Hockey Hearsay

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

Had Taylor Hall being wearing a helmet during Edmonton’s pregame warmup Tuesday night, The Edmonton Sun notes he might be minus about 30 stitches on his forehead right now.

He wasn’t, though, and left the ice soaked in blood after a nightmarish accident with Corey Potter’s skate blade.

Needless to say, the Oilers helmet policy is now under review

“We’re going to talk about it,” said GM Steve Tambellini. “It was a bizarre happening, but it was a reminder that, whether practising, playing the game or in warmups, things can happen.”

The NHL doesn’t insist that players wear helmets in warmup, and many choose not to as it’s the one opportunity to let their hair flow in the breeze and for fans to get a look at them.

“There’s no real rhyme or reason to that, unfortunately,” said head coach Tom Renney. “Even in practice with guys with their chin straps undone, little things like that … you have young people watching this game and they need to see things done properly. This is a hell of a lesson for a lot of people to learn from. Hopefully everyone does.”

Shawn Horcoff doesn’t, and probably still won’t after this.

“I knew that was going to come up,” he said. “That happens once every … I remember taking a puck in the face, Sutton took one. It happens. If he has a helmet on it’s different, but it’s such a freak thing.”

It’s hard to imagine Hall won’t be wearing one next time he plays, possibly Thursday.

“He might be wearing one walking down the street,” said Renney.

The Edmonton Journal had a great quote from GM Steve Tambellini: “I was talking to him while the doctors were with him and, typical Taylor, he said, ‘I’ll be playing tonight.’ ”

The Toronto Sun reports that the Maple Leafs are planning to celebrate the achievements of the franchise’s career leading scorer and former captain, Mats Sundin, on Feb. 11 when the Montreal Canadiens come to town. Sundin will have his No. 13 jersey raised to the rafters of the Air Canada Centre to honour both his performance on the ice and his contributions in the community.

It’s an honour fellow Swede and Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson says is well deserved.

“He’s one of the legends now in Swedish hockey and he had an outstanding career both in the NHL and internationally,” Alfredsson said after the Senators’ optional skate on Tuesday morning. “I always enjoyed playing with him (internationally), maybe not as much playing against him. He’s a good friend and a real pro. He came to play every night and did whatever he could to make sure his teammates got better … It’s a deserving honour.”

Sundin played 981 career games for the Leafs, registering 420 goals, 567 assists and 987 points. In 1,346 career NHL games with Toronto, Quebec and Vancouver, Sundin scored 564 goals and 785 assists for 1,349 points.

The Montreal Gazette points out that Rene Bourque attracted a lot of attention Sunday night because he was playing his first game as a Canadien.

And he expects to receive a lot of attention for different reasons Wednesday night when the Washington Capitals visit the Bell Centre.

There’s some bad blood between the Capitals and Bourque dating back to Jan. 3. Bourque, who was playing for the Calgary Flames, hit Nicklas Backstrom in the head with an elbow. Bourque was suspended for five games while Backstrom is out indefinitely with a concussion.

Bourque said he expects his No. 27 to be a target.

“Obviously, I don’t feel good about what I did and I apologized,” Bourque said. “It’s part of the game, it happens. I just have to be prepared because I’m sure they’re going to finish every check on me.”

“Hopefully, there’s nothing residual,” said Canadiens head coach Randy Cunneyworth, who may be hoping against hope. “He paid his price and we hope there isn’t going to be anything residual and, if there is, then we have to be disciplined and let the refs take care of it. (Bourque) has to focus on what he does and that’s play at both ends.”

Cunneyworth went on to say that he’ll remind Bourque’s teammates that they’ll have to show restraint if things get out of hand. While the Canadiens have the second-best penalty-killing record in the NHL, he doesn’t want to put it to the test against a Washington power play that ranks fifth.

The Gazette indicate that Bourque, who was acquired last Thursday night in a trade for Michael Cammalleri, has spent a few days exploring the city and getting ideas on where to live. But he was happy Tuesday to go through his first full practice with linemates Tomas Plekanec and Mike Blunden.

“It’s nice to get out and get some practices and get used to the guys I’m playing with a little bit,” he said. “Your forecheck and the defensive zone coverage is pretty well the same everywhere you play, (but) there’s always little differences.”

Bourque’s arrival should make life easier for Plekanec, whose offensive efforts have been hampered by a revolving set of wingers. In Bourque and Blunden, he has two physical types who go to the net and help create room for him.

How odd, The Boston Herald lays out, that when Patrice Bergeron struggled somewhat in the season after he returned from a major concussion, he received no criticism. It was widely understood that it wasn’t easy to come back from such a devastating injury.

But Nathan Horton has been ripped in some quarters as he resumed playing after suffering a concussion in last year’s Stanley Cup finals, to the point where some critics would like to see him shipped out of town on the next Greyhound.

In fact, Horton has played fairly well, and last night scored two goals in the Bruins’ 5-3 loss to the Lightning. They were Nos. 15 and 16 of the season, putting him on a pace for 30. Both scores were from in close, where he tends to shine. Afterward, he defended himself.

“I definitely need to get shots on the net more,” Horton said. “I’m not Wayne Gretzky. Sometimes people seem to think I am. I want to be the best I can. I’m out there trying, whether it’s backchecking or just working hard. That’s all I can do. Be myself. Like I said, I do need to get my shots off, get more than 1-2 a game. I know that. It’s something I’ve got to work on.”

Coach Claude Julien had a mixed review for Horton and his line.

“That’s his strength: He’s one of those guys, when he takes pucks to the net, he’s a big, strong guy, (and) he scores goals,” Julien said. “He was certainly a guy who gave us some good offense. Unfortunate, in a way, because they gave us two goals, but they also gave up three. They’ve been on for five goals the last two games. We’d like to get better from that line.”

"He has been on me to play a more north-south game," Blues winger T.J. Oshie told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch of head coach Ken Hitchcock. Oshie's net-front play has garnered him 11 goals, 11 assists and a plus-10 rating in 32 games since Hitchcock came aboard. "He says when I'm skating, that's when I'm at my best. When I catch myself not moving my feet, I try to get them going right away and get back in plays. And then, I'm still trying to get to the net, trying to fight to get there. That's where I'm getting all my goals.

PhillyNews.com describes how the sequence began with Dany Heatley's blocked slap shot inside the Flyers' zone - and ended 9 seconds later down the other end of the ice inside the Minnesota Wild's cage.

Sean Couturier got just enough on the shot, as Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky simultaneously lifted his stick, and somehow the puck trickled over the goal line and into the net.

For Couturier, the celebration was a familiar one, with his fifth goal in as many games.

Almost all of them, though, have begun in his defensive end.

"The one tonight didn't have the zip on it that the other three or four have," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette deadpanned after the game. "His goals have been impressive. A few of them have come from coming out of our own end. He's not above the play, he's from underneath the play. He puts himself on the right side of the puck."

The rookie, who has been mostly playing on the fourth line, offered this: "With goals, I don't even know if I had that in juniors," Couturier said. "Usually, I like to think more of a pass, but the bounces have been going my way, so I've just been trying to get pucks on net."

Couturier's offensive outburst hasn't surprised his teammates, who have been able to watch him every day in practice.

"He's very good positionally, that's why he's getting so many odd-man attacks," Scott Hartnell explained. "He's just hot right now."

"He's so mature," Claude Giroux said. "He's got one of the best sticks in the league. I don't know if you saw that one play, he was on his knees and he made a pass up to Harry [Zolnierczyk]. He's going to be a really good player in this league.

"Your best offense, I really believe it's going to come from your defense. You can see that. They don't stay in their zone a really long time. He's down low with the defense and he makes the play to get out of the zone and they get a lot of chances. They're a very dangerous line."

The New York Post recalls that the last time James Dolan addressed the press following a Rangers game had been at the conclusion of the 2002-03 season, when the Garden CEO pledged to cut ticket prices by 10 percent if the club missed the playoffs the following year.

They did and he did.

Last night, when Dolan made a spontaneous appearance in Madison Square Garden press room following the Rangers’ 3-0 victory over the Predators, he wasn’t talking about missing the playoffs; he was talking about winning them, talking about winning the Stanley Cup during an address that left coach John Tortorella miffed.

“I’m very proud of the organization. I’m particularly proud of Mr. Sather,” Dolan said of the Rangers general manager following the victory that lifted the team to an NHL-best 29-11-4. “Because all the way back to 2004 when things weren’t going so well and we had a lot of free agents in here and we made the decision to basically redo the strategy, Glen and I actually had a pact. I actually gave him something that I won’t reveal what it is.

“I said, ‘You can’t give it back to me until we win the Stanley Cup.’ And I think I’m getting pretty close to getting that thing back.

“Of course, great coaching, but to me it’s all about the farm system, the scouting system, the development and going with the kids and sticking with that philosophy even when, at times, it didn’t look so good,” added Dolan, who has been willing to spend big to add free agents Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards.

Proclamations of an impending championship are anathema to Tortorella, who has refused to join the ballyhoo surrounding his team. Of course, Sather did guarantee a Stanley Cup victory on Sept. 26 in Philadelphia with the announcement of the Rangers-Flyers Winter Classic matchup.

“We’ve got to go about our business,” Tortorella said after Dolan relinquished the floor. “I’ve got an owner up here talking about a Stanley Cup. That’s a bunch of BS.

“We’ve got to take it one day at a time.”

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette indicates there were days Kris Letang struggled to get out of bed. Bouts of dizziness and nausea plagued him.

"It was really tough," the Penguins top defenseman said Tuesday after joining his teammates on the ice for the first time in weeks.

"I went through a month with a lot of symptoms."

Letang has recovered from a concussion and is medically cleared.

He participated in the morning skate but was not in the lineup against Carolina at Consol Energy Center. He said he needs to practice a bit more but sounded as if he could play before the All-Star break that starts late next week.

He spent a week in Canada with specialist Francois Chaput, who then came to Pittsburgh for a week. Letang said that helped. Like Ted Carrick, who is working with Penguins captain Sidney Crosby in Atlanta this week for the second time, Chaput is a chiropractor specializing in concussion recovery.

Letang's spirits have rebounded, too, which became apparent when he listed another symptom.

"My 'entourage' said I was irritable," he said, with a smile.

"I think it was more that I was not playing hockey. It was a rough time. Sitting home watching my teammates play was kind of boring. It's a frustrating injury."

Letang got hurt Nov. 26 on a thundering hit from Montreal's Max Pacioretty, who subsequently got suspended for three games.

Initially, Letang said, "I noticed my nose was not in place.

"We took care of that. After that, it was just a question of being able to function."

He returned for overtime and scored the winning goal.

"I was pretty pumped to get back out there," he said.

"The adrenaline was still pumping in my veins. I didn't feel anything [out of the ordinary] that night.

"It was the day after, when I woke up in the morning, I didn't feel that great. I saw some doctors. Then, I started throwing up and getting dizzy."

The Chicago Tribune says that Viktor Stalberg's stretch of five goals in four games, including his first career hat trick, injected some verve into the Hawks' attack with winger Patrick Sharp sidelined with a wrist injury.

Skating with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane on the Hawks' top line is nothing new. What's new is the aggressiveness Stalberg says he carries with him on that assignment this year.

"You kind of demand the puck a little more and you want to play your game," Stalberg said.

"The first couple of times playing with those guys, you kind of give them the puck and let them play, and it's a little easier to neutralize four guys on the ice for the other team. It feels good when I play with them right now — I feel I'm more demanding of the puck and it opens up space for those guys, too."

The next step, of course, would be maintaining high-octane play that might give Hawks general manager Stan Bowman pre-trade deadline pause in seeking help on the left wing. Stalberg points out that he has been steady all year, and he's generally right: 12 points in the first 23 games, 16 in the last 23.

But nine of his already career-best 14 goals have arrived in the last 23 games, including the recent burst. It's another level of grit added to Stalberg's already impressive speed.

"He has been more effective in the puck areas, sustained a lot of more pucks," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Getting those pucks, all of a sudden it develops into high quality opportunities."

Said Kane: "A lot of his plays, he kind of gave up the puck and went to the net and got the puck back. And whether they're one-timers or deflections, he's doing the right things to get to those areas."

It just may be a case of a player in his second full NHL season finding a comfort level, just when the Hawks need it in a claustrophobic Western Conference.

"There were a lot of things going on with the trade (from the Maple Leafs), coming to a new city and starting over again, kind of," Stalberg said. "(There's) a little more confidence and a little more familiarity with systems and coaches and what they expect out of you. It has been a good year so far, and I want to keep it going."

The Denver Post says Jean-Sebastien Giguere​ will be the starting goalie for the Avalanche tonight against the visiting Florida Panthers​. Technically, that's as far as it goes in significance for the Avs.

But there is an unmistakable vibe right now that the veteran Giguere may be the main man in net down the stretch for the Avs. Not only is Giguere playing well, he is the one with the Stanley Cup ring, the goalie who has proved he can lead an underdog team into the playoffs.

The Avs invested a lot in getting 23-year-old Semyon Varlamov to be their No. 1 goalie, but coach Joe Sacco's job is to win now, and it appears the top job is Giguere's to win or lose as the games get bigger.

"Wins are obviously the most important thing right now," Sacco said. "I think both goaltenders all season long have been solid for us. The last game (a 6-1 loss to Phoenix on Monday) obviously wasn't Varly's best game, and I'm sure he wants to put it behind him. Jiggy has been very consistent all season long and given us everything we've expected of him. He's the consummate professional."

Giguere, 34, is aware it's a delicate situation surrounding the two goalies' roles. He was supposed to be the sage, veteran backup who gave the young, up-and-coming star a breather now and then. Giguere roots for Varlamov to win every start, but he also knows it's not his job to psychoanalyze his situation. His job is to win now too.

"I'm not worrying too much about that. Whoever is playing on a given night is the one who needs to perform and give the team a chance," Giguere said. "Whether that's me or Varly, that doesn't change. I'm just going to take it one game at a time, stay focused on what I have to do, and things will take care of themselves."

Giguere said he will be "there anytime Varly needs to talk" but that he needs coaching too. The Avs have a goalie coach, Kirk McLean​, but he is not full time. Not many teams have full-time goalie coaches, which is something Giguere doesn't quite understand.

"I think every team should have a full-time goalie coach. At the end of the day, a goalie can make you make the playoffs or not make the playoffs or win you a series or not," Giguere said. "I still don't understand why we don't have a (full-time) goalie coach. A lot of organizations are like this, and it's a bizarre situation if you ask me. It's important to have a strong working relationship between the goalies and the goalie coach, to make sure that we're all on the same page. The difference when the two goalies play should not be very noticeable, between the forwards and the D ... It's a relationship that's very important to the goalie."

The Washington Post recalls that it’s been more than a year since Tom Poti set foot in a game for the Washington Capitals. The veteran defenseman has not been with the team at all this season, but is trying to rehab a lingering groin strain on his own.

Based on comments from General Manager George McPhee, however, there doesn’t appear to be much optimism that he’ll return.

“Tom’s been working at it and improving but I don’t know if he’ll ever get to the point where he can play again,” McPhee told reporters Tuesday. “As I said in the summer, we weren’t counting on it.”

Poti played just 21 games in the 2010-11 season and was in and out of the lineup with chronic groin ailments. His last game apparance was Jan. 12, 2011 against Tampa Bay, and he was forced to leave that contest when the problem flared up again. Poti, 34, hasn’t played since and has been on the long-term injury list this entire season.

Washington signed Poti to a two-year contract extension prior to the start of the 2010-11 season, so he is under contract through 2012-13 with a salary cap hit of $2.875 million and at the moment it appears possible that he may not play in either season.

Placing him on LTI offers relief in the amount of his cap hit, should the Capitals exceed the salary cap ceiling. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, which is set to expire this summer, injured players contracts cannot be bought out.

Mike Green’s recent trouble with a groin strain has brought comparisons to Poti but McPhee assured that they are different injuries. That is why, McPhee said, that they chose to move forward with surgery for Green but not for Poti.

“Different injuries and with respect to Tom there was at some point there was a fracture in his pelvis,” McPhee said. “He got hit hard enough and sometimes that leads to the instability and it never really gets back to where you want it to be. It’s rare but unfortunately for Tom, that’s what has happened.”

Green missed 23 consecutive games beginning in mid-November, and his injury flared up again on Jan. 7 in San Jose. That prompted the Capitals to move forward this week with sports hernia surgery when a tear in his stomach lining, which occurred in conjunction with the groin problems, wouldn’t heal correctly.

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.