Hurricanes grant Staal leave of absence

The Carolina hurricanes president announced today that they have decided to grant Eric Staal a leaqve of absence following the deah of his wife's sister. She passed away on tuesday after a long battle with cancer. My thoughts and prayers go out to Staal and his family. I hope to see him back in the NHL soon, after he takes care of his family business.

Martin Brodeur ties games-played record for goalies

On December 15, the New Jersey Devils faced off against the Monthreal Canadians. Starting in net for the Devils was all-star goaltender Martin Brodeur. With this start he tied Patrick Roy's the all time games played record for a goalie. Roy who played for Colorado, started in 1,029 games for them. This is the second time in one season that Brodeur has beaten one of Roy's records. Brodeur tied Roy's record for all time wins back in March. This looks likes another milestone in Brodeurs quest to become the best goaltender of all time.

Rink at Fenway Almost Finished

As we countdown the days till the 2010 winter classic, many people are hard at work making sure it will be a moment never to forget. For those of you who dont know, the winter classic is a hockey game that is played outdoors. They transform a baseball stadium into an outdoor hockey rink. It is an anual event that everyone looks forward to. This years winter classic will occur in Boston, MA. at Fenway park. Everything is in place for the game, except for one thing... THE ICE! Its kind of an important factor in the game. Thet began the process today when they layed down the panels that they will put the water on top of. This should take a few days to finish, but it will be an event that will never be forgotten.

Isles' Witt plays despite being hit by SUV

New York Islanders defenseman Brendan Witt is used to taking hard hits. But he's used to taking them on the ice, not en route to getting his morning coffee.Witt was leaving the team's Center City hotel and crossing Arch Street when he was hit by a gold SUV."I had the right of way, going across the pedestrian line, and I saw there was a gold Tahoe or Yukon was trying to get in the left lane to turn, and decided to turn, and in the corner of my eye, I saw it and jumped up and took the brunt of it," Witt said. "I did a nice roll and dismount. It was OK."Witt said that while he saw the truck coming, he still was stunned by what was happening. "It was weird, like slow-motion," he said. "I just reacted by bracing myself by jumping up and taking the brunt of the force and just rolling. Got up, realized I was OK, was like, 'Is this going on for real?' Then I threw out some profanities at the guy." One witness told Newsday, "It was like seeing Clint Eastwood, but in hockey."After successfully getting his coffee, Witt went to the Wachovia Center for the Isles' morning skate and was in the lineup Tuesday night. The 6-foot-2, 223-pound defenseman, who is second on the Isles with 56 hits and third with 50 blocked shots, tried to play down what happened. "I didn't look, but I might have put a dent in his truck," Witt said.

Brodeur blanks Sabres, ties Sawchuk

yet another record broken by all star goalie Martin Brodeur.The New Jersey Devils goaltender, who became the all-time winningest goaltender late last season when he surpassed Patrick Roy's old mark of 552, tied the record for career shutouts Monday night when he stopped all 22 shots by the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-0 win at HSBC Arena. It was the 103rd shutout of Brodeur's career, tying him with Hall of Fame goaltender Terry Sawchuk, who accomplished the mark in 971 career games for the Red Wings, Bruins, Maple Leafs, Kings and Rangers."I think with the last few games, we had a couple going into the third with no goals," said Brodeur, who had been waiting to tie the record since his last shutout on Oct. 17 against Carolina."When it was nine minutes left I was like, well let's try to beat this, and then move on to five minutes and really think about it in the last five minutes. The guys played really well in front of me and made a big difference in why we were able to get a shutout, but especially a big win."Brian Rolston scored the only goal Brodeur would need with 2:09 left in the first period, beating Sabres goalie Ryan Miller from in close. Travis Zajac added to the lead 67 seconds later with a blast from just inside the blue line that trickled through Miller, and Niclas Bergfors struck on a power play 38 seconds into the middle period.With the victory, the Devils are 20-7-1, the best start through 28 games in franchise history.

Blackhawks sign Kane, Toews, Keith

The Chicago Blackhawks have called a press conference on Thursday afternoon at the United Center where, according to CSNChicago.com, the team will announce the signings of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith to multi-year contract extensions.According to the report, Toews and Kane will sign five-year contract extensions, while Keith has reportedly agreed to a 13-year deal.Thursday's press conference will be streamed on the Blackhawks' web site . With all of these new aditions to the team the blackhawks will have a good chance in the playoffs, and will be able to compete better with soem of the more high caliber team.

Isles target mid-December for DiPietro

After months of toughing it out in the eastern conference, the isles plan the return of their starting goaltender.Rick DiPietro took part in a 90-minute practice with the team Monday, according to Newsday, and an encouraged General Manager Garth Snow said if all goes well he could be playing with the team by the middle of December.DiPietro will begin his rehab assignment on Saturday with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers against Springfield."We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves,'' Snow told Newsday. "He's practicing today, he'll practice again tomorrow. Then at some point he'll do a conditioning stint in Bridgeport (AHL) and if everything goes well, I would think the middle of December.''DiPietro signed a 15-year contract with the Islanders prior to the 2006-07 season and proceeded to put up a career-best 32 victories and .919 save percentage, leading the team to its most recent playoff berth.After playing in 63 games the following season and winning 26 of them, DiPietro missed almost the entire 2008-09 season with lingering knee problems.He played three games in October before undergoing knee surgery and returned Dec. 26, 2008, against Toronto to stop 28 of 29 shots and record his only win of the season. He started again on Jan. 2, 2009, against Phoenix, allowed five goals and missed the rest of the season.Pietro said that at the moment he isn't concerning himself with a target date for his return."I've kind of really tried to put myself out of that whole thing,'' DiPietro told Newsday after Monday's practice. "I think how my knee responds and how I practice will prove to everyone involved when I'm ready to come back. I just continue to feel better, which is a positive sign. It's exciting to be back.''