Morning links

Thursday, 29 November 2012 07:18

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

-A mediator met with the NHL and NHLPA yesterday.

-Sidney Crosby (right) has opted to work out the rest of this week in Arizona with several locked out NHLers, including Coyotes defenseman Zbynek Michalek and forward Steve Sullivan, both former Penguins. Also included in the group is Maple Leafs forward and former Capital David Steckel, the player who injured Crosby with a high hit to his head during the 2011 Winter Classic.

-Forbes Magazine listed the Penguins as the ninth most valuable franchise in the NHL at $288 million.

-Forbes also ranked the Penguins as having the best fans in the NHL.

-Luke Pither and Carl Sneep each had a goal and an assist for the Wheeling Nailers who edged the Trenton Titans, 3-2. Scott Darling made 19 saves in the victory.

-Evgeni Malkin was held without a point but received a kneeing minor and a 10-minute misconduct penalty in overtime for Metallurg Magnitogorsk which lost to Vityaz Chekhov, 4-3, in Russia's KHL.

-“It's nicer here as I can communicate in Russian with everybody… It’s only calmer in America. I live outside Pittsburgh and I can go for a walk without creating any hype or visit a café. And here everybody is running after me – the World Championship has boosted my popularity. But I try not to deny anyone autographs or photos, especially the kids.” - Malkin, translated from Russian, comparing life in the NHL to the KHL.

-Devils forward Adam Henrique, currently assigned to Albany of the AHL, will be sidelined four to six weeks following surgery on his left thumb.

-According to CSNNE, Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, chairman of the NHL's board of governors, essentially told an alternative governor for the Jets to shut up when the latter raised objections to the ongoing lockout. Per the report, Jacobs reprimanded the Jets' representative "'as one of the 'new kids on the block' and informed him that he would know when he was allowed to speak in the NHL board room."

-“It’s worked for the other sports. At the same time, it’s a pretty scary subject when you have to do that. It’s pretty complicated. … It might force them and put pressure on them to act a little quicker than they are right now. I think it can go both ways." - Sabres defenseman and former Penguin Jordan Leopold on mediators being used in negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA.

-"It's definitely starting to feel that way (like 2004) the longer it goes. It seems bleak for having any sort of season. Last time they called it around February (2005), so we've got to figure something's got to be done pretty quick. So yeah, it feels like that again. We're going nowhere." - Hurricanes defenseman Joe Corvo comparing the current lockout to the one which wiped out the 2004-05 season.

-Blue Jackets forward and former Penguin Mark Letestu is currently serving as an assistant coach of Bonnyville in the Alberta Junior Hockey League during the lockout.

-"Every one of these players needs to realize the money they've lost, they will never get back in their lifetime. The front two lines of every team are the big money-earners and they're going to be fine no matter what, but the third- and fourth-liners or the guys like (Capitals defenseman Roman Hamrlik) at the end of their career, they're going to feel it and I'm sure they are feeling it, so they should speak up." - Former Red Wings/Blackhawks forward and Hockey Hall-of-Famer Ted Lindsay on recent comments by Hamrlik which were critical of the NHLPA. Lindsay helped organize the first NHLPA during the late 1950s.

-Wild goaltender Josh Harding revealed he is battling multiple sclerosis.

(Photo: Crosby-Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)