Wednesday afternoon, the NHL and the Washington Capitals issued statements in response to allegations made Tuesday night by a man arrested for possession of steroids that he had sold performance-enhancing drugs to members of the Capitals and Washington Nationals.
Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Steve Downie is certainly no stranger to controversy, as the 21-year-old forward has been suspended multiple times in his young career for various acts of idiocy.
On Saturday, Downie, currently playing for the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL, decided it had been too long since he did something ridiculous and was given a game misconduct during a game against the Hershey Bears for "physical abuse of an official." He's facing a 20-game suspension as a result.
Wednesday's action across the NHL marked the end of the first half of the season, and there were nine games on the schedule.
Bruins 4, Maple Leafs 3: For a while, it appeared as if Toronto had a chance to knock off the top team in the Eastern Conference, jumping out to a 3-1 lead over Boston. The Bruins, however, proved why there's a 30-point difference between the two teams in the standings and scored a pair of power play goals in the third period, forcing overtime. Michael Ryder scored the game-winner in a shootout, leading the Bruins to a 4-3 win.
It's been a rough couple of months for the Tampa Bay Lightning, as they're already on their second head coach of the season, the stud rookie is looking like somewhat of a dud, and the team is currently sitting with the fourth-worst record in the league. About the only way things could possibly get worse for the Lightning is if management did something completely crazy, off-the-wall and relatively insane, such as, oh, I don't know, trading team captain and franchise player Vincent Lecavalier.
Sounds crazy, sure, but earlier this week rumors began to surface that the Lightning may be shopping their captain before his new contract -- and no-trade clause -- kicks in this offseason.
Good news, however, as Bob McKenzie of TSN reports the Lightning have told Lecavalier the rumors are just that, and they have no intentions of trading him.
The Florida Panthers scored three third period goals, including a game-tying score from Radek Dvorak with 1:38 to play, to force overtime at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Sunday afternoon. Defenseman Andrei Markov, one of four Montreal players voted to start in the All-Star game, scored the lone goal in a shootout helping lead the Canadiens to a 6-5 win.
The Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period thanks to goals from Brett McLean and David Booth, only to have Montreal come out in the second period and take over the game, scoring four goals -- including a pair in the first two minutes of the period -- while outshooting the Panthers by a 19-5 margin.
Florida rebounded in the final frame with goals from Dvorak (two) and Jassen Cullimore, sending the game to overtime. .
As long as we're on the subject of the Panthers, Greg Wyshnyski over at Puck Daddy passes along the report (from George Richards of the Miami Herald) that Brett McLean thinks Sidney Crosby is a liar, and that no challenge was ever issued prior to the drop of the puck in Saturday's game. So, basically, it's all coming down to a bunch of he said, she said. Moving on ...
Every week there are minor moves and stories around the National Hockey League that tend to fall through the cracks. Consider this our weekly roundup of those stories from the previous week, all wrapped up in one neat little package.
It didn't take Steve Downie long to leave his mark on his new team, as the feisty forward earned his first suspension as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. It probably won't be his last suspension, either.
Downie, a former first-round pick of the Flyers, was sent to Tampa Bay a couple of weeks ago, along with Steve Eminger, in exchange for Matt Carle. After playing in just six games in Norfolk, Downie was suspended for three games this past week by the American Hockey League for checking Kyle McLaren from behind.
New team. Same player.
Downie could be a useful asset to some team if he would simply use his head a little more often, and avoid taking dirty runs at players. As long as he's good for two suspensions a year (especially if they happen to be 20-game suspensions) and is a 5-minute major waiting to happen every time he steps on the ice, he's not going to be of any real use to any team, regardless of how talented he may be.
Since I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon, I'd say the Flyers made themselves a fantastic trade, regardless of whether or not Carle fulfills expectations.
Tuesday night's game against Edmonton is probably one that Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire would like to permanently erase from his memory, seeing as how it's probably the worst game he's ever played in the NHL. Leclaire gave up seven goals on just 19 shots, as the Oilers rolled to a 7-2 victory, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Columbus finished with a commanding edge in the shots department, firing 39 shots at Dwayne Roloson -- he stopped 37 of them -- and still managed to skate away losing by five goals.
A quick recap of yesterday's action from around the National Hockey League.
1. Olaf Kolzig returns to Washington:Olaf Kolzig spent 15 years as a member of the Washington Capitals, and on Monday night he played his first game in the nation's capital while wearing a different sweater. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't exactly a happy homecoming for the 38-year old goaltender.
Sure, he received a nice welcome from the fans -- who witnessed Kolzig win 301 games as a member of the Capitals -- while his former teammates proceeded to score three goals on their first seven shots (including their first two shots) on their way to a 4-2 victory over Kolzig's new team, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tom Poti and Mike Green opened the scoring with two goals in the first ten minutes, while Eric Fehr added a third tally in the opening period, which would be all the Capitals needed as they carried the play for much of the night over a sluggish Lightning squad.
Tampa Bay lost Ryan Malone to what is being called a "lower body injury" in the first period, while the recently acquired -- and former Capital -- Steve Eminger was a -3 in 20 minutes of action. Gary Roberts represented all of the offense for the Lightning, as he picked up his first two goals of the season.
I'm pretty sure there are a few fantasy hockey team owners that make fewer roster moves than Tampa Bay's front office. On Friday, the Lightning continued to shuffle their roster as they sent defenseman Matt Carle to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenseman Steve Eminger, and forward Steve Downie. The teams also exchanged draft picks, with the Flyers picking up a third-round selection and the Lightning gaining a fourth-rounder.
Carle, if you'll recall, was supposed to be the centerpiece of the Dan Boyle-to-San Jose trade over the summer. After just 12 games and two points, the Lightning have already given up on the speedy defenseman, making the Boyle trade, at this point, nothing more than a straight-up salary dump. From Damian Cristodero of theLightning Strikes blog at the St. Petersburg Times:
Asked if the trade of Dan Boyle, which in great part was done to shed his six-year, $40-million contract, now should be viewed as a failure, Lawton said, "I think it's a continuation of the process in evaluating what we have and being comfortable we have the right chemistry and the right balance and enough youth in the organization. It's one younger player for two younger players. ... When we went through it, we felt t was something that made sense."
Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Steve Downie is certainly no stranger to controversy, as the 21-year-old forward has been suspended multiple times in his young career for various acts of idiocy. 
Wednesday's action across the NHL marked the end of the first half of the season, and there were nine games on the schedule.
It's been a rough couple of months for the Tampa Bay Lightning, as they're already on their second head coach of the season, the stud rookie is looking like somewhat of a dud, and the team is currently sitting with the fourth-worst record in the league. About the only way things could possibly get worse for the Lightning is if management did something completely crazy, off-the-wall and relatively insane, such as, oh, I don't know, trading team captain and franchise player Vincent Lecavalier. 
The Florida Panthers scored three third period goals, including a game-tying score from Radek Dvorak with 1:38 to play, to force overtime at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Sunday afternoon. Defenseman Andrei Markov, one of four Montreal players voted to start in the All-Star game, scored the lone goal in a shootout helping lead the Canadiens to a 6-5 win. 
Every week there are minor moves and stories around the National Hockey League that tend to fall through the cracks. Consider this our weekly roundup of those stories from the previous week, all wrapped up in one neat little package.
Tuesday night's game against Edmonton is probably one that Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire would like to permanently erase from his memory, seeing as how it's probably the worst game he's ever played in the NHL. Leclaire gave up seven goals on just 19 shots, as the Oilers rolled to a 7-2 victory, snapping a three-game losing streak. 
A quick recap of yesterday's action from around the National Hockey League.
I'm pretty sure there are a few fantasy hockey team owners that make fewer roster moves than Tampa Bay's front office. On Friday, the Lightning continued to shuffle their roster as they sent defenseman Matt Carle to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenseman Steve Eminger, and forward Steve Downie. The teams also exchanged draft picks, with the Flyers picking up a third-round selection and the Lightning gaining a fourth-rounder. 
