Ryan Miller is named Olympic MVP

It is reported that Team USA goaltender Ryan Miller was named the MVP of the Olympic hockey tournament and was one of three Americans to make the tourney's All-Star team.

Miller, defenseman Brian Rafalski and forward Zach Parise were named to the team along with Canadian defenseman Shea Weber and forward Jonathan Toews and Slovakia forward Pavol Demitra, who led all scorers at the Games with 10 points. The All Star team of the Olympic tournament was named after the second period of the gold-medal game. Rafalski earned best defenseman honors and Toews was named best forward.

Pitkanen is suspended in quarterfinals

Joni Pitkanen of Finland was suspended for one game after receiving a game misconduct penalty for hitting Sweden's Patric Hornqvist in the head in the second period on Sunday night. "He's a key part on the power play and obviously on the breakouts he's such a good skater and mobile defenseman and sees the ice well," defenseman Sami Salo said. "Obviously it's a big loss but it opens up a spot for Janne Niskala."

Niskala has been acting as a seventh defenseman, the former Tampa Bay Lightning blueliner has been playing for Frolunda Gothenburg in the Swedish Elite League since 2008.

Lightning sign free agent Parrish

Lightning Executive Vice President and General Manager Brian Lawton announced the Tampa Bay Lightning have signed Mark Parrish to a one-year, two-way contract. Parrish has been assigned to the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League.
In 42 games with the Admirals this season, he has 12 goals and 25 points, tying him for second on the club in points and third in goals. He leads Norfolk in goals, points and plus/minus during the team's previous 26 games with nine goals, 20 points. A veteran of ten National Hockey League seasons, Parrish has appeared in 704 career NHL games with the Florida Panthers, Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars, recording 216 goals and 169 assists in those games.

Parrish, who appeared in the 2002 NHL All-Star Game, was originally a third round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. Parrish appeared in 44 NHL games last season with the Stars, recording eight goals and five assists. Parrish has appeared in 48 career AHL games with the Admirals, Bridgeport Sound Tigers and the Beast of New Haven, scoring 15 goals and 29 points.

Red Wings' Holland appeared on NHL Live!

Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland will be among the guests on NHL Live! on Tuesday, scheduled from noon-2 p.m. on NHL Network and NHL.com and broadcast on XM Radio. Holland, who has been the Wings' GM since 1997, is also assisting Team Canada executive director Steve Yzerman.

Also scheduled to appear to speak with co-hosts Deb Placey and Billy Jaffe are retired defenseman Bret Hedican, Pierre McGuire of NBC and TSN and Kevin Allen of USA Today. NHL Live! is broadcast from the NHL Store Powered By Reebok in New York City.

Phillies add veteran Guzman

Recently a club spokesman confirmed on Wednesday that the Phillies signed veteran outfielder Freddy Guzman to a Minor League contract, though his deal does not include an invitation to Spring Training. Guzman spent the 2009 season with the Triple-A affiliates of the Orioles, Mariners, Red Sox and Yankees, while also seeing action in 10 games for the Bronx Bombers. In 101 Minor League games last year, he batted .223 with a .272 on-base percentage, two homers.

Guzman has played parts of four big league seasons with the Padres, Rangers and Yankees, batting .211 with a .255 on-base percentage in 47 games. In six seasons in the Minor Leagues, he holds a .265 batting average and a .338 on-base percentage.
Hope Guzman is also a main center fielder when he puts on the phillies jersey.

Mariners agree to add Kotchman

The Mariners and first baseman Casey Kotchman have reached agreement on a one-year contract. Kotchman was acquired from the Red Sox on Jan. 7. Details of the agreement have not been announced, but it is believed that two sides split the difference and Kotchman will receive about $3.5 million in 2010.

Center fielder Franklin Gutierrez signed a four-year, $20.5 million contract extension on Jan. 8; right-handed relievers David Aardsma and Mark Lowe signed on Jan. 19 respectively; and, the following day, right-hander Felix Hernandez signed a five-year, $78 million contract extension and right-handed reliever Brandon League also reached an agreement. Fans look forward to seeing them playing for the team in the mariners jerseys.

Adam Graves will join NHL Live!

It is reported that former New York Rangers star Adam Graves will appear on Friday's edition of NHL Live! from noon-2 p.m. on NHL Network and NHL.com and broadcast on XM Radio. Also scheduled to appear to speak with co-hosts Deb Placey and E.J. Hradek are NBC hockey analyst Ed Olczyk, a former teammate of Graves, and retired defenseman Teppo Numminen.

Also on the show will be Joseph Bowser of EveryBODY Skates New Jersey, a group of disabled athletes who will make history this weekend by visiting all 54 rinks in the State of New Jersey in just 54 hours.

Taguchi comes back to Japan

So Taguchi, who was a member of two World Series championship teams, is coming back to Japan, likely to finish up his career where it began. After eight seasons in the big leagues, Taguchi has signed with the Orix Buffaloes. Taguchi debuted with Orix in 1992 and spent 10 seasons with the club before signing as a free agent with the Cardinals in 2002, becoming the first Japanese-born player in the team history. His home run off Mets closer Billy Wagner in the ninth inning of the 2006 National League Championship Series was a great moment in St. Louis' run to the World Series.

Taguchi joined the Phillies in 2008 and earned his second World Series ring. He appeared in six games with the Cubs last year after spending most of the season in the Minor Leagues. It seems that we will not see him playing in his mlb jersey for a long time.

Walker joins Nationals with one-year deal

The Nationals has signed Tyler Walker with a free-agent reliever to a one-year, $650,000 contract. Walker is expected to be part of the relief corps, which includes Brian Bruney, Matt Capps and Eddie Guardado. He is coming off one of his better seasons, going 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 32 games in the phillies jersey. The seven-year veteran has played with the Mets, Giants and Rays.

Originally drafted by the Mets in the second round of the 1997 First-Year Player Draft, Walker is good at pitching on back-to-back days, having done this 69 times in his career. In order to put Walker on the 40-man roster, the Nats designated Marco Estrada for assignment. Estrada appeared in four games this past season and gave up five runs in 7 1/3 innings.