Daily Cupcakes - February 29th, 2012

First up, I need to admit I chose this picture solely for Colorado Avalanche's Peter Mueller 's face. What was going on there?

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Some sad news in the world of hockey, Jean Beliveau, a much loved hockey, icon has suffered a stroke. On a personal note, I was lucky enough to meet him and spend a bit of time with him - I've always been amazed that he sat and chatted with me for a half hour or so, he is truly a class act - wish him a quick recovery.

"Mr. Beliveau is a great Canadian and a remarkable ambassador for our national sport," Stephen Harper said in an emailed statement. "We wish him a speedy recovery."

Beliveau, who won 10 Stanley Cups while playing with the Habs, was resting in a Montreal hospital on Tuesday.

Montreal Canadiens spokesman Donald Beauchamp said there had been no new developments since initial news of the stroke and that the family had requested privacy.

The team reported earlier Tuesday that the 80-year-old Hall of Famer was admitted to hospital after having the stroke Monday evening.

For all the talk about if Jamie McGinn would get some time on the PK or not, Joe Sacco has answered your questions.

"He'll probably play on our third line and get some penalty-killing time," Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said. "We'll see about the power play, I'm not sure, but I'm looking forward to getting him here and his energy and his physicality. He's going to fit in nicely with our group of forwards. He's another dimension we're looking for.

"He skates hard, he plays the game, he finishes checks. He's physical on the forecheck and he can play on the power play and penalty kill. He's got 12 goals on a team where he's probably playing maybe a little bit less minutes (averaging 12:33 per game) than he would here, but he's going to fit in nicely here. He's exactly what we've been talking about, being a hard team to play against with some more jam. He's going to provide us with that up front."

McGinn said he spoke with Sacco on Monday night after Colorado's 4-1 win against Anaheim, which McGinn called "a big win for the guys." The Avalanche have won four games in a row and gone 7-2-2 in the past 11 games to tie eighth-place Dallas in the Western Conference (the Stars have played one fewer game) and pull within one point of the seventh-place Sharks.

A short bio of Mike Connolly.

Worcester, MA (Northland's NewsCenter) --- Former UMD standout Mike Connolly was traded Monday from the San Jose Sharks to the Colorado Avalanche, that news coming the day of the NHL trade deadline.

The 22-year-old is playing his first full year as a professional and scored 30 points in 40 games this season with San Jose's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Worcester Sharks.

A nice article in the Toronto Star about father- sons who play in the NHL.

Trades and the surname Ashton are synonymous.

Brent Ashton, a winger who spent 14 seasons in the NHL, was traded a record nine times in his career, which began in Vancouver Canucks in 1979-80 and ended after the 1992-93 season with the Calgary Flames.

On Monday, his son, 20-year-old winger Carter Ashton, was shipped to the Maple Leafs from the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenceman Keith Aulie.

"He understands that I’ve been through it and it’s a business," Brent Ashton, who played 998 games in the NHL, said of his son’s trade in an interview from Hawaii where he’s vacationing with his wife. "Basically it’s a job and you’re being moved to an organization that you can help out."

There has been a sideways step in the Steve Moore - Todd Bertuzzi case.

Master Ronald Dash of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice revised a decision he made earlier this month to make it clear he does not think lawyers for Todd Bertuzzi and the Vancouver Canucks acted improperly.

The original decision ordered the lawyers to turn over an agreement between Bertuzzi, the Canucks and former Canucks head coach Marc Crawford to dismiss all cross claims between them and to share any financial damages ordered by the court in a lawsuit against Bertuzzi and the Canucks by former NHL player Steve Moore to Moore’s lawyers. It still stands. That decision also remains under appeal by the legal teams for Bertuzzi and the Canucks.

And lastly, the Colorado Avalanche are getting attention, The National Post is advising fans to watch out for the Avs.

Colorado won its fourth straight game and its seventh in its last 10 to continue to surge toward the eighth spot in the Western Conference. While the Avalanche may have looked like the seller in their trade with San Jose at the deadline on Monday — moving Daniel Winnick and T.J. Galiardi to the Sharks for Jamie McGinn and two young prospects — general manager Greg Sherman sees the move as a compliment to the acquisition of Steve Downie from Tampa Bay he made last week. Downie, incidentally, has two goals and five assists in his four games with Colorado.

As an added bonus in the 4-1 home win over Anaheim, Matt Duchene scored his first goal since Dec. 23. The young star had missed about six weeks with a knee injury and returns at exactly the right time.