NHL News for Tuesday

• Blues defenceman Jay McKee had surgery yesterday to repair his broken hand. Apparently he had 2 pins inserted during the operation. He will M.I.A. for about 6 weeks. The injury occurred during his 3rd shift as a Blue.
• The Predators are not rushing Steve Sullivan back into action with his back spasms. I guess I should drop him in my pools....
• Jordan Leopold was expected to return to action this week, but has suffered a setback in his return from hernia surgery. Leopold, who the Avalanche acquired in the Alex Tanguay deal, will not be available until early November.
• Nathan Horton, who we keep waiting for to break out, has been demoted to the 4th line in Florida. A big reason is that he hasn't had a shot on goal in over 2 games, and has been taking stupid penalties.
• Peter Budaj will probably get the start for the Avalanche on Wednesday night at home against the Capitals. Budaj played well last night in the Avalanche's 6-1 steamrolling of the Kings. Bye bye Jose.
• Peter Forsberg had this to say about the coaching change in Philly:

  "Sometimes it's good to get a change, it doesn't matter what you do. John
  Stevens is a winner, and the young guys like him, and he's going to be a good
  change for us. When I've dealt with him, he's been great".

• Flyers = coach killers. But even Dave Reid, who does commentary on the NHL Network, and used to play under Hitchcock in Dallas, said that Hitch was a perfectionist, and liked to yell at his players alot, even over petty things, like a missed pass on shitty ice surfaces. That may work initially, but the players will get tired of that sooner rather than later.