(if one measly cup is worth a Night, presumably the Oilers gave him a entire Week)
Whether it was a shot he couldn’t get off or just an across-the-goalmouth thing of beauty, Valle Nieminen’s assist on Jason Ward’s tie-breaker at 05:37 in the 3rd period is worth watching again, again and again. OK, perhaps four times is too many. A genius move, just the same.
The same, however, cannot be said for the most memorable incident from Joe Thornton’s return to Boston. San Jose won’t visit the Bruins again for another year, but WEEI can start the build-up slowly, I suppose.
Tampa Bay have waived 42 year old captain Dave Andreychuk. From TSN :
the Lightning say they will honour his contract – $800,000 US this season and $525,000 for next – rather than force the 42-year-old centre to join the AHL’s Springfield Falcons.
“The right thing to do is to pay David,” GM Jay Feaster told The Canadian Press from Tampa.
“The only way for us to do what we thought was the fair thing was to waive him, and once we assign him (to the AHL) not demand that he report. And that way he can get paid.”
Technically, according to the collective bargaining agreement, the Lightning can suspend Andreychuk without pay if he doesn’t report to the AHL. But they won’t.
The Springfield, MA Chamber Of Commerce was unavailable for comment.
Mired in 12th place, the Islanders have traded D Janne Niinimaa (above) and a fifth-round pick in next year’s draft to the Dallas Stars for D John Erskine and a second-round pick.
Ville Nieminen, once and future cheap-shot artist, does have nice offensive skill when he decides to use his stick for the proper purpose.
I had the great fortune to watch some vintage Steve Yzerman action on OLN as he rushed almost end to end and slid the puck between the pads as he tumbled across the goal mouth. Wings still lost to Carolina, but at least he’s back from injuries.