Month: January 2009

While much of the focus of 2009 NHL All-Star Weekend was on the city of Montreal and the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens franchise, a great deal of attention was also paid to the state of the economy and its potential impact on league revenue and thus the salary cap. On

Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne and Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom had an opportunity to spend some time together this past weekend in Montreal over All-Star Weekend. NHL.com writer Dan Rosen has an interesting piece on this as both goalies have had very successful years thus far. Rinne earned his 11th win of the season last night,

The Ottawa Senators received good news on Monday afternoon when they learned that top shutdown defenseman Anton Volchenkov would return to the lineup when Ottawa faces New Jersey tonight at Scotiabank Place. Senators coach Craig Hartsburg said about Volchenkov, “He gives us that physical edge defending and penalty killing. His energy in the game …

Pekka’s fine season continues as he is invited to 2009 NHL All-Star Weekend in Montreal. At this rate, the 26 year-old will definitely receive some consideration for the Calder Trophy, given to the NHL’s Rookie of the Year. January 23, 2009 Rinne to play in YoungStars game By John GlennonTHE TENNESSEAN Shea Weber won’t be

Lukko Rauma winger Antti Laaksonen scored goals in a 7-3 win over Karpat last night. Laaksonen, who played 8 NHL seasons with Boston, Minnesota and Colorado, played last season with Fribourg of the Swiss National League and is now back in his native Finland, enjoying a strong season with Lukko Rauma. Entering tomorrow’s game against

Important league news came out yesterday when it was reported in the Globe and Mail that the NHL Players’ Association will opt not to reopen the CBA, and instead let the CBA run its course for next two years through the 2010-2011 season. There has been much debate thus far over what is the best

Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne stopped all 17 shots he faced last night in a 2-0, much-needed shutout win in Toronto. This was already Pekka’s fourth shutout this season, which is tied for fourth in the NHL. The Predators had been reeling of late, losing 6 of their previous 9 games. Rinne, a 26 year-old rookie,

Though it has been a tough year (to say the least) for the Atlanta Thrashers, they got some good news today when they learned that Ilya Kovalchuk would represent them at the 2009 NHL All-Star Game to be played in Montreal on January 25. Ilya previously played in the 2004 All-Star Game as well as

Ak Bars Kazan center Alexei Morozov had a 3-point night in a 3-1 win over MVD tonight. Morozov now is in sole position of the points lead with 55 (25 G, 30 A). Morozov has one more point than Magnitogorsk’s Jan Marek. A few weeks ago, Morozov lost a key member of his line when

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ILYA KOVALCHUK VOTED TOP RUSSIAN ATHLETE IN 2008 NEW YORK, NY (January 6, 2009) — Ilya Kovalchuk was recently voted Russia’s top athlete for 2008 by viewers of “Sport” channel and the Russian sports website, www.sportbox.ru. The selection was made as part of a tournament format featuring Russian superstars including Alexander Ovechkin,