Hockey News

OTTAWA/LOS ANGELES - Defenseman Vjateslav Voinov was the first of seven players selected by the Los Angeles Kings, the parent club of the Manchester Monarchs, (second-round, 32nd overall) in today’s second and final day of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa. The Kings also acquired forward Brad Richardson from the Colorado Avalanche during today’s draft. In addition, the Kings have exercised their option to buy out the remaining year on the contract of goaltender Dan Cloutier.

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WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Nathan Smith scored the game-winner in the third period as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins held off the Chicago Wolves to win Game 4 of the Calder Cup final 3-2 on Friday.

The Wolves lead the best-of-seven series 3-1, and remain on the brink of their second Calder Cup championship. At 2:21 of the third period, when a Wolves defenceman dove to block a shot by Smith, he unwittingly knocked it into the net.

Dave Gove and Chris Minard scored the other markers for the Penguins.

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PITTSBURGH - Win or lose, taking his team to the Stanley Cup final has been big for 20-year-old Sidney Crosby.

The Cole Harbour, N.S., native has been a leader on and off the ice for the young, talent-stacked Pittsburgh Penguins, even while struggling to score early in the best-of-seven final against the Detroit Red Wings.

“It’s pretty much everything I expected,” Crosby said hours before Wednesday’s Game 3 of his first experience in the final. “I tried not to think about it coming in and just tried to prepare the same way.

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PITTSBURGH - Henrik Zetterberg was a little sheepish when asked about some extended shifts he worked in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final.

“Sometimes if you’ve been out there 30 seconds and you have a chance to go for another rush, it’s hard to go to the bench,” the Detroit Red Wings star said Thursday. “Sometimes you want to create some more offence.

“And sometimes, you get caught out there and you pay for it in the end.”

Detroit coach Mike Babcock blamed himself for over-using Zetterberg and linemates Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom in a 3-2 loss Wednesday that put the Pittsburgh Penguins back into a series the Red Wings had been dominating.

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DETROIT - NHL history suggests that the Detroit Red Wings are shoo-ins to win the Stanley Cup now.

Brad Stuart, Tomas Holmstrom and Valtteri Filppula scored the goals and Chris Osgood blanked the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second straight game, 3-0 on the heels of a 4-0 rout in the opener, as the Red Wings took a stranglehold on the championship series Monday night.

“I don’t like bragging about myself very much,” said the modest Osgood, who is looking more and more like a playoff MVP. “I’ve played some good games in my career and I feel pretty good about myself right now.”

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DALLAS - The Detroit Red Wings aren’t really going to blow this - are they?

Just a few days ago, the Red Wings were still in a span of being undefeated for almost a month, owning the NHL’s longest post-season winning streak in 15 years and doing it with flair. Three games into the Western Conference final, they hadn’t even trailed the Dallas Stars for a single second. All they had to do was win once more to seal a spot in the Stanley Cup final.

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PITTSBURGH - Veteran rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd took over Mellon Arena for a concert Saturday.

On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Penguins hope it’ll once again be Sweet Home Mellon Arena.

“We feel comfortable in this building,” Penguins head coach Michel Therrien said Saturday after practice. “We like to play in front of our fans. They’ve been great and we’ve got their support.

“That’s why we’re glad Game 5 will be at home (CBC, 3 p.m. ET). We’re a tough team to play at home.”

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Four different players netted goals and rookie netminder Ondrej Pavelec stopped 38 of 39 shots as Chicago took Game 7 of the West Division finals over Rockford by a 4-1 final on Tuesday at the Allstate Arena.

The Wolves won back-to-back tilts to rally from a 3-2 series deficit and will host Toronto in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Friday.

The Wolves’ power play, which went 4-for-7 in Sunday’s Game 6, converted its first two opportunities on Tuesday. Jesse Schultz scored at 18:27 of the first period, and Jason Krog netted his fourth goal in the last three games 7:23 into the middle stanza.

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A proud member of the American Hockey League, the Toronto Marlies announced today that Leafs TV will air all home and away games of their North Division Final, best-of-seven series against the Syracuse Crunch. Leafs TV will have an extensive pre-game show starting 30 minutes prior to game time for all Marlies home games.

The following are the confirmed dates, along with locations, and times for the North Division Final between the Marlies and Crunch (all times eastern):

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NEWARK, N.J. - After five games of running into, harassing and annoying Martin Brodeur, Sean Avery took a final swipe at the New Jersey goalie after the New York Rangers eliminated the Devils in the first round of the playoffs.

Avery ripped Brodeur for his lack of sportsmanship for failing to shake his hand after the Rangers beat the Devils 5-3 to win the Eastern Conference series in five games.

Every Devils player shook Avery’s hand - although some barely looked at him - until Brodeur dropped his hand and skated past the pesky forward.

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