Helene Elliott and Lisa Dillman of the LA Times: The LA Kings could be preparing to fire coach Terry Murray this week. A replacement hasn’t been identified yet. The Kings are sitting in 12th place with a 13-12-4 record. They have only scored 65 goals this season, and only 6 in the last 4 games. Assistant coach John Steven may be asked to take over on in interim basis. The Kings are said not to be interested in recently fired Randy Carlyle.
Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News: Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said that Claude Giroux “felt better” yesterday after taking an accidental knee to the head from teammate Wayne Simmonds. Giroux will be re-examined today. Holmgren didn’t say if Giroux took a baseline or IMPACT test. It may make sense for the Flyers to hold Giroux out for at least a game or 2.
Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: GM Holmgren said that Ilya Bryzgalov should be able to play on Tuesday. Defenseman Erik Gustafsson should be 10 to 14 days away from returning from his wrist surgery.
Andy Strickland of True Hockey: Multiple sources are saying that the Blues will look to trade for another defenseman by the trade deadline. Sources are also saying there is a tentative closing date of Dec. 23rd for the sale of the club to Matt Hulsizer. Gary Bettman set a Dec. 31st deadline. Hulsizer was giving presentations to banks to sure up financing. Andy McDonald is turning the corner on his concussion recovery.
Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer: Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner didn’t practice again yesterday with an undisclosed injury. He had flu-like symptoms that caused him to miss Friday’s game. Skinner returned to Raleigh for evaluation. Coach Kirk Muller didn’t rule out Skinner for Tuesday. Jaroslav Spacek also missed practice as he was back in Montreal preparing for his move. Defensemen Joni Pitkanen and Jay Harrison are still out with upper-body injuries.
Tom Gulitti via twitter: The Devils have placed defenseman Anton Volchenkov (hand) on the IR. Cam Janssen has been activated from the IR.
Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News: Marty Turco signed with EC Red Bull Salzburg in Austria. It was noted on Yahoo! Sports (via Matias Strozyk) that it’s only for the European Trophy Finals that run Dec. 16th to 18th.
