Hype for December 01, 2009

The Ottawa Senators dutifully lined up after practice on Monday and patiently answered the same question: What will it feel like to play tonight against former teammate Dany Heatley of the San Jose Sharks?

They'll be glad to get tonight's game behind him.

"It's the big story right now," defenceman Chris Phillips said, "but, as far as the players are concerned, it's just another game that we want to go out and win."

One person who almost escaped the question, but did not, was Senators coach Cory Clouston.

You would think it would have to be an emotional encounter for him, too.

The puck dropped on a new life for Maple Leaf Gardens this morning with the official announcement that the Toronto arena will be the home ice for Ryerson University and a Loblaw supermarket.

The deal will see the legendary rink transformed by the spring of 2011.

The new pact between the school and Loblaw Co. Ltd., owner of the site, includes plans for the long-dormant rink to become a new athletic facility for the space-starve campus, which will share the building with the grocery chain.

Under the terms of the arrangement, a grocery store will be built on the ground floor, with a recreation facility on the second storey and a new ice surface with room for 5,000 spectators on the third floor, under the Garden's storied roof. A volleyball and basketball court also will share the space on the top floor.

Things are going from bad to worse for the Carolina Hurricanes.

According to the team's website, defenceman Joe Corvo is expected to be sidelined 8-12 weeks after suffering a laceration to his right leg in Monday's game against the Washington Capitals.

Corvo collided with Capitals defenceman Karl Alzner in the first period and was inadvertently cut by Alzner's skate. He was transported to hospital and underwent surgery to repair the damage immediately.

He will be placed on injured reserve on Tuesday.

Is it possible that the one person hurt most by the trade of Dany Heatley to the San Jose Sharks has been Jason Spezza?

As the Ottawa Senators prepare to face the Sharks tonight, the statistics make a compelling argument.

Joe Thornton, Heatley’s new centre and linemate, has 30 assists, seven goals and is the National Hockey League’s leading scorer. Both players are locks to be on Canada’s team in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic hockey tournament.

Spezza, Heatley’s old centre and linemate, has 13 assists and only two goals. He’s only fourth in scoring among Senators players, and his Olympic hopes have likely disappeared with those numbers.

Someone should check the Predators' backs for tire tracks.

They're the latest Calgary Flames' host to become road kill.

Tying a franchise record with at least a point in their 10th straight contest away from the Saddledome, the Flames ran over the Preds last night in a 5-0 victory at the Nashville Arena.

Not that the Flames had any clue about the run.

They just wanted to avoid what happened on the weekend in Columbus, where they grabbed a lead and got sloppy before having to charge back in the third period to tie it and then earn the win in a shootout.

Ron Wilson did not know whether to be upset or happy.

As the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, he was obviously disappointed that his charges could not score a single goal in a 3-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres last night. But as the head coach of the U.S. Olympic team, he had to be pleased with the 38-save performance from Michigan-born goaltender Ryan Miller.

"I hope he plays like this in February," said Wilson.

There is no reason to expect Miller not to. With 15 wins and three shutouts in 21 games, he has been the best goaltender in the National Hockey League this season. And, if he was not already the odds-on favourite to start in net for the Americans, he certainly is now.

The Boston Bruins are poised to lock up centre Marc Savard to a new long-term contract.

According to the Boston Globe, the National Hockey League team could announce as soon as Tuesday that they have agreed to a seven-year extension with Savard, with an average salary cap hit of $4.5 to $4.8 million US.

The Ottawa native has played 12 seasons in the NHL with the New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers and Bruins.

Ryan Miller knew the big man of U.S.A. Hockey was high above him at the Air Canada Centre last night, but the Buffalo Sabres goalie made sure not to the audience enter his mind.

Job No. 1, Miller said, was to win a game against the Leafs. And with many more performances like that with or without Leafs and Team U.S.A. general manager Brian Burke as an eyewitness, the business of landing the starting job at the Vancouver Olympics will take care of itself.

"If Brian Burke is here, that's great," Miller said after a 38-save performance that improved his league-best save percentage and earned him his third shutout of the season.

The Blue Jackets' challenge coming out of second intermission last night was nothing less than to halt a disturbing trend. A 2-0 lead was gone, the score was tied 2-2 and the St. Louis Blues had firm clamps on the momentum in Nationwide Arena.

A five-game losing streak, during which the Blue Jackets had led in every game, seemed almost destined to grow to six.

"We were very upbeat and positive," Blue Jackets left winger R.J. Umberger said. "When it over and over keeps happening, it really becomes a mental thing. But tonight was a big step in getting that confidence back."

Umberger finished his second career hat trick with two third-period goals, Antoine Vermette scored a goal, and the Blue Jackets pulled away for a 5-2 victory before 12,391 fans, most of whom stood for the final minute or so of play.

Canada's oldest hockey team is also this country's most revered, according to a poll released Monday in celebration of the Montreal Canadiens' 100th anniversary.

A third of respondents named the Habs when asked who they considered "Canada's team," compared with a quarter who said the same for the team's archrival Toronto Maple Leafs.

Twenty-eight per said no franchise could claim to be Canada's team. As for the country's other squads, they were also-rans in the hypothetical contest: the Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers each garnered from two to five per cent support.

Andrew Cohen, president of the Historica-Dominion Institute, which commissioned the Ipsos-Reid poll, said he actually thought support for the Habs would be higher.