Hockey Capsules: Stars activate Ribeiro month after throat injury
DALLAS — The Dallas Stars have activated center Mike Ribeiro a month after he injured his throat in a game against the New York Rangers.
Ribeiro came off injured reserve Monday while defenseman Mark Fistric went on the list with a knee injury. Forwards Raymond Sawada and Francis Wathier were recalled from the Texas Stars of the AHL.
Ribeiro was accidentally struck in the throat by the stick of New York's Christopher Higgins in the Rangers' 5-2 victory on Jan. 6. He spent several days in a New York hospital after undergoing a tracheotomy.
Fistric injured a knee Thursday against Columbus and will have arthroscopic surgery. He will out until after the Olympic break, which ends March 2.
Bob Gainey steps down as Canadiens general manager
MONTREAL — From his time as captain to his tenure as general manager, Bob Gainey has spent a lifetime providing leadership for the Montreal Canadiens.
Now, he's handing the reins to a trusted colleague.
Gainey stepped aside Monday as Montreal's general manager and was replaced by assistant Pierre Gauthier in a surprising front-office shake-up for hockey's most storied franchise.
Team president Pierre Boivin — with Gainey and Gauthier on either side of him — made the announcement at a Bell Centre news conference. Gainey will remain with the club as a special adviser to Gauthier, an assistant to the general manager under Gainey.
"I look forward to assisting Pierre and the team in our pursuit of our 25th Stanley Cup," Gainey said. "I'm leaving the team I love most in the hands of the man I trust most."
Gainey starred for the Canadiens from 1973-89 and the Hall of Famer rejoined the team as GM after the 2002-2003 season. Montreal made the playoffs four out of five seasons during Gainey's tenure.
"I think that is an accomplishment in today's NHL, where 45 percent of the teams miss the playoffs every year," said Gainey, who won five Stanley Cups as a forward with the Canadiens.
Boivin said Gainey informed him during the Christmas holidays that he would not seek to extend his contract after it expired in June.
"I believe that the GM position requires a long-term vision and a long-term commitment," Gainey said. "At this point I'm not prepared to make a commitment of four, or five, or six more years in this position. The decision between leaving a little too early or staying a little too long — between those two choices I prefer to leave a little bit too early. I've done my best. Now it's time for me to pass the torch."
The Canadiens, who celebrated their 100th anniversary on Dec. 4, had missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five years when Gainey was hired, including three straight seasons from 1998-99 to 2000-01, matching the worst drought in team history.
Montreal went 241-176-46-7 in the regular season during Gainey's tenure, including a 28-26-6 mark this season. The Canadiens finished first overall in the Eastern Conference two years ago, the team's first regular-season conference title since 1988-89 — Gainey's final season on the ice.
But the Canadiens haven't advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs since winning their 24th Stanley Cup in 1993.
"It's been a privilege to participate with the Montreal Canadiens' organization again in a different role," said Gainey, the team's captain from 1981-89. "Spectacular evenings at the Bell Centre with jersey retirements, including my own. It's been fabulous and I'm very thankful for the opportunity."
Gainey's tenure, however, included personal tragedy. His daughter, Laura, was lost at sea in December 2006. That came 11 years after his wife, Cathy, died of cancer.
A Montreal native, Gauthier was Anaheim's GM from 1998-2002. Before that, he served in the same capacity with Ottawa from 1995-98.
"It's a great honor to be named general manager of the Montreal Canadiens," Gauthier said. "I've always thought that working in the National Hockey League is an honor. Working as a general manager is also a great honor. But working for the Montreal Canadiens as a general manager is the greatest honor."
Gainey, who won a championship as general manager of the Dallas Stars in 1999, hired Gauthier as the Canadiens' director of professional scouting in 2003. Gauthier, who served with Gainey and Bobby Clarke as co-general managers of Canada's 1998 Olympic team, added the assistant general manager's duties following the 2005-06 season.
Gauthier expressed his gratitude to Gainey, whom he described as "a great friend," for bringing him to Montreal and agreeing to advise him in his new duties.
"I've enjoyed working with him and learned so much from him," Gauthier said.
Gauthier said the Canadiens' primary objective is to win the Stanley Cup, and his priority is to move the team from the middle of the pack into the top tier of the league.
"I like this team," said Gauthier, who hired current Canadiens coach Jacques Martin in the same capacity with the Senators in 1996. "I like the coaching staff. I've worked with Jacques before. I'm very comfortable with this group and I've had a lot of time in the organization and we have a very strong organization. As soon as we leave this room today, I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get the job done."
NOTES: The Canadiens recalled forward Tom Pyatt from Hamilton of the AHL and assigned forwards Ryan White and Brock Trotter to their top farm club.
Ducks' Getzlaf sprains left ankle
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf sprained his left ankle during the second period of Anaheim's game against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night.
The Anaheim playmaker is scheduled to suit up for Canada at his first Olympics next week, but coach Randy Carlyle said Getzlaf would leave the Honda Center on crutches with his foot in a protective boot.
"Hopefully, he won't be out too long," said defenseman Scott Niedermayer, the captain of the Ducks and Team Canada. "I don't have to say what he means to this team and what he does for us, so hopefully it's not bad."
Getzlaf scored his 15th goal earlier in the game before spraining his ankle and hobbling to the bench, apparently getting hurt behind the play. He didn't return to action.
X-rays on Getzlaf's ankle revealed no broken bones, and he's expected to undergo an MRI on Tuesday.
Getzlaf has 57 points in 55 games for the Ducks, earning his Olympic selection alongside Canadian teammates Scott Niedermayer and Corey Perry, who had a goal and two assists in Anaheim's 4-2 win over the Kings, their 10th straight victory at home.
"I haven't really thought about (the Olympics), to be honest," Niedermayer said. "I know he would love to play, but we don't know how badly hurt he is right now. Hopefully he's in our lineup in two nights (against Edmonton)."
Devils D Salmela OK after being taken off ice
PHILADELPHIA — New Jersey Devils defensemen Anssi Salmela said he had a headache, but was otherwise OK after being taken off the ice on a stretcher following a scary hit to the face from the Philadelphia Flyers' Jeff Carter.
As he scored a short-handed goal that gave the Devils a 2-0 lead in the second period Monday night, Salmela was struck hard by Carter's right shoulder as he skated by. Salmela tumbled to the ice and remained face down for several minutes, until the Devils' medical staff lifted him onto a stretcher.
At the end of the second period, Salmela was seen walking and talking.
"I didn't see it coming," he said, adding that he lost consciousness for a few moments. "It's no big deal. It's just hockey. I'm getting better now. Just a bit of a headache, but I think everything else is good."
The 25-year-old Salmela arrived in last week's trade with Atlanta that brought Ilya Kovalchuk to New Jersey, and was playing in his second game with his new team. The goal was his first with the Devils and second this season.
Avalanche's Koci suffers broken hand against Blues
DENVER — Colorado Avalanche forward David Koci broke his right hand in the team's game against the St. Louis Blues on Monday night.
Koci was injured when he fought Blues forward D.J. King 2:21 into the game. He left the ice without going to the penalty box.
Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said he didn't know when Koci could return.
Koci has one goal in 42 games.
Kings D Drewiske returns from injury
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Los Angeles Kings defenseman Davis Drewiske is returning to the team's lineup after missing 15 games with an upper-body injury.
The Kings activated Drewiske from injured reserve Monday before their game against the Anaheim Ducks.
Drewiske had eight points in 38 games with the Kings before getting hurt Jan. 4 at San Jose.
Los Angeles had won a franchise-record nine games heading into its game against the Ducks, who had won nine consecutive home games.
College
Boston College beats Boston U. for Beanpot title
BOSTON — Boston College and Boston University are separated by less than 4 miles along the Green Line trolley tracks and precious little on the red and blue lines of a hockey rink.
BC won the 2008 NCAA title. BU won in '09.
BC won the regular season game at BU's Agganis Arena this season. BU won at BC's Kelley Rink.
BU won the "Frozen Fenway" game at the home of the Boston Red Sox. And on Monday night Boston College won the Beanpot championship at the home of the Boston Bruins, scoring four straight times to open a three-goal lead and then holding on to beat BU 4-3.
"Even at 4-1, none of us thought the game was finished yet," BC coach Jerry York said. "We've played BU four times and all of them have been tremendous college hockey games. Two of them have been on big, big stages, and we've split 2-2. Most likely, we'll play again at some point."
That would have to be in the Hockey East tournament, back at the TD Garden, or perhaps the NCAA Frozen Four in the Detroit Lions' Ford Field.
"Maybe there will be a fifth game, a rubber game, somewhere down the line," BU coach Jack Parker said.
York raised the same possibility later.
"How about Detroit?" he said with a smile.
Tournament MVP John Muse stopped 31 shots to help Boston College (16-8-2) win its 15th Beanpot title. Kieran Millan made 28 saves for BU (11-12-3), the defending Beanpot and NCAA champions.
The Beanpot pits the area's four college hockey powers against each other on the first two Mondays of February, and this one had plenty of bragging rights on the line. It featured the last two NCAA champs and the schools that have dominated the Beanpot of late: BC and BU have won 44 of the 58 tournaments.
Northeastern, which beat Harvard 4-1 in the consolation game, has not won since 1988. Harvard's last victory in was '93.
That left the two Commonwealth Avenue neighbors to play in the late game.
BU led 1-0 after the first period before BC erupted for three goals in the second, taking a 3-1 lead when freshman Chris Kreider came out of the penalty box and took the puck into the BU zone, faking out defenseman Max Nicastro at the circle and then making another move on the goalie with a backhander into the net.
It stayed that way until Barry Almeida beat Millan on a wrist shot on a 2-on-1 with 15:38 left. But David Warsofsky, who scored for BU at the Fenway game, made it 4-2 when he beat Muse on a backhander above the glove with 11 minutes to play.
With Millan pulled for an extra skater on a power play — giving BU a 6-on-4 advantage — Colby Cohen finished a scramble in front of the net to score with 2:46 left and make it a one-goal game.
"I was actually kind of expecting it," Muse said. "A lot of teams go down 4-1 in the third period and they're done; they give up. Not BU."
The Terriers scored twice in the final minute of regulation to erase a two-goal deficit in the NCAA championship game last spring, then beat Miami University in overtime for their fifth national championship. But they couldn't finish the comeback this time — thanks largely to Muse, who stopped several point-blank shots after BU pulled Millan again with 1:34 left.
"You never go into a championship game expecting it to be a cakewalk," BC forward Matt Price said. "We expected it to be a close game and it was. And it was just as sweet as if it had been any other way."
Kevin Shattenkirk scored to give BU a 1-0 lead after one period before BC scored the next four goals.
Steven Whitney tied it 61 seconds into the second period after Cam Atkinson capped a scramble for the puck in front of the BU net and made a crossing pass from his knees. Carl Sneep, who had a goal and an assist in the opening round, made it 2-1 with 7:27 to play in the second.
"We were trying to hang in there, and when they gave up a goal we felt it slipping away," Parker said. "I thought they might make it 7-1, but we hung in there."
-- Jimmy Golen
Northeastern beats Harvard in Beanpot consolation
BOSTON — Tyler McNeely scored twice and Chris Rawlings stopped 27 shots to lead Northeastern to a 4-1 victory over Harvard in the Beanpot consolation game Monday night.
Greg Costa also scored for the Huskies (13-12-1), and Wade McLeod added an empty-netter with 1:49 left.
Conor Morrison scored the only goal for Harvard (6-14-3). Ryan Carroll stopped 30 shots.
The Beanpot pits the area's four college hockey powers against each other on the first two Mondays in February.
Boston College played Boston University in the championship game.
