Silent assassin

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QMI Agency points out that the talk of Vancouver may be all Aaron Rome right now but another Canuck is quietly putting together a strong November of his own.

Cody Hodgson recorded his third multi-point game of the month Sunday, scoring once and assisting on another while stealing first star of the game honours from Rome.

Not only has the rookie forward proved he belongs in the NHL, he’s done so while adjusting to constant lineup changes.

Having been shuffled around all season long, Hodgson has gone from the second line to the third line, from centre to the wing and back. He’s played with multiple linemates while averaging just 13:44 of ice time per game (ranked 17th on the team).

But there’s no complaining from the 21-year-old. There’s no attitude. There’s no pouting. And most importantly, he hasn’t let it slow down his game.

Instead, Hodgson sits fourth amongst Canucks forwards in points with four goals and five assists and has been a consistent producer.

“I can’t complain,” he said. “I’m playing and I’m contributing and being a part of the team and that’s all you can really ask for. It’s not like you go to one line and you got to play different than the other, because there’s talent on every line and people that can score. I’m just enjoying it.”

Chris Higgins, an occasional linemate of Hodgson’s, said the biggest attribute to the youngster’s game is his hockey smarts.

“It’s underrated sometimes,” Higgins said. “You see guys with size, skill, but they don’t think the game well. Cody makes himself available to the puck, he knows where to go on the ice, and he protects the puck well. He still has things to learn as any young player but he wants to learn and he works hard at his game. Those things will help him.”

The Ottawa Citizen describes how Milan Michalek couldn’t resist the temptation.

When someone did the math on the 11 goals the Ottawa Senators forward had scored in the first 18 games and found out that put him on a pace to score 50 this season, the inevitable question was asked: So, Milan, do you think you’ll score 50 goals this year?

Michalek didn’t hesitate.

“Yeah, sure,” he responded. “No problem.”

And then he joined the room in a loud round of laughter.

Michalek knows this is a question better asked when there are 10 or 15 games left in the season, so he’s not going to jinx himself now by getting anywhere close to making a prediction. What he is serious about, though, is getting back to the form he displayed in his second and third years in San Jose when he scored 26 and 24 goals and looked ready to take off offensively.

“It would be great if I scored more than 30, but I’m not thinking about it,” he said. “I’m just taking it day by day and trying to be better every game.

“Everything is going good and I just hope it keeps going like that.”

Michalek’s early success is certainly welcome after two mediocre seasons that were hampered by injuries. It also makes the trade that sent Dany Heatley to the Sharks look, if not more even, then a little more palatable.

But nothing about it surprises coach Paul MacLean, a former Detroit Red Wings assistant who saw Michalek a lot when he was in the Western Conference.

“I’ve always thought Milan Michalek was a real good player, from the first time I saw him,” he said. “The only thing holding him back was injury. He’s a genuine NHL winger with the ability to score and get to the front of the net, play the whole rink, and play well with and without the puck. And my opinion hasn’t changed one little bit since I’ve been here.

“We’re very pleased for him that he has been able to get off to the start he has, and we need him to continue.”

The Boston Globe notes that Milan Lucic, the bruising Bruins forward, avoided any league sanctions for his hit on Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller in Saturday night’s 6-2 victory at TD Garden after NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan ruled that Lucic did not merit any supplemental punishment. Lucic drew a minor penalty for charging after his hit on Miller at 13:12 of the first period.

“That’s never a part of our game plan, to go after a goalie and run him or anything like that,’’ Lucic said. “If you look at my record, for a big guy who does go to the net a lot, I think I don’t even have a handful of goalie interference penalties in my career.’’

Shanahan said the charging minor was the proper call because it followed Rule 42.1, which reads, “a goalkeeper is not fair game just because he is outside the goal crease area.’’

“I had the hearing because I did make an initial assessment of the play as I do with all plays, but I did have some questions for Milan and I wanted to hear directly from him,’’ Shanahan told NHL.com.

“They were regarding his intent; at what point did he know there was going to be a collision; and whether or not he felt he had the time to avoid the collision. I was satisfied with his answers.’’

Miller suffered a concussion on the play, and while Shanahan said the injury was unfortunate, added, “I saw nothing egregious about this hit that would elevate it to supplemental discipline.’’

After blocking a shot by Thomas Vanek in the neutral zone, Lucic gave chase to the loose puck, his head buried as he churned his legs.

The Globe recalls that Miller ventured out to the hash marks of the right faceoff circle in an attempt to sweep away the loose puck, but the 175-pound goalie got mowed down by the 6-foot-4-inch, 220-pound Lucic. Miller’s facemask flew off when he spun violently and tumbled to the ice. Replays, however, appeared to show that Lucic did not target Miller’s head, which never touched the ice as a result of the collision.

“I pushed the puck a little too far ahead of me and started skating after the puck as hard as I could,’’ Lucic explained after yesterday’s practice at Ristuccia Arena. “I looked up and [Miller] was still in the net, then when I looked down at the puck, I continued on and the next thing I look up and he’s coming out full speed at me.

“Obviously, it was a hard collision and I did everything I could to brace myself,’’ Lucic said. “Like he said, I know I have 50 pounds on him, so he might’ve got the worst of it. But if you look back at the video, I was cringing because I was winded and it was such a hard collision and he got a good piece of me as well.’’

The Sabres yesterday complained about Shanahan not suspending Lucic, claiming goalies now have to worry about getting hit.

Late last night, Shanahan said, “I think Buffalo’s comments are irresponsible to suggest that it’s open season. I will have this warning for players: It’s not. If you run a goalie you’re going to have to explain yourself and you don’t explain it sufficiently, and if I don’t buy it, you’re going to be suspended.’’

The Buffalo News details how Tyler Myers was minus-3 Saturday in Boston. He committed two giveaways directly responsible for Bruins goals. And, of course, he was one of the most prominent players who stood by with little response after Milan Lucic crushed Ryan Miller.

There's been virtually no shaking the 6-foot-8 Myers from the doldrums he's been in all season, so coach Lindy Ruff took a big step Monday when he made the former Calder Trophy-winning defenseman a healthy scratch for the first time in his career for the game against the Montreal Canadiens.

Myers is struggling in every area in the wake of signing his seven-year, $38.5 million contract extension that kicks in next season. He has no goals and just four assists in 16 games this year after posting 11 and 10 goals, respectively, in his first two years and averaging 42.5 points.

Myers' passing and decision-making have been brutal and his puck-handling spotty. He's been flat-footed too often in his own zone and has lost his aggressiveness. He is minus-3 for the season -- but is minus-6 in the last four games.

"The way I've been playing in the last three of four games, it's not good," Myers said after doing some extra work in the morning skate with assistant coaches James Patrick, Teppo Numminen and Kevyn Adams. "It's not good enough for me. I have to be better. I know that. The coaches know that. Until I do, stuff like this is going to happen.

"I think there's a lot of good but there's those one or two bad mistakes I have to eliminate from my game. This is just one step. Get [ticked] off and come out next game and start playing the way I know I can. To do that, playing a lot more physical will help my game."

"Some of his decisions haven't been very good," said Ruff. "For Tyler to be better, it's inside the game he has to make some better decisions."

The San Jose Mercury News writes that Michal Handzus came across an article about Pavol Demitra on the Internet last week. As Handzus stared at a picture of his close friend, a fresh wave of anguish washed over him.

"I still can't believe it," said Handzus, the Sharks forward. "The pain doesn't go away."

Demitra, a three-time NHL All-Star, was among the 36 members of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team who died in a Sept. 7 plane crash in Russia.

The calamity stunned the hockey community, which is remarkably tight-knit considering how players come from all around the globe. But for Handzus, the tragedy was intensely personal.

Handzus and Demitra played together three seasons for the St. Louis Blues as well as on national teams for their native Slovakia. Handzus was the best man at Demitra's wedding. Demitra was present when Handzus got married this summer.

Then, just weeks later, Demitra was gone.

"It was like time stopped," Handzus said. Nearly 10 weeks have passed, but the raw grief has not. "Nothing has changed," he added. "I play hockey and forget what happened for a little bit, and then suddenly it hits you again. You just don't believe it's true."

The final time Handzus and Demitra played together was at the World Championships in May. Slovakia was the host country but played poorly and didn't make the medal round. Demitra announced his national team retirement before the last game.

"The crowd gave him a standing ovation almost the whole game because the people were sad and wanted to say thank you," Handzus said. "It was the most emotional moment that I've ever had in hockey. It was unbelievable. Everybody was saying goodbye to him."

He paused.

"We thought then that it was just about hockey," Handzus added. "But it really was goodbye."

The burst of speed Evgeny Dadonov displayed moments before his goal on Sunday at BankAtlantic Center is what makes the young forward so appealing to the Panthers’ front office, according to The Miami Herald.

Everything else — his work on the boards and how he manages his minutes — still needs improvement, Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. Dineen tempered his praise of Dadonov, 22, on Monday, one day after the Panthers lost to the Flyers 3-2, but Florida’s youngest forward could be with the team for an extended stretch while other forwards recover from injuries.

“We like to think of our team as a team that has speed,” Dineen said. “That is one of our characteristics, and Evgeny really has that.”

Dadonov had hopes of making the Panthers’ roster coming out of training camp but instead was sent to AHL Rochester, N.Y. Sunday was his first game back with the team, and he scored a goal on his first shot. On Monday, Dadonov shrugged when asked about the goal, and said he got lucky.

“He didn’t have a great training camp,” Dineen said. “I think he had other thoughts on his mind. I think he needed to get back to the basics of hockey.”

Injuries to forwards Mikael Samuelsson and Scottie Upshall could allow Dadonov time to find his form. He played 36 games last season and totaled 17 points (eight goals, nine assists).

“I think [Dadonov] had a good slap shot for Florida last year,’’ Dineen said, “but as far as the fundamentals of system hockey ... when you have that kind of skill, sometimes you let that skill come before the work, and I think he’s still in that learning process.’’

The Herald also reports that Samuelsson, acquired by the team in mid-October, is still limited because of complications with a sports hernia he sustained in May. He’s apparently skating on his own but has yet to practice with the team.

Upshall will remain on the Panthers’ injured reserve list for at least the next two weeks after sustaining an undisclosed injury to his lower body last Thursday against the Jets.

“As far as a timetable ... we won’t expect him in the month of November and probably through December as well,” Dineen said.

In the 365 days Jack Capuano has been the Islanders coach, The New York Post believes he has never been more publicly upset and decidedly searing toward his team than he has been over the past week.

But after the Islanders wrapped up a 0-2-1 road trip with a 4-1 loss at Vancouver on Sunday, giving them a 1-6-3 mark in their past 10 games, the coach had a moment to reflect yesterday.

“Emotions are high because you expect a lot of them,” Capuano told The Post. “With that being said, we as a team, as a coaching staff, we have to find a way to play better.”

After Sunday’s game, he said, “We had a few guys take a night off.” After a 6-2 loss in Boston on Nov. 7, Capuano said, “I was just real disappointed with some guys’ work ethic tonight.”

Those are harsh words from a man known as a players’ coach. But after a cross-country trip and a non-skating day to prepare for the Rangers tonight at the Coliseum, Capuano had his emotions a little more in check.

“No one is going to feel bad for us,” Capuano said, “but we have to find a way to get out of this.”

Brain Rolston is one of the veterans brought in during the off-season to try and keep this team from falling into the type of lull they’re in right now and avoiding a repeat of last season’s 1-17-3 early-season skid that got Scott Gordon fired and Capuano promoted one year ago today. But Rolston, who was indirectly called out by Capuano last week in Boston after finishing the game minus-3, thinks his team isn’t too far off.

“I don’t think it’s a lack of effort,” said Rolston, who admitted to not knowing about his coach’s comments. “I think we’ve got a bunch of guys that can win if we’re in it together as a team.”

One thing that could help is yesterday’s promotion of winger Nino Niederreiter, the team’s first-round pick last year (No. 5 overall) after a six-game conditioning stint in Bridgeport.

“I will tell you that, as a player and as a coach, you don’t always sit a guy for his performance,” said Capuano, speaking about finding a roster spot for Niederreiter. “Sometimes mentally, it’s good to see the game from a different view.”

Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

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