Hockey Hearsay

@Nichols_NHLPool on Twitter for timely NHL & poolie info, along with occasionally snarky comments.

Live blogging nightly: line combos, defensive pairings, analysis, statistical trends and more from every game on the NHL docket. Refresh the 'Live NHL Recap' page while the games are on to get new info as it is added.

Send in a brief fantasy hockey question, including all relevant league info, and it may be included in a future Hockey Hearsay blog during the week. One per person, please. Send it via Twitter for a possible response in the blog, or send via email (include your first name and hometown to represent!) if you'd prefer. chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

The Ottawa Citizen says that Ray Emery is expected to sign a contract with an NHL team within weeks, according to agent J.P. Barry of CAA Sports. Emery's camp is currently in talks with two or three NHL teams, but stopped short when it came to naming names.

The former Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators goaltender will start off on a conditioning assignment in the AHL, with the hope of catching on with the big club for the stretch drive. Either way, it's an extraordinary tale, one made all the more remarkable when you consider it was only one year ago when doctors told Emery his career was over after an MRI revealed avascular necrosis. Essentially, the flow of blood to the top of the ball in his right hip had been cut off and the bone had deteriorated to its core. Extensive surgery followed, requiring months and months of rehab.

"I take my hat off to anyone who is going through what I went through 15 or 20 years ago for the simple reason that it's a lot of hard work -- a lot of hard work," said NFL/MLB superstar Bo Jackson, who was diagnosed with the same condition in January 1991 as a member of the NFL's then-Los Angeles Raiders. He returned to professional sports two years later with Major League Baseball's Chicago White Sox, with whom he hit a home run in his first at-bat.

"Most people don't realize, they think just because he's a pro athlete he's supposed to come back and play," Jackson said. "Not from an injury like this. It takes a very, very special and driven person. He has got to have a different makeup to want to do all the little things he needs to do to compete on a professional level."

Jackson had never heard of Emery. He barely follows hockey -- until now, that is. The 48-year-old father of three said he'll be watching for Emery's name in the coming weeks, and even went so far as to suggest the goalie might want to keep an eye out for a call from a blocked number in the not so distant future.

"I wish there were people I could have talked to, so I want him to know I'm in his corner," said Jackson, a co-owner in Bo Jackson's Elite Sports, a state-of-the-art training facility in Lockport, Illinois. "From what you tell me, this young man is at the same age I was, 28, so I want him to know I came back and so can he. His attitude is going to be the difference 100 per cent. Sports is 99-per-cent mental for me and one-per-cent physical. Anything is possible if you have your mind set to do what you want to do."

In terms of Emery's recovery, The Citizen points out that he and renowned fitness guru Matt Nichol have trained together twice a day, every day, for the past five months. Pilates, yoga, acupuncture, time in the pool and even ballet have been incorporated into the 28-year old's daily routine. All for one purpose: to strengthen his core muscles so they can handle the extra demands and rigours needed to take the pressure off his surgically repaired joint.

"We've done everything but thrown the kitchen sink in there," said Nichol, a former trainer with the Toronto Maple Leafs. "And it's working. Ray tells me he's doing things on the ice he could never do before the injury."

The article relays that a summer of introspection is now his single greatest source of motivation.

"I've taken a lot of things for granted and this has helped me realize I enjoy what I do," said Emery. "I saw a quote that said 'Embrace what defines you,' and I always sort of wanted to run from being just a hockey player. Now I realize that if you do something well, it's not something to resent. I just want to make the most of the path that I've chosen and try and get the most out of it as I can. I'm excited. I kind of went through a growing period and if I can get the chance to do things right it's going to be a bonus for me."

Emery stepped back on the ice in mid-October, working with his longtime goalie coach Eli Wilson, and has been practising with the Ontario Hockey League's Brampton Battalion since the new year.

"All I'll say is I don't have a doubt I'll be back," said Emery, who has a career record of 87-51-15 with a 2.70 goals-against average and .907 save percentage in 163 NHL regular season games. "Of course there's some things you can't plan for, but the way I feel right now, if you give me a couple of weeks worth of professional practices, I'll be good to go."

The Montreal Gazette observes that head coach Jacques Martin engaged in a little line-shuffling yesterday. He gave Tomas Plekanec a new pair of wingers in Max Pacioretty and Brian Gionta. The Canadiens are hoping that Pacioretty is finally developing into a power forward while Gionta is a sniper who shares the team lead in goals with Plekanec. They each have 16.

Plekanec, who will be honoured at the Bell Centre tomorrow night as the Molson Cup winner for January, prides himself on being able to adapt to any linemates.

"I think we can do better," Plekanec said when asked about his hopes for the final 32 games of the regular season. "We had some stretches when we've played very well as a team but, on the other hand, we've missed some key players but we've done a good job of adjusting."

"I'm trying to mix things up," Martin said.

"(Plekanec) has played with Brian for a little while," Martin said. "And I looked at our production for the last 10 games and I thought we'd change some linemates."

"After the break and the last game we had (a 5-2 loss in Philadelphia), it's good to shake things up," Pacioretty said. "I've played with Pleky before and we've had some good chemistry and hopefully, we can pick up where we left off."

The Gazette says the shakeup leaves Scott Gomez between the enigmatic Andrei Kostitsyn and rookie Lars Eller, who will be under some pressure because he's the only member of the trio who understands the concept of defensive responsibility.

"I think Lars is very good defensively," Martin said. "He could be the low man in our zone. That may free up Scotty and we hope it jump-starts Andrei again."

Goaltender Carey Price, who participated in the All-Star Game activities on the weekend in Raleigh, took the day off yesterday but Martin said he would start tonight. He stopped short of committing to a goaltender for tomorrow night when the Florida Panthers visit the Bell Centre.

Left-winger Michael Cammalleri, who is out with a separated shoulder, accompanied the team but there's no hint that he will be back soon.

"It's still pretty tender but I can't put a timetable on when I'll be back," Cammalleri said after he went through some off-ice training with strength coach Pierre Allard. "The good thing about an upper-body injury is that you maintain your fitness level and I'll try to skate tomorrow morning."

Sidney Crosby is back on the ice, but The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that doesn't mean he's close to rejoining the Penguins' lineup.

Crosby, who will miss his 10th game in a row because of a concussion when the Penguins visit the New York Rangers tonight, has skated during the past few days; but only within the parameters of what coach Dan Bylsma described as a "very light" rehabilitation regimen.

"He's been on the ice, but literally, it's in track pants, [going] up and down the ice, not in a workout-type mode," Bylsma said Monday.

Crosby got medical clearance to begin less-than-strenuous physical activity late last week and, apparently, has not experienced any significant setbacks.

His exertion level, however, has been much lower than usual.

"Light rehab is very light exercise," Bylsma said. "Moderate, very moderate, biking activity. It's very light activity, and that's part of what the doctors have prescribed as his functional rehab at this point.

"Again, progressing to the next level means he has to get better in certain areas, and he's going through that process right now."

Crosby must be able to make it through each phase of his rehabilitation process without experiencing any concussion-type symptoms, such as headaches, before getting clearance to move on to the next.

There is no target date for his return to the lineup.

The Post-Gazette also notes that Evgeni Malkin (sinus infection) will not play tonight. His status for Wednesday's game against the Isles is not yet known.

The Calgary Herald writes that home-ice advantage, in Olli Jokinen's mind, is not out of the question for the once written-off-for-dead Calgary Flames.

Laugh, if you want. The man is serious, and he has math to back him up.

Vancouver, Detroit and Dallas are too far ahead to catch. Jokinen concedes that fact. But the fourth-place Nashville Predators are just six points ahead of the 12th-place Flames. Let the jockeying for position begin with the Flames set to clash with the Predators tonight in Music City.

"We know they are six points ahead of us and they're in fourth place," Jokinen said Monday after the first post National Hockey League all-star practice at the Bridgestone Arena. "We can close the gap and be four points behind them.

"It's not like we're only looking at the team that's in eighth place."

In Jokinen's mind, teams in Calgary's reach include Nashville, Anaheim, Phoenix, Chicago, San Jose, Colorado, Minnesota and Los Angeles.

Yes, The Herald reiterates, playoff picture is a tad crowded in the Western Conference, with 11 teams chasing the last five spots behind the Canucks, Red Wings and Stars.

"We know where we're at in the standings," said head coach Brent Sutter. "We just have to carry on doing what we were before. We need to focus on ourselves and continue to shoot for the goals we've set out for ourselves."

So far, so good. Since Dec. 23, the Flames are an impressive 10-3-3.

"All we've done is get ourselves back in the hunt like everybody else," Sutter said. "From here on in, teams don't play their backup goalies a whole lot. You look at the standings. Everyone is battling for position or a chance to be in the dance in April."

The Edmonton Journal reports that the National Hockey League Players’ Association and the CBC polled 318 players on a number of issues, including the teams they would most prefer to play for, as well as the teams they’d prefer to avoid. Twenty-seven percent of the players named the New York Islanders as the team they did not want to play for, followed by the Edmonton Oilers (20 percent).

The top three most desirable teams were the Detroit Red Wings, the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks.

“We’re going to fix that,” said Oilers coach Tom Renney. “We’re going to create a culture here that people want to be a part of. We’re going to win.

“I think (the remoteness of Edmonton) is a cop-out. People want to win and that’s on us. We have to take responsibility as an organization, as a coaching staff to make this as good as it can possibly be so that people want to come here,” Renney continued.

“We’re going to need one of those free-agent guys to come in here and help push us over the top. In the meantime, we’re going to grow as much of our own as we can to make this appealing for all the right reasons.”

The Orange County Register reports that Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf skated with the team Monday for the first time since he was struck in the face by a shot from Phoenix Coyotes center Shane Doan on Dec. 28.

Getzlaf must wait for the facial fractures to fully heal before he can play. The Ducks ruled him out for the next two games and Getzlaf said he is targeting Feb. 9 against Vancouver for his return.

"It's just a matter of the fractures healing," Getzlaf said. "The doctors aren't going to put me in any position where a little blow to the head or a little bump on the glass is going to put me back at square one."

Getzlaf hasn't been cleared for contact and probably won't be heavily involved in the upcoming practices.

Perhaps a more pressing issue is how he adjusts to wearing the plastic visor to protect the area. Aside from the Winter Olympics last year, Getzlaf has not worn a visor since junior hockey as many players find it to be visually limiting and cumbersome. Getzlaf said wearing one was a "stipulation" for a timely return and that he will try it in the immediate future.

"We'll see how it goes," he said. "If I can keep it on and play well, I'll keep it on. It's still a different look when you're looking out. You're used to seeing nothing and now you've got that little line to deal with."

The Register says Getzlaf has acknowledged that a visor likely would have prevented the injury and he's mostly grateful that it wasn't more severe. He sports a scar on his forehead where he received 10 stitches.

"Obviously it's a big bullet (to dodge)," he said. "You get it in the eye or below the eye, and you can end up with surgery and loss of vision. I was pretty fortunate and lucky to deal with what I did as opposed to what it could have been."

The Boston Globe indicates that centre Marc Savard remains at home in Peterborough, Ontario, where he has gone to recuperate after suffering a moderate concussion Jan. 22. Savard missed the first 23 games of the season with post-concussion symptoms from a head injury suffered last March.

“When he gets back, tomorrow or the day after, he’s going to be reevaluated,’’ said Julien. “He still has symptoms; it hasn’t totally disappeared. We’ll let the medical people deal with him when he gets back. Hopefully — for his sake, not the team’s sake but for his sake — he gets better.’’

One bright spot, The Globe notes, is that Patrice Bergeron has become the pivotal pivot for the Bruins - and not just because Savard has seen such limited playing time. The 25-year-old Bergeron, who leads the Bruins with 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists), has been one of the league’s best players this season.

With 8 goals and 9 assists in January, including his first career hat trick, and a plus-13 rating in 14 games, Bergeron led all NHL scorers. Yesterday, he was named the NHL’s First Star of the Month.

“It was well deserved,’’ said Julien. “He’s a guy that often flies under the radar, because he’s one of those great two-way players that doesn’t get the acknowledgement that maybe a lot of the highly skilled one-dimensional players will get.’’

The Raleigh News & Observer relays that Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said Monday that the team may not actively seek to add a player or two around the NHL's Feb. 28 trade deadline.

"It's hard to say and it depends on what player is available and the price you have to pay for a player," Rutherford said. "Some trades might be available, but for a good player to come in the other team might want two or three good, young players we have.

"Does that make sense, to work hard to build up depth in the organization and then weaken it for a playoff run? We'd have to weigh it, but I don't think we would go in that direction. We will stick with the plan."

For Rutherford, the plan is for the Hurricanes to keep doing what they're doing.

"We'll see how it goes the next three or four weeks, but I think we have a team capable of getting the job done," Rutherford said.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Marty Turco will get the start in goal against the Blue Jackets after watching Corey Crawford start the previous three games.

"We want (Turco) playing," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We're going to need both guys, so he gets a chance to play."

Marian Hossa is scheduled to return after missing the Hawks' 4-2 loss to the Wild on Jan. 25 with vertigo.

"It just hit me," Hossa said. "Basically everything starts spinning around you. (Monday) at practice I felt back to normal."

The Panthers go into the unofficial second part of the season looking for scoring anyway they can get it, according to The Miami Herald.

Centre Shawn Matthias had been playing well going into the All-Star break, but broke his right ankle after slamming into the boards last Thursday night in Boston. He had a point in each of the three games going into Boston and will be out an estimated six to eight weeks.

“He was playing strong,’’ coach Pete DeBoer said after Florida’s first practice since the team’s four day break for All-Star Weekend. “He’s a big guy who gets up and down the ice. He’ll be missed, but this is someone else’s opportunity.’’

With Matthias out, DeBoer switched up his lines Monday and moved struggling winger Michael Frolik to the fourth line.

The move was made as much out of desperation as it was necessity. Frolik, who had scored 21 goals in each of his first two seasons with the Panthers, has not scored a goal since Dec. 17. This run of 19 consecutive games without a goal is the longest drought of his short NHL career.

The Herald notes that Frolik was working at centre on the fourth line, flanked by Steve Bernier and Darcy Hordichuk. This combination probably won’t help Frolik break his dry spell, but because of injuries, this is as close to a benching as DeBoer can come up with right now. Frolik was scratched from the lineup on Oct. 28 in Ottawa after he opened the season with no goals in seven games; he bounced right back, scoring four goals in his next five games.

DeBoer hopes this move is another wakeup call. Frolik has no points in 11 consecutive games.

“This has never happened to me in this league before and it’s been very stressful,’’ said Frolik, who estimates that he hasn’t played centre regularly in seven years. “The games go so fast. You go five games without a goal and soon it’s 10, then 15. They pile up. I’m trying to play more relaxed, not try to do so much. Sometimes that goes against you. I can’t think about this too much, just play the game. I just need a bounce or a lucky goal to turn this around. It’s not easy.’’

Said DeBoer: “We kept him on the [first] line and gave him the opportunity. You can live with it if opportunities are being created, but when they dry up, that’s the red flag that we have to do something. He’s got to dig himself out of the hole and he’s done it before. He’s responded well. He’s not alone in the dry-up department when it comes to the goal department, but he’s probably the biggest offender in it.’’

The Nashville Tennessean mentions that Jordin Tootoo skated with the Predators Monday and the hour-long session marked the on-ice beginning along his road to recovery.

It was his first such activity with the Predators since Dec. 27, when the 27-year-old forward voluntarily admitted himself into the NHL/NHL Players Association substance-abuse program. He has been cleared to practice but not play in games or travel with the team.

"You want to be able to live a happy life," Tootoo said. "I'm still learning, so it's a learning process, but I'm just ecstatic that I'm at this point in my life and my career and I'm ready to move on from here."

The reason for Tootoo's departure has not been made public, but whatever it was, it had become difficult for the Predators to monitor.

"Nobody's perfect. We all have different issues in our life," General Manager David Poile said. "I think that it just reached, you know, a situation where he was becoming more difficult and obviously a distraction to others in our organization.

"The point is — this is the important point — is that Jordin got it and Jordin did it and he knows he's better off for it today."

The Tennessean indicates that it might be some time before Tootoo plays again. The choice is not his, though he carries most of the responsibility.

"It's up to people in the program when he's ready to go, and when they give us the word, he'll be ready to go," coach Barry Trotz said. "His first focus is on getting order in his life, and we support him 100 percent. The hockey thing will come, and he's working towards that."

Tootoo said he had the opportunity to exercise and train, but he wasn't in hockey shape. That is the least of his worries at the moment.

"I'm taking everything in right now and living in the moment," Tootoo said. "Any time you go into life-changing events it's going to take time to adjust. We're just going to go from there."

“I didn’t enjoy that much,” Patrik Elias told Fire & Ice of the All-Star fantasy draft. “The idea was good. I think the fans enjoyed it. The media enjoyed it. I’m sure some of the guys enjoyed it. It’s just my opinion. Whoever is going last is going to hear it for a long time. It’s not right. The guys are picked there because they’re the best on their team or they’re top players. You don’t want to put guys in that position.”

Elias said he was “kind of” relieved when he was picked and there were still five other players left. Elias said that giving the last pick a new car and $20,000 to donate to the charity of his choice didn’t make being picked last any more enticing.

“Everybody remembers the guy that goes last,” he said. “I had a good time mainly because my friends were there and I enjoyed it with them, the whole experience. Different things I liked, but I didn’t enjoy (the draft) that much.”

The San Jose Mercury News writes that even before training camp began last fall, the Sharks had their goaltending story -- and they've stuck to it.

We have two strong goaltenders in Antti Niemi and Antero Niittymaki. Both are No. 1 goalies. One is not above the other.

But if you have been paying attention to playing time, it sure looks like a pecking order has been established between the two natives of Finland. While a recent groin injury to Niittymaki obviously played a role, Niemi has started in 13 of the Sharks' past 16 games.

And San Jose coach Todd McLellan is willing to acknowledge the obvious about his goaltending situation. Well, sort of.

"Do we have a No. 1 goalie?" McLellan asked rhetorically. "Yeah, we do. Obviously, Nemo is playing well right now. We have a No. 1, but I put quotation marks around it. Nitty has been hurt, and he would have played before the All-Star break if he had been healthy."

Good luck, though, getting the soft-spoken Niemi to agree he has become the Sharks' first option in goal.

"I'm trying not to think about that at all," he said. "I'm just trying to focus on the games when they tell me to play and the practices when I'm not."

The Mercury News says that then the Sharks were stuck in that six-game losing streak in early January, something else was lost -- the fact that Niemi was finding a groove. His overall numbers (13-13-3, .912 save percentage, 2.69 goals-against average) might be so-so. But his January save percentage was .934 with a 1.99 goals-against average.

Something that doesn't show up in the statistics, teammates say, is that Niemi is playing with more confidence.

"During that losing streak, especially at the end, he was just phenomenal," Sharks captain Joe Thornton said. "We just weren't giving him any goal support. Now we are. I always think that you're going to go as far as the goalie is going to take you."

In the short term, the article notes, Niemi will continue to be the guy between the pipes. Niittymaki returned to practice Monday. But after already missing three games, he's still a few days away from being ready to play.

"Obviously, I haven't played a whole lot lately, even before the injury," Niittymaki said. "But I really can't worry about anything else other than doing my job well. Hopefully, I'll get back soon, and, hopefully, I'll get some playing time, too."

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Evander Kane returns to the Thrashers lineup tonight against the New York Islanders from what is now being called an “upper-body” injury.” Kane may have missed the past four games with a concussion after taking a blow to the head two weeks ago.

The upper-body injury was not related to the “mid-body” injury Kane suffered in December.

“I didn’t get re-injured,” said Kane, who missed three games earlier his season with a hip injury after being checked in Pittsburgh on Dec. 28. “I took a good shot to the face. It was kind of where my body wasn’t particularly healed. The rest helped and we took the time to use the [All-Star] break to my advantage and heal up.”

Kane is one of three Thrashers tied for second on the team with 13 goals. Bryan Little and Rich Peverley also have 13, three goals behind team leaders Dustin Byuglien and Andrew Ladd.

“I had time to rest and get healthy,” Kane said. “[Returning before the break for the Washington game] might have been pushing it a little bit. We made a good decision of letting me rest.

“Sitting out is probably the worst thing. I don’t like it at all. With that injury I had earlier I sat out three or four games. Now with this one, it’s definitely frustrating.”

Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay said Kane will bring more speed to the lineup.

“He should be pumped up to play,” Ramsay said. “He’s been out for a bit. He can’t play carefully. He’s got to go in there and bang around a little bit and get some pucks on the net. He’s got some speed. He’s got a shot. He can get to the net. We need to see him go out there and give us a spark.”

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported late yesterday afternoon that forward Andy McDonald will not play Tuesday against Colorado. Still working his way back into shape following a concussion, McDonald went through his first full practice with the team Monday.

"It was a good practice," McDonald said afterward. "I know I was able to skate last week on the road with the team, but those were more 'morning skates.' Today, I got a little bit more accomplished with some structured stuff. I feel good."

The Blues are anticipating that McDonald could be available for Friday's game against Edmonton.

Michael Scott in The Office: "Chris, what's the latest on Alex Semin? I can't believe he's been out this long and I really need his points back in my line-up. Love the live blogs though. They've helped fill the void on a few injured guys I've had this year."

Chris: Love your work too. Sad to see you leaving that show. :-)

Semin could play tonight, but he'll be a game-time decision with his groin issue. It'll be a busy night with 26 teams in action, but I'll try to tweet his status along with a few other key guys before the games get underway.

­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.