Hype for February 05, 2010

A day after he was fired as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Ken Hitchcock declined to take any parting shots at the club's management and said he is eager to see how the franchise's young talent develops.

His biggest regret is that he won't be an integral part of the future success.

"My message is that these are the actual growing pains that every organization goes through to get to a high level," he said of the Blue Jackets' disappointing 22-27-9 record a year after making the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time

Financially strapped owner Tom Hicks is exploring a possible sale of the Dallas Stars.

The Hicks Sports Group said Thursday the NHL team has retained Galatioto Sports Partners to look for new investors and explore the idea of selling a majority stake in the Stars.

Team president Jeff Cogen says a sale is not a certainty.

If the Los Angeles Kings learned anything from their latest showdown with the Anaheim Ducks, it's that no lead is safe against a desperate team.

Dustin Brown scored the go-ahead goal with 5:32 left after Los Angeles blew a three-goal lead in the third period and the Kings tied a franchise record with their eighth straight victory, beating the Ducks 6-4 on Thursday night.

The goals keep going in for Jason Spezza and the wins keep piling up for the Ottawa Senators.

Spezza scored the game-winner and extended his team-record goal-scoring streak to eight games as the Senators beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Thursday night. The win also stretched Ottawa's franchise-record winning streak to 11 before a crowd of 18,803 at Scotiabank Place.

As if the Washington Capitals needed any more help while streaking through the NHL schedule, when they go for win No. 13 in a row against Atlanta, they won't even have to face Ilya Kovalchuk.

On the night Kovalchuk was dealt from the Thrashers to the New Jersey Devils, Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and the rest of NHL-leading Capitals pulled out a 6-5 back-and-forth win over the New York Rangers on Thursday.

Atlanta Thrashers superstar Ilya Kovalchuk has been traded to the New Jersey Devils.

The Devils have given up defenseman Johnny Oduya, forwards Niclas Bergfors, prospect Patrice Cormier and a first round pick. Atlanta also moved defenseman Anssi Salmela back to New Jersey.

The Russian superstar is in the last year of his current contract and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent July 1. Kovalchuk has been at the center of rumor reports all season and Atlanta GM Don Waddell announced today Kovalchuk had turned down a 12-year, $101 million offer from the club and the team couldn’t offer more.