Clicks and Clippings: Rodney Returns

The Carolina Hurricanes announced via Twitter this morning, that newly acquired Alexandre Picard was out with an upper-body injury suffered during the game last night. With Picard's status described as "week to week", the Hurricanes recalled defenseman Bryan Rodney from Albany to play in Saturday's  matinee in Pittsburgh. By my count, this is the 5th time the 25-year old has been recalled this season. In his (only?) 10 games this season as a Hurricane, Rodney has notched 5 assists. 

No word when Rodney will join the Hurricanes. The Albany River Rats play the AHL's winningest team, the Hershey Bears, tonight in Hershey, PA. 

UPDATE: Hurricanes' Official Announcement  on Rodney's recall.

Speaking of young defensemen who began the season in Albany, the Canes' Paul Branecky posted this feature on Brett Carson this afternoon: Carson Proves He Belongs - Carolina Hurricanes - Blog From Friday’s practice at the RecZone, Carson suddenly found himself in a strange position as the longest-tenured blueliner on the ice.

After the jump some more from Pittsburgh, Albany, our younger prospects, and maybe our future Hurricanes as well.

Saturday's game in Pittsburgh's old Igloo begins at 1pm. Coach Paul Maurice announced after practice that popular Veteran Manny Legace will be in goal. Rookie sensation Justin Peters will man the pipes in the game here in Raleigh Sunday, when the Canes face the Buffalo Sabres, with a perfect-afternoon-for-tailgating 5 pm start. 

Some links to get you ready for Saturday's game:

Evgeni Malkin has been out of the Pens' line-up with a foot injury for the last 2 games this week. He skated with his team this morning, but his status for the game tomorrow is not determined. Malkin Returns to Practice as His Foot Injury Improves which tells us: Malkin and head coach Dan Bylsma both said it was encouraging that Malkin was able to rejoin his teammates, but neither would commit to Malkin’s playing status when the Penguins host the Carolina Hurricanes at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

Last night, the Penguins posted their first shut-out of the season in Boston, but that was only the secondary story of the much anticipated revenge match between the Bruins sans Savard and Matt Cooke:  Bruins retaliate against Cooke, but Penguins skate off with win - USATODAY.com.

Glad that's over with. (If, perchance, you want to see the B's Shawn Thornton's takedown of Matt Cooke on Cooke's first shift last night, feast your eyes here .)

And to follow up on the developing story on former Hurriane and current Flyers' goalie Michael Leighton's unfortunate injury, Leighton to see specialist today - NHL.com "I'm going to do as much as I can to make that 8-10 weeks turn into a shorter period of time," Leighton told CSNPhilly.com's Tim Panaccio. "I'm trying to stay positive. ... I have a lot of confidence in our team that we're gonna do well." 

LATE ADD: a re-cap posted this afternoon from a Minnesota blogger who attended last-night's over-achieving win by our Hurricanes over the "supremely talented" Washington Capitals : Guest post: How the NHL lives in North Carolina | StarTribune.com The Canes have had a terrible season, but they lead the league in trying hard, giving their all, and headfirst slides. (Like I said last night: how can you not love this team?)

Update from Albany

The starting line up Wednesday night included undrafted notable Jacob Micflikier and recent Notre Dame signee, Kyle Lawson. (from Sandpiper, with permission)

As mentioned, the Albany River Rats are in Hershey tonight to face their division-rivals. This is Oskar Osala's first game against his former teammates, who are on track to re-write the American League's record books. Hershey Bears are pursuing the greatest regular season in AHL history | PennLive.com

At 6'4" and 225 lbs, Oskar Osala takes up some space. (used with permission of Sandpiper on Flickr)

The Rats posted their 4th straight win Wednesday night, as they solidified their hold on 2nd in their division, behind the Bears. Here's a great re-cap of the win over the Worcester Sharks: Samson lends helping hand Times Union - Albany NY Rats' leading scorer has three assists in victory. Osala and Cedric McNicoll each had goals in the win. Actually, Osala had 2 goals, to give him 6 points in his 4 games as a Rat.. Looking forward to tonight's game, Osala had this to say Wednesday:

"I'd hate to get the boys going, we need that win so bad," Osala said. "Seriously, this team can beat anyone in this league when we just stick to our game and not try to play Hershey's game or Worcester's game."

If you've been following Albany's efforts to recruit a replacement franchise to replace the Rats when they move to Charlotte next season, it appears that the New Jersey Devils' AHL team courted -- Times Union, which tells us that the Times Union Center has offered a 10-year contract.

Last - here's a treat: 

Shaggy Dalpe via pentictonvees.podbean.com

Head on over to listen to a great conversation from last night with our newest member of the franchise and CCHA award winner Zac Dalpe’s 1st Pro Interview | vees:blog Before you judge, the blog reports that Dalpe will be getting a haircut before heading to Albany. His first game as a pro will be Sunday afternoon.

And remember the name Brian Dumoulin? The Hurricanes' 2nd round pick last July is making a big impression on the blueline as a freshman at Boston College. How about this statistic: Dumoulin leads all players in the Hockey East conference with a +/- of +28. (oooooh...aaaaah) and was named to the conference All-Rookie team. The Eagles face off against underdog University of Vermont at 5pm Friday, in the first semi-final to earn a bid to the NCAA Championship. Link to the Live Blog and Hockey East. Read this glowing interview from his hometown paper in Maine: Dumoulin exceeding expectations at BC | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram 

Here's more on the NCAA Hockey Championships. 2010 NCAA Hockey: Five Conferences Set To Crown Champions This Weekend - SB Nation

Planning for the 2010 Draft

Too early to look at this? Puck Daddy say it's a must-bookmark. Decide for yourselves. NHL Mock Draft DataBase

Last, just to wrap up the theme - The Hockey News looked in on the top 2009 Draft picks from all the franchises in the NHL in this piece. The Hockey News: The Straight Edge:  Each team's best 2009 draft pick Just less than a full year between now and the '09 draft gives a sufficient cushion to judge the top selections of every club. 

Off-ice

Finally, these stories capture some great moments with a few familiar hockey players off the ice.

Thanks to caniacgirl for bringing this local TV news story to my attention this morning (and posted in the re-cap of the Caps game if you read down that far)  WRAL.com :: Canes defenseman meets with Camp Lejeune Marines Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Tim Gleason delivered an autographed American flag Thursday to several Marines from Camp Lejeune. 

U.S.A. Hockey Goalie Ryan Miller: After the Olympics |  Vanity Fair Actually, I only linked this after-Vancouver story, just to show you the words Hockey and Vanity Fair in the same subject line. Hockeymom is pleased.

And if you don't hate the Penguins, this is a worthwhile story and video (and the eyecandy, for readers of both sexes, isn't bad either). KuklasKorner : The Confluence : Penguins serve tables at annual charity gala (What? No Penguin suit jokes?)