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NHL briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 10, 2001

Sharks’ Nolan gets 11-game suspension

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The NHL followed Owen Nolan's big hit on Grant Marshall with a heavy blow of its own.

Nolan, the Sharks' captain and second-leading scorer, was suspended for 11 games Friday for a hit that sent Marshall, a Dallas forward, to a hospital with a concussion. The suspension's severity enraged the Pacific Division-leading Sharks, who will be without Nolan and injured center Vincent Damphousse for nearly three critical late-season weeks if Nolan's suspension isn't shortened on appeal.

"I don't think it's right how (Nolan) has been turned into a villain," general manager Dean Lombardi said. "We all know it was a very hard, very physical hit, and you can't justify what he did. ... The issue here is appropriate punishment."

Nolan, who had never been suspended in 10 seasons, was suspended indefinitely Tuesday and has missed two games. He can return March 1.

"The hit occurred away from the play against an unsuspecting opponent about to leave the ice on a line change," said Colin Campbell, the NHL's director of hockey operations. "It was an intentional blow to the head, and this type of play is unacceptable."

Nolan got a 10-minute match penalty for elbowing Marshall in the neck with five seconds left in the first period of the Stars' 4-2 win Feb. 1. Marshall's head hit the ice when he went down, and he was removed on a stretcher and hospitalized overnight.

Marshall got a major penalty earlier in the period for a blind-side boarding hit on Nolan. Nolan said he hit Marshall out of anger and called the play "stupid."

BLUES-PANTHERS TRADE: St. Louis acquired right wing Scott Mellanby from Florida for junior right wing David Morisset and a 2002 draft pick. Mellanby had been with the Panthers since their inception in 1993. He was the team captain the past four seasons.

DEVILS: Defenseman Scott Niedermayer was placed on injured reserve after arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. He will miss the next three games. He was injured Thursday against Ottawa.

ISLANDERS: Owner Charles Wang said general manager Mike Milbury will return next season.

MAPLE LEAFS: Right wing Igor Korolev will be out a week to 10 days with a strained back. He was injured in Thursday night's loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

STARS: Defenseman Richard Matvichuk was activated from the injured-reserve list. He had been out since he broke his jaw in a Jan. 24 game against New Jersey when a puck ricocheted off his stick.

OLYMPICS: Jaromir Jagr, Dominik Hasek and the Lightning's Petr Svoboda were among the first eight players chosen for the Czech Republic team for 2002. Also picked: Pittsburgh's Martin Straka, Montreal's Martin Rucinsky, Colorado's Milan Hejduk, and New Jersey's Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora. The Czech Republic won the gold medal at Nagano in 1998, the first Games in which NHL players were used.

Friday’s games

FLAMES 5, AVALANCHE 3: Host Colorado lost its season-high third straight game as Mike Vernon stopped a flurry of shots in the final two minutes and finished with 34 saves for Calgary. Dave Lowry scored an empty-net goal with eight seconds left.

Avalanche forward Adam Deadmarsh left the team early in the second period because his wife went into labor. Deadmarsh scored Colorado's first goal.

COYOTES 2, OILERS 0: Sean Burke made 38 saves for his first shutout in three months, and Keith Tkachuk got his 600th career point on a first-period goal for host Phoenix.

WILD 2, STARS 1: Manny Fernandez made 28 saves against his former team as expansion Minnesota beat host Dallas for the second time. Fernandez was the Stars' backup last season before being traded to the Wild before the expansion draft.

RANGERS 4, PANTHERS 2: Peter Nedved scored two goals, one an empty-netter, and Mark Messier scored in consecutive games after going 18 straight without a goal for visiting New York.

FLYERS 5, ISLANDERS 2: Host New York lost its league-leading 32nd game, and rookie goalie Rick DiPietro, who stopped 15 shots, suffered his worst defeat to fall to 0-4-0. Islanders forward Mark Parrish sprained a right knee ligament three minutes into the game and was expected to miss about four weeks.

THRASHERS 5, BRUINS 1: Ray Ferraro and Per Svartvadet each scored two goals for host Atlanta, which has won two of its past 19 games (2-13-3-1).

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