Hockey Hearsay

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

The Denver Post details how through his first 31 games, overall the Avs have been happy with what they have gotten from 19-year-old Swede Gabriel Landeskog.

"There are probably times during the course of a season where he's going to get a little tired," said Avalanche coach Joe Sacco. "He plays a lot. He plays over 17 minutes a night and this is his first year in the league. He plays on power play, he plays in penalty killing, plays some four-on-four, he plays in all situations. So I don't see how we can say how we don't like his progress.

"It's definitely going in the right direction. He does a lot of things that don't show up on the scoresheet."

Landeskog, the second choice in this year's NHL draft, has added size, grit and skill to the Avs' front lines. But he has gone 16 consecutive games without a goal entering tonight's rematch with the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. After scoring four goals in his first eight games, Landeskog has only one in the past 23. Is he hitting a rookie wall?

"Obviously I would like to have more goals," Landeskog said. "If that isn't happening, I at least want to do other things that could give us a chance to win."

Nobody has any complaints about the rest of his game. Landeskog leads the Avs in hits with 81. His 95 shots on goal also lead the team. He is plus-5 defensively, and Sacco has gotten him on the ice in crucial defensive situations late in games.

Still, the rookie's goal-scoring drought is at least a minor concern. It's tough to win without putting the puck in the net. Landeskog did just that Tuesday night in Denver against San Jose. While it doesn't count as an official goal for Landeskog, his decisive shootout score was the deciding factor in Colorado getting an extra point. Landeskog burst down the middle and beat Sharks goalie Antti Niemi easy as you please.

"That goal kind of reminded me of the one he scored in Chicago earlier this year, when he stole a puck and came in alone and got us a huge goal," Sacco said. "What you really want to look at is, 'Are they generating chances, even if they aren't scoring goals,' and Landy's line is generating chances. You just have to look at the shot totals. Eventually, you keep generating chances, you play the right way, the puck's going to go in."

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believes there is a certain, sad symmetry to it all.

Penguins defenseman Zbynek Michalek , who has missed the past seven games because of a concussion, expects to be back in the lineup Friday when they visit the Ottawa Senators.

His brother Milan , a Senators forward who had dressed for all 31 of his team's games this season and led the NHL with 19 goals before Wednesday night, nearly certainly will not be in uniform against the Penguins.

Because of, you guessed it, a concussion.

Milan Michalek was injured in a collision with teammate Erik Karlsson in the second period of a 3-2 overtime victory Tuesday in Buffalo, N.Y.

"Hopefully, it's not too serious, and he's going to be back soon," Zbynek Michalek said. "He's having a good season. It would be a shame for him to miss a lot of time."

The Senators are listing Michalek as "day-to-day."

Zbynek Michalek sat out the Penguins' past seven games after receiving a blow to the head late in the third period of a 4-3 overtime victory Nov. 26 in Montreal. He made it through practice Wednesday with no apparent problem and clearly is optimistic about being able to play against the Senators.

"As long as I don't have any symptoms and I feel fine ... so far, that's been the case," he said. "If it keeps going like this, I'm hoping to be back in the lineup on Friday."

The Calgary Herald points out that Alex Tanguay admits the notion had crossed his mind.

As he struggled through his worst professional campaign — failing to produce, languishing on the fourth line, enduring the occasional healthy scratch, withering under the scorn of his employers — Tanguay, at 30 years of age, really did wonder. Maybe an unfulfilling one-year stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning would serve as his National Hockey League swansong.

“Partway through the season I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep playing,” says the Calgary Flames winger, who, returns to the St. Pete Times Forum on Thursday night for the first time since the dismal winter of 2009-10. “I really thought, ‘This might be it.’ I wasn’t having any fun.

“Over the summer, I realized how much I like hockey. Last year (with the Flames), that was my goal — to get back, to go out and enjoy myself, to do what I’ve always done as a kid. Go out with a smile on your face and try to do the best you can. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It got to the point where it was hard to go to the rink (in Tampa). Now I’m having fun.”

It showed.

Returning to Calgary for 2010-11, Tanguay responded with 69 points — a whopping 32 more than he’d had in 80 dates with the Bolts — and good enough for 25th in the NHL scoring race.

“It was a great learning experience for me,” he says of his time in Tampa, “but I wish I didn’t have to go through it. But it’s part of the process of becoming older and wiser. If I had known that 10 years ago, it certainly wouldn’t have happened.

“It’s nice that it’s over.”

Not only did that season mark his first without a sniff of the NHL’s post-season, it stands as a low-point of production.

“A tough year for me,” says Tanguay. “The fans, the organization, it seemed like everyone was on me. I wished I would’ve played better, but it is what it is. I can’t do anything about it now. I wish circumstances would have been a little bit different . . . but you can’t worry about it too much.”

The San Jose Mercury News points out that in the win-now-or-else NHL, five head coaches already have been fired this season. But with the struggling Sharks having won just two of their past nine games, Todd McLellan isn't worried that he will become victim No. 6.

"I'm not concerned one bit," McLellan said Wednesday. "I know what we do every single minute to get better, and I know our players are working hard every single minute."

Several of those players made it clear they have their coach's back, saying it's ridiculous that questions are being raised about McLellan's job security.

"We are not anywhere near the same ballpark as other teams were that changed coaches," Ryane Clowe said. "We have complete faith in our staff. Guys want to play hard for Todd. We're prepared and ready. We don't get out-coached, that's for sure."

Added captain Joe Thornton: "I think that's unfair. It wouldn't make any sense at all, and you don't hear anything like that being talked about around here."

San Jose general manager Doug Wilson has a policy of not commenting on speculation about potential player or coaching changes. But it's not hard to read between the lines that McLellan continues to have his support.

"We believe in this group and we believe in this staff," Wilson said. "We look forward to this team playing up to its capabilities."

Sharks players told The Mercury News effort has not been the team's problem during this cold spell.

"I know how hard we're trying out there," Logan Couture said. "We just have to find ways to win, and it has to come from within among the players. That's on the players. It's up to the people who actually are on the ice."

Yet the stark reality is that when pro teams underperform, the coach often pays the price. And among the major sports leagues, the NHL is particularly quick to jettison coaches as organizations look for a different "voice" to reach players.

California's other NHL teams already have pink-slipped their coaches -- Anaheim's Randy Carlyle and Los Angeles' Terry Murray.

Apples and oranges, Clowe responded.

"We should be at the top of the conference right now, but it has nothing to do with coaches," he said. "You see some of the teams that have had coaches fired this year, and their teams looked a little bit dead. That's not the case here. We're confident we're going to get hot and go on a streak."

The Buffalo News indicates that Marc-Andre Gragnani, the revelation of Buffalo's playoff series last season against Philadelphia, started this season well. But his struggles have been plainly obvious in recent games, especially on the defensive end.

Gragnani has a goal and eight assists in 28 games. He averages 17 minutes, 59 seconds of ice time and has a team-best rating of plus-11 that is tops among NHL rookies.

Plus-minus, of course, can be a grossly misleading stat. To wit, Gragnani's giveaway in overtime last week that led to the winning goal by Philadelphia's Claude Giroux did not count as a minus because the teams were skating four on four. But plus-11 is still plus-11, too.

"Obviously I'm frustrated but I don't think I'm having as bad of a season as people are putting on me," Gragnani said. "It's my first [full] year."

"I don't know if people expected me to get out there and just dominate. Not a lot of people do that. I'm not one of those guys. I don't think my stats are horrendous. Some people might think they are but I don't agree with that."

Gragnani was the AHL's defenseman of the year last season after collecting 12 goals and 60 points in 63 games with a plus-22 rating at Portland. He played the final nine games of the season in Buffalo and then had a goal and six assists in the seven playoff games against the Flyers.

The Sabres' power play is in a 2-for-31 slump but one reason to go with seven defensemen and keep Gragnani in the lineup is his key role on that unit.

"We know his strength and it's on the offensive side of it and being the quarterback on our power play," coach Lindy Ruff said. "A little bit of the area that was missing and he understands is getting up ice. We pushed him to try to get more involved."

"They want more offense," Gragnani said. "Obviously I haven't been on the scoresheet enough times this year. It's something I know I need to be. That's the bottom line."

Ruff was critical of Gragnani's play a couple of times last week. He preached a softer tone Wednesday when the discussion of a benching was brought up.

"Any good offensive player has liabilities on the defensive side," the coach said. "His numbers are good. He's been able to distribute the puck pretty good on the offensive side. We just felt he's played some wing and we wanted him for our power play."

The Carolina Hurricanes have been losing games and now are losing players, according to The Raleigh News & Observer.

The team confirmed Wednesday that both forward Jeff Skinner and defenseman Joni Pitkanen will be sidelined indefinitely with concussions. Skinner is the Canes' top scorer and a driving force offensively, and Pitkanen their most skilled player on the back end.

Skinner, who won the Calder Trophy last season as the NHL's top rookie, missed the past two games in Winnipeg and Toronto. He returned to Raleigh with the team Tuesday night and was evaluated Wednesday.

"This is a big step back and you hate it for the players," general manager Jim Rutherford said Wednesday. "And especially with a young player such as Jeff, at this point in his career. He's a player who plays so hard and loves the game so much.

"From a personal point of view, this is so hard, to watch him deal with this. From a team point of view he will be missed, as will Joni. We will miss them both."

Rutherford said with concussions there is no way to pinpoint when a player can return. Skinner and Pitkanen are listed as "day to day," but that's hockey jargon.

"You don't know. It could be a week or two weeks, but you don't know," Rutherford said. "Everyone heals differently. You have to get the proper rest. It's all left totally up to the doctors. We're following all the proper procedures."

Michigan Live notices the Detroit Red Wings are spending more time with the puck on their stick and less time fishing it out of their net.

That was their main goal coming into the season. They had to be better defensively, and they have been, by a considerable margin.

The Red Wings have allowed two goals or fewer in 20 of their 29 games heading into tonight’s contest against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. They were fifth in the NHL, before Wednesday’s games, in goals against (2.17 per game).

It’s similar to the 2007-08 season, when they allowed the fewest goals in the league (2.18) and won the Stanley Cup. Detroit has not finished a season with a better goals-against average since 1955-56 (2.11).

"We really tried to commit to being better defensively," coach Mike Babcock said. "In this league, it’s hard to outscore the other team. If you play well defensively, you got a better chance."

The primary reason is goaltender Jimmy Howard, who at this pace should be a Vezina Trophy finalist (18-6-1, 1.82 goals-against average, .932 save percentage).

But he is getting a lot of support. The Red Wings are playing much better team defense than in 2010-11, when they ranked 23rd in goals against (2.89 per game).

The article notes they’re committing fewer turnovers. They’re moving the puck out of their zone quickly and efficiently. Nicklas Lidstrom, at age 41, is having another outstanding season, and his new partner, Ian White, has meshed in well. Jonathan Ericsson has improved after two shaky seasons. Jakub Kindl has developed nicely in his first season as a regular.

Also, forwards are spending a lot of time in the offensive zone with the puck.

"I believe if your players have the puck and you’re playing in the offensive zone, that’s pretty good defense," Babcock said. "That hasn’t changed for us. So did we not bear down enough last year?"

Apparently not.

"We’re a little bit different in our own zone. I don’t even know if it’s different than we were in the playoffs but it’s different than we were in the regular season," Babcock said. "We always talk about system play. Work ethic and stick-to-it-iveness and mental toughness are the biggest parts I know to system play.

"Just do it, and do it right and do it longer than the other team, and that’s how you win."

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