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Wednesday, 13 October 2010 03:31

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Penguins

-ESPN's John Buccigross reviews Consol Energy Center (above).

-John Curry made 25 saves and led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 2-1 win against the rival Adirondack Phantoms.

-After giving up a cruddy goal, Curry settled and shut down the Phantoms.

-Highlights courtesy of Eric Politowski of The Pensblog:

-Need a job? The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are looking for someone to be their mascot, Tux.

-Beau Bennett, the Penguins' first round pick this summer, is poised to become Denver University's next star.

-Happy 54th birthday to former Penguins forward Rod Schutt (right). Acquired early in the 1978-79 season in a deal which sent a draft pick to the Canadiens, Schutt spent parts of six seasons in Pittsburgh. In 1978-79, while primarily playing on a line with Peter Lee and Greg Malone, Schutt played in 74 games and scored 24 goals and 45 points. In that spring's playoffs, he saw action in seven games and netted two goals. He followed that up in 1979-80 by collecting 39 points in 73 games. The 1980 playoffs saw him play in five games and score three points. Schutt's best season was 1980-81. He set a career-highs in games (80), goals, (25), assists (35) and points (60). In that spring's playoffs, Schutt appeared in five games and netted six points. In 1981-82, Schutt was limited to 35 games and 21 points. He would appear in five playoff games that spring and score three points. Schutt only appeared in five games in 1982-83 and failed to score a point. Schutt's final season in Pittsburgh was 1983-84. Once again, he was limited to 11 games and four points. After spending the entire 1984-85 season with Muskegon of the IHL, Schutt joined the Maple Leafs as a free agent in the 1985 offseason. In 278 regular season games with the Penguins, Schutt scored 169 points, 43rd-most in franchise history. In 22 postseason games, Schutt netted 14 points.

-Happy 50th birthday to former Penguins forward Darren Lowe. The first black player in franchise history, Lowe joined the team as a free agent midway through the 1983-84 season. In that campain, he appeared in eight games and scored five points. He was released in the 1984 offseason. He is currently the head coach of the University of Toronto's men's team.

Atlantic Division

-Islanders defenseman James Wisniewski (right) was suspended two games for making an obscene geture toward Rangers forward Sean Avery Monday. That's like getting into trouble for throwing a bucket of water into a lake.

-After demoting Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, the Devils signed unrestricted free agent forward Adam Mair to a one-year deal worth $515,000. Despite the addition, the Devils will be short-handed once again for tonight's game in Buffalo.

-The NHLPA will investigate the Devils' roster issues.

-If you can imagine such a thing, forward Nikolay Zherdev has been a bit of a disappointment so far with the Flyers. He has failed to record a point through three games. Shocking, huh?

-Philadelphia defenseman Matt Walker is dealing with hip and groin ailments.

-"If I don’t feel like myself, I’m not going to go out there and get killed." - Flyers forward Ian Laperriere (right) on why he is sitting out the season so far while dealing with post-concussion syndrome.

Northeast Division

-Canadiens defenseman Roman Hamrlik will make his season debut tonight at home against the Lightning after recovering from a knee injury.

-The Canadiens will now allow fans to vote on the three stars of the game by way of their smart phones.

-Rant: There are a lot of purists who are up in arms over this news as if the three stars are some holy infalable aspect of the sport. It's not. It has no consistent standard in which the players are selected. In some cities, the media makes the selection. In others, the home team's media relations staff does it. Some teams always pick a home player among the stars regardless of the outcome. Ultimately, this is some meaningless little fun designation which is done soley for the fans. So why not let the fans make the call?

-Sabres forward Jason Pominville will have a consecutive games streak of 336 games come to an end tonight when Buffalo faces New Jersey. Pominville is sidelined due to a concussion he suffered after being hit from behind into the boards by Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson Monday.

-Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller (right) gave a pretty passionate plea for the NHL to set a precedent regarding head shots.

-The Bruins officially signed unrestricted free agent forward Brian McGrattan to a two-way contract. He was in camp on a tryout basis.

-Boston demoted former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goaltender Nolan Schaefer to Providence of the AHL.

-You think the Penguins' power play is bad? The Senators are 0 for 14.

Southeast Division

-The Hurricanes demoted forward Jiri Tlusty to Charlotte of the AHL for conditioning purposes.

-Capitals forward Marcus Johansson (right) is dealing with a foot ailment.

Central Division

-Chicago's Niklas Hjalmarsson was suspended for two games for his hit on Buffalo's Jason Pominville.

-Frontier Justice Watch: Hjalmarsson will be available when the Sabres travel to Chicago Saturday.

-With defenseman Brian Rafalski sidelined three to four weeks following surgery on his left knee, the Red Wings recalled defenseman Doug Janik from Grand Rapids of the AHL.

-The Predators recalled goaltender Mark Dekanich from Milwaukee of the AHL.

-Nashville forwards Mar­tin Erat (back), Ser­gei Kos­titsyn (toe) and Jamie Lund­mark (groin) are dinged up.

Northwest Division

-A shootout goal by Brandon Yip (above, beating Detroit's Jimmy Howard) gave the Avalanche a comeback 5-4 win at Detroit. David Jones led Colorado with two goals and an assist while Peter Budaj made 28 saves in the victory. Johan Franzen had two goals for the Red Wings.

-We don't want accuse Jones of using cheap equipment, but his shootout attempt didn't go so well:

-Check out this goal Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk scored off a nifty pass from teammate Henrik Zetterberg:

-Check out the pass by Detroit's Valtteri Filppula to set up Franzen:

-Howard kept his eyes on these pucks:

-Funny Face of the Night: Colorado's Ryan O'Reilly being bumped by Filppula:

-Face-Licking Photo of the Night: Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom chasing after this puck:

-"He's definitely got my vote for the best goalie in the world." - Flames defenseman Ian White on goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff.

-Canucks defenseman Dan Hamhuis is dealing with groin ailment.

-Vancouver tough guy Rick Rypien - the best fighter in the NHL if you ask us - is ready to return to the lineup after being sidelined due to rib injuries.

Pacific Division

-Two goals and an assist by Ryan Smyth led the Kings to a 3-1 win against the Thrashers. Jarrett Stoll added a goal and an assist for Los Angeles while teammate Justin Williams recorded two assists. Jonathan Quick made 31 saves in the victory.

-The Kings did it big-time for their home opener and got Slash to play the national anthem:

-The Kings' player introduction complete with gigantic fake and tacky castle entrance:

-Bright red times for Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar:

-Kopitar having a moment:

-Kopitar having a moment with Quick:

-Happy times for the Kings. Not so much for Atlanta's Ron Hainsey:

-Quick emerging from the big giant fake castle play set:

-Former Penguins Chris Thorburn of Atlanta and Rob Scuderi of Los Angeles battling for a puck:

-Kings defenseman and former Penguins prospect Jake Muzzin letting loose on a shot:

-Green laser time at the Staples Center:

-The Kings activated defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov from injured reserve and demoted him to Manchester of the AHL.

-Anaheim defenseman Andy Sutton underwent surgery - preformed by an expert presumably - on his thumb. He will be sidelined six to eight weeks.

-The Ducks signed goaltender Igor Bobkov, a third-round pick in 2009, to a three-year entry level contract.

-Off to a stumbling 0-3-0 start, the Ducks held a 75-minute players-only meeting.

-With Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen and Marty Turco out of the picture, captain Brenden Morrow has become the face of the Stars.

Norris Division

-Former Oilers/Red Wings forward Kirk Maltby (right) officially announced his retirement after 16 NHL seasons.

-Former Lightning/Oilers/Blue Jackets forward Alexander Selivanov has joined Duisburg of the German third-tier league.

-Former Islanders/Blackhawks/Hurricanes/Maple Leafs forward Jeff Hamilton has joined HIFK of the SM-liiga in Finland.

-Former Wild forward Danny Irmen has joined Bolzano in Switzerland.

(Photos: Consol Energy Center-Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press; Schutt-Penguins Hockey Cards; Wisniewski-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Laperriere-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Miller-Dave Sandford/Getty Images; Johansson-Nick Wass/Associated Press; Avalanche/Red Wings-Claus Andersen/Getty Images and Carlos Osorio/Associated Press; Thrashers/Kings-Chris Carlson/Associated Press, Harry How/Getty Images and Robert Meggers/Getty Images; Maltby-Dale MacMillan/Getty Images)

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