NHL - Sports Rumors

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He has been rumored to have his bags already packed for Ottawa, but Craig Hartsburg, coach of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League, says that's more than a little premature. Not only has he not talked to the Senators, he hasn't talked to any NHL team looking for a coach.

If they call, Hartsburg, 48, said he'll listen, of course. But he's not going to be putting his résume up on billboards, he said Tuesday. He has also been mentioned as a candidate for the open coaching job with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It is inevitable that, at some point, Hartsburg will get a call. Not only does he have 13 years of NHL coaching experience — six as a head coach (Chicago and Anaheim) and seven as an assistant (Philadelphia and Minnesota) — but he has also distinguished himself with the Canadian junior team. Over the past three years, he has won three gold medals, including two as head coach. In addition to the Senators and Maple Leafs, Florida, Atlanta, Colorado and San Jose have job openings for a new head coach. Tampa Bay might also be looking, given John Tortorella's uncertain status.

Source: Ottawa Citizen

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Wade Redden, an unrestricted free agent as of July 1, hasn't rejected any offer to return to the Ottawa Senators mainly because he hasn't received one, his agent said Monday. Don Meehan also labelled as "nonsense" a report last week that said Redden had rejected a request by the Senators to take as much as a $3-million U.S. pay reduction from the $6.5 million he made last season. Meehan said he hasn't talked to Senators general manager Bryan Murray, though he expects he will soon.

Redden, who is to get married in August, hasn't offered any instruction to Meehan about what direction he'd like to go in, the agent said. The 30-year-old defenceman has played his entire career with the Senators.

While it is unlikely Redden will return to the Senators — even he seemed to feel the inevitability of a move the day after the team got knocked out of the playoffs by Pittsburgh — it's also not unthinkable he would take a pay reduction to return, though reducing his salary by half might be too much to ask.

Source: Ottawa Citizen

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Wayne Gretzky quieted talk Tuesday about The Great One leaving Phoenix to become president of the Maple Leafs.

"I am the coach of the Coyotes and part owner ... as much as I love Canada and the Toronto Maple Leafs, I have no interest in selling my stakes and leaving the Coyotes," Gretzky said in an email Tuesday night.

Steve Yzerman's name also entered the fray in MLSE's GM search as a candidate to be Gretzky's GM in Toronto, but was also dismissed. The Leafs' GM search team officially interviewed former Vancouver GM Dave Nonis Tuesday and reiterated that they will not comment on candidates, speculation or whether the Leafs have asked for permission to speak with someone under contract to another NHL team.

Source: The Toronto Star

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It's official — both NHL conference finals are 3-nil duds. The good news however, is that a Pittsburgh-Detroit Stanley Cup Final should be dazzling. The Pittsburgh Penguins joined the Detroit Red Wings in positioning themselves one win away from a Stanley Cup berth, taking a commanding 3-0 stranglehold of their Eastern semifinal series against the Philadelphia Flyers.

On a night when the Flyers just could not give their bloodthirsty crowd anything to hang some of their legendary intimidation on, Marian Hossa scored twice and Sidney Crosby had a pair of assists to send Pittsburgh's playoff record to an astounding 11-1.

"It's rewarding," said Crosby, who pulled into the playoff scoring lead with 19 points. "You come into a building that's a challenge to play in, you're facing some adversity. It feels like you're against more than just their team."

Source: Canwest News Service

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The Philadelphia Flyers are stunned. After beating the Penguins five times out of eight — and four of four at home — in the regular season, after getting past scoring machine Alex Ovechkin and Washington in the first round, after knocking off top-seeded Montreal in the second round, they have no answers against the Pittsburgh Penguins. At least that seemed to be the prevailing emotion after Philadelphia dug a hole that precedent suggests it will have a difficult time climbing out of.

"I don't know if I completely have an explanation right now," winger Joffrey Lupul said after the Penguins trapped, clogged the neutral zone and stifled the Flyers, 4-1. We didn't get many chances, and when we did, we missed the net or they blocked shots. We're working. We're in there. We're skating. But they're just doing a good job defensively."

And getting enough offense to go along with all that backchecking and strong defensive play to hold a commanding 3-0 lead going into Game 4 tomorrow night.

Source: Post-Gazette

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The Pittsburgh Penguins might have used offense to win the Atlantic Division championship, but its defense is carrying it through this playoff run. Last night, the Penguins limited the Flyers to eight shots over the first two periods and 18 overall. Ryan Whitney was credited with his first playoff goal when a pass deflected off Flyers defenseman Jason Smith at 5 minutes, 3 seconds into the first period. When Marian Hossa scored a highlight goal 2:38 later, the clamps came out. It looked like a New Jersey Devils game.

"They are a patient team," Flyers center Mike Richards said. "They sit back and their defense pulls out. They [force a lot of turnovers] when we try to do too much with the puck, and then their forwards counter the other way."

Crosby had only one shot on goal, but led a contingent of forwards who clogged up the neutral zone and continually forced the Flyers wide. Danny Briere and Vinny Prospal were held without a shot.

"[In a big game like this], you're looking for your great leader to show the way, to dictate the way to the rest of the team," Therrien said of Crosby, who was a plus-2 and is even or better in 11 of 12 playoff games. "There is no doubt Sid tonight, I thought, was fantastic, and he stuck to the plan, too, as well. You can't ask more for a leader like Crosby's doing right now for this hockey team."

Source: Philly.com

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The Dallas Stars' young defensemen spent much of this season learning on the job. Nicklas Grossman, Matt Niskanen and Mark Fistric have made big impacts while developing into solid performers. But in the Western Conference finals against Detroit, lessons have come with a painful price — for veterans and youngsters. The Red Wings have forced mistakes with disciplined positioning and used their speed and passing to capitalize on turnovers according to the Dallas Morning News.

The Stars have no margin for error, in games and the series. The Stars trail 3-0, in large part, because of Detroit's ability to convert Dallas errors into scoring chances. Each of the Red Wings' goals in Monday's 5-2 victory came in transition. Jiri Hudler scored the game-winner on a breakaway at 11:52 of the second period, taking advantage of a defensive mix-up caused by Niskanen prematurely ending his shift.

Dallas' young defense can't be blamed for Detroit taking control of the series. Red Wings forwards have forced defensive mistakes with an aggressive forecheck and preyed on the Stars' forwards in the neutral zone.

Source: Dallas Morning News

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The focus for the Detroit Red Wings Wednesday night is on putting on another demonstration of strong team defense and sweeping the Dallas Stars.

"We don't want to give them any life." Osgood said. "We want to play real good the next game and make that our best game so far of the playoffs. We just want to improve from last game and play better next game. That's been our approach, just to improve as we go along and pick some things that we maybe need to work on. Just be smart and composed and try and play better every game."

The Stars, who last round were up 3-0 and then saw the Sharks win two games before eventually succumbing in six, preached desperation.

"If you live, you gotta act like you want to live," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "That's what it is."

Gaining inroads in the series won't be easy. Not once have the Stars had a lead against the Wings. The Stars tied Game 3 twice but gave up goals shortly after each time.

Source: Detroit Free Press

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Pittsburgh Penguins left winger Gary Roberts is questionable for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against Philadelphia Tuesday because of illness according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Roberts did not participate in the game-day skate at the Wachovia Center this morning. Adam Hall is Roberts' likely replacement.

Source: Post-Gazette

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