-Bryan Murray was as bemused as I was by both Dan Bylsma’s and Sidney Crosby‘s comments about Nick Foligno (link), saying “The rules are very clear now. If you fall into a goaltender and touch a goaltender, an elbow to the head and a butt end to the head is fair game. Dan Bylsma said that’s OK for them. Sidney said Nick Foligno is that kind of player. I wish (Foligno) was that kind of player. He got cross-checked, I thought he got a butt end, but it might have been a full elbow. (Chris) Kunitz comes in with a cross-check and the penalties were even. So, (NHL disciplinarian Brendan) Shanahan said that’s a good play. That’s a hockey play. Dan Bylsma said it’s good for them and Pittsburgh were the biggest ones on the head injuries. I’m remiss. I made a mistake. We didn’t have (Chris) Neil and (Matt) Carkner play in the game. We didn’t have enough toughness, so when we play Pittsburgh that’s something you can bring up to me again.”
-Pierre McGuire was asked about the Crosby/Foligno incident while on The Team 1200 (link). He didn’t add much new, saying he didn’t like what Crosby did, but didn’t think Crosby was being a hypocrite (his explanation is that it was the heat of the moment, which I don’t buy as a fact or an excuse).
–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch looks at last night’s win (link), reminding us that Jason Spezza ended an eleven-game drought with his two goals. The key quote in the article comes from Paul MacLean however, “A win is a win and that’s a good win. I didn’t like the way we skated and that was indicated by the penalties we took. We took a lot of penalties by not skating and not moving our feet but our penalty killers did yeomans work. Craig Anderson was a big reason why we won.”
-Garrioch floats a rumour that the Sens are interested in Blue Jacket Derrick Brassard (link), who has two years at 3.2 left on his contract. It’s a puzzling theory, given that Peter Regin will be back soon and the organisation has Stephane Da Costa. Picking up Brassard would imply a long-term solution I don’t think the organisation is looking for via trade.
–The Silver Seven‘s Mark Parisi posts his ups and downs for this past week (link). He lists Brian Lee, Chris Phillips, Stephane Da Costa, Colin Greening, and Milan Michalek as having rough weeks. I quibble with Michalek, who while invisible against Pittsburgh was fine last night, but otherwise agree.
–Mark Stone will (as expected) compete for a spot on the World Junior team, as Hockey Canada released its list of invites (link). Matt Puempel was not invited despite being at the summer development camp.
-Prospect updates (their position in team scoring is noted in brackets, defence compared to defence; I’ve also indicated if the player’s scoring position has change (with a + for up, – for down, and = for unchanged):
CHL
Mark Stone (Brandon, WHL) 28-24-34-58 (1st=)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Gatineau, QMJHL) 17-18-13-31 (1st=) (injured)
Shane Prince (Ottawa 67s, OHL) 20-11-18-29 (3rd=)
Matt Puempel (Peterborough, OHL) 26-15-13-28 (t-1st=)
Stefan Noesen (Plymouth, OHL) 23-8-19-27 (3rd+)
Jakub Culek (Rimouski, QMJHL) 25-5-12-17 (5th=)
Darren Kramer (Spokane, WHL) 20-9-7-16 (4th-)
Jordan Fransoo (Brandon, WHL) 28-1-5-6 (4th+)
SEL
Jakob Silfverberg (Brynas) 22-9-7-16 (t-3rd+)
Fredrik Claesson (Djurgarden) 24-1-3-4 (4th=)
Mika Zibanejad (Djurgarden) 8-2-1-3 (17th+)
Allsvenskan
Marcus Sorensen (Boras) 11-2-4-6 (8th+)
NCAA
Ryan Dzingel (CCHA-Ohio State) 13-5-8-13 (2nd=)
Bryce Aneloski (WCHA-Nebraska-Omaha) 16-1-8-9 (2nd=)
Chris Wideman (CCHA-Miami) 16-1-7-8 (1st=)
Ben Blood (WCHA-North Dakota) 14-1-5-6 (2nd=)
Michael Sdao (ECAC-Princeton) 11-4-1-5 (2nd-)
Max McCormick (CCHA-Ohio State) 6-2-3-5 (10th=)
Jeff Costello (CCHA-Notre Dame) 11-0-4-4 (12th=)
Brad Peltz (ECAC-Yale) 1-0-0-0 (=)
eyeonthesens 