Leafs in town, trade talk in tow

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The Toronto Sun believes that when Eric Staal steps onto the ice against the Maple Leafs at the RBC Center on Thursday, hordes of television viewers back in Canada will dream of what the gifted centre would look like in blue and white.

They aren’t alone.

When rumblings out of Toronto prior to Christmas suggested a Staal-to-the-Leafs trade was in the works, the Carolina captain was besieged with inquires from friends and family from north of the border.

They called. They e-mailed. They texted. All wanted to know the same thing. Were the reports true? Was he, in fact, the big centre the Leafs have so badly thirsted for ever since Mats Sundin left town?

Standing in the Hurricanes’ locker room on Wednesday, Staal chuckled as he recalled how quickly his buddies back home made sure he knew the buzz the trade chatter was creating.

“Growing up in Ontario and growing up with a lot of people that I know are Leaf fans, they’ll let you know pretty quickly what they hear,” Staal said. “They’ll let you know what’s going on.

“(Trade talk) just kind of comes with the territory with what’s going on with the season. But I’m trying to focus on what I’m trying to do here.”

The Sun points out that Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford subsequently insisted Staal and goalie Cam Ward were not going to be moved.

“To be honest I wasn’t that worried about it,” said Staal, who has a cap hit of $8.25 million US on a contract that runs through 2015. “Those are things that are out of my control. If it comes to me, I’ll deal with the situation when it arises.

“It’s obviously nice that Jim said what he said. He’s a guy I have the most respect for and someone I won a Stanley Cup with.

“This is a great organization. I’ve won a Stanley Cup here. I’ve started a family here. I’ve got some good people to work with. Obviously it’s been a tough season for not only myself but for everyone here. Any time that is the case there are rumours that start and everything that goes along with it. But for me, I’m just going to continue to work, continue to try to improve as a player and know that there are better days ahead.”

Staal admits he is putting pressure on himself. With just 20 points in 38 games and a glaring plus-minus of minus-22, he feels at times he has to carry the load of the entire team, even though coach Kirk Muller just wants him to relax and play.

There has been speculation that Eric’s funk is partially due to a hit last February on his brother Marc, the New York Rangers defenceman who has been out with a concussion. To that end, Eric says he does not think about that incident on the ice.

“Off the ice, that’s a different story,” Eric added. “He’s your brother. He’s family. You worry.”

During the recent Christmas break, Marc and his brother Jordan, the Pittsburgh Penguins centre, came to Eric’s house in Raleigh.

“He was wrestling Jordan in the kitchen,” Eric laughed. “That showed me he’s getting back to his old self.”

Finally, a reason for Eric Staal to smile.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that more than three weeks after his last game, Penguins star Sidney Crosby continues to experience concussion-like symptoms and has broadened his treatment team to include the Steelers' team neurosurgeon.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said Wednesday that Crosby is only able to exercise lightly because of headaches. General manager Ray Shero reiterated that Crosby won't play until his symptoms are gone.

Crosby hasn't played since Dec. 5.

Michael Collins, a clinical psychologist who heads the UPMC Sports Concussion Program, continues to oversee Crosby but has been joined by Dr. Joseph Maroon, the Steelers' neurosurgeon and WWE consultant who helped develop the ImPACT test widely used by professional and college teams to determine concussion severity.

Maroon recently was part of a medical team that oversaw the Flyers' Chris Pronger, who is out for the season with a concussion.

Dr. Chip Burke, the Penguins' team physician, is the only person permitted to clear Crosby for game action.

"I can tell you that Sidney isn't going to come back until he is 100 percent healthy," Shero said. "If he's having symptoms of any kind, we're not going to let him back into the lineup. It's that simple."

The article says two sources in the Penguins' organization said they expect Crosby to play again this season.

The Philadelphia Inquirer notes that Jaromir Jagr helped Pittsburgh win two Stanley Cups, and he was the NHL's top scorer five times during his days with the Penguins.

None of that matters to most Penguins fans.

To them, he is Public Enemy No. 1, having spurned the club's $2 million offer last June after his agent had said Jagr's "heart is in Pittsburgh." To make matters worse for Pittsburgh fans, he signed with the Penguins' cross-state rival, the Flyers. His one-year deal was for $3.3 million. And so, yes, Jagr expects to be greeted with loud boos when the Penguins (21-11-4) host the Flyers (21-10-4) on Thursday night.

"Everybody knows how I'm going to be received," Jagr said after the Flyers practiced on Wednesday.

Even Dan Bylsma, the Penguins coach.

"It's not the first time Jaromir Jagr is going to come into a building and not be liked," he said, adding that some players "feed off of it."

Jagr was booed harshly whenever he touched the puck after he returned to Pittsburgh and played for the Capitals and Rangers. Asked if the crowd reaction had affected him in the past, Jagr kidded with the Pittsburgh reporter.

"Yeah, I couldn't play," he said. "Please don't boo me."

Jagr has been outgoing and gregarious with reporters all season, but he seemed irritated during most of Wednesday's interview session. Clearly, he wants to play Thursday's game and move on.

The Inquirer wonders: Does he want to show Pittsburgh fans that, at almost 40, he still is a dangerous player?

"That would be the worst thing that could happen if you want to show somebody you still have it," he said. "I would show my ego, and I don't want to. I don't want to prove anything to anybody. I don't think I'd play my game if I was trying to show somebody."

He paused.

"Plus I don't have it anymore," he said, drawing laughs.

In 31 games, Jagr has 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists), placing him third on the Flyers. He spent the previous three years playing in Russia.

Bylsma said Jagr has done for the Flyers what he hoped Jagr would have done for the Penguins if they had signed him. He said he has been impressed with the work Jagr has done on the power play and elevating Claude Giroux's game.

"Those are the things we saw him doing with our team, with [Evgeni] Malkin and [Sidney] Crosby," Bylsma said.

Instead, he's doing it with Giroux and Scott Hartnell, each of whom have 17 goals.

"I hadn't seen him in three years, but I know when he left [the NHL] he was one of the best players in the league," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. "And in my opinion, he still remains one of the best."

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch details how Ken Hitchcock had planned to be in his office by 9 a.m. Wednesday, some 12 hours after the Blues' 3-2 loss to Detroit, but he didn't arrive until 10.

Hitchcock pulled into the club's practice facility in Hazelwood at 10, but he didn't enter the building for a few more minutes.

"When I'm angry, I'll sit at home," Hitchcock said. "I'll sit at Starbucks. I'll read a newspaper. But I ain't coming in until I'm in a 'hopeful' position because anger gets you nowhere.

"I'm sure I ticked off every driver on the highway. I was in the parking lot for five to 10 minutes, but I wasn't coming in until the coffee was over. Don't come in angry."

There were days in Hitchcock's coaching career when he may have overreacted to a loss like Tuesday's disappointment in Detroit, when the Blues coughed up a 2-0 lead and had only three shots on goal in the third period. But not any longer.

"The players used to laugh (in Dallas)," Hitchcock said. "In game 70, we'd lose our 11th game and they're saying 'Hitch' is having a conniption. You just change. You just learn.

"Am I ratcheting up the temperature here? No. I was brought in here to teach people what it takes to win. That's my job. It's not about yelling and screaming, 'You didn't do this, you didn't do that.' It's more matter of fact, 'Here's what it takes to get to the next level.' To me, it's all about the next day. The next day is the 'Learning Channel.'"

That's not to say Hitchcock doesn't boil over at times.

"I get upset about two things," he said. "No. 1, when the game is on the line, I don't like it when we take poor penalties. And I don't like it when we slump our shoulders. I don't like the defeatist body language. If you're on the other bench, you know you've got 'em.

"So sure, during the game, the heat of the moment, you might say something. But man, if you just stay on it, it loses its message. I think I'm a little smarter than that."

Hitchcock, who recently turned 60, concluded: "Perception is reality and the perception of what I am as a coach is not really the reality. If they're expecting me to go postal, forget it. Too old for that."

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in the article on Ken Hitchcock's teaching traits, had an extremely cool note...

Scott Masters, the Blues' video coach for the past six seasons, imports the footage into the players' iPads before the wheels of the team's plane lift off after a road game.

"The players have basically whatever they want when they want it," Masters said. "Some guys watch every night, some guys watch it every other day. Players can keep good games on their iPad, so if they get in a bad rut, they can refer to those games and say, 'What did I do here?' The technology that we have in our hands and what we can research is beyond what you would ever need."

Hitchcock had a meeting with a player Wednesday to discuss his shifts "and he had already watched everything. I said to the player, 'In these situations ...' and he said, 'Yeah I know, I saw that. I should have done this.' That's pretty impressive. You can't deal with 'the next day' like you used to."

The Raleigh News & Observer indicates that the Carolina Hurricanes again will be without Jeff Skinner and Joni Pitkanen tonight when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs, and their return to the lineup remains uncertain. Skinner and Pitkanen are sidelined indefinitely as they recover from concussions.

Canes coach Kirk Muller said Wednesday that neither has been cleared by doctors to resume any physical activity.

"Once he gets past (the doctor's test), that's the first step," Muller said of Skinner. "Once he gets past those, he can get into the routine of more workouts ... to the point he gets all cleared and then he can eventually, some time, get back with us. Right now, he's in the process of trying to get cleared from the test he's got to go though.

"Same with Joni. Same story. Just waiting for the doctors, to get their approval, and then from there it's that step-by-step where you get back working out and from there it moves on to eventually you get back playing."

Skinner, who was the Canes' top scorer, has missed the last eight games and has not played since Dec. 7, when he absorbed an open-ice hit from the Edmonton Oilers' Andy Sutton. Pitkanen, the Canes' most skilled defenseman, last played Dec. 6 in Calgary.

The Calgary Herald relays that Flames star Jarome Iginla chuckled when asked if he’d pass up an empty-net goal this week and wait for a more historically worthy tally. He currently sits at 498 career goals.

“I don’t have too much pride about that — I’ll shoot that in if I get the chance, absolutely,” said Iginla, who’s collected 25 career empty-netters. “I’ll take them. Over the years you hear that some guys don’t really like to score them . . . but, no, no, I feel fine about it. I’ll be happy to get it any way I could.”

One of the last cuts at training camp is on his way back to the Jets, according to The Winnipeg Free Press.

Forward Patrice Cormier, 21, was recalled by the Jets today after being a healthy scratch for the AHL's St. John's IceCaps Wednesday night at Copps Coliseum. Cormier could play his first NHL game of the season at the MTS Centre tonight against the Los Angeles Kings.

Cormier, originally a second-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2008, played 21 NHL games and had one goal for the Atlanta Thrashers last season. He has had a hot hand for the IceCaps lately, scoring six goals and eight points in the eight games before the team's Christmas break.

"Patrice is very reliable," IceCaps coach Keith McCambridge said Wednesday night after his team beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-1 without Cormier. "We've played him in the middle the majority of this season. He's been really good in his own zone and on faceoffs. He's a really intelligent player. He makes really good reads on the ice.

"And where he's improved, he's really become a dependable guy for me and in the last four or five games for us, he's also been a good net-front presence on our power play."

What has Cormier been doing that he wasn't when he was sent down to start the season?

"I think his puck decisions have been better," McCambridge said. "He's just playing to his strengths, getting pucks in on the forecheck. He's a big body and a big part of his game, a game he needs to be consistent at, has been there."

The Denver Post illustrates how Kyle Quincey leads the Avalanche in ice time and is the team's top-scoring defenseman. He is also one of Colorado's most outspoken players, along with veteran backup goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere​.

Giguere, however, is comfortable sitting on the bench. Quincey is not, even when the Avs are winning.

After practice Wednesday, Quincey said it stinks "losing your job to injury."

Quincey has been a healthy scratch in the past four games after missing two in a row because of a slight groin injury. Coach Joe Sacco and his staff didn't want to change the lineup during the Avs' five-game winning streak, which ended with Tuesday's 4-1 loss to Winnipeg.

"That holds true for anybody. If a guy gets hurt, and he's available to us but things are going well with the team, it doesn't mean you automatically get back in the lineup," Sacco said Wednesday. "It's just the way it is."

Sacco said Quincey will return to the lineup tonight against the visiting Phoenix Coyotes​, replacing Matt Hunwick​.

"You never want to see a team lose, but you're a professional hockey player, and that's what you get paid to do — play hockey and not sit and watch," Quincey said. "It's hard to root for your team, and try to help your team, be part of the team, when you're just sitting. (Tuesday) night we lose, so now I get a chance. If we keep winning, I don't get a chance."

In the future, Quincey told The Post he might not seek treatment for minor injuries. He wishes he hadn't said anything about his groin injury.

"I do regret it. Because if I didn't say anything, I wouldn't have missed those six games," he said. "You're trying to play through injury, trying to play your best, but it's better than coming out of the lineup because you don't get back in."

Sacco doesn't regret scratching Quincey because of injury in victories over Washington (Dec. 17) and Philadelphia (Dec. 19), because he knew Quincey wasn't at his best.

"Kyle had played very well for us, especially around the first 15 games," Sacco said. "He was arguably one of our better defensemen, he and Ryan Wilson. I thought his play, like I told him, had tailed off a little bit before he got injured. Part of that maybe was due to the injury itself, but he certainly wasn't playing the way that he was right before the injury."

The Detroit Free Press believes those early goals allowed in the Red Wings' victory over St. Louis might have hurt goaltender Jimmy Howard's confidence in the past.

Whether the goals were scored by fluke or mistake, Howard sometimes let goals gnaw at him. That could have been the case Tuesday when the Blues took a 2-0 lead on two power-plays goals.

But Howard was able to brush both goals off and play even better down the stretch.

"He's more consistent," coach Mike Babcock said. "He's played lots of good hockey. He just hasn't been as mentally tough and as consistent (in the past)."

The Blues scored on Matt D'Agostini's tip-in during the first period and then in the second period when Alexander Steen nudged in a puck that squirted loose under Howard's pads.

"In the past, stuff like that would bother him," Babcock said. "Well, not a ton but a little bit more. He just keeps playing. That's what I like about him. Let's play the next one. We've got another shot coming and let's worry about that. So, to me, he's a calm, poised goalie that gives us confidence."

The Chicago Tribune describes how Brandon Pirri realizes once the Blackhawks get healthy his time on the roster could become short.

"You try not to think about it because then you're worrying about other stuff than the game," Pirri said before the Hawks took on the Kings on Wednesday night at the United Center. "I have a job to do. It's the same with everyone else — if you're not playing well you're going to be switched up and down the lineup or not in the lineup. It's part of being a pro."

The 20-year-old played his third consecutive game since being recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League while center Marcus Kruger and veteran winger Daniel Carcillo remained sidelined with suspected concussions. Pirri has shown more poise and skill since his one-game stint with the Hawks to start the regular season.

"It's just confidence playing my game instead of being timid," Pirri said. "Down in Rockford my confidence was really high. I was playing good hockey and I'm just trying to bring that same game up here."

Helping flatten Pirri's learning curve is centering the second line between wingers Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp.

"I just try to pick up something every day from them because hopefully I'm going to be like one of these guys one day," said Pirri, a second-round draft pick (59th overall) by the Hawks in 2009.

In his three NHL seasons, The Orange County Register recalls that Matt Beleskey has experienced the high of scoring goals while on the Ducks' top line and the low of playing scant time on the fourth line, not playing at all or getting a ticket to the minors.

Beleskey, 23, went through it all while Randy Carlyle was his coach. Now the left wing is trying to take advantage of his latest chance under the fresh eyes of Bruce Boudreau, who has given him 10-13 minutes in all but one game since taking over.

"It's a new opportunity," Beleskey said. "I've just got to try to take advantage of it. Bruce has been pretty vocal with me. He's let me know what he's looking for and what he wants to see from me.

"He's rewarded me when I've done those things and when I haven't, I haven't been rewarded. It's pretty straightforward with what I need to do. It's something I've just got to keep working on."

Boudreau has been frank in his assessment of Beleskey, even calling him lazy and dropping him to the fourth line. But he's also willing to give him a regular role as evident by his current third-line spot providing he earns it.

"He's playing harder," Boudreau said. "And he's competing harder. When you compete harder, you get opportunity. And he's getting opportunities. He hasn't scored yet but he's getting opportunities to score. He's creating chances and he's doing a good job of checking. And he's getting involved.

"The biggest difference is Matt. Matt's not sitting around watching the play. He's being proactive on it."

The difference is coming from a coach he believes has confidence in him and is willing to let him play through mistakes.

"If you make a mistake, he's going to tell you, that's for sure," Beleskey said. "You're going to know you made that mistake. As long as you're doing the little things and you're working hard and playing the game, that's the way it should be."

The Miami Herald reports that the Panthers are close to signing 38-year-old center John Madden and could announce a one-year deal with the three-time Stanley Cup champion on Thursday.

According to general manager Dale Tallon, the Panthers are talking to Madden and deciding whether or not “it’s worth” pursuing a deal. Madden, who won the Cup with New Jersey and Chicago, hasn’t played since April 2 against Tampa Bay. He scored 12 goals — his final one on March 17 — with the Wild last season.

“We’re still talking right now,” Tallon said on Wednesday afternoon as rumors swirled of Madden’s impending signing. “Yeah, something could happen [Thursday]. We’ll see. I just don’t know.”

The big question is Madden’s physical shape. Tallon said that’s a concern because it might take Madden some time to get the rust off. Florida currently has seven forwards on the injured list. Stephen Weiss and Mikael Samuelsson skated on their own before the Panthers’ workout Wednesday. Weiss could be back for Friday’s game against the Rangers.

“We don’t know how long that’s going to take and when we’re getting some other guys back,” Tallon said. “That’s the big question mark. But John has always been a good skater. And he’s a pretty solid guy, has been for a long time.”

Assistant coach Craig Ramsay said even if Madden were signed Thursday, his status for Friday’s game against the Rangers would be in question. But the Panthers like what Madden would bring to the team. Madden is a strong faceoff guy and would help the Panthers up the middle of the ice. Madden has been working out in the Minneapolis area. Panthers coach Kevin Dineen was unavailable for comment Wednesday after leaving practice early because of a doctor’s appointment.

“We have to get him in and get him taken care of physically,” Ramsay said. “We don’t know where his conditioning is. He’s a veteran guy who has played in some pretty good spots and knows what it takes to win. … You have to look at a veteran player who has been around, he’s been durable and knows how to play the game. He knows the game. Those guys find a way to play. That’s what we’re hoping for.”

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