- NHL: Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith has been suspended for the rest of the pre-season and 5 regular season games. He will forfeit $23,648.65. Shanahan’s video at bottom of the post.
- Dmitry Chesnokov of Yahoo! Sports: Chesnokov reported this morning that Alexander Radulov was unhappy with the coaches and management of Salavat Yulaev. He posted on twitter to Evgeni Malkin that translates to:
“Mal , the coach is , I am asking for a trade.”
Radulov later deleted the tweet, but screen shots were captured and can be seen at the above link. Radulov isn’t on Salavat’s roster today. One person told Chesnokov that the chances of Radulov heading back to the NHL this season increased from 5% to 10%.
- Dmitry Chesnokov via twitter: From RIAN news agency, Radulov “packed up his stuff and left Salavat after this morning’s practice.” Slava Malamud via twitter: It’s not a secret that Radulov wants to play with SKA St. Petersburg. If he ends up there, the odds of him returning to the NHL deminish. Vtiyaz may be trying to acquire Radulov, but it is unlikely. Chesnokov says that some of the Radulov speculations are ridiculous, and that he’ll most likely end up with SKA. KHL/Medvedev won’t let him go. Malamud says that Radulov isn’t heading to the Predators this year, and nobody knows about next year, not even Radulov.
- Kevin Paul Dupont via twitter: “Lingering chatter” that the Bruins could be going after Ray Whitney and his $3 million price tag.
- Chris Kuc via twitter: Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp is skating with teammates today, first time since his emergency appendectomy.
- Darren Dreger via twitter: Steve Staios signed a 1 year contract with the Islanders with a base salary of $800,000, bonuses up to $1.2 million, and up to $1.6 million if they win the cup.
- Rich Hammond via twitter: Drew Doughty said he wouldn’t have a problem playing in Saturday’s pre-season game if asked.
- Will DePaoli via twitter: Penguins forward Steve Sullivan should in the lineup for the Pens.