After nearly a year on the sidelines, the 29-year-old Montreal native felt good to get back into a game…to hit…to get hit…and everything else that goes with playing in the National Hockey League. “Obviously it’s a big weight off my shoulders,” said Lombardi, who suffered a concussion last October during his two-game stint as a member of the Nashville Predators and then sat out the remainder of the season. Lombardi was acquired by the Maple Leafs in a trade with the Nashville Predators in July. The veteran forward has worked diligently toward his comeback and has answered too many questions about his progress without really revealing too much. However, when quizzed if he’ll be healthy enough to be in the lineup next Thursday when Toronto opens its 2011-12 regular season with a home contest against the Montreal Canadiens, he enthusiastically said, “Yes!” Considering Toronto has been decimated with injuries at centre in recent days with Tim Connolly, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak and, on Saturday night Mikhail Grabovski, that is good news. Even better news, though, is the fact Connolly, Bozak and Grabovski should all be ready for the season opener. Where that leaves Lombardi depends on what happens in practice. Leafs head coach Ron Wilson really didn’t get a good feel in one game for what Lombardi, who has 89 career goals to go with 236 points in 466 games, can bring to the table this season. “It’s hard for me to really judge him without watching (tape of the game),” Wilson said. “We wanted him to get his feet wet tonight, but when Grabovski went down it became a stressful situation for the three centres.” The three remaining centres, Lombardi, Mike Zigomanis and Philippe Dupuis, all played more than they otherwise would have. Lombardi’s stat line at the end of the night read: 17:08 ice time, two hits, one give away, five faceoffs won and nine faceoffs lost. All in all, a rather uneventful night. For Lombardi getting into action meant becoming, finally, an active part of the team. “The guys have been really good with me making me feel a part of things,” he said. “But I hadn’t played until tonight, so it’s nice to finally get in there. I just want to leave last year, and the injury, behind me. I just want to think about this season.” MACARTHUR PARKED: Leafs winger Clarke MacArthur sat out his first of a three-game suspension –one pre-season and the first two regular season games — Saturday night and he wasn’t exactly thrilled about it. In fact, he’s not pleased with the direction Brendan Shanahan is taking the game. Shanahan, the NHL’s new disciplinarian having replaced Colin Campbell, ruled MacArthur delivered a head shot worthy of a suspension in Toronto’s pre-season game against the Red Wings in Detroit Friday night. Considering some of the hits that have drawn the ire of the new sheriff, this one didn’t look quite so bad, but, at the end of the day, when you are trying to make a statement and change the culture of the game, a little nitpicking can go a long way. “I barely hit him,” said MacArthur. “I was disappointed (with the suspension and loss of salary). It’s such a grey area; I glanced off his shoulder and then hit his head. He comes after me and throws some sucker punches. It would be different if he was left lying on the ice. I just think there’s going to be no hitting in the game anymore. Guys don’t want to get 10-game suspensions. The puck carrier has no responsibility anymore.” MacArthur is coming off a career year in which he scored 21 goals and 62 points in 82 games. He was itching to justify his new two-year, $6.5 million contract, but now he’ll have to wait until Oct. 15 when Toronto hosts the Calgary Flames to make his season debut. “The upsetting part is not being with the guys for the first two games of the year,” MacArthur said. “I know it’s only a two-game suspension, but we have a week off between Games 2 and 3.

Kadri hurt his knee during the Leafs’ 5-3 win in Ottawa in their last exhibition game Tuesday night.

The 32-year-old forward had 10 goals, 16 assists and 64 penalty minutes in 81 games with the Capitals last season. He also scored two game-winning goals in the first-round playoff series against the New York Rangers. “He’s an older guy, but the one thing that’s never going to give out on him is his skating, which is becoming so paramount in this game,” Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. “He knows how to play. He’s a big strong guy. He’s an emotional guy. “He’s good in our locker room, and we do think he’s got the potential to get between 15 and 20 goals. And he seemed to score the big goal at the big time for us.” Chimera has also played for Edmonton and Columbus in an NHL career that began in the 2000. Washington acquired him from the Blue Jackets for Chris Clark and Milan Jurcina in December 2009. “For me it was a no-brainer,” Chimera said. “It was nice that they showed some confidence in me. “It’s nice to get something done before the season, that’s for sure. No matter what, it weighs on your mind if you’re coming into a contract season.”

“It makes you better, it makes you mentally stronger. “I think we have the major pieces all back. We are all better because of last year. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be better this year.” Better means winning the Stanley Cup. Veteran Mikael Samuelsson understands better than most of the Canucks how hard it is for a team to return to the final. He played for the Detroit Red Wing teams that won the Cup in 2008, then lost to Pittsburgh in 2009. “It’s a bit of a grind and we know it’s going to be a long year,” said Samuelsson, who saw his playoffs cut short due to surgery to repair an abdominal injury last spring. “We have to start off from Day 1 doing the right things.” The Canucks were a dominant force in the league last year. Vancouver won the President’s Trophy for the best record in the NHL while setting franchise records with 54 wins, 117 points and 27 road victories. The Canucks scored more goals than any team and allowed the least. They had the NHL’s best power play and third-best penalty kill. Daniel Sedin knows it will be hard to repeat those totals. “We did that last year because we had a good team,” said Sedin, who won the NHL scoring race with 104 points and was awarded the Ted Lindsay Award as the players’ MVP. “Can we win the Stanley Cup without scoring that many goals? Of course we can. We were a good team last year. We are a good team this year.” Canuck general manager Mike Gillis managed to keep the nucleus of his team intact, resigning free agents like Bieksa and veteran defenceman Sami Salo. Vancouver’s top line remains the same — captain Henrik Sedin playing centre between twin brother Daniel and scrappy winger Alex Burrows. Defensive specialist Manny Malhotra underwent two more procedures on his injured left eye during the summer but says he’s fit to play. Malhotra returned to the lineup for the final after suffering a career-threatening eye injury in mid-March. The defence remains strong with Dan Hamhuis, Alex Edler and Aaron Rome. Keith Ballard is looking for some consistency after an up-and-down season while young Chris Tanev has shown he has the ability to play at the NHL level. The Canucks lost high-scoring defenceman Christian Ehrhoff to free agency. Also gone from the team that reached the final are forwards Raffi Torres, Jeff Tambellini, Tanner Glass and Alex Bolduc. Fans looking for Gillis to make a splash over the summer either by trade or free agency were disappointed. The only major new signing was 33-year-old forward Marco Sturm, who agreed to a one-year deal worth US$2.25 million. Gillis is gambling Sturm, who has been bothered by knee injuries, returns to the form that saw him score 20 or more goals seven times in his 14-year career. Losing Ehrhoff will cost Vancouver some firepower along the blue-line. He had 50 points in 79 games last year. Six of his 14 goals came on the power play. Players like Bieksa and Salo will have to pick up some of that slack. “I think we have a pretty deep defensive corps,” said Bieksa. “Christian had an offensive role for us and did a good job. With him gone, you plug someone else in that role and hopefully they can do the job as well.” The Canucks will start the season without centre Ryan Kesler and forward Mason Raymond. Kesler, last year’s Selke trophy winner, underwent hip surgery over the summer. Raymond is still recovering from a vertebral compression fracture suffered in Game 6 against Boston. The jury is still out on whether the Canucks have enough size and toughness in their lineup. Boston played a physical game in the final and Vancouver didn’t seem capable of pushing back. The Bruins pounded the Sedins, preventing Henrik from getting the puck to Daniel. It remains to be seen if players like Aaron Volpatti or Mike Duco can add some grit to the Canucks’ finesse. “I still think we have questions up in the air,” said coach Alain Vigneault. “We’ve got players that we are trying to replace. “Like other teams in this league you need 20 or 30 games to evaluate exactly what you have. If you look at our team last year, we went into the playoffs and we weren’t even set on our fourth line yet.” Roberto Luongo will be the Canucks starting goaltender. One of the best goalies in Vancouver history, he still hasn’t shaken the label of a player who doesn’t have the mental strength to win the big games. Luongo had two shutouts in the final but looked awful in three games in Boston, where the Canucks were outscored 17-3. He was in net when the Bruins won Game 7 in Vancouver 4-0. Backup Cory Schneider is expected to play more games this year and has the potential to be a starter on other teams. Schneider’s name often comes up in trade rumours but Gillis maintains he wants to keep both goaltenders in his lineup. One of the biggest challenges for the Canucks will be to keep focused on the long regular season. It’s hard to imagine Vancouver not being the best team in the weak Northwest Division. At the very least, the Canucks should claim the third seed in the Western Conference. Luongo said the Canucks have learned to take nothing for granted. “That’s a long way ahead of us to be thinking that far,” he said. “We all saw what it took to get there (the final). It’s hard and it’s long. “There is a lot of work to be done to get back to where we were last year. At this point, it’s pointless to be thinking that far ahead.”

“I don’t really enjoy making the videos,” Shanahan admitted Tuesday afternoon, coming up for some air to talk with us after the skein of suspensions he’s been handing down this preseason. Like it or not though, the videos have become Shanahan’s trademark perhaps overshadowing the fact the NHL is finally handing down meaningful suspensions. The presentation, it seems, has been as impactful as the verdict — and NHL players are watching. “Every one of them,” veteran Edmonton defenceman Ryan Whitney said, looking around the Oilers room from his stall. “Every guy in here has watched every one of them.” That they — and you — are on-line with this process means a lot to Shanahan, who credits NHL commissioner Gary Bettman with the whole concept of putting each ruling to video and disseminating it to the masses. Shanahan does not care, however, if you agree with him. The man who is believed to be the all-time leader in Gordie How hat tricks — who admits, he’s done a lot of these things he is now suspending players for doing — has become, in his new life as an arbiter of justice, like any judge, referee, parent or boss. He is just a guy trying to make an informed, fair and accurate decision, and deliver in the most impactful way possible. “Players don’t get their information on a chalk board anymore,” Shanahan said. “They don’t get it from a (coach’s speech). They don’t want to hear what to do. They want to be shown what to do. “I didn’t expect to be making this many videos, this early. But they’re valuable in a transparency sense. Valuable in their clarity,” he continued. “And we want them there for education. We want people to go back and be able to view them.” Watch the J.F. Jacques ruling on NHL.com. If you’re, say, Colton Orr or Ben Eager, you’ll likely pick your spot a little more wisely than Anaheim’s Jacques, who was suspended for the rest of the preseason and five regular season games. But if there is a misperception early in Shanahan’s tenure, it is that his desire is to raise the bar on punishment; that he is a far tougher dispenser of justice than his mentor and predecessor Colin Campbell. “I still believe in one-, two-, and three-game suspensions, when they’re suitable,” he said. “It just so happens that some of (these) guys have been repeat offenders. “If we had five situations like Brad Boyes (who was not a repeat offender, and did not show intent to deliver a head shot), people would be saying the suspensions are light.” Truly, Shanahan has had some mighty short putts this fall. But give him credit — he’s been burying them. “These hits you’ve seen are just stupid,” Whitney said. “It’s common sense, and it was common sense five years ago. You don’t crush a guy from behind.” Common sense. It has never been part of the NHL’s repertoire when it comes to things like down-sizing goalie equipment, getting rid of hard-caps on shoulder and elbow pads, or dealing with predators like Matt Cooke and Raffi Torres. If there is group that should rue the day Shanahan put on the open-collar dress shirt and dark sports coat however, it is the repeat offenders. “The repeat offender is something that our general managers, our owners, players, even members of the union have all said: there is really very little tolerance for them,” Shanahan said. “Players who put other players’ careers and lives at risk.” Thus, Jody Shelley gets 10 games, and James Wisniewski gets the remainder of the preseason, plus eight regular season games. “It was harsh. It was very harsh,” observed Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel of the Wisniewski ruling. “Obviously the league felt that, being a repeat offender, a blow to the head, that was the call that needed to be made.” Said Shanahan: “This was Shelley’s seventh suspension in his career. This was Wisniewski’s fifth since March of ’08.” Shanahan promises more videos on high-profile situations like Zdeno Chara vs. Max Pacioretty, when no discipline is meted out. “Some of the more controversial hits, where there isn’t a suspension, that’s another good teaching tool,” he said. “Whether you agree or disagree, here’s why there was no suspension, or hearing, on this play. “And once we have a moment to breathe?” he adds. “We’re also collecting clips of players in dangerous situations, recognizing it, and making the right decision. “All we ever see is a player making the bad decision at a bad time. These players are making a better and safer decision, in those split seconds.” Jacques marked Shanahan’s sixth suspension since last Thursday, totaling 20 exhibition games, 22 regular-season games and $636,952.83 in forfeited salary. Delivering his decisions to the masses, complete with tracts from the rulebook and video evidence? That, we’re ready to say, is priceless.

The business – valued at as much as $2.1 billion and a cash cow despite teams that routinely languish outside the playoffs – has been on the block officially for six months and unofficially for much longer. But with the opening of the NHL season just a week away, the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan remains the owner of 79.5 per cent of the company. “For (Teachers) it’s a very large percentage of their portfolio because the value is so big,” said one Bay Street veteran with insight into the business. “But it’s awfully ill-liquid. It’s a hard property to sell at the right price.” Teachers have steadfastly refused to comment on the process as has Larry Tanenbaum, the construction magnate who owns the remaining 20.5 per cent of the business as well as a right of first refusal on the Teachers’ shares. Tanenbaum has told those close to him that he has no plans to sell his share, signaling that any buyer would likely have to reach an understanding with him before closing with Teachers. Failing that, he has the right make his own deal for Teachers’ shares, a process that wouldn’t begin until Teachers brought a deal to him and Tanenbaum rejected it. Richard Peddie, MLSE’s long-time chief executive officer is also playing it close to the vest, even as a potential sale remains an obstacle in the company’s search for his replacement following his retirement at the end of December. “It’s between the shareholders and Teachers and (investment bankers) Morgan Stanley,” Peddie said. “It’s a real sensitive time. They’re still exploring the sale, it’s not dead at all but it’s a big number and a complex deal with lots of approvals that will ultimately be necessary and that will involve people well above my pay grade.” It was in March that Teachers announced they were exploring the sale of their stake in MLSE and hired New York-based investment banker Morgan Stanley to find a buyer. So far, the only transaction has been the pension fund buying up the 13.5 per cent share that belonged to TD Bank. That deal closed earlier this month for between $243-and-$283.5 million, according to sources, reflecting a $1.8-to-$2.1-billion valuation for the entire business. The purpose of that deal, say insiders, was to streamline the sale of the larger chunk when a buyer came forward. There was some thought the sale by TD was a signal that there was a buyer lined up. “Teachers wanted to deliver 80 per cent to a buyer; they were intent on selling,” said the Bay Street source. “They were running a process.” What stage that process is at is unknown, though late last month a source told me that there were multiple bidders looking at the possibility of purchasing Teachers’ interest. Logic suggests that the potential suitors would include Rogers Communications Inc. (which owns Sportsnet) and BCE Inc.’s Bell Media (owners of TSN) given MLSE’s rich trove of live sports programming. Similarly it makes sense that the two media giants – should they be interested – play a waiting game. “The dynamic you’ve got are buyers who don’t want to bid against themselves and a seller who doesn’t want to sell unless they get the price they want,” said an investment banker with experience in the sale of sports franchises. “It’s tough to make a deal in that environment.” Adding to the challenge is that if MLSE is not bought by a media company seeking content, it is an unwieldy and expensive property to get swept up as a rich man’s toy. “One of the things that make it difficult to sell is that a traditional buyer of these properties is an ego buyer, but the ego buyer of the Leafs may not be the ego buyer for the Raptors,” said the Bay Street insider with ties to MLSE. “The other thing is, if you’re an NBA ego buyer, do you want Toronto?” The possibility remains that the business stays in the hands of the Teachers for longer than expected. Given that it generates a reported $100 million in profits on revenues of $500 million, they’re in no rush. “They’re the farthest thing from a distressed seller,” said the investment banker. Which means that Toronto sports fans – starved for playoff success on the ice, floor and field under Teachers’ watch – may have to be prepared settle for more of the same in the ownership suite. At least for now.

“We’re going to come to Philadelphia,” Sather said, “and we are going to win.” The 200 Flyers fans who came to baseball’s Citizens Bank Park for the long-awaited and overdue announcement of the Jan. 2 game jeered Sather. “Now that’s more like it! I knew I could get a rise out of you sooner or later,” he said. “It’s a great event. I’ve respected the fans in Philadelphia all the years I’ve been here. I’m sorry we kicked the hell out of you twice in the Stanley Cup, and we’re going to do the same thing on the second, and at the end of the year we will be carrying the Cup, just like the Yankees are going to have the world championship as well.” Exit, stage left. Not so fast. Flyers founder and chairman Ed Snider popped up and took a turn jabbing Sather. “When he said, ‘we kicked the hell out of you in two Stanley Cups,’ he wasn’t talking about the Rangers,” Snider said. “I remember kicking the hell out of the Rangers on the way to our Cups!” The fans loved Snider’s one-liners and the nod to the Flyers championships in 1975 and 1976 — not the Stanley Cup losses to Sather’s Edmonton Oilers in 1985 and 1987. This was only the warmup act — and with temperatures above 25 C it was plenty warm — for the biggest regular-season event in the NHL. The worst-kept secret in sports was finally let out of the bag when the league announced the Flyers vs. the Rangers in the NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 2 at Citizens Bank Park. The 45,000-seat ballpark is the setting for the fifth classic. The game is not held on its traditional Jan. 1 date because it conflicted with the final week of the NFL’s regular season. The NHL will again partner with HBO Sports and broadcast the “24/7″ reality franchise. Sather, coach John Tortorella, and players Ryan Callahan, Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik represented the Rangers. Coach Peter Laviolette, Chris Pronger, James van Riemsdyk, Matt Carle and Scott Harnell represented the Flyers. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman also was in attendance. “I don’t think anybody could have imagined how big this event has become in such a short period of time,” Bettman said. The Rangers and Flyers are the closest geographic rivals to ever play in the Winter Classic. They have played 261 games against each other in the regular season and gone head-to-head in 10 playoff series. For one day, they’ll be the biggest show in the sport. Richards snapped photos of the outline of the rink, formed by temporary gates, that ran from third base to first base. Tickets are not yet for sale. Philadelphia’s AHL affiliate, the Phantoms, play the Hershey Bears on Jan. 6. Rangers and Flyers alumni will play an exhibition at 1 p.m. on Dec. 31. Other events, like public skating, will be announced at later dates. Flyers president Peter Luukko expected Winter Classic tickets to sell out “within seconds.” The Flyers played in the 2010 Winter Classic against the Boston Bruins in Fenway Park. “It was one of my best hockey moments,” Flyers forward Scott Hartnell said. “You hear the skate marks going off the ice. You hear the puck going off the glass when you miss the net. All the hockey sounds you don’t get in a big-time building when the fans are right on you.” It seems fitting the Flyers are finally hosting an open-air game. After all, high winds ripped off a portion of the old Spectrum roof, mostly tar paper, in 1968 during an Ice Capades performance. Pronger, the Flyers captain, said the team was expected to start cutting “24/7″ promos on Tuesday. He joked that Laviolette will be the worst foul-mouthed offender on the uncensored series. The home of the 2008 World Series-champion Phillies is the third baseball stadium in the classic’s history. Wrigley Field and Fenway Park also hosted the event. NFL venues Ralph Wilson Stadium and Heinz Field were homes for the other two New Year’s extravaganzas. Van Riemsdyk recently homered at the ballpark during a Flyers’ batting practice exhibition. He was the only Flyer to go deep and can’t wait to trade a bat for a stick. “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” he said. Word leaked out last spring that the Flyers were leading contenders to host the game. League, team and HBO officials all spilled the beans over the last few months, but the game wasn’t official until Monday. The Rangers are playing in the game for the first time. “We’re a very historic franchise, one of the original six teams, and I think it was just a matter of time before we got to play in one of these games,” said Callahan, New York’s captain. “Each year that went by that we weren’t named, I was disappointed. It was a game we wanted to play in.” He gets his chance on Jan. 2.

He had four goals and 17 assists in 77 games last season. In 397 career NHL games, the Toronto native has 33 goals and 102 assists. The signing raises questions about the health of top defenceman Andrei Markov, who has had surgery on torn ACL ligaments in the same knee in each of the last two seasons. Markov had a setback in his recovery before training camp and has not played in the pre-season.

“Everything’s been really good,” Crosby said. “I haven’t ran into any issues so far so it’s been pretty smooth.” Crosby has worked relentlessly during the first week of camp during drills, often to the point of exhaustion. Crosby added he’s been impressed with the Penguins, who are unbeaten in three pre-season games. Centre Evgeni Malkin, who missed the second half of last season with a knee injury, has two goals and three assists in two games. When Malkin and Crosby will be on the ice at the same time remains uncertain. There still is no timetable for Crosby’s return, though he considers Sunday’s work another step in the recovery process. “I think it’s been a lot of fun just being out there and competing and doing typical things you’re used to doing as a hockey player,” he said. The Penguins continue the pre-season on Tuesday against Los Angeles in Kansas City.

It was the second instance during this pre-season that the NHL has enforced disciplinary action; Calgary Flames forward Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond was given a five-game suspension earlier on Thursday. The Shelley incident occurred in Philadelphia’s 4-2 loss to Toronto on Tuesday night. Shelley received a five-minute boarding penalty midway through the second period for hitting Boyce when the Leafs forward had his back turned to the end boards. Immediately after the hit, Toronto’s Jay Rosehill and Shelley engaged in a lengthy fight. Shelley left the ice with the right side of his face bloodied. Both players received fighting majors, and Shelley was also given a game misconduct. Shelley was considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement after being suspended twice last season for a total of four games. As a result, he forfeits his salary based on the number of games in the season (82), rather than the number of days (185). Boyce left the game after the hit, only to return in the third period, when he garnered a 10-minute misconduct for engaging with Philadelphia’s Scott Hartnell. As he did when announcing the Letourneau-Leblond suspension, National Hockey League senior vice-president of player safety Brendan Shanahan released a video explaining the decision on Shelley. “Shelley’s two suspensions last season weighed heavily in this decision,” Shanahan said. Shelley waived his right to an in-person hearing with the NHL on Wednesday night. After the discipline was announced, Shelley told CSNPhilly.com he was “still a little shocked.”