Hockey Trade Rumors

Vigneault laments Canucks many misses

Penguins starting to look like champs

Phoenix Coyotes show grit, toughness without Shane Doan , Vernon Fiddler

Jiri Hudler likely to rejoin Wings

Vigneault laments Canucks many misses

Daniel and Henrik Sedin love to pass the puck, especially to one another, so after being blanked in Game 2 Saturday, can we expect something new from the rascally redheads in Game 3 Monday?

“That’s the thing,” Daniel mused Sunday before the Canucks flew to Los Angeles. “Sometimes you’re successful passing the puck and sometimes you’re not. You can’t really think too much about those things. If the pass is there, take it. But it’s also never a bad thing to shoot the puck, like Mikael Samuelsson does.”

Samuelsson has three goals in the series, now tied 1-1, and his third on Satuirday was simply a matter of putting the puck on Kings netminder Jonathan Quick during a routine 2-on-2 rush. Not fancy. Very effective.

“I think our biggest problem offensively [Saturday] was our lack of execution,” Canuck head coach Alain Vigneault lamented Sunday. “We missed the net, I want to say, 15-20 times when we were in prime scoring-chance area. When you miss the net, you don’t get a chance on the shot and you don’t get a chance on the rebound. That was our biggest problem offensively.”

The official scoresheet ‘credited’ the Canucks with 17 misses, including five by Alex Edler .

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Vigneault+laments+Canucks+many+misses/2922589/story.html

Penguins starting to look like champs

The music was blaring and the smiles were wide in the Pittsburgh Penguins dressing room only minutes after the victory.

When forward Chris Kunitz took a header while leaping for the garbage can in the middle of the room, his teammates exploded in laughter.

Welcome to a loose team, a club in control of a National Hockey League playoff series.

After a weak start, the Penguins are looking more like the defending Stanley Cup champions they are. When they get their scoring chances, they cash in.

“There are going to be times when you play well and don’t get the results, but we gave ourselves a chance (Sunday),” said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead with 45 seconds left in the second period, shaking a check by Senators defenceman Andy Sutton in the corner and providing another episode of The Crosby Show , outwaiting everyone on the ice before lifting the puck into the roof of the net.

“I think when (the Senators) look at their game, they’re not going to be disappointed with a lot of things. They had some good chances. This is a game which came down to execution. We made the most of our opportunities and got a big save from (Marc-André) Fleury.”

In simple terms, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have taken the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal into their own hands, delivering knock out punches every time the Senators threaten to mount a comeback.

Crosby , facing a defence tandem of Sutton and Matt Carkner and not the usual shutdown pair of Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips, found an opening and delivered.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Penguins+starting+look+like+champs/2922743/story.html

Phoenix Coyotes show grit, toughness without Shane Doan , Vernon Fiddler

The Coyotes have had many calling cards this season. One of them is battling back from adversity.

They had to do that twice in Sunday’s 4-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings – top penalty-killer Vernon Fiddler was scratched with an upper-body injury, and captain Shane Doan left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury after crashing against the boards.

Doan is listed as day to day and will be re-evaluated Monday. He did not miss a game during the regular season. Fiddler said that he hopes to practice Monday and play in Game 4 on Tuesday.

“You look back at the start of the year, it was pretty much our identity of dealing with adversity on and off the ice,” coach Dave Tippett said. “I think you grow with that, you have an identity that can overcome anything.

“There was no panic, no situation, ‘No, we can’t do this without Shane.’ Shane’s a great player, he’s our leader, but we recognize we have a game to play, playing against a great team.

“We played well and were able to have success, so whoever we have in there, has to do the job.”

Doan , whose physical presence on the ice plays a key role in the team’s success, played only 36 seconds in the second period before leaving the game.

“He’s our captain,” said forward Radim Vrbata, who logged more than 17 minutes of ice time. “But we don’t have just one guy. The whole season it was team effort, and I think we did the same thing tonight . . . He’s a big part of our team, but when we were winning this season, we were winning as a team.”

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/articles/2010/04/18/20100418phoenix-coyotes-shane-doan-vernon-fiddler.html

Jiri Hudler likely to rejoin Wings

Detroit — All signs are pointing toward winger Jiri Hudler returning to the Red Wings next season.

According to reports out of Russia and Canada, Hudler has been released from his contract with the Kontinental Hockey League’s Moscow Dynamo, which would free him to rejoin the Wings next season.

Wings general manager Ken Holland hasn’t heard officially yet from the Hudler camp, but he expects to very soon.

“I spoke to Jiri’s North American scout last week in Phoenix and he thought something was going to get done soon,” Holland said Sunday morning. “I haven’t heard from him yet, but it’s the weekend. We’ll see.”

Asked if it was a done deal that Hudler would be with the Wings next season, if he has been released from his contract in Russia, Holland said, “It’s a done deal if he wants to come back to the NHL.”

Holland said Hudler could play with another team in the KHL or in another professional league in Europe.

But all indications are Hudler wants to come back to the Wings and the NHL.

Hudler cannot be added to the Wings roster for this postseason. He would have had to be bought out and added to the Wings roster before the March trade deadline to be eligible to play.

Hudler, 26, has a two-year deal arbitrated with the Wings last summer worth $2.875 million per year. He scored 19 goals for Moscow this season after posting 23 with the Wings in 2008-09.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100419/SPORTS0103/4190366/1128/sports0103/Jiri-Hudler-likely-to-rejoin-Wings#ixzz0lYRSFvJd