February 19th

LEGACE, FEDOTENKO, PRICE 'THREE STARS' OF THE WEEK

St. Louis Blues goaltender Manny Legace, New York Islanders left wing Ruslan Fedotenko and Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price have been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending February 17.

First Star - Manny Legace, G, St. Louis Blues

Legace went 3-0-1 with a 1.49 goals-against average and .954 save percentage, stopping 124 of 130 shots. He made 25 saves in a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings Feb. 12, stopped 39 shots in a 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche Feb. 14 and turned aside 42 of 43 shots in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators, Feb. 16. He finished the week by making 18 saves in a 5-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets, Feb. 17. The Blues (27-22-9, 63 points) are three points out of a playoff berth in the Western Conference. Legace has appeared in 47 games, posting a record of 22-15-6, with a 2.26 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and four shutouts.

Second Star - Ruslan Fedotenko, LW, New York Islanders

Fedotenko tallied five points (four goals, one assist), including two game-winning goals, as the Islanders recorded three victories for the week. On Feb. 12, he notched the game-winner and added one assist in a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. On Feb. 14, he recorded two goals in a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs and followed that up by tallying the game-winning goal in a 4-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers Feb. 16.

Third Star - Carey Price, G, Montreal Canadiens

Price went 3-0-0 with a 1.32 goals-against average, .963 save percentage and one shutout, stopping 103 of 107 shots as the Canadiens won three of four games for the week. On Feb. 13, he made 35 saves in a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers. On Feb. 16, he recorded his first NHL shutout by making 34 saves in a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers and followed that up by making 34 saves in a 5-3 victory over the Flyers Feb. 17. Price has appeared in 24 games, posting a record of 12-8-3, with a 2.72 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and one shutout.


FORSBERG UNLIKELY TO PLAY IN NHL THIS SEASON

It appears Peter Forsberg will not be returning to the NHL this season.

Recovering from multiple surgeries on his foot, Forsberg's agent Daon Baizley told teams "it's unlikey Peter will return to the NHL this season."

Forsberg had to sign with a team by the Feb. 26 trade deadline to be eligible to play in the playoffs.

There is still the possibility, however, that Forsberg could return to the NHL next season, as he hasn't officially called it a career yet.

The Swedish forward has been out of action with a foot and ankle injury since finishing the 2006-07 NHL campaign with the Nashville Predators, and recently practiced with Modo of the Swedish Elite League, but didn't want to risk the same problems and decided to shut it down this season.

The winner of two Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche, the Hart Trophy in 2003-03 as the leagues MVP, and two Olympic gold medals, Forsberg has been plagued with injuries and hasn't played more than 60 games in a season since suiting up for 75 games with Colorado in his MVP season.


'HAWKS LOCK UP SEABROOK

The Chicago Blackhawks signed marquee defenceman Brent Seabrook to a $10.5-million, three-year contract extension Monday.

Seabrook is in the final season of a three-year, entry-level contract that is paying his $942,000 for this season.

A member of the Canadian team that won silver in 2004 and gold in 2005 at the world junior hockey championship, Seabrook was the 14th overall pick by the Blackhawks in the 2003 entry draft has seven goals and 19 points to go along with a plus-12 in 58 games this season, and in 208 career NHL games has registered 16 goals and 75 points.


NHL PONDERS 1-MINUTE PENALTIES IN OT

One-minute penalties for overtime during the regular season?

That was one of the many issues discussed Monday as the NHL's 30 general managers broke out into four different groups to tackle a number of subjects.

The thinking is that 4-on-3 power plays in overtime take up 40 per cent of the entire five-minute period and more than often end the game.

That subject was tackled by the group of Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke, Jay feaster of the Tampa Bay Lightning, David Poile of the Nashville Predators, Larry Pleau of the St. Louis Blues, Jim Rutherford of the Carolina Hurricanes, Glen Sather of the New York Rangers, Garth Snow of the New York Islanders and Don Waddell of the Atlanta Thrashers.

They also discussed: carry-over suspension from prior season; high-sticking penalties and whether it should remain an automatic four-minute penalty for drawing blood; and the instigator rule.

Brian Burke has been pushing for retaining salary in trades for the last few years. The idea is to allow teams to pay part of a player's salary in trades, which would likely facilitate deals, especially eariler in the season.

The group discussing that subject was Peter Chiarelli of the Boston Bruins, Paul Holmgren of the Philadelphia Flyers, Scott Howson of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Lou Lamoriello of the New Jersey Devils, Dean Lombardi of the Los Angeles Kings, George McPhee of the Washington Capitals and Ray Shero of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

That group, which also had the presence of NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, also discussed: The growing trend of NCAA players leaving school early to sign with NHL teams; the status of the IIHF-NHL player transfer agreement; examining the NHL Players' Association's idea of an 84-game schedule; moving the start of free agency to July 6 or July 7, instead of July 1,  when it's a national holiday in Canada; and the idea that players who are traded near the trade deadline cannot re-join his old team for a minimum of one year.

The Buffalo Sabres at the board of governors meeting last November proposed that the NHL establish a research and development arm and that was on the agenda for another GMs group Monday.

Sabres GM Darcy Regier was of course in the group, as was Cliff Fletcher of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Kevin Lowe of the Edmonton Oilers, Don Maloney of the Phoenix Coyotes, Jacques Martin of the Florida Panthers, Dave Nonis of the Vancouver Canucks, Darryl Sutter of the Calgary Flames and Doug Wilson of the San Jose Sharks.

That group also discussed: whether hand passes should be disallowed in the defensive zone; whether breaking a stick on a player should be an automatic slashing penalty; and ice conditions around the league.

The size of goalie equipment and bigger nets —two issues that have gone hand in hand in recent years — were the headliners in the final group which consisted of Bob Gainey of the Montreal Canadiens, Francois Giguere of the Colorado Avalanche, Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings, Brett Hull of the Dallas Stars, Bryan Murray of the Ottawa Senators, Doug Risebrough of the Minnesota Wild and Dale Tallon of the Chicago Blackhawks.

That group also re-examined the shootout and pondered whether to go to a five shooters instead of three and whether a player that was still in the penalty box at the end of overtime should be ineligible for the shootout.

The four GM groups were to bring their ideas and recommendations to the full group Tuesday for further debate.


HOCKEY PLAYERS SET WORLD RECORD FOR LONGEST GAME

A group of hockey players at an outdoor rink in Canada, just east of Edmonton, finished the world's longest game, breaking a record they set twice before.

To blaring rock music and the cheering of several hundred spectators, the two teams of 20 broke their former record just after 2pm central time Monday. They kept the game going for 241 straight hours - more than 10 days of continous hockey.

Their old record, set three years earlier, was 240 straight hours.

The project was spearheaded by optometrist Brent Saik and played on a regulation-size rink in his backyard in Sherwood Park. The teams say they've raised about $300,000 for pediatric cancer research so far and hope to have $500,000 in total.

The idea began when Saik's father died of cancer in 1991, which led to the first record setting game — 82 hours in 2003 — raising $130,000 for cancer research.

The 2005 edition was spurred both by the death of Saik's wife from cancer, and the fact that a team in Sudbury, Ont., Canada had beat their 2003 record.

While temperatures hovered around a balmy 32 F (0 C) for the final few days of the record-setting attempt, the weather was bone-chilling at the start of the 10-day marathon, with wind chills making it feel like about -5 F (–35 C).

The record-breaking effort involved a cast of hundreds, with volunteers working to provide medical treatment, massage therapy, food and hot drinks to keep the players going.

It's expected to take several months to have the record verified by Guinness World Records.

The final score, which organizers said was far from accurate — Team Cure had 2,250, while Team Hope had 2,223.


PLAYOFF STANDINGS

(RANK-TEAM--PTS--RECORD)

WEST

1-DETROIT*--89--42-15-5
2-DALLAS*--79--37-21-5
3-MINNESOTA*--72--34-21-4
4-ANAHEIM--73--33-23-7
5-SAN JOSE--70--31-20-8
6-NASHVILLE--69--31-23-7
7-VANCOUVER--66--29-22-8
8-CALGARY--66--29-22-8
____________________________________
9-PHOENIX--66--31-25-4
10-COLORADO--65--30-25-5
11-ST LOUIS--63--27-22-9
12-COLUMBUS--63--27-25-9
13-CHICAGO--60--27-25-6
14-EDMONTON--59--27-28-5
15-LOS ANGELES--53--25-34-3

EAST

1-OTTAWA*--73--34-20-5
2-NEW JERSEY*--73--34-21-5
3-CAROLINA*--30-28-4
4-MONTREAL--73-32-19-9
5-PITTSBURGH--71--33-21-5
6-NY RANGERS--67--30-24-7
7-PHILADELPIHA--65--30-24-5
8-BOSTON--64--29-23-6
___________________________________
9-BUFFALO--64--28-23-8
10-NY ISLANDERS--28-25-7
11-WASHINGTON--62--28-26-6
12-ATLANTA--62--29-28-4
13-FLORIDA--60--27-28-6
14-TORONTO--57--24-27-9
15-TAMPA BAY--56--25-28-6

(* DIVISION LEADER)


TODAYS NHL SCHEDULE (Central Time)

(8) BRUINS @ (3) HURRICANES 6pm
(12) BLUE JACKETS @ (14) MAPLE LEAFS 630pm
(6) RANGERS @ (4) CANADIENS 630pm
(7) FLYERS @ (1) SENATORS 630pm
(13) PANTHERS @ (5) PENGUINS 630pm
(14) OILERS @ (6) PREDATORS 7pm
(7) CANUCKS @ (3) WILD 7pm
(13) BLACKHAWKS @ (11) BLUES 7pm
(8) FLAMES @ (9) COYOTES 830pm