On the Tampa Bay Lightning and Steven Stamkos …
- Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun: It’s well known that Steven Stamkos prefers to play center over playing on the wing. Saturday against the Sharks was Stankos’s third straight game playing the wing. Stamkos was asked how much communication there is between him and coach Jon Cooper on positional decisions.
“Not much. Like I said, you come in and see what’s on the board and you go out and do your job. That’s pretty much as simple as that.”
GM Steve Yzerman on if Cooper’s contract extension would play in role in whether Stamkos would be back next year.
“One has nothing to do with the other,” Yzerman told the Tampa Bay Times on Saturday.
Cooper at times thinks it’s more beneficial to have Stamkos on the wing and not down the middle.
On the Toronto Maple Leafs …
- Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun: Defenseman Frank Corrado is still waiting to get into his first game with the Leafs since being claimed off waivers on October 6th.
“In this business you never really know what’s going on,” Corrado said. “There are some things that are hard for a player to understand. All I can do is come to the rink and try to prepare myself as best I can.
“These things (being inserted into the lineup) tend to happen when you are least expecting it, so you have to be ready.”
Corrado admits that it’s “always a little frustrating” to be watching and not playing.
On the New York Islanders …
- Mark Herrmann of Newsday: Travis Hamonic has played his best hockey this season after the Islanders have tried to meet his trade request. Hamonic is not letting the request affect his commitment to the team.
“I’ve known for a while the situation that’s gone on and it has never affected him. He was playing extremely well even before that came out,” Capuano said. “One may view it like that, like it’s off his chest and he’s playing better. But to me he’s been one of our best players since day one.
“That’s him. He’s an elite player . . . It is what it is in this situation. It’s not affecting him. It’s not affecting our team. It’s business as usual.”
On the Vancouver Canucks …
- Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province: Willes wonders if the Willie Desjardins watch is underway in Vancouver. The team is not winning or playing hard for him.
On Lou Lamoriello …
- Tom Gulitti of The Record: Jaromir Jagr understands Lou Lamoriello’s decision to leave the Devils and join the Maple Leafs. Jagr doesn’t think Lamoriello was happy with just being the team president and not the GM as well.
“Once they hired a GM, I felt like he was not pushed on the side, but I don’t think he would make all the decisions,” Jagr said. “At least he would have to ask somebody or talk about it and I don’t think he likes that. He loves his job. He was here 7 in the morning to 5 o’ clock in the afternoon every day. He still loves that and he wanted to make the decisions. I don’t blame him. I would do the same thing. And when he got the offer from another team, why not?