Hockey Hearsay

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

Artem Anisimov did a dumb thing, according to The Calgary Herald.

The New York Rangers forward, a week ago, scored on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Then, holding his stick like a rifle, he mock-shot the visitors’ net.

This, predictably, created a ruckus.

None of that is news to Steven Stamkos, who, after all, was there.

But what the Bolts star didn’t know?

That, post-game, Anisimov stood up in the dressing room and choked out his heartfelt regrets to the rest of the Rangers.

Stamkos, like others in the national-viewing audience Wednesday night, saw this back-stage drama play out in HBO’s documentary series 24/7, featuring the Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers.

“For me, it was really cool to see his reaction to his teammates, how sincere his apology was,” Stamkos said after Thursday’s morning skate. “That makes you look at that whole issue on a different level.

“Obviously, we wouldn’t have been able to see that if it wasn’t for the show.”

Stamkos, maybe not surprisingly, heartily approves of the all-access aspect of the program, which, annually, leads up to the NHL Winter Classic.

“It’s unbelievable — I even got a couple chills watching that,” Stamkos says. “Just from a sports fan’s perspective, it’s really cool to see behind-the-scenes stuff they don’t get to see on an everyday basis. They . . . see some of the things that are said on the ice, how hard guys get hit, or how you’re icing your shoulder on the plane or the bus after the game. Just the physical demands of travelling. Then you see the lighter side, the jokes and stuff.

“I think everybody in this room would be happy to do a show like that. It’s great for the game. I can’t wait to watch the next episode.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that in a stunning development, the Flyers will have to do without their captain and top defensive player, Chris Pronger, for the rest of the season and the playoffs because of post-concussion syndrome.

The club made the grim announcement in a statement during the first period of Thursday's game in Montreal.

Pronger, 37, met with concussion specialists Joseph Maroon and Micky Collins in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

In a statement, general manager Paul Holmgren said Pronger would be shut down based on the recommendation of the doctors.

"Chris will continue to receive treatment and therapy with the hope that he can get better," Holmgren said.

Over the long run, how will the injury affect a Flyers team that has excelled even though numerous key players are sidelined?

"I don't think it's crippling," Peter Luukko, president of the Flyers' parent company, Comcast-Spectacor, said in a phone conversation. "We will certainly miss one of the better players in the league, but you see how the team has played without him. We'll just move on."

Referring to Pronger, coach Peter Laviolette said: "First and foremost, we wish for him to have good health. Anything after that, we'll sort it out."

Entering Thursday, the Flyers were 11-4-1 without Pronger this season and 8-3-2 with him.

The Inquirer says Pronger, who was not available to comment, does not remember getting hit in the head after his brief return to the lineup.

But Douglas Smith, director of the center for brain injury and repair at the University of Pennsylvania, said Monday that "any kind of hit" to another part of the body could have triggered the problem because the head may have already been injured.

"Another hit can send spasms" to the head, he said.

Asked if he felt a trade was necessary and if the Flyers would name a temporary captain for the rest of the season, Holmgren was blunt.

"I have not had enough time to digest the news where we could answer those questions," he said in a text message.

In addition to Pronger, Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn are sidelined by concussions. In the NHL, a total of 23 players are out with concussions or concussion symptoms.

Pronger has five years left on a seven-year $34.45 million extension. Now there are questions - big questions - about whether his Hall of Fame career will resume.

The Buffalo News notes that as the Toronto Maple Leafs hit town for their first visit of the season tonight in First Niagara Center, they're sixth in the Eastern Conference and a familiar face has provided a big boost.

Former Buffalo center Tim Connolly, who signed as a free agent in the offseason after being with the Sabres since 2001, will be making his return to the building tonight. Connolly has six goals and nine assists in 18 games, and scored in overtime Tuesday to beat Carolina, 2-1.

Connolly tried to downplay his return with reporters in Toronto this week but acknowledged he knows what kind of reception is likely coming.

"It should be pretty interesting," he said. "[Buffalo fans] tend to boo their [ex-] players when they come back."

"That's going to be a different one," said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. "Losing him in the playoffs last year [on a blindside check by Philadelphia's Mike Richards in Game Six] was a big loss for us. He was playing well. The big thing with Timmy was he had some untimely injuries that really hurt us."

Center Derek Roy admitted "faceoffs are going to be a little bit weird" if he has to go against Connolly. Thomas Vanek added that seeing players change teams is not a new experience, although seeing a key member of the club go to perhaps their biggest rival is far more unusual.

"It was weird in preseason to look over there and see him in a Leafs jersey," Vanek said. "When Danny [Briere] left and then Dru [Chris Drury] and you saw a Flyers or Rangers jersey, that's definitely weird. But when you see someone in a Leafs jersey, that makes it even more awkward."

The Toronto Sun indicates that rookie defenceman Jake Gardiner continues to impress coach Ron Wilson, not just with his poise, but with his ability to log huge minutes in key situations.

Gardiner has topped 24 minutes in three of his past five games and is doing so almost effortlessly. In Wilson’s opinion, the key is Gardiner’s exceptional skating style.

“Jake just has one of those physiques that every once in a while find a guy who never seems to get tired,” Wilson said. “That’s just the genetics that he has.

“Jake uses his edges so well that he doesn’t get tired. He’s a great glider and (when you do that) you aren’t using as much energy as all. The great gliders of the game, in terms of the use of energy, you can’t really teach.”

Wilson said that Gardiner’s style has his feet perfectly aligned and that his technique compares to some of the better natural skaters in the game.

“Some of the guys who play 30 minutes (a game), they don’t give you 100% every shift. They pace themselves,” Wilson said. “I don’t see any of that pacing in Jake’s game.”

The Detroit Free Press notes that after sputtering offensively the first six weeks of the season, Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk again is his dazzling self with the puck.

Datsyuk set up the first goal in Thursday's 4-3 loss against the Predators at Bridgestone Arena. That was his 21st point in his past 14 games, more than double the 10 he scratched out of the first 16 games.

"Once you get started scoring and putting up points," linemate Johan Franzen said, "everything gets easier. Like skating -- you feel a lot lighter out there. I think that's what happens to everyone. When things are going well, everything feels easier. It's good to see his confidence back."

Datsyuk's resurgence has coincided with gaining Todd Bertuzzi on his other wing Nov. 19. Playing between a pair of 6-foot-3, 220-plus-pound behemoths, both of whom can shoot the puck and drive the net, has its benefits for the Russian playmaker.

"Bert and me play well," Datsyuk said. "I'm just one of the pieces of the puzzle. It's more confidence, but most confidence if we win, not just I score." Datsyuk joked it's easier to play with Franzen and Bertuzzi because "I can see them, even in really big arena. And they have deep voices when they yell at me. This is how I find them."

Coach Mike Babcock offered the opinion that Datsyuk plays especially strongly "in the games that he thinks are real big games," like Tuesday's at Pittsburgh. To Babcock, of course, every game is big, which is why seeing the team's superstar forward thrive -- the whole line, in fact -- is so important.

"He's an elite, elite player with and without the puck," Babcock said. "He's always going to be good without the puck, every night. Just some nights he's magic with it, as well. That line comes at you with a lot of pace. Mule can shoot the puck like no man. And so it's been a good line. Ever since Bert's come back from injury, he's been pretty good."

Inconsistency once prevented the Penguins' Marc-Andre Fleury from becoming an elite goalie, according to The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Things can change quickly.

In a troubling year in which Penguins stars have sustained major injuries, Fleury has become the team's rock. There might not be a more consistent goalie in hockey, and without Fleury's steadiness, the injury-ravaged Penguins may have long ago lost their way.

"It's unbelievable because of how young he is," defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "People don't understand what he's done, how young he was when he won the Cup. Goalies usually just start to come into their own at his age."

Fleury turned 27 last month. His next victory will be the 200th of his career. Such a pace is usually reserved for those destined for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

His accomplishments — and youthful age, especially for a goaltender — are difficult to ignore.

"It's a little early to be wondering about the Hall of Fame for a guy that's presumably got many, many years left before he hangs them up," ESPN hockey analyst Scott Burnside told the Tribune-Review on Wednesday. "Of course, if he rolls up a few more Cup wins, maybe the conversation won't be that far in the distance."

Fleury's 15 victories this season rank second in the NHL, trailing only Detroit's Jimmy Howard.

Another Detroit goaltender marvels at how quickly Fleury has emerged as an elite goalie and credits the Quebec native's laid-back personality with much of his success.

"He's a happy-go-lucky kid," said Detroit goalie Ty Conklin, who filled in for Fleury during the 2007-08 season when the latter injured an ankle. "When he came back from that injury, he was almost unbeatable."

Fleury reached the Stanley Cup Final at age 23, won the Cup at 24 and emerged as an MVP candidate at 26 during a season in which the Penguins lost Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to injuries.

Now at 27, his consistency remains. He has allowed more than three goals in a game only once all season.

While questions remain about the Penguins' ability to get healthy, Fleury continues to be an anchor for the lineup.

"He's an unbelievable goalie," right wing James Neal said. "It's fun to be a part of what he's doing."

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch believes the fist-pump from Patrik Berglund after scoring the first goal in the Blues' game against the Rangers Thursday night told the story.

Berglund's seventh goal of the season came after some strong work in the corner, an aspect of the center's game that has been inconsistent. Alex Steen put a point shot on net, and after a long rebound, Berglund outmuscled the Rangers' Ryan McDonagh and Brad Richards for the puck. He then curled into the slot and ripped a wrist shot past goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

The goal was Berglund's third in the Blues' last six games and it was in the same mold as the other two, in that he showed a no-nonsense approach.

In a 3-2 win over Detroit on Dec. 6, Berglund scored what turned out to be the game winner by forcing his way into the offensive zone and rifling a shot past Jimmy Howard. In a 3-2 shootout loss to Colorado on Dec. 2, Berglund again went hard to the net, redirecting a centering pass from Chris Stewart.

"I've been struggling with scoring and I think you have to do it the way I've done it (recently)," Berglund said. "I think it's just when you get that chance you need to take it hard to the net. If it doesn't go in, maybe you'll get a rebound or a good bounce and good things will happen. It's a keep-it-simple approach."

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