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EXPERT OUTLINES CROSBY’S TIMELINE
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the type of jaw surgery that Sidney Crosby endured last weekend after being hit in the face with a puck should, at the latest, allow him to return to game action by the time the playoffs begin in a month, experts say.
“As long as he keeps his nourishment up — and he should since he’s not wired shut — he should be good to go in three to four weeks,” said David Dattilo, director of oral and maxillofacial surgery for West Penn Allegheny Health System.
If all goes well in three to four weeks, Dr. Dattilo said, Crosby won’t even necessarily need special headgear to protect his jaw “because his jaw will be just as strong as before, and probably stronger because it will be metal-reinforced.”
Dr. Dattilo, who has done hundreds of similar “plating” surgeries like Crosby’s, said Crosby could be back on the ice doing moderate workouts early this week.
UPMC spokesman Chuck Finder said UPMC’s contract with the Penguins, as well as with the Steelers, prohibits UPMC doctors from talking to anyone about any medical procedures involving players unless the teams authorize them. The Penguins are not allowing UPMC’s doctors to talk about Crosby’s surgery.
The “plating” technique surgeons used to repair Crosby’s jaw is the dominant form of mandible fracture surgery these days and helps shorten recovery time and potential problems over wiring a jaw shut, said Robert Kellman, a surgeon at the State University of New York’s Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.
How soon a hockey player gets back on the ice and tries to compete is based on “choices that people make,” Dr. Kellman said. “How much risk are they willing to take?”
GILLIS SUPPORTS CANUCKS’ AHL AUTONOMY
The Vancouver Sun passes along that regardless of where the Canucks move the newly-purchased Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League, Canucks GM Mike Gillis feels the autonomy of owning and operating a minor-league franchise will produce more NHL players for Vancouver.
The Canucks’ two-year player-development agreement with the Chicago Wolves expires after this season.
“It allows our organization to focus on what we think is really important,” Gillis said before the Canucks’ game here against the San Jose Sharks. “Sometimes what we think is important is divergent from what an independent owner thinks is important for his minor-league team.
“We get to make the decisions now. It allows us to plan and make decisions … to stock the team as we see fit to help our players.”
Abbotsford Heat President Ryan Walter admitted to The Vancouver Province there’s been “lots of speculation” about the Canucks possibly moving an AHL farm club into the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre, but “nothing solidified has come our way.”
“There are lots of rumours,” said Walter. “At one point, in the next bit, we’re going to know one way or the other.”
“GRETZKY EFFECT” LINGERS IN CALIFORNIA
The Los Angeles Times lays out how Wayne Gretzky is long gone from the Kings and long retired from the NHL, but the impact of his presence in Los Angeles is being felt more strongly than ever in the increasing success of youth hockey players who were born and trained in Southern California.
L.A. Junior Kings AAA team, composed of kids born in 1996 and 1997 — Gretzky was dealt by the Kings to the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 27, 1996 — will play for the USA Hockey national championship this week in Pittsburgh.
Louis Pacella co-coaches the team and notes the impact on him personally of Gretzky arriving in Los Angeles in the summer of 1988. Pacella became a hockey fan because Gretzky became a King, and that triggered a chain of events Pacella couldn’t have predicted. In fact, Pacella said, he saw former Kings owner Bruce McNall at a playoff game last spring and made a point of thanking McNall for acquiring Gretzky from Edmonton.
“I went up to him and told him, ‘If it wasn’t for what you did bringing Wayne Gretzky here, my life would probably be very different,'” Pacella said. “I doubt I would be involved in hockey, and that’s how I met my wife, that’s how I have my three kids, and a lot of my business has come from it. One little thing has a huge impact.
“I know I would not be coaching at the level I’m coaching at right now, being involved with hockey, if it wasn’t for the Wayne Gretzky effect. That just continues because you have people like me who started when Gretzky was around that are now coaching and involved with the next generation of youngsters.”
SMID AT HOME IN EDMONTON
The Edmonton Journal describes how it was the idea of spending another four years with the Edmonton Oilers that was a particularly appealing part of the contract Ladislav Smid signed with the NHL club on Monday.
Smid, approaching the end of his current dealpaying him $2.25 million, signed a four-year extension that will pay him $14 million.
“I’m going to get to grow up with this young group of players, so it’s a great feeling,” Smid said. “I wanted the security. And the amount of money? I never thought I could make that much in my life. Huge money. But at the same time I’ve worked really hard.”
Smid, who would have been an unrestricted free agent on July 1, has been with the organization since he was traded to the Oilers in the 2006 Chris Pronger package. Pronger was sent to the Anaheim Ducks for Smid, Joffrey Lupul and two first-round draft picks, one of which netted Jordan Eberle.
“It’s a huge relief for me. Obviously, I didn’t want to think about it too much the past month but it was in the back of my mind,” said Smid, who is married to a woman from Edmonton.
“Maybe I would have got more (if I had gone to free agency). Maybe not. But my I feel like this is home and we do have something special going on here with this group of players so I really wanted to stay. Hopefully we’re going to build a championship team one day.”
MORROW DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE DALLAS
The Dallas Morning News relays that former captain Brenden Morrow joined the Elf and Slater Show on 105.3 The Fan on Monday to talk about his trade to Pittsburgh. Here are some highlights:
On waving his no trade clause:
I don’t think there was going to be a better opportunity to win a Cup than the team they have here in Pittsburgh. The team in Dallas was moving on. They were getting younger and I don’t think I was in their plans in the future so it was probably I could have weathered it out for a couple of months but I think this was too good an opportunity to pass up.
On how he was close to being one of the rare few who stayed with one team his entire career:
I thought about it all the time. I wanted to finish my career and be a Dallas Star for a few more years and end it that way and not have to move the family and uproot everything that I knew. But I’ve seen it happen to players before me, franchise guys, Modano. It’s something that happens. I’m a realist I knew it was a possibility that it was going to be me some day. It turned out to be true.
On his fondest memories of Dallas:
The Stanley Cup run, losing to New Jersey was great. I never did win one. Everyone seems to think that I have won. I don’t. That was a cool Cup run, but I was young and you just expect it every year. I think for me, the most enjoyable experience was ’08, that run we had there and being a major contributor in it instead of just being a grinder on the fourth line. That was a lot of fun.
WINGS SEEK TALENT, NOT DEPTH
The Detroit News notes with Wednesday’s trade deadline approaching, Ken Holland said Monday that the Red Wings would consider a trade for an important player, but not simply to add to the ranks.
“In some years you do deals for depth,” said the general manager, who is navigating through a year of extensive roster changes because of injuries and key losses in the off-season. “Well, I don’t think we need depth.
He added: “With the signing of Dan Dekeyser, with Carlo Colaiacovo getting healthy, with the development of Brian Lashoff — I mean, we’re sitting here, we have nine defensemen. I don’t need any more depth on defense.
“I don’t think we need depth up front. We’d like to get healthy up front.
“If we can do a legitimate trade to acquire a player that we think is a legitimate top-six forward, or a legitimate top-four defenseman, then we’re going to look.”
LAVIOLETTE: OATES ‘REACHING HIS TOP PLAYERS’
CSNWashington.com observes how Flyers’ coach Peter Laviolette has walked in Adam Oates’ shoes and understands the challenges facing the Capitals’ first-year coach as he tries to get his team into the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“I look at what Adam’s done, getting these guys back on track and getting themselves in a spot for a playoff push,” Laviolette said. “I think there is a transition period and you can tell now that he’s reaching his top players. Ovi’s playing really well right now.”
Alex Ovechkin has scored nine goals in his last 10 games and has moved into fifth place in the NHL with 18 goals. He ranks first in the league in power-plays goals [12] and first in shots [156]. During the past 10 games Ovechkin’s average shot totals have jumped from 4.0 per game to 5.5 per game.
“Certainly, he’s found a way to reach him,” Laviolette said, “because anybody who can fire 17 shots and have 10 of them hit the net [as Ovechkin did Saturday night in Buffalo] is doing the right thing.”
SNAPSHOT OF PANTHERS’ FUTURE
The Miami Herald points out the Florida Panthers have been beset with injuries throughout this abbreviated season, losing close to 250 man games to injury.
Filling that void hasn’t been easy although players such as Calder Trophy candidate Jonathan Huberdeau, Shawn Matthias and Drew Shore have taken on bigger roles with the Panthers than previously thought. Rookie goalie Jacob Markstrom has also settled into a starting role and is playing lights out lately.
“Leaders grow into those roles and you are seeing snap shots of our future right now,” coach Kevin Dineen said.
“We know what those kids are doing. They are starting to develop and take on a significant role within the team.”
EX-DEVILS TO BE IN SANDY CHARITY GAME
The Star-Ledger relays that North American and Russian hockey legends will take part in a charity game benefitting the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund on April 13 at 1 p.m. at Prudential Center.
Among those scheduled to play are Ken Daneyko, Bruce Driver, Grant Marshall, Jim Dowd, Sergei Brylin, Viacheslav Fetisov, Alexei Kasatonov, Valery Kamensky, Alexey Yashin and Darius Kasparaitis.
All proceeds will support programs designed to address the unmet needs of New Jersey communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
Also playing will be Bob Carpenter, Bill Guerin, Claude Lemieux, Randy McKay, Stephane Richer and Brendan Shanahan. Ron Duguay, Brian Leetch and Brian Propp are also expected to skate.