Sport-scan daily brief

It’s a tough week, and the schedule may be taking a toll. On L’Antichambre, Michel Bergeron suggested fatigue was a factor in Philadelphia.

“They’re a small team,” the diminutive former Nordiques/Rangers coach added. “Small teams get tired.”

Tired and slow. On the same telecast, Gaston Therrien said in order to win games, the Canadiens have to be faster than their opponents. They were not faster than the Flyers, rarely getting to loose pucks ahead of a Philadelphia defence depleted by the loss of Andrej Meszaros, Braydon Coburn and, of course, Chris Pronger.

Playing on the day his team traded for Steve Mason, Ilya Bryzgalov looked beatable. But the Canadiens couldn’t muster any sustained pressure to test him.

One positive note: the Canadiens’ penalty-killers were a perfect 3-for-3 against a Flyers power play that is, statistically, the league’s best. But with three chances, the Canadiens’ PP was impotent as well.

Did the two stupid staged fights affect the outcome?

The pugilists got the Philadelphia crowd going. But I didn’t see a definitive momentum swing.

The Flyers won because they were hungrier. They wanted the game more, and the Flyers’ in-your-face style – exemplified by Hartnell and Simmonds – carried the day.

So do you suppose Marc Bergevin cried himself to sleep wishing he’d traded the Canadiens’ first-round draft choice for Ryan Clowe?

I doubt it. The general manager takes the long view, and his vision of the Canadiens’ future was not clouded by what transpired at the Wells fargo Center.

There are, however, short term challenges.

Tomas Plekanec is one of the players – Carey Price and P.K. Subban are the others – the Canadiens can’t win without. Pleks does so much – plays against the other team’s best centre, kills penalties, wins crucial faceoffs, plays on the PP.

If Plekanec is out for a while, the team is in trouble.

But maybe you can say the same about Boston without Patrice Bergeron.

And speaking of recalls from Hamilton – which we weren’t – the Bulldogs are in Texas.

So Gabriel Dumont – and maybe Michäel Bournival – will have an interesting day of travel to face the Jets in Montreal.

Montreal Gazette LOADED: 04.04.2013

667823 Montreal Canadiens

No trades for Habs, but team signs prospect Danny Kristo

Posted by Stu Cowan

The NHL trade deadline passed at 3 p.m. Wednesday without the Canadiens making a deal.

General manager Marc Bergevin did announce the signing of forward Danny Kristo to a two-year contract (2012-13 and 2013-14). He will report to the American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs.

Bergevin met with the media at 4 p.m. in Brossard, telling reporters: “The trading period started three months ago for us.”

“For me, what happens in the room is as important as what happens on the ice,” Bergevin added. “Now, we have a great chemistry in the dressing room.”

The GM added that he held a lot of conversations with other teams over the last two months, “kicking tires and looking at how can you make your team better.”

He added: “We added a piece yesterday that we felt the price was right and that Davis (Drewiske) could come and help us. So strategy has not changed. We have a plan and it’s to make the Montreal Canadiens better for years to come. I think we have a good core. We have some good young players with a good mix of veterans. We’ve got guys coming through the system that we’re developing and making better, so overall I’m pretty satisfied with the direction the hockey club has been taking.”

Asked if he viewed the Canadiens as a Stanley Cup contender, Bergevin said he sees the team as one that has put itself in a good position to make the playoffs.

“Anything is possible once you make the playoffs,” he said. “We won the President’s Trophy when I was in St. Louis, we lost in the first round. So in the playoffs, anything is possible.”

Kristo, a native of Edina, Minn., was selected by the Canadiens in the second round (56th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

In 40 games with North Dakota University this season, Kristo posted 26-26-52 totals and was plus-17. He finished tied for second in the NCAA in goals and points, and tied for third in the NCAA with six winning goals. He is one of 10 finalists for the 2013 Hobey Baker Memorial Award honouring college hockey’s top player.

You can watch Bergevin’s press conference by clicking here.

NHL Trade Deadline 2013 coverage, montrealgazette.com

Blue Jackets get Gaborik from Rangers, NHL.com

Montreal Gazette LOADED: 04.04.2013

667824 Montreal Canadiens

Price burns 2,336 calories in a game; Drewiske will face Flyers

Posted by Stu Cowan

For the last five games, Canadiens goaltender Carey Price has worn a multi-function heart monitor, the wristwatch receiver clipped into the back of his pants.

Price’s pulse tops out at 190 beats per minute during the game with an average of 120 bpm, which includes pregame and intermissions.

“I wear it in practice and I’ve been curious,” Price told The Gazette’s Dave Stubbs. “I never knew what (calories) I burned during a game. It will give me a good idea what I should be eating and how many calories I should be consuming.”

Heading into Wednesday’s game in Philadelphia (7:30 p.m., TSN, RDS, TSN Radio 690), Price has a 18-6-4 record with three shutouts, a 2.24 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.

The Canadiens got some good news on the injury front Wednesday morning as Raphael Diaz skated in Brossard for the first time since suffering a concussion on Feb. 25. Rene Bourque and Raphael Diaz, also recovering from concussions, skated in Brossard as well.

Meanwhile, defenceman Davis Drewiske, acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, skated with his new teammates at the Habs morning skate in Philadelphia. Drewiske will be in the lineup against the Flyers with Price starting in goal. Mike Blunden will take the place of injured forward Colby Armstrong, who suffered what the team is calling a “lower-body injury” during Monday’s win over Carolina. Armstrong has been placed on injured reserve with what appears to be a knee injury. Ryan White will be a healthy scratch.

“There are some different things with the system here as opposed to what they do in LA, so this morning (the coaches and I) went over that and what they expect from me,” Drewiske told reporters in Philadelphia after the morning skate. “They want me to be a good defender, a good penalty killer, move pucks quickly and chip in offensively when I can.”

Coach Michel Therrien also announced that Peter Budaj will start in goal Thursday when the Winnipeg Jets visit the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., RDS, TSN-HABS, TSN Radio 690). Budaj’s parents will be in town for the game and Therrien admitted that played a role in his decision, but the coach added that Budaj has been playing well and deserves a start. Budaj has a 5-1-1 record with one shutout, a 2.47 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.

Therrien wouldn’t give a timetable for Armstrong’s return to the lineup, but said he hopes he’ll be back in time for the playoffs.

Here’s a look at the lines and defence pairings from the morning skate:

Forwards: Pacioretty-Desharnais-Gallagher; Ryder-Plekanec-Gionta; Galchenyuk-Eller-Prust; White-Halpern-Moen/Blunden. Defence: Bouillon-Drewiske; Gorges-Subban; Markov-Emelin; Kaberle-Weber.

The NHL trade deadline is at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Stubbs joins Postmedia News hockey writers Vicki Hall, Wayne Scanlan, Elliott Pap, Bob Duff, Steve Ewen and John MacKinnon for a live trade blog beginning at noon. You can follow it by clicking here.

Montreal Gazette LOADED: 04.04.2013

667825 Nashville Predators

Nashville Predators trade Martin Erat to Washington Capitals

Josh Cooper

Predators general manager David Poile laughed heartily. It had been brought to his attention that Wednesday marked the second time he had traded for a player named Forsberg.

The deal, sending veteran Martin Erat and prospect Michael Latta to the Washington Capitals in exchange for 18-year-old forward Filip Forsberg at the NHL trade deadline, brought back memories of 2007, when the Predators landed legendary forward Peter Forsberg late in the season.

“This one is fresher?” Poile joked.

The tone and tenor of this day were drastically different, however.

The trade for the then 33-year-old Peter Forsberg — no relation to Filip, who is also from Sweden — solidified positioning for a postseason run. Wednesday’s trade was more about getting younger and retooling for a team that might not even qualify for the playoffs.

In addition to dealing the 31-year-old Erat — a seventh-round pick in 1999 who is now the franchise’s second-ranked player in games played, goals, assists and points — the Predators sent 34-year-old defenseman Scott Hannan to the Sharks for a conditional seventh-round pick.

The Predators had signed Hannan to a one-year, $1 million contract over the summer.

Poile expressed excitement about Forsberg, who was Washington’s first-round pick in the 2012 draft, the 11th selection overall.

“We need to be more dynamic with our forwards, and today we got a dynamic forward,” Poile said. “That’s something we haven’t been able to accomplish through trade acquisition and even in drafting, where we’ve been more prone to take defensemen than forwards. We’ve given up a lot of first-round picks the last several years, and this year we’re getting a first-round pick back in essence.”

The 6-foot-1, 188-pound Forsberg notched 15 goals and 18 assists in 38 games this season for Leksand of Sweden’s second division. The No. 21 rated team-affiliated prospect according to The Hockey News, he is the most highly-touted forward in Nashville’s system since the Predators drafted Alexander Radulov 15th overall in 2004.

“He’s a strong, powerful player. He distributes the puck pretty well, we think his scoring is good,” Poile said. “I really think he has a chance to be a top powerful forward. I like his all-around game.”

Despite dealing Erat, the team’s alternate captain and leading scorer from a year ago, Poile said the Predators hadn’t given up on the playoffs. Going into Wednesday’s games, Nashville was tied with St. Louis for the eighth playoff spot, but had played three more games than the Blues.

“This has been a tough year in terms of our overall play,” Poile said. “I would have to say to this point we’ve probably performed under what our expectations were, but we still have enough games left to make it.”

Erat was tied for the overall team lead in scoring this season with 21 points in 36 games, but he requested the trade about two weeks ago. His contract had two years remaining at $4.5 million per year, and included a no-trade clause.

Attempts to change Erat’s mind failed. He said he submitted a list of 10 teams to Poile.

The Predators are “going to go with a younger team and see how it goes from there,” Erat said. “But for me, I’m getting older, and it’s not going to be like I have seven-to-eight years to wait for another chance.”

It’s unclear who will fill Erat’s void on the top line, but the Predators have become familiar with such situations. They’ve found ways to adjust when players depart.

“Once again somebody is going to get to play in a higher position,” Poile said.

The trade does replenish Nashville’s young assets. In 2011 the Predators dealt their first-round pick for center Mike Fisher, and last year they traded their first-rounder for checking forward Paul Gaustad.

The Predators ranked 26th in The Hockey News’ most recent system rankings. Nashville’s most recent first-round pick, forward Austin Watson in 2010, has yet to play in an NHL game.

The trade also frees up salary to use toward free agents. The Predators now have $40.9 million committed to 2013-14, when the salary cap drops from $70.2 million to $64.3 million.

Forsberg will likely come to Nashville when his season in Sweden ends in order to practice with the Predators and get to know the organization.

“I’m not promising and predicting he will play with us,” Poile said of the current season. “But certainly we want to see him and hopefully he’ll be in our system next year.”

Tennessean LOADED: 04.04.2013

667826 Nashville Predators

Nashville Predators trade Scott Hannan to San Jose Sharks

Josh Cooper

The Predators have traded defenseman Scott Hannan to the San Jose Sharks for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2013 draft.

Nashville signed Hannan, 34, to a one-year, $1 million contract over the summer. He had one assist in 29 games with the Predators and was a minus-11.

The Sharks picked Hannan in the first round of the 1997 draft. He played eight seasons in San Jose, where he developed into one of their top shutdown defensemen.

He was one of three pending unrestricted free agents on Nashville’s roster — the other two being forward Brandon Yip and goaltender Chris Mason. Hannan had been out since March 17 with an upper-body injury.

He was likely made more expendable when veteran stay-at-home defenseman Hal Gill returned from a lower-body injury on March 23, and first-year blueliner Victor Bartley continued to emerge. Bartley is a plus-6 through 14 games with the Predators.

Hannan had seen his minutes drop and his production decrease before his injury. He was a minus-4 his last three games, and played on the third defensive pair with Ryan Ellis, who has since been sent to Nashville’s AHL affiliate in Milwaukee.

Earlier in the season, Hannan played on Nashville’s top defensive line with captain Shea Weber.

The conditional pick changes to San Jose’s sixth-round selection this year if the Sharks make the playoffs.

The NHL trade deadline is 2 p.m. today.

Tennessean LOADED: 04.04.2013

667827 Nashville Predators

Nashville Predators trade Martin Erat for top prospect

Josh Cooper

Predators general manager David Poile laughed heartily. It had been brought to his attention that Wednesday marked the second time he had traded for a player named Forsberg.

This deal, sending veteran Martin Erat and prospect Michael Latta to the Washington Capitals in exchange for 18-year-old forward Filip Forsberg at the NHL trade deadline, brought back memories of 2007, when the Predators landed legendary forward Peter Forsberg late in the season.

“This one is fresher?” Poile joked.

The tone and tenor of this day were drastically different, however.

The trade for the then 33-year-old Peter Forsberg — no relation to Filip, who is also from Sweden — solidified positioning for a postseason run. Wednesday’s trade was more about getting younger and retooling for a team that might not even make it to the playoffs.

In addition to dealing the 31-year-old Erat — a seventh-round pick in 1999 who is now the franchise’s second-ranked player in games played, goals, assists and points — the Predators sent 34-year-old defenseman Scott Hannan to the Sharks for a conditional seventh-round pick.

The Predators had signed Hannan to a one-year, $1 million contract over the summer.

Poile expressed excitement about Forsberg, who was Washington’s first-round pick in the 2012 draft, the 11th selection overall.

“We need to be more dynamic with our forwards, and today we got a dynamic forward,” Poile said. “That’s something we haven’t been able to accomplish through trade acquisition and even in drafting, where we’ve been more prone to take defensemen than forwards. We’ve given up a lot of first-round picks the last several years, and this year we’re getting a first-round pick back in essence.”

The 6-foot-1, 188-pound Forsberg notched 15 goals and 18 assists in 38 games this season for Leksand of Sweden’s second division. The No. 21 team-affiliated prospect according to The Hockey News, he is the most highly touted forward in Nashville’s system since the Predators drafted Alexander Radulov 15th overall in 2004.

“He’s a strong, powerful player. He distributes the puck pretty well; we think his scoring is good,” Poile said. “I really think he has a chance to be a top powerful forward. I like his all-around game.”

Despite dealing Erat, the team’s alternate captain and leading scorer from a year ago, Poile said the Predators hadn’t given up on the playoffs.

Going into Wednesday’s games, Nashville was tied with St. Louis for the eighth playoff spot, but had played three more games than the Blues.

“This has been a tough year in terms of our overall play,” Poile said. “I would have to say to this point we’ve probably performed under what our expectations were, but we still have enough games left to make it.”

Erat was tied for the overall team lead in scoring this season with 21 points in 36 games, but requested the trade about two weeks ago. His contract had two years remaining at $4.5 million per year and included a no-trade clause.

Attempts to change Erat’s mind failed. He said he submitted a list of 10 teams to Poile.

The Predators are “going to go with a younger team and see how it goes from there,” Erat said. “But for me, I’m getting older, and it’s not going to be like I have seven to eight years to wait for another chance.”

It’s unclear who will fill Erat’s void on the top line, but the Predators have become familiar with such situations. They’ve found ways to adjust when players depart.

“Once again somebody is going to get to play in a higher position,” Poile said.

The trade does replenish Nashville’s young assets. In 2011 the Predators dealt their first-round pick for center Mike Fisher, and last year they traded their first-rounder for checking forward Paul Gaustad.

The Predators ranked 26th in The Hockey News’ most recent system rankings. Nashville’s most recent first-round pick, forward Austin Watson in 2010, has yet to play in an NHL game.

The trade also frees salary to use toward free agents. The Predators have $40.9 million committed to 2013-14, when the salary cap drops from $70.2 million to $64.3 million.

Forsberg likely will come to Nashville when his season in Sweden ends in order to practice with the Predators and get to know the organization.

“I’m not promising and predicting he will play with us,” Poile said of the current season. “But certainly we want to see him, and hopefully he’ll be in our system next year.”

Tennessean LOADED: 04.04.2013

667828 Nashville Predators

Nick Spaling diary: Every game, every point is huge now

Apr. 3, 2013 11:27 PM

Written by

As told to Josh Cooper

It’s a battle this time of year. We need the points. We play the Chicago Blackhawks three times this week, and it’s a divisional team that we may have to be ready to face at some point. These games are huge. The points are huge. We have to take advantage of playing our next several games at home. This whole time right now is playoff-type hockey. It’s make or break for us, this next three weeks.

We have a lot of guys who have played playoff games and that type of atmosphere. We just have to focus in. The games get more important as we go. We have to keep being ready.

Fantasy baseball is also pretty hot now, and a lot of our spare time is spent on it. There’s a group of eight teams in our league with the Predators. It’s just a lot of fun and something to do on our down time. Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is my top player on my team.

I don’t know that much about it to tell you the truth. It’s more for fun and making trades and talking about it with my teammates.

I usually do really well with it the first month, and then slide off when we stop talking about it at the rink. It really goes downhill for me.

—As told to Josh Cooper

Tennessean LOADED: 04.04.2013

667829 Nashville Predators

Western Conference update

Apr. 3, 2013 10:17 PM

Josh Cooper

We’re coming down the home stretch in the Western Conference. And with the 2013 season set to end in less than a month, some teams fighting to make the playoffs have started playing well at the right time and look like they can do some damage in the postseason. Below are those squads.

San Jose Sharks (18-11-6)*

The Sharks have been able to pile up wins against some of the NHL’s top teams. In the past week, San Jose defeated the Anaheim Ducks twice as well as the Vancouver Canucks. Overall, San Jose has looked more like the team that started 7-0-0 and not the group that went 6-11-6 in its next 23 games.

Columbus Blue Jackets (15-14-7)

The Blue Jackets have learned how to grind out points and have lost just two regulation games in their last 10. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovksy is good enough to steal a series. He has put together a Vezina Trophy-worthy season with a 2.13 goals against average and .927 save percentage.

Edmonton Oilers (15-13-7)*

The Oilers have gotten hot recently, winning four straight coming into Wednesday night’s game against the Calgary Flames. Forward Taylor Hall broke one of Wayne Gretzky’s records for fastest hat trick in team history in their 4-0 win over Vancouver on March 30.

Detroit Red Wings (18-13-5)

Detroit has gone 6-3-0 in its last nine games to stay above the logjam around the eighth playoff spot. And it has shown an ability to defeat some good teams — including Anaheim (twice) and Vancouver — in that stretch. Forward Pavel Datsyuk (36 points in 35 games) has looked strong for the Red Wings.

Phoenix Coyotes (15-15-6)

A three-game point streak has put the Coyotes slightly back into the playoff mix. Phoenix has two games remaining on a homestand to try to gain some ground. But after April 6, the Coyotes have just three home games left and seven road games. This could be their undoing.

*Played Wednesday

Tennessean LOADED: 04.04.2013

667830 Nashville Predators

Preview: Predators vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

Apr. 3, 2013 10:17 PM

John Glennon

PREDATORS VS. BLUE JACKETS

• When: 7 p.m. today

• Where: Bridgestone Arena

• TV/radio: Fox TN/102.5-FM

• Hat trick: 1. The Predators are 4-1 in their past five home games, averaging four goals per game. 2. Nashville has surrendered the game’s opening goal in 10 of its past 11 games, posting a 3-5-2 record in those 10 games. 3. The Blue Jackets, seeking their first playoff berth since the 2008-09 season, on Wednesday acquired right wing Marian Gaborik, a former first-round pick who’s recorded at least 30 goals in seven of his previous 11 seasons.

• Injuries: Blue Jackets RW Jared Boll (lower body), D Tim Erixon (upper body) are out; LW Nick Foligno (upper body) and C Brandon Dubinsky (knee) are probable. Predators LW Colin Wilson (upper body) is out; C Mike Fisher (hand) and LW Gabriel Bourque (upper body) are questionable.

• Next for Predators: 2 p.m. Saturday vs. Chicago.

Tennessean LOADED: 04.04.2013

667831 Nashville Predators

Nashville Predators taking more shots, but not always winning

Apr. 3, 2013 10:16 PM

Josh Cooper

The Tennessean

When it comes to shots on goal, there are different ways the Predators rate their overall value.

“You can get lots of shots, but are they quality shots? Are they just shots? Do you have traffic? Do you get secondary chances off shots? All those things,” Predators coach Barry Trotz said.

A lot of emphasis in hockey is put on shots on goal. It’s often seen as an indicator of whether a team has played well or poorly.

For the Predators, the results have been somewhat uneven recently when they’ve outshot their opponent.

In nine of their last 11 games, they’ve fired as many or more shots on goal than the opposition and are 4-4-1 in those contests. So if Nashville is peppering the opposition, why have the results not followed? Even to the Predators, it’s not totally clear.