Hockey Hearsay

Hockey Hearsay runs weekdays, 12 months a year; mixing NHL stories, quotes and fantasy takes.

The Montreal Gazette relays that Canadiens goaltender Carey Price says there are times when you have to “eat some humble pie and move on.”

Price and defenceman P.K. Subban had extra helpings of humble pie in Saturday’s 6-5 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche, but they’re hoping to move on Tuesday night when the Buffalo Sabres visit the Bell Centre.

“Personally, it’s not that good,” Subban said Monday when asked to assess his performance in the Canadiens’ disappointing 1-2-1 start to the season. He has one assist and is a minus-3. And he’s one of the guys head coach Jacques Martin was talking about when he said there were players who were acting as individuals and getting away from the team concept.

“I definitely haven’t played the best you guys have seen me play,” Subban said. “Sometimes things happen and you don’t know why they’re happening. The coaching staff has shown confidence in putting me back out there and that gives me confidence, but I know I can play better.”

Subban’s most glaring error Saturday was when Paul Stastny stripped him of the puck in the neutral zone and scored on a breakaway.

“If I make the move and go in and score, nobody says anything,” Subban said. “But I turn it over and obviously you’re going to get flak for it. It’s about sticking to the game plan. We had a great third period and that was an example of how great we can be if we play as a team.”

Subban said he has talked with Martin, who would probably be satisfied if the Canadiens ramped their performance up to very good.

Martin is looking for an overall better performance and a sharper outing from Price, who has an .880 save percentage and a 2.96 goals-against average.

Price said he and goaltending coach Pierre Giroux put in some extra work Monday.

“We worked on positioning and my stick work because I’ve let a few in through the five-hole,” Price said.

The Gazette also indicates there was some good news on the injury front, although the Canadiens are still waiting for defenceman Andrei Markov to return from Florida where he is rehabbing under the watchful eye of Dr. James Andrews and Canadiens athletic therapist Nick Addey-Jibb.

Michael Cammalleri, who was cut on the leg by teammate Yannick Weber’s skate last week in Winnipeg, dropped into practice Monday. He won’t face Buffalo, but could be in the lineup Thursday in Pittsburgh.

And veteran defenceman Jaroslav Spacek skated by himself after practice. He suffered bruised ribs in the Winnipeg game and that’s a painful injury that requires time to heal. Look for him in 10-14 days.

The Vancouver Province says that when Ryan Kesler confirmed following practice on Monday that he was ready to play in Tuesday’s game against the visiting New York Rangers, the Canucks instantly got better in a number of ways. They’ll be better in the face-off circle, they’ll be better on special teams and — perhaps most importantly — we should begin to see some signs of the secondary scoring that’s mostly gone missing in the early going.

Kesler, who injured his left hip during the Stanley Cup playoffs and had labrum surgery on July 25, said he declared himself ready to play earlier Monday and doesn’t expect to take any baby steps.

“My hip is 100 per cent,” said Kesler. “I talked with the trainer and coach. I told them I don’t want to limp into the lineup. I expect big things from myself and obviously I want my minutes. It has been a long time coming and I’m excited about the opportunity and being able to help the team.”

Kesler said he was relieved to finally have the 12-week hip surgery rehab in the rear view mirror.

“It’s been a tough road watching the team play, but it’s definitely in the past now,” he said. “I missed being part of the team. Skating with the team the last bit here has been good for me, just hockey-wise and mentally. It’s going to be good getting back into the game day routine and going to war with these guys.”

It was clear from practice that Kesler was poised to return, as he took over the second line centre spot from Cody Hodgson, pushing the rookie to the right wing, while Chris Higgins remained at left wing. Kesler was also back in his usual spot on the first unit power play with the Sedins. Alex Burrows, who’d been keeping the seat warm for Kesler, was back on the second unit PP with Hodgson and Higgins.

Head coach Alain Vigneault said Kesler’s ice-time would be monitored.

“I think we’ll read (the ice-time), see how he looks on the ice, how he feels,” said Vigneault. “Because he didn’t have a training camp, on the ice it’s going to take a little bit of time, but we’re going to put him in.”

The Raleigh News & Observer writes that Eric Staal is the captain. Cam Ward is the backbone. They're still No. 1 and 1A in the Carolina Hurricanes' pecking order. With every game he plays, Jeff Skinner is closing in on them.

He's not there yet, but he continues to demonstrate his truly electrifying ability to make things happen with the puck on his stick, the kind of individual brilliance not often seen in these parts. It was Jussi Jokinen's vision that created the game-winning goal against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday, but Skinner's hands that finished it.

Coming into the year, there were naturally worries of a second-year decline from the Calder Trophy winner. Through five games, at least, Skinner has picked up where he left off last season. He has at least a point in all but one game, and with two goals and four assists he went into tonight's games in a six-way tie for 10th in the NHL in scoring, only two points off the league lead.

Not that it has been a perfect start to the season: With Staal at an NHL-worst minus-8 and Skinner at minus-6, by far the lowest among the league leaders, Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice split that line up in practice on Sunday. They figure to stay separated for tonight's game at the Boston Bruins that kicks off a brief three-game road trip.

But, the article notes, putting Skinner with Jokinen and Chad LaRose and Staal with Alexei Ponikarovsky and Tuomo Ruutu has the additional benefit of generating some matchup issues for opposing coaches, especially on the road.

So far, with Staal and Skinner on the same line, they have drawn the opposition's top defensive pair. Now, on the road, Claude Julien will have to decide which one to use Zdeno Chara against, in theory opening up space for the other. It's less important at home, where Maurice has more control over the matchups, but with the next three on the road, separating Staal and Skinner has immediate strategic value.

Skinner thrived last season in a secondary role, with Staal taking on the majority of the tough checking. A time will come in Skinner's career where he's physically and mentally capable of carrying that burden. He's not there yet, and it's important to remember he won't turn 20 until May.

"He's got the offense and he's got the skill," LaRose said. "That's not going anywhere. Of course he's getting checked a little bit harder and people notice him a little more, but he's getting the opportunities to score two or three goals a game. As long as that's there, there's nothing to worry about."

Marc-Andre Bergeron (2-6-8), Kris Letang (1-6-7), Brian Campbell (0-7-7), Erik Karlsson (0-6-6), Chris Pronger (1-4-5), Erik Johnson (0-5-5), Dennis Wideman (2-2-4), Sami Salo (2-2-4), Dion Phaneuf (1-3-4), Sheldon Souray (1-3-4), Ryan Wilson (0-4-4), Christian Ehrhoff (0-4-4)

The Sun-Sentinel reports that two months after taking some shots at former Capitals teammates such as Alexander Semin and others, Panthers forward Matt Bradley told the Sun Sentinel exclusively Monday that he was sorry and wanted to apologize. The Panthers play the undefeated Capitals in D.C. on Tuesday.

Basically, Bradley said that Semin, “just doesn’t care” enough about winning and doesn’t, “show up,” in the playoffs. He also said that superstar Alexander Ovechkin needed some, “growing up to as far as taking care of himself.”

“I wish I could take it back. I apologize for saying it. He’s a great player. It’s one of those things you wish you could take back, but you can’t, so all I could do is apologize and move forward,” Bradley said Monday after morning skate at the St. Pete Times Forum, where the Panthers will play the Lightning tonight.

“He’s one of the stars in this league. I had no business saying that.”

Bradley hasn’t had any contact with Semin since his controversial radio interview.

“It wasn’t my place to say anything. He’s one of the top players in the league,” he added.

Bradley said if he sees Semin Tuesday he would apologize in person.

“If I see him I’ll apologize,” Bradley said.

Bradley, who played for the Capitals from 2005-06 to 2010-11, said he has nothing but good feelings for the franchise, which has won the last four Southeast Division titles but has been unable to make it as far as the conference finals during the run.

“I love my years in Washington, it’s a great team, a great organization. My wife and I have a lot of fond memories of the area. We had our son, Henry, there [in Virginia suburbs],” he said. “I had a great six years there. All the guys I played with were great, the coaches were great.”

“You look at the three games we’ve played in the last four nights and they’re very similar in a lot of ways,” Sharks head coach Todd McLellan told The San Jose Mercury News following last night's 3-2 loss to Anaheim, which leaves his Sharks with a 1-3-0 mark. “Mistakes – and some real dumb mistakes — that led to the other team’s goals and then at the other end, a ton of chances that didn’t go in.

“Which end of the rope are we going to fix? In my opinion, it’s the dumb mistakes, the errors,” McLellan said. “I think the offense will take care of itself.”

A few notes from last night's Live NHL Recap

Avalanche's top nine: Joakim Lindstrom - Matt Duchene - Milan Hejduk/ David Jones - Paul Stastny - Chuck Kobasew/ Gabriel Landeskog - Ryan O'Reilly - Daniel Winnik Top PP times: Johnson, Hejduk, Stastny, Jones (2:02), Lindstrom (1:38)

Panthers' top nine: Tomas Fleischmann - Stephen Weiss - Kris Versteeg/ David Booth - Tomas Kopecky - Scottie Upshall/ Sean Bergenheim - Marcel Goc - Jack Skille Top PP times: Campbell (8:29), Kulikov (8:22), Versteeg (6:49), Weiss (6:08), Fleischmann (6:08)

Jets' top nine: Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little - Blake Wheeler/ Alex Burmistrov - Nik Antropov - Kyle Wellwood/ Brett MacLean - Mark Scheifele - Tim Stapleton Top PP times: Enstrom (6:32), Byfuglien (5:21), Little (4:37), Burmistrov (4:26), Antropov (4:16)

Oilers' top nine: Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle/ Ryan Smyth - Shawn Horcoff - Ryan Jones/ Linus Omark - Eric Belanger - Magnus Paajarvi Top PP times: Eberle (5:19), Hall (4:35), Potter (4:26), RNH (4:26), Horcoff (4:13)

Sharks' top nine: Patrick Marleau - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski/ Ryane Clowe - Logan Couture - Torrey Mitchell/ Tommy Wingels - Michal Handzus - Andrew Murray Top PP times: Boyle (9:34), Burns (7:01), Marleau (6:40), Thornton (5:57), Pavelski (5:56)

Notes: Martin Havlat is expected to make his season and Sharks' debut Friday against the Devils. Brent Burns (1G, 5 SOG) has goals in B2B games and points in three of four. Marc-Andre Bergeron (3A, 2:41 PP, 3 SOG) maintained his point-per-game average and added some gravy on top of that as well. Brian Campbell (4A, -1, no SOG) already had three helpers in three games coming in and he’s been a great bounce-back candidate so far with a prominent role. Kris Versteeg (2G, 2A, +1, 4 SOG) has a point in all four outings. Milan Hejduk (1G, 4 PIM, 3 SOG) had four points in his past four starts before this clash. Erik Johnson (1A, -1, 2 SOG) fired blanks in his first three starts, but then had back-to-back two-pointers coming in here

Philly.com observes that through the first four games of this young season, Flyers winger Scott Hartnell has not played more than 11:37 in any single game, cutting his ice time down almost 5 minutes below his 10-year career average; which also includes an entire 82-game rookie season in which he averaged 10:54 with Nashville.

"It bothers me that I'm not getting the minutes that I used to have," Hartnell said. "It's frustrating. But I'm still having fun. We're winning, we're all playing well and everyone is contributing."

Part of Hartnell's ice-time reduction is because it's still October. Up and down the Flyers' roster, nearly everyone has seen a cutback in ice time. Jaromir Jagr, 39, is down 7 minutes from his career average of 22 minutes per game. No one needs to be worn out with 78 games left on the slate.

Part of that is because young players like Matt Read, Sean Couturier and Wayne Simmonds have gobbled up some of Hartnell's time.

And part of that is by design, from Peter Laviolette, because Hartnell struggled in training camp.

"There's only so many spots," Laviolette said. "Based on what we saw in training camp, we had to have a starting point somewhere. Players who have certain roles need to continue to push, because a guy like Scott is working hard and he wants more ice and more opportunity.

"I understand that [he is frustrated]. But we had to begin somewhere."

The article recalls that last season he was on one of the Flyers' top lines with Danny Briere and Ville Leino. This year, he's spent much of his time with Couturier and Read. On Saturday, he saw a little time with Max Talbot.

What do those three players have in common? They all play on the penalty kill. So, when the Flyers get into trouble - they are tied for second with 27 minor penalties in four games - it's easy for Laviolette to leave Hartnell as the odd man out on the bench while his linemates kill penalties rather than break up his other even-strength lines.

The good news, for Hartnell, is that all of this is subject to change. There will be injuries. And others will play their way into slumps, as Hartnell, a streaky goal scorer, can attest. Minutes are up for grabs on a nightly basis.

Like him or not, Hartnell's down-and-dirty style of play can be a solid fit in Laviolette's up-tempo and aggressive style. Hartnell said he has not had "one word" of conversation with Laviolette, but that the message has been the same as it always has been.

"I didn't have the camp, obviously, that I would have liked to have," Hartnell said. "But you need to work hard and do the right things in order to get the minutes. If I work hard, I will get back up there."

The Columbus Dispatch points out that the Blue Jackets' injury situation with their goaltenders has gotten so bad -- the organization's No. 2, 3 and 4 goalies are currently out of commission -- that they had to rely on an obscure rule to field a full, healthy club on Tuesday vs. Dallas.

Mathieu Corbeil, a 2009 draft pick who remains unsigned, was recalled from his junior club, the Saint John SeaDogs, and will serve as Steve Mason's back-up. By NHL rules, he must be returned to Saint John on Wednesday.

How was this mess created?

Mark Dekanich, the expected No. 2 behind Mason when the season start, suffered a high-ankle sprain in the first exhibition game and has been out of goalie gear ever since. He's skating in a track suit, but that's it for now. Best guess, according to GM Scott Howson, is that he's at least two or three weeks away.

Curtis Sanford, the expected No. 3 who has been the No. 2 so far this season with Dekanich out, suffered a groin strain late in practice on Monday. He'll be evaluated again on Wednesday, but this could be a while. It's obviously more than a little tweak.

"You never know with these things," Howson said. "It could weeks instead of days."

Under normal circumstances, The Dispatch continues, the Blue Jackets would recall Allen York from AHL Springfield. But York suffered a shoulder injury over the weekend and missed Sunday's games. He was feeling "much better" today, Howson said, but he hasn't been cleared yet. York will be held out of practice on Tuesday, evaluated on Wednesday and could be recalled on Thursday if Sanford is still encumbered.

Why not Paul Dainton? He's only under contract with Springfield, not a two-way deal. It's not out of the question that the Blue Jackets sign him to a two-way deal if this mess continues, but that's not in the works right now.

So the Blue Jackets turned to rule book. It's not in the NHL's collective bargaining agreement with the NHL players' association. It's in the NHL-CHL agreement. The Canadian Hockey League is the governing body of the three Canadian junior leagues. A rule allows a club to recall under emergency a player from a junior club for 24 hours, and only 24 hours, to get through a disastrous situation, like this.

The Blue Jackets will get through Tuesday with Mason starting against the Stars and Corbeil his back-up. On Wednesday morning, Corbeil will head back to Saint John and the Blue Jackets will get an update on York. If he's healthy, he'll get recalled to Columbus (and yes, contrary to earlier reports, they CAN fit him under the NHL's salary cap).

If York isn't cleared, and Sanford isn't healthy ... well, then, maybe Sammy Pahlsson will make his debut as a goaltender.

"We'll get through Tuesday," Howson said. "We'll see where we stand on Wednesday. We'll deal with it on Thursday."

Fire & Ice reports that Petr Sykora is practicing at center today on the line with Mattias Tedenby and David Clarkson.

Dainius Zubrus is at right wing on the line with Zach Parise and Patrik Elias.

Those were the line combinations that Pete DeBoer switched to in the third period of Saturday’s game in Nashville.

The line of Ilya Kovalchuk. Jacob Josefson and Nick Palmieri remains intact.

The fourth line has four players on it—Eric Boulton, Rod Pelley, Brad Mills and Cam Janssen.

The defense pairs remain the same.

A lot has changed in a year's time, but The New York Post details how the Islanders are doing everything they can now in order to not repeat the past.

Last season, the team got off to a 4-1-2 start. There was buzz about their young core, their two goalies were solid and it looked to be the beginning of a breakthrough year.

Then they lost 20 of 21 games in November, got coach Scott Gordon fired and reverted to their all-too-familiar place as the butt of league-wide jokes.

Through four games of the 2011-12 campaign, the young Isles are 3-1-0 and have their fans reveling in Saturday night's 4-2 win over the rival Rangers, played at a boisterous and sold-out Coliseum. But the team is not looking too far forward as they head south to face the Lightning on Thursday and the Panthers on Saturday before returning home.

"Last year we had a pretty good start after four games," John Tavares said Saturday night, when he had his second consecutive four-point performance, including a hat trick. His opening of the season (five goals, three assists, plus-4 rating) made him the NHL's second star of the week, announced yesterday.

"There's still a long way to go," Tavares said. "A lot of hockey has to be played."

The good news for the Islanders is their two healthy goalies have looked good. Al Montoya started the first three games, posting a .953 save percentage. Evgeni Nabokov got his first start Saturday and stopped 29 of 31 shots, making it easier to deal with the concussion suffered by franchise netminder Rick DiPietro during last Wednesday's practice.

"I don't think I'm going to surprise anyone with the answer that it feels good to win the first game," Nabokov said. "It's always nice to play when so many fans are in the stands. They cheer you up and it's almost like they help you out a little bit."

The Islanders won't have that support system for the next two games, as they try to keep the momentum through Florida and carry it back to Long Island.

"We finally head on the road," Tavares said, "so that will be a good test for us."

Next Tuesday they host the Penguins in the first game this season after last year's February brawl when Pittsburgh goalie Brent Johnson broke an orbital bone in DiPietro's face and gave him his second concussion in the past three years.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette conveys that the Penguins apparently don't know precisely what happened to Tyler Kennedy , or when it did.

But they do seem reasonably certain that it resulted in a concussion, which is why he sat out their game Monday night against Winnipeg.

After Kennedy didn't go onto the ice at the game-day skate, coach Dan Bylsma said Kennedy was "suffering from concussion-like symptoms and is going to be evaluated further."

Bylsma added that Kennedy had informed the medical staff and coaches of his symptoms Sunday night, but that he was "not entirely sure" about the details of Kennedy's injury.

Kennedy's spot in the lineup for the Jets game was taken by rugged winger Steve MacIntyre , who made his second appearance of the season.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch declares that to mixed results, the Blues have made it through their last two games without Andy McDonald; but now with his concussion diagnosis official, they must find a longer-term solution to fill the void left by their leading forward in ice time.

McDonald was injured in Thursday's 3-2 loss to Dallas, and four days later, the club put the winger on injured reserve and acknowledged he will be out indefinitely with his second concussion as a Blue in 10 months.

The Blues moved T.J. Oshie into McDonald's spot at left wing on a line with center David Backes and Jamie Langenbrunner. The line scored one goal in the past two games, but it was an empty-netter by Backes against San Jose.

Oshie, who was playing with Patrik Berglund and Chris Stewart, has just two points this season (both assists) and those came in the first two games of the season. He is averaging 18:16 of ice time, which is the fifth most for a Blues' forward, but he has only five shots on goal, 10th among Blues forwards. Oshie had just one shot in 17:17 Sunday, and late in the game, Payne replaced him with Evgeny Grachev on Backes' line.

Oshie indicated he isn't happy with his production through five games.

"I haven't done quite what I've wanted to," he said. "I've been playing good in a lot of areas of the game, but offensively, I haven't been creating enough opportunities. Just getting more shots, just getting in the tough areas will get me going."

He's aware he'll have to be better all-around to remain a top option for McDonald's minutes.

"With him out, we've still got eight or nine guys that can step in there and fight for that role," Oshie said. "It just comes down to how everyone's playing, but we've definitely got to pick it up as a team offensively."

Vladimir Sobotka, who started the season on the Blues' fourth line, has played in Oshie's spot on the second line with Berglund and Stewart.

"I thought 'Sobi' was one of our best forwards (Sunday)," head coach Davis Payne said. "He's definitely making a statement about where he is fitting in and contributing.

"Our ability to still have depth throughout our three lines and have the fourth line contributing is still important. We're not going to be a top-line heavy team. ... We're going to be four lines that do the job and find our advantages within our depth. That's not going to change."

Mike in nj: "h2h league my goalies are neuvirth and nabokov, would you drop either/both of them for smith, deubnek, khabi, pavelec, giguere, rask, schneider?

the only skater i can drop is white or quincey, they are bench dmen but seem to be doing well. thanks for the thoughts Chris. good blog and recaps."

Chris: Thanks Mike. Neuvirth and Nabokov are your only two goalies? That can't be right. Regardless, I'd drop Quincey to add Rask and I'd consider dropping Nabokov for Schneider. I'm really not sure how the Isles' situation will break down with Montoya playing well and DiPietro eventually coming back. Schneider will get his starts behind Luongo on a good team and Rask should be the most valuable No. 2 guy around.

I'd keep White because he should continue to get good offensive looks with the Wings and be in line for a solid season.

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