Hockey News

The Chicago Blackhawks General Manager Dale Tallon announced Thursday that the National Hockely League club has acquired center Pascal Pelletier from the Boston Bruins in exchange for center Martin St. Pierre.

Pelletier, 25, made his National Hockey League debut last season with the Bruins and was held scoreless in six games. The Labrador City, New Foundland, native spent the majority of last year in the American Hockey League where he led the Providence Bruins with a career-high 37 goals and a career-best 75 points in 73 regular-season contests. He also dished out a career-most 38 assists before leading Providence with 12 points in 10 playoff contests.

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The Chicago Wolves have re-signed defenseman BRIAN SIPOTZ (SIHP-ihts), a member of the 2008 Calder Cup Championship team, for a fifth season.

The 26-year-old blueliner appeared in 21 of 24 Calder Cup playoff games en route to last season’s title, posting four assists and 14 penalty minutes. He also skated in 54 regular season outings, notching a +10 plus/minus rating and five points (G, 4A).

Overall, the South Bend, Ind., native has notched 32 assists, 39 points and 130 penalty minutes in 259 career American Hockey League games with Chicago, spanning four seasons (2004-2008). The 6-foot-7-inch, 248-pound defenseman also racked up six assists and seven points in 47 career postseason matchups with the Wolves, which includes two trips to the Finals (2005,2008).

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TORONTO - The Toronto Maple Leafs have turned to a familiar face to fill their backup goaltending vacancy.

Curtis Joseph has returned to the Maple Leafs after signing a US$700,000, one-year deal.

The 41-year-old enjoyed his finest seasons in blue and white, twice leading Toronto to the Eastern Conference final between 1998 and 2002.

Joseph broke into tears at a news conference when he announced he was leaving the Leafs to sign with Detroit in July 2002. He returns now to serve as Vesa Toskala’s backup.

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DETROIT (AP) -Johan Franzen’s long wait is finally over.

After scoring an NHL-best 12 goals in 11 playoff games, the Detroit Red Wings forward had been sidelined since May 8 because of recurring headaches. He was cleared to return to practice last Friday and had been waiting for doctors to give him the OK to play in a game.

On Monday morning, that clearance came - but not until moments after Red Wings coach Mike Babcock ruled him out of Monday night’s Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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DETROIT (AP) -Johan Franzen’s long wait is finally over.

After scoring an NHL-best 12 goals in 11 playoff games, the Detroit Red Wings forward had been sidelined since May 8 because of recurring headaches. He was cleared to return to practice last Friday and had been waiting for doctors to give him the OK to play in a game.

On Monday morning, that clearance came - but not until moments after Red Wings coach Mike Babcock ruled him out of Monday night’s Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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DALLAS - Dominant in the regular season, superb again in the post-season, the Detroit Red Wings are headed back to the Stanley Cup finals.

Just when the Red Wings lost consecutive games and were starting to look vulnerable, they bounced back strong in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, getting first-period goals from Kris Draper, Pavel Datsyuk and Dallas Drake on their way to knocking out the Dallas Stars 4-1 on Monday night.

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PITTSBURGH (AP) -Evgeni Malkin could have talked with friends, enjoyed a dinner out, played video games or watched television. Whatever he did Friday, it wasn’t at the hockey rink.

While the Flyers practiced at their suburban Philadelphia rink for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, Malkin, Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins enjoyed a day off. If there was any hockey for them, it was on Xbox or PlayStation 3.

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VOORHEES, N.J. (AP) -Kimmo Timonen’s return from injury suddenly seems much closer than that of Philadelphia Flyers defense partner Braydon Coburn.

The All-Star was all but ruled out for the season a week ago, on the eve of the Eastern Conference finals, when it was revealed he had a blood clot in his left ankle. But after a visit to his doctor Thursday, just hours before the Flyers extended their season with a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the prognosis got a whole lot better.

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MONTREAL - Rookie goaltender Carey Price says he feels rested and ready to play the most important game of his young NHL career.

A loss by his Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night (7 p.m. ET) to Philadelphia, which leads their best-of-seven playoff series 3-1, would send the Canadiens packing for the summer and put the Flyers into the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 2000.

A struggling Price was replaced in goal for Game 4 on Wednesday night in Philadelphia, a 4-2 Flyers win, after having been yanked for the third period of a 3-2 loss in Game 3 in favour of back-up Jaroslav Halak.

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MONTREAL - Scott Hartnell is expected to be back on the Philadelphia Flyers top line for Game 2 of their NHL playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

Hartnell skated on right wing with centre Daniel Briere and winger Vaclav Prospal on Saturday morning. They were his linemates for most of the opening round of playoffs against Washington.

He was a left-winger with Mike Richards and Sami Kapanen in Game 1. Joffrey Lupul will move onto the Richards line.

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