Hype for December 03, 2009

On the ice, the Wild are fighting to get back to .500. Off the ice, the team's ownership has been busy seeking big events.

"We are hungry people here," Wild owner Craig Leipold said Wednesday.

Leipold said the Wild have had conversations with the NHL about bringing its annual Winter Classic outdoor game to Minnesota.

He also said the Wild have applied to host the 2011 NHL entry draft.

Glendale City Manager Ed Beasley is expected to meet as early as next week with an investment group interested in buying the Phoenix Coyotes.

Montreal businessman Steve Stotland met with NHL officials earlier this month.

He went public with his interest last week. Although acting as spokesman for the investors, called Camelback Hockey Group, Stotland said he would be a 15-20 percent shareholder. The rest of the yet undisclosed four or five investors would be from the Valley, he said.

The invitations have been sent out for Canada's world junior hockey team, with some notable players missing from the list.

Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues, Ryan Ellis of the Windsor Spitfires and Cody Hodgson of the Brampton Battalion are among 36 players invited to the selection camp for the Canadian team that will try to win a sixth straight gold medal at the world junior hockey championship.

Goaltender Jonas Gustavsson will see cardiac specialists Wednesday in Toronto after an elevated heart rate forced him out of the Leafs' game during Monday's first-period intermission in Montreal, the team said in a statement.

Gustavsson was sent to hospital as a precaution because his heart rate went up during a Montreal power play early in the first and "came down on its own in between periods," according to head coach Ron Wilson.

Marc Savard celebrated his new seven-year contract extension by scoring his 200th NHL goal and Marco Sturm scored twice in 2:33 to lead the Boston Bruins to a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night.

Tim Thomas stopped 39 shots in his second straight start since missing six games with an undisclosed injury.

Mark Recchi had three assists, and Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron had two apiece to help Boston move back into first place in the NHL Northeast Division. The Bruins have earned points in its last seven games (6-0-1).

The Vancouver Canucks roared out with three early goals in New Jersey and after nearly squandering the lead, finished strongly for an impressive 5-2 victory on Wednesday night to open their road trip.

Defenceman Alex Edler had a goal and two assists, with Daniel Sedin and Alex Burrows each adding a goal and an assist to lead the way offensively for Vancouver (15-12). Jannik Hansen and Sami Salo also scored for the Canucks.