April 16th

MARTIN CONFIRMS HE'LL STAY AS CATS GM

Jacques Martin has decided he will return to the Florida Panthers as General Manager.

He served as the team's coach and GM this season, but team owner and chief executive officer Alan Cohen said last week he wanted to see the duties split between two people.

Given some time to consider the change, Martin told the Miami Herald on Tuesday he will return. The 55-year-old has spent more than a decade as a head coach in the NHL, but said he wouldn't be tempted to leave the Panthers for such an opportunity.

"If you have the choice between the two, you take the position where you have the most control, the most impact over the organization,'' Martin told the newspaper. "Under my regime, we believe in drafting and in developing young players. As general manager, I can continue that."

Florida finished the season with a 38-35-9 record, putting them in 11th place in the Eastern Conference.

The Panthers have gone 110-100-36 in his three years as coach. Martin took over as general manager when Mike Keenan resigned in September 2006. But haven't made the playoffs since 2000, and won a playoff game since 1997.

As a GM, Martin acquired a number one goaltender in Tomas Vokoun to replace Roberto Luongo, who had been dealt by Keenan. He also earned praise for getting prospect Shawn Matthias from Detroit for oft-injured Todd Bertuzzi, and has signed promising young players Nathan Horton and Stephen Weiss to long-term deals.

Martin previously served as coach of the St. Louis Blues from 1986-88 and the Ottawa Senators from 1995-2004.


LECAVALIER ON THE MEND AFTER SURGERY

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Vincent Lecavalier is recovering after surgery on his right shoulder.

The operation was performed by noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Ala.

The NHL club said it expects Lecavalier to be ready for next season's training camp.

The 27-year-old dislocated the shoulder during the third period of a 4-1 loss on April 3 in Washington. He fell awkwardly following a hit by Capitals forward Matt Cooke.

Lecavalier finished seventh in the NHL in scoring last season with 40 goals and 92 points.


NASH UNDERGOES MINOR THROAT SURGERY

Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets inderwent minor throat surgery, which could force him to miss some games for Canada at the upcoming world hockey championships.

The six-foot-four 215-pound left-winger had a follow-up procedure done stemming from a tonsillectomy four years ago. The recovery time is expected to be two to four weeks.

Nash told the Columbus Dispatch via text message he was sore but eager to play at the tournament, hosted in Canada for the first time.

The 12-team tournament will run May 2-18 with games in Halifax and in Quebec City.

Nash has represented Canada in international tournaments on five previous occasions, including a 4-2 gold medal win over Finland at the worlds last year in Russia, where he was named the tournament's most valuable player.

Canada is being coached by Blue Jackets bench boss Ken Hitchcock, and also includes Columbus goaltender Pascal Leclaire and forward Jason Chimera.


STANLEY CUP MAKES RARE VISIT TO EUROPE

The Stanley Cup is visiting Europe to help mark the 100th anniversary of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Former NHL Greats Peter Stastny, Slava Fetisov, Jyrki Lumme and Arturs Irbe were on hand to present the Cup to lawmakers and fans Tuesday at the European Parliament.

"Hopefully we can start a new tradition, and we might have, maybe not once a year, but once a while, have the Stanley Cup here at the European Parliament,'' said Stastny, who is now a lawmaker at the EU assembly.

The Cup was swarmed by fans who wanted a picture with the trophy, or with Stastny and Fetisov, who is now Russia's sports minister.

Phil Pritchard, the vice-president of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, said the Cup will return home to await the winner of the NHL playoffs.

"Obviously it's very close to the NHL playoffs, (but) the timing was perfect. We were able to do it,'' Pritchard said.


Todays NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Schedule

-(2) Pittsburgh @ (7) Ottawa--Game 4--6pm (Penguins lead series 3-0)

-(4) New Jersey @ (5) NY Rangers--Game 4--6pm--Versus (Rangers lead series 2-1)

-(1) Detroit @ (8) Nashville--Game 4--8pm--Versus, Joined in progress (Red Wings lead series 3-0)