Kukla's Korner

Good First Impression

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

09/24/08 at 02:34 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Stan Fischler of Game On,

OK, so the Rangers were trumped, 3-2, by the Lightning in Tampa Bay on Tuesday night. Big deal.

Wanna know what’s good about that? It didn’t cost New York a thing in the standings and the Lightning wound up with an invisible two points. In real life, that’s equated with zilch.

I can name you almost a dozen positives…

NIK ZHERDEV – Don’t know where the booshwah about his laziness comes from, but he sure looked galvanized throughout in Florida. He’s playing to his size (6-foot-2, 197 pounds), is hitting and was thoroughly “involved,” as they say in the broadcast booth.

WADE REDDEN – It will require time, but there’s no question that the Ottawa expatriate will be a significant asset on the backline.

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, New York Rangers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

All Vinny

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

09/24/08 at 02:11 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Craig Custance of the Sporting News,

SN: Was there an element of redemption there after losing the captaincy and getting it back?

Lecavalier: Yeah. It feels great. When they told me, I was excited. It really motivates me to—you have a letter on the sweater; it’s extra motivation.

SN: So what are guys saying about Barry Melrose behind the bench so far?

Lecavalier: From what I hear, he’s very, very positive. You would think a guy after 15 years would make a few mistakes, but guys told me he was right on with the lines and he was very aware of what was going on on the ice. Guys are really happy. I’m excited to play for him.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Tampa Bay Lightning, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: vinny+lecavalier

Enstrom Extended By Atlanta

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

09/24/08 at 02:07 PM ET | Comments (0)

via Ben Wright of Blueland Blog,

Short of pulling off a blockbuster trade, it’s the biggest move Don Waddell could possibly make heading into the season. Tobias Enstrom just signed a 4-year extension with the Thrashers, keeping in an Atlanta uniform through the 2012-13 season.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Atlanta Thrashers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: tobias+enstrom

“Live” Rumors

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

09/24/08 at 01:55 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Puck Daddy at Yahoo,

At 1 p.m. EDT, we’ll discuss capology, Mathieu Schneider’s options, Kyle McLaren, Marian Gaborik, the latest injury news and the plight of Brendan Shanahan with our expert panelists Lyle “Spector” Richardson of Fox Sports and David “Dave” Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.

Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Blues Face Adversity

Blog: The Puck Stops Here By PuckStopsHere

09/24/08 at 01:47 PM ET | Comments (0)

Its still pre—season, but a couple teams are already dealing with non-ideal situations that should make it hard for them to do as well as they had initially hoped this season.  The first is the Pittsburgh Penguins who has lost their top two defencemen, Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar to injury and the second is the St. Louis Blues.  The Blues have learned that their young defenceman, Erik Johnson will likely miss the entire season due to a freak knee injury he suffered on a team golf trip Johnson has a torn ACL and will undergo surgery in a couple weeks.

Continue Reading »

Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
 

Noah Welch Donates Brain For Concussion Study

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

09/24/08 at 01:40 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Alan Schwarz of the New York Times,

A dozen athletes, including six N.F.L. players and a former United States women’s soccer player, have agreed to donate their brains after their deaths to the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy….

Among the dozen living athletes, most with a history of concussions, who have agreed to donate their brains for examination after their deaths are the former N.F.L. players Johnson, Frank Wycheck, Isaiah Kacyvenski and Ben Lynch. Also participating are Noah Welch, who played hockey for the Florida Panthers last year, and Cindy Parlow, a former member of the United States national soccer team.

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, Florida Panthers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: noah+welch

Issues Continue For Blues

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

09/24/08 at 01:19 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

Remember Jacques Demers? The hugely popular and successful coach agreed to jump to the Detroit Red Wings WHILE HE WAS STILL COACHING THIS TEAM. In fairness to him, though, he did have to work for Harry Ornest, a true eccentric and avowed penny-pincher.

Remember Mike Liut and Joey Mullen? Of course you do, but they left prematurely in cost-saving deals ordered by Ornest. But at least Harry kept the Arena Cat on staff to keep the rodent population at The Arena under control.

Remember Scott Stevens?

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, St. Louis Blues, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

The “Silliest Season”

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

09/24/08 at 12:27 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Gare Joyce at Sportsnet,

The end of September looms and we’re entering the silliest season: that stretch when NHL teams start trimming their rosters and sending some teenagers back to their junior teams. I call it the silliest season, because it’s “some” and not “all” teenagers and because, with the lessons of history, NHL general managers should know better.

Many folks were amazed that Sidney Crosby scored at better than a point-a-game rate in his rookie season. I wasn’t surprised by that. Maybe even more impressive is the fact that he managed to take a regular shift the whole season without injuries knocking him out of the line-up.

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Hatcher Will ‘Go Out’ On His Terms

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

09/24/08 at 09:13 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Wayne Fish at phillyBurbs,

Hatcher, who’s starting the year on the injured reserve list, knows his crippled knee probably won’t get better.

Heck, it got worse over the summer when he wasn’t playing, and he would like to end his career on his own terms.

The reality of the situation is this: While some conspiracy theory types suggest the Flyers are pressuring Hatcher to call it quits now to save money on a badly strained salary cap number, the 36-year-old player says the decision is up to him….

“As tough as it is, you’re never prepared to stop playing hockey. If this is it, I’ve had a great career and that’s what I’ll take.’‘

more

Filed in: NHL Teams, Philadelphia Flyers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: derian+hatcher

Size Doesn’t Matter To Hollweg

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

09/24/08 at 09:02 AM ET | Comments (0)

from Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun,

Born in California to a father of Brazilian-German heritage and maxing out at 5-foot-11, Ryan Hollweg knows all about overcoming the hockey odds.

Whether he can help turn around the fortunes of the Maple Leafs this year is unknown, but he certainly has the right attitude. Hollweg got off to a rousing start with several big hits in a 7-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres Monday.

“If you want to go through somebody, just do it. It’s how I’ve lived,” Hollweg said yesterday at the Air Canada Centre. “I’ve never worried about how big I am. It’s a mental thing. It hasn’t stopped me yet and it won’t stop me now.”

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, | KK Hockey | Permalink
  Tags: ryan+hollweg

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