| Washington Capitals News | | | Lightning GM Yzerman suggests he won’t be trading for Luongo, strengthens position for Luongo trade (Puck Daddy)
Don't listen to Yzerman, Lu. He's just playing hard to get.
Shortly after the Vancouver Canucks were eliminated from the playoffs, reports surfaced that Roberto Luongo had requested a trade in his exit interview. (Those reports were confirmed Wednesday by Canucks coach Alain Vigneault in an interview with TVA Sports. "This is what he wants now," Vigneault said .)
According to further reports, Luongo even provided a list of teams he was willing to join, one of which was, reportedly, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
A Luongo-to-Tampa trade would make a lot of sense for everyone. The Canucks have an elite goalie to deal, Luongo has family in Florida, and after watching Dwayne Roloson spend the season turning to dust before their very eyes like he'd come down with a bad case of Mummy's Curse, the Lightning clearly need a new guy back there.
But, Wednesday morning, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman appeared on 620 WDAE "The Sports Animal" and indicated that, while addressing the goaltending situation was very much an offseason priority for his club, acquiring a netminder via trade -- say, a Luongo type, maybe, whatever, just spitballin' -- was not. Yzerman:
I think everybody's trying to find somebody that's an elite guy. I would say there's probably five or six elite goaltenders in the league and then there's a group of good goaltenders, and then there's a group of teams that are really searching for that guy to lock up and not worry about for the present and the future.
My philosophy is I'm trying to find that Hall of Fame goaltender, and good luck trying to do that -- it takes time. We'll find that guy through the draft or unrestricted free agency. That guy isn't there at this time.
And then, Yzerman hung up the phone, hopped over to Line 1, and said, "Your move, Gillis."
How the Last 13 Stanley Cup Champions Didn't Repeat, Part 4: Fan's Take (Yahoo! Contributor Network)
In the past 13 years, all 13 Stanley Cup champions fell short of raising the Cup another consecutive time. The first part of my series looked at how the champions from 1999, 2000 and 2001 failed to repeat. Part two studied how the 2002, 2003 and 2004 champions missed the chance to win again. Last week, part three explained how the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 champions were undone the next year. Finally, this series ends by exploring the way the 2010, 2011 and 2012 champions went home early. Dubinsky returns for Game 5; No hearing for Brown; Spacek rips Habs (Puck Headlines) (Puck Daddy)
• John Tortorella, when asked how he was going to get his forwards going on Tuesday: "Pray." He then read an excerpt from his memoir on a trip he took around the world after splitting from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
• By the way, in case it wasn't clear that John Tortorella's sense of humour is lacking, on Wednesday morning he made it clear that he was joking about prayer and retracted the joke. [ NHL ]
• No hearing for Dustin Brown for his controversial collision with Michal Rozsival. [ LA Kings Insider ]
• Brandon Dubinsky returns to the Rangers' lineup for Game 5. [ Newsday ]
• Showing some much-needed attention to the Devils' relatively anonymous blueline. [ NJ ]
• An argument for shaking up the New York Rangers' lines by removing Carl Hagelin from the top unit: "Hagelin is currently playing top line minutes with the Rangers two most skilled forwards, and ha exactly zero goals to show for it. That's no goals and just three assists in 18 games so far this postseason. No matter which way you look at this, it's unacceptable to have a top line player with zero goals in 18 games. At some point, changes need to be made." [ Blue Seat Blogs ]
• Jaroslav Spacek claims he might have retired at the end of the year if he had finished it in Montreal, and rips the Canadiens hockey operations team, from the bizarre rules for the players to the total lack of communication. "'So much bad stuff,' Spacek said. 'In my 20-year hockey career, I'd never seen anything like it. If you don't like the way I play, kick me in the ass. But no one said anything. It was terrible.'" [ Montreal Gazette ]
• Another major step towards the Phoenix Coyotes staying in Arizona was taken after the team was eliminated last night, as the Glendale City Council voted to approve a preliminary budget that includes $17 million to the prospective buyer of the team for operating costs for the city's Jobing.com Arena." [ Winnipeg Free Press ]
• The Wild have signed 2010 first-round pick Mikael Grandlund to his entry-level contract. He announced the deal himself in a video on the Wild's website. [ Wild ]
• Michael Arace on the American invasion in the NHL. [ Blue Jackets Xtra ]
• Alex Semin cuts his forehead on his gold medal, which is a very enigmatic thing to do. [ RMNB ] Behold, the incredible playoff beards of Radko Gudas and AHL’s Norfolk Admirals (Puck Daddy)
You are looking at a photo of Radko Gudas, a defenseman for the Norfolk Admirals and a prospect for the Tampa Bay Lightning. As you can see, the man has a remarkable playoff beard, arguably one of the best in recent memory.
Bask in it. Just stare at it awhile. We'll wait ...
... OK, too long. You're a creep.
Moving on.
Gudas' "Young Santa Claus" is made all the more remarkable when you consider two additional facts. First, he didn't get a running start on his playoff beard, like Shea Weber did with last year's standout face forest -- according to the team, he started his war bear right around playoff time. The Calder Cup playoffs began on April 19, so the majesty you're seeing really is just over a month's worth of growth.
Second, Gudas is only 22 21 years old. That's ridiculous.
But there's more to this story: As it turns out, Gudas' beard is only in the running for best beard on the team. He's neck and neck with teammates Eric Neilson and Scott Jackson.
Washington Capitals Extend Affiliation with Hershey Bears
ARLINGTON, Va. â The Washington Capitals and the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) have extended their affiliation agreement through the 2013-14 season, Capitals vice president and general manager George McPhee and Hershey presiden... MONUMENTAL TEAMS COMBINE FOR FIVE EMMY NOMINATIONS
WASHINGTON, D.C. â The Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals have been nominated for a combined five Capital Emmy awards. Documentary series chronicling the 2011-12 seasons of the two teams, Caps Red Line and Wizards Magazine â The Journey, w... | | | | |
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