Notebook: Vujtek off to Czech League
Vladimir Vujtek remains Penguins property, but he won't be playing in Pittsburgh anytime soon.
The Penguins "assigned" Vujtek to HC Vitkovice of the Czech Extraleague, where they will continue to pay him a portion of the $600,000 salary he signed to receive last summer.
Vujtek will play in Russia later this season. The Penguins have the right to recall him after his season in Europe has ended.
"(His contract) is not bought out," said Vujtek's agent, Rich Winter. "He continues to be Penguins property, and they have an option for next year. They have the right to bring him back at the end of this season. He gets a reduced salary, going over there, and gets to keep his salary in the Czech Republic, then Russia."
Vujtek, 30, played in five games with the Penguins this season, recording an assist and a minus-4 rating.
LOADING UP
Kehoe said he will start tonight's game with a top line of Mario Lemieux, Alexei Kovalev and Martin Straka — the same trio that finished the game together Thursday at Minnesota.
"Mario has played with Kovy most of the year, as it is," Kehoe said. "We were trying to balance things out, but they seemed to have more chances when they were together."
The second line will be Jan Hrdina, Alexandre Daigle and Aleksey Morozov. Randy Robitaille, who has been out with an injured foot, will return to the lineup. Kehoe said he likely will spot Robitaille on different lines. Shean Donovan remains out of the lineup with a sprained knee.
Straka, who has four points in four games, continues to feel better with each outing, but his speed isn't back to normal. Asked how the Straka of today would fare in a rink-long sprint against the Straka of two years ago, Straka laughed and said, "He'd kick my butt."
SUPER-SIZED
Islanders goalie Garth Snow is noted for having extra-large goalie equipment, including a set of pads that one observer Friday compared to ironing boards. Snow's friend, Penguins defenseman Ian Moran, said the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Snow has always worn super-sized pads, even back in college, when the two played against each other.
"Thing is, he's a small guy, so he has to have big pads like that," Moran said, tongue-in-cheek.
Snow's latest set of pads are flat, rather than contoured.
"It's a different brand; I had them make them like (Washington's Olaf) Kolzig's," he said. "His look really big."
The advantage⢠"Everything stays on the ice more than with a contoured pad."
FERENCE IMPROVING
Defenseman Andrew Ference skated for the second consecutive day and reported no pain in his abdomen. Ference has been recovering from hernia surgery that has kept him out all season. He hopes to be in the lineup early next month, perhaps as early as Dec. 6 against New Jersey.
Ference said the injury might prove to be a blessing. He has been building up muscles he never knew existed.
"I'm almost to the point where I'll be stronger than I was when I was healthy," he said. "It's a real fortunate situation."
Asked if there were any lingering problems, Ference laughed and said, "Just bad hands."
SLAP SHOTS
Fans can vote for Mario Lemieux as the Powerade/NHL Outstanding Player for the month of November and help the Penguins' diversity youth hockey program, Hockey In the Hood. Vote at nhl.com. The Penguins' power play has hit a rut — 1 for 14 in the past four games – but remains ultra-dangerous with Lemieux running the show. Asked how important it is stay out of the box against the Penguins, Islanders coach Laviolette deadpanned, "Why, who do they got?" The Penguins practiced for about 40 minutes yesterday. Lemieux, Kovalev and Dick Tarnstrom were rested. Johan Hedberg will start in goal tonight. Backup goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin took a shot in the shoulder from Alexandre Daigle in post-practice shooting drills and proceeded to skate to the other end of the ice, where the defensemen were shooting.
