Month: September 2009

VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Vancouver Canucks returned centre Cody Hodgson to the Brampton Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League on Tuesday, putting on ice the former first-round draft pick’s hopes of starting the season with the NHL club

CANONSBURG, Pa. – Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has practised for the first time since injuring his groin during a pre-season game Thursday in Columbus

PITTSBURGH – There were few reasons to think the Pittsburgh Penguins could recover from a stretch of 16 losses in 25 games and make the playoffs, much less win the Stanley Cup

Movements in the world of hockey Monday:National Hockey LeagueATLANTA THRASHERS-Released G Manny Legace and F Dan Fritsche.BOSTON BRUINS-Assigned F Zach Hamill and F Brad Marchand to Providence (AHL)

ZURICH, Switzerland – Radek Smolenak had a pair of goals to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 9-2 drubbing of HC Davos in NHL pre-season action Monday

CALGARY – Brent Sutter is bent on bringing change to the Calgary Flames right down to where the players sit in the dressing room.Captain Jarome Iginla now sits on the opposite side of where he was, but the more symbolic relocation is the defencemen’s corner, where Jay Bouwmeester, Cory Sarich, Robyn Regehr and Dion Phaneuf now reside side by side

ATLANTA – Veteran goalie Manny Legace was among two players released Monday by the Atlanta Thrashers.Legace, 36, appeared in one preseason game for Atlanta, stopping 25-of-27 shots against Carolina

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus Blue Jackets traded a 2010 third-round draft pick to the Calgary Flames for defenceman Anton Stralman on Monday

The biggest impact on this NHL season won’t be made by a breakout player or an upstart team. It’s going to come from the Olympic tournament in Vancouver

LOS ANGELES – Brayden Schenn is going to spend another season in the Western Hockey League.The Los Angeles Kings returned the 18-year-old forward to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Monday

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Goaltender Cory Schneider and former first-round draft pick Michael Grabner were among the players the Vancouver Canucks sent to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose on Monday

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Wild winger Colton Gillies has been sent to the minors.Gillies was assigned to Minnesota’s AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros

TAMPERE, Finland – Former Colorado winger Ville Nieminen scored to give Finnish league team Tappara a 3-2 shootout win over the Florida Panthers in NHL exhibition play Monday

TORONTO – Veteran hockey producer John Shannon is moving to the other side of the camera.The former NHL executive vice-president of programming and production is joining the “Hockeycentral” panel on Rogers Sportsnet

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Derick Brassard normally takes a few weeks off at the end of each season before diving into his summer regimen. But this year was different

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs enter the new hockey season with a rebuilt defence, better goaltending, impressive rookies and an aggressive attitude

MONTREAL – It was one of the few practice days in the midst of a busy pre-season schedule for the Montreal Canadiens and new head coach Jacques Martin decided to skate his players hard

CALGARY – Theoren Fleury chose to end his NHL career in the place it began.Instead of pursuing his NHL comeback with another club, the 41-year-old announced his retirement Monday in Calgary

Results Sunday:AHL Gardiner CupSemifinalsAt Edinburgh, ScotlandToronto 3 Hamilton 1Pre-seasonHershey 4 Norfolk 3 (OT)Portland 5 Manchester 1San Antonio 4 Texas 3Syracuse 3 Rochester 1Worcester 10 Hartford 3Abbotsford 6 Manitoba 4QMJHLVictoriaville 4 Halifax 2Lewiston 7 Chicoutimi 1P

EDMONTON – The final roster of the Edmonton Oilers is a little clearer after five players were cut following Sunday’s 5-4 overtime win over the Vancouver Canucks