Truth And Accuracy In Closering

It's the NHL Closer. We pass the mic to the kids at Orland Kurtenblog. Their NHL Closer is written by Canadians for Americans.

Hockey news without access, favor or discretion (or, factual accuracy): In our brief three-day career as NHL closers, we've already screwed up scores twice. Our bad. It is not surprising, then, that we originally reported Philly's 3-2 win over the Islanders as "Flyers win, W-@". Scottie Upshall scored twice and the Wachovia Center faithful gave the Flyers a standing O. Philly still hasn't lost at home.

Erat Tat Tat Tat: Martin Erat was at his drywall-gnawing finest on Monday, registering a career-high four points as the Preds knocked off the Blue Jackets 4-1 in Columbus. You might remember Erat from his time spent on the legendary "vowel line" alongside Denis Arkhipov and Vladimir Orszagh in 2001-02. Or you might not.

"Okay, on line one we've got Mike Rotch": From the oh-man-this-is-too-easy file - on November 27th, XM Satellite Radio will debut "NHL Hour," a radio call-in show hosted by Gary Bettman. Bettman will play CDs and comes equipped with three distinct varieties of inane chatter: "Hey hey, how about that weather out there?" "Whoa, that was the caller from hell," and "Hot dog, we have a wiener." Speaking of wieners (and awesome segues), the Sharks stomped the Coyotes 5-0 tonight.

NHL Closer = Rumor Monger: We officially placed Michel Therrien on the hot seat after his Penguins lost to the Devils 3-2 Monday night. Pittsburgh has now lost three of four, five straight on the road and Therrien keeps benching Marc-Andre Fleury in favor of Dany Sabourin, best known for his three-minute relief of Roberto Luongo in last year's playoffs after Luongo came down with a severe case of the runs. There's a Najeh Davenport joke in here somewhere, people. I challenge you to find it.

Get Well, Colesy: Scary stuff in Florida tonight as Hurricanes' forward Erik Cole was taken off the ice on a stretcher after a collision with Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun. Cole has a history of neck injuries dating back to this hit he took from Brooks Orpik in 2006 that fractured his vertebrae. As for the game - the 'Canes won 4-3, earning coach Peter Laviolette his 200th career win. Postgame, Eric Staal said Cole had movement in his legs while leaving the ice. Here's hoping all is okay.