Must Have Hockey News

I wouldn’t believe it if I wasn’t witness to it. Ty Conklin, of all people, may be saving the season for the Pittsburgh Penguins! With all of their superstars and the franchise’s goaltending hopes resting on the back of Marc-Andre Fleury…who comes to the rescue with nice outstanding wins but Ty Conklin. This must feel like sweet revenge for Conklin who has more “write-offs” to his credit than H&R Block.

• Alanah of Canucks and Beyond voices her opinion of a new “hockey related” series on Canadian television called MVP. I happened to catch a few minutes of the show and completely agree with her opinion:

The program was called “titillating trash” in the Globe & Mail the other day, which appears accurate. In a mere 20 minutes, I witnessed a bit of violence, a bit of sex, a few broken laws, a couple of jackasses, a girl too-innocent-to-be-of-this-earth, and a touch of evil.

• The Sports Network of Canada, citing unnamed sources, is reporting that Senators forward Dany Heatley will miss 4-6 weeks after separating his shoulder in the victory.

• Ales Hemsky had a goal and an assist, and Mathieu Garon stopped 26 shots Sunday as the Edmonton Oilers took the latest installment of the Battle of Alberta with a 2-1 home win over the Calgary Flames.

• Mike Knuble scored twice and Kimmo Timonen had a goal and two assists, as the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Washington Capitals, 6-4, at Verizon Center. Jim Dowd, R.J. Umberger and Mike Richards also tallied for the Flyers, who rebounded from a 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon.

• Captain Chris Pronger Will Wear a Hockey Fights Cancer Commemorative Patch on his Game Jersey Which Will be Autographed and Donated to an Online Auction.

• James Mirtle has a nice breakdown of the new deal that the Washington Capitals made with superstar Alexander Ovechkin.

• Joe Pelletier covers the retirement of one of the New York Rangers all time greats when they officially retire Brian Leetch’s jersey #2. Leetch will forever be immortalized at Madison Square Gardens, right beside fellow Rangers standouts Eddie Giacomin, Rod Gilbert, Mike Richter, Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky.

• Mark Recchi, playing against his former Pittsburgh teammates for the first time since his release, scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Thrashers a 3-2 win.

• Damien Cox lays down the law this week, saying the MLSE board must do one of two things: Give Ferguson a contract extension and thus a meaningful vote of confidence and the freedom to do what he believes needs to be done, or fire Ferguson, and give a new person – Bowman, Smith, Healy, Campbell, whoever – enough time to evaluate the roster and organization and then canvass the entire league for transactions that might improve the club’s standing next season.

Quote of the Day: On Frozen Blog

Every once in a while, I’m reminded of just how far we’ve come as a society. Indeed, the Canadian media alone provides us with significant advances in the field of humor on a daily basis; the Toronto Star is doing more than its share in this area. Exhibit one: Damien Cox’s writeup of last night’s Leafs loss to the Sharks, in which he focused not on the failure, but on the Leafs’ “gritty demeanour and appearance of pride.” I’ve heard of accentuating the positive, but this is ridiculous. Exhibit two: Rick Westhead’s recent column in the Star, which shows us that one doesn’t have to actually know anything about a city in order to make judgments about it.