NHL ROUNDUP News and notes

Sprained wrist was anything but: Playoff secrets aren't so secret once the postseason ends and a new season begins. Just ask Keith Tkachuk and his "sprained right wrist." Oh sure, that's what everyone was led to believe was ailing the St. Louis Blues forward during last season's playoffs. Hiding injuries is a common practice in hockey, and this tall tale began even before the Blues reached the playoffs. "I had a tear, a partial tear in my wrist," Tkachuk confessed this week. "We announced it as just a sprained wrist. But it was more than that." A questionable hit March 13 by Vancouver's Brad May left Tkachuk injured. He missed nine games and returned late in the regular season. The Blues went on to lose in the first round to Vancouver. "I couldn't handle the puck and I couldn't shoot," said Tkachuk, who had one goal and three assists in the seven-game series. "But it's playoffs and anybody in my situation would have tried to play anyway. Unfortunately it didn't go the way I wanted it to, but obviously it was more than just a sprained wrist." And now, he wasn't ready to put the blame on May, who was playing his first game since coming back to the Canucks in a trade with Phoenix two days earlier. "It's part of the game, hitting is," Tkachuk said. "He had a lot of adrenaline and I don't hold that against him. It just stinks that I got hurt. I know Brad pretty well. He's not going to play dirty. "Was it a little bit late? I don't know. Who knows?" No one. We all thought it was a sprain.
Busy Roy: Patrick Roy isn't missing the NHL -- yet. Roy, the most-winning NHL goalie, is in the early stages of retirement as a player. He's not lacing up his skates and pads, but he's not far from the rink. The four-time Stanley Cup winner is the owner and vice president of hockey operations for the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. "If there was a part of the hockey season I didn't like, it was September," Roy told the Charlottetown Guardian. "Training camp was not my favorite time. Do I miss the friendship of the teammates? Yes. But I have something that keeps me really busy and I really enjoy it so far." Roy announced his retirement after the Colorado Avalanche were eliminated from the playoffs last season. He played 19 NHL seasons and finished with 551 regular-season victories and a record 151 more in the playoffs. He won two Stanley Cups with Montreal and two with the Avalanche. "You have to do it one day," Roy said of retirement. "It was time for me to think of something else, and the junior is something I have a lot of fun doing ... remaining in the game was something I felt was the best for me." The 38-year-old goalie played three seasons in the QMJHL and went straight from juniors to the Montreal Canadiens in 1985 when he was only 19. He has been part-owner of the Remparts for seven seasons, purchasing the Beauport Harfangs in 1997 with two others and bringing the team to his hometown of Quebec City.
More goalie talk: Vancouver's Dan Cloutier let his mouth get the best of him, and it proved costly for the Canucks. Cloutier got into a scrap Monday night with Columbus forward Rick Nash. The goalie followed that up by skating in front of the Blue Jackets bench to mouth off, and was hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty. Nash and the rest of Columbus' players held their tongues and enjoyed the subsequent power play. It only took 75 seconds for David Vyborny to take advantage and score his second goal of the season, tying the game 1-1. "I do it every game. It's not the first time I got nabbed for it," Cloutier said of his bench-jockeying. "I guess it's something that I've learned already, and I can't be doing that anymore."
The Blue Jackets went on to win 3-2, with Nash snapping a tie midway through the third.
Shooting blanks: It had been nearly 70 years since there were two scoreless NHL games on the same day. But that's just what happened Thursday when the Atlanta Thrashers and New York Rangers went scoreless at Madison Square Garden, and the Philadelphia Flyers and San Jose Sharks played a 0-0 game in California. The last time two scoreless games were played was Dec. 30, 1934, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
-- Associated Press