Month: June 2009

DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche began their rebuilding process in a major way Wednesday, firing head coach Tony Granato and naming Greg Sherman general manager

Scoring summary from Tuesday’s NHL playoff game:Red Wings 2 at Penguins 4First Period1. Pittsburgh, Talbot 5 (Malkin, Letang) 4:482. Detroit, Zetterberg 10 (Leino, Franzen) 6:193

PITTSBURGH – Marian Hossa was booed loudly by Pittsburgh Penguins fans each time he had the puck.He did nothing to quiet them on Tuesday. Hossa was held without a goal for the third straight game and the white-clad fans in Pittsburgh loved it, especially because the Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 to pull within 2-1 in the Stanley Cup final

PITTSBURGH – The penalty kill is beginning to look like a potential Achilles’ heel for the Detroit Red Wings.It’s arguably the only facet of the game that they’ve failed to excel at during this post-season

Movements in the world of hockey Tuesday:National Hockey LeagueBOSTON BRUINS-Signed F David Krejci to a multiyear contract extension.DALLAS STARS-Signed G Matt Climie and Brent Krahn to one-year contracts

WINNIPEG – Moose winger Jason Jaffray didn’t need to search for words to describe his hat trick’s game-winner in Manitoba’s 3-1 victory over the Hershey Bears Tuesday night in game 2 of the AHL’s Calder Cup final

PITTSBURGH – A report card look at Game 3 of the NHL’s Stanley Cup final between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night:FORWARDSPenguins, B-minus: It’s pretty telling when you can argue that Maxime Talbot and Matt Cooke were among the best Pittsburgh forwards on the ice

PITTSBURGH – Sergei Gonchar scored 10:29 into the third period as the Pittsburgh Penguins found new life in the Stanley Cup final with a 4-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night

PITTSBURGH – You can count on Nicklas Lidstrom meeting the media every day during the Stanley Cup finals.One day after 21-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby took a break from reporters questions, Lidstrom gave his take Tuesday about standing up in front of cameras, tape recorders and notebooks on a regular basis

PITTSBURGH – It doesn’t appear that a headshot penalty has much chance of getting into the NHL rulebook.For the second time in four months, the league’s 30 general managers have discussed the merits of a rule proposed by the NHL Players’ Association and shot it down

PITTSBURGH – Don Maloney is still trying to make the Phoenix Coyotes better even though he’s not yet sure who he’ll be working for next season

In the business world, Jim Balsillie is the equivalent of hockey’s energy line player – determined, relentless, persistent.And that isn’t going to change, even if a bankruptcy court judge rules that the BlackBerry boss can’t move the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton

Unlike in Phoenix, an NHL team will be immediately profitable in Hamilton, says Jim Balsillie.The co-CEO of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion made his assertion in a relocation application filed to the league late Monday, the latest step in his campaign to move the Phoenix Coyotes to southern Ontario

PITTSBURGH – The top prospects for the NHL draft got to mingle with the teams involved in the Stanley Cup final Tuesday and they came away impressed

TORONTO – Pittsburgh sports writer Dave Molinari is the 2009 recipient of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for print journalism, the Hockey Hall of Fame announced Tuesday

BOSTON – The Boston Bruins rewarded David Krejci for a career season Tuesday, signing the forward to a multi-year contract extension.Terms of the deal were not released

PITTSBURGH – Forward Mikael Samuelsson did not skate with the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday morning and that may open the door for veteran Kris Draper to return to the line-up for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final against the Pittsburgh Penguins

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Centre Marek Zagrapan will play in Russia next season whether the Buffalo Sabres like it or not.The Sabres’ 2005 first-round draft pick has signed a three-year deal to play for Severstal Cherepovets of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, Zagrapan’s agent, Petr Svoboda, said Tuesday

Movements in the world of hockey Monday:National Hockey LeagueBUFFALO SABRES-Signed F Paul Byron to a three-year contract.MONTREAL CANADIENS-Named Jacque Martin coach

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Buffalo Sabres have signed forward Paul Byron to a three-year, entry level contract prior to a 5 p.m. ET Monday deadline which would have sent the player back into the NHL draft had he remained unsigned