Kukla's Korner

No goalie move yet

Blog: Red and Black Hockey By David Lee

11/08/09 at 05:37 PM ET | Comments (0)

On Sunday, the Hurricanes announced that they have reassigned forward Zach Boychuk to the Albany River Rats.  This, supposedly, will be to make room for Ray Whitney to return from his “upper body injury”.  All reports indicate that The Wizard will be back in the lineup on Veterans Day.  This is a bit of good news. 

There’s a big surprise, though.  Even when Cam Ward was kept overnight in Columbus, and then kept for an extra day, there have been no roster moves at the goalie position.  I assumed that Justin Peters would immediately be called up to back up Michael Leighton, but so far, Leighton is by himself.  The Hurricanes have indicated that they’re interested in signing a free agent or trading for an NHL goaltender.  Third on the list of solutions to the problem was “call up Justin Peters”. 

Whatever they do, they will have to do it very quickly so that they can have two goaltenders in practice.  Presumably, if no move is made by Monday’s practice, Fox Sports Carolinas color commentator Tripp Tracy will serve as one of the practice goalies.  Which he will talk about all season after that. 

Filed in: | Red and Black Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Carolina+Hurricanes,

A Penguins’ void: ‘The Voice’ is muted

Blog: The Confluence By Tony

11/08/09 at 05:27 PM ET | Comments (0)

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Ron Paglia, on the Pens’ longtime public address announcer John Barbaro:

Anyone who knows John Barbero well will tell you he’s seldom at a loss for words.  An articulate and personable man, Barbero owns a distinctive voice that has endeared him to thousands of people in his role as the public address announcer for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He has manned the mike for the past 36 seasons.  “It’s nice to know that people appreciate your work,” Barbero, a lifelong resident of Roscoe, said. “I’ve always taken my job seriously and taken pride in it. If someone compliments me on the way I do it, that means a lot to me because I want to be professional at all times.”

Respect for and admiration of Barbero’s standards has never been more evident than during his absence. He’s sidelined this season as he recovers from Astrocytoma: an inoperable brain tumor.

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Filed in: Pittsburgh Penguins | The Confluence | Permalink
  Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,

Cam Ward Had Surgery To Repair Lacerated Thigh Muscle

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/08/09 at 03:24 PM ET | Comments (1)

vai the Twitter of Aaron Portzline,

CAR G Cam Ward had surgery late Saturday/early Sunday to repair a lacerated muscle in left thigh. Still in Cols. hospital.

added 4:40pm, The Canes official Twitter…

Ward suffered a laceration of the left upper leg during last night’s game and will be evaluated more upon his return to Raleigh on Monday.

It also mentions Ward will be out at least 3-4 weeks and no mention of any surgery.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Carolina Hurricanes | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Cam+Ward,

Wild Players Say Ott Should Be Suspended For Elbow On Sykora

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/08/09 at 02:38 PM ET | Comments (0)

via Michael Russo of Russo’s Rants,

Wild players all were talking about the hit this morning and how the league “better suspend” Ott. We will see. Unlike Derek Boogaard’s elbow last year on Brandon Prust, there wasn’t an outcry on this one in Canada…

Well, Ott took a leaping elbow into the head on Sykora in my opinion. The league allegedly wants to rid head shots, well, then throw the book at Ott, too. Or maybe Stephane Robidas for his textbook boarding on Mikko Koivu last night that was somehow missed.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Petr+Sykora, Steve+Ott,

Call Ups Won’t Cut It Kenny

Blog: Abel to Yzerman By IwoCPO

11/08/09 at 12:30 PM ET | Comments (39)

The loss?  Oh it was bad.  The Wings?  Yep, they looked like garbage.  The level of embarrassment? Pretty frigging high, considering the hockey royalty in attendance and the huge viewing audience.

But, on a grand scale...the loss, and the manner in which it was dished out, wasn’t a huge deal.  As new A2Y Gamewrecker, Voox, pointed out...the Wings are just not meant to win at the ACC.

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Filed in: | Abel to Yzerman | Permalink
 

What do Drury and Dubi mean to the Rangers?

Blog: Goal Line Report By Patrick Hoffman

11/08/09 at 11:58 AM ET | Comments (0)

From Rick Carpiniello at Rangers Report:

Drury had been a near-zero some nights, and Dubinsky maybe a 3 or 4 on a scale of 1-10 so far. … and yet now we will see how much they mean to the Rangers. We will also see how thin this roster actually is. And we’ve had an idea of that right from the start of the season, because some nights they barely have 20 bodies to put in uniforms.

Later on....

Drury’s probably going to be a while. Concussions are a nasty thing, and they get more severe with each one, and each one makes the next one more likely, or cause by a lesser collision. We know that from many experiences here with LaFontaine, Richter, Beukeboom and Lindros. Drury’s had some (upper body) concussions. This will be tricky.

Dubinsky, we don’t know what he has, but we know it’s his (upper body) hand or arm. And Tortorella seems to think he will be out for some length of time, too.

As for retribution … I don’t think it would have proven much, but you still have to stick up for a teammate—especially your captain, for God’s sake—in a situation like that. It’s hockey, for crying out loud. Somebody brashears your captain and you let it slide in a November game in Calgary because the two points are too important? Not. Not.

Click here for more.

Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
  Tags: Brandon+Dubinsky, Chris+Drury, New+York+Rangers,

Some Surprising Goalies

Blog: The Puck Stops Here By PuckStopsHere

11/08/09 at 11:47 AM ET | Comments (0)

Goaltending is a position that can have a tremendous effect on a team.  A team with a top goalie can significantly exceed expectations.  Likewise, a team with poor goaltending will fail to live up to expectation.  Short term predictions based on goaltending are hard because it is a very streaky position.  It is not uncommon for a goalie who has not had much recent success to suddenly have a very hot streak and become nearly unbeatable and it is not uncommon for a top goalie to have a cold streak.

Two goalies who were largely overlooked in the free agent market who are off to good starts this year are Antero Niittymaki of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Andrew Raycroft of the Vancouver Canucks. 

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Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
  Tags: Andrew+Raycroft, Antero+Niittymaki, Tampa+Bay+Lightning, Vancouver+Canucks,

Sharks down Penguins 5-0:  Letang suffers injury

Blog: The Confluence By Tony

11/08/09 at 11:15 AM ET | Comments (19)

“Sometimes when you win, you really lose. And sometimes when you lose, you really win. And sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. Winning or losing is all one organic globule, from which one extracts what one needs.” - Gloria Clemente, White Men Can’t Jump, 1992

Yeah, none of that applies to last night’s game in San Jose.  Thanks anyway, Gloria.  Say hello to the Stucci brothers.

And the hits just keep on coming for the Penguins.  No pun intended.  The Penguins gave up five goals for the second consecutive game, while they failed to garner a point in consecutive games for the first time in the Dan Bylsma era, as the Sharks dominated the Penguins in San Jose, 5-0.  More bad news could be on the way in the next day or so when test results on Kris Letang’s upper-body injury are received.

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Filed in: | The Confluence | Permalink
  Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins, San+Jose+Sharks,

Fighting For 14 Year-Olds?

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/08/09 at 10:38 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Mke Brudenell of the Detroit Free Press,

Coach Pat Peake turned to the ring to help his junior hockey team become more confident on the rink.

Peake brought in a former Kronk Golden Gloves champion, Charlie Peters, to teach boxing to his team of 14-year-olds. Although fighting is heavily policed in junior hockey and can lead to suspension, boxing helps teach self-defense and hand-eye coordination.

Peake invited Peters, who trained with and fought alongside Tommy Hearns as an amateur, to Viking Arena in Hazel Park, where the team is located.

continued

Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, Youth Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Team USA Goalie - Miller Or Thomas?

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/08/09 at 09:41 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,

(Craig) Anderson, a former Bruins property, is the primary reason why Colorado entered last night as the top-ranked team in the NHL (26 points, 2 more than Pittsburgh and San Jose, who met late last night). The 28-year-old native of Park Ridge, Ill., is 11-3-2 with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage.

For the first time in his career, Anderson has been tapped to be the go-to goalie for his club (he backed up Tomas Vokoun in Florida the last two seasons), and he has responded by turning the revamped Avalanche into the surprise story of the NHL.

Anderson’s start has propelled him into the Olympic discussion and most likely vaulted him past Los Angeles’s Jonathan Quick, who attended the US orientation camp along with Thomas and Miller over the summer.

But when you place Anderson’s pedigree against those of his competitors, it’s a good bet that the US brain trust, led by Toronto general manager Brian Burke, will consider the Boston and Buffalo netminders, both Michigan natives (Thomas hails from Flint, Miller from East Lansing), for the starting job, even though both got a break last night.

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Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: Team+USA,

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