7 points in 14 games to equals the worst previous start in Hurricane history previously set in 1993. From AP-
Tomas Vokoun made 31 saves for his second straight shutout, Steve Reinprecht opened the scoring early in the third period and the Florida Panthers extended the Carolina Hurricanes’ winless streak to 10 games with a 3-0 victory Wednesday night.
Vokoun beat the St. Louis Blues 4-0 on Saturday.
Cory Stillman added a power-play goal and an assist and Reinprecht also had an assist. Defenseman Bryan Allen scored an empty-net goal with 2:01 left.
Cam Ward stopped 22 shots for Carolina, 0-6-0 in the road.
The Panthers have won three straight after opening 2-7-1.
Carolina, 0-7-3 during its losing streak, hasn’t won since beating Florida 7-2 on Oct. 9 in its fourth game of the season.
The Hurricanes were shut out for the third time this season. They have scored two goals or less in 11 of their 14 games.
Reinprecht scored his ninth goal of the season when Stillman’s wrist shot bounced off his leg and through Ward’s pads. Stillman made it 2-0 at 13:46 when he tipped Bryan McCabe’s slap shot from the point.
Carolina dominated the first period, outshooting Florida 21-4. It was the Hurricanes’ most shots in any period this season.
This was a odd game in a few ways. No scoring for the first 44 plus minutes of play, then three goals in twelve minutes. Carolina had 4 power play chances in a row, then Florida got six man advantages in a row. The game ended with Carolina showing some anger, after the buzzer went off Hurricane and Panther players scuffled behind the Florida net.
After their blazing start to the game, Carolina played listlessly for much of the last two periods. I would have to think Carolina coach Paul Maurice’s job will be in jeopardy soon if a turnaround doesn’t take place soon.
Florida has now won 3 in a row. I’m not yet sold on the Panthers correcting their woeful start to the 2009-10 season. If they split or better their two games with Washington on Friday and Saturday, I might feel more confident about my favorite hockey team.
More people may be punished for their actions last week. From AP-
A senior staff member for Alberta Health Services has been fired for giving the Calgary Flames swine flu shots while thousands of people waited in line for the vaccine last week.
The board, which reports directly to the Alberta government, won’t name who was dismissed Wednesday and said more people might be punished for their roles.
“I am deeply offended that this circumstance has occurred,” Ken Hughes, chairman of Alberta Health Services, said in a news release. “The decision to allow preferential access to the Flames and their families was a serious error in judgment.”
Hughes said the “most senior staff member involved” was dismissed.
Flames president Ken King said Tuesday the players and their families received their shots on Friday at a private location. He said they believed they had gone through proper channels at Alberta Health Services, the agency that administers health services for the province.
King said they felt the shots were a priority for the players because of their extensive cross-border travel and the close-contact physical nature of their sport. He also said they didn’t want to cause a commotion by having the players stand in line at a public clinic.
What would have happened had the players gotten in line with the rest of the public? They would have gotten asked for autographs? I suppose these players and their families all live in a monastery so they don’t have to do deal with the little people.
He is having his second back surgery for 2009. From AP-
Atlanta Thrashers goaltender Kari Lehtonen is expected to miss six to eight weeks after having a second surgery on his back.
Lehtonen has not played this season after having surgery July 20 to repair a herniated disc.
The team said Wednesday that Lehtonen had another surgery Friday in Rochester, N.Y., to remove edges of bone that were applying pressure to nerve roots in his back at two locations.
Ondrej Pavelec has been a more than decent job in goal. In addition the Thrashers have been without the services of star winger Ilya Kovalchuk for most of this season. Atlanta isn’t slumping with these injuries, they are 6-4-1 at present.
Lehtonen’s back problems may put his career at risk. The 2nd overall pick of the 2002 NHL entry draft hasn’t played to the level Atlanta hoped for when they drafted Lehtonen so high.
Anyone crave hockey and have 140 million dollars lying around?
The Phoenix Coyotes’ bumpy six-month journey through U.S. Bankruptcy Court has come to an end with a judge’s approval of the sale of the franchise to the NHL.
Judge Redfield T. Baum signed the order on Monday after a quiet, brief hearing in a mostly empty courtroom, a stark contrast to earlier scenes of high drama featuring countless high-priced attorneys locked in often-bitter arguments.
The NHL’s bid totals about $140 million. The official figure listed in the sale order is $128.4 million, but that does not include the $11.6 million the NHL has agreed to spend to purchase claims of nearly all the unsecured creditors in the case.- Associated Press
The NHL said it would now move quickly to complete the purchase. After that is completed, the league will look for new owners.
What part-Coyote team owner Wayne Gretzky thinks of all this is a bit of mystery. He didn’t object to the sale and could be out as much as 8.2 million dollars. I don’t think that can have a positive effect on the relationship between Gretzky and the NHL.
Now that the financial turmoil and question of where the Coyotes been temporarily shelved, are there many hockey fans left in the state of Arizona who care about the franchise?
The Phoenix Coyotes gave the Kings’ Drew Doughty an open look at the goal. He buried the chance.
Doughty scored the go-ahead goal with 4:51 remaining and Los Angeles rallied to beat the Phoenix Coyotes 5-3 Monday night.
*****
Earlier Monday, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Redfield T. Baum approved the Coyotes’ sale to the NHL with the league intending to find a buyer committed to keeping the franchise in Glendale. The conclusion of the team’s bankruptcy proceedings didn’t help the Coyotes avoid a franchise-record low announced crowd of 5,855.
Which leaves serious doubts as to whether NHL can ever be successful in Phoenix. I think it would be wisest for the NHL to entertain bids from owners who will take the franchise to somewhere where it can flourish.
The Hurricanes haven’t won a game since October 9th. From AP-
Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn waited five years for his first two-goal game in the NHL. Then he took care of the feat in 1½ minutes.
Coburn scored twice and Scott Hartnell and Matt Carle each had a goal and two assists to help Philadelphia snap a two-game losing streak and send the Carolina Hurricanes to their eighth straight loss, 6-1 on Saturday.
“I’ve had a lot of close calls so far,” said Coburn, who has played in 227 career NHL games. “You just have to wait for your time.”
David Laliberte, playing in his first NHL game, and James Van Riemsdyk each had a goal and an assist for the Flyers, unbeaten in their past six regulation games at home against Carolina.
*****
Brandon Sutter scored for the Hurricanes (2-7-3), who are off to their worst start since 1997 — the franchise’s first season in Carolina — when they were 2-7-2. Carolina is winless on the road (0-5-2), and on an 0-5-3 skid overall.
Ray Emery, who stopped 28 shots in the Flyers’ season-opening, 2-0 win over Carolina on Oct.2, made 39 saves in the rematch.
Michael Leighton, making his first start for the Hurricanes, stopped 22 shots.
Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said he thought Leighton needed some game action. You think so? You’re team is 2-6-3 with one goalie who has played all 11 games you played this year. I think it is time to try option two if just for one game.
Even if it doesn’t work.
I’m amazed by Carolina’s start, which is worse than the Florida Panthers. Carolina went to the conference finals last year. Both the Panthers and Hurricanes have 7 pts at this point in the 2009-10 NHL season but Carolina has played one more game. I’m more optimistic about the Hurricanes turning around than Florida.
The cats are up 3-0 with a little over three minutes to go in a game versus the Dallas Stars. Reinprecht has scored eight goals for Florida in 11 games this season. Two of his goals tonight came less than 30 seconds apart against Stars Goalie Alex Auld. Auld played for Florida during the 2006-07 season.
In nine previous NHL seasons he has never scored more than 19 goals. How or why is he suddenly playing like Alexander Ovechkin?
I will update this post either late tonight or early tomorrow morning. Brian Sutherby just scored a goal for Dallas to make the score 3-1.
Update- Dallas has scored another goal. This one after a Florida penalty. The score is 3-2 at the end of the first period.
2nd Update- Florida scored a 4th goal but this time Reinprecht assisted Jason Leopold. The bad news- Dallas once down 3-0 and 4-2 have come back to tie the game at 4 all.
3rd Update- The Panthers won 6-5 in a shootout. Rostislav Olesz scored Florida’s 5th goal and then the winner during the shootout.
The cats are playing the Ottawa Senators tonight. Besides the game, there is plenty of off the ice news involving Florida.
*- David Booth suffered a concussion in as a result of the hit made on in him by Michael Richards in last Saturday night’s game. Booth will be out at least a week.
*- Michael Richards was not suspended. The NHL’s disciplinary system continues to be a joke.
*- Radek Dvorak is also out with a knee injury. His return date is unknown.
*- Are the Panthers lacking in toughness? This legitimate question is being asked a lot after last Saturday’s game. No Panther put up their dukes after Booth was leveled. Should they have or would a fight or retaliatory hit been a case of two wrongs not equaling a right?
I’m more concerned by Florida’s inability to play well when faced by games on back to back nights. The Panthers have always had this problem. Hockey requires a great deal of energy but all NHL teams face back to backs. Why can’t Florida put it out for two games?
*- Bryan Allen was benched for Saturday’s game. The stated reason was that his rehabilitated knee that was severely hurt last year isn’t ready for two games in a row. This makes me question whether Allen can still play period. He hasn’t shown much to me for the first 9 games of the 2009-10 NHL season.
*- To replace Dvorak and Booth, the Panthers called up Kenndal McArdle and Michal Repik from their Rochester affiliate. Why not Shawn Matthias? McArdle, a 1st round pick in 2005 has shown nothing in either the minors or in a few short stints with the Panthers.
*- The Panthers have decided to keep Russian teenager Dmitry Kulikov on the roster. By playing 10 NHL games this year, Kulikov earns credit towards future free agency. Kulikov, a highly touted defenseman, was the Panthers 1st round draft pick this year.
If I had been the Panther management, I would have sent Kulikov to the junior leagues. I do understand why GM Randy Sexton and Peter DeBoer decided not to. Kulikov has shown he is a good NHL player already. He is too young for the AHL by their rules, what will he learn by going to a junior league in Quebec? Nothing, but the Panthers had to way the long term considerations for the team. No one wants Kulikov to be another Jay Bouwmeester. If not for a trade, Bouwmeester was going to jump Florida the moment he became a unrestricted free agent.
The play of Kulikov and Steven Reinprecht(who just scored his fifth goal of the season in tonight’s game) have been about the only Panther highlights for the 2009-10 season. At the moment the Panthers are 2-6-1 in addition to being badly banged up. The team is going to have to suck it up or this will the worst season for the team since the lockout. Can the cats get it turned around? Last year the team was struggling and banged up(Booth, Nathan Horton, Cory Stillman for sure and I believe one one more starter were all out injured) at the end of November. The team then went 6-1, including four straight road wins. I don’t think this year’s Panthers can do that type of turnaround but I’ll watch almost every game this year in hope they do.
At the end of one period tonight, Florida and Ottawa are tied 1-1.
He won’t be joining his team for a 4-game road trip that begins today. From AP-
The Colorado Avalanche confirmed that backup goalie Peter Budaj has the swine flu.
Budaj didn’t accompany the Avalanche on their four-game road trip that begins Tuesday night in Edmonton. There’s a chance Budaj could rejoin the team later in the trip if he’s cleared by team doctors.
“We’re always cautious,” coach Joe Sacco said Friday. “With Peter, once he came down with those flu-like symptoms, we did the right thing by keeping him away.”
The team said no other players have come down with the virus.
Yet. It will interesting to see what a pro sports league does if there is a significant flu outbreak on one team.
Budaj hasn’t even played a game so far this season. Ex-Florida Goalie Craig Anderson has been doing a fantastic job for the first 11 games of the year. An AHL Goalie has been brought up to fill Budaj’s spot. I wouldn’t be surprised if Anderson starts Colorado’s first 15 games of the 2009-10 NHL season.
He got leveled by a shoulder to his face. From AP-
Florida Panthers left wing David Booth was taken from the ice on a stretcher Saturday night after a hard hit from Philadelphia captain Mike Richards.
With 2:55 left in the second period, Booth had just released the puck in front of the Flyers’ blue line, and Richards delivered a late hit with his shoulder. Both of feet appeared to leave the ice as he struck Booth.
Booth immediately fell face-down and remained motionless for several minutes. Both teams trainers and Flyers team physician Gary Dorshimer attended to him. Booth appeared to be conscious as he was wheeled off following a 7-minute delay.
Richards was given a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct for intent to injure. He could face a suspension.
The verdict on Richards- He should be suspended for two months. I’ve been ranting about the NHL’s jellyfish like reaction to thuggery on ice for as long as I’ve blogged here. My most recent post on a player suspension, was written less than three hours before Booth got knocked out. There’s only one way to stop this, make the penalties so severe that team’s and players will think twice before leveling an opposing hockey player. Two month suspensions when players are carted off on a stretcher. The rest of the hand short handed. You’ll see this shit stop fast with those punitive forms of punishment.
I’d like to strangle Florida Panther announce Bill Lindsay. He was talking about Mike Richards leadership. He was an animal tonight, not a saint and Lindsay should be ashamed of himself for making excuses for what was done today. The Panthers should send Lindsay back to radio broadcasts where no one will hear his stupidity.
Florida is down 5-1 with less than three minutes to play. Another loss will take the team to 2-6-1 this year. Booth is the team’s best player. Another key player, Radek Dvorak, hurt his knee tonight. This is going to be a horrible year for Florida.
Another thug NHL player being wrist slapped by the league. From AP-
Carolina Hurricanes forward Tuomo Ruutu has been suspended three games by the NHL for a boarding of Darcy Tucker that knocked the Colorado Avalanche winger unconscious.
Ruutu was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding Tucker at 5:26 of the second period of Friday night’s game.
Ruutu will lose $56,067.36 in salary for the suspension, which was announced Saturday. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Here’s the video
The NHL will only get control of this violence by handing down suspensions for double digit amounts of games. I don’t see that happening any time soon. I think the NHL thinks violence like this and the Evgeny Artyukhin/Matt Niskanen incident appeal to a certain group of fans. They probably do, but I don’t know why a serious sports needs to satisfy the lowest common denominators among its fan base. The image of the NHL will always be dirtied by the thugs that play for them.
