Sacre Bleu!
Mario Lemieux has always loved to have a heavy or two in his lineup, and it comes as a bit of surprise that Ray Shero just signed bar fighter, errrr, fourth liner
Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond to a two year contract.
Fighting is still alive and well in the NHL. Good thing. I was scared there for a minute that the NHL Department of Player safety and Gary Bettman were going to send all fighter to Jurassic Park.
According to reports, it’s a two-way deal worth $550,000 at the NHL level, and runs through the 2014-15 campaign.
Letourneau-Leblond, 28, has been with Pittsburgh’s AHL club in Wilkes-Barre-Scranton this season. he has one assist and 42 PIMs in 11 games.
Letourneau-Leblond loves to punch helmets and visors, and he's good at it.
He fought 48 times in "The A" from 2010-12. In only 40 NHL contests, he's got over 100 PIMs.
On Wednesday night inside MSG, the Rangers pumped the Pens 5-1. It was a soft effort from Sid, Geno and the Pens. Lots of rough stuff at the end of the blowout game. Shero's signing of Letourneau-Leblond tells me that he's not satisfied with his teams effort.
Thanks, Hockey-fights.com
If he was looking for instant energy to jump start his lineup, why didn't he claim Pat Kaleta off waivers from the Sabres on Sunday?
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Robyn Regehr wasn’t a Buffalo Sabre player for a very long time. However, Regehr’s loss is still being felt by many players, young and old, in the Buffalo room. For players, when you get the privilege to play with a great teammate like Regehr, they cherish every moment that you get to be around him. Regehr has always been a glue guy on every team he’s played on in his decorated NHL career. He was a leader in Calgary. He quickly became a big brother in the Buffalo room. Now, he plays he plays the role of Old Reliable in the LA room.
Last May, the Kings re-signed defenseman Regehr to a two-year contract extension.
Regehr appeared in 41 regular season games this season with the Kings and Sabres, posting four points (all assists) and 23 penalty minutes.
In 943 career regular season games with the Calgary Flames, Sabres and Kings, Regehr has 172 points (30-142=172) and 881 penalty minutes.
The 6-3, 225-pound native of Recife, Brazil has also appeared in 54 playoff games, recording 16 points (3-13=16) and 32 penalty minutes. In 13 playoff games with the Kings this postseason Regehr has one assist and four penalty minutes.
Regehr was acquired by the Kings from Buffalo in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft and the 2015 NHL Draft on April 1. He was originally selected by Colorado in the first-round (19th overall) of the 1998 NHL Draft.
Regehr meant a lot more to the Buffalo room than the fans even knew. That’s why Terry Pegula wanted to trade for him. If a team is serious about winning championship, having character players like Robyn Regehr on their bench is critical to the success of the plan. Otherwise, you have a bunch of individuals playing for themselves. Regehr is a team-first guy. He demands it from his teammates. The Sabres sure could use him during this time of sharp growing pains.
If you were to walk around and ask what Regehr means to the guys still left over from the past two seasons in the Buffalo room today after the game day skate in Lip Stick City, you’d get a unanimous thumbs up. Regehr went above and beyond his call of duty to work with and mentor the young Sabres D. Regehr’s locker was in between Weber and Myers in the Buffalo room. He was always talking to his young D partners in the room and on the ice about how to play the game the right way. I feel like Weber’s game shot through the roof last season after Regehr was traded partly because Regehr helped him prepare for the mental and physical aspects of the game. After the trades of Regehr and Leopold, Weber’s role increased along with his ice time. Weber was Buffalo best D-man at the end of last season for having spent a lot of time working on his game and listening to the tips and advice that his coaches and Regehr had imparted on him. Before he was injured in late October, Weber was struggling with his confidence. He was a minus player and was benched for being too loose in his zone with the puck. I often wondered how Weber would have benefited from a video session or a long talk with Regehr. It llaways seemed to work in the past. Regehr spent a lot of time with Myers, too. He’d tell 57 to calm down and to play the game within himself. Simplify. Myers has had flashes of brilliance this season. Its going to be a process to get him back to the level he accomplished during his rookie year. Regehr also led by example for Christian Ehrhoff, Alex Sulzer, Mark Pysyk, Bryaden McNabb and the other Sabres D. Like Teppo Numminen before him, Regehr was like a coach on the bench and on the ice. There was no such thing as a dumb question with Regehr. No ego. No bravado. No superiority complex. He helped players get better around him by imparting his experiences and wisdom.
Regehr used to spend a lot of time with Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, and Jordan Leopold were also big believers in the Regehr way. Ryan Miller and Steve Ott, too. The veteran D was more than just a hockey player or a peer. He was a big brother to the older guys in the Buffalo room. Regehr commands respect and he gives it right back. Its easy to see why Darryl Sutter wanted him in LA. The guy is a calming influence in the room, on the plane, at the practice rink, and most importantly, on the ice.
I chatted Regehr at Riverside Rink in Buffalo back in August. He was in town tending to details on the closing of his home sale. He told me that he and his wife miss the good times in Buffalo. He also told me that he keeps in regular touch with many of his former Sabres teammates. Once a teammate, always a teammate, Regehr would say.
Regehr made things better for the time he was here.
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As I wrote in this space last week, Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne is dealing with a serious infection in his surgically repaired hip. Sportnet reported Rinne's hip is infected with the serious E. coli bacteria.
Rinne told Finnish magazine
Urheilulehti last week that he has to have antibiotic therapy delivered through an cannulla in his arm to kill the bacteria and infection that is currently living in his surgically repaired hip capsule. Rinne underwent arthoscopic surgery in may to correct a hip injury. He calles his most recent serious health setback a "tough one to swallow".
Rinne said that he knew that something was wrong after a recent 2-0 road loss to the Minnesota Wild.
Rinne said that he suffered from a high fever, and shooting pain in his hip that was surgically repaired on May 9.
"It started aching during the evening. I had a fever and my other leg began to swell up. The next day I was sent to the operating surgeons. From there they took samples, and they were sent to a laboratory. They found a bacterial infection, "says Rinne.
"I will be taking antibiotics for a while now. I have a cannulla in my arm for four weeks."
Rinne said that it is a huge disappointment to have to deal with this serious bacterial infection especially since he had undergo serious, grueling rehab in order for him to be ready to compete at Preds training camp in September. Rinne put in the work and git himself back into game shape but he had no way of seeing this bacterial infection
"I understand that injuries happen, but this has been the toughest bite to chew during my career mentally. As always after injuries, it takes hard work to get back to game shape and everything went well - and suddenly something like this happens. I." m obviously not the only player who has had setbacks with injuries, but I am really disappointed and its a tough one to swallow. "
"It is very important to kill the bacteria from the hip, Because this kind of infection is very dangerous - it can derogat the joint inside the hip."
Rinne says that the silver lining is that his hip is structurally sound, according to his doctors.
"The doctor said after the surgery arthoscopic, That everything looked good. The Things that were repaired in surgery in May - everything looked the way it should."
The original prognosis was that Rinne would be on the shelf for 4 weeks. It may take longer than that to fully heal his serious infection.
"I do not know about the time table. First and foremost, we have to focus on getting the infection Eliminated. I do not want to guess, but I hope things get better as soon as possible."
Hockey doesn't even matter to Rinne right now. His health is the only thing that matters.
Rinne has been on intravenous antibiotics since last week, and according to reports out of Finland, he will continue to take the IV therapy for the next 6-8 weeks.
Initial projections by the Nashville Predators had Rinne missing a month of hockey as his body rod itself of the dangerous E coli bacteria. Now, it appears as though Rinne will be lost for up to eight weeks.
According to the Center For Disease Control, Escherichia coli (abbreviated as E. coli) are bacteria found in the environment, foods, and intestines of people and animals.
Most E. coli are harmless and actually are an important part of a healthy human intestinal tract. However, some E. coli are pathogenic, meaning they can cause illness, either diarrhea or illness outside of the intestinal tract. The types of E. coli that can cause diarrhea can be transmitted through contaminated water or food, or through contact with animals or people. These are often called pathotypes.
As you can see, what Rinne's body is dealing with right now is going to take a considerable amount of time to heal.
So, lets talk about the Predators and what they are going to counter-balance life without Rinne for the next 6-8 weeks.
According to a report, Preds GM David Poile was seen in the press box at the SAP Center in Tuesday night to watch the Buffalo Sabres vs. Nashville Predators. At first blush, it appeared as though Poile, the Team USA GM for the men's hockey team for the Sochi Olympics, was in attendance to watch Ryan Miller battle Antii Niemi head-to-head. Miller was other-wordly in the Sharks game as he faced 51 shots and made 47 saves in the 5-4 Buffalo shootout victory. The Sabres also blocked 24 shots for Miller. The initial reaction was that Poile was doing some advance scouting for Team USA considering he and his management team will be selecting Team USA's Sochi squad after the Christmas holidays have concluded. Despite his losing record for the Sabres, Miller has been the most impactful, consistent USA goalie candidate to date. Jimmy Howard, Corey Schneider, and Craig Anderson have battled injuries and inconsistencies in the first five weeks of the season. Miller has been brilliant, despite playing behind a wildly inconsistent Sabres hockey team this season. Curious that Poile was on the road scouting Miller himself on Tuesday night in San Jose considering Brian Burke and Ray Shero are Poile's Team USA "bird dogs".
After the news of the Rinne E. coli scare broke, Ryan Miller has become a trending topic in Nashville.
Begs the question, was Poile in San Jose peeping Miller for Team USA? Or, were his intentions more of a personal nature? Namely, was he "test driving" Miller for a future "purchase"?
Rinne is a $7 million cap hit this season, however, the Predators would get cap relief in the event that the team placed Rinne on long term injured reserve. If a deal is to be made between Poile and Sabres GM Darcy Regier, it may require that Buffalo absorb a part of Miller's $6.25 million contract. The Sabres picked up 20% of Thomas Vanek's $7.14 million contract in the Matt Moulson trade.
Poile and Regier hooked up on a deal in 2012 when the Preds traded their first round pick (14th overall Zemgus Girgensons) for faceoff maven Paul Gaustad. The two GMs are seem to work well together and there's no reason to believe that they can't create a win/win solution that would send Miller to Smashville to be reunited with his very close friend Paul Gaustad.
NY Islanders GM Garth Snow established the trade value for a 2014 UFA to be when he traded a 1st rounder and 2nd rounder to Buffalo for Matt Moulson, another UFA to be.
Poile may have no other choice then to trade his 2014 1st rounder and 2015 2nd rounder in exchange for a rental goalie in Miller. Rinne's back-up tender, Carter Hutton, is not an NHL starting goalie capable of staring 20+ games while Rinne's body heals itself.
The Sabres will play in Los Angeles on Thursday night. It would make sense if Poile were in the house to watch a Team USA steel cage match between Ryan Miller and Jonathon Quick.
Poile will needs a goalie for Team USA. he also desperate needs a veteran puck stopper for his Predators. He can solve both issues by roping and reeling in Ryan Miller before some other GM beats him to the punch.
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Those of you who are frequent fliers on this here hockey airplane in the sky know that O am a HUGE fan of LA Kings prospect Tyler Toffoli.
The former Ottawa 67s two time 50 goal scorer has been buried in AHL Manchaster this season due to the commitment that Kings GM Darryl Sutter has made to his veteran core. Sutter is loyal to a fault to his veterans. He doesn't care if he pisses off his top prospects like Toffoli, Linden Vey, and Tanner Pearson. In LA, its Sutter's way or the highway.
On Tuesday, Toffoli to Kings Insider:
“It’s tough. It sucks,” Tyler Toffoli said. “Nobody wants to be playing in the minors when you think you can be playing in the NHL.”
Last Friday, Toffoli was called up from Manchester along with Vey. Veteran forward Jeff Carter suffered a serious foot injury and hasn't played since. Sutter is looking for an infusion of scoring from Toffoli and Vey while Carter is in the press box with a protective boot on his foot.
With Jeff Carter on injured reserve with his jacked up foot, Toffoli has played on a line with Mike Richards. He posted a career high ice time total of 19:23 TOI in Saturday’s loss to Nashville, a game in which he was arguably the best forward on the ice for the club.
make no mistake about it. Toffoli is an NHLer. He's too good to be playing in the AHL.
Darcy would be wise to trade whatever he had to to get his hands on Toffoli.
The kid is a natural center who can score at will. He's ready to prove himself on the big stage. He's not content to be an injury call-up on an all veteran Kings squad. He's in year two if his entry level deal. If Sutter can't find a permanent roster spot for this young star, then he should trade him away.
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Former Sabres D Adam Pardy had a tough night at the office.
First, he was rudely checked through the glass by Blackhawk Brandon Bollig.
Then, a Chicago fan dumped an Old Milwaukee on him.
To make matters worse, and drunken jackass gooned his bucket from his head!
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