November 20

Ducks get Sutherby

The Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks (of Los Angeles) acquired centre Brian Sutherby from the Washington Capitals on Monday in exchange for the Ducks second-round pick in 2009. Sutherby had one goal in five games for the Caps this season, and has 26 goals and 61 points with 281 penalty minutes in 259 career NHL games. The 25 year-old is earning $800,000 this season and will be a restricted free agent July 1st.


Brown, Canucks Ready to Rumble Wednesday?

The Vancouver Canucks called up tough winger Mike Brown and sent down speedy forward Jannik Hansen to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. Brown hasn't been one to back down in his short career, and with Shamu in town Wednesday to face the Wild the timing is quite notable.


Instigator, Kostopoulos Suspended

Montreal Canadiens forward Tom Kostopoulos was automatically suspended for Mondays game against the Ottawa Senators after earning a late-game instigator penalty Saturday in the Habs 7-4 win over Boston, when he went after Bruins defenceman Mark Stuart. Montreal head coach Guy Carbonneau also was automatically fined $10,000 for Kostopoulos earning the Instigator in the last five minutes of the game.


Big Bird Honored

The Montreal Canadiens honored one of their most beloved defenceman in franchise history Monday night as they retired Larry Robinson's number 19. Robinson became the 13th member of the Canadiens to have his sweater number honored. Big Bird was the 20th player selected in the 1971 draft by Montreal, and played 17 seasons for the Habs before signing with the Los Angeles Kings in 1989, and played three seasons in the city of angeles. The two-time Norris Trophy winner ('77, '80) posted 208 goals and 750 assists for 958 points in 1,384 NHL games, was a six-time Stanley Cup champion with the Canadiens, capturing the Conn Smythe in 1978 as the playoff MVP, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995.

Bob Gainey's number 23 will be the next number honored by Montreal on February 23rd.

In case your wondering the other Canadiens to have their sweaters retired are: Jacques Plante (1); Doug Harvey (2); Jean Beliveau (4); Berine (Boom Boom) Geoffrion (5); Howie Morenz (7); Maurice (Rocket) Richard (9); Guy Lafleur (10); Yvan Cournoyer and Dickie Moore (12); Henri (Pocket Rocket) Richard (16); Serge Savard (18); Robinson (19); and Ken Dryden (29).



A-Rod MVP

As expected Alex Rodriguez was named the American League's Most Valuable Player, the second time he's done so as a New York Yankee and became the fifth AL player to win 3 MVP's (and currently is the only player with three who hasn't won a World Series). The only surprise maybe was that he wasn't unanimously selected as the Detroit Tigers Magglio Ordonez received two first place votes. A-Rod led the Major Leagues with 54 homers, batted .314 and established career highs with 143 runs scored and 156 RBI's.

Also on the Yankee front, Closer Mariano Rivera has informed his only employer that he will accept their three-year, $45 million contract offer. The 38 year-old will become baseball's highest-paid closer once he passes a physical earning $15 million a year through the 2010 season. New York's other closer, the Mets Billy Wagner, was the highest paid at $10.5 million.

One thing that would be curious to know is if Joe Torre had stayed would the Yanks have been able to get both Rivera and Posada for $5 million cheaper each?


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