BY WEB STAFF

sportsnet.ca

Former Hart Trophy winner Peter Forsberg informed Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis that he will remain in Sweden this season and not attempt another comeback in the NHL.

Gillis confirmed the news after speaking with Forsberg on Monday morning. On February 25, 2008, Forsberg signed a contract with the Colorado Avalanche for the remainder of the season, but played in just nine games due to a groin injury.

Forsberg will play the remainder of the season in Sweden with league club MoDo.

Canucks confident in race for ForsbergAtletico confirm Merida interest

THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO — Jonas Gustavsson lost some of his rookie shine Saturday night.

The 25-year-old Toronto rookie goaltender made just two saves and allowed three goals before being pulled in favour of the embattled Vesa Toskala less than 10 minutes into the Leafs’ 5-2 loss to Calgary.

Gustavsson had been off to a fast start, sporting a 3-3-3 record with a 2.77 goals-against average and .917 save percentage. As far as Leafs fans were concerned, he had supplanted incumbent Toskala as the Maple Leafs No. 1 man between the pipes.

“It’s not the start you want,” Gustavsson said, “but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Gustavsson was the victim of some pinpoint accuracy on Jarome Iginla’s opening goal of the game, a tip-in on the second and a deflection on the third.

“The first goal, the shot came really quick,” said Gustavsson when asked if he should have had any the three goals. “Maybe I could have had it, maybe not. Sometimes you have those pucks that just go in.”

“You have to keep working hard and not think about it too much, just move on.”

That will be the key for the young netminder. He’s been the early-season darling of Toronto through his first nine appearances, and deservedly so. Each game he seemed to make one or two great stops and wasn’t letting in easy goals.

Veteran Toronto blue-liner Tomas Kaberle offered some perspective on how Gustavsson needs to respond to his first poor game of the season.

“Sometimes you have nights like that,” he said. “Tomorrow is a new day. It happens to everybody, (former Leafs goalies) Eddie Belfour, Cujo (Curtis Joseph), everybody.

“The thing is to recover from that. They always battled hard, and Jonas is the same way.”

Leafs coach Ron Wilson was sympathetic to Gustavsson’s plight, but felt he had to pull him early — he had already used his lone timeout and couldn’t talk to his goalie.

“The first (goal) I think surprised him,” Wilson said. “It was just inside the post, it was almost the perfect shot. The second one squeaked through his legs. And the third one was a backhand — it was a one-on-one where they shot and it hit our defenceman. That’s bang-bang and the guy just floated one off the post.

“It was nothing major, he just kind of had some unfortunate luck on a couple of those goals.”

La Liga round-upIf Stars align, Leafs may win second-straight

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — For the fourth straight year, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the NHL’s most valuable team, according to Forbes magazine’s annual survey.

The Leafs are worth US$470 million, an increase of five per cent over last year. They easily are worth more than the next franchise, the New York Rangers at $416 million, up just one per cent.

The original six franchises are in the top seven, with only Philadelphia at No. 5 breaking that monopoly. Montreal is third ($339 million), followed by Detroit ($337 million), Philadelphia ($273 million), Boston ($271 million) and Chicago ($258 million).

The Vancouver Canucks ($239 million) were the next highest Canadian team coming in at ninth. Calgary ($200 million) was 16th; Ottawa ($197) 17th; and Edmonton ($166 million) — the lowest-valued Canadian team — at 24th.

Chicago has the biggest rise in value, up 26 per cent, followed by Washington at 15 per cent to $183 million.

The Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins rank 11th at $222 million.

The average value of the 30 teams is $223 million, a slight increase over the $220 million of 2008.

Not surprisingly, the Phoenix Coyotes, with all their ownership issues, have the lowest worth, $138 million. And 14 teams — nearly half the league — went down in value, ranging from Colorado decreasing by 11 per cent to Philadelphia falling one per cent.

Toronto has, by far, the most operating income, $78.9 million, Forbes reported. Second in operating income is Montreal at $31.3 million.

The Leafs are tops in revenues, too, at $168 million, followed by the Rangers at $139 million.

Winless Leafs go light-hearted at practiceNiguez has no regrets

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated forward Kristian Huselius and placed forward Raffi Torres on the injured list.

General manager Scott Howson announced the moves on Friday.

Torres’ placement was retroactive to Wednesday, when he was injured in a 9-1 home loss to Detroit. He has eight goals and one assist in 17 games this season.

Huselius was injured in practice on Nov. 3 and his arm was in a sling during the Blue Jackets’ shootout loss to San Jose the following night. In 13 games this season, he has five goals and four assists.

Messi favourite for Ballon d’OrKessel return Tuesday? Toskala activated

By ANDY LEFKOWITZ?

STATS Editor

So far on their swing through the Northeast, the Calgary Flames stopped one skid while failing to end a longer one. They’ll have to bounce back quickly in order to end another stretch of poor play in a city where success has been quite rare.

Calgary closes its trip Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who look to continue their nearly 15-year dominance at home over the Flames.

After a 1-0 win on Tuesday over the Canadiens to snap a four-game slide in Montreal, the Flames followed with a 2-1 shootout loss Friday to Sabres, dropping to 0-4-3 in their last seven visits to Buffalo.

Daymond Langkow scored 64 seconds into the game and Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 32 shots through overtime in his 400th NHL game yet Calgary failed to win its season-high fifth in a row.

“It was physical, and it was a fun game to be a part of,” Flames captain Jarome Iginla said. “We were looking forward to this challenge to keep our string going because the Sabres have a good record. Unfortunately it didn’t end the way we wanted it to.”

Toronto has been a much more difficult destination for Calgary (11-4-2).The Flames have lost 14 of 15 in southern Ontario after March 1994, including nine games played at old Maple Leaf Gardens. Ten of those defeats have been by one goal, and they’ve been held to three goals or less 12 times.

That wasn’t the case on March 14 as Calgary rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to even the score after one period before falling 8-6. Olli Jokinen, acquired by the Flames 10 days earlier from Phoenix, had three goals and two assists.

Jokinen, who was picked up to provide a secondary scoring option to Iginla, had eight goals in 19 games following the trade but has had a much tougher time finding the back of the net this season. The Finnish native has only two goals in 17 games, putting him on pace for nine which projects as his lowest total in eight years.

Iginla had five goals in a four-game streak before facing the Sabres. He comes into Air Canada Centre with a run of three straight multipoint games against Toronto (3-9-5), totaling two goals and five assists.

Kirpusoff, who started last season’s high-scoring affair versus the Maple Leafs, is 0-1-1 with a 5.56 goals-against average in Toronto during his career.

Ron Wilson’s team returns home following a 3-2 loss at Chicago on Friday. Vesa Toskala – making his first start since Oct. 31 – stopped 31 shots to fall to 0-3-2, but his GAA dropped from 5.13 to 4.77.

“Vesa had an outstanding night,” Wilson said. “He made a dozen outstanding saves.”

Despite Toskala’s solid effort, he’s 0-1-1 with a 4.34 GAA at home in 2008-09. Rookie Jonas Gustavsson, who’s allowed nine goals in four games this month, will probably get the start.

Phil Kessel scored both goals for Toronto against the Blackhawks to continue his surge after missing the first 12 games following offseason shoulder surgery. The former Boston star has scored all four of his goals during the last three games to move into a tie with Lee Stempniak for third on the club behind Alexei Ponikarovsky (7) and Niklas Hagman (6).

However, Kessel has failed to record a point in two career games against the Flames.

CALGARY TORONTO 

Sjostrom. Jokinen. Iginla Blake. Stajan. Kessel 

Bourque. Langkow. Dawes Hagman. Mitchell. Stempniak 

Nystrom. Boyd. Moss Kulemin. Grabovski. Ponikarovsky 

Prust. Conroy. McGrattan Primeau. Wallin. Orr 

Regehr. Phaneuf Exelby. Schenn 

Bouwmeester. Sarich Kaberle. Finger 

Giordano. Pardy Beauchemin. White 

– Gunnarsson 

Kiprusoff (starts) Gustavsson, Toskala 

If Stars align, Leafs may win second-straightPrimera Liga round-up

THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO — The NHL handed down an automatic one-game suspension to Vancouver Canucks forward Darcy Hordichuk and fined head coach Alain Vigneault US$10,000 on Thursday.

Hordichuk was assessed an instigator penalty after fighting Cam Janssen at 15:04 of the third period in Tuesday’s 6-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues, triggering the ban.

Janssen had roughed up Tanner Glass during a fight earlier in the game.

Anyone assessed an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of a game receives the automatic suspension, while the coach gets a $10,000 fine, a figure that doubles for each subsequent infraction.

Hordichuk forfeits $4,015.54 in salary, which goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund. Vigneault’s fine goes to the NHL Foundation.

La Liga round-UpNHL fines Ovechkin for last-minute slew-foot

Let?s make two things perfectly clear:

1.No one paid Mike Danton to speak to me.

2.David Frost didn?t put me up to doing this interview, as Steve Jefferson insinuated in a phone conversation we had prior to the interview going to air. 

When I sat down with Mike Danton, I had no preconceived notions of what I was going to get out of him. Five and a half years ago, from what I could gather from TV clips or newspaper stories, Danton appeared a young, arrogant kid who kept everything bottled up to himself.

In the early years of his career with the New Jersey Devils he went way beyond your typical cocky top prospect. In a dispute with the Devils GM over a minor-league assignment, Danton was quoted as saying: “I’m not drinking Lou Lamoriello?s Kool-Aid anymore.” Not too many players talk that way about their GMs.

Instead, what I saw during our interview was an articulate, thoughtful guy, who expressed exactly what he wanted to say. Unfortunately, it wasn?t any more or any less than what he was prepared to say. 

Do I think there is more to this story that he could have shared?  Yes I do. 

Could I have pushed Danton harder on details surrounding his story on his biological father being the target and not David Frost? And could I have pushed harder on issues on how bad the public perceives his agent, David Frost?  Yes, I could have.

But I also could have risked the interview ending at the drop of a hat, with Danton getting up and leaving with so many story lines still untold.  I didn?t want that to happen.

What I believe is that Danton believes that it wasn?t David Frost he was trying to kill. And that?s an important distinction.

And while many people think it was Frost he wanted killed, the evidence provided by the U.S. government at Danton?s trial could not prove that it was Frost. If the FBI had concrete evidence that Frost was his intended target, the charge wouldn?t have just stopped at conspiracy to commit interstate murder for hire, it would have been attempted murder.

Basically, all the U.S. prosecutors had on Danton was that he tried to hire a hitman and that’s it. And for that he spent nearly six years in jail. The FBI couldn’t prove Frost was the target anymore than you or I could.

The attempted murder charge, which could have carried a sentence of 20 years, wasn?t levied.  How can you charge murder without proof of an intended victim?

Even the story that Danton showed a photo of Frost to the “hitman” was never brought into evidence because the prosecutors couldn?t prove it.

Mike Danton told me that, at the age of 23, he was assessed at being between the age of eight and 14 mentally, which helps explain why there was no rhyme or reason for what the hell he did back then.  He was a confused, sick person that desperately needed some help.

Today, I believe he did get help ? unfortunately he had to go to jail to get it ? and he admirably chooses not to pin his life problems on David Frost, Steve Jefferson or even the FBI.  He says he made some terrible decisions that he?s paid the fiddler for, and that kind of accountability is at least a good place to start in anyone getting a second chance. He certainly showed enough for doctors to recommend that he be granted early parole.

I say give him that second chance and if he screws up just once, then throw him to the curb.  But until then, let?s at least give him the opportunity to make good.

Garcia eyes Tamudo respectDanton insists father was murder target

WEB STAFF

Sportsnet.ca

If Mike Danton is to ever resume his NHL career, it will require the permission of the league’s commissioner.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Sportsnet that the former St. Louis Blue, recently released on parole after serving 5 1/2 years for conspiracy to commit murder, must have a hearing with the commissioner “before he would be cleared to play.” Daly added there is the possibility Danton “would be subjected to an additional League-imposed suspension.”

Danton was never officially suspended by the NHL after he pleaded guilty to the crime in a St. Louis court in 2004. He was paroled in September and told Hockeycentral’s Nick Kypreos in an exclusive interview that it is his goal to once again play in the NHL.

Perhaps more critically, any return to the NHL would also require permission from the United States government in order for him to cross the Canada-U.S. border and to work in the U.S.

Danton insists father was murder targetBlues don’t interest Real ace

THE CANADIAN PRESS

BROSSARD, Que. — Assembling a winner from the many new parts the Montreal Canadiens acquired in the summer is taking time — particularly when it comes to scoring goals.

The Canadiens left on a two-game road trip to Phoenix and Nashville on Wednesday coming off a 1-0 loss at home to the Calgary Flames, which followed a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. In the game before that, Glen Metropolit got the only regulation time goal in a 2-1 shootout win in Boston.

In 18 games this season, the 8-10-0 Canadiens have been held to two goals or fewer 11 times, and their inability to put opponents away is part of why only one of their wins has been in regulation time.

“It’s a work in progress,” said right-winger Brian Gionta, one of the 10 players in the lineup against Calgary who were not with the Canadiens last season. “On a new team or one that’s been together a while, you’ll have your ups and downs.

“We have to play more consistently and make sure we’re playing with more confidence and desperation.”

The Canadiens let 11 players go in the off-season — 10 free agents plus the trade of Chris Higgins to the New York Rangers — and brought in seven new ones. Injuries on defence have since prompted them to add journeymen Marc-Andre Bergeron and Jay Leach, while several players have been up and down from AHL Hamilton.

The moves brought them three quality offensive players — Gionta, Scott Gomez and Mike Cammalleri — who form their top line, but what has hurt is that despite the opportunities for quality ice time the moves created, none of their young players has stepped up on attack.

Guillaume Latendresse is only 22 but he is in his fourth NHL season. The big left-winger has only two goals this season.

Fellow youngsters Andrei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre and Max Pacioretty have one each. Matt D’Agostini had only one goal in the 11 games he played before suffering a concussion, while Kyle Chipchura was without a goal in 13 games before he was removed from the lineup three games ago.

The result is that coach Jacques Martin has been unable to find a consistent second scoring line, despite strong play from second-line centre Tomas Plekanec, who shares the lead in team scoring with 14 points with Cammalleri.

In practice on Wednesday, Plekanec was on a line with Kostitsyn and Tom Pyatt, who was called up from Hamilton last week with prospect Ryan White.

The third line with Metropolit between Pacioretty and Travis Moen has been their best in some games.

The other factor is the loss of top defenceman Andrei Markov to a lacerated tendon in a foot in the first game of the season in Toronto. He is to be out of action three or four months.

Without its quarterback, a power play that led the NHL only two seasons ago is stuck at 25th best in the league with a 14.5 per cent success rate.

“It always takes time and its always in progress,” coach Jacques Matin said of his team’s struggles. “At this time last week, I was concerned with our play away from the puck.

“We had given up nine goals in two games. Now it’s the offence. Our play is improving. We’ve just got to find ways to get more pucks in the net.”

A vigorous practice Wednesday at the team’s suburban practice facility focused on the attack and the power play.

And the players say they haven’t yet started the squeezing their sticks too tight, although it looked that way when Gomez had Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff beaten on a breakaway in the second period, only to whiff on the shot.

“It’s a fine line — you can’t press too much,” said Gionta, whose seven goals is tied for the team lead with Cammalleri. “You have to relax and work for your chances and be desperate for the puck when it’s there in front of the net.

“You can’t grip the stick any tighter or think about it, you just have to go out and play.”

Metropolit said it is only a slump that the team can work its way out of.

“It’s basically trying to get a couple of power play goals,” he said. “If your special teams are doing the job, you’ll win a lot of games.

“I think it’s going to come. We’re all over the puck. We’re running into hot goalies right now. We’re doing all the little things right, we’re just not putting it in the back of the net. It’s frustrating, but it’s a long year. Guys will get the confidence going and we’ll get a couple — hopefully in the next couple of days.”

Notes: The Canadiens are 0-6-0 against Western Conference teams this season … The Flames, whose next game is Friday in Buffalo, held an optional practice at the Canadiens facility. Seven players skated.

Martin shuffles Habs lines in search of balanceRon – Real not a one-man team

Injuries, key offseason departures and a change to the system played major roles in the Detroit Red Wings’ surprisingly slow start. Utter domination of a Central Division rival may have been just what they needed to prove they’re still capable of being a force in the Western Conference.

The Red Wings look to build on one of their best performances of the season Thursday night when they host the Vancouver Canucks, who are expected to give Roberto Luongo his first start in over two weeks.

Detroit (8-5-3), a Stanley Cup finalist last season after winning it in 2008, lost Marian Hossa and Mikael Samuelsson in free agency to Chicago and Vancouver, respectively, while Jiri Hudler opted to play in Russia. That trio of right wings combined for 82 goals with Hossa accounting for a team-high 40.

The Red Wings are also without forwards Johan Franzen (knee), Valtteri Filppula (wrist) and Jason Williams (leg) due to long-term injuries.

Some of those absences combined with coach Mike Babcock’s implementation of a more defensive game plan may have contributed to Detroit’s 3-4-2 start, as the team fell behind the Blackhawks and Columbus in the Central.

The Wings, though, are in the process of turning things around, going 5-1-1 as they seek a ninth consecutive division crown.

They may have reinforced that message to their rivals Wednesday with a 9-1 rout of the Blue Jackets. The performance came after they totaled eight goals in the previous four games, including a listless 5-1 loss at Toronto on Saturday.

“I don’t know about that,” said Babcock when asked if the Wednesday’s performance was a statement game. “We’re trying to get a win. If that’s a statement then great. It’s just one of 82, as you know, and you’ve got to get wins.

“I obviously wasn’t very happy with our last game and I let the guys know about that. We played with good structure. We got a lot of pucks to the net, which is important, and things turned out well for us.”

Detroit may have a tough time coming close to replicating its offensive outburst against the Canucks (10-9-0) with Luongo back in net.

The four-time All Star goaltender hasn’t started since a 5-4 loss to the Red Wings on Oct. 27, when he re-aggravated a broken rib while trying to play through the injury for a second consecutive game.

Luongo was thrust into action earlier than expected Tuesday when he started the second period of a 6-1 loss at St. Louis after Andrew Raycroft gave up four goals on 13 shots. He stopped 15 of 17 shots in Vancouver’s second consecutive defeat.

“That’s the only positive thing,” Luongo said after Tuesday’s loss. “I got some minutes, but it’s tough. You don’t want to come in situations like that.”

Luongo is 6-6-0 with a 2.80 goals-against average and a shutout in 13 games this season, and owns a 3-3-1 record with a tie and a 2.69 GAA in eight contests at Joe Louis Arena.

If coach Alain Vigneault decides to rest Luongo, then Raycroft would get his seventh consecutive start. The veteran went 4-2-0 with a 2.37 GAA and a shutout in place of Luongo.

Samuelsson will make his return to Detroit after playing the previous four seasons there, helping the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup in 2008. The right wing, who is noted for his strong defensive play, has eight goals and six assists for the Canucks after signing a three-year deal with them. Samuelsson had an assist against his former team in Vancouver’s loss to Detroit last month.

VANCOUVER DETROIT 

Raymond-H.Sedin-Kesler Bertuzzi-Datsyuk-Holmstrom 

Burrows-Wellwood-Samuelsson Leino-Zetterberg-Cleary 

Pettinger-Rypien-Hansen Draper-Helm-Eaves 

Glass-Johnson-Bernier May-Abdelkader-Miller 

Mitchell-Bieksa Lidstrom-Rafalski 

Edler-Salo Kronwall-Stuart 

Schneider-Ehrhoff Ericsson-Lebda 

Luongo Howard 

MISC, INJURIES MISC, INJURIES 

La Liga round-upLuongo has fractured rib, out indefinitely