Hype for January 26, 2010

Junior hockey player Patrice Cormier has been banned from Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play for the rest of the season, including the playoffs, the league said during a news conference Monday.

The world juniors Team Canada captain and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies centre landed an elbow on Quebec Remparts defenceman Mikael Tam during a QMJHL game on Jan. 17, leaving Tam convulsing on the ice before he was rushed off on a stretcher.

"It was dangerous and unacceptable," said Raymond Bolduc, league disciplinarian.

These are the truly anxious moments for Steve Yzerman.

Since he unveiled Team Canada's lineup for next month's Winter Olympics, the executive director has seen Marc-Andre Fleury, Brenden Morrow, Dan Boyle, Patrice Bergeron and Ryan Getzlaf miss games because of injury.

Even though all 23 of his original picks from the end of December are still expected to be in Vancouver, Yzerman knows this could change on any given night. Team Canada's executive director finds it a tad difficult to relax while waiting for the Games to start, especially given that something bad might happen to a player in the meantime.

Chris Conner started his day at practice in Wilkes-Barre and ended it as a top star on Broadway.

Just hours after being called up by the Penguins, Conner scored twice to lead Pittsburgh to a 4-2 victory over the slumping New York Rangers on Monday night.

It doesn't rank as the highlight of their season but at least the St. Louis Blues and their fans — unlike their Calgary counterparts — have something to get excited about.

They managed to protect a third-period lead — a problem of late and under former coach Andy Murray — while dealing the hometown Flames a seventh consecutive loss, 2-0 on Monday night.

Thanks to Brad Lukowich's first goal in more than two years, the Vancouver Canucks still haven't lost at home to the Buffalo Sabres in more than a decade.

Lukowich scored for the first time in 111 NHL games, with 14:39 remaining, as the Canucks beat the Sabres 3-2 in front of 18,810 fans at General Motors Place on Monday night.

"Keep your stick on the ice and expect the unexpected," Lukowich said.