March 12th

WINGS SIGN CLEARY TO FIVE-YEAR EXTENSION

The Detroit Red Wings signed right winger Dan Cleary to a five-year contract.

Out with a broken jaw since Feb. 9, Cleary has matched his career high with 20 goals and 40 points in 57 games this season.

He has 84 career goals and 123 assists in 534 games for Chicago, Edmonton, Phoenix and Detroit, and made his NHL debut with the Blackhawks during the 1997-98 season.

Detroit signed Cleary as a free agent in 2005, and he had three goals and 12 assists in his first season as a fourth-line role player. Last season he scored a career high 20 goals and registered 20 assists.


SABRES DEPLEATED BY INJURIES TO SPACEK, KALININ

Jaroslav Spacek could miss the rest of the regular season, and Dmitri Kalinin will be out for weeks, leaving the Buffalo Sabres without two veteran defencemen for their final playoff push.

Spacek has a chest injury and will require more tests to determine when he could return, but coach Lindy Ruff said Tuesday, "It's going to be a good period of time." He leads the Sabres blue-liners with nine goals and 31 points and is averaging a little over 23 minutes of ice time a game.

As for Kalinin, Ruff said he'll miss up to two weeks with a shoulder injury.

Both were hurt during the Sabres 3-2 shootout loss to the Rangers on Monday.

Buffalo did get some good news, as defenceman Henrik Tallinder, who's missed three games with a shoulder injury, is expected to return for the Sabres game at Pittsburgh Wednesday night.

With the injury's Buffalo recalled defenceman Mike Weber from AHL Rochester. He has no points in four games with the Sabres this season, and hasn't been with the team since early November.


HUGHSON STAYING WITH CBC SPORTS

CBC Sports announced that it has re-signed announcer Jim Hughson to a six-year contract. The new deal goes into effect immediately and runs through the end of the 2013-14 NHL season.

Hughson will continue to work on Hockey Night in Canada, along with CBC's broadcasts of Toronto Blue Jays baseball.

A broadcast veteran of 29 years, Hughson started his NHL broadcasting career in October 1979, is a five-time Gemini Award winner (Canada's version of the Emmy) and in 2004 was named the best sports play-by-play announcer.


For those of you who have the NHL Centre Ice Package, it's always a treat to listen to a Hughson called game. I can't tell you the number of times I fell asleep listening to him call a Canucks/Oilers game, and Hockey Night in Canada wouldn't be the same without him. I'm glad that CBC locked up one of the best hockey play-by-play men and it's too bad that most of the American audience doesn't know who he is and how entertaining it is to listen to a Hughson broadcast, especially when it's in Cal-gary and you have the horns going in the backround.


SEASON RACES

Playoff standings

(RANK-TEAM--PTS--GP)

WEST

1-DETROIT*--98--70
2-SAN JOSE*--90--70
3-CALGARY*--82--69
4-DALLAS--89--72
5-ANAHEIM--86--72
6-COLORADO--82--71
7-MINNESOTA--81--70
8-VANCOUVER--80--69
---------------------------------------------
9-NASHVILLE--78--71
10-PHOENIX--75--70
11-EDMONTON--73--70
12-CHICAGO--73--70
13-COLUMBUS--73--70
14-ST LOUIS--69--70
15-LOS ANGELES--60--71

EAST

1-MONTREAL*--87--71
2-NEW JERSEY*--86--70
3-CAROLINA*--79--71
4-PITTSBURGH--85--70
5-OTTAWA--85--71
6-NY RANGERS--83--70
7-BOSTON--80--70
8-PHILADELPHIA--79--70
---------------------------------------------
9-BUFFALO--75--70
10-WASHINGTON--72--70
11-FLORIDA--72--71
12-TORONTO--72--71
13-NY ISLANDERS--71--71
14-ATLANTA--68--71
15-TAMPA BAY--62--70

(* Division Leader)

If the playoffs started today.....

WEST
(1) Detroit vs (8) Vancouver
(2) San Jose vs (7) Minnesota
(3) Calgary vs (6) Colorado
(4) Dallas vs (5) Anaheim

EAST
(1) Montreal vs (8) Philadelphia
(2) New Jersey vs (7) Boston
(3) Carolina vs (6) NY Rangers
(4) Pittsburgh vs (5) Ottawa


Division Races

(RANK-TEAM--PTS--GP)

NORTHWEST
1-CAL--82--69
2-COL--82--71
3-MIN--81--70
4-VAN--80--69

PACIFIC
1-SJ--90--70
2-DAL--89--72
3-ANA--86--72

ATLANTIC
1-NJ--86--70
2-PIT--85--70
3-NYR--83--70

NORTHEAST
1-MON--87--71
2-OTT--85--71
3-BOS--80--70

SOUTHEAST
1-CAR--79--71
2-WAS--72--70
3-FLA--72--71

Art Ross Trophy (Points Leader)
1-Alexander Ovechkin--Was--95
2-Evengi Malkin--Pit--92
3-Vinvent Lecavalier--TB--84

Maurice Richard Trophy (Goal-Scoring Leader)
1-Alexander Ovechkin--Was--54
2-Ilya Kovalchuk--Atl--45

Assists Leader
1-Marc Savard--Bos--63
2-Joe Thornton--SJ--62
3-Evengi Malkin--Pit--54
4-Pavel Datsyuk--Det--54

Plus/Minus Leader
1-Nicklas Lidstrom--Det +39
2-Pavel Datsyuk--Det +34
3-Dany Heatley--Ott +33

Power-Play Goals Leader
1-Alexander Ovechkin--Was--18
2-Alex Kovalev--Mon--16
3-Thomas Vanek--Buf--15

Short-Handed Goals Leader
1-Patrick Sharp--Chi--7
2-Daniel Alfredsson--Ott-7
3-Rene Bourque--Chi--5
4-Mike Richards--Phi--5

Shootout Goals
1-Joe Pavelski--SJ--6 (6-9, 66.7%)
2-Erik Christensen--Atl--6 (6-11, 54.6%)
3-Ales Hemsky--Edm--6 (6-15 40%)

Today's NHL Schedule (Central Time)

(12) Maple Leafs @ (8) Flyers 6pm
(3) Flames @ (10) Capitals 6pm
(9) Sabres @ (4) Penguins 630pm
(13) Islanders @ (11) Panthers 630pm
(3) Hurricanes @ (12) Blackhawks 730pm
(8) Canucks @ (5) Ducks 9pm