Josh Morrissey is my choice for the best rookie in the Eastern Conference and possibly the WHL so far this season (Sam Reinhart might be the favourite right now).  He leads all Raider defensemen in scoring with 24 points and his +9 rating is also tops on the Raiders.

South Carolina Stingrays goaltender Philipp Grubauer is the Reebok Hockey ECHL Rookie of the Month for January.  The 20-year-old went 7-1-0 with one shutout, a 1.66 goals-against average and a save percentage of .935 in nine appearances during the month, helping the Stingrays to an 11-2-0 mark in January.

Bishop played the third period, stopped 10 of 11 shots, then shut down all four East challengers in the penalty-shot tiebreaker to play the hero’s role on an All-Star squad for which he initially was not chosen.

If anybody knows the South Buffalo community it is a tight-nit group. Everybody knows everybody in South Buffalo and if one of your own makes it big – everybody makes it. Tim Kennedy is a South Buffalo boy who has made it big. He plays hockey for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League and had a stint with his hometown Buffalo Sabres.

When the Blues play Pittsburgh at 7 o'clock tonight at Scottrade Center, it will be a special night for Joe Vitale and his family. The Pittsburgh forward and St. Louis native will be making his first NHL appearance in his hometown.

Playing their second home game in as many nights, the Ducks looked more like they were jet-lagged instead as the Colorado Avalanche spent much of Sunday night peppering Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller.It looked like the kind of night where a team needs its netminder to be the player that makes the difference. Hiller was just that, as he has been during the Ducks' current surge.

Rivermen goaltender Ben Bishop has been added to the AHL All-Star Classic, according to the player and St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong. Bishop will join the Western Conference squad in the Jan. 29 Skills Competition and Jan. 30 All-Star Game at Atlantic City.

A six-week old puppy is in need of some seriously pampering after being rescued from the bitter cold by three junior hockey players in Saskatchewan. Teammates from the Prince Albert Raiders saw a woman drop something into the bed of a parked truck earlier this week as temperatures dipped to -40 C.

Josh Morrissey's outstanding play on the blueline has been one of the few bright spots of the Prince Albert Raiders' disappointing season. The 16-year-old rookie has quickly climbed the Raiders' defensive depth chart. Morrissey now munches more than 20 minutes a game and quarterbacks P.A.'s power play, having racked up five goals and 24 points throughout 41 games. He's also a team-best +9.

The American Hockey League announced today that Peoria Rivermen goaltender Ben Bishop has been selected as the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Jan. 15, 2012. Bishop went 2-0-0 while stopping 70 of 71 shots in two starts last week, good for a 0.50 goals-against average and a .986 save percentage.

The Portland Winterhawks have acquired forward Marcel Noebels, 19, from the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for first round picks in the 2012 and 2013 WHL Bantam Drafts, and forward Seth Swenson.

Add another Senators name to list of players taking part in 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend festivities at Scotiabank Place. Forward Colin Greening is among a list of 12 rookies named today by the National Hockey League to participate in the Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition, set for Jan. 28. The league also announced the 36 players who'll fill out the rosters for the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game, to be played Jan. 29 at Scotiabank Place.

"I'm not just a guy who goes out there and wants to fight every night," said Weise. "I think I can bring more and score some goals. My role is to be physical and bring some energy and I thought as a line we were pretty good and made some things happen tonight."

One of the best parts of Tuesday night’s 7-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Maple Leafs was the play of rookie winger Matt Frattin.

When his tenure with the Philadelphia Flyers organization ended abruptly in October of 2010, one thing was for sure – the future of Patrick Maroon’s career in pro hockey was completely unknown.

Even though Kris Russell was Columbus’ third round pick in 2005, by the time he reached the NHL two years later he was being marked as the elusive puck-moving defender the franchise had struggled to find in its infancy. Expectations were inflated from his strong stats in the Western League with Medicine Hat and promising back-to-back gold medal showings with Canada at the World Junior Championship.

Kyle Brodziak doesn't watch a lot of episodic television when the Minnesota Wild are traveling, but one show has hooked him: "Gold Rush Alaska" on the Discovery Channel.