Hockey Hearsay

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

The Washington Post reports that Bruce Boudreau was fired as coach of the Washington Capitals on Monday, two days after his team was humbled, 5-1, in Buffalo by an injury-depleted Sabres team that was without nine regulars.

Former Capitals great Dale Hunter has been tapped as his replacement. Hunter, 51, appeared in 872 games for Capitals from 1987 to 1999 and is one of four players to have his number retired by the club. He served as team captain from 1994 to 1999.

Hunter will coach his first NHL game Tuesday when the Capitals host the St. Louis Blues. For the past 11 seasons, he has served as coach and co-owner of the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights.

Saturday night’s loss, Washington’s second in a row and eighth in the past 11 games, dropped the Capitals’ record to 12-9-1, which was tied for eighth best in the Eastern Conference.

In four-plus seasons behind the Capitals’ bench, Boudreau posted a regular season record of 201-88-40 in 329 regular season games, recently becoming the fastest coach to record 200 regular season victories.

The Washington Post has these live notes from Capitals GM George McPhee's press conference on the firing of head coach Bruce Boudreau, who will be replaced by Dale Hunter.

— Will Ovechkin be stripped of the captaincy? “That’s not gonna happen.”

— Has McPhee talked to Ovechkin about the coaching change? “No, I’ve talked to the team.”

— On Boudreau seemingly losing the room: “Sometimes it just wears out. ... I’ve seen it before with other coaches. Sometimes like having the same teacher for five years... So you make the change and hope that a new voice and a new way of doing things and a new focus gets the best out of these players.”

— Hunter will need to focus on defense, McPhee says. “We’re just giving up too many goals.”

— Boudreau and McPhee met at 6:15 a.m. “He said the right things and he made me feel better about the decision.”

— McPhee said coaches have a short shelf life and it has to be accepted. “The league is so competitive that it requires a lot... Bruce emptied the tank, he gave it everything, he pushed every button he could push.”

— Dale Hunter “knows two things, farming and hockey. And he’s really good at both.” Ooookay.

— “We’ve talked consistently over 12 years; I was hoping that one day Dale would coach this team. Timing’s everything and the time is right now.” Hunter only wanted to coach the Capitals — as head coach.

— On Dale Hunter, who played in the NHL for 19 years: “That guy played the same way every night, and it was hard... everyone who played with him revered him.”

— “I don’t think this had anything to do with Alex Ovechkin,” McPhee said. It was that the team wasn’t playing well as a whole.

— McPhee said he didn’t like some things he saw in training camp in the preseason but after the Capitals’ 7-0 start, he held off.

— McPhee says no players were consulted. “I don’t take that kind of input from players. We’ve never done that and we never will do that.”

—McPhee: “The reason for the change was we werent winning, obviously, and this wasn’t a slump. You can ride out slumps. This was simply a case of the players were no longer responding to Bruce.”

“Bruce did a terriffic job here... but when the players aren’t responding you have to make a change.”

Washington Capitals owners Ted Leonsis has a blog called "Ted's Take". Here's today's post on the firing of his head coach and it's titled, "Thank You Bruce".

Gratitude. We just completed a long weekend to give thanks and express gratitude.

It’s never easy to let a coach go, and Bruce was a popular personality who helped turn around our franchise. Despite what transpired on the ice this year, I always will be thankful for Bruce’s time with the Capitals and will remember him fondly. He is a great coach who I’m confident will land another spot in the NHL. Unfortunately the shelf life of a coach is short; Bruce was the fifth longest tenured coach in the league. That’s amazing to me.

Here is the news release announcing Dale Hunter as coach. Dale was a tenacious player and great leader. The reins are his, and we are here to support him. More on Dale later, but first I wanted to express my appreciation for Bruce and what he has meant to our franchise and our community - he not only won games but also created a tremendous brand awareness for us locally as well as nationally and even internationally.

I am very grateful. Bruce was instrumental in the team’s success over the last four seasons. He won four division championships, a Presidents’ Trophy, an Eastern Conference banner, two playoff series and coached us to our best records in team history during the regular season. He also won a coach of the year award and holds the record for winning 200 games faster than any coach in NHL history. He is a good man. Thank you for four great years. I appreciate all you did for us as a franchise. I am grateful to you and your entire family.

The Raleigh News & Observer reports that the Carolina Hurricanes have fired head coach Paul Maurice, general manager Jim Rutherford said Monday.

Rutherford would not say who the replacement would be. It's expected Kirk Muller, a former NHL player and head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL, will be named at a press conference later today.

"It's unfortunate," Rutherford said of the firing. "But we need to see if we can get back into it with this, or if we need to change some more players."

The Admirals, the AHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators, played in Charlotte this past weekend against the Charlotte Checkers, the Canes' AHL affiliate.

Muller, 45, spent 19 seasons in the NHL, playing in more than 1,450 regular-season and playoff games. He helped the Montreal Canadiens win the 1993 Stanley Cup.

Muller later was an assistant coach for the Canadiens before being named the Admirals' head coach in June.

Maurice twice served as coach coach of the Canes and has an overall NHL record of 460-457-167. He coached 920 games for the Canes organization and was 384-391-145.

Michigan Live describes how seeing the speed, skill and potential Valtteri Filppula possesses, the Detroit Red Wings continually have challenged him to bring out his best.

He has answered the call this season, playing the best hockey of his career. It is the kind of internal improvement the team needs from its supporting players, one that can make a significant difference.

"I said to (general manager) Kenny Holland, it might have been as good a stretch as he’s had since he’s been here," coach Mike Babcock said.

Filppula has four goals in his past three games. He is second on the team with seven goals and is tied for second with 19 points. He is on pace to eclipse his career highs in goals (19 in 2007-08) and points (40 in 2008-09).

Holland said it has just taken some time for Filppula, who is only 27, to mature as a player.

"Everybody wants a 23-, 24-, 25-year-old to be a good player," Holland said. "If you’re a really good player in the NHL at 23, 24, 25, you’re a star, and not everybody is a star. It takes time to feel comfortable with the league and your responsibilities.

"We talked to the team in training camp, said that if we were going to take the next step forward we needed some of our 20-somethings to take a step.

"He’s comfortable with the league. As he plays good, he gets more responsibility. He’s more confident hanging onto the puck."

Filppula has been stronger on his skates and more assertive with the puck. He’s playing more on the inside.

"Trying to go to the net a little more and trying to shoot the puck a little more," Filppula said. "I think that’s the main two things that I’ve tried to focus on. A lot of goals are scored by getting rebounds, and I’m just trying to go to the net and find pucks."

Throughout all his line shuffling, Babcock has kept Filppula mostly on the wing. Lately, he has been skating with Zetterberg and Danny Cleary, though Jiri Hudler replaced Cleary on that line in Saturday’s 4-1 victory against Nashville, Detroit’s fifth in a row.

Filppula has good chemistry with Zetterberg, who after a slow start is picking up the pace with seven points (two goals, five assists) in six games.

"He’s great with the puck, he’s great without the puck, and when he has the puck, you just try to get open and he’s going to give it to you," Filppula said. "At the same time, when I have the puck, he’s working hard to try to get available. So, he makes it easy to get him the puck as well."

The Buffalo News says the Sabres have no problems with the numbers being put up by Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville. They need more from Derek Roy, who has been battling injuries since training camp, and from struggling free-agent signee Ville Leino.

And they certainly need more from winger Drew Stafford, who was coming off a 31-goal season and figured to be one of their major core players after signing a four-year, $16 million contract in June.

Stafford missed Saturday's 5-1 win over Washington with what's believed to be a minor groin injury and is listed as day to day. The Sabres were off Sunday and return to practice today. They host the New York Islanders on Tuesday night in First Niagara Center.

When he gets back on the ice, Stafford has plenty of work to do. The calendar is nearly at December and he has only four goals.

"The last few games I've been trying to get the puck to the net a little bit more and keep getting shots," Stafford said. "I know that's been the answer for a while pretty much. Keep getting shots and getting to the net and one will eventually go in but it's true."

The article notes Stafford has definitely been getting closer in recent games. He's had at least five shots on goal three times in his last six outings. And he had a season-high seven in Wednesday's shootout loss to Boston, a game that saw him driving the net as hard as he had all season.

"He's had some really good games in between, some ones we haven't liked," coach Lindy Ruff said. "The Boston game was probably the best game he played and he didn't get rewarded for it. He's just been a little bit off his mark when it comes to shooting."

"It starts with that," Stafford said when asked about driving the net. "When I'm playing well, I'm skating and I'm getting there. I felt good skating-wise. It's one of those things you have to make sure you keep at it.

"I'm trying to make plays out there. When things aren't going well and frustration starts creeping into your game, if you stop working and let that get to you, it's only going to get worse."

The Columbus Dispatch believes that the trade of Blue Jackets defenseman Kris Russell to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Nikita Nikitin earlier this month has been mutually beneficial.

Nikitin, an afterthought in St. Louis, has gobbled up ice time and has five assists with the Blue Jackets.

Russell has been energized by his move to St. Louis — he has three goals and one assist in eight games with the Blues.

Goal No. 3 was a back-door rebound with eight seconds remaining in the second period last night that tied the score during a 2-1 win over the Blue Jackets in Nationwide Arena.

Russell, who had been with the Blue Jackets since 2007, said the move was difficult. But it was made smoother by the presence of former Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock, who was hired by the Blues five days before Russell arrived on Nov. 11.

“You never expect it,” said Russell, who did not know any Blues players before he was traded. “It was tough to leave the guys and the community. But it was pretty cool that I actually knew Hitch. He was a friendly face.”

Nikitin, meanwhile, played fewer than 23 minutes last night (22:43) for the first time since joining the Blue Jackets. He had one goal and eight assists and reached the 23-minute mark in only two of 41 games last season, his first in the NHL.

Nikitin had no points with the Blues this season and was scratched in eight of his final nine games before the trade. But he quickly developed a chemistry with Blue Jackets defensive partner Fedor Tyutin, a fellow Russian.

“Two countrymen who are speaking the same language on the ice,” Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel said. “That has been a real nice surprise for us.

“We (the coaching staff) didn’t know a lot about (Nikitin). Obviously, someone upstairs did. They did their homework.”

“The game’s changed,” Sharks blueliner Dan Boyle told The San Jose Mercury News, acknowledging that opponents have tightened up in the neutral zone and that puck-carrying defensemen such as himself need to adjust their game as well.. “Everybody’s playing the same way – the neutral zone is pretty much eliminated, which is where I get a lot of my offense. Everybody just fires long bombs, chipping it in. It’s just a little bit more frustrating for me.”

The Denver Post indicated Sunday afternoon that a day after leading the Avalanche to a comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in his NHL debut, rookie defenseman Stefan Elliott participated in his first practice with the team since training camp. Colorado coach Joe Sacco didn’t exactly suggest Elliott is here to stay, but the coach certainly didn’t make it seem like Elliott would be sent back to the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League anytime soon.

Elliott, 20, was recalled from Lake Erie on Friday night and played extremely well against the Oilers. He was noticeable throughout the game, making terrific long passes, jumping up from the blue line to sustain an attack in Edmonton’s zone, breaking up a couple Oilers’ odd-man rushes in the Avalanche end, and ultimately scoring the game-winning goal with a skillful long wrist shot through traffic.

If Elliott continues to play well, he will continue to play for the Avalanche. If he’s scratched a time or two, he won’t be out of the lineup long. And when defenseman Erik Johnson (groin) is activated from IR, it sounds like the Avs might keep eight defensemen (they have had 14 forwards, seven D and two goalies on the 23-man roster).

“I don’t want a player at that age sitting in the stands and watching. But his play will dictate that,” Sacco said of Elliott. “If he is ever out of the lineup, it won’t be long. Because, like I said, we don’t want him standing around. He certainly made an impact in his first game, in a very positive way, but as we go from here, it’s about being consistent throughout the whole year. So let’s see where he goes after the first game.”

When Johnson is activated, Sacco said: “At that point we should have eight healthy defensemen, and we’ll have to make some hard decisions at that time, as far as who’s in the lineup and who’s not in the lineup. Just like always, it will be based on merit. The guys that are playing well that deserve to stay in the lineup will deserve to be in there. We’ll figure it out as we go along.”

ESPN Dallas points out that with Kari Lehtonen out due to a groin injury, the Dallas Stars will now turn to Andrew Raycroft to carry the load in goal.

“Razor’s been the guy before and that’s why we got him,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan.

It’s still not clear how long Lehtonen will be unable to play. He’s on injured reserve, so he’ll be out at least one week. The Stars will get a better idea of a time frame after they get results of an MRI of his groin. But the Stars do have the schedule in their favor at this point. Starting with Monday’s game in Denver, they have just five games over the next 15 days.

“The silver lining here is that if it is a week or two week injury we don’t play a ton here until we go out on the road,” said Gulutzan. “That’s what we are hoping for and we have full confidence in Razor to get it done and take us to where we need to go.”

Raycroft is 0-5-0 this season, but all five decisions have come on the second night of back-to-back games for the Stars and four of those have been on the road. And the guys in front of him haven’t provided him a ton of offensive support. The Stars have scored just five goals in Raycroft’s five games and have been shut out twice.

“I’ve been a starter in the league and to be honest, feel more comfortable with it most of the time. You can get into a bit of a rhythm,” said Raycroft. “It will be nice to feel a rhythm and just get the pace of play down and get better reads. I’m looking forward to that.”

The Stars called up Richard Bachman from the Texas Stars of the AHL to serve as the backup to Andrew Raycroft while Kari Lehtonen is out.

The Philadelphia Inquirer indicates that Ron Howard, the actor and director, was among the loud crowd that watched the injury-plagued Flyers drop a 2-0 decision to the Rangers on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

If Howard was making a movie about the Flyers' free-spirited Scott Hartnell, it might be called Misunderstood.

Hartnell, who seems to fall down as much as anyone in the league, was an easy target for fans earlier this season as he went goalless in the first seven games.

Left unsaid was the fact he was battling an undisclosed injury prior to camp and that it "hindered his conditioning program," according to general manager Paul Holmgren. "Since then, he has worked hard on and off the ice to get up to speed."

The work has produced positive results, though Hartnell still has a penchant for untimely penalties (14 minors, tied for fifth in the league).

In the last 16 games, Hartnell has nine goals and eight assists. His resurgence started after he was put on the team's top line, with Claude Giroux and Jaromir Jagr.

"My body didn't feel 100 percent coming into camp," said Hartnell, who leads the Flyers with a plus-10 rating. "It took a lot of time until I felt comfortable getting back on my skates, holding pucks in the corner."

The 29-year-old winger said coach Peter Laviolette told him he needed to get in better shape. Since then, he has been one of the Flyers' most productive players.

"The message was sent," Hartnell said. "I spent extra time in the gym."

Fred, from Alberta: "Hi Chris

Defence Question. Have the following D: B. Campbell, Pronjer, Shattenkirk, and S. Salo. Have R.Whitney and Visnovsky on the IR

With Whitney now off the IR, which Defenceman should I drop?

Also- there are some other Free agents: Leddy, Seabrook, A.Markov(IR), Girardi,Vasic, Clitsome, Robidas, Bogosian, Garrison, R Wilson Head vs Head, non-keeper, with the following stats: P,+/-,PIMS, PP,GWG,Hits, SOG. What do you suggest? Thanks !!"

Chris: The good news is you have options here. If Leddy is a free agent the way he's producing, then you shouldn't be able to get yourself in too much trouble no matter which guys you decide to roll with now.

I like Whitney a lot and I expect him to be a central part of Edmonton's offence from the back end. But given how he needs to get up to speed and since you have quality options already, I think your only play - assuming you're forced into making a move - is to drop Whitney. Grab Markov to fill that IR slot too.

I'd at least consider Leddy over Shattenkirk. Normally Salo's durability is the issue, but as long as he's healthy and in a PP1 slot keep him around.

Chris Kokot: "Hello Chris!

I have a goalie question for you. I have Kari Lehtonen as one of my goalies, but now that he's on IR, I don't know how long he'll be out of action. My question is, should I place him on IR, depending on how long he'll be out, and if so, then who should I replace him with. I was thinking of maybe Khabibulin of the Oilers or maybe Elliot of the Blues. Thank you for the help."

Chris: As I write this Chris, all we know is Lehtonen will miss the week required by the IR replacement. We should know more later today, hopefully.

By all means, if you have a crack at Brian Elliott the way he's playing then take it. Khabibulin has been strong too and I believe he'll see more starts from today through April than will Elliott, but Elliott is in a zone and the Blues are under Hitchcock's guidance now. His hockey systems benefit the goalies, as he's proven time and time again. Take a goalie like Elliott who was already playing well and this is what happens...

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