Water Cooler – March 22nd, 2011
Here we go with today’s sports water cooler talk. Here, you won’t just find the straight news; you’ll find the stuff everyone is talking about – the ice breakers, the Twitter Sports Picks and topics…well, basically all the stuff you discuss at the water cooler.
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Sports News – NHL news: Matt Cooke suspended through first round of playoffs; Alex Ovechkin out a least a week; Sergei Gonchar concussed; Senators extend Craig Anderson 
Monday was a big news day for the NHL. First came the big suspension handed down to Matt Cooke. The Penguins agitator was tossed from Sunday’s game for elbowing the Rangers’ Ryan McDonagh. Since Cooke is a repeat offender to say the least – some say he should be banned from the game – the NHL didn’t go easy on him this time.
The league suspended Cooke for the remainder of the regular season (10 games) and the first round of the playoffs (four to seven games, depending on the length of Pittsburgh’s series).
The Washington Capitals have been as hot as any team in the league of late but their streak may soon be derailed. Top scorer Alex Ovechkin will miss seven to 10 days with an undisclosed injury. Caps general manager George McPhee said Ovie “just needs to take some time off to get completely healed up.”
Ottawa Senators defenseman Sergei Gonchar may need more time than Ovie to heal up. He’s out indefinitely after suffering a concussion on a hard hit against Tampa Bay on Saturday.
That was the bad news for Ottawa yesterday. The good news is that the Sens have extended goaltender Craig Anderson’s contract. He signed a four-year, $12.75-million pact with the team. Since being traded from Colorado straight-up for Brian Elliott, Anderson has delighted Ottawa by going 6-4-0 with a 2.11 goals against average, .938 save percentage and one shutout.
NBA news: Tim Duncan sprains ankle; Harris, Favors aggravate injuries
It looks like the San Antonio Spurs won’t have the Big Fundamental until at least the start of the 2011 playoffs. Tim Duncan severely sprained his ankle Monday night against Golden State. He rolled it as he landed from shooting a jumper. X-Rays were negative but the sprain appears to be major.
Two of the pieces the Utah Jazz acquired in the Deron Williams trade, Devin Harris and Derrick Favors, are back on the shelf after aggravating injuries last night. Harris left the game against Memphis after tweaking his bad hamstring; Favors sprained his left ankle for the second straight game.
NCAA basketball news: Tennessee fires Bruce Pearl
The Bruce Pearl saga is over in Tennessee. The Volunteers fired head coach Bruce Pearl Monday with the NCAA probe leaving a bad taste their mouths. Pear confessed in September that he lied to investigators about a cookout at his home that was attended by high-school juniors and violated NCAA recruiting rules.
Over six seasons with Tennessee, Pearl guided the Vols to a 145-61 record, six NCAA Tournament berths, three Sweet 16 appearances and the school’s first-ever No. 1 ranking. This year, however, Michigan crushed Tennessee 75-45 to eliminate the Vols from March Madness.
NCAA football news: New Hampshire player shot to death; Notre Dame suspends Michael Floyd
University of New Hampshire wide receiver Todd Walker was shot and killed on Friday night in Boulder, Colorado. He and a friend, Elizabeth Roach were accosted by a Kevin McGregor, who wore a bandanna over his face and carried a semi-automatic weapon. When he demanded Walker’s money, Walker thought McGregor was joking, Roach said. But a shoving match ensued and Walker wound up shot dead. McGregor has been arrested and confessed to the killing.
Star Notre Dame wideout Michael Floyd has been suspended indefinitely after being arrested for drunk driving over the weekend. Head coach Brian Kelly said football “needs to take a backseat at the moment” while Floyd gets his life in order.
MLB news: Bryce Harper carted off after injuring ankle
The Washington Nationals already lost mega-prospect Stephen Strasburg to Tommy John surgery late last season, so it must’ve been scary to see their other prodigal son, Bryce Harper, carted off yesterday. He went down hard during a minor-league scrimmage and was helped off the field with an ankle injury. X-Rays are negative, so the injury is a sprain.
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