Hockey Hearsay

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

By switching Thursday from a cage to a visor, The Tampa Bay Times believes Lightning winger Martin St. Louis took a step forward in his recovery from facial fractures sustained Dec. 8 when he was hit with a puck during a morning skate.

But coach Guy Boucher said St. Louis still has blurry vision in his left eye, which filled with blood when hit by the puck. Boucher also indicated the condition might be permanent.

"It's been tough for him to find out the inside of his eye might stay the way it is now and the fact that he doesn't have the same vision, which is his No. 1 asset," Boucher said. "It has annoyed him."

St. Louis declined to comment on his eye or that he is wearing a visor for the first time in his NHL career. But head athletic trainer Tommy Mulligan cautioned it is too early to say if St. Louis' blurred vision is permanent.

St. Louis, 36, has worn contacts on the ice for a while, and the prescription for the left eye has been updated to accommodate the injury, Mulligan said.

"So at this point, it really is a nonissue as far as his play," Mulligan said. "His on-ice vision is great."

His production hasn't suffered as St. Louis has a goal and 11 points over the 10 games he has played since missing five because of the injury.

Still, Boucher told the Tribune, getting rid of the full-face cage has to make things easier.

"His eye and his cage and all that really made him feel that he wasn't at his best," Boucher said. "He felt caged in, obviously. He had trouble seeing the puck at the bottom of the cage, so it made him a bit nervous. It's been tough for him to figure out how he's going to deal with that."

St. Louis was mum on if he will keep the visor when cleared to take it off, but Boucher said he believes St. Louis, who always has resisted wearing a visor, will stick with it.

"When you don't live anything that dangerous, you feel invincible and things won't happen to you," Boucher said. "But when you actually live it yourself and you're scared to lose your sight, it does have an effect on your decisions.

"I would like him to keep it. I always wanted him to have one."

Last night the Calgary Flames acquired Michael Cammalleri, Karri Ramo and a 5th rounder in 2012 from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Rene Bourque, Patrick Holland and a 2nd rounder in 2013.

We'll see in the coming days of practice and games how each coach tries to use their new asset up front, but on the Calgary side of the coin it's worth noting that the Flames have had a thriving line with Curtis Glencross, Olli Jokinen and Jarome Iginla. Cammalleri and Iginla have played together in the past and chances are strong we'll see that duo reunited at some point - perhaps right away or soon or down the line - but The Calgary Sun relays that Flames GM Jay Feaster pointed out Cammalleri entered the NHL as a centre and may use him to anchor the club’s second line.

As always, you can find fresh line combos shortly after the puck drops on each game, every night in the Live NHL recaps.

Some quotes on the deal...

Iginla, in The Calgary Herald, on the subject of Olli Jokinen, Alex Tanguay and now Cammalleri all leaving and then coming back to Calgary: “It’s one of those things — they don’t really know till they get here,” said Iginla. “It’s a good city, we’re treated very well. Our organization treats us well and they want to win. Over all the years, there haven’t been many players — maybe one or two — that you hear that they didn’t enjoy it (in Calgary). It does speak volumes for the team and the organization that guys do leave and want to come back and try to win here.

“Sometimes different fits at different times.”

Curtis Glencross on Bourque, via The Herald: “He was my roommate on the road for the last four years, so he was a good friend. So it’s one of them things you hate to do. But we’ve all been traded — it’s part of the business. I hope Bourquey does awesome in Montreal. He’s one of them guys who’s going to go there and enjoy it.

“To lose a guy like Bourquey, he’s one of those heart-and-soul guys. Hate to see him go, but it’s part of the business and it happens all the time.”

Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier, from The Montreal Gazette, on whether Cammalleri's recent losing attitude comments signed his ticket out of town: “I didn’t have any problem with what he said because they showed emotion,” Gauthier said. “I’d rather see emotion than people who didn’t care. I just spoke with Mr. Cammalleri and he understands what’s happening and I explained to him what’s happening with the team. He never asked to be traded. He’s part of the team and he cares a lot and that’s why he made those comments.

Flames GM Jay Feaster, via The Herald, on actually liking what he heard of Cammalleri's controversial comments: “I have to tell you — for me to hear the passion, the emotion, the enthusiasm, that he had when I called him,” said the GM. “If that’s the corollary to it, that every once in a while, he’s going to pop off and stir the pot and maybe get some people’s nose out of joint, I’ll take that. Because that’s what I want — I want that passion. That’s something that we need in our locker-room.”

While the Penguins got a day off Thursday in south Florida, general manager Ray Shero, who is not on this trip, kept busy talking about his slumping team and injured star center Sidney Crosby. The message was clear -- reason trumps panic.

Shero ditched a notion that has gained popularity among some fans on social media that calls for him to shelve Crosby and perhaps injured defenseman Kris Letang for the rest of the season and use the millions of dollars in resulting salary-cap space to make a big trade or two.

"I have to have it in my mind about what we might have coming back," Shero said. "Those guys are worth waiting for."

What can't wait is a return to winning hockey. The Penguins have lost six games in a row and fallen below the Eastern Conference playoff line going into their game against Florida tonight at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. They have averaged just a goal a game in that stretch.

"We're not getting the contributions that we need, and those guys don't need to be told that. The guys who need to score know who they are," Shero said, adding that he includes scoring, defense and goaltending -- pretty much the key elements of hockey -- as areas of deficiency.

He deplores the idea that the Penguins will spend a stretch run devoted to just making it into the top eight in the East.

"Our expectation is not [just] to make the playoffs; it's bigger than that," he said. "I don't have to tell our players that."

The Post-Gazette notes that in addition to Crosby and Letang, who has a concussion, Jordan Staal is expected to miss about a month because of a knee injury he got last Friday.

"Thank God, we've had Evgeni [Malkin] playing at a top level," Shero said of the team's other top center besides Crosby and Staal.

Letang, out since Nov. 26, has resumed skating and could rejoin practice soon.

Crosby has played just eight games since being diagnosed with a concussion Jan. 6, 2011. His comeback ended Dec. 5 when he had a recurrence of symptoms. He is scheduled to return to skating today after the game-day skate and speak to reporters afterward.

There is no timetable for Letang or Crosby to return to the lineup, and Shero chafed at those who question Crosby's prolonged absence and suggest the Penguins should give up on him for the season.

"We never even once discussed that," Shero said of putting Crosby on long-term injured reserve to let him continue to heal for several months and finding a replacement or two through trades.

If the Penguins put any player on long-term injured reserve, that player's salary-cap hit does not count -- but only until he is reinstated or until the playoffs. The cap is suspended in the postseason. Shero is willing to wait and hope Crosby is back before the end of the regular season in April.

"I say to our fans, have patience with this," Shero said. "This is what he is -- he's a hockey player. There's nothing more that he wants to do but play hockey. He's not medically cleared to play. He's 24. He's in the prime of his career. He wants to play. "To think that I can go out and replace him with one or two players [isn't feasible]. Once a player is cleared to play, what do you do -- say, 'You can't play'?"

The Winnipeg Sun details how Claude Noel and Evander Kane both said all the right things on Thursday, two days after the coach lit into the 20-year-old forward.

Noel was asked an innocent question about Kane being benched for a couple of shifts and being shuffled down to the second line after Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to Boston, and the Jets head coach let loose.

On Thursday, Noel said it was never his intention to get Kane to raise his game by tearing into him publicly — and never will be. Basically, Noel said he was baited into his emotional answer.

“It’s pretty easy how you decide to do it publicly. You don’t do it again. That’s what you do,” Noel said. “You have to remember — and I have to remember — that you get into emotions from the game, and you guys (in the media) are very good at provoking emotions. That’s what you do. And when you get caught you pay the price. That’s something that I’ll be ready for next time.”

Noel even suggested he would become a “generic coach” and not the colourful character the media has come to know and love because of his juicy quotes and sound bites.

Kane, who has struggled with consistency in his third NHL season, was second on the team with 31 points in 41 contests prior to Thursday’s clash with the San Jose Sharks. Kane admitted he played harder when he returned from his mini-benching on Tuesday night.

“Yeah, I had to,” he said. “I don’t like sitting on the bench. I don’t like not playing. I don’t like not being able to contribute. When I got the opportunity to get back in the game, I wanted to skate a little harder and try and play a little harder.”

Kane didn’t have an opinion on whether or not that’s the best way to send a message to a player, but the bottom line is he received it loud and clear.

“That’s the coach’s job, to do what he thinks is best for the team,” Kane said.

The Buffalo News indicates that Terry Pegula, on the day he was formally announced as owner, made it clear that General Manager Darcy Regier and coach Lindy Ruff were his guys when he said they "ain't going nowhere." Forty-two games into the season and seven straight road games around the corner, it doesn't look like the Sabres are going anywhere, either.

The Sabres are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference with an 18-19-5 record that's identical to where they stood at this stage last season. Their offense has been anemic for weeks, their defense has been poor, their franchise goaltender hasn't played well and their effort has been lethargic on too many nights.

Pegula is a diehard fan, but not an angry one. The primary source of his frustration hasn't been the play of his team or management or coaching. It's the number of players who have landed in the medical room. He has kept a body count since the Sabres played New Jersey on Nov. 16 after getting off to an 11-6 start. Since, they have a 7-13-5 record.

"What everybody is missing is that I've been carrying around 167 man games," he said by telephone Thursday evening. "Forget about the season. I'm talking about the last 25 games. We've had 18 players go down. It's like a merry-go-round every night. You look on the ice and what are your defensive pairs tonight? Hell, who knows? Who's healthy?

"I think what's important is the number of guys. You can have 167 man games with four, five, six guys out for a long period. Eighteen? Cut me a break. I told Darcy Regier one time, 'If I was you, I would be afraid to get on the plane.' "

In fact, The News says Pegula pointed toward the injury bug for virtually all of the Sabres' troubles this season.

When going over individual players, Pegula offered this of Brad Boyes ($4M annual salary and ineffective, if not invisible, on most nights).

"I don't want to single out Brad," Pegula said. "Look who he plays with every night. It changes a lot. He's another guy [who was injured]. ... I have to believe we're a better hockey team than we were last year. We just didn't have this massive, catastrophic injury problem. Put yourself in anybody's place in the organization. How do you evaluate what's going on?"

Regier and Ruff have had their posts since 1997 and make up the longest-tenured tandem currently in the NHL. Calls for one or both to be fired seem to be getting louder with every season, particularly this one. Neither one appears to be in trouble regardless of whether the Sabres make the playoffs.

"Trust me, I'm not trying to sugar-coat anything," Pegula said. "There's nobody in that locker room happy with the record right now and with the way the team is playing. They want to make it better. But it's hard to evaluate something that has been torn apart the way this thing has."

He finished with, "My attitude now is, 'Let's put Humpty [Dumpty] back together again,' " Pegula said. "I want our players to know that I thought we had a pretty good hockey team until all this happened. Let's paste it back together and start a new season."

It might have been an off night, but The Chicago Tribune indicates that Patrick Kane's mind was not far from hockey.

The Blackhawks winger popped in a DVD at his home Wednesday night and sat with his father, Pat, to analyze what was causing the misfires in his offense.

With 10 goals in the 43 games preceding Thursday night's contest against the Wild at the United Center, Kane has left few stones unturned in his search for a solution.

"You're trying a lot of different things," Kane said before the Hawks' 5-2 victory. "I've talked to some different people to see what they think and I've definitely gotten into the video thing lately. I've watched a lot of different games of myself where I've had chances to see what I can do better. I watched the last game with my dad and we had some good ideas."

With four goals in his last 26 games, Kane is on pace for a career-low 18. While that number is lower than he would like, there is no lack of confidence from the 23-year-old that he will find the touch that has made him a three-time All-Star after the NHL selected him Thursday to play in the Jan. 29 game in Ottawa, Ontario.

"It's all about confidence," Kane said. "There are certain plays where you should be more patient or certain plays where you should shoot it quicker so sometimes it messes with you a little bit. But you just have to play your game the way you know how and work the magic and try to get the fans out of their seats."

While the goals have been hard to come by, Kane has been adept at setting up teammates as he has 28 assists.

"The past couple of games I feel pretty good about my game," Kane said. "I feel like I'm getting chances and opportunities to score goals or set up my teammates. I'm just trying to keep doing the same things and hopefully it falls."

"Everything we needed to do to win this game, we didn't do," an incensed Mike Yeo, the coach's eyes fiery red, told The Minneapolis Star Tribune following last night's 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. "We have to play the right way, and we have to have everybody. And tonight, we didn't even come close to playing the right way, and we didn't come close to having everybody."

Rick in Waterloo: "Hi Chris,

11 team keeper keeper league, where we protect 5 forwards each year. Stats kept are G, A, PIM, +/-.

I'm in 2nd place with eyes on first. Thinking about a blockbuster. Thinking of offering the pair of Ovechkin and Backstrom for either Stamkos and Crosby or Stamkos and Sharp. Obviously if Crosby is healthy the other owner would never go for it, but now he might. But is it smart for me. Any advice you can give me would be great. Thanks!"

Chris: Any fantasy question with Crosby is a tough one because we just have no way of knowing what's going to come of his future Rick. I'll say though. As much as I respect Patrick Sharp's game, no way in hell would I deal Ovechkin and Backstrom for Stamkos and Sharp. It'd have to be Stamkos and Crosby if you were to do it.

You could certainly argue that Crosby, when healthy, is an upgrade on Backstrom. And I like Backstrom a lot. Until I recently found my missing autographed Mike Bossy jersey, it was Backstrom's jersey hanging with Henrik Lundqvist's in my office's two jersey shadow boxes.

But can you sacrifice an incredible asset like Backstrom for Crosby given what we've seen with Crosby's tenuous health? I can't say I would. Especially with you battling for first place this season and Ovechkin finally playing like Ovechkin.

IMO, I would advise any fantasy owner in a deep enough keeper league who does not have Crosby to absolutely go after Crosby right now. No question in my mind. But you have to get a lower price. Crosby's owner won't be giving him away, to be sure, but you'd be surprised at what some will take. Especially when you can make a four or five for two player offer because of it being a deep enough keeper league.

In your situation, you keep five guys. That's not too deep. I'd only go after Crosby if you could do it without cutting your legs out from under you in terms of winning this season. IMO, your current idea would be giving up too much.

Hope that helps.

Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

Submit your brief fantasy hockey question for a Hockey Hearsay blog via email. One per person, please and include your first name and hometown to represent!

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