Kukla's Korner

Toronto Honors Sundin Tonight

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/11/12 at 09:42 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Doug Gilmour at the Toronto Sun,

Over the years, I’ve heard about how Mats didn’t really get the full respect he deserved from Leaf fans during his time in Toronto because he might not crush defenders all over the ice like Wendel did, or perform with the same style as yours truly.

In my mind, that has never been a fair comparison.

Everyone is different. Everyone plays with their own style.

Inside our dressing room with the Maple Leafs, we knew what we had with Mats. He was a warrior, a trait he never fully got credit for outside of our room.

But, like I said, we knew.

With Mats deservedly having his No. 13 honoured on Saturday at the Air Canada Centre prior to the game against the Montreal Canadiens, there has been a lot of suggestions that he finally is getting the appreciation he deserved now that he has been out of sight, out of mind for a few years.

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Mats+Sundin,

Wings Want The Puck

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/11/12 at 09:33 AM ET | Comments (1)

from Ryan Pyette of the London Free Press,

The most intimidating guy inside the toughest NHL rink to win in is surrounded by security at a table in the Joe Louis Arena concourse, where he’s selling books, autographs and memories for 35 bucks.

Ted Lindsay is 86 years old, still pumps iron every day and, with something that sounds like a cross between a snarl and a chuckle, puts his finger on the crux of how the Detroit Red Wings remain hockey’s most remarkable team.

“You play together and control the puck the way they do, you control the game,” Terrible Ted barked. “When they don’t have it, they fight like hell to recover. It goes down the line—ownership, management, coaching and the talent. You need the players. Detroit was the first team scouting in Europe, back when everyone thought a hockey player had to be from Canada.

“They keep finding the players they need to win.”

That’s why everyone hates playing them.

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Marc Staal Trying To Find His ‘A’ Game

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/11/12 at 09:22 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,

“I have high expectations of myself under any circumstance, and I want to be able to contribute to the success of a first-place team the way I know I’m capable of doing, but it’s not quite there yet,” Staal told The Post following yesterday’s practice. “Once I got through the first handful of games without any negative consequences, I turned all my focus to my game, but it’s been choppy for me.”...

Staal is averaging 18:01 per over the 16 games he has played, but 19:11 in his past 13. That’s still a considerable drop from the 25:44 that the 25-year-old logged last year in leading the club in ice time and his lowest average since he got 18:48 per as rookie in 2007-08.

“I think I can do a better job of getting into the flow of the game at a high-intensity level on every shift,” Staal said. “I’m used to playing big minutes where I’m jumping over the boards just about every other shift, whereas now I’m on the bench a bit more, which gives me more time to think, and that’s not always good.

“But I think I’m getting more used to it and have been doing a better job dealing with it. I believe the best is in front of me.”

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, New York Rangers | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Marc+Staal,

Road Trip From Hell Continues For Chicago

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/11/12 at 09:02 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune,

Try as they might, the Blackhawks searched for some positives following their seventh consecutive defeat.

“Right now, minutes after another loss, it’s tough to look at the bright side of things,” captain Jonathan Toews said in the morgue-like atmosphere of the Hawks’ dressing room after their 5-3 loss to the Sharks on Friday night at HP Pavilion.

“We played hard out there. We saw some fights, we saw some scratching and clawing, some battling in front of the net and a couple of ugly goals. We played the way we had to. We gave them too many opportunities on the power play and that’s how they separated themselves from us in this game. It always seems to be one thing or another but (Friday night) we’re getting closer to playing that more complete game.”

They aren’t nearly close enough as their skid is reaching epic proportions with their ninth loss in a row away from home that dropped their record on the current road trip to 0-4-1.

continue for more on the loss to San Jose…

Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Pick Six: Saturday February 11

Blog: The Goods on Fantasy Hockey By Ian Gooding

02/11/12 at 12:56 AM ET | Comments (0)

A total of 12 games are on the Saturday schedule, so it’s not the busiest Saturday night on record. However, all of your players on Canadian teams will be action, since it is Hockey Day in Canada. The Jets, who were an American team last season, are the only Canadian team not to be facing a team north of the border, as they face off against Pittsburgh. No doubt the CBC executives were thinking Sidney Crosby when they scheduled that game!

To help you plan for the weekend:

Teams with two games: Columbus, Florida, Los Angeles, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Tampa Bay

Teams with no games: Carolina

All other teams play one game this weekend on either Saturday or Sunday.

The following goalies have been confirmed for Saturday (Goalie Post): Martin Brodeur, NJ; Marc-Andre Fleury, PIT; Nikolai Khabibulin, EDM; Craig Anderson, OTT; James Reimer, TOR; Semyon Varlamov, COL; Brian Elliott, STL; Steve Mason, CBJ.

Continue Reading »

Filed in: fantasy hockey, Ian Gooding | The Goods on Fantasy Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Carey+Price, Dany+Heatley, David+Krejci, fantasy+hockey, Ian+Gooding, Kevin+Shattenkirk, Pick+Six, Ray+Whitney, Sam+Gagner, The+Goods,

Wings Make It 19 In A Row At Home

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

02/10/12 at 10:59 PM ET | Comments (11)

Paul here filling in for George who is under the weather.

You won’t get update after update from me, but below you can find some of the highlights of the game between the Ducks and Wings with the Wings winning in a shootout.

Detroit will attempting to tie the NHL record of 20 consecutive home wins when the Dallas Stars my mistake, the Flyers visit Joe Louis Arena on Sunday night.

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | The Malik Report | Permalink
 

Video- Kari Lehtonen With The Save Of The Night

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/10/12 at 10:47 PM ET | Comments (1)

Closing seconds of OT, Lehtonen robs Thomas Vanek.  The Sabres did win in the shootout.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Kari+Lehtonen,

Dominic Moore Fined $2,500

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/10/12 at 08:48 PM ET | Comments (0)

NEW YORK (February 10, 2012)—Tampa Bay Lightning forward Dominic Moore has been fined $2,500, the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for an interference infraction that caused an injury to New York Rangers forward Ruslan Fedotenko in NHL Game No. 803 on Thursday, Feb. 9, in New York, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 3:05 of the third period. A minor penalty for roughing was assessed on the play.

If you missed the hit, it can be viewed here.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Tampa Bay Lightning | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Dominic+Moore,

Get a little crazy

Blog: Petshark: Talking Stick By petshark

02/10/12 at 07:30 PM ET | Comments (0)

Marleau, Pavelski and Niemi are the first on the ice.  Marleau sprinkles pucks around one end of the rink, gives the bag to Niemi, who takes it to the other end.  Pavelski and Marleau start shooting, others come out on the ice.

McGinn begins doing goalie drills with Niemi, while others do shooting and tipping drills.

I check Twitter.  When I look up, Marleau and Pavelski have left.  It’s an optional skate I guess.

Boyle is there, smiling.

Clowe is there too, visorless. I think he looks sheepish without it but I must be projecting, imagining he knows he should wear one.  I’m sure he doesn’t think so.  I hope his head is as hard as it seems.  Sigh.

Continue Reading »

Filed in: , San Jose Sharks | Petshark: Talking Stick | Permalink
  Tags: Chicago+Blackhawks, crazy, goalies, grit, James+Sheppard, Ray+Emery, Tommy+Wingels,

Afternoon Line

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

02/10/12 at 05:40 PM ET | Comments (5)

There is enough concern about the state of Chicago’s team that Quenneville’s job security could be in some danger.

Think it can’t happen? This is the NHL. Peter Laviolette won the Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006 and was fired in 2008. John Tortorella won the Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004 and was axed three seasons later. Bob Hartley won it with Colorado in 2001, went to Game 7 of the Western finals in 2002, and was canned 31 games into the ‘02-03 season. Randy Carlyle won the Cup with Anaheim in 2007, and now he’s looking for work.

Quenneville has a contract that runs through the 2013-14 season, but money is about the only thing it guarantees. The pressure is always high on coaches in a league where financial profit usually only comes with a playoff berth. Quenneville is not immune to such reality. If his team’s current six-game losing streak (0-5-1) continues, and the postseason starts to look at all like the dicey proposition it was last year, sources close to the situation tell SI.com that a change behind the bench is possible.

-Adrian Dater of Sports Illustrated where you can read more on the Blackhawks.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Joel+Quenneville,

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