and Central Hockey Leaguers, but they're not always available to be signed to tryout agreements. It depends on that team's location, the Aeros' location, how long the Aeros may need a player, and how shorthanded that would leave the team Mill's snatching players from. "I can't leave Toledo with seven forwards. Nick Vitucci has to win games, too," Mill said. This season, Mill has brought in Lee, Cowley, Florida's Mike McKenzie, Toledo's Harrison Reed and Joey Martin, Ontario's Mike Montgomery, Kalamazoo's Elgin Reid and Chicago's Rob Nolan. Minor leaguer Mike Bartlett's on top of the list, but instead of stringing him along at the start of the year, Mill released him and recommended him to Binghamton. "Then when I need him, I couldn't get him. That happens a lot," Mill said. Like the Wild, the Aeros have used 34 players already. There have been 25 transactions since Dec. 1. The Wild has executed 16 recalls -- two more than the entire 2008-09 season. Yet, as of Friday, the Aeros were three points from the AHL lead. "Torch [Aeros coach John Torchetti] and the staff have done a real good job continuing what was started here last year by [Mike Yeo] and his staff," Mill said. "It's been a seamless transition." 5. Minneapolis Star-Tribune – Michael Russo's short takes: Dec. 25

Michael Russo

Trouble in Buffalo Things are getting ugly in Buffalo, where the Sabres continue to struggle. Ryan Miller was pulled twice in the same game last weekend against Pittsburgh. He gave up five goals on 15 shots and now has a 3.12 goals-against average and .904 save percentage. After the 8-3 loss, owner Terry Pegula took a swipe at Miller, telling reporters, "We saw some great goaltending tonight, didn't we?"

Peer pressure Elder Chicago Blackhawks statesman Andrew Brunette looked odd in a poorly fitting toque when he visited the Wild two weeks ago. "I'm just trying to fit in with all our young stars," quipped Brunette. Skating with the stars First, Michael Buble practices with the Vancouver Canucks, then Justin Bieber with former Minnetonka defenseman Jake Gardiner and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Wild needs to get a local celeb to skate. How about Stiffler, Seann William Scott? Vote of confidence in Columbus There have been six coaches fired this season, but not the coach of the last-place team in the NHL -- Columbus' Scott Arniel. "Coaching is not an issue on this team," said GM Scott Howson. 'The next step is walking' Edmonton's Taylor Fedun, close to making the Oilers in training camp, continues his rehab from a broken femur suffered at Xcel Energy Center in September when he was tripped on an icing by former Wild player Eric Nystrom. "I did a leg squat the other day. That was significant. The next step is walking," said Fedun. "This is a nine months-to-a-year-long thing." Memorable New Year's Eve for Espo On Dec. 31, the Lightning will unveil a life-size statue of team founder Phil Esposito inside St. Pete Times Forum. "I'm not a crier, but I'll be emotional. This will be there forever," Esposito said. 6. Denver Post – Dater: Santa likes the NHL too

Adrian Dater

It's Christmas. So you think I'm going to pass up a "Santa's hockey gift bag" type of column? Not a chance. I'm Santa for this column and these are my presents: To Sidney Crosby and everyone else who has a concussion: Best wishes on a speedy recovery. Honestly, it's getting kind of scary right now, all these concussions in the NHL. As long as players keep getting bigger and faster and the rinks stay the same — sure bets on both — I don't see any good way out of this growing problem. The only way I can see it is to make hockey a noncontact sport, and that's not happening. To Donald Fehr and Gary Bettman: A plea not to put us all through another work stoppage next fall. The NHL's collective bargaining agreement runs out Sept. 15, 2012, and already there are plenty of inside-hockey people who believe there will be another

lockout or work stoppage. "Better than 51 percent chance" is how one top agent put it to me last week. How can this happen again, you ask, after the disastrous missed season of 2004-05? Just look at the NBA, which got players to cave in on a 50-50 revenue split. Today's collective bargaining agreement has NHL players getting 57 percent of overall revenue. Not hard to do the math from there. Most people I've talked to don't believe a work stoppage would go beyond Christmas, though, just like the NBA. One big reason: the Winter Classic. There's way too much money to lose on that game for the league to give that up. To Pierre Lacroix: Continued return to good health. As Avs governor Josh Kroenke relayed in these pages last week to columnist Mark Kiszla, things got pretty scary for the Avs' former GM and current president. He nearly needed to have a leg amputated because of blood-flow issues. But doctors finally corrected the problem, and now Lacroix is walking around well again — on two legs. To the Chicago Blackhawks: Many thanks for the most hilarious holiday sing-along album ever. Don't know what I'm talking about? Go to YouTube and search for "Chicago Blackhawks sing-along." To Peter Forsberg: Absolution for saying the Swedes tanked a game in the 2006 Olympics to gain a better draw in subsequent rounds of a tournament in which they won gold. Foppa backtracked off his original statement, and while we absolutely believe he was telling the full truth the first time, we will grant a "get out of verbal jail free" card. To Denver: Hope that you eventually will be awarded a Winter Classic game. I will say this until my last breath: The game would be an absolute smash in this town. Call it the "Mile High Classic," play the game at night when it's always cold enough here in January, match the Avs against the Red Wings, hold an alumni game between the old Avs and Wings beforehand, and make sure Tim Tebow and John Elway are given free tickets to guarantee they get a lot of shots from the NBC cameras. Are you kidding me? We're talking ratings gold. To Don Cherry: Something to liven up a drab wardrobe. To Pierre McGuire: Decaf. To my editors on a West Coast Avalanche game night that goes to a shootout: Apologies in advance. To my lower back, after sitting in the rear of coach for three hours: Double apologies. To the guy in front of me who leans his seat all the way back on said flight and I purposely stick a knee in his back: No, I'm not sorry.

To everyone else: Merry Christmas, eh? 7. Newark Star-Ledger – Around the NHL: Montreal Canadiens face a flap over

their English-speaking coach

Rich Chere

There will be a French-speaking head coach for the Montreal Canadiens next season, regardless of whether it is Randy Cunneyworth. By then, of course, Cunneyworth may not want the job. He says he plans to learn French, but over the next few months what he learns about the struggling team he is coaching on an interim basis may do more to scare him away than all the public protests and words of outrage being directed at him in the province of Quebec. Cunneyworth, who replaced Jacques Martin on Dec. 17, is the Canadiens’ first English-only speaking coach since Al MacNeil in 1970-71. The response to general manager Pierre Gauthier’s decision to appoint Cunneyworth on an interim basis was immediate and overwhelming. Mario Beaulieu, president of the French Quebec Movement, and Denis Trudel, of the French Movement Montreal, will lead a rally Jan. 7 outside the Bell Centre to protest what they say is “the Anglicization of the Montreal hockey club.” Quebec Education Minister Line Beauchamp said: “The Canadiens are an institution. It is part of our heritage; we have it in our DNA. It’s imperative that the coach speak French.” Thousands of fans have demanded a bilingual coach and several former Canadiens greats have voiced their concern over a coach who speaks only English. “There’s no doubt in my mind that the coach of the Montreal Canadiens has to speak both languages, at least to some extent,” said former Habs forward and coach Guy Carbonneau. Hall of Fame defenseman Serge Savard agreed and said the team “belongs to the people.” Canadiens owner Geoff Molson reiterated in a statement that Cunneyworth is just an interim coach and promised the full-time appointee would speak French and English. Cunneyworth claims he will learn French, but many doubt that is possible to do so quickly. “It’s one thing to say he’s willing to learn it and another to actually learn it,” Carbonneau said. “The job he has now is really demanding. You have to prepare the team. You have to eat and sleep. I don’t know where learning French is going to fit in his schedule.”

To many, the requirement of speaking French really has less to do with communicating with players than with representing and speaking to the French-speaking fan base. Nevertheless, the importance of a bilingual coach in Montreal should not be downplayed. Scotty Bowman, Toe Blake and Pat Burns all spoke both languages. While this may seem like an odd controversy to those outside Quebec, it is important. The next Canadiens head coach must speak French. The team’s French-Canadian fan base deserve it. MEASURING GREATNESS The Calgary Flames’ Jarome Iginla, who has played his entire NHL career in a time zone that did not showcase his talents to eastern audiences, is within three goals of becoming the 42nd player in NHL history to score 500 goals. Teammate Craig Conroy told the Calgary Herald that the 250 goals Iginla scored before the 2004-05 lockout were much more difficult to get than those he has scored since the game opened up. “You’d see big men draped all over him and he’d fight through two checks,” Conroy said. “Like (Derian) Hatcher might have hold of his jersey and he’s still finding a way to get it done. The guys that play now, that came in after the lockout? They’d be surprised at how hard it was to get points when you can hook and hold, grab a guy.” Iginla, 34, has 10 straight seasons with 30 or more goals and is coming off his fourth 40-goal season. “I don’t believe I’m done,” he said. “I’m definitely thankful that I’m close (to 500) and, hopefully, will get there. I’m really enjoying the game. I still love it and want to play a lot longer. I still feel like I can score a lot more goals. I’d like to keep going.” Is 600 within reach? He laughed and said only: “I’d like to keep going.” ETC. New Jersey native Brendan Burke, the talented radio voice of the Peoria Rivermen, was brought in by the St. Louis Blues to call their games in Colorado and Phoenix last week when Chris Kerber dealt with some family matters. Paul Stastny scored the first goal in the game against the Avalanche and Burke did the play-by-play. Some 20 years ago, when they were mites, Brendan and Paul were linemates on their Devils youth team, with Leo Kasatonov. Paul is the son of Peter Stastny and Leo the son of Alexei Kasatonov.

The Devils aren’t the only NHL team that doesn’t like its players using Twitter. Minnesota Wild prospect Zack Phillips got into some trouble minutes after he signed his first NHL contract, a three-year entry level deal, on Dec. 17. From his Twitter account, “zachphillips7,” the 2011 first-round pick tweeted, “just signed my first NHL contract! minnesotawild.” However, the Wild hadn’t gotten the contract back from the player, hadn’t filed it with the league or made an announcement. Within 20 minutes Phillips deleted his tweet. Last month, the Wild weren’t pleased when goalie Matt Hackett announced his recall from Houston via Twitter. That was reminiscent of when Mike McKenna tweeted his recall to the Devils from Albany last year. He was soon told by the team that it was not acceptable. Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel received an unwelcome Christmas gift — a vote of confidence from GM Scott Howson. In a season with so many dismissals of head coaches, many thought Arniel would be the first to get the ax. But he has survived despite the fact the team’s playoffs hopes are virtually dead. “Coaching is not an issue on this team as to where we are right now. The players have to take it upon themselves to play better,” Howson told the Columbus Dispatch. “We’re all struggling through this, players included. This is not easy. We have to, as a group, keep persevering and try to find the light at the end of the tunnel.” Howson apparently did not tell Arniel that the coach’s job was safe. “Scott and I communicate every day,” Arniel said. “I don’t want somebody to tell me that. I’ve been in this business long enough. What does it mean? It’s like telling a player you’re never going to trade them. Then you see what happens.” You know you’re in some trouble when the owner of the team starts ripping your performance, but that’s what happened with Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller after he was pulled twice in the same game (five goals on 15 shots) against the Pittsburgh Penguins last weekend. Sabres owner Terry Pegula commented: “We saw some great goaltending tonight, didn’t we?” and added that his daughter couldn’t have played much worse in goal. Miller’s reaction? “He owns the team. I guess he wants to see a little bit better play. I don’t know. I’m trying to get better and put my best game out there and I obviously didn’t have a very good game. That’s pretty apparent. I got pulled twice. I mean, come on. That’s pretty bad. I’m sure Terry wanted to see us play better in Pittsburgh (the owner is a Pennsylvania native). I guess we owe him one.” Sabres 2009 draft pick Marcus Foligno made his NHL debut against the Ottawa Senators and brother Nick. Both were born in Buffalo when their dad, Mike Foligno, was playing for the Sabres. … The Senators on Tuesday will unveil a new $5 million video board at Scotiabank Place. … The large portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, which used to hang at one end of Winnipeg Arena, is now being stored in a warehouse in Whitby, Ontario. It will be sold soon, but not to the currents Jets team, and it won’t appear in the MTS Centre. The Jets’ owners aren’t interested, and that’s a shame because it’s evident some Winnipeg fans would love to see it back, since they bring their own roll-up portraits of the Queen.

Before their New Year’s Eve home game, the Tampa Bay Lightning will unveil a $50,000 life-size statue of team founder Phil Esposito. It will stand in front of the new grand staircase entrance at the west side of the St. Pete Times Forum, which will be renamed the Tampa Bay Times Forum the following day. “I’m not a crier but I’ll be emotional,” Esposito said. “This is a big deal. Like my number being retired in Boston, this will be there forever. That makes me feel great.” It’s a much-deserved tribute to one of the game’s all-time greats and an important figure in Tampa hockey. There is talk that this could be the last season for 39-year-old Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson. He’s been talking to Mats Sundin and Nicklas Lidstrom about how to decide when it’s time to retire. “You’ve got to make sure the fire still burns to do the training in the summer to get ready for the season,” he told the Ottawa Sun. “I talked to Mats a bit last summer. I talked to Niklas a little bit during the Olympics about his plans. when played there last year and this summer a little bit. It’s hard. I love what I do. The tough thing is the travel, the physical part of waking up sore and not feeling as eager to practice some days as others. Right now the positives definitely outweigh the negatives. Yeah, I love what I’m doing.” Alfredsson has one year left on his deal at $1 million. The Edmonton Oilers think they should be getting more offensive production from Eric Belanger, who was signed to a three-year, $1.75 million per season free-agent deal. He’s been solid on faceoffs but has scored just one goal, which probably should have been credited to Magnus Paajarvi. Belanger kicked the pad of Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward and the puck trickled over the goal line. Belanger: “I’m never going to be a 50-goal scorer but I am better than a one-goal scorer.” THE NEXT ENTRAINEUR-CHEF (HEAD COACH) Randy Cunneyworth is the Montreal Canadiens’ interim head coach. So who will get the job next season? Candidate, Odds, Currently Patrick Roy, 2-1;GM/coach Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) Clement Jodoin, 5-2, Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) coach Bob Hartley, 5-1;Coaching in Zurich, Switzerland Paul Maurice, 9-1, Fired by Carolina Hurricanes Cunneyworth, 15-1, Replaced Jacques Martin 8. TSN.ca – Crosby top sports story of the year; TSN.ca users vote Jets

TSN.ca Staff

The past twelve months were filled with huge stories that brought monumental moments. But one story stood out from the rest - with Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby's concussion and short-lived return chosen as the top sports story of the year on SportsCentre's 2011 Year In Review.

On New Year's Day, Crosby was knocked down by a Washington Capitals forward David Steckel late in the second period of the Winter Classic at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. Despite being badly shaken up, he remained in the game. He showed no signs of a concussion following the hit and was cleared to play at home four nights later against the Tampa Bay Lightning. During that game, Crosby was driven hard into the boards by Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman - and would not play again for over 10 months. On Nov. 21, the game's biggest star made a dazzling and triumphant return, scoring twice and setting up two other goals in a 5-0 victory over the New York Islanders. But the excitement was short-lived. After being knocked around in the Penguins' game against Boston just a couple of weeks later, Crosby suffered concussion-like symptoms and was placed on the injured reserve list last week. And once again, the hockey world is left wondering when Sid The Kid will return. By contrast, TSN.ca users voted for a much more positive hockey story as the top newsmaker of the year - the return of the NHL to Winnipeg. True North chairman Mark Chipman, along with Toronto billionaire David Thomson, kept the dream of hockey alive in Manitoba by purchasing the Atlanta Thrashers and relocated them to Winnipeg. The celebration was loud, proud and long overdue as thousands of hockey fans gathered downtown after the National Hockey League announced its return to the city. A decade and a half after the original Jets left town to become the Phoenix Coyotes, Winnipeg received another shot at top-flight professional hockey. True North Sports and Entertainment purchased the Atlanta Thrashers from Atlanta Spirit and moved the team to Winnipeg's MTS Centre, marking Canada's seventh NHL franchise. But before the team could hit the ice for the 2011-12 season, one last matter needed to be finalized and the city held its breath before being told that once again they would be cheering for a team called the Jets. It was like their favourite team never left in the first place. 9. TSN.ca – World Juniors gets NHL players betting and bragging

The Canadian Press

You can't spray a handful of birdseed in an NHL dressing room without hitting an alumnus of the world junior men's hockey championships. Dozens of players from several countries have played in it and many more than once during their hockey careers. Whether they played for their countries in it last year or 15 years ago, the alumni take a keen interest when it is on. National pride, memories and the natural competitiveness among NHL players generate debate, wagers and bragging in the dressing room. "There's definitely a little bit of trash-talking that goes through the room," says Edmonton Oilers centre Jordan Eberle, who twice played for Canada in the tournament. "It's usually the Europeans who do the most trash-talking. They think they're the best, the Swedes, the Czechs and the guys from the States the last couple of years." The betting stakes are often the loser taking the winner out for dinner, or in some cases, wearing another country's jersey. "Friendly? I don't know about friendly, but we have side bets, for sure," says Vancouver Canucks forward Daniel Sedin, twice a member of Sweden's junior team. "Usually it's dinner and something like that." Sidney Crosby played for the Canadian junior team in both 2004 and 2005, winning gold in the latter. On Jan. 5 of last season, he left a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning because he'd been driven into the boards. It turned out to be one of the two hits that apparently caused his concussion, which eventually shut his season down. But Crosby was said to be seen that night intently watching on television the final of the 2011 world junior championship in Buffalo, N.Y. Russia scored five goals in the third period to beat Canada 5-3 for gold, to the delight of Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguin teammate Evgeni Malkin. "It's usually Geno betting against all the Canadian guys on Russia against Canada," Penguins centre Jordan Staal says of Malkin. The Atlanta Thrashers, now the Winnipeg Jets, were in Florida playing that Panthers that night.

Jets forward Evander Kane, who won gold with Canada in 2009, recalled the Thrashers' attention wasn't solely on the game they were playing. "We had our trainers coming in actually during the intermissions and letting us know what the score was in that final game," Kane said. "I knew it was 3-0 and then after the game Burmi (Alexander Burmistrov) comes in and says it was 5-3 Russia and I couldn't believe it." Burmistrov, from Kazan, played for the Russian juniors in 2010 "Big time (joking) in dressing room when Russia came back," Burmistrov said. "Hopefully this year there won't be comebacks. Just win straight." There's an interesting dynamic in the Calgary Flames dressing room. Finland's lone gold came in 1998 and centre Olli Jokinen played for the Finns that year. "Whenever I want to feel good, I bring it up," Jokinen says. Sitting in the stall next to him is winger Alex Tanguay, whose Canadian team finished a worst-ever eighth that year. "I try to forget those memories," Tanguay says. Across the dressing room, defenceman Cory Sarich won gold in 1997 to cap a run of five straight for Canada. But Sarich was also Tanguay's teammate in 1998 when Canada finished far out of the medals "I like to talk about winning five in a row and then I kind of stop there," Sarich said. "The other one I just kind of leave alone." In Canada, the games are carried on national television and dominate sports media. That drives interest in Canadian NHL dressing rooms. There's far less coverage of the tournament in places like Florida, says Vancouver's David Booth, who was acquired from the Panthers this season. "In Florida, no one knows what (the tournament) is, really," Booth says. And some players who don't see what the fuss is all about. "In the past, there's been the bets where, if your team wins, the other guy has to wear your jersey or your hat or something like that," Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa said.

"But, usually, guys like me, I just say turn the page. That was like 10-15 years ago, so grow up. There's more important things going on at Christmas time, in my opinion." The 2012 world junior championship opens Boxing Day in Edmonton and Calgary, which means the Oilers and Flames are going on extended road trips while their home rinks are otherwise occupied. Sarich expects he'll have to search for coverage of the tournament when the Flames are in the U.S. "It's going to be hard to get a piece of it," he predicts. "I don't think USA Today will be printing much on the world juniors." Eberle knows full well the pressure Canada will be under to produce gold on home ice this year. Eberle was a standout for the host country in both Ottawa in 2009 (gold) and in Saskatoon in 2010 (silver). "It definitely adds a little more pressure," Eberle says. "You're in the spotlight. To go to the arena and there's 20,000 fans screaming, it's one of the greatest atmospheres you'll ever get to play in. "You have to be able to manage that pressure so it doesn't get to you too much. You're expected to win." For a player from any country, the world junior championship is often their introduction to the big time. Particularly when the tournament is in Canada, they're playing in front of thousands of people in the building and millions watching on television for the first time in their lives. Flames captain Jarome Iginla says his experience representing Canada and winning gold in Boston in 1996 helped shape his career. "It was very powerful. It's huge for growth," Iginla explains. "There's a lot of pressure on the young guys and you learn to deal with that. "It's one of the best experiences I had, not just hockey, but the memories and getting to be a part of that and represent Canada, it's something that's helped me. What a great time." 10. ESPN.com – Weekend notebook: surprises of 2011-12

Pierre LeBrun

In the spirit of the holiday break, we bring you a six-pack of players who have been surprises for their respective teams this season:

Brian Elliott, St. Louis Blues Has there been a more dramatic turnaround in the league this season? Elliott, 26, was unwanted in Ottawa last season and shipped to Colorado, where the Avalanche didn’t retain his services, either, after a season in which he posted awful numbers, albeit for a pair of doormat clubs. Hat in hand, the native of Newmarket, Ontario, accepted a two-way contract with the Blues with the only promise that he could battle young Ben Bishop in camp for the right to back up Jaroslav Halak. And Elliott signed the exact same deal as Bishop -- $600,000 NHL salary, $105,000 AHL salary. “I thought he made a really wise business decision to take the exact same contract that Bishop had,” Blues GM Doug Armstrong told ESPN.com this week. “If he would have come in at $900,000 or something like that, we may have maybe looked at it from a business perspective and wondered if it was worth the extra money. But he came in under the exact same contract and made it a true competition on the ice.” In the end, Armstrong said, Elliott and Bishop had good camps, but the Blues decided to keep the more experienced Elliott on the NHL roster. “He’s certainly made the most of the opportunity,” Armstrong said. You think? How about leading all NHL goalies in goals-against average (1.52) and save percentage (.944) entering Friday night? Unreal. Funny how a player can react when his career hangs in the balance. “He had to recalibrate, he had to re-establish himself,” Armstrong said. “Early in the year, he played a great game in San Jose and was able to follow that up. And quite honestly, we’ve played a really good team game in front of him also to try and minimize second opportunities.” Indeed, the Blues give up the fewest shots of any team in the NHL, so that certainly doesn’t hurt. Elliott, meanwhile, is slated to be an unrestricted free agent July 1. “We haven’t talked to any of our players yet who will be unrestricted,” Armstrong said. “Once we get to the 45-, 50-game mark, it may be time but we haven’t got there yet.” You better bet they’ll want Elliott back to continue his terrific tandem with Halak.

Jason Garrison, Florida Panthers Had you told anyone on the Florida Panthers in September that Jason Garrison would be leading all NHL defensemen with 10 goals entering their last game before the Christmas break, they would have asked how many drinks you’ve had. After all, Garrison entered the season with seven career goals in 113 career NHL games as mostly a rugged, defensive blueliner in his first two years. But first-year coach Kevin Dineen saw the merits of trying out Garrison’s heavy shot on the power play. Combined with Brian Campbell’s silky smooth setup passes teeing him up, Garrison has struck gold with his thunderous blasts from the point. “He’s got a cannon for a shot, he gets some nice feeds from Soupy and he’s been a real fun surprise for us,” Panthers GM Dale Tallon told ESPN.com this week. “We’ll certainly take it.” And it just so happens that the 27-year-old Garrison, a native of White Rock, British Columbia, is slated for unrestricted free agency July 1. He’ll be getting a raise from the $675,000 he’s earning this season, and Tallon told ESPN.com both sides have begun preliminary contract talks. "Cha-ching" might just be Garrison’s new middle name. Eric Nystrom, Dallas Stars Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk joked with ESPN.com in early October that the Sean Avery contract was the gift that keeps on giving. Little did he know how true that actually would end up being for the Stars. When the New York Rangers demoted Avery in the first week of the season, it threatened to put the Stars under the league’s minimum salary floor, because suddenly half of the winger’s contract was coming off the cap (the Rangers claimed Avery off re-entry waivers from the Stars during the 2008-09 season, keeping Dallas on the hook for half his four-year deal). So the Stars were forced to scramble and pick up a salary ASAP as not to fall under the floor. They scoured the early-season market -- there certainly wasn’t much out there -- and settled on Nystrom from the Minnesota Wild organization.

To Nieuwendyk’s credit, he told me the very day, Oct. 12, Nystrom was acquired that the Stars felt they picked up a player who could help them and that it wasn’t solely a payroll-saving transaction. Still, Nystrom never ends up with the Stars if the Rangers don’t demote Avery first. “Funny how things play out sometimes, right?” Nieuwendyk told ESPN.com this week. The 28-year-old Nystrom, son of famous Islanders player Bob Nystrom, has put up 11 goals in 28 games for the Stars, nothing short of stunning while playing on an effective third line with Vern Fiddler and Radek Dvorak. “Eric’s been great for us,” Nieuwendyk said. “I think when you go through some of the things he’s been through, like signing in Minnesota and then being put in the minors, you get a young guy who is appreciative of the opportunity. It’s infectious around the locker room. There’s not too many rainy days with this guy. The sun is always shining. That positive energy has been terrific for our hockey team.” The native of Syosset, N.Y., has one more year on a deal that pays him $1.4 million next season. Mike Smith, Phoenix Coyotes Ilya Bryzgalov exited Phoenix last summer, and Smith replaced him. And with that, very few people in the hockey world held out any hope the Coyotes had a chance this season. Coyotes GM Don Maloney told me last September during a preseason game in Glendale, Ariz., that if somehow his club could get top-15 goaltending this season, it would be able to hang in there. I shook hands with Maloney and wished him good luck, while I thought, “Top-15 goaltending from Mike Smith and Jason Labarbera? Dream on!” Once again, those of us who doubted the Coyotes are reminded not to have done so. Smith, 29, entered the Christmas break sixth in the NHL among goalies with 15 wins and 15th with a solid .920 save percentage. That’s nothing short of surprising for a guy who was discarded by the Tampa Bay Lightning last season and even spent time in the AHL. “For the first 20 games of the season, Mike was at the top of the league in every category and was one of the very best goalies in the league,” Maloney told ESPN.com this week.

“The last few weeks he hasn’t been quite as dynamic but he’s still giving us a chance to win every night.” When Bryzgalov wouldn’t re-sign last June, it left the club with a big hole and not a lot of money to fill it. Maloney scoped the market and decided Smith was a worthy gamble, partly because Smith broke into the league under Coyotes coach Dave Tippett, when Tippett coached the Dallas Stars in 2006-07. “For us, it came back to Mike’s age, Tipp’s familiarity with him, Burkey’s (goalies coach Sean Burke) potential tutoring. We just felt if could help him along he was poised to take on a No. 1 role,” Maloney said. Maloney, the 2009-10 NHL GM of the Year, has been proved right so far. Of course, the cynics will say any goalie can thrive in Tippett’s system. “I think our system certainly helps Mike, but at the end of the day he’s still the guy stopping the puck,” Maloney said. “There’s games we had no right being in earlier this season that he kept us in. I just think it’s all come together for Mike.” Milan Michalek, Ottawa Senators Michalek, 27, has already surpassed his entire goal tally from last season (18) and is easily on pace to eclipse his career high of 26 goals he set in 2006-07 with the San Jose Sharks. The obvious difference this season is that he’s finally healthy. Serious knee problems and ACL surgeries over the past few years have limited his durability and effectiveness. But the Czech winger is back. “There’s no question that knee injury really hurt him and set him back,” Senators GM Bryan Murray told ESPN.com earlier this month. “That’s the real difference this season; he was able to work hard over the summer. He came to camp in great shape and his skating is really good at this point.” A concussion suffered after colliding with teammate Erik Karlsson on Dec. 13 on the same night he scored his 19th goal (in 31 games) has sidelined him, but all signs point to a return after the holiday break. He’s one of several key reasons the rebuilding Senators have surprised this season. Michalek is in the fourth season of a six-year deal that carries a $4.33 million cap hit, paying him $4.75 million in salary next season and $6 million in 2013-14.

Joffrey Lupul, Toronto Maple Leafs Lupul had a contract the Anaheim Ducks could not wait to discard last season. Serious back problems -- including a scary infection -- limited Lupul over a two-year stretch, convincing the Ducks he wasn’t worth the $4.25 million a year he had coming through the 2012-13 season. Few people would have argued with them, either. The Ducks found a willing trade partner when the Toronto Maple Leafs agreed to take Lupul and prospect Jake Gardiner in exchange for Francois Beauchemin last Feb. 9. Gardiner, who has surprised himself this season in making the Leafs out of camp, was the main attraction, but Leafs GM Brian Burke was hopeful in the back of his mind Lupul would rediscover the touch that netted a career-high 28 goals for Burke’s Ducks in 2005-06. “Never ‘had’ to take him,” Burke, disputing that notion, wrote ESPN.com via email this week. “The year I traded him to get [Chris] Pronger, he was our best forward in the playoffs. The deal last season made sense -- [the Ducks] were at a higher point than we were, couldn’t wait for the infection to heal while they paid him big dough. We were in a position to wait.” Few knew what to expect from Lupul entering this season, but challenging for the NHL scoring lead certainly wasn’t among expectations. Now healthy and his back problems a thing of the past, the 28-year-old entered Friday night with 37 points (15-22) in 34 games, a dynamic force alongside linemate Phil Kessel.

– FLYERS –