The Blackhawks traded former Penguins center Robert Lang tothe Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2010 draft.The move reunites Lang with another former Penguin, right wing Alex Kovalev.They were two-thirds of a pretty mean line during the Penguins' 2000-01 season.Along with Martin Straka, that threesome formed what was arguably the mostproductive second line in team history.Kovalev (95 points), Straka (95) and Lang (80) all reachedcareer highs in points that season while operating as the Penguins' second linefor most of the season behind Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and whoever was luckyenough to get stuck with those two. A combined total of 270 points from playerscomposing any one line, let alone a second line, is scary. And when youconsider this took place in the middle of the/nhl's "dead puck" era, you canreally gain an appreciation for what they accomplished.Does this mean the Habs are going to carve out a hole on thetop line and stick Lang with Kovalev? Probably not. He's better suitedfor second-line duty. But considering Montrealhad courted free agent center Mats Sundin this offseason, they obviously felt a need toupgrade the position. So anything is possible.The 37-year-old Lang can still play. He had 21 goals and 54points as the Blackhawks' second center last season. Additionally, he had threegame-winning goals, averaged 18:35of ice time and won 53.1 percent of his faceoffs. Chicago simplymade this move to dump some salary. After giving free agent defenseman BrianCampbell and goaltender Cristobal Huet keys to their own Brinks trucks, theBlackhawks needed to create some room under the salary cap. The move puts them$1.5 million under the cap.Aside from upgrading the center position, the Canadiens wereclearly motivated by increasing the number of ex-Penguins on their roster. Theaddition of Lang give them four and ties them with the Thrashers for the second-mostin the league. A quick call to the agents of free agent goaltendersJean-Sebastien Aubin or Jocelyn Thibault, and they have the lead all tothemselves.A quick look at the numbers of former Penguins who areofficially in some/nhl team's organization:Lightning (5) - Adam Hall, Ryan Malone, Michel Ouellet, Mark Recchi, Gary RobertsCanadiens (4) - Tom Kostopoulos, Alex Kovalev, Robert Lang, Georges LaraqueThrashers (4) - Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Johan Hedberg, Chris ThorburnIslanders (3) - Andy Hilbert, Richard Park, Jon SimRed Wings (3) - Ty Conklin, Marian Hossa, Mikael SamuelssonStars (3) - Toby Petersen, Landon Wilson, Sergei ZubovFlames (2) - Wayne Primeau, Andre RoyRangers (2) - Markus Naslund, Michal RozsivalSenators (2) - Shean Donovan, Jarkko RuutuAvalanche (1) - Nathan SmithBlackhawks (1) - Tim BrentBruins (1) - Andrew FerenceCanucks (1) - Nolan BaumgartnerCapitals (1) - Matt BradleyDucks (1) - Eric BogunieckiHurricanes (1) - Josef MelicharMaple Leafs (1) - Dominic MoorePanthers (1) - Noah WelchSabres (1) - Patrick LalimeThe Blue Jackets, Blues, Coyotes, Devils, Flyers, Kings, Oilers, Predators,Sharks and Wild do not have a former Penguin on their roster. Players such asRoss Lupaschuk and Petr Nedved who will be in/nhl camps on tryouts are notincluded on this list.(Photo: Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)EMPTY NETTER ASSISTSPenguins-By the sounds of things, Penguins prospect Keven Veilleux couldhelp Marc-Andre Fleury or Michel Therrien with their English.-Jonathan Bombulie of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voicesays there's a lot less buzz about this season's rookie camp than in yearspast.-Alex Goligoski and Luca Caputi are rock stars.-Can Matt Cooke replace Jarkko Ruutu?-Eric Politowski at Faceoff-Factorscored an interview with Penguins prospect Paul Bissonnette.-The Wheeling Nailers re-signed former Robert Morris forwardSean Berkstresser.Atlantic Division-The Devils re-signed restricted free agent forward RodPelley to a two-year deal.Additionally, New Jersey traded defensemanSean Zimmerman to Phoenix forforward Kevin Cormier.-Islanders forward Mike Sillinger is still dealing with ahip injury.-It's doubtful you'll find another list with Oprah Winfrey,Rush Limbaugh and former Flyers captain Eric Lindros on it today. So you mightas well click this link.Northeast Division-The Canadiens re-signed defenseman Patrice Brisebois.-At a press conference to announce his No. 33 would beretired, Patrick Roy put on a Canadiens jersey for the first time in almost 13years.-Maple Leafs fans are jumping off the bandwagon.-Senators general manager Bryan Murray is a fan of formerPenguins forward Jarkko Ruutu all of a sudden.-If you're up on your Finnish, here's an interview with Ruutu:(Please visit the site to view this media)Southeast Division-Because they don't have enough players with Penguinsconnections on their roster, the Lightning's management will give formerPenguins first-round pick Jamie Heward a tryout.Heward, a defenseman the Penguins drafted in 1989, played in Russialast season. (Kudos to Japers' Rinkfor the find.)-Lightning forward Vincent Lecavalier is still dealing witha shoulder injury.-Apparently not content with simply scoring goals on his ownnet,Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom decided to skate right into the dang thingand ended up spraining his ankle.-The Sidney CrosbyShowspotted something a little out of date on the Thrashers' Web site.-With only 69 games scheduled to be televised this season,the Lightning is making efforts to get its other 13 contests broadcast byover the air stations.Central Division-As indicated in the Chicago Tribune story we linked toconcerning the Robert Lang trade, the Blackhawks will bring in free agentforwards Kevyn Adams and Geoff Sanderson on a tryout basis.-Blue Jackets first-round draft pick Nikita Filatov isdealing with a leg injury.-Because there hasn't been enough troubles with textmessaging in Detroit,a service the Red Wings use inadvertently distributed false text messageupdates to subscribers indicating former captain Steve Yzerman would be comingout of retirement.Northwest Division-The Wild is still trying to work on a contract extensionwith forward Marian Gaborik.-New Flames forward Michael Cammalleri is a fan of IKEA.Pacific Division-Coyotes forward and former Penguins prospect DanielCarcillo wants to add some more offense to his game.-Forward Jeff Friesen is eager over his tryout with theSharks.Adams Division-Would be Penguins and Predators owner Jim Balsillie stillwants to own a/nhl team./nhl2K9 has a very punk feel to it.-The/nhl and/nhlPA are fighting over the league's pensionplan.Source
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Together again
The Blackhawks traded former Penguins center Robert Lang tothe Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2010 draft.The move reunites Lang with another former Penguin, right wing Alex Kovalev.They were two-thirds of a pretty mean line during the Penguins' 2000-01 season.Along with Martin Straka, that threesome formed what was arguably the mostproductive second line in team history.Kovalev (95 points), Straka (95) and Lang (80) all reachedcareer highs in points that season while operating as the Penguins' second linefor most of the season behind Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and whoever was luckyenough to get stuck with those two. A combined total of 270 points from playerscomposing any one line, let alone a second line, is scary. And when youconsider this took place in the middle of the/nhl's "dead puck" era, you canreally gain an appreciation for what they accomplished.Does this mean the Habs are going to carve out a hole on thetop line and stick Lang with Kovalev? Probably not. He's better suitedfor second-line duty. But considering Montrealhad courted free agent center Mats Sundin this offseason, they obviously felt a need toupgrade the position. So anything is possible.The 37-year-old Lang can still play. He had 21 goals and 54points as the Blackhawks' second center last season. Additionally, he had threegame-winning goals, averaged 18:35of ice time and won 53.1 percent of his faceoffs. Chicago simplymade this move to dump some salary. After giving free agent defenseman BrianCampbell and goaltender Cristobal Huet keys to their own Brinks trucks, theBlackhawks needed to create some room under the salary cap. The move puts them$1.5 million under the cap.Aside from upgrading the center position, the Canadiens wereclearly motivated by increasing the number of ex-Penguins on their roster. Theaddition of Lang give them four and ties them with the Thrashers for the second-mostin the league. A quick call to the agents of free agent goaltendersJean-Sebastien Aubin or Jocelyn Thibault, and they have the lead all tothemselves.A quick look at the numbers of former Penguins who areofficially in some/nhl team's organization:Lightning (5) - Adam Hall, Ryan Malone, Michel Ouellet, Mark Recchi, Gary RobertsCanadiens (4) - Tom Kostopoulos, Alex Kovalev, Robert Lang, Georges LaraqueThrashers (4) - Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Johan Hedberg, Chris ThorburnIslanders (3) - Andy Hilbert, Richard Park, Jon SimRed Wings (3) - Ty Conklin, Marian Hossa, Mikael SamuelssonStars (3) - Toby Petersen, Landon Wilson, Sergei ZubovFlames (2) - Wayne Primeau, Andre RoyRangers (2) - Markus Naslund, Michal RozsivalSenators (2) - Shean Donovan, Jarkko RuutuAvalanche (1) - Nathan SmithBlackhawks (1) - Tim BrentBruins (1) - Andrew FerenceCanucks (1) - Nolan BaumgartnerCapitals (1) - Matt BradleyDucks (1) - Eric BogunieckiHurricanes (1) - Josef MelicharMaple Leafs (1) - Dominic MoorePanthers (1) - Noah WelchSabres (1) - Patrick LalimeThe Blue Jackets, Blues, Coyotes, Devils, Flyers, Kings, Oilers, Predators,Sharks and Wild do not have a former Penguin on their roster. Players such asRoss Lupaschuk and Petr Nedved who will be in/nhl camps on tryouts are notincluded on this list.(Photo: Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)EMPTY NETTER ASSISTSPenguins-By the sounds of things, Penguins prospect Keven Veilleux couldhelp Marc-Andre Fleury or Michel Therrien with their English.-Jonathan Bombulie of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voicesays there's a lot less buzz about this season's rookie camp than in yearspast.-Alex Goligoski and Luca Caputi are rock stars.-Can Matt Cooke replace Jarkko Ruutu?-Eric Politowski at Faceoff-Factorscored an interview with Penguins prospect Paul Bissonnette.-The Wheeling Nailers re-signed former Robert Morris forwardSean Berkstresser.Atlantic Division-The Devils re-signed restricted free agent forward RodPelley to a two-year deal.Additionally, New Jersey traded defensemanSean Zimmerman to Phoenix forforward Kevin Cormier.-Islanders forward Mike Sillinger is still dealing with ahip injury.-It's doubtful you'll find another list with Oprah Winfrey,Rush Limbaugh and former Flyers captain Eric Lindros on it today. So you mightas well click this link.Northeast Division-The Canadiens re-signed defenseman Patrice Brisebois.-At a press conference to announce his No. 33 would beretired, Patrick Roy put on a Canadiens jersey for the first time in almost 13years.-Maple Leafs fans are jumping off the bandwagon.-Senators general manager Bryan Murray is a fan of formerPenguins forward Jarkko Ruutu all of a sudden.-If you're up on your Finnish, here's an interview with Ruutu:(Please visit the site to view this media)Southeast Division-Because they don't have enough players with Penguinsconnections on their roster, the Lightning's management will give formerPenguins first-round pick Jamie Heward a tryout.Heward, a defenseman the Penguins drafted in 1989, played in Russialast season. (Kudos to Japers' Rinkfor the find.)-Lightning forward Vincent Lecavalier is still dealing witha shoulder injury.-Apparently not content with simply scoring goals on his ownnet,Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom decided to skate right into the dang thingand ended up spraining his ankle.-The Sidney CrosbyShowspotted something a little out of date on the Thrashers' Web site.-With only 69 games scheduled to be televised this season,the Lightning is making efforts to get its other 13 contests broadcast byover the air stations.Central Division-As indicated in the Chicago Tribune story we linked toconcerning the Robert Lang trade, the Blackhawks will bring in free agentforwards Kevyn Adams and Geoff Sanderson on a tryout basis.-Blue Jackets first-round draft pick Nikita Filatov isdealing with a leg injury.-Because there hasn't been enough troubles with textmessaging in Detroit,a service the Red Wings use inadvertently distributed false text messageupdates to subscribers indicating former captain Steve Yzerman would be comingout of retirement.Northwest Division-The Wild is still trying to work on a contract extensionwith forward Marian Gaborik.-New Flames forward Michael Cammalleri is a fan of IKEA.Pacific Division-Coyotes forward and former Penguins prospect DanielCarcillo wants to add some more offense to his game.-Forward Jeff Friesen is eager over his tryout with theSharks.Adams Division-Would be Penguins and Predators owner Jim Balsillie stillwants to own a/nhl team./nhl2K9 has a very punk feel to it.-The/nhl and/nhlPA are fighting over the league's pensionplan.Source
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