Author: puckblog

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,

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin last started in net on February 11th in Atlanta, when he made 36 saves in a 3-1 win over Atlanta. Khabby currently ranks 5th in the NHL in save percentage (.924) and is tied for 9th in GAA (2.37). Also, Nik was recently rated the 7th best goaltender in the

The Colorado Avalanche head into Atlanta to face the Thrashers tonight. Both teams have struggled mightily this season; Atlanta is 14th in the Eastern Conference, 20 points out of a playoff spot and Colorado is last in the Western Conference, but only 7 points out 8th place. However, Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk has been on fire

Pekka Rinne recorded his fifth shutout of the season on Saturday night in St. Louis as the Predators edged the Blues 1-0. Rinne began the season as the backup to Dan Ellis, who Nashville re-signed to a two-year contract this summer. Saturday night is another example of Rinne delivering for Nashville, while having an extremely

Finnish defenseman Anssi Salmela was recalled from Lowell yesterday afternoon and joined the Devils in Tampa Bay as they prepared for tonight’s game. Salmela’s last played for New Jersey on November 29th in Pittsburgh. Anssi’s brief stint earlier this season with New Jersey was highlighted by a two-assist game vs. Tampa Bay on November 23rd.

Lethbridge goaltender Juha Metsola recorded his fifth shutout of the season on Friday night with a 2-0 win over Kamloops. Metsola’s .903 save percentage is good for 11th in the Western Hockey League. Juha, who has appeared in 44 out of 60 games, is again having a strong season for Lethbridge, currently 6th in the