- Matias Strozyk via twitter: Derick Brassard has left Salzburg in the middle of his contract without any agreement with the team. The IIHF has been notified. He left for Canada yesterday despite the team trying to convince him to stay and honor his contract.
- Damian Cristodero of the Tampa Tribune: Lightning goalie Anders Lindback, who has been playing with Ilves Tampere of the Finish Elite league, has cut on the knee after being hit with a put. He required a few stitches and will be out about 10 days.
- Michael Russo of the Star Tribune: Devin Setoguchi is leaving the ECHL’s Ontario Reign until the NHL cancels the season (if they do cancel it). The Reign suspended him so that they wouldn’t have to pay him, but would retain his rights.
- Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province: Canucks defenseman Jason Garrison has been given medical clearance by the Canucks. Garrison has been battling a chronic groin strain the past 2 seasons.
- Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun: Canucks defenseman Alex Edler’s back has been deemed healthy by the Canucks, but he’s unlikely to ever be 100%. Edler is now a locked out player. He had received $1.16 million of his $3.25 million salary.
“You know what?” Edler said Monday when asked about coming off the dole. “I would much, much rather be healthy and not getting paid. That’s the most important. It’s absolutely terrible to not be able to be out there with the guys because I’m hurt. I would give back all my paycheques if I could have been 100 per cent healthy.”
Edler will be a UFA on July 1st, and his future durability will play a big part in his contract talks. Before the lockout, the Canucks offered him a long-term deal that would have made him the highest paid Canuck defenseman. Jason Garrison and Kevin Bieksa have a salary cap hit of $4.6 million.
- Jordan Winnett of the Globe and Mail: Senators Kyle Turris talks about how life was playing in Finland.
“There’s nothing to do here. Nothing,” Turris said recently while playing in Oulu. “If we’re not at the rink, we’re sitting around playing video games.”
“The travel here is horrendous. It’s worse than junior,” he said. “We’ll fly into Helsinki then hop in a bus for four to six hours, meanwhile, we’ll make three stops on a six-hour bus trip for no reason. It’s awful.”
“The food here is awful,” he explained. “On the road, we eat at truck stops. ABC truck stops. I’m not kidding. We file out of the bus and head off beside the highway for a buffet truck stop pregame meal. It’s ridiculous.”
- Oulunkarpat.fi: (from Matias Strozyk tweet) Kyle Turris wrote this to team/fans:
I read an article in the Globe and Mail today regarding my experience in Oulu. It made me extremely upset that it was so negative, and that it had very inaccurate and untrue information. I really enjoyed my time in Oulu, and those who are around me know that. I want to make clear that the sole reason I left is because of personal reasons that required me to be home with my family. The entire Oulu organization treated me very well, and I feel terrible that people may now feel that I was not grateful to be a part of the organization. I know that I was very lucky to play for such an awesome organization that welcomed me with open arms and treated us very well. Everyone I met in Finland, the coaches, management, fans and people of Oulu were all very nice and made my time there a memorable one. I was also lucky to have great teammates, with whom I have made good friendships. For all this I am very thankful and wish the Karpat organization great success in the future.
Sincerely,
Kyle