Hockey Hearsay

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

Whether you consider yourself a fan of Sidney Crosby or not, today is a great day for the hockey world.

Sid is back.

The Pittsburgh Penguins superstar will play his first NHL game since last January, when he was diagnosed with a concussion. The Pens and Isles will square off in Pittsburgh, so you can only imagine how deafening the home crowd will be as its captain returns.

Naturally, this is a monstrous story for our sport given how important Crosby is to the NHL, how much time he's missed and how contentious the issue of concussions, headshots and the like have become in that time.

Hockey Hearsay brings you stories from around the hockey world each weekday. Today, since you can find a myriad of Crosby comeback stories already on Sportsnet.ca, there isn't much point to rehashing the same angles here.

Seven nights a week you can also find the Live NHL Recaps here on the site, where I'll run down the pertinent info from each and every NHL game on the docket. Line combos, power play times, key player notes and more can be found for each team.

Tonight? All Crosby-related impact. It's too big of a story to not dedicate the night to it.

When Dan Bylsma gave his press conference yesterday, he noted and I relayed via Twitter that the lines would be Sullivan-Malkin-Neal/ Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis/ Cooke-Staal-Kennedy. How will the current first power play unit of Letang-Sullivan, Malkin, Kunitz, Neal be impacted though and how long will the first variation on that actually last? Will Bylsma take away Sullivan's point work or Kunitz's down-low presence? How will Crosby fare in that first game? How will opposing players treat him on the ice in terms of contact? Will the lines vary early on if the Pens trail? Just how limited will Crosby's initial minutes be tonight? Can Jordan Staal continue to produce at his current pace with his old linemates and if not, how quickly will Bylsma move him onto Malkin's wing (something to which the coach alluded in yesterday's conference call) - which should then push Dupuis onto the third line?

Questions, questions and more questions. We'll get some of the answers tonight. Finally.

Exactly where is the wrist located on one's body, wonders The St. Petersburg Times?

Is it part of the upper body because it is attached to the arm, which goes to the shoulder? Is it the lower body because when one's arm hangs down, the wrist is below the waist?

These are burning questions in the NHL because of the way teams report injuries.

Teams cannot falsify information, but specifics are not required. All they must do is indicate the injury is to the upper or lower body.

"And then Babcock throws out mid body," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said of Red Wings coach Mike Babcock. "What the hell is that?"

Reporting injuries always has been a touchy subject in the NHL. And the rules adopted by general managers in 2008 created a tug of war between secrecy and transparency.

Revealing injuries would give opponents a competitive advantage, some teams say. And if injuries are revealed, they might be targeted with a whack of a stick to get opponents out of a game.

Fans and reporters simply want more information.

The Times points out they get it out of the NFL, which requires teams to report every hangnail. And specific injuries to NBA and Major League Baseball players are available on sports-related Internet sites.

Of course, basketball and baseball are not contact sports like hockey, and Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said of the NFL's rules: "It makes it better when you place your bets. You have more information.

"Because football does it doesn't make it right (for the NHL)," he added. "Why does disclosing injuries help us competitively? I don't feel there's any reason to disclose any injuries to anybody, forget upper body, lower body. There's nothing in it for us."

It can be dangerous for players, former Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk said, even though the game is much less violent that it was.

"As a player I didn't want people to know what's wrong with me," Andreychuk said, and added, "If a guy has a sore right hand, that's just the way life is, I'm going to whack him on the right hand. Nobody likes to talk about that, but that's the reality."

"It happens," Lightning coach Guy Boucher said, "more than you think."

Perhaps, but it is difficult to believe video scouting would not reveal who is hurt and where regardless of a team's secrecy.

Besides, Hitchcock said, players can police that situation themselves: "If they're coming after one of your injured players, you have the obligation to do the same to them."

As for not revealing injuries, Hitchcock said, "It's stupid.

"All it does is make (reporters) … mistrust us. What's the big deal? A guy has a sore shoulder, he has a sore shoulder. We're playing games with this stuff. If a guy gets hurt and he has an injury, we'll tell you where it is and what it is. They do it every day in football. It's no big deal."

The Calgary Herald recalls how the critics figured winger Curtis Glencross needed his head examined back in May for deciding to forgo free agency and sign a four-year, $10.2-million US contract extension with the Flames. Coming off career highs of 24 goals and 43 points, the speedy winger clearly took a hometown discount, walking away from perhaps his only chance to go to the highest bidder.

Looking back, the Provost, Alta., native said he has no regrets over inking the deal with a $2.55-million annual cap hit. He fully realizes the open market went crazy on July 1 — Scottie Upshall signed a four-year, $14-million deal in Florida, while Buffalo locked up Ville Leino for six years at $27 million.

“This is one of the benefits of playing close to home,” Glencross said, rubbing the red splotches on his forehead and cheeks (souvenirs from the exposure to the cold on a hunting trip that helped clear his mind the day before). “I can go out to the farm, go hunting, ride horses, or go ice-fishing out at the lake.

“I don’t have to think about hockey or worry about the game. I can just go do something different.”

From a team perspective, Glencross has plenty to worry about with the Flames sitting one game below .500 in 13th place in the Western Conference. From an individual standpoint, Glencross has picked up where he left off last season with seven goals and 12 points in 17 games.

He is on pace for 32 goals and 55 points on a line with Olli Jokinen and Rene Bourque.

“Glennie has probably been our best forward this season,” Bourque said. “He’s been consistent every night. He’s playing hard. He’s getting rewarded. I think he has really settled down here with his extension. He’s found himself a home here. He’s really happy. He has a new daughter, so that obviously brings a lot of joy to him. He spends a lot of time with his family. He has a lot of close friends here in Calgary.

“You see them after the game all the time. He always has 10 to 15 people here waiting for him.”

Deep down inside, The Herald continues, a tiny part of Glencross will probably wonder for the rest of his life how much money he gave up by signing early with the Flames. But at 28, he clearly has his priorities in order.

No. 1 is his baby girl Karter.

“She’s growing like a bad weed,” he said, his eyes lighting up at the topic. “She’s at that stage where she’s getting her own personality. She’s starting to figure out her fingers and hands and feet herself.

“When I’m on the road, my wife Tanya puts the phone to her ear. I say ‘Hi’ and Tanya says her eyes light up. She knows it’s her dad.”

A brief pause.

“You know, I’m happy,” he said. “I had a day off. I got to go away and go do something else I like to do.

“Having your family around — it’s tough to put a price-tag on that kind of stuff.”

The Montreal Gazette writes that on Sunday, Gomez spoke about the “surreal” situation in which he finds himself – it’s been 40 regular-season games, 47 including the playoffs – since he has scored.

And he said that for the first time since his return from a torn latissimus dorsi muscle just beneath the armpit, still not 100 per cent: “I’m feeling like: ‘Here we go, this is what I’ve worked for.’

“There’s nothing I can do about the time lost. It’s gone. You have to go forward and work even harder. Dwell on what’s been and you’ll go nowhere. It will tear you up inside.

“I look at nine games lost and I view it as being lucky that it was only that. I could have been out the whole year.”

Gomez had a glorious opportunity to end his scoring drought Saturday when he went in alone early in the third period, the scoring chance perishing in the glove of Rangers goalie Martin Biron.

“I felt good to have had the chance,” Gomez said. “I know I’m going to score. But honestly, I wouldn’t have felt any happier to score than I did setting up (Brian) Gionta in the slot.

“This whole thing is surreal to me now. I can’t help but think: ‘Are you kidding me?’ ”

In the meantime, #LastTimeGomezScored has been a trending topic on Twitter. A cursory glance at the hashtag reveals a few gems among the gibberish:

I rented my DVDs at Blockbuster;

I’ve since removed my winter tires and put them back on again;

The Winnipeg Jets were the Atlanta Thrashers;

The Bloc Québécois still existed and no one had voted NDP.

Elsewhere, professional Gomez critics and those happily piling on have got their jollies: Rocket Richard scored 50 goals in 50 games, will Gomez score zero in 50?

“If I worried about what people said about me …” Gomez said with a shrug, leaving the sentence incomplete.

“I basically look at things now like I’ve played two games feeling pretty good since my return from injury. Taking a faceoff finally doesn’t kill my arm.”

He even chuckled at the Blockbuster DVD line.

“If you can’t laugh about yourself,” Gomez said, “then you’re an (expletive).”

The Philadelphia Inquirer notes that the Flyers have never had a player win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's best rookie.

Not Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber, or Ron Hextall. Not Mikael Renberg, Mike Richards, or Jeff Carter.

Not anybody.

Read, whom the Flyers signed as an undrafted free agent, may end the drought.

In the season's first six weeks, the 25-year-old rookie winger has showcased blazing speed, a laser of a shot, and a knack for pouncing on loose pucks around the net. He has five goals in his last four games, the best streak for a Flyers rookie since Renberg had five goals in a three-game span in 1994.

"He's getting comfortable and understanding the way we're trying to do things," coach Peter Laviolette said.

Entering Sunday, Read led NHL rookies with eight goals, and he was tied for second in the plus-minus ratings at plus-6. Sean Couturier, the Flyers' other rookie-of-the-year hopeful, has five goals and is tops among first-year players at plus-9.

Because his father was in the military, Read and his family lived all over North America when he was growing up, including Calgary; Vancouver Island; Colorado; and Ilderton, Ontario.

Five years ago, Read starred in the United States Hockey League, scoring 28 goals in 58 games with the Des Moines Buccaneers.

Read then signed with Bemidji State, a tiny Division I school in hockey-crazed Minnesota. In his sophomore season, he helped the Beavers stun the college hockey world by reaching the NCAA Frozen Four.

NHL teams tried to lure Read to leave school and sign as a free agent. The offers weren't lucrative, and Read decided to finish school and get his degree in physical education.

Along the way, he was the Beavers' leading scorer in two of his last three seasons.

The Flyers eventually signed him to a one-way pact, a three-year, $2.7 million free-agent deal.

At the time, it seemed extremely generous for a player who went undrafted. With each game, however, it's looking more like the Flyers got a bargain.

Read, who raised eyebrows by collecting seven goals and 13 points in an 11-game stint with AHL Adirondack last year, has scored his eight goals in just 16 games with the Flyers.

The Buffalo News describes how Jhonas Enroth's laidback attitude translates to the ice. "Yo," as his teammates call him, rarely seems rattled. Despite losses in two of the last three games, he's still 7-2 this season with a goals-against average (2.03) and save percentage (.931) that rank in the NHL's top 10.

Folks in Sabreland will take those numbers. With Ryan Miller nursing a significant concussion that has him sidelined indefinitely, they'll have to take them. The crease belongs to Enroth for the foreseeable future.

"I've always trusted myself," the 23-year-old said. "If other guys can do it, I can do it. That's how I've felt. The NHL is always a dream, and I've been working for this a long time. I'm just trying to stay sharp and stay in the league for as long as I can."

When Enroth talks, it's clear he believes in himself. He feels he's earned his 16-4-2 record over the past two seasons with years of training and playing in his native Sweden.

"He's got that cool confidence," teammate and roommate Matt Ellis said. "When you look at him, he's as cool as they come, but he's got that confidence and that belief that he'll go in there and get the job done. His play has shown that."

Forward Luke Adam, who played with Enroth in Portland last year, says Enroth's desire equaled his talent when the goalie began to lose playing time. Enroth was just 9-10-1 at the end of December, while crease mate David Leggio was 9-3.

"That forced Jhonas to play really well, and it's kind of a weird thing with goalies that when they're pressured by somebody else they play better," Adam said. "He realized nothing was going to be given to him. He's a great goalie who works so hard every day. He wants to get better and really focuses on improving as a goalie.

"He's had some great success here, and it goes back to what he learned in the American Hockey League."

ESPN Dallas reports that right wing Tomas Vincour arrived from Cedar Park Sunday morning and said he wasn’t sure if he’d be in the lineup for Monday night’s game against Edmonton. Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said Vincour would be in the lineup, and so would defenseman Philip Larsen.

“They'll bring youthful energy,” said Gulutzan, who coached both players with Texas of the AHL last season. “I know both those guys very well and I think they can help. We're at this point of the season where whatever it takes to make us better, we're going to do.”

With the Stars mired in a five-game losing streak and struggling offensively as well, the Stars could use a spark. Who comes out of the lineup to make room for Vincour and Larsen has yet to be determined, according to Gulutzan.

Vincour, who turned 21 on Saturday, has a team-high 10 goals in 15 games with the Texas Stars this season.

“He’s earned the right to come and play for us and see what he can do at the next level,” said Gulutzan. “We’ve got four goals in the last five games. We’re not putting the world on him to score, but he is developing into that player.”

Said Vincour: “I hope to bring whatever they want me to do. I will do whatever they want me to do. And hopefully we’ll get two points tomorrow.”

Larsen, 21, picked up 10 points (1 goal, 9 assists) in 10 games with the Texas Stars and was among the top scoring defensemen in the AHL. Seven of the 10 points came on the power play.

“I’m not going to lie to you, I think Philip is ready to play in the NHL,” said Gulutzan.

Gulutzan said Larsen needed more time in Cedar Park to work on the offensive part of his game.

“Offensively he was just OK for us last year. Defensively he was really good,” said Gulutzan. “He was a way better defender than you think he is. He competes, he’s hard, he’s attentive to detail, he can close on guys quick with that speed and he’s got a good stick. When he went down I told him it’s the offensive part of your game – he needed to get more shots through, be better on the line, have a little more patience offensively. He needed to shoot the puck more; he was always looking for the pretty play. He’s been working on that and he’s got better numbers than he had with me. I think the next step in his progression is to play in the NHL.”

The Miami Herald indicates that Pete DeBoer was in unfamiliar territory Sunday afternoon, strolling the halls of the BankAtlantic Center as a few members of his team practiced on the ice. He was back at the Sunrise arena for the first time since being fired by Dale Tallon on April 10.

DeBoer will face the Panthers on Monday night, telling reporters after Saturday’s win in Tampa that “for a lot of reasons, I’d like to win that one.” It’s not just the revenge factor either. DeBoer’s Devils are 3-1 going into the finale of a five-game trip and have won six of eight.

“He has his team playing well,’’ said Kevin Dineen, who replaced DeBoer behind the Florida bench. “You move on. It’s a tough game to sit there and wish ill will on anyone. Sometimes that’s the human reaction, but as far as two points go, I’m sure he wants the wins for the standings instead of just beating the Florida Panthers.’’

DeBoer said he still follows the Panthers and has no regrets in regards to his tenure here. Florida earned 93 points in his first season, second-most in franchise history, but missed out on the playoffs. The final two seasons were a mess, as the team was in turmoil and flux.

“I’m definitely a better coach; I’ve learned a lot,’’ said DeBoer, who has the second-most wins in franchise history. “I have no regrets, none. Obviously, you don’t take a job anticipating three [general manager] changes and three ownership changes in your time, but I don’t regret the job I did and wouldn’t have changed anything. We poured ourselves into this job and lived it for three years. I left a better coach and really enjoyed my time in South Florida.”

This summer at the draft, DeBoer approached the new coach of the Panthers to talk. The two mostly spoke of the youth hockey scene in South Florida, as both have kids around the same age. DeBoer wanted Dineen to know that he wasn’t bitter about anything. Dineen appreciated DeBoer reaching out.

“We had a great talk,’’ Dineen said. “He couldn’t have been more gracious to me. It’s no fun being on that side of it, and we both worked on making something that could have been uncomfortable be not that way at all. We wish him well for a lot of times, just not Monday night.”

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Blues winger T.J. Oshie "jammed" his right wrist in a first-period collision Saturday night in Minnesota, and although he returned to the game and scored a goal, he missed Sunday's practice because of the injury and is listed as day to day.

"We're just being cautious with it right now," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We're hopeful that he plays on Tuesday."

The Blues host Los Angeles on Tuesday at Scottrade Center, and if Oshie can't play, LA native Brett Sterling will make his Blues debut against his hometown Kings. On Sunday the team called up Sterling from its minor-league affiliate in Peoria, Ill., and he'll be on the ice at this morning's practice.

The club would be taking a hit if it lost Oshie, who had a goal and assist in Saturday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Wild. After a slow start, Oshie has five goals and three assists in November, giving him six goals and seven assists this season.

"He played really good (Saturday)," Hitchcock said. "He played hard."

Sterling, 27, has the potential to be a solid replacement. He has 12 goals this season for the Rivermen, tying him for the lead in the American Hockey League. His 22 points rank second in the AHL. The 5-foot-7, 175-pound forward has played 26 NHL games, posting nine points (five goals, four assists). Sterling had three goals and five points in seven games with Pittsburgh last season, but his contract expired after the year and he signed a two-way, free-agent deal with the Blues in July.

"I've never seen him play," Hitchcock said. "I think the biggest thing is, it will be good for him to get a practice under his belt with us."

Blues defenseman Ian Cole, who has played three games for the parent club this season, was a teammate of Sterling in Peoria recently. He believes Sterling has the ability to contribute at the NHL level.

"Obviously people are like, 'Oh, he's small,'" Cole said. "But he's good. He's a strong kid. A lot of the goals I saw him score were right around the net somewhere. He'd go in the battle areas. Obviously he has the skill to play on the outside, but he also is very willing to go inside.

"He was up with Pittsburgh last year and put up three goals in seven games. He's more than capable of playing up here. There's obviously that transition period, the style of play is different, but he'll be fine."

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