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Thursday, 19 May 2011 01:05

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Penguins

-Ray Shero seems to think his team's power play needs addressed. Wonder why.

-"It means a lot. It capped my (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) career on a good note.'' - Penguins prospect and Saint John Sea Dogs defenseman Simon Despres (above) on winning the QMJHL's President's Cup.

-Complaints filed against former Penguins forward Matthew Barnaby over a domestic dispute in Amherst, N.Y. accuse him of using racial slurs against a male friend of his estraged wife.

-As a result of a bad business partnership with would-be Penguins owner William "Boots" Del Biaggio, former Penguins forward Luc Robitaille (right) had his Los Angeles-area home foreclosed. Robitaille is currently an executive with the Kings.

-Happy 38th birthday to former Penguins forward Andreas Johansson. Acquired early in the 1996-97 season along with Darius Kasparaitis in a deal which sent Bryan Smolinski to the Islanders, Johansson spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. In 27 games that season, Johansson recorded nine points. In 1997-98, Johansson appeared in 50 games and recorded 15 points. The 1998 offseason saw him sign as a free agent with the Senators.

-Happy 50th birthday to former Penguins forward Wayne Van Dorp. Acquired early in the 1987-88 season along with Paul Coffey and Dave Hunter in exchange for for Craig Simpson, Dave Hannan, Moe Mantha and Chris Joseph, Van Dorp's Penguins career amounted to 25 games and four points with the club that campaign. In the 1988 offseason, he was traded to the Sabres for future considerations.

Playoff Stuff

Bruins - Lightning

-Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron (concussion) could be a game-time decision for tonight's Game 3.

-"We realize this is a series. You're not going to win all your games. But you have to make sure that you bounce back and play solid in your next game." - Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier.

Canucks - Sharks

-Two goals by Daniel Sedin led the Canucks to a 7-3 rout of the Sharks in Game 2. Christopher Higgins added a goal and two assists for Vancouver while teammates Dan Hamhuis and Henrik Sedin each recorded three assists. Roberto Luongo made 28 saves in the win which gave the Canucks a 2-0 series lead.

-Check out this little give and go between the Sedins to set up Daniel Sedin for his first goal:

-Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick:

-A couple good looks at Bieksa's fight with San Jose's Patrick Marleau:

-“I haven't fought too many times, but I'm the one who dropped my gloves.” - Marleau on the decision to fight Bieksa. Marleau hasn't fought since 2007.

-“It’s sad that someone is going to sign him for big money [in free agency this summer] when he’s a phony. He goes after our top player. He’s been asked [to fight] many times before by lots of players throughout the league and he has declined.” - Sharks forward Ben Eager on Bieksa.

-The turning point of the game seemed to be a boarding call against Eager hit Daniel Sedin from behind into the boards late in the second period:

-Eager accused Sedin of turning into the hit intentionally to draw the call.

-"I'm confident the league is going to do the right thing. When their fourth-line player took a run at the NHL's leading scorer and possibly the MVP, we stayed focused and disciplined and we played." - Canucks coach Alain Vigneault on Eager.

-Speaking of Eager, he got a real eyeful from a female fan who flashed him while in the penalty box.

-The low point of Eager's night might have been when he scored a goal:

-Thinking Out Loud: His team has given up seven goals and he's chirping at an opponent over scoring a meaningless garbage goal?

-Funny Face of the Night: This one female Canucks fan got a good chuckle at the misfortune of San Jose's Kyle Wellwood at the hands of Maxime Lapierre and Christopher Higgins:

-Vancouver's Raffi Torres being popular:

-San Jose's Antti Niemi stretched out for this save on Daniel Sedin:

-Bitter Beer Face of the Night: San Jose's Dan Boyle:

-Happy times for Torres. Not so much for Niemi or teammate Marc-Edouard Vlasic:

-This pretty much sums up the Shark's night:

-San Jose's Logan Couture > Vancouver's Roberto Luongo:

-Happy times for Higgins:

-Rome being popular:

-Hell breaking loose in Luongo's crease:

-San Jose's Douglas Murray tried to bulldog Vancouver's Ryan Kesler apparently:

-Unsanitary times for Niemi:

-Niemi had issues with this puck:

-And this one too:

-Happy times in Vancouver:

-There's apparently a lesser-known husky Sedin twin and he was making fun of Niemi last night:

-Bloody times for San Jose captain Joe Thornton:

-There's about a million things wrong with this photo:

-“It's embarrassing, that's the only word that comes to mind about tonight. You're in the conference finals and Stanley Cup playoffs and you put in an effort like that ... you can't feel bad for ourselves because that's what we gave, but I feel bad for the fans and the coaching staff.” - Couture.

-The Sharks have now lost eight consecutive Western Conference playoff games.

Non-Playoff Stuff

Atlantic Division

-If you can imagine such a thing, an Islanders goaltender was injured recently. Islanders goaltender Al Montoya (right) underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. He suffered the injury while playing for the United States in the IIHF World Championships.

-After refusing to report to the team last season, goaltender Evgeni Nabokov plans on attending the Islanders' training camp in September as contractually obligated.

-The Flyers signed goaltender Niko Hovinen, a former fifth-round pick of the Wild in 2006, to an entry-level contract.

Northeast Division

-The Sabres signed defenseman Brayden McNabb, a third-round pick in 2009, to a three-year entry-level contract.

-Canadiens forward Mathieu Darche (right) underwent abdominal surgery.

Southeast Division

-The Thrashers' fans aren't going down without a fight. They're holding a rally to keep their team Saturday.

-Rapper Lil Jon shot down a rumor he was going to buy the Thrashers.

Central Division

-“It gnaws at me a bit because I know how good he is as a manager. There’s a lot of people pulling for him, and I’m certainly one of them. I’d certainly love to see his name on the Stanley Cup as a general manager one day.” - Ray Shero on Predators general manager David Poile who has never won a Stanley Cup. Before joining the Penguins, Shero worked for Poile as an assistant general manager.

-Former Penguins defenseman Bob Boughner resigned as assistant coach with the Blue Jackets to concentrate on his duties as president of the OHL's Windsor Spitfires.

Northwest Division

-Edmonton city council approved an agreement framework with the Oilers which would build a new stadium in downtown and keep the franchise in the city for 35 years.

Smythe Division

-Manitoba premier Greg Selinger said his province will not subsidize any attempts to bring an NHL franchise back to Manitoba.

-The NHL (right) was named sports league of the year by Sports Business Journal.

(Photos: Despres-Claus Andersen/Getty Images; Robitaille-Penguins Hockey Cards; Sharks/Canucks-Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press, Harry How/Getty Images and Rich Lam/Getty Images; Montoya-Kathy Kmonicek/Associated Press; Darche-Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

Comments (1)

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written by bastage42, May 20, 2011 - 10:21 PM

-The NHL (right) was named sports league of the year by Sports Business Journal.

Love the tone and accompanying pic

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A "History Will Be Made" spoof of the Eager incident is floating around that's pretty amusing.

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