Hockey News Weekend Links

Joe Pelletier remembers one of his favorite Maple Leafs of all-time Francis “King” Clancy. So many great stories involve the King of Carleton Street, especially when his temper got the better of him.

Perhaps my favorite story is this one: “Weighing only 150 pounds when he broke into the league, Clancy was never afraid to take on players much larger…”

• Jeff Taffe scored in the first period and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-0 in their first game without injured star Sidney Crosby on Saturday night.
• Scott Hartnell scored three power-play goals, recording his second hat trick in five games, as the Philadelphia Flyers roughed up the New York Islanders, 5-3, at Nassau Coliseum. Hartnell the lamp in every period and also added an assist, scoring the go- ahead goal 54 seconds into the final period.
• Kris Draper scored a short-handed goal, and Nicklas Lidstrom and Tomas Holmstrom added power-play tallies in a penalty-filled second period that helped the Red Wings win their sixth straight game over the Sharks. Niklas Kronvall, Henrik Zetterberg and Dan Cleary also scored for the NHL-leading Red Wings, who have won back-to-back games following a rare three-game losing streak.
• The Edmonton Oilers wanted to give Matt Greene a little more time to get his legs back, but that’s not easy when the rest of the team keeps shooting itself in the foot.
• It’s time once again to do what we like to call Bracketology — College Hockey Style. It’s our weekly look at how the NCAA tournament would look if the season ended today. It’s a look into what are the possible thought processes behind selecting and seeding the NCAA tournament teams.
• Avalanche leading scorer Paul Stastny was placed on the injured list Saturday, two days after the second-year forward had his appendix removed.
• The NCAA Men’s Hockey Championship, or Frozen Four, is second in popularity of all the NCAA Tournaments, beaten only by the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Frozen Four Hockey Ticket has quietly become one of the toughest tickets to get.
• Prior to their game against the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon, the Boston Bruins honored Willie O’Ree who fifty years ago Friday became the NHL’s first black player.
• The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 7-2 in a game that seemed to relieve about a month of frustration for the team and it’s fans.
• Japers Rink has a nice “Crisis Meter” for the NHL’s Public Relations Department regarding Crosby’s injury.
• Dirk over at the Forechecker takes a statistical look at the remaining NHL Schedule and breaks it down.
• Shortly before lunchtime Thursday, the St. Louis Blues sent an e-mail to fans announcing “Tuesdays on Tap,” a promotion offering unlimited free beverages, including beer, for certain tickets to five upcoming home games. At 4 p.m., Blues executive Peter McLoughlin told the Post-Dispatch, “This one is not happening.”