Updated:
South Buffalo’s other favorite son, Tim Kennedy, is home. Safe and sound.
Its been three long years since Kennedy was shown the door out of Buffalo. He’s been an NHL suitcase ever since he left Buffalo in August 2010 after his agent and former Sabres GM Darcy Regier butted heads on Kennedy’s higher than expected contract arbitration award.
The former Buffalo Sabre has finally found a permanent home in Arizona. He’ll be in the lineup Monday night when his Coyotes play in his hometown. He’s been skating on a productive line with Radim Vrbata and Martin Hanzal.
Thanks, Coyotes TV
I’m happy for Kennedy and his family. No one works harder than the former Michigan State Spartan. He’s humble, versatile, and determined to make an name for himself in the NHL.
**
Captain Shane Doan has Rocky Mountain fever and is out indefinitely. Doan has skated a few times on his own while the Yotes have been on the road in the Eastern time zone. He will not return to the lineup until January.
John Tortarella said that Roberto Luongo is "day-to-low" with a "lower body injury" that he suffered in the first period of Vancouver's 2-1 win over Winnipeg on Sunday night.
The Canucks have a holiday break in their schedule. When league play resumes later this week, Eddie Lack (6-2, 1.93 GAA, .928 save %) will be the starter until such time that Luongo feels healthy enough to resume playing.
Luongo missed 24 games in the 2008-09 season when he battled a groin injury.
***
Roberto Luongo (16-9-6 record) left the Vancouver Canucks game against the Winnipeg Jets with an unspecified injury.
Luongo left the ice early in the first period and was taken to the Vancouver dressing room for observation. Moments earlier, Luongo was trucked to the ice in a goal-mouth collision with Jets forward Blake Wheeler. Eddie Lack came out of the bullpen to relieve luongo.
Luongo did not return for the start of the second period and wasn't on the Canucks bench.
Questions now abound regarding Luongo's availability to play in the Sochi Olympics in February.
Luongo won the gold medal for Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Luongo, Carey Price, and Mike Smith are being considered as the three goalies for team Canada's Sochi team.
________________________________________________________________________
You knew that it was only a matter of time. Matt Cooke, repeat offender turned reformed hockey player, was bound to cross the line again. Its been a while since Cooke's aggressive style of play was on display. Decaf Cooke has been the order of the day in the NHL for the past season and a half.
On Sunday night in New York City, Cooke crushed rangers forward Mats Zuccarello with a heavy body check.
Cooke hit Zuccarello near the wall then Ranger D John Moore jumped on Cooke. From this angke, it looks like the hit may have been high. I'll need to see an ice level view to make a final determination.
No penalty for Cooke on the hit.
Zuccarello shook off the hit and played on. he scored his 6th goal of the season later on in the period to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead.
You make the call:
Should Cooke be called to the carpet by the NHL Department of Player Safety?
________________________________________________________________________
So, the Rochester Americans are boarding a plane and flying to Europe on Monday to begin preparing to play in the Spengler Cup.
D Mark Pysyk will be returning to Buffalo rather than playing with the Amerks in the Spengler Cup. This according to Ted Nolan and the Sabres.
________________________________________________________________________
3-5-2 in their last 10 games, the Detroit Red Wings are about to get some much needed bodies back in their starting lineup. The Wings enter Monday night's action in 5th place in the Eastern standings (17-12-9) with 43 points. Frankly, its amazing that the Wings are still in the playoff chase what with all of the drama associated with their glut of injuries. Its testimony that the the Western conference is the far superior conference in the NHL this season. The Wings would be out of the playoffs right now were they still in the West. Talk about fortuitous bounces. The Wings would be in 10th place in the West right now had they not moved to the East last summer when the NHL was re-aligned.
The good news is for as bad as the Wings have played in the past month, they will be getting healthy bodies back on Monday.
Wings GM Ken Holland just texted and said he expects Nyquist to play Monday against Islanders. Helm and Abdelkader status decided in morning
— Chuck Pleiness (@wingsfrontman) December 23, 2013
The Wings have been decimated by injuries to key personnel this season.
Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Danny DeKyser, Stephen Weiss, Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Johan Franzen, Jimmy Howard and Gustav Nyquist have all missed significant time this season. All of the injuries have forced Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock to play a whack of Grand Rapids Rapids. The kids have performed better than alright.
On Saturday night in Toronto, kids starred for the Wings. Riley Sheahan ( 2010 1st rounder) had a pair of assists and Tomas Jurco ( 2011 2nd rounder) had a goal and an assist. The Wings won in the shootout.
Zetterberg skated in Toronto on Saturday morning and is expected to return from his herniated disc issue on December 28th.
Stephen Weiss has opted to undergo surgery for his sports hernia.
________________________________________________________________________