photo taken from sbnation.com
The Phoenix Coyotes have received bad news this past week when finding out that forward Scottie Upshall will be out indefinitely due to a torn ACL in his right knee. He suffered the injury in a game last week.
Surgery will be necessary for Upshall to fully heal. As of the date he was injured, Upshall led the Coyotes in scoring with 18 goals in only 49 games. He is 26-years-old and was having one of his best seasons.
photo taken from bleacherreport.com
Capitals defenseman Mike Green has been suspended by the NHL for the three games. During the first period of the Capitals-Panthers game, Green elbowed Panthers forward Michael Frolik in the head.
As a result of the play, Green received a minor penalty. In total, Green will lose $81,000 dollars due to money going to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund. Green will be able to hit the ice again this Friday.
photo taken from photobucket.com
The U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team has named the player that will lead them in the 2010 Olympics. The captain of the team will be Jamie Langenbrunner, 34-year-old captain of the New Jersey Devils.
Langenbrunner had this to say in response:
“I’m honored to be given this position. There’s plenty of leaders on this team. I’m not too worried about the leadership on this team at all.”
I’m confident he will do a great job for the team in the Olympics.
photo taken from hockeydraft.ca
Carolina Hurricanes forward Eric Staal has taken a leave of absence from the team following a death in his family. His wife’s sister, Tamara Stephenson, died of cancer at the age of 26-years-old. Staal currently leads the Hurricanes in scoring with 27 points. It is not sure when Staal will return to the team. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Eric and his family during this difficult time.
photo taken from nhl.speedera.net
Today in the news the NHL has announced that the 30 general managers will do a study on blindside hits. They will be looking to make blindside hits to the head illegal for next season.
I applaud the NHL for doing this, it only took them how many years to do? This has been a problem for such a long time and now all of a sudden they want the publicity and a pat on the back for doing it? Ridiculous.
It does not take rocket science to figure out that this type of hit should not be allowed and is very dangerous.
Here is a video highlight of New York Rangers forward, Marian Gaborik:
“GLENDALE, Ariz. — Wayne Gretzky’s tenure as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, a period marked largely by on-ice futility, ended abruptly Thursday when the “Great One” announced he would be stepping down amid the financial turmoil surrounding the team.
The Coyotes hired former Dallas Stars coach Dave Tippett hours after Gretzky announced his departure, which had been rumored as the bankruptcy court battle between Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie and the NHL over the sale of the team dragged on.
“This was a difficult decision that I’ve thought long and hard about,” Gretzky said in a statement Thursday on his Web site. “We all hoped there would be a resolution earlier this month to the Coyotes ownership situation, but the decision is taking longer than expected.”
Read the rest of the article, “Gretzky steps down as Coyotes coach” at ESPN.go.com
This is a very strange situation in the desert with the new ownership and now all of a sudden, Gretzky is gone. The Coyotes didn’t waste any time in signing a new head coach. It makes me wonder if Gretzky walked away or if he was told to leave by the organization. We may never see Gretzky in hockey again.
