Month: March 2009

Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 36th goal in yesterday afternoon’s 5-2 win over Calgary. Kovy is now tied for third in the league in goals and he has climbed into the top 20 in points (76). The Thrashers won consecutive games over the weekend, blanking Montreal 2-0 on Friday night. By MIKE KNOBLER The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

There appears to be good news on the injury front for Blackhawks goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. There is no timetable for his return, but he has been skating with the team and could return to practice in the near future. Chicago travels to Boston tomorrow for a 1 PM face-off with the Bruins. Published: 3/6/2009 12:02

Today, HPK forward Jussi Makkonen was named Player of the Month in SM-Liiga for the month of February. Makkonen is currently the leading goal scorer (27) in the Finnish Elite League and ranks 3rd in points (58). The 24-year old undrafted forward is a native of Turku, Finland and is in his first full season

Anssi Salmela is headed to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for defenseman Niclas Havelid. Havelid was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and so Atlanta didn’t want to let him go for nothing. In Salmela, the Thrashers acquire a younger (24 years old) offensive-minded defenseman who does some of his best

Atlanta Thrashers LW Ilya Kovalchuk continued his torrid pace Saturday night by scoring 2 goals and adding 3 assists in Atlanta’s 5-3 comback win over Carolina. Kovalchuk has amassed 17 points (10 G, 7 A) in his last 7 games, moving him to 7th in the NHL in points (71). At the midpoint of the

Since Pekka Rinne has taken over the starting goaltending job in Nashville, he has really taken off. Saturday night’s 8-0 thumping of Detroit marked Pekka’s sixth shutout of the season, tying a franchise-record previously set by Dan Ellis last year. Rinne is now tied for second in the NHL in shuouts, only trailing Steve Mason,