Month: October 2008

CHICAGO – Nikolai Khabibulin made 29 saves and Martin Havlat, Patrick Sharp, Brian Campbell and rookie Colin Fraser scored to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to their first victory of the season, 4-1 over the Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday night.

MONTREAL – Alex Tanguay scored the lone goal in shootout to give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 win in their home opener Wednesday night after they allowed the Boston Bruins to come back from a three-goal deficit.

NEW YORK – Thomas Vanek scored twice, once on a power play and again when Buffalo was short-handed, and the Sabres handed the New York Rangers their first loss of the season, 3-1 Wednesday night.

MONTREAL – Two players nearly as old as their legendary team – Elmer Lach and Emile (Butch) Bouchard – dropped the puck for the start of the Montreal Canadiens 100th anniversary season.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus Blue Jackets placed forward Jared Boll on injured reserve Wednesday because of a head injury and recalled forward Nikita Filatov from Syracuse of the American Hockey League.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have placed forward Jared Boll on injured reserve due to head/neck injury and recalled forward Nikita Filatov from the American League’s Syracuse Crunch.

CALGARY – Coach Mike Keenan’s wish list prior to this NHL season was that his Calgary Flames improve on special teams and cut down on their goals against.

MONTREAL – Michael Ryder looks at home in the Boston Bruins’ black and gold jersey and now he hopes it helps bring back his scoring touch. The 28-year-old right-winger did not even get an offer from the Montreal Canadiens when he became an unrestricted free agent after scoring only 14 goals last season.

TORONTO – Rookie left-winger Nikolai Kulemin is looking like a major find for the Toronto Maple Leafs, while veteran forward Matt Stajan is struggling to adapt to the demands of new head coach Ron Wilson.

The video of Alexei Cherepanov’s final moments on the bench are as chilling as anything any of us who play and follow hockey have ever seen.

But what is even more shocking and appalling is the seemingly amateur scene the video depicts.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Wild placed defenceman Marek Zidlicky on injured reserve Wednesday and recalled right-winger Cal Clutterbuck from Houston of the American Hockey League.

In his first interview with North American media since he left for Russia and the Kontinental League, Alexander Radulov left the door open for a return to the NHL and denied comments attributed to him in a letter to KHL president, Alexander Medvedev.

Movements in the world of hockey Tuesday:National Hockey LeagueBOSTON BRUINS-Recalled D Matt Hunwick and F Vladimir Sobotka from Providence (AHL).

Scoring summaries from Tuesday’s NHL games:Avalanche 4 at Flames 5 First Period1. Calgary, Boyd 1 (Lombardi, Bourque) 3:21 (pp)2. Calgary, Bertuzzi 2 (Cammalleri, Langkow) 4:17 (pp)3.

MONTREAL – Tough guy Georges Laraque will make his first start for the Montreal Canadiens in the team’s NHL home opener on Wednesday night against the Boston Bruins.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – New York Islanders defenceman Radek Martinek will be out four to six weeks because of an unidentified upper-body injury sustained during a game last weekend, the club said Tuesday.

MOSCOW – Family, friends, teammates and thousands of fans paid their last respects Wednesday to Alexei Cherepanov, the 19-year-old rising hockey star who died after suffering heart problems during a game outside Moscow.

MOSCOW – Russian hockey player Alexei Cherepanov, who collapsed and died during a game, had heart problems and probably should not have been allowed to play, a regional investigator suggested Tuesday.

MONTREAL – The celebration of the Montreal Canadiens’ 100th season is about to begin, but there was little evidence of it at the Bell Centre on Tuesday.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Patrick Marleau scored two goals, Evgeni Nabokov made 31 saves and the San Jose Sharks kept new coach Todd McLellan unbeaten through four games with a 5-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.