BOSTON -- Even with a Norris Trophy, a Stanley Cup championship and multiple All-Star and Olympic team selections in his past, Zdeno Chara still strives to improve.

And as much has he utilizes an aggressive workout regimen, atomic slap shot and brute strength as the NHL's tallest player ever (6-foot-9) to achieve his goals, the Boston Bruins star defenseman uses a tool many mere mortals also put to use when they need to remember things or organize thoughts.

Chara keeps a notebook every day in an effort to make sure he continues getting better.

"I try to write down things that I think I can do better or more adjust to either new rules or the game," Chara said. "Certain things that maybe I can back off a little bit or others than I can work more on.

Alex Pietrangelo

Defense - STL

GOALS: 5 | ASST: 13 | PTS: 18
SOG: 50 | +/-: -2

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues will be without their top defenseman when they face the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.

Alex Pietrangelo was a late scratch, replaced in the lineup by Ian Cole, as Pietrangelo has the flu.

Pietrangelo has 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 27 games and is the team leader in time on ice and ninth in the League (25:43).

NEWARK, N.J. -- Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jarred Tinordi will have at least seven family members in the crowd at Prudential Center on Saturday to witness the 21-year-old Maryland native make his NHL debut against the New Jersey Devils.

One of the family members is his dad, former NHL player Mark Tinordi, who is leading the family caravan up from Millersville, Md.

"I think he's pretty excited," Jarred Tinordi said Saturday morning. "Obviously he has brought me up in hockey. This is a big moment for me, but it's a big moment for him too."

Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Defense - PHX

GOALS: 3 | ASST: 14 | PTS: 17
SOG: 57 | +/-: 8

The Coyotes locked up Ekman-Larsson for the long term Friday, signing the 21-year-old to a six-year contract. The team didn't disclose terms, but CapGeek.com reports the deal is worth $33.5 million, an average annual value of $5.5 million.

"In this day and age, you have to pay for quality," Maloney said during a conference call shortly after the signing was announced. "You either pay now or pay later.

The Florida Panthers have acquired defenseman T.J. Brennan from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft.

The pick, which originally belonged to the New Jersey Devils, is the Los Angeles Kings', previously acquired by the Panthers.

"It was painful. I hated every second of it. I just can't work with the guy."

Cory Schneider delivered the line to a wall of TV cameras in a near-perfect deadpan before breaking into a smile after the Vancouver Canucks practiced Friday.

Roberto Luongo, the subject of his mock hatred, had just finished addressing the media in the locker stall right next to him. Now it was Schneider's turn to talk about their role in the four-minute feature that ran on TSN during an intermission of a 7-4 win against the Nashville Predators the night before.

The New York Islanders and forward Colin McDonald have agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension, running through the 2014-15 season.

According to Arthur Staple of Newsday, it is a one-way deal worth $1.275 million.

McDonald, 28, has appeared in 24 games this season with the Islanders, scoring four goals and adding six assists, along with 25 penalty minutes. The 2003 second-round pick by Edmonton played two games with the Oilers in 2009-10 and five with Pittsburgh last season.

This past week had no shortage of great highlights, but we thought the three exciting moments below stood out from the rest. After you watch these videos, be sure to vote on what play you think deserves to be the Bridgestone Performance Moment of the Week.

BROSSARD, Quebec -- David Desharnais has had to prove his value as a hockey player his entire life.

He's made a believer of the Montreal Canadiens.

Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin signed Desharnais to a four-year contract extension worth $14 million Friday, rewarding a player who was never drafted and worked his way through the ECHL and American Hockey League to become an offensive force in Montreal.

Desharnais, 26, is in the final year of a two-year, $1.7 million contract and was slated to be a restricted free agent in July.

"When you sign your first contract you think, all right, I did it," Desharnais said Friday after practice. "But this is a big step. It's a long contract, so on top of the money, I'm a part of the Montreal Canadiens for the next four years with all these guys. We have a nice team, a lot of us grew up together in the minors, and we have a chance to win here like we did down there. It's an incredible feeling."

The Buffalo Sabres on Friday returned rookie Mikhail Grigorenko to the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Russian, who was chosen in the first round (No. 12) of the 2012 NHL Draft, had one goal, five points and a minus-2 rating in 22 games for the Sabres.

The 18-year-old, who earned a bronze medal for Russia at the 2013 World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia, in January, scored his first NHL goal on Jan. 29 in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.