Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: The Flyers have lost #1 goalie, Michael Leighton for 8-10 weeks with a high ankle sprain. Brian Boucher is now the #1. I wonder if they are wishing they picked up another goalie at the trade deadline day. Then again, it is Philadelphia and they seem to prefer to have average to below average goaltending. It must be painful for Flyers fans that year-after-year they refuse to add a star goaltender, and that each year, goaltending is an issue.
Sean Gordon of the Globe and Mail: Though he won’t be ready to go in tomorrow night’s game against the Maple Leafs, Canadiens forward Mike Cammalleri is close to returning. Marc-Andre Bergeron could be back in the lineup tomorrow, and might play forward as coach Martin may not want to break up his defensive pairings. Tomas Plekanec missed his 2nd practice this week yesterday.
Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The soon to be 38-year-old Keith Tkachuk may be leaning towards retiring after this season. He hasn’t made a final decision, but after the season, he expects to make the decision quickly. “I know that I can still play, but it’s been a long time … a lot of hard games, a lot of hard years. I’ll talk to my wife and talk to (Blues general manager Larry Pleau) and we’ll make a decision.”
Marc Antoine Godin of La Presse: Andre Markov is finishing up his 3rd year of a 4 year deal that pays him an average of $5.75 million, and GM Pierre Gauthier is interested in signing him to a contract extension before he becomes a UFA after next season. Markov could not sign a deal until after July 1, as contract extensions can only be signed in the last year of a contract.
“Pierre (Gauthier) have advised me during a recent visit to Montreal, he wanted to have discussions about Markov,” said Don Meehan, the agent of the Russian player.
“He advised me at that time that the deadline of the transaction and the good of the team were his immediate priorities. But once the situation had stabilized and he would have time to relax a little, he would like to see discussed.
“He is really interested in keeping it within the team.”
Andy Strickland St. Louis Blues Blogger: ‘The Monster” of 2010 could be Finnish goalie, Jussi Rynnas. The 6’5″, 23-year-old goaltender has drawn interest from as many as 18 teams. Rynnas may not be a #1 just yet, but could be a 2 or 3 on some teams depth chart.
Tim Wharnsby of CBC Sports: The Philadelphia Flyers are close to signing Colorado College right winger, Mike Testwuide. Testwuide scored 21 goals in 39 games this season. His shortlist of teams that he narrowed it down to were, the Flyers, Capitals, Rangers and Avalanche.
