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Penguins Q&A with Dave Molinari
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Q: I know that this has been brought up before, but I think that I've heard conflicting answers. I know that someone will have to go on waivers if the Pens choose to send a goalie to Wilkes-Barre. Can Dany Sabourin be exposed and Ty Conklin left on the roster, or does Conklin have to go on waivers regardless since he was the one brought up on emergency recall? Is there any way for Conklin to stay with the Pens without exposing him to waivers? Ray Caliendo, Pittsburgh MOLINARI: You are correct that this ground has been covered before but, with Marc-Andre Fleury's return from Wilkes-Barre no more than a few days (if not hours) away, it won't hurt to go over it again. Here are the basic facts: 1) Conklin was, as you noted, brought up from the Baby Penguins on emergency recall. Consequently, he can be returned to Wilkes-Barre without having to clear waivers if he does so no later than the instant Fleury is activated. If Conklin would be assigned to the American Hockey League at any point after Fleury returns to active duty in the NHL, he would have to clear waivers. 2) Conklin can, in fact, remain on the major-league roster even after Fleury returns, even though he was brought up on emergency. He, like defenseman Alain Nasreddine, qualifies for an exemption from re-entry waivers, in part because he has a two-way contract with a minor-league salary that does not exceed the $100,000 exemption limit. 3) Sabourin, who has a year left on the one-way contract he signed last summer, would have to clear waivers to go to Wilkes-Barre. The last time the Penguins tried to do that with him, Sabourin was claimed by Vancouver in the fall of 2006.
Q:
I saw a weird play almost happen recently and was wondering if you knew the ruling. The puck came out of the offensive zone and went to a member of the attacking team. The linesman put his arm up signaling a delayed offsides, allowing the attacking team to tag up. The attacking player with the puck flipped it high in the air, apparently intending to allow time for his guys to get out of the zone and back into the play. As the puck came down, a defensive player tried to play it and it bounced off him and almost went into the net. Goal or no goal, if it went in? (The remaining attacking player in the offensive zone had not gotten out). Chris Esposito, Oxford, N.J. MOLINARI: The interpretation here is that, based on Rule 83.4, the goal would not count under those circumstances, because the shot/flip-in would have been done when the play was offsides.
Q:
Has anyone ever won the Jack Adams and Hart trophies? Geoff, Atlanta MOLINARI: Not in the same season, certainly, since the position of player-coach doesn't exist in the NHL. And no one who has won the Hart as league MVP has gone on to claim the Adams when he subsequently moved into coaching. Wayne Gretzky, who won the Hart nine times and is now coaching in Phoenix, is the only recipient of that award currently running a bench in the NHL.
First Published February 19, 2008 12:00 am
