Philadelphia Flyers forward Chris VandeVelde has been suspended two games for elbowing Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced Friday.
VandeVelde's out $7,661 due to the suspension. He'll miss games Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Monday against the New York Islanders.
The incident occurred in Philadelphia's win over the Blackhawks on Wednesday, and Toews stayed in the game, apparently suffering no ill effects from the elbow.
VandeVelde's suspension opens a lineup spot for Jakub Voracek, who has been injured and is a significant talent upgrade over VandeVelde.
— Dave Molinari (@MolinariPG) March 18, 2016
VandeVelde and Toews met after the game, according to the Courier-Post's Dave Isaac.
"(Toews) even sent me a text message saying, 'Don't worry about it. Everything is going to be OK,'" VandeVelde said.
The two players are friends, and VandeVelde added that Toews said he was "an honest player."
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Even without Tyler Seguin, the Dallas Stars have enough firepower to produce beyond the offensive standard for a contender.
Jamie Benn has been filling the net separate from his customary pivot of late. Jason Spezza suddenly cannot miss. A four-time 30-goal man in Patrick Sharp skated on the fourth line in Thursday's come-from-behind win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The problem is, the Stars aren't constructed like any other Stanley Cup hopeful.
Dallas announced Friday that Seguin, the team's second-leading scorer (and the league's third-leading point producer), underwent surgery to repair a slice to his Achilles tendon and will likely miss the remainder of the regular season.
Seguin's expected to be ready for the start of the playoffs, albeit perhaps slightly hindered. But his absence has significant implications, and over the next 10 games, will illuminate a titanic concern for the organization.
The Stars require the league's No. 1 offense to veil their inefficiencies on defense and an overpriced goaltending duo that, despite being designed to endure, is fading down the stretch and primed to be exposed without Seguin's point-per-game production.
With an .880 save percentage since the All-Star break, Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen are chiefly responsible for the NHL's sixth-most permeable defense, having conceded just seven goals fewer than the league-worst Calgary Flames.
Yet, despite allowing 3.6 goals per game and owning a slightly negative goal differential through February and March, Dallas managed 26 points from 22 games and a record above .500.
But what does that look like without Seguin and his contribution to every third goal?
The Stars remain two up on the St. Louis Blues in the Central Division, while the Chicago Blackhawks lurk five points back with a game in hand. But despite rising to the top of the Western Conference in 72 games, it's the final 10 that will decide whether the Stars clash with one of those juggernauts or instead meet one of the Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, or Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs.
Without improved play in goal down the stretch, the team that rivals have been chasing all season could very well enter the tournament as an underdog.
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Good news for the universe: Jaromir Jagr isn't going anywhere.
The 44-year-old confirmed he'll be back for another 82 in the NHL next season, according to the Miami Herald's George Richards, but he won't talk contract with the Florida Panthers until this season ends. And if Jagr gets his way, that'll be in June.
Jagr's doing it and doing it well. He has 24 goals and 31 assists in 68 games, leading the first-place Panthers in scoring. He's shooting a remarkable 19.4 percent while averaging 17:09 in ice time. And he's looking forward to the playoffs.
Forever on the ice, Jagr's somehow upped his workout game recently, hitting the gym at obscene hours - "If you want to be better than the opponent, you have to train when he's asleep," he wrote. It's all in preparation for the grind that is spring hockey.
"You know, I want to see how my body is going to react," Jagr said, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.
Jagr hasn't played for the Stanley Cup since 2013, when he had 10 assists in 22 games with the Boston Bruins on their run to the Stanley Cup Final.
The ageless Czech is taking nothing for granted.
"I don't know," Jagr said when asked about next season and the future at large. "I don't know what's going to happen - maybe a car's going to hit me tomorrow and I'm going to be dead. You're asking me questions; like I don't have the (crystal) ball to see through this."
Jagr will let us know when he's done working out, and when he's done playing hockey. Until then, enjoy.
"I don't get tired," he told Johnston. "I never get tired."
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Life is all about timing, and this isn't good timing for the Colorado Avalanche.
Matt Duchene, the club's leading scorer with 56 points, will miss Friday's game against the Calgary Flames. It's the first game he'll watch this season, having played in all 71 to date. He has a knee injury, the club announced.
The Avalanche hold a one-point lead in the Western Conference wild-card standings over the Minnesota Wild, both teams through 71 games, so Duchene's loss is a big one. There's no word on the severity of the injury or the 25-year-old's status for the rest of the club's road trip through Canada. The Avalanche finish the journey Sunday, March 20 in Edmonton, and are then off until Thursday, March 24.
Duchene has 29 goals and 27 assists. His next marker, should it come, would make him a 30-goal scorer for the first time in his seven-season career.
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Everyone associated with the Detroit Red Wings has to be crossing their fingers.
Defenseman Niklas Kronwall, who suffered a right knee sprain on March 12, is feeling good and hopeful about returning to the lineup Saturday against the Florida Panthers, according to MLive.com's Ansar Khan.
Kronwall clearly close to return. He's alternating with DeKeyser at point on top PP unit, with Zetterberg, Nyquist, Larkin, Abdelkader.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) March 18, 2016
The Swede was expected out one-to-three weeks, so while he's technically on track to return, his presence would be huge for Detroit, as the Red Wings are fighting for their playoff lives. Detroit has a one-point lead over the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild-card spot in the East, but Philly has two games in hand and is rolling - the Flyers have won two in a row and eight of 10.
Kronwall has three goals and 17 assists in 53 games, averaging 22:58 in ice time per game.
Also on the Red Wings' back end, head coach Jeff Blashill confirmed that Jimmy Howard will start in the crease against Florida. Petr Mrazek is ill and didn't practice Friday.
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President Frank Underwood will be in the building.
Kevin Spacey, the star of Netflix's "House of Cards" and an unexpected source of motivation for the first-place Florida Panthers, will be in attendance at Saturday's game in Sunrise, Fla., according to the Miami Herald's George Richards.
Need proof? Spacey's bag is packed.
No blarney... Spacey IS in space. #FloridaPanthers pic.twitter.com/bQKHhaV8uL
— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) March 17, 2016
The Panthers are mum on the actor's appearance, Richards writes, but it's expected that he'll drop the puck for a ceremonial faceoff before the game.
The Sun Sentinel's Harvey Fialkov, with his finger on the pulse, confirmed Spacey's appearance.
This all began with a sweatshirt: "Spacey in Space." No one knows exactly what it means, or what the motivation behind it was, but it's taken on a life of its own, the club even selling "Spacey in Space" merchandise.
It's a movement, is what it is. A lifestyle. And it's working for the Panthers.
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Nashville Predators general manager David Poile is hopeful.
Appearing on Sportsnet's "Hockey Central At Noon" on Friday, Poile said he's "cautiously optimistic" he'll be able to get Harvard's Jimmy Vesey's signature on a contract after his collegiate season ends, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.
Vesey was drafted in the second round by the Predators in 2012 and is completing his senior season with the Crimson. He has 23 goals and 21 assists in 30 games and is a finalist for this year's Hobey Baker Award, which honors NCAA Division I's finest hockey player.
The Predators hold down the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference, so if Vesey signs, his first taste of the NHL could come in the playoffs.
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Dallas Stars volume scorer Tyler Seguin will miss the next three-to-four weeks after suffering a cut to his Achilles, the team announced Friday.
Seguin had surgery Friday morning to stitch up a 15 percent cut of the tendon, Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News reports.
Stars general manager Jim Nill expects Seguin will be available for the start of the playoffs, which are about three-and-a-half weeks away.
Seguin is tied for third in NHL scoring, contributing 33 goals and 40 assists in 72 games.
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