Hockey Plumber (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
On Tuesday the Columbus Dispatch reported that "Blue Jackets rookie forward Nikita Filatov, who has struggled to remain in coach Ken Hitchcock's lineup, might be headed back to Russia, perhaps as soon as this week..." On Wednesday the Blue Jackets agreed to loan him to CSKA Moscow of the KHL for the remainder of the season. This situation is much more dicey than the team has let on. The...
Fox News (Free subscription) | 10/16/2009
The Jackets were burned once before by a young Russian. So they're making sure Nikita Filatov isn't another Nikolai Zherdev.
Kukla's Korner (Free subscription) | 10/14/2009
Early season trends often do not last for the whole season, but one of the more surprising ones so far is that the New York Rangers are scoring. They have more goals than any other team in the NHL with 24. They have averaged four goals per game, which ties them for the league lead with the Atlanta Thrashers (who have fewer games played). This is a surprise because last season the Rangers scored the...
Kukla's Korner (Free subscription) | 10/13/2009
from Tom Reed of Puck-rakers at the Columbus Dispatch, Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock and his 19-year-old rookie Nikita Filatov met for more than 10 minutes at center ice this morning as the players swirled around them. It was a fascinating scene as Hitchcock, at times tapping his stick on the ice, conveyed what’s expected of the talented Filatov. By all accounts, it was a healthy and constructive...
From The Rink (Free subscription) | 09/23/2009
More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP Browse more photos » Who's in: Tyler Arnason , Brian Boyle , Donald Brashear , Marian Gaborik , Matt Gilroy , Christopher Higgins , Ales Kotalik , Enver Lisin , Vinny Prospal Who's out: Nik Antropov , Blair Betts , Scott Gomez , Doug Janik , Lauri Korpikoski , Paul Mara , Derek Morris , Markus Naslund , Colton Orr , Patrick Rissmiller , Fredrik Sjostrom...
Kukla's Korner (Free subscription) | 09/17/2009
from Larry Brooks of the NY Post, So the Rangers have reconstructed their flanks by essentially trading in Markus Naslund, Nik Antropov, Nikolai Zherdev, Lauri Korpikoski, Fred Sjostrom and Colton Orr for Marian Gaborik, Christopher Higgins, Vinny Prospal, Ales Kotalik, Enver Lisin and Donald Brashear. It’s not exactly a cash-for-clunkers deal, but it sure does seem as if the ceiling for the...
St. Louis Game Time (Free subscription) | 09/17/2009
Looks like a lot of you don't like The Darkness. I'm sorry that you can't recognize awesomeness, I really am. Let's get to the links. Blues news If you can get past Derek Armstrong staring a hole through you ... you can read an interesting piece about the newest Blue -- a Blue I'm convince makes the big club and plays significant minutes. [Blues] A season preview of the 'Note. [Sporting News] Carlo...
post-gazette.com (Free subscription) | 09/17/2009
Penguins -Hopefully you didn't draft Paul Bissonnette ( above ) for your fantasy roster . -" I just told them we had some interest in Billy (Guerin), but not at the price you're asking ." - Ray Shero explaining how he acquired Guerin from the Islanders last season. -Remember how Marc-Andre Fleury couldn't win the big game ? -Jonathan Bombulie of the Citizens Voice in Wilkes-Barre has the...
post-gazette.com (Free subscription) | 09/16/2009
Penguins -" I have 10 fingers on my hands, and I want to win 10 times ." - Evgeni Malkin ( above ) on the Stanley Cup. -Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game . -The Columbus' Dispatch's recap . Columbus goaltender and former Penguin Mathieu Garon was sharp. Fire Ray Shero. -" If anything, if it gets him thinking he can shoot it more – he had, I think, seven shots tonight...
Sports - The Post Chronicle (Free subscription) | 09/15/2009
Former New York Rangers forward Nikolai Zherdev has agreed a one-year contract with Atlant Mytishchi of the Continental Hockey League (KHL), the Russian team said on Tuesday....
post-gazette.com (Free subscription) | 09/11/2009
Penguins -Barack Obama hates Sidney Crosby . -A Post-Gazette video of yesterday's festivities . -From the video, this still of Evgeni Malkin being caught off guard: -Leave it to Brooks Orpik to still have a scowl on his face. -The video from the White House's official YouTube channel: - One-Liner of the Day: " The President delivered some remarks yesterday in which he noted that the Caps/Pens...
St. Louis Game Time (Free subscription) | 09/09/2009
Man doing the links two days in a row is tough. Hope you enjoy. Blues news I really hope Alex Pietrangelo doesn't become a douche who dates super models and hurts his knee. [Blues] The bearded one, Chris Mason , will be on the radio tonight. [Blues] The Blues are enthused. So am I. Hockey is back. [Stltoday.com] Want to know about "wealthy Aboriginal hockey stars set for National Hockey League...
Kukla's Korner (Free subscription) | 08/12/2009
From Beyond the Blueshirts: I watched in amusement today as the same Championat.ru story I translated this morning about Nikolai Zherdev potentially signing with KHL team Salavat Yulaev Ufa made its way from Russia through the North American press, racing from RDS to TSN like a bad game of telephone until blogs, message boards and Twitter accounts worldwide were chirping “TSN confirms Zherdev...
Kukla's Korner (Free subscription) | 08/12/2009
When I heard that Nikolai Zherdev was awarded close to $4 million in his salary arbitration hearing, I couldn’t believe it. Yes, he scored over 20 goals and had over 50 points but he was never good on a consistent basis and in the playoffs, he disappeared. In my books, that shouldn’t mean an increase in salary but I guess that’s just the way it goes sometimes, right? We’ll see...
Kukla's Korner (Free subscription) | 08/12/2009
From John Glennon at The Tennessean: The Canadian website RDS.ca reported earlier today that forward Nikolai Zherdev was expected to sign with Salavat Yulaev Ufa, the same KHL team that features former Pred Alexander Radulov. That sounded strange to me because when I spoke Monday with Zherdev’s agent, Rollie Hedges, it didn’t sound as if Zherdev was on the verge of going house-shopping...
Videos