Hockeybums

Sabres 3rd Debuts Tonight

2008-11-26T12:40:00.002-05:00

The Buffalo Sabres will debut their new third jerseys tonight at home versus the Bruins. Watch for them, they look damn nice in person.

HOCKEYBUMS V3 REVEALED

2008-11-21T17:43:00.002-05:00

HELLO ALL,

THIS IS THE MOMENT YOUVE BEEN WAITING FOR....HOCKEYBUMS V3.

THE LINK TO THE NEW SITE IS:

hockey-bums.com note the .com!

COME JOIN ME IN THE CHATROOM WHEN YOU GET THERE. HOPE YOU ENJOY....

SCOTTY!

WAY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE!NEW WEBSITE UNVEILED TONIGHT 5:45

2008-11-21T16:45:00.003-05:00

WOW....CRAZY EFFORT FROM MY WEBSITE CREATOR, ANDREW KELLY, HAS PUT US SO FAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE THAT I WILL OFFICIALLY OPEN THE SITE TONIGHT AT 5:45 PM!

ITS VERY USER FRIENDLY!

HOPEFULLY SEE YOU THERE,
SCOTTY

ALSO LOOKING FOR ADVERTISERS INTERESTED? LET ME KNOW! hockeybums@yahoo.ca

SORRY ABOUT TODAY AND NEW WEBSITE UPCOMING

2008-11-21T13:41:00.002-05:00

HEY GUYS,

First of all sorry about all the template changes today Hockeybums has decided they want a new look. I have decided to switch back to original template for the time being as our NEW WEBSITE IS BEING CREATED. I HOPED IT WOULD BE DONE BY THE END OF TODAY HOWEVER I THINK IT MAY BE TO MUCH. SO HOPEFULLY BY END OF TOMORROW OR UP AND RUNNING SUNDAY NIGHT WE WILL SEE!

Scotty

Anything new you want included in new site drop me a comment!

Sabres Call Up Mancari

2008-11-21T12:41:00.000-05:00

The Buffalo Sabres have announced that they have recalled Mark Mancari from Portland. Mancari is on fire and is the AHL's 2nd leading scorer. Great young talent.

Komisarek Out About 1 Month

2008-11-21T12:35:00.001-05:00

BREAKING NEWS: HABS D-MAN MIKE KOMISAREK'S INJURY IS WORSE THAN ORIGINALLY THOUGHT. APPARENTLY IT IS A SEPARATED SHOULDER AND HE COULD BE OUT UP TO A MONTH.

Breaking news!!! Nylander trade to Chicago imminent!

2008-11-21T00:12:00.000-05:00

According to the Suntimes and the Fourth Period, the Washington Capitals will soon trade (likely Friday) centre Michael Nylander in exchange for forward/defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and veteran Brent Sopel.

Sopel and Byfuglien were late minute healthy scratches for tonight's game against the Stars. As for Nylander he had to play because the Caps were short on bodies, because of multiple injuries.

Nylander's cap hit is $4.875 million, as for Byfuglien it's $3 million per year and Sopel it's $2.5 million per season.

Nylander still has a house in Chicago; therefore, he is expected to lift his no-trade clause to move there.

Stay tuned!

Lightning Reclaim Koci

2008-11-20T19:11:00.001-05:00

After placing David Koci on waivers and losing him to the St-Louis Blues just over a week or so ago the Lightning have just Re-Claimed him.

Nylander To Hawks?

2008-11-20T16:24:00.002-05:00

Numerous media outlets are reporting that the Hawks have a deal in place to acquire Michael Nylander from the Washington Capitals. Couple issues here:

1. Nylander has a No-Trade

2. Hawks don't have enough cap room with Khabibulin there.

Bob Mckenzie reported a couple teams in need of goaltenders:

New Jersey
Perhaps Dallas or Columbus

We shall see.

Habs need to find a power play specialist

2008-11-20T15:16:00.003-05:00

I guess a lot of fans in Montreal now miss Mark Streit after his departure via free agency to Long Island.

Montreal had last year’s number one power play in the NHL, but they are now sitting 26th with a poor 14.6% success rate, while the Islanders power play has improved slightly from 29th to 25th overall. Streit has 12 points (he would be the Habs' 5th scorer) in 18 games, with only six of them coming with the man advantage.

Many thought Streit would struggle as a full-time defenseman, but he’s only minus-2 on a very ordinary islanders team. Streit has logged the ninth most ice time in the NHL with an average of 25:53 each game, including over six minutes on the power play.

Meanwhile, Ryan O'Byrne and Patrice Brisebois, who play with Roman Hamrlik, Streit's former partner on defense, have a combined 1 goal and 4 assists in 27 games this season...

Streit was the shooter on a very effective 1st unit last season along with Markov, Kovalev, Plekanec and A. Kostitsyn. This season, newly-acquired Alex Tanguay is also manning the point with Andrei Markov.

The latter was asked to be the shooter without great success, Markov being more of a passer than a shooter, as shown by his 1 goal and 13 assists in 17 games this season. As a result, the Habs have became very predictable on the power play, and the defensive team is putting much more pressure on Koivu (0 goal on the PP) and Kovalev (1 goal on the PP).

Guy Carbonneau has yet to adjust his strategy and the problem is more and more evident recently as the Canadiens have lost 4 of their last 5 games.

Will Carbonneau change his strategy or will Bob Gainey pull the trigger and acquire a power play specialist with a hard shot (Philippe Boucher anyone)?

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures...

2008-11-20T14:08:00.001-05:00

The struggling Senators host the slumping Canadiens in Ottawa tonight, both teams looking to rebound from their respective downturns.

Montreal is 'Canadian-dollar bad', tumbling drastically from last year's impressive highs but not yet at critical mass. The core strengths of last year's team, including team speed, sharp passing and Alex Kovalev in particular have in large part disappeared, which has consequently had a similar effect on the Habs' fortunes to that which the drop of commodity prices has had on the Loonie. Guy Carbonneau has reacted to the situtation by shuffling the deck once again, hoping to find some chemistry and balance among his offensive lines.

Ottawa is 'Global-finances bad', falling further and further into the depths of a terrible depression with no end in sight following an extended period of inflated expectations without the necessary fundamentals (toughness/goaltending) to support them. Adding injury to insult, Mike Fisher and Chris Neil will both miss at least two weeks of action with knee injuries. In an effort to rescue/stimulate the sagging Sens, coach Craig Hartsburg will reunite the Spezza-Heatley-Alfredsson line while the players, for their part, have elected to grow mustaches.

My condolences go out to Jason Spezza's upper lip and the shame it is soon to know.

Vanek AGAIN/East Playoff Predictions

2008-11-20T13:06:00.008-05:00

The Sabres are quickly going downhill, but Thomas Vanek is going up. Vanek scored another 2 goals in last night's loss to Boston, giving him a league-leading 15 goals. Keep it up Thomas.

The NHL season is about 1/4 of the way done, so here are my predictions based on what I've seen this season.

EAST:

1. Boston(Tim Thomas is UNBELIEVABLE)

2. New York Rangers(Great mix of young, hard-nosed guys mixed with veteran leaders)

3. Washington(Semin and Ovechkin blow my mind. Green blows it even further)

4. Montreal(Great team, but, WAY too much hype for them to win the cup, Tanguay=perfect fit)

5. Pittsburgh(Staal, best two-way forward in NHL, plus 2 best centers in NHL)

6. Buffalo(Need Tim Connolly back, Rivet needs to be a presence again)

7. Carolina(Eric Staal will step it up)

8. Toronto(If Sundin signs, they will be in the playoffs, I gurantee it)

Next blog will be about predictions of Western teams

Tell me what you think; Agree, disagree, etc.

Kings Alternate Jersey

2008-11-20T12:24:00.005-05:00

This photo clearly shows the prominence of silver in the sweater design, especially the new logo.

It's obvious the Kings had their Gretzky (and for that matter Melrose) days in mind when when putting this one together.

In the image to the right you get a close-up of the new crest. Silver is all over it, trimming the banner as well as the LA. You can even find some in the crown.

Surprisingly, the silver really helps to keep this jersey from looking boring. I think it would've looked very flat just in white. Wait until you see the Kings on the ice with all the bright arena lights reflecting off the silver. They're going to look good.

If you can't make it out well in the picture above, there's silver piping running the length of the sleeve from the collar to the wrist. It's broken up however by a broad white stripe that wraps around the elbow. That stripe is trimmed in silver. And the thin stripe at the base of the jersey appears to be silver as well.

Overall, I think the Kings really got one right. It looks nothing like what they're wearing now, but it totally looks like the L.A. Kings.

Photos and article courtesy of Icethetics

Coyotes 3rd Jersey

2008-11-20T06:40:00.004-05:00

The Coyotes will be revealing their new 3rd jerseys during Saturday's television broadcast of the Coyotes @ Flyers game. The game will be broadcast on AZ-TV and starts at 5:30 p.m. MST / 4:30 p.m. PST / 7:30 p.m. EST. The jersey will be revealed during the first intermission. The Coyotes will be wearing their new 3rd jerseys for the first time at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale at the game against the Colorado Avalanche on 11/28/2008.

The jersey is rumored to look something like this:

In Case I Have Been Missed...Not

2008-11-20T00:49:00.003-05:00

My apologies first to Scotty and the rest of the Hockeybums crew as well as the several readers. Due to a rather busy personal schedule I have been unable to contribute much to the site so far this season. With that said I have followed the Canucks quite closely and will hopefully be able to contribute a 20-game report in the coming days. So far this season the Canucks have been impressive at moments while being rather mind-boggling at others.

Needless to say the season has gone better than many had originally thought (including yours truly) as evidence of tonights' 6-3 defeat of the Eastern Conference leading Rangers coming on the eve of Thursdays tilt against the Minnesota Wild. A battle that will determine the division lead at the quarter pull.

Not bad for a team that many had written off not only 8 weeks ago.

Talk to you soon...

Habs Still In Sundin Chase?

2008-11-19T21:49:00.002-05:00

According to Corus Sports Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey was in LA watching Centerman Mats Sundin train. No word on whether he was jsut curious or their is serious interest still. The way the habs are playing theyd welcome him im sure.

We will see.

The Vancouver Model

2008-11-19T18:07:00.000-05:00

Months of uncertainty and speculation are likely to come to an end in the next week when Brian Burke and his associates meet with Richard Peddie and the MLSE. The groups have already spoken albeit lawyer to lawyer last weekend to confirm the Anaheim Ducks had signed papers allowing their former GM to talk with other teams and if reports are to be believed, groundwork was laid on the forthcoming negotiations.

With conjecture and rumor placing Burke in a potential cavalcade of locales in the week after his resignation, the reality is that, foregoing disastrous contractual talks, the Toronto Maple Leafs will name Brian Burke the organizations 13th general manager in its storied history with few other suitors looking to materialize at the eleventh hour. The move will be seen as a particular success for Peddie and sports lawyer Gord Kirke who have courted Burke from the moment they drew up a bullet point list of candidates and criteria early this year.

For Burke it will offer a chance to return to a hockey hotbed after three years in the sunbelt and an opportunity to combine his differing experiences in Vancouver and Anaheim with a side perennially teetering between media expectation and failure. Whilst Cliff Fletcher has done the best he could under the moniker of interim GM, development has been stunted and the popular veteran knew that he was merely laying a Schenn shaped biscuit base unto which the blue and white cheesecake would be built.

Burke will herald a much needed change of pace and common logic dictates that the incoming GM will be looking to put an early and indelible stamp on the Leafs be it waiving a high salary star such as the recently scratched Jason Blake, or trading big to secure a high level draft pick as he did in Hartford for Pronger. Whatever it may be, Burke could be seen as an accelerant to the rebuilding process the Leafs are undeniably facing after the era of stagnation seen under John Ferguson and with a modus operandi for rapid transition Burke is unlikely to wait it out in the Air Canada executive boxes.

With Burke’s arrival seen as an inevitability; many have decided to take the pre-incumbents period of grace as a chance to autopsy his past accomplishments to see what acumen the executive will bring to Toronto. Unavoidably most have chosen to draw comparisons between his most recent position in California and the dynamics of the Leafs organization he is about to inherit. Taking over the reigns of a Bryan Murray team steered for one season by Al Coates, Burke acquired control of Anaheim in 2005 fresh from the board room fallout in Vancouver. Securing a Stanley cup in just two seasons, Burke adopted a side that had drafted well under Murray and had built under its previous executives. Burke merely anchored the potential with Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer making minimal changes to an already winning formula.

Obviously the 2008 Maple Leafs are a different proposition to the 2005 Ducks. Half gutted in a stage of pre-rebuild and a roster so thin it would snap in the breeze, the Leafs don’t share the kind of prospects ladder Anaheim took into the lockout and don’t possess the brother of a blue chip defensemen, unless you consider Frantisek Kaberle a franchise blueliner.

With many subsequently looking to the successes and failures of the Anaheim franchise he left behind as a barometer for his suitability, it seems more likely that Burke will draw upon his four years in Vancouver as a starting point with the Maple Leafs physically small, short in depth and overtly European roster. Obtaining a Canucks side that had peaked and troughed under a decade of Pat Quinn, Brian Burke took charge of a Vancouver side that had finished dead last in the Pacific Division in '97-'98. With top scorer Pavel Bure refusing to play in Vancouver, Burke shipped the Russian megastar to Florida for franchise D-man Ed Jovanovski. With next to no offense Vancouver finished with the second worse record in the league but also the second overall draft pick. With twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin expected to be split for the first time in their careers on draft day, Burke rolled the dice to secure the third overall selection and both twins with a trade that saw Bryan McCabe and Vancouver's 2000 first round draft pick go to Chicago. With the Sedin's still gaining experience in the Swedish senior leagues in '99-'00 Vancouver punched above low expectations to just miss out on a playoff berth. Regardless with Burke getting the puzzle pieces in place early, the next three seasons saw Vancouver up their points tally from 83-90-94-104 before slipping to a still princely 101 points in Burke’s final year in charge.

Relying on unfashionable players to put up career points year in year out, Burke built on an early draft move to push the Canucks from bottom feeders to an elite unit that just lacked the quality required come the post season. Where he was shackled by the off ice salesmanship required to fill the General Motors Place, the guaranteed Air Canada sellouts will grant Burke the opportunity to tune the hockey formula that served so well in Vancouver. Furthermore with a fondness for physically strong and aggressive forwards Burke will find common ground in the west coast playing system currently favored by head coach Ron Wilson geared into a squad that currently lacks the prototypical Burke style players that could take the Leafs run and gun methodology to another level.

Subsequently when you take the Vancouver model into the context of the contemporary Leafs, the recruitment of Burke makes a lot of sense albeit with the idiosyncrasies common only to Toronto. Currently wavering in and about the fringes of a playoff place, Burke will be aware that finishing ninth in the Eastern Conference will only harm Toronto’s future on draft day. Expect Burke to fire sell players who do not fit into his long term plans early, fundamentally weakening the team for 2008-’09 with the goal of attaining a top two pick in the Tavares-Hedman draft. Don’t be surprised if Burke attempts to ship a big name for a first round draft pick, even if the trade bait is somewhat more scant in the 2008 Leafs than it was in the 1999 Canucks. Finally expect Burke to trade for west coast board runners and grinders and a full time enforcer in the George Parros mould, Mayers and Hollweg will not suffice on a Burke team that with little trade leverage are going to have to build from youth and development.

Burke’s era is upon us and, despite the naysayers, is a man with experience in rapid and successful rebuilds, you just have to look past Anaheim to see that he has succeeded before. Many may argue that the clash of personalities and the obstructive hand of Peddie could be a powder-keg in the years to come; but here and now Burke is the best man for the job.

Tough to Watch...

2008-11-19T16:56:00.001-05:00

Players struggling through a stretch of games like that being experienced by the Canadiens right now generally repeat one thing through all of their interviews--"It's not fun."

I couldn't help but think of this line as I brought myself to write this amidst my workday... as busy and mundane as my typical workday can be, it doesn't suck as much as thinking of the Canadiens' play of late.

This blog was supposed to be a fun diversion. Yes, there was to be a fair amount of work involved, but it was new, interesting and full of possibility. Rather, I am at a point where it has become painful to watch the team, let alone write about their performances. Likewise, the Canadiens have seen what was supposed to be a phenomenal season, ripe with celebrations and expectations, turn absolutely sour.

If 'coming to the rink' every day isn't much fun for me right now, I can only imagine how much the 23-man roster representing Montreal must be enjoying themselves...

But maybe that's just what they need... and I don't mean a 'wake-up call' or a reminder that skill won't get them anywhere without the effort backing it. These guys are professionals, and should need no such prompt to get their asses in gear.

What I mean to say is maybe these guys need to stop enjoying themselves so much. I would even hazard to say that they need somebody to blow up. This team needs to hate losing, and I mean HATE it, like Kevin Lowe hates Brian Burke.

I don't believe there's any need to panic just yet and no need to shake things up via trade or other roster changes. All that's needed is for this foul funk to permeate and linger just long enough... right up until the point that somebody, or everybody, erupts.

The common excuse that guys are beginning to grip their sticks too tightly isn't nearly enough... I want to see a few guys snapping sticks and slamming them against the walls in frustration... I want to see some emotion.

I won't go so far as to say that losing is a good thing... getting your ass handed to you over and over again is never good for confidence... but somewhere along the way, confidence will no longer matter as the distaste of losing will consume this group, stoke their competitive fires, and get an undeniably talented team back on track.

All it takes is a shared vision or, in this case, a shared hatred.

Sabres 3rd Debut/Tkachuk hit......

2008-11-19T15:52:00.004-05:00

The Buffalo Sabres have announced that they will be wearing their new third jerseys on November 26th. I must say, as a Sabres fan, I freaking love these jerseys. These jerseys will most likely be worn as the Sabres MAIN jersey during the 40th anniversary in the 2010-2011, as stated by Larry Quinn himself.

Brings back wonderful memories.......

Tell me your thoughts on the jersey

AND
Timmy C. will not play tonight due to Keith Tkachuk's massive hit.TIP: Connolly, KEEP YOUR HEAD UP!!!

AJ

Claude Lemieux with China Sharks

2008-11-18T17:27:00.003-05:00

As per Simon Currie:

Claude Lemieux, who had been working out in Arizona to prepare for an NHL comeback attempt, was somehow convinced to play hockey in Asia with the China Sharks. The move happened quickly and he has already suited up for the Chinese team against Anyang Halla in the Asia League games this past weekend and recorded his first point with an assist in the Sunday game.

Looks like Lemieux's dream comeback turtled and went to China.

Kings Rumors

2008-11-18T16:22:00.002-05:00

The Kings are trying to move goaltender Jason Labarbera and center Derek Armstrong. Labarbera is a solid backup and Armstrong is a character player that brings alot personality and emotion.

Rumors from around the league

2008-11-18T16:06:00.005-05:00

- The Ottawa Senators are after a puck-moving defenseman as we all know, the following rumors are swirling around:
Mathhias Ohlund (he has a no-trade clause) for Antoine Vermette
Jordan Leopold and Tyler Arnason for Antoine Vermette and Chris Neil

- Marian Gaborik is more than ever on the trading block according to various sources. The Rangers, the Senators and the Canadiens are rumored to be interested.

- Brendan Shanahan is down to 4 teams. Washington, New Jersey, Boston and Philadelphia.

Rumor: Max Gone at Deadline, Want a Center/D-man in Return

2008-11-18T15:48:00.008-05:00

Breaking rumor for Sabres fans: Maxim Afinogenov may be gone by/at the Trade Deadline.
Eastern Teams In The Running(Check out my earlier post for the list of western conference teams)
Washington is the leader to land Max Afinogenov at this point and it seems that it's only Western Conference teams and the Capitals to land him.

Washington: Michael Nylander, Jeff Schultz, Milan Jurcina

That's what I've been hearing but if I hear more, I'll keep you updated

AJ

Foreword -- Stormy Weather...

2008-11-18T15:23:00.001-05:00

Montreal brings their road-show to Carolina tonight, icing the exact line-up that struggled to keep pace with the injury-riddled St-Louis Blues on Sunday...

Carolina has lost 3 of their last 4, with Eric Staal (whose quasi-justified 7-year, $8.25M/year contract extension was just recently out-crazied by the Avalanche signing Paul Stastny to a 5-year deal worth $6.6M/year... straight out of his entry-level deal) putting up just NO goals and just 1 assist in his last 7 games.

Eric must be looking forward to playing Montreal however, with 8 goals and 8 assists in his last 12 games against the Habs, putting together a strong case as heir-apparent to Erik Cole's 'Canadiens-killer' throne. No matter how poorly things may be going for the 'Canes, no matter how desperately against the wall their backs may be, they seemingly always find a way to work their way past the Canadiens.

If Luke Decock's intuition is right, failure to pull one out against the Habs tonight may be a nail in the coffin of coach Laviolette's suddenly precarious tenure behind the bench in Carolina.

The Canadiens will look to avoid playing a prolonged game of 'Where's Wardo?' by putting some pucks on net in the first ten minutes of play (a feat they have not accomplished in their last few outings), and may look to an unlikely source for some offensive output tonight... Josh Gorges, goalless as a Hab in 97 games now, was provided a stick-sacrificing ritual courtesy of Carey Price, who shredded and scattered the bits of Gorges's stick around the RBC Centre to help break the curse that has kept him off the scoresheet.

Finally, in today's installment of "All is Right with the World", Sergei Samsonov has 0 goals and 3 assists in 18 games and stands at minus-10, allowing Hurricane fans to feel our pain... only they now have him under contract until 2010-11. He is pictured above in his favourite position--the perimeter.

Crombeen claimed off waivers by Blues

2008-11-18T13:13:00.003-05:00

According to the Dallas Morning News, the Blues have claimed forward B. J. Crombeen off waivers from the Stars. Crombeen, who has 5 points in 15 games, was put on waivers yesterday by the Stars.

In other news, Darren McCarthy has been waived by the Red Wings.

Bears playing hockey

2008-11-18T12:44:00.002-05:00

Check this video of real bears playing hockey:

Bears are very skilled and intelligent animals. They should teach a few tricks how to shoot the puck to Sergei Samsonov who has 0 goal this season.

Pisani out 6-8 weeks with a broken ankle

2008-11-18T09:54:00.003-05:00

Oilers forward Fernando Pisani will miss six-eight weeks with a broken ankle.
Pisani broke his ankle when battling the Red Wings Nicklas Lidstrom for the puck in the third period on Monday. The hard-luck Pisani missed the first two months last season with ulcerative colitis.

Pisani had 6 points in 16 games this season.

Bryan Berard signs in Russia

2008-11-18T09:10:00.003-05:00

According to a Russian newspaper, former Islander Bryan Berard signed a one-year contract with Vityaz Chekhov near Moscow.

The Ottawa Senators, 1st overall choice in 1995, was invited to the Flyers training camp on a try-out basis but had to be let go because of cap restrictions. In 619 NHL games, Berard, a power-play specialist, has 323 points.

I'm suprised Berard couldn't find a job in today's goal-starving NHL.

Afterword -- A Near-Disastrous Weekend...

2008-11-17T22:22:00.001-05:00

Montreal was coming off their worst performance of the season in Boston, and was heading into a gut-check weekend with back-to-back match-ups against Philadelphia on Saturday and St-Louis less than 24 hours later.

I was coming off a busy week at work and had planned a nice weekend with my girlfriend to celebrate her birthday, not knowing we'd wind up checking our own guts... as things turned out, it was to be a near-disastrous weekend for us as well as for the Canadiens.

Saturday morning came upon us in our suite at the Bed & Breakfast I had booked, though my girlfriend was not feeling up to par and passed on the breakfast that I was hoping would justify the cost of the room. The day had been set aside for leisurely shopping, though we would visit just one store before Jade gave in to the nausea she'd been experiencing all morning.

Just blocks away from our room, I was given urgent warning to pull over and so I did, stopping just in time to witness Jade vomit downstream (thanks to steady rain and a steep incline near Mount-Royal).

We followed by heading directly to our room, where Jade tried to sleep off her sudden illness and I wrote up my game preview for the Flyers game. True to form, she decided to tough it out and make an appearance at the Irish Embassy, where friends and family were to meet up with us to watch the game.

The Canadiens were playing respectable (if uninspired) hockey through 20 scoreless minutes of play and our company was beginning to loosen up when, nearing the end of the 1st intermission, I suddenly felt a tinge in my stomach. I mentioned to Jade that I wasn't feeling well and motioned towards the bathroom, instantly feeling disoriented. By the time I reached the stairs, I was dizzy and out of breath.

Next thing I knew, I was being picked up off the bottom of the stairs, lifted out of a puddle of my own puke. The bouncer was telling me he had already checked my ribs in case any were broken during my tumble down the flight of stairs, which was apparently overheard by the bar staff. I tried to regain composure, washing myself off in the bathroom, only to be consumed once again with the illness that ravaged me for the remainder of the evening.

Between spells of vomiting, I could overhear the displeasure of the fans at the Irish Embassy, disgusted with the performance of their team. Making my way back to our room in time for the 3rd period, I could overhear on the TV in the other room that they had fallen down 2-0 and were showing few signs of life.

The Habs did very little to appease my condition and, upon watching the seconds tick down on yet another discouraging outing, I was incited to unleash one final torrent of vomit into my trusty garbage can (apologies to the housekeepers).

Still feverish and bruised from head to toe, I watched the Canadiens slip out of St-Louis with a much-needed but far from convincing victory.

The weekend could have been worse, though I'm sure we all wish it would have been much better... well, less nauseating and far less painful, to say the least.

Finally, an enormous thanks to the wonderful staff at the Irish Embassy for their genuine concern and selfless assistance through a scary experience. Your help and hospitality were immeasurably appreciated!

Paul Stastny signed to a 5-year extension

2008-11-17T20:20:00.004-05:00

As per a team release:
DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that it has signed 22-year-old center Paul Stastny to a five-year contract extension beginning with the 2009-2010 season. The deal is worth $6.6M per year.

“Paul has clearly established himself as one of the bright young stars emerging in our game today,” said Avalanche Executive Vice President & General Manager Francois Giguere. “At a young age, he’s demonstrated tremendous skill, vision and composure on the ice and is recognized as one of the most complete players in our league. “We’re pleased that Paul will remain with the Colorado Avalanche franchise long-term. This is another sign of our ownership’s commitment to winning.”

Great move by the Avalanche to lock their #1 centre to a long term contract, especially with Sakic's retirement looming.

Where's Max Going? Possible Rumors

2008-11-17T18:25:00.004-05:00

It seems as if the fans are getting sick of Maxim Afinogenov's lazy play. So is Lindy Ruff. Max has been benched extra time in some games this season because of turnovers, playing well over the usual 1-minute shift, and lack of finish. Lindy made him sit for over 16 minutes, 3 games ago because of a turnover which converted to a goal for the opponent. So, as the season progresses, most fans have been saying, "where will Afinogenov go?" Well, say no more. I have heard that it will be a while before Max is traded, if being traded at all. If Afinogenov was to get traded, in all likelihood he would be heading to a western conference team, as a playoff rental, if anything.
Possible Interested Teams and Possible Players Going Other Way:
-St. Louis: Jay Mckee, Lee Stempniak, Cam Janssen
-Colorado: Marek Svatos, Paul Stastny(package for), Tyler Arnason
-LA: Kyle Calder, Alex Frolov(package for), Michal Handzus
- Vancouver: Kevin Bieksa, Mattias Ohlund(package for), Alexandre Burrows
ALSO
Watch the Columbus Blue Jackets as they are in need of offense(well, and defense, but that really doesn't pertain to this matter) and at a crucial time too which means they will probably make some moves whether it's Afinogenov or whoever

Just some quick hits, leave your thoughts

AJ

Craig Hartsburg on a short leash

2008-11-17T17:31:00.001-05:00

When Bryan Murray hired Craig Hartsburg this summer as the Senators' new head coach, he was pretty confident Hartsburg would turn the Senators around after a horrendous finish last season.

17 games into the 2008-09 season, the Senators are sitting at the bottom on the Eastern Conference, a mere point in front of the lowly Florida Panthers and they are tied with the NY Islanders, after losing both games a back-to-back series against the latter team.

GM Bryan Murray signed Hartsburg to a three-year contract last June to replace John Paddock who had been fired in February. After a torrid start unded Paddock, the Senators stumbled, leading to his firing at the end of February. Murray, who is not known as being a patient general manager, finished the season behind the bench.

This season, the Senators have had troubles scoring goals, averaging only 2.4 goals/game after finishing 2nd overall offensively last season. Secondary scoring has been a problem all season, as Mike Fisher (2 g, 4 a, 6 points), Antoine Vermette (2 g, 2 a, 4 points) and Nick Foligno (2 g, 2a, 4 points, a team worst -11) haven't been able to get going as they are in a season-long slump.

Bryan Murray, because of the salary cap, hasn't been able to add a puck-moving defenseman nor a veteran forward (Mark Parrish anyone?) to help boost his anemic offense.

And since Bryan Murray will not fire himself because of his inability to make a trade, Craig Hartsburg is the likely scapegoat if the players don't turn things around.

Tonight in Madison Square Garden, the Cash line (Spezza, Alfredsson and Healtey) will be reunited in order to sparkplug a team that has only scored 12 goals in November (the Sens are 2-4-1 in 7 games). Rearguard Brendan Bell has also been recalled from Binghampton to help with the powerplay and the transition game.

This week will be critical for Craig Hartsburg as the Senators face the Rangers in New York tonight, before they host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday and those same Rangers on Saturday night.

Should his team doesn't manage to earn 4 points out of 6, look for Bryan Murray to pull the trigger and let Craig Hartsburg go. The Senators have 4 days off next week...

Meet Erik Ersberg

2008-11-17T13:26:00.002-05:00

Erik Ersberg has emerged as the Kings new #1 goalie. The LA Kings were looking for a starting goalie in Jason Labarbera and Jonathan Bernier but Labarbera has been grossly outplayed by Ersberg and Bernier is going to spend the season in Manchester. It has taken training camp, preseason and 10 regular season games to convince head coach Terry Murray that Ersberg is ready for the starting role and he is not disappointing.

In 9 games this season Ersberg is 4-3-1, 1.96 GAA and .910 sv%. Last season he played in 14 games posting a 6-5 record with a 2.48 GGA and .927 sv%. He started in back to back games this week, against Nashville on Saturday and the Ducks on Sunday. Thats a huge confidence boost for the youngster and it tells the fans they have a new starting goalie.

Ersberg was signed by the Kings as a unrestricted free agent in 2007 after playing in the Swedish Elite League and spent a short 30 games on the Kings minor league affiliate, Manchester, before being called up to the big show.

Fantasy Tip - If you dont have a solid #1 starter or if your points are suffering because of injuries (Brodeur, Nabokov), Ersberg is a diamond in the ruff. He will start a majority of games and the Kings defense has been exceptional.

Andy McDonald out 8 weeks

2008-11-17T11:35:00.003-05:00

Blues forward Andy McDonald will be out for about 8 weeks after he suffered a broken ankle in yesterday's game against the Montreal Canadiens.

McDonald was having a great season with six goals and a team-leading 18 points in his first 16 games. He is slated to have an MRI on Monday.

Ference out around 8 weeks

2008-11-16T14:08:00.001-05:00

Bruins' defenseman Andrew Ference, who took an Andrei Markov shot off the leg last Thursday night, has a broken tibia and will be lost for an estimated 6-9 weeks, creating a hole on the Bruins defense. Matt Hunwick who has been a healthy scratch the past few games is expected to take Ference's place.

Ducks Lose Beauchemin For Six Months

2008-11-16T14:03:00.002-05:00

Ducks d-man Francois Beauchemin suffered a torn left anterior cruciate ligament in the third period of Friday’s 4-3 loss to Nashville and is expected to miss around six months of action.

He underwent an MRI on yesterday which revealed the full extent of the injury. Beauchemin appeared in 18 games with Anaheim this season and scored five points, including four goals and one assist.

Right winger Bobby Ryan and defenceman Brett Festerling were both called up in Beauchemin’s absence. Festerling will try to step into Beauchemin's spot and help the Ducks blueline.

Komisarek out 1 week with arm injury

2008-11-16T13:58:00.003-05:00

Mike Komisarek injured his right arm in Thursday's lopsided loss against the Bruins when he fought Milan Lucic to spark his hapless Habs. Komisarek is scheduled to meet with an arm specialist this week. He will likely miss the Canadiens 3-game road trip.

Update: Komisarek is out with a dislocated shoulder. He will likely out more than one week. Stay tuned.

Stars send Boucher to Penguins

2008-11-16T13:46:00.003-05:00

The Dallas Stars have traded rearguard Philippe Boucher to the Pittsburgh Penguins for veteran defenseman Darryl Sydor. Sydor played for the Stars during 8 seasons and won a Stanley Cup with them. In 8 games this season, Sydor had 2 pts.

In 16 games this season, Boucher had 3 points. He was in his 6th season in Dallas. Boucher, a right handed shooter, should help Pittsburgh powerplay.

Shanny To Sign With Devils

2008-11-15T22:06:00.000-05:00

According to a source the New Jersey Devils will win the Brendan Shanahan Sweepstakes.

Foreword -- No Love for Familiar Foes...

2008-11-15T16:56:00.001-05:00

For the first time since the Canadiens were eliminated from the playoffs last Spring, the Philadelphia Flyers visit Montreal tonight.

The Canadiens are coming off an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins, while Philadelphia has been struggling out of the gate, posting a 5-6-4 record to date. If you think things have been getting hairy here in Montreal after a couple dismal performances and a 9-3-2 record, imagine what must have been said during Philadelphia's team-meeting, which they called in place of their scheduled practice yesterday morning in Verdun.

These teams have played some wickedly entertaining games in the past couple seasons--Montreal's speed against Philly's toughness--though its impossible to guess which two teams you are going to see tonight.

Will Montreal effectively utilize the speedy, skilled transition game that allowed them to dominate the Senators on Tuesday, or will they resemble the soft, sluggish and uninspired club that never really showed up in Toronto and Boston?

Will Philadelphia come out with the smashmouth mentality and explosive firepower that has been the trademark of the Flyers, or will they be exposed as the defensively inept and uncharacteristically disorganized club that needed 7 games to record their first win.

Photos at Habs Inside/Out's photo gallery may provide a hint as to Montreal's performance tonight: images from yesterday's practice session do not show a single smile... photos taken during practices prior to Columbus/Toronto and Boston were full of happy Habs, including this gem of Robert Lang. Happy Habs are bad Habs... will the reverse apply? One thing is (hopefully) for sure... with all the hullabaloo surrounding Georges Laraque's non-action so far this season (and don't think for a minute that he doesn't know it), the slightest affront by a Flyer tonight will awaken the big man from his slumber to re-assert himself as the Heavyweight Champion of the World... but then, maybe no affront is needed...

The All-Star Voting Debacle

2008-11-15T09:41:00.001-05:00

With “100” emblazoned across every conceivable item of memorabilia lest the ice at the Bell Center there is undeniable pomp and pride being wagered at the Canadiens centennial and why not. With North American sports so often criticized for their lack of heritage a storied and historic franchise like the Montreal Canadiens with their wealth of traditions can do nothing if not enrich the NHL itself.

Indeed the NHL has taken unprecedented steps to accommodate its most iconic property in this landmark year allowing the dual hosting of the 2009 NHL All Star game as well as the 2009 NHL entry draft.

Naturally the season was shaping up to be a spectacle with the Habitants taking center stage and even the most partisan rival would find it hard to grumble. Unfortunately the same regard cannot be shared with the current bias in the preliminary all star voting.

Baseball fans first received the all star vote in 1947. Utilizing a simple at-the-gates ballot slip procedure, the all star election remained a populist mechanism of the MLB to draw fan participation and subsequent interest into the game. Whilst the tactic worked for a decade, the system quickly collapsed in 1957 with the ballot box stuffing scandal in which 7 Cincinnati Reds were elected by virtue of pre rendered cards in the Cincinnati Enquirer alongside reports of bartenders refusing drinks to none Reds voters. Forced to lose face and replace players, it took the MLB a further 12 years until it would entrust the integrity of its showcase game to the fans again.

Despite the rigors experienced by the MLB, the fan vote was brought into the NHL equation in 1986 amidst a down turn in media interest in the all star event. Instituted in much the same way as the MLB had done in 1947, the vote remained an innocent enough marketing tool for a game perceived as ever more meaningless in the era of multi million dollar contracts.

Regardless the fan vote continued to thrive throughout the 80’s and early 90’s, even if the event didn’t and evolution came in the form of digital online voting once more changing the complexion of fan interaction towards the end of the 90’s. Now any supporter with a computer and an internet connection could cast their choices with minimal fuss, opening up the All Star game to an even greater audience. The move was not without its risks however, where it was possible to issue constraints on a pen and paper system within reasonable margins of debate, the open online system became a prime target for automated voting, rigging and bot activity skewing numbers intolerably. Indeed whilst the MLB was struggling with its own online teething problems in the form of the Nomar Garciaparra incident in 1999, the NHL was doing little to curtail anomalous online voting, further complicating mattes with the inauguration of the multiple voting procedure in 2006.

What resulted was the embarrassing Rory Fitzpatrick fiasco a year later when a ground swell of fans tried to get the unfashionable defensive defenseman into the All Star line up using various online avenues such as social networking sites, YouTube and pop up advertising alongside more traditional t-shirts and banner campaigning. Whilst the “Vote for Rory” movement was an innocent enough mockery of the NHL’s multiple voting system, the leagues ham fisted dumping of Fitzpatrick votes in light of automated balloting created an statistical imbalance between the Conferences ballots as well as fierce disgruntlement. In the meantime Slate web magazine noted that the automated Rory voting was no more a peculiarity than the unusual voting patterns enjoyed by underachieving San Jose Sharks nominees since 1999 causing a considerable loss of integrity for the All Star event and the league, particularly as the purported 100,000 votes for Fitzpatrick removed from the final tallies robbed the now infamous Canucks blueliner of first place in the Western Conference defensemen poll by proxy a place in the the game. The aftermath left considerable ill feeling between a large number of supporters and NHLfigureheads who had spoken against the genuine “Vote for Rory” campaign whom after the controversy, transcended the initial sending up of the NHL system into a more meaningful argument for the inclusion of a hardworking veteran player.

It was later noted that the NHL had shown little regard for security with a CAPTCHA system with limited randomizations allowing a staunch Rory Fitzpatrick supporter to draw up a program in short time to circumvent the failsafe. Whilst one would assume the league had learnt from its own disastrous shortcomings two years ago, early voting for the 2009 All Star game in Montreal has shown a worrying bias towards the six Canadiens players on the ballot. Currently Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev and Alex Tanguay lead out the polls for Eastern Conference forwards by more than 100,000 votes over Washington Capitals ever popular Alex Ovechkin and current scoring leader Alex Semin. To put it into perspective, Kovalev currently has 14 points on the season tying him for 47th in league scoring whilst Semin has 27 points for 1st. Meanwhile Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek lead out Boston’s giant all star d-man Zdeno Chara by 130,000 and Carey Price has an enormous lead for the starting goaltender position by 137,000 votes over Rangers net minder Henrik Lundqvist. Were voting to end today the complete Eastern Conference starting line up would be Montreal Canadiens, an unparalleled occurrence.

Where the victors of the MLB’s All Star game take home advantage in the World Series adding some spice to the event, many hockey fans are left questioning the consequences of the NHL All Star game in light of the post-lockout league. The game has been viewed as a dull no hitting goal fest that in no way depicts or showcases the true drama of the NHL for many years and the latest voting problems are going to add fuel to the fire of an increasing corner of the hockey world who would be happy to see the event canned altogether.

This leaves the NHL with precarious decision making in the coming days. Whilst voting has been opened early presumably with one eye on potential rigging, the sheer number of Canadiens elect, as well as the almost insurmountable figures, mean the NHL face the real possibility of having to shut the vote down or reset, a move the pragmatic Fitzpatrick felt the league should have done for the 2007 edition. Indeed one Canadiens web forum implored fans to use a program called Greasemonkey to auto vote the Canadiens on the ballot, again circumventing the NHL’s flawed use of CAPTCHA and illustrating an early lack of veracity in the figures.

There are now obvious feelings of disinterest surrounding this season’s All-Star game, not least from fans of the other 14 teams that make up the Eastern Conference. Whilst the NHL has begun monitoring the vote it awaits to be seen if the league will intervene and rain on the parade of the franchise it has done so much to promote in its centennial year. The other option seems to be allow the vote to run as it has done, broken and partisan, providing a massive draw for the home fans of Montreal. However if the league do choose to take a back seat it will not only face the ire of Fitzpatrick supporters whom became a sizeable crowd of disenchanted fans following 2007, but also supporters of every other team that will see this as another failure in the increasing annual debacle that is the All Star event. Furthermore if this seasons election are to be seen as yet another embarrassment it could provide a death blow for the All-Star game heading into the 2010 Winter Olympics break with a slew of scorned fans unlikely to buy into the event no matter its location in 2011. What began as a marketing scheme for an event that receives a mixed response at best has now put the NHL in a perilous PR position and many are left wondering why the league has allowed it to happen again?

Barry Melrose Fired

2008-11-14T17:15:00.003-05:00

The Tampa Bay Lightning have just announced that Barry Melrose has been relieved of head coaching duties after just 15 games in charge. Rick Tocchet will take over on an interim basis.
http://lightning.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=392428&page=NewsPage&service=page

Thomas Pock receives 5-game suspension

2008-11-14T16:05:00.003-05:00

Pock will be suspended without pay by the NHL for an elbow he threw out to forward Ryan Shannon during yesterday's game between the Islanders and the Senators.

Pock received a 5-minute major for elbowing on the play as well as a game misconduct.

It's already the 3rd suspension handed this week by the NHL after Tom Kostopoulos and Jarkko Ruutu.

Pock has 2 points in 15 games for the Islanders this season after being claimed off waivers from the Rangers.

CHL update

2008-11-14T15:46:00.005-05:00

Top 10 ranked CHL teams after 9 weeks:

1. Moncton Wildcats
2. Windsor Spitfires
3. Vancouver Giants
4. Shawinigan Cataractes
5. Calgary Hitmen
6. London Knights
7. Quebec Remparts
8. Tri-City Americans
9. Bampton Battalion
10. Spokane Chiefs

Team 990

2008-11-14T13:37:00.005-05:00

Hey everyone catch me on the radio tomorrow night around 9:20pm et on Montreal's Team 990 The NHL Tonight Show. I will be doing a West Coast Upadate !!! We will be discussing the Coyotes, Ducks, Stars, Canucks, Kings, Aves, Sharks, ext.

You can list live on Team 990's website

www.team990.com

Josh The King

Caps news: Nylander a healthy scratch

2008-11-14T11:46:00.005-05:00

Centre Michael Nylander will be a healthy scratch for tonight's game against the Brodeur-less Devils. Nylander, who's been playing very poorly recently with only 1 assist in the past 7 games, is rumored to be targeted by the Black Hawks who are looking for depth at centre.

Nylander has a no-trade clause, but he still owns a house in Chicago which could be one of the few cities to where he would agree to lift his NTC.

Sergei Fedorov is still bothered by an ankle injury and won't play during the weekend's games. He expects to come back next week.

Defenseman Shaone Morrison will alo miss tonight's game due ton an injury.

Jose Theodore will be in goal tonight. Scott Clemmensen will in goal for New Jersey.

On a side note the Capitals have signed 2008 first round draft pick John Carlson to a three-year entry level contract.

Bad blood brewing between Lecavalier and Melrose

2008-11-14T11:29:00.008-05:00

After signing a 11-year, $85-million contract extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Lecavalier believed he would be happy in Tampa Bay for the rest of his career.

However, everything changed later during the summer as Barry Melrose became the new head coach of the Lightning after a 13-year hiatus away from an NHL bench.

After yesterday's loss to the Red Wings, the Bolt has played 16 games, posting a 5-7-4 record for 14 points, 4 points out of a playoffs spot. Meanwhile the Lightning offense is dead last in the NHL with a mere 2.02 goals per game. Even the defensive-minded Panthers and Devils scored more goals than Tampa Bay.

Lecavalier only has 6 goals and 11 points in 16 games this season, a projected 56-point season for Vinny, far from the 92-point and 108 point seasons he posted the past 2 years.

I watched a few Lightning games this season and Lecavalier is not putting the second effort this year, he's on the cruise control. He doesn't hit, doesn't go to the net, doesn't forecheck with energy and makes bad decisions with and without the puck.

He only played 16:32 minutes in yesterday's game vs the Stanley Cup champions. Less time than players like Mark Recchi and Radim Vrbata, while Martin St. Louis and Vaclav Prospal played around 23 mins each.

Lecavalier is averaging only 19:31 of ice time this season compared to 22:57 last season under John Tortorella. Lecavalier criticized Melrose earlier this season for not playing his star players enough. Melrose said before the season that he wanted to ease the load on his veteran stars Lecavalier, St. Louis and Prospal.

Lecavalier said he needs to play top minutes to be effective and in his game. When he doesn't play enough, he doesn't find his groove and therefore he is not producing offensively.

Melrose is a very stubborn coach. The Lightning is not winning, not scoring goals, and is not showing a good effort on most nights, especially on the road, and Melrose keeps using the same game plan. He's only playing top rookie Steven Stamkos 11:47 minutes despite a lack of offensive depth. Evgeny Arthukin, Adam Hall and Radim Vrbata are not the solution to improve the offensive production.

After Sunday's game at Carolina, the Lighting will play 4 consecutive games at home against Florida, Nashville, New Jersey and the NY Rangers. If they don't start winning, Brian Lawton could very well show the door to Barry Melrose before things get too ugly in Tampa Bay.

Kevin Bieska out 2 weeks with broken foot

2008-11-14T09:27:00.002-05:00

Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa is expected to miss two weeks with a fractured left foot, according to a published report on Thursday.

Bieksa was injured by Michel Ouellet shot during their 4-0 victory over Nashville.

The 27 year-old defenseman has 3 goals and 11 points in 13 games this year with the Canucks.

absent

2008-11-14T07:55:00.002-05:00

Hey Guys I will be most likely missing in action for the next couple days unless I can find a usable computer in the town of Chicoutimi.

Go Sags Go,
Scotty

Habs players lead All-star ballot thanks to a robot

2008-11-14T00:31:00.002-05:00

From Kukla's Korner.

Here’s one of the many perils of using a 100% digital voting process for the all-star game.

We’ve all seen how the Habs are crushing the ballot boxes with homer votes. But it isn’t that they’re really energetic and enthusiastic about voting. Some clever kids in Montréal have devised a javascript voting robot.

Ingenious? You bet. In “the spirit of the thing”? Absolutely not.

It’s a completely ludicrous process anyway.

Afterword & Analysis -- Ewww...

2008-11-13T23:00:00.001-05:00

It pains me to write this right now, but not as much as it hurt to watch what just went down...

We saw what this team is capable of against Ottawa, and thought performances like the one against Toronto were mere aberrations...

We were wrong.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SETTING: TD Banknorth Garden in Boston to 16,816 fans, many of whom looked stunned and near-suicidal in their bleu-blanc-rouge.

PLOT: I had predicted the game would resemble Mike Komisarek and Milan Lucic colliding at full speed... little did I know, the most notable collisions between the two would be Lucic's fist connecting with Komisarek's face, and the game played out more like a fat kid against a twinkie. Montreal looked absolutely listless, uninterested and uncompetitive. Boston didn't exactly look like a group of superstars, but did enough to humiliate the Canadiens from start to finish.

HEROES: Few and far between on the Montreal side, though Saku Koivu, Francis Bouillon and Guillaume Latendresse in particular appeared as though they at least cared... a little. The rest of the team's greatest contribution? Making Shawn Thornton, Marco Sturm and Stephane Yelle look like the second coming of the Legion of Doom.

ANTAGONISTS: Anybody wearing black and yellow, but mostly Milan Lucic... what can I say about this character? I'm quite certain I would love to have him on my team, but playing for the Bruins, he shall heretofore be the focus of Habs fan hatred for the duration of his career, and maybe longer... the big galoot runs all over the opposition and runs his mouth all night long with a perennial smirk on his face. Give him the spotlight after a goal or a fight and he comes across like a jacked-up wrestler after one too many Red Bulls. Funny how quiet he was when Laraque wanted words with him earlier in the game... Lucic voodoo dolls available soon.

CLIMAX: Price's penalty for 'playing the puck in the restricted zone' (the first time I've seen that call)? It became rather clear following the Dandenault-Komisarek misstep that led to the B's first goal and a couple more deflating goals that it was gonna be 'one of those nights'. The penalty to Price was just the nail in the coffin.

DÉNOUEMENT: It was a long, painful unwinding, from the end of the first period to the final siren... Komisarek, you may have noticed, did not play again following his fight with Lucic. Barring an injury (oh please, no), his absence was a message from Carbonneau, who does not want his #2 defenceman goaded into fighting; that's not Komisarek's responsibility anymore.

THEMES: Humiliation, deja vu (Re: Toronto), inconsistent efforts... 4 straight listless outings on the road now. The Canadiens didn't lose like this when they were bad, so why now? Still only one line performing, and the Carbo-carousel of line juggling has officially begun. Also, why is Laraque so important to this team if nobody will fight him? Komisarek and Bouillon shouldn't have to do that job anymore.

Some of the rest is too hard to talk about right now... on to the next--Philly on Saturday, and a good test for a team struggling to assert itself.

Talkcast TONIGHT at 7 PM

2008-11-13T17:58:00.002-05:00

http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/27965

Sidenote From Scotty:

BLUES SEND ALEX PIETRANGELO TO NIAGARA ICE DOGS OF THE OHL

New Guy....

2008-11-13T17:55:00.003-05:00

Hey! My name is Nikita Vayobov and I currently reside in Columbus, Ohio. I'm a huuuge fan of Russian players, and the CBJ. Those are the main two things I will be posting a lot, but I will be posting things about the KHL every now and again. Now I'm going to give you a couple opinions of mine, but fairly reasonable. Alexander Ovechkin is my pick for the best player. Nikita Filatov for the best prospect not playing in the NHL yet....and I honestly think the Blue Jackets will make the playoffs. They didn't start out that great, but now they're performing well now that the players are starting to gell, and getting used to one another. I may seem a bit biast on my posts here regarding my affiliation with the CBJ, but I don't think that I will continue that, just two things that could very well be true. Thats it for now, but I will continue posting and I hope you all will continue reading on this website!

TALKCAST TONIGHT

2008-11-13T17:47:00.002-05:00

SHORT NOTICE, Sorry

HOCKEYBUMS TALKCAST TONIGHT AT 7:00pm EASTERN TIME...1 hour 10 minutes from now.

JOIN US!

Hockey Bums on Facebook

2008-11-13T17:20:00.004-05:00

Hockey Bums is now on Facebook!!
It's a good way to spread the word about Hockey Bums and talk about hockey!
It's also a good way to find other hockey fans from you area and expand the Hockey Bums community locally.

Visit us at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=53075421440&ref=nf

Fred
Moderator

Foreword -- Bad Blood A'Bruin..

2008-11-13T15:53:00.001-05:00

Remember way back when the Bruins last defeated the Canadiens in the regular season?

Yeah, neither do I... I can hardly remember what I did last weekend, let alone what happened in March of 2007.

Still, the Bruins keep coming back for more... and yet, of late, these match-ups have proven less and less preordained and much more interesting.

Boston gave Montreal a very rude awakening last spring, dragging them to a deciding game 7 of their opening round playoff series after losing all 8 regular season games to les Glorieux (most of them convincingly). The two teams followed a similar arc in their first encounter this season, with Montreal jumping out to an early 3-0 lead then hanging on for dear life as they defeated the Bruins 4-3 in a shootout.

To say the Habs and Bruins don't get along would be an understatement... anybody who believes Montreal/Toronto currently amount to anything remotely resembling a true rivalry obviously has not seen a Habs/Bruins game in the last couple years.

The whole thing really goes to show, overloading the schedule with intra-divisional matches has very little to do with generating rivalries in the NHL (which was the league's justification for having to bear 8 games a year against the Leafs); playoff battles (especially long ones) are what make teams genuinely dislike each other. Montreal upended a heavily favoured Boston squad in the first rounds of both the 2002 and 2004 playoffs (in 6 and 7 games, respectively), then defeated the 8th seed Bruins in 7 games last year.

Bad blood abounds in these matchups, fueled most recently by animosity between Shawn Thornton and Steve Bégin (after fracturing Marc Savard's back last season) and subsequently Thornton and Georges Laraque (who are very likely to rekindle their love affair this evening).

Need more cause for fireworks? You've also got Lucic/Komisarek (who compete with Ovechkin/Malkin for most obvious mutual-dislike in the league), and Claude Julien and Michael Ryder playing against their former team, one with deserving beef against the Canadiens organization and one having merited the ire of Hab fans everywhere.

Tonight's game, like those that preceded it, promises to be rough, nasty and full of entertainment value. It should also be a hell of a goaltending duel between Carey Price (who currently leads All-Star balloting by a landslide) and Tim Thomas (who sits second as a 'write-in' candidate after being snubbed by the NHL once again... but will be named to the team based on performance anyways, so why is everybody so up in arms about this crap all over again?).

The Canadiens will look to continue their dominance against the Bruins and stretch their regular season unbeaten streak to 13 games... the Bruins will do everything in their power to stop it.

The resulting game ought to resemble Mike Komisarek and Milan Lucic colliding at full speed.

Lasse Kukkonen on waivers

2008-11-13T15:14:00.002-05:00

Tim Pinnacio reports the Philadelphia Flyers have placed defenseman Lasse Kukkonen on waivers in a move GM Paul Holmgren explained was done to free up cap space should he have to recall another forward. The move would clear about $875K from the Flyers cap space.

Scotty's Take: This could be freeing up for Shanahan as the Flyers are in the run to.

Around the league

2008-11-13T09:22:00.003-05:00

- The Senators have recalled forward Ryan Shannon to replace Jarkko Ruutu who is suspended for the games.
- The Thrashers have recalled goalie Ondrej Pavelec as Kari Lehtonen hurt his back. He is once again injured...
- Daniel Briere will miss at least three games because of a groin pull, which is not related to the abdominal surgery he underwent recently.
- Michel Ouellet was sent back to the AHL by the Canucks after going scoreless in 3 games.
- Flames' defenseman Jim Vandermeer will be sidelined 6-8 weeks with a broken ankle. Vandermeer sustained the injury during the warm-up before November 6th game against Nashville as he was hit by a puck.
- The Blue Jackets have activated goalie Pascal Leclaire from the injury list.

Tonight's matchup

2008-11-12T19:58:00.002-05:00

Boston Bruins (8-3-3) at Chicago BlackHawks (7-3-3) This original 6 matchup will be very interesting as these two teams have been playing very well lately. Tim Thomas and Nikolai Khabibulin will be in goals.

Marc Savard with 16 points for Boston (6 goals) and Patrick Kane with 18 points (7 goals) for Chicago are the scoring leaders for their respective teams.

Michael Ryder has to start scoring goals if the Bruins want to keep going. With only 2 goals in 14 games, Ryder is proving everyone right now that he does not deserve the big contract Bruins' GM Chiarelli gave him this summer.

Prediction: Hawks win it 5-2 with 3 points by Toews.

Burke To East Coast?

2008-11-12T18:32:00.001-05:00

After the press conference its sounds as though Brian Burke WILL be heading to the East Coast. He wants to see his kids more often and is tired of going back and forth....west coast to east coast. LET THE TO LEAFS RUMORS BEGIN!

TSN GUYS (PIERRE MCGUIRE,DARREN DREGER AND BOB MCKENZIE) ARE QUICK TO POINT OUT THAT THIS IS NO SLAM DUNK. Mckenzie is saying at least a week before anything substantial goes down.

VOTE FOR >>>>>????

2008-11-12T17:01:00.003-05:00

HEY guys NHL ALL-STAR GAME FAN BALLOTING HAS KICKED OFF TODAY....HOCKEYBUMS WOULD LIKE TO ADOPT A WILD CARD FOR EXAMPLE RECENT YEARS: Vote For Rory(Fitzpatrick) or Vote For Wade(Belak).... HELP US FIND A WILDCARD:

anyone....

Also start voting at vote.nhl.com NOW!

Scotty

GIVE A GOOD PICK: Perry,Sharp,Keith

STUPID/FUNNY PICK: Belak, Fitzpatrick...

Crazy goal by Mike Ribeiro

2008-11-12T15:41:00.003-05:00

For those who haven't seen it yet, here's the shootout goal scored by Ribeiro in Dallas' 3-2 OT loss to the Kings:

Veteran defenseman Keith Carney retires

2008-11-12T15:37:00.003-05:00

After 17 years in NHL veteran Keith Carney hangs his skates. In 1,018 games, he notched 45 goals and 228 points. He played for Minnesota, Vancouver, Phoenix, Anaheim, Buffalo and Chicago. He reached the Stanley Cup final with the Mighty Ducks in 2003.

Brendan Morrow will not be suspended

2008-11-12T15:12:00.003-05:00

Dustin Brown received a five-minute boarding penalty and a game misconduct for checking Mike Ribeiro into the boards after the Dallas center took a slap slot from the right point that left him off balance on the follow-through during yesterday's game between the Stars and the Kings.

Morrow then initiated a fight with Brown that resulted in an instigator penalty and a game misconduct for Morrow. The fight happened with 1 minute left to the game.

The NHL has rescinded its one game suspension to Brenden Morrow. Morrow was set to receive an automatic one game suspension for drawing an instigator penalty on Brown. The league also rescinded the automatic $10,000 fine to coach Dave Tippett.

Jarkko Ruutu suspended 2 games

2008-11-12T14:59:00.005-05:00

Ottawa forward Jarkko Ruutu has been been suspended 2 games without pay by the NHL for his blindsided hit on Montreal Maxim Lapierre. Ruutu delivered an elbow to his head.

Lapierre did not appear to suffer any injury on the play and Ruutu was assessed a two-minute minor for charging. He had to hustle Francis Bouillon right after the play to pay for his dirty hit. Both players received major penalties.

Ruutu was later assessed a 10-minute misconduct with less than 10 minutes to the game. He waved to the crowd as he left the ice:

BREAKING NEWS: BURKE OUT AS DUCKS GM

2008-11-12T13:45:00.008-05:00

Anaheim Ducks General Manager Brian Burke is "out", and Bob Murray will be his replacement, according to TSN.ca

Burke refused to accept the organization's contract extension they offered to him a short time ago. His reasoning behind the move seems to be family motivated.

LIVE BURKE NEWS UPDATES ALL DAY LONG HERE ON HOCKEY-BUMS

4:05PM Josh is speculating that the Kings could be in the mix to land Brian Burke when he starts fielding offers from other teams. The Leafs are probably the likeliable landing spot for, although teams would ditch their GMs to go after Burke.

I'm not sure about the KIngs, because if he has family issues around Anaheim, maybe LA wouldn't be a viable spot then.

4:00PM Bob Murray seems very esctatic to be taking on his new role, and has nothing but respect for the man who brought him to Anaheim (Burke).

1:58PM Sportsnet (Canada) says that the press conference will be issued at 12:30 PT, and the only thing they mention is that the conference is related to the general manager position. TSN has broke the news that the GM switch between Burke and Murray is indeed occuring.

1:54PM: We have our Josh the King trying to get the latest info for you all, as to why this is occuring and if it has anything to do with any opportunity to become the Leafs GM

1:52PM: TSN'S latest briefing:

The Anaheim Ducks have called a news conference for this afternoon to
announce that Bob Murray is taking over as general manager for Brian Burke.

More info as it comes in.

Literal Analysis -- "Almost Perfect"...

2008-11-12T13:13:00.001-05:00

So what does a die-hard Habs fan with an English Lit. degree and perhaps too much time on his hands do?

1. Eat, Sleep and Breathe the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge...

2. Devote himself to the cause of producing totally unnecessary blogs about his beloved Canadiens (but hey, at least I'm beginning to make use of that lengthy and expensive education!)...

3. 'Borrow' ideas from other writers (what do you think English Lit. is all about?)... thanks to Four Habs Fans for the contextual bullet-point inspiration (check out their Game Previews), by the way...

4. Attempt to be clever by molding said 'borrowed' ideas into a format that echoes his own background of literary study while putting a previously unseen spin on recaps of games that have already been covered by umpteen different media outlets...

So with that being said, welcome one and all to the first of many 'Literal Analyses' of the night that was in Hab-land... you'll notice I've structured my past two entries in a similarly literary fashion, providing a 'Foreword' and 'Afterword' for last night's game.

With a little tinkering and maybe some luck, I hope my current vision of a Coles Notes style synopsis of games will translate effectively... anyways, here goes:

. . . . . . . . . .

SETTING: Montreal's Bell Centre, to its usual capacity crowd of 21,273 fans.

PLOT: Two teams looking to put it all together clashed in a fast, skilled and physical affair last night, with the Canadiens emerging victorious after playing what was easily their most complete game of the 2008-09 season. Montreal battled for every puck, from end to end, and got the better of an Ottawa club that also competed very hard from start to finish.

HEROES: Chris Higgins scored his first career NHL hat-trick, skating hard and making the most of his opportunities with 3 highlight-reel goals (2 of which were on breakaways). Carey Price was perfect, stopping 28 shots for his first shutout of the season, and had to be especially sharp against Ottawa's Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley in particular, who were both buzzing around the Canadiens' net all night long. Finally, the Montreal Media got the in-game 3-Star Selection exactly right by naming Josh Gorges the night's 3rd Star; Gorges was an absolute rock on the blueline last night, making great one-on-one plays, winning battles, completing smart and effective passes out of his own end, and aggressively defending his blue-line. Gorges simply epitomized the Canadiens' effort last night, and was rightfully recognized for it.

ANTAGONISTS: Jarkko Ruutu finished the game with 9 PIM, a 10-minute misconduct and a failed attempt at decapitating Maxime Lapierre... the hit is currently under review by league officials. Following his ejection from the game with 8 minutes remaining in the 3rd, Ruutu waved goodbye to Montreal fans, confirming earlier suspicions that he is in fact completely devoid of class. Aside from this, Ottawa's persistent crashing of the net and Montreal's aggressive forecheck were equally disconcerting for the opposing team.

CLIMAX: Though a high-intensity affair from start to finish, Montreal's penalty kill following Robert Lang's delay-of-game penalty in the latter half of the second period should be singled out as the tipping point in this contest. Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev, on a rare shift together, were brilliant with the puck and controlled the play in Ottawa's zone to the thunderous approval of the Bell Centre faithful. Immediately following the conclusion of Lang's penalty, Higgins potted a pretty feed from Sergei Kostitsyn to make the score 2-0 and take control of the game's momentum for good.

DÉNOUEMENT: Guillaume Latendresse threw a dart into the top corner off a draw at the 15:39 mark of the 2nd period, and Montreal never let up with a commanding lead, finishing with a 4-0 win after Higgins' third marker late in the final frame.

THEMES: Following their dismal performances in Columbus and Toronto, Montreal's players absorbed the coaching staff's message and took it upon themselves to right the ship. Hard work and discipline ruled the day as the Canadiens managed to out-skate and out-will the Ottawa Senators. The Habs wanted this one, and it showed, as they put together their best 60-minutes of the season.

Afterword -- A Deserving Victory...

2008-11-11T22:35:00.001-05:00

All eyes were on the Canadiens in the Bell Centre this evening, every one of them waiting to see how the team would respond after a dismal showing in Toronto this past Saturday.

Far from disappointing, the Canadiens treated their hometown faithful (in their first opportunity to see the Habs on home ice in over two weeks) to the best 60 minutes of hockey the club has pieced together all season long.

Montreal came flying out of the gate and looked like the strong, skilled team that most prognosticators have been telling us all about. Opening the scoring midway through the first frame with a short-handed goal after reeling in Saku Koivu's hail-mary pass, Christopher Higgins completed his first career hat-trick late in the third period with another spectacular breakaway goal.

Ottawa, too, put together a solid game, but continued to suffer from a lack of secondary offense and could not solve Carey Price on a night in which the 21 year old goaltender was simply spectacular. Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley were both very good, but could not slip one past the determined Price.

At the end of the day, Montreal's crisp puck-moving and aggressive physical play outmatched Ottawa in the first of 6 (and maybe more, heading into May or June) battles between the two teams this season. As expected, both teams were looking to make an early statement and played a very hard-fought and amazingly entertaining game.

By a slimmer margin than the final score would lead you to believe, Montreal was the better team tonight and for the first time in some time, deserved to win.

Kings New 3rd Jersey Logo

2008-11-11T18:23:00.004-05:00

This jacket will be worn by the Kings cheer girls. The logo is what will be on a all black jersey. They sure could have done better.

Oilers claim Boulerice off waivers

2008-11-11T18:17:00.002-05:00

From the Edmonton Oilers:

General Manager Steve Tambellini announced today that the Edmonton Oilers have claimed forward Jesse Boulerice off waivers from the Colorado Avalanche and have placed left winger Steve MacIntyre on the NHL Injured Reserve List. [...]

Boulerice has played 170 NHL games with Philadelphia, Carolina and St. Louis, scoring 8-2-10 with 333 penalty minutes. He spent his first full season in the NHL with Carolina in 2002-03 and played a career-high 76 games with the Hurricanes in 2003-04.

Blake Scratched Again

2008-11-11T17:04:00.002-05:00

The Toronto Maple Leafs have scratched forward Jason Blake for the 2nd time this season. He reportedly left the arena absolutely disgusted. I must say that he's had a chance to redeem himself after the first healthy scratch and in my opinion he has not. What do you leaf fans think because in my opinion he deserves it and Ron Wilson is doing the right thing.

Foreword -- Montreal vs. Ottawa...

2008-11-11T17:00:00.001-05:00

For the first time this season, division rivals Montreal and Ottawa will face off against one another tonight at the Bell Centre.

Montreal goes into the game coming off of a very disappointing weekend that saw them fall to Columbus in a shootout then Toronto, the following night, in what coach, Guy Carbonneau, has called the most embarrassing game he has been a part of in his 2 1/2 years behind the bench of the Canadiens.

Ottawa enters tonight's contest after losing to Carolina last Friday, but have been very hot of late (4-1-1 in their last 6 games) in front of surprise standout starter, Alex Auld, who currently leads the league in GAA.

Both teams will ice a healthy roster tonight, though neither has seen consistent production from their top players so far in this young season:

- For Ottawa, Dany Heatley continues to score goals like they're going out of style, though Jason Spezza has been struggling with only 1 point in his last 5 games. The Senators have been consistently plagued by a lack of secondary scoring, and will need Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette in particular to supply more offense.

- Despite the hype surrounding their ability to ice three offensive lines this season, the Habs have not had more than one effective line on any given night. Alex Tanguay continues to lead the team in scoring with 7 goals and is tied with Andrei Markov atop the club's point leaders with 14. Expected to be dynamic threats for the Canadiens, Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn have been lackluster to date and will need to inject more intensity into their games. The Kostitsyn factor will be particularly relevant in the case of older brother, Andrei, whose return to top form will be vital to the resurgence of last season's top trio alongside Alex Kovalev and Thomas Plekanec.

Having endured heavy criticism following their seeming complacency against Columbus and Toronto, Montreal will look to rebound in a big way tonight by putting together a more complete game, from end to end. Ottawa, meanwhile, is making a concerted effort to silence the naysayers and will be looking to make a statement of their own against divisional foes on a National Stage (TSN; 7:00 p.m.).

Whichever team can find a way to fire on all cylinders (as neither has been able to do thus far) will emerge victorious from what promises to be a hard-fought and highly entertaining game.

Niedermayer To Re-Sign With Ducks?+ Shanny Update

2008-11-11T15:52:00.004-05:00

Turns out it was not Sundin, It was Scott Niedermayer

Just got this email from a source:

I just got back from the Ducks practice and the word is he(Scott Niedermayers) will sign a new one year deal to keep through 2009-10. A few different sources told me he wants a one year deal because he wants to play in next years Olympics.

Its getting heated up! Adding fuel to the fire Sundin Sold his Toronto Home...

SHANAHAN UPDATE: Im still hearing the New Jersey Devils are the front runners. Philly are still very much in the mix with Chicago trailing them.

Matchups of the night

2008-11-11T14:36:00.004-05:00

Pittsburgh (8-4-2) at Detroit (9-2-2)
The first game between the Stanley Cups finals and the first time Marian Hossa will face his former team. We all know that Hossa turned down lengthy contracts to sign a one-year $7 M with the Red Wings. Hossa is the Wings' to scorer this season with 17 points (8 goals) in 13 games.

Evgeny Malkin is off to a rocket start this season with 22 points (4 goals) in 14 games. Crosby has 16 points in 14 games for the Penguins. Chris Osgood will face M-A Fleury.

My prediction: Detroit will win 4-3 in OT. Hossa will notch 1 goal and 1 assist.

Ottawa (6-6-2) at Montreal (8-2-2)
The first game of the season between the Northeast rivals. The Habs were off to a fast start before stumbling a bit in the past few games, espcially against the Blue Jackets and the Maple Leafs over the last weekend. The Senators have been very inconsistent this season.

Dany Heatley leads the Sens in scoring with 15 points (9 goals). As for the Habs, Alex Tanguay (7 goals) and Andrei Markov (13 assists) lead the team with 14 points apiece. Alex Auld and Carey Price will be in goal.

My prediction: Montreal will win 4-2 with a stellar performance from Price.

Who's Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers?

2008-11-11T12:39:00.003-05:00

Coming from back-to-back wins in New Jersey and New York, where he blocked 77 of the 80 shots he received, Jean-François Drouin-Deslauriers is starting to turn heads.

The young Oilers netminder is slowly making a name for himself and vying for more starts in the NHL's only ménage à trois with Mathieu Garon and Dwayne Roloson.

In 4 games this season with the Oilers, Drouin-Deslauriers, has 3 wins to go with a 1,71 GAA and .951 Save %.

The 24 year-old goalie from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, spent the past two seasons in the AHL with the Springfield Falcons and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Penguins where he won a total of 48 games.

The 6'4'' 200 lb Drouin-Deslauriers was drafted by the Oilers in the 2nd round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He signed a one-way two-year contract with the Oilers worth $1,250,00 M ($625,000 per season) this summer. Therefore, Edmonton GM Steve Tambellini had to keep him in the NHL to start the season.

Deslauriers' emergence will allow Tambellini to shop Dwayne Roloson before the trade deadline, without fear of going with a Garon-Deslauriers tandem in the playoffs (should the Oilers make it).

Drouin-Deslauriers is only owned in 2% of Yahoo's Fantasy Leagues, so it's time to pluck him off waivers.

Sabres 3rd jersey in 09-10? 10-11?

2008-11-11T11:46:00.002-05:00

What is it? Is it a slug? Is it a hairpiece? Most people don't know, hell, most people won't have to care, IF the rumors are true. Talk has recently arised about the Buffalo Sabres 3rd jerseys becoming the Sabres main jersey. Conformation? Well, when on WGR550, Larry Quinn stated that it might be a possibility for the Sabres to change. Wouldn't it be nice if it did?

I'l keep you updated

AJ

Trade rumors

2008-11-11T09:18:00.004-05:00

A few trade rumors from around the league:

The Penguins are reportedly interested in Nashville's Martin Erat. The Preds are asking for 2-3 young players in return. Alex Goligoski would be one of them.

The Vancouver are interested in Flyers' forward Jeoffrey Lupul, they would send Matthias Ohlund in return (he as a no-trade clause though). The Flyers would prefer to send Mike Knuble.

Kari Lehtonen is rumored to be on the block. He will start the Thrashers' next game as Ondrej Pavelec was to the AHL. The Thrashers are looking for a young forward in return.

The Senators are quietly shopping Mike Fisher, who's starting to heat up at just the right time for Bryan Murray. The Sens are looking for defensive depth. Forget about the Spezza for Khabibulin, it's just a dumb rumor.

The Maple Leafs are not shopping Jeff Finger contrary to the rumors around the league. With Van Ryn's injury look for Finger to get an increased workload. The Leafs are shopping Ian White and Carlo Colaiacovo. The Blues are interested in Colaiacovo.

Brendan Shanahan will make his decision this week, maybe even on Wednesday.
Shanny wants to play for a team from the Northeast to be close to his family in NY. However, the Flyers, Hawks, Blues, Devils and Senators have shown interest in him. My bet is on the Devils, as New Jersey's offense has been lackluster recently.

2008 Hall of Fame class

2008-11-11T08:44:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was the 2008 Hall of Fame inductees ceremony, which was held at the HHOF in Toronto. Let's have a look at the inductees:

Glenn Anderson comes from Burnaby, B.C. where he played for the Bellingham Blazers and the University of Denver before being drafted by the Edmonton Oilers 69th overall in the 1979 entry draft. He played in Edmonton for 11 seasons, until the 1990-91 season. Glenn was consistently near the top of the NHL in scoring and thrived in the playoffs, scoring overtime winners and game-clinching goals in each of Edmonton's five marches to the Stanley Cup between 1984 and 1990. In 1991, Anderson was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs where he became one of the Leafs' top scorers and once again a playoff leader, as Toronto made it to within one game of the Cup final in 1993, losing in 7 games against the LA Kings.

He played 1,129 games, recording 498 goals and 1,099 points. He scored 93 playoffs goals throughout his illustrious career.

Igor Larionov was already one of the top hockey players in the world when he made his NHL debut in 1989 at the age of 29. A native of Voskresensk in the former USSR, Larionov won eight consecutive Russian League Championships with CSKA Moscow in the Soviet Elite League and was named Player of the Year in 1988. He captured eight gold medals in international play, including two Olympic gold medals (1984 and 1988). Igor played for the Vancouver Canucks from 1989 to 1992, the San Jose Sharks from 1993 to 1995 and then the Detroit Red Wings for eight seasons — including three Stanley Cup championships. Larionov was part on the KLM line with Sergei Makarov and Vladimir Krutov.

He played 921 games in the NHL, notching 169 goals and 644 points.

In the Builder Category, former Western Hockey League Commissioner Ed Chynoweth was elected posthumously. The native of Dodsland, Saskatchewan became the first full-time President of the Western Canada Hockey League (now WHL) in November of 1972. He was a founder of the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League (now CHL) in 1973 and served as CHL President for 20 years. Ed Chynoweth passed away on April 22nd, 2008. His son Dean, who played 10 years in the NHL was at the ceremony in place of his father.

Ray Scapinello was elected in the Referee/Linesman Category. He played minor hockey in Hespeler, Ontario and after retiring from Junior C hockey he began his career as an official as a 20-year-old in Guelph. Three years later in 1971, Ray began his career as an NHL linesman. He was named the NHL's "best in the business" a record 20 times. In 33 years as an NHL official — 2,508 regular season and 426 playoffs games — Scapinello never missed a game.

Source: Legends of Hockey

A Great Weekend in Coyotes Country

2008-11-10T20:06:00.006-05:00

Panthers @ Coyotes

Hockey Night in Phoenix saw the Coyotes take on the Florida Panthers at Jobing.com arena in Glendale for the teams' first and only game of the season. The Panthers got the scoring started in the first with a wrister from Richard Zednik assisted by Ville Peltonen & former Coyote Nick Boynton. Boyton was sent to Florida with Keith Ballard over the summer in exchange for center Olli Jokinen. The score stayed at 1-0 Panthers through-out the first with the Coyotes out shooting the Panthers 14 to 8.

The Coyotes woke up in the second with a beautiful wrist shot from Peter Mueller assisted by Olli Jokinen and Keith Yandle. Later in the 2nd came a goal by rookie Mikkel Boedker assisted by Daniel Winnik and Keith Yandle. They clenched the victory in the 3rd with an unassisted goal by Olli Jokinen and then another by Mikkel Boedker, Martin Hanzal getting the assist on that one.

Quite a few nteresting things to note about the match-up....

*The only Coyotes penalty for the night was a 2 minute minor for too many men on the ice, served by Steven Reinprecht. The Panthers' Brian McCabe spent the night attempting to provoke the Coyotes Daniel Carcillo. Carcillo kept his cool, McCabe sat in the box twice.
*This was Olli Jokinen's first meeting with his former team since being traded to the Coyotes over the summer. Jokinen was voted the first star of the game by fans at Jobing.com Arena. 2nd Star: Mikkel Boedker, 3rd Star: Keith Yandle. Defenseman Keith Yandle sat out the last 4 games as a healthy scratch. He came back Saturday night with a vengeance.
*Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer was Boedker's coach last year when he played for the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL.
*Gretzky & Co. tried hard to set up a hat trick for Boedker at the end of the third. Good attempt, but the puck couldn't find the back of the net. Shout-out to Brian McCabe who took a puck to the face and a puck to the crotch at the end of the third after Panther's goaltender Tomas Vokoun was pulled to allow for an extra attacker on the ice. He saw the Coyotes setting up that hat trick for Boedker and he made it his mission to not allow it to happen. Kudos McCabe, your pretty hardcore...
*After the Panthers game, the Coyotes had gone 4 straight games without allowing a power-play goal.
*The game marked Kurt Sauer's 300th career NHL game. Way to go Kurt!

Sharks @ Coyotes

The odds were stacked against the Coyotes as they returned to Jobing.com Arena Sunday night to take on the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks are one of the best teams in the NHL right now, the Coyotes were playing their second of a back to back game weekend & they were taking on goaltender Brian Boucher; who had only allowed only one goal in 3 games. Bourcher's record changed Sunday night. This game was probably the biggest test for the Coyotes so far this season; and they passed with flying colors. Or should I say flying pucks?

Once again, the opposition scored the first goal. The goal came during a San Jose power play, breaking the Coyotes 4 game penalty killing record. Dan Boyle scored first then Ryan Clowe followed suit, scoring on yet another San Jose power play later in the first. Coyotes rookie Viktor Tikhonov started up the scoring for Phoenix with his first career NHL goal. Tikhonov's parents were sitting across the isle from me at the arena during Sunday night's game. The look on his mother's face when Teeks scored his first NHL goal was absolutely priceless. I can't even begin to describe it...

Scoring Summary from phoenixcoyotes.com
1st Period Scoring
04:15 PPG - Dan Boyle (4) Slap Shot - Assists: Ryane Clowe (5) & Marc-Edouard Vlasic (7)
10:30 PPG - Ryane Clowe (9) Wrist Shot - Assists: Christian Ehrhoff (10) & Rob Blake (7)
12:07 Viktor Tikhonov (1) Wrist Shot - Assists: Martin Hanzal (6) & Todd Fedoruk (2)
12:34 Olli Jokinen (6) Wrap-Around - Assists: Zbynek Michalek (4) & Peter Mueller (5)
2nd Period Scoring
02:02 PPG - Peter Mueller (5) Tip-In - Assists: Olli Jokinen (9)
3rd Period Scoring 19:42
PPG - Olli Jokinen (7) Wrist Shot - Assists: Shane Doan (6) & Ed Jovanovski (1)

The Coyotes will now hit the road for more back to back games, taking on the Blue Jackets on Wednesday and the Wild on Thursday. They return home to face the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. Which is a game that we here at home have been anticipating since the release of the schedule. Sean Avery and Daniel Carcillo meet for the first time...

Note:

*Daniel Carcillo was struck in the face by the stick of Dan Boyle late in the third period. The extent of Carcillo's injury is not known at this time.

GO COYOTES!!!

Lightning-Caps

2008-11-10T17:37:00.006-05:00

This game will mark the return of Olaf Kolzig to Washington where he played all of his 16 NHL years. Ollie The Goalie is very emotional about his game as it's gonna be the first time he'll be wearing the visitor's uniform in D.C.

Brent Johnson will be between the pipes for tonight's matchup.
Johnson will be playing in his fourth straight game. He's done everything in his power to take advantage of Jose Theodore's slow start to the season. Johnson currently has a 3-1-2 record with a 2.12 GAA and .929 save percentage. Johnson was Kolzig's back-up last season...

Look for a goaltending duel tonight, especially since Lecavalier and Ovechkin are off to slow starts this season.

My prediction: Capitals win it 4-2, with Ovechkin scoring a pair of goals.

Kostopoulos suspended 3 games

2008-11-10T16:42:00.003-05:00

Canadiens forward Tom Kostopoulos received a three-game suspension from the NHL following his boarding penalty on Mike Van Ryn. He will forfeit $32,926 because of his suspension.

Do you think it's a fair suspension?

I believe it's a fair suspension considering what Jones receive for his crosscheck on Bergeron last year.

Thanks To The TEAM 990

2008-11-09T15:22:00.004-05:00

Big props to Team 990 Montreal's Sports Authority The NHL Tonight Show for having me as a guest last night. I had a great time and I look forward to doing their show again.

If you get a chance listen in on Saturday nights for the latest hockey updates !!

Kostopoulos Hit Under Review

2008-11-09T13:49:00.002-05:00

Tom Kostopoulos' hit on Leafs d-man Mike Van Ryn will or is being reviewed by the league as I write this. It was no doubt dirty and as Fred said Van Ryn will likely be out about a month. Heres a video of the hit:

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK, SHOULD HE BE SUSPENDED, FINED OR BOTH AND IF SUSPENDED HOW LONG? EXPLAIN....

Van Ryn probably out a month

2008-11-09T12:01:00.005-05:00

Leafs defenseman Mike Van Ryn will be OUT for about one month following a vicious check from behind from Habs forward Tom Kostopoulos during yesterday's contest.

Van Ryn suffered a concussion, a broken nose and a broken hand.

Kostopoulos felt very bad after as he didn't want to hurt Van Ryn who turned his back to Kosto just before he got checked into the boards face first similar to Randy Jones' hit on Patrice Bergeron last season.

Kostopoulos received a 5 minute major for boarding and was ejected from the game.

Expect Kostopoulos to receive a 2 or 3-game suspension for this act.

Ticket Contest, Clock Is Ticking

2008-11-09T10:56:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone, The contest for the Florida Panthers tickets is coming down to the line. SEND IN YOUR ENTRIES ASAP! YOUR TOP 5 PANTHERS PLAYERS IN HISTORY TO hockeybums@yahoo.ca, You must be able to attend the game.THE WINNER RECEIVES 2 TICKETS TO THE GAME.

Kari Lehtonen on the block?

2008-11-09T00:07:00.005-05:00

According to the Hockey Night In Canada crew, Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen is on the trading block. The Thrashers are very pleased with the work of the young goalie Ondrej Pavelej and they decided to give him more games. Look for Don Waddell to be very aggressive in the upcoming weeks.

Colorado could very well be interested and send a young forward and a draft pick in return. Young, but inconsistent, forward Marek Svatos is on the trading block. With the emergence of T.J. Hensick Svatos is expendable.

Peter Budaj and Andrew Raycroft have been far from good this season, even though Budaj recording a shutout tonight vs Nashville.

Stay tuned.

Sundin Back To Leafs?

2008-11-08T21:40:00.002-05:00

I now have heard the following IN THE SUNDIN RACE,These come from what ive heard throughout the summer and now:

Montreal(OUT)

Rangers(OUT,THEY DONT HAVE CAP SPACE)

Toronto(IN)

Vancouver(OUT)

Anaheim(About To Enter Sweepstakes)

Ottawa(OUT)

SOUNDS AS THOUGH SUNDIN WILL HEAD BACK TO THE LEAFS.

BIG STEP FOR HOCKEY-BUMS AND LIVE CHAT 8:30pm TONIGHT

2008-11-08T16:35:00.003-05:00

ANNOUNCEMENT:

I WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE HOCKEYBUMS OWN JOSH JOHNSON, OUR WEST COAST GUY WILL APPEAR ON THE TEAM 990 MONTREALS SPORTS AUTHORITY AT 9:25pm EASTERN TIME ON "THE NHL TONIGHT SHOW".

CHECK UR OUT!

Scotty

HOCKEYBUMS LIVE CHAT TONIGHT AT 8:30pm TO DISCUSS ALL THE LATEST HAPPENINGS!

Lightning trade Matt Carle to Flyers

2008-11-07T20:43:00.003-05:00

The Tampa Bay Lightning have traded young defenseman Matt Carle in exchange for forward Steve Downie and defenseman Steve Eminger.

Carle is a young puck moving defenseman that was having trouble offensively for the Lightning this season.

Carle had a career-high 42 points in 2006-07 during his rookie season with the Sharks.

He was acquired with Ty Wishart in exchange for Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich during the summer.

The battle of the Wooden Spoon

2008-11-07T19:45:00.001-05:00

On a busy Thursday evening in the NHL an early season quirk in scheduling saw the leagues four bottom feeders come together in what could be glibly dubbed the battle for the wooden spoon. Of course none of the four teams entering their respective pre-thanksgiving matchups would be playing without designs on a playoff place with seventy or so games remaining. Indeed the furthest adrift at the start of the day, the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference and the Los Angeles Kings in the west were no more than five points back of eight place in their particular conferences and the potential to gain some much needed momentum against there fellow strugglers made for some interesting games in the less fashionable corners of the league.

New York Islanders at Atlanta Thrashers 3-4

The opening battle of the night saw a collision of expectations take place in front of a funereal Phillips Arena which must be as much of a concern to the Thrashers management as their inability to get their season going on the ice. As it was few had Atlanta pinned as strugglers with talent such as Kozlov, Kovalchuk and Armstrong amongst their ranks. Conversely few expected much success, rather another year of middling hockey from a team criminally short of depth. However with their talismanic goal score Ilya Kovalchuk getting off to a slow start; their lack of scoring profundity has been exacerbated by a self destructive defense. Whilst entering the evening as the top scoring bottom four side, their blueline had bled for over 3.7 goals per game and it had pinned them in a five way battle for teams on ten points with Phoenix, St. Louis, Dallas and Colorado albeit with the most games played ranking them 27^th overall.

For the Islanders, their season had been minimally burdened by any kind of expectation with few anticipating a playoff berth even before the prolonged layoff of franchise man Rick DiPietro. Whilst Joey MacDonald had done an admirable job steering an unwieldy ship, the hotch potch band aid of veterans and youth speaks of a team undergoing an arduous pre-rebuild phase with little in the way of bankable talent for the future. Having demonstrated a porcelain doll fragility of confidence in their defense once scored upon; there had been recent signs of life on Long Island after a torrid start to the season had left them adrift, indeed the Islanders entered the game with a very real chance of a three game winning streak which would push them out of the NHL’s basement.

And so it was the nervous Islanders who took the initial lead with an power play tally from Jon Sim in a wild and feisty start in which Atlanta backup Ondrej Pavelec looked particularly spectacular keeping the Thrashers in the game with a number of crucial early saves.

Even after Slava Kozlov tied the game up within five minutes, the Islanders had the better of a fast paced and exciting first stanza that showed a desire of renegade roster proportions. Carrying this into the second, two quick goals from Frans Nielsen and Trent Hunter seemed to break the spirit of an Atlanta side still awaiting their first back-to-back victory of the year and the Islanders continued to get the best of the offensive chances throughout the second period.

Still the demons of their opening encounters seemed to stalk the Islanders as the third flip flopped in favor of an Atlanta side that had found its verve. An early backhander from Slava Kozlov seemed to rattle the Islanders defense and Jason Williams quickly responded on a power play tip in to tie the game at three a piece. Suddenly the ice looked tilted towards Joey MacDonald and when Tobias Enstrom scored just past the midway point of the third, the Islanders looked lost at the races.

Another capitulation in the space of half a period had seen the delicate Islanders crumble whilst Atlanta will rocket up the standings due to the proximity of their early season competition.

Florida Panthers at Los Angeles Kings 2-3

The second matchup of the evening saw Florida travel to the Staples Center for the first time in three years in the battle of the Sunbelt disappointments.

At the seasons beginning few knew what to make of the Florida Panthers. Having shipped their only real offensive talent in Olli Jokinen to Phoenix, Florida brought in a former junior coach in the shape of Peter DeBoer who preached for more offensive hockey whilst building from the back. Transitional two way D seemed to be the game plan for a franchise schooled in the art of the neutral zone trap and with Keith Ballard being the key name going the opposite direction from Arizona, all bets were out to how the Panthers would gel. It turned out someone forgot the offense all together. Whilst arguably boasting the best goaltending out of the mornings bottom four, the Panthers 3.08 goals against average was a respectable seventeenth in the league ranks, unfortunately their 2.25 goals for average was only outdone by the Tampa Bay Lightning in futility and there total lack of offense was the undoubted catalyst for their 4-7-1 record. That and one of the leagues worst road records.

In Los Angeles things are certainly starting to turn around, after an interminable period of rebuilding dating back almost seven years, the teams poor form and good drafting has seen them accumulate a youth core not too dissimilar to the Pittsburgh Penguins circa 2005-’06. Whilst they may have started the morning in last place, rock bottom of the league, Los Angeles are the only real team in the wooden spoon race with any kind of structure for improvement within the next twelve months. Subsequently with a healthy dose of freshmen and sophomores amongst a smattering of veteran overseers, the Kings are on a tour of experience that only lacks one key ingredient, a goaltender you could mortgage a franchise on.

Subsequently with inadequacies dually noted the game became a showcase for both teams’ shortcomings. With the Panthers unable to stir up any form of first period intensity, a continuation of an unfortunate early season trend, the game quickly devolved into a shooting gallery for a hard working Kings side who left the first period with a two goal lead thanks to an ugly Brian Boyle wrist shot that proceeded a gorgeous power play tally from Tom Preissing. Indeed could the Panthers inability to score be summed up with one image it would be Michael Frolik fanning on a shot into a wide open net with the Panthers only chance in the first.

Even a series of power plays in the second did little for a Panthers team thirtieth in the league on the man advantage and only the solid goaltending of Tomas Vokoun helped the game remain at two as the Kings outshot the Panthers 24-6 by the close of the second.

Only in the third did the Panthers manage to apply any kind of offensive pressure in a Kings end that had been so regally guarded and with the first whispers of pressure the LA backup Erik Ersberg fluffed on an aimless Anthony Stewart shot to make the game far more exciting that it needn’t be. Even after Dustin Brown managed to restore the Kings two goal cushion with a cunning faked pass wrist shot, the previously hopeless Panthers managed to make the final minute a nail biter with Nathan Horton scoring shorthanded with fifty seconds left.

Nonetheless the Kings held on to move into the party of teams on ten points. The Panthers remain in single digits and will start to wonder where the scoring will come from.

The bottom four that entered on Thursday morning are now two, such is the whim so early in the year. Regardless of result, last night perhaps showed who will be propping up the standings come April. The Islanders for all their pace and guile have a fragility resulted from a general crisis of confidence minus DiPietro. Despite scrapping a playoff berth in 2006-’07 there looks to be a number of years of rebuilding required before the Islanders can dream of the halcyon days of the early 80’s. With a roster deeply flawed in its makeup, the Islanders feel like a team of veterans, depth men and fringe youngsters that need a complete restructuring, what concerns most is there is very little in the way of trade leverage to even begin.

For the Panthers their years of mediocrity run all the way back to 2000 and whilst the team have never been necessarily weak, their lack of depth, support and general ethos suggests many players see the Panthers as a holiday on ice. Indeed without the trappings of overt media attention and the constant Floridian sunshine there seems something fundamentally wrong with the work that goes on behind the scenes. This year the flip flop trades and player merry go rounds that seem to encircle the Panthers every post season has turned the team into a back heavy side at just the time an offensive thinking coach came in. With Jokinen’s 35 goals a season now shipped to Phoenix, many are wondering where the scoring is going to come from, especially when Jokinen’s compensation came in the form of D-man and now leading point getter Keith Ballard. Ballard certainly wasn’t acquired to lead the offense and yet so inept have the Panthers been in trying to convert into a transitional defensive team that they appear completely unable to create pressure in opponents defensive zones, not least because of their forwards unwilling to pressure the puck carrier or forecheck. Were it not for Vokoun the Panthers would have sunk to the bottom of the pile a long time ago and that will almost certainly be where they will find themselves at the close of 2008-‘09.

Atlanta will more than likely miss out on the playoffs once again this year and will be closer to the likes of the Panthers and the Islanders than those fighting for eight place in the Eastern Conference. Indeed born out of a weak division, Atlanta have never truly gotten to grips with teams outside the Southeastern and with the schedules returning to a more balanced makeup, Atlanta will struggle to impose themselves at all, especially if Kovalchuk’s scoring drought continues. With dwindling crowds, the Thrashers are starting to reek of wasted potential and they will likely finish well adrift of the big dance.

The Los Angeles Kings are the only bright spark of the afternoon bottom dwellers. Still getting to grips with the league with so many young faces, the Kings have already shown incredible maturity boasting one of the leagues best penalty killing units. Whilst there may be a year or two to go in development, the Kings are finally back on track with only the procurement of a quality goaltender required to make the team truly competitive, whether Jonathon Bernier can be that man remains to be seen. They may well miss out on the playoffs this year, albeit narrowly, but next year the Kings should be in the mix.

One Too Many

2008-11-07T08:58:00.002-05:00

For the Buffalo Sabres, life has been great. 8-2-2. Not too shabby, eh? Well, for one Sabre, life may "bring him down", if you will. The Sabres are over the roster limit with Jochen Hecht returning. So, who will be sent down? The obvious choices for Ruff and Co. are Stafford, Kaleta,MacArthur or Sekera considering they are the only ones with 2-way contracts at this moment. My choice is Staffy, considering he has less points than Toni Lydman(who?) and has been lazy as ever. We'll see who sits tonight when the Thrashers head into Buffalo to take on the herd.
Prediction:
Buffalo: 4(Pominville, Gaustad, Afinogenov, and Sekera)
Atlanta: 2 (Christensen, and Williams)

AJ

There was much crapping on the ice in Vancouver last night...

2008-11-07T07:42:00.005-05:00

The crap calls on Carcillo and Sauer killed us last night. And even though I'd like to blame that loss entirely on the refs, I can't. The fact of the matter is that we just needed one goal to tie it up throughout most of the game & we just couldn't get it. Our PK was great & Bryzgalov played like a mad-goalie. Against one of the best goal-tenders in the league, he held his own quite impressively by stopping 31 of the 32 shots he faced. The Coyotes defensemen were ON IT last night. But where were the forwards? The Canucks played well also, Luongo secured his third shutout in five games and NHL-leading fourth overall with a dramatic glove save on Ed Jovanovki's blast with 25.2 seconds left and the Phoenix net empty for an extra attacker.

The Murray-Fedoruk-Carcillo line was the best Phoenix line on the ice last night. They got out there and gave it their all, the rest of the forwards looked... lost. Our top guys really let Bryz down last night. We had stellar goal-tending going on, the D-men were on it and the fourth liners were playing their hearts out. But our top goal scorers let us down. Doaner? OlliCoyote? Mueller? For Shame... You've all got to show up on the same night in order to get a win.... The Coyotes head back home now to take on the Panthers Saturday night and the Sharks Sunday night.

It occurs to me that I have not taken the time to properly introduce myself. My apologies... My name is Heather, I've been asked to contribute to the blog on behalf of the Coyotes. I look forward to chatting with you all and bringing you all the news from Coyotes Country as we watch this young and exciting team grow and develop. HOWWWWWWWWWWWWWL!!!

*photos from azcentral.com

The Ron Wilson Way

2008-11-06T19:59:00.001-05:00

An arrogant, egotistical taskmaster touching down in the Toronto fishbowl, Ron Wilson’s appointment may not have been an obvious choice with so many candidates in the close season merry-go-round, yet with Wilson’s strategy of lowering expectations helping stick the mantra of underdog on a franchise so long riddled with media expectation, the Maple Leafs have proven many commentators early season surprise package.

Perhaps one of Ron Wilson’s most notable early achievements in Toronto has been to convince the media frenzy that a 5-4-4 record is a success. Of course he has been helped by history, after years of abject, lethargic and heartless hockey permeating from a touted country club atmosphere bereft of any kind of ambition, Ron Wilson’s panache for publicly breathing accountability throughout the roster has turned the club around in the space of just two months into a run and gun, never say die team that skate hard and transcend many of the shortcomings witnessed under Paul Maurice. Toronto is once more a team opponents fear to face with their positive attitude making waves throughout the league.

For Leafs Nation, Toronto are no longer the team that roll over and die with mindless turnover D equaled ineptly with easily closed down dump and chase play. Fans now have a team that show spirit and desire with aplomb, even in defeat the Leafs have often looked good and that is something that has been sorely absent since the lockout. With the post season seeing much of the driftwood and disruptive influences shipped to pastures new, Wilson has been able to mould the club around his San Jose model. Subsequently the Air Canada Center has become privy to some new school west coast hockey epitomized by hard pressing and hard back checking offence and transitional defense with an onus on good puck possession. With a turnover of talent creating whispers of a protracted rebuilding era pre-season, much of the early surprise has emanated from the speed unto which the team have gelled and taken on board the teachings of a coach schooled in rapid turnarounds.

Of course one of the major exits has been the ubiquitous Mats Sundin, however after years of solid offensive service his embodiment of all that was the Maple Leafs came in a sunset era of mediocrity that seemed to question as much the ambition of the team as its talismanic veteran captain. Whilst the MLSE cooked their goose on the Sundin train when they tried shipping him at the trade deadline for a blockbuster deal that would never materialize, his leaving has provided a catalyst to the renewed focus seen throughout the Maple Leafs offensive game. With players no longer trying to pick out number thirteen in a high speed crowd Toronto’s attack has become a team venture with players tacking equal responsibility for Sundin’s lost numbers.

Subsequently the vacuum many feared would appear in Sundin’s absence has been averted despite many a column inch posturing his successor. Prime candidates such as Antropov, Hagman and Ponikorovsky are all unlikely point-a-game players but where the deficit has been cushioned most has been the depth lines where increased production has been met with game changing plays. Toronto has become a more rounded unit as opposed to the limelight weighted scales of the past. Furthermore with the detrimental cult of personality that once surrounded Mats Sundin now a distant memory, the Leafs have become a fundamentally more likeable team off the ice with lesser players experiencing unprecedented levels of upbeat exposure that, far from being distracting, has actually witnessed a positive effect on team morale owing to Ron Wilson’s ability to absorb media criticism.

Nonetheless few expect Toronto to inhabit a playoff berth for the rest of the season. Whilst their good start has seen them maintain eight in the Eastern Conference in early November there are inevitable potholes in the road, not only for the remainder of this season but the years that lay ahead. Whilst few seem to acknowledge it, Toronto has become one of those rarest of things, an original six team undergoing the potentially lengthy rigors of a complete rebuild. Owing to years of over zealous and impatient mismanagement, the Leafs slipped quietly into mediocrity due to their tacit inability to react to NHL trends, particularly the post lockout onus placed on scouting, drafting and development in an increasingly youthful league. Whilst the fantastically solid time eating defense of first year draftee Luke Schenn is a step in the right direction, the Leafs are a team with a dreadful record for converting draft day promise to NHL ice and the infrastructure and mechanisms that make up the chain of command, be it the uncertainty of interim GM Cliff Fletcher and the MLSE above, remain the same.

With the terminology of interim hanging around Cliff Fletchers neck like a millstone, many wonder how restricted his capacity to oversee a franchise renovation is, especially with talk of Brian Burke hanging around the press boxes of the Air Canada. Its clear Fletcher has been made aware of his place in the grand scheme cooked up by Richard Preddie and as a Maple Leaf through and through is undergoing his duties like a consummate pro. Regardless, Fletcher is a man once bitten after a series of disastrous and inept trades saw the Leafs derail after four straight playoff years resulting in his first exit from the hot seat in 1997. Whilst he showed he can still cut a trade on draft day, Fletchers capacity as GM will gradually become more ceremonial as the season wares on unless the MLSE rectify the situation ahead of schedule. How toothless this will leave a Leafs team still burdened with excessive cap hits come the trade deadline remains to be seen, but the traditional fire sales associated with a rebuild have yet to be truly realized whilst many feel the Marlies are being increasingly populated by the driftwood Toronto failed to shift in waivers.

Whilst the Burke rumors seemed to have quieted for now, despite his history with Ron Wilson, the backroom still seems to be missing the leadership so vital to a franchise moving forward whilst Wilson’s personality has all the elements of potential self combustion within the timeframe of his four year contract if he fails to be reigned in. It could be said that the Leafs are undergoing Ron Wilson’s honeymoon period. Whilst it may have lasted longer than most expected the stark reality of what lies ahead remain the same and with an inevitable need for gutting within the next couple of years and a knack for paying over the odds for contracts such as Jeff Finger, its clear tricks still have to be learned before Toronto can dream of following the post lockout Pittsburgh model they aspire too.

Nonetheless that doesn’t stop us from enjoying these opening sentences in the newest chapter in Leafs history, one which looks to be being addressed with a vigor not seen in Leafs nation for some time.

TC? You There?

2008-11-06T17:32:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone, I am a new blogger here and I will be updating you guys with Buffalo Sabres news, rumors, trades etc.

As for Tim Connolly, the man made of glass, I have been hearing that in fact TC will be playing this weekend

Not many Sabres news lately but I promise I will keep you updated with anything I hear.

AJ

CALLING HOCKEY FANS/PANTHERS FANS IN PARTICULAR..BIG CONTEST!

2008-11-06T14:56:00.006-05:00

Hockeybums is proud to announce that we have our first BIG Contest. The winner of the contest will receive 2 Tickets to a Florida Panthers Hockey Game, November 24th Vs The Carolina Hurricanes. All you need to do to win is email me, Scotty at hockeybums@yahoo.ca and tell me your top 5 Florida Panthers Players In The History Of The Team in order of 1 to 5. I will declare the winner by next Wednesday(hopefully). TO WIN YOU MUST BE ABLE TO MAKE IT TO THE ACTUAL GAME....Unfortunately You Will Require Your Own Transportation.

Scotty

PANTHERS HAVE BETTER FANS THAN YOU THINK:

Pens Unveil Thirds(IcetheticS)

2008-11-05T19:04:00.003-05:00

The Pittsburgh Penguins have unveiled their 3rd jerseys. This picture is from Icethetics.

Icethetics is a website dedicated to gathering all kinds of NHL or any other league Uniform INFO. Its quite incredible the amount of people are so connected to getting jersey leaks and what not. Anyway keep up the great work Chris(ICETHETICS OWNER) and co.

Ward's mask; Walker activated;Lacouture clears waivers

2008-11-05T18:05:00.004-05:00

Here are new photos of Cam Ward's new mask.
What do you think?

Also, the Canes activated F Scott Walker from the IR yersterday. He played vs the Leafs.

Carolina also announced that center Dan LaCouture cleared waivers and has been assigned to Albany.

Niskala heads to Europe

2008-11-05T18:03:00.002-05:00

From Jon Jordan:

A team source has confirmed that defenseman Janne Niskala has cleared waivers and will be assigned to the Finnish National Team for now. Niskala, Nashville's 5th round pick in 2004, played parts of five seasons with Lukko Rauma in Finland from 2000-2005 and will join a team in SM-Liiga, the Finnish Elite League, after those teams return from a break.

Canadiens sign prospect Desharnais

2008-11-05T18:00:00.002-05:00

MONTREAL – Montreal Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey announced today the signing of forward David Desharnais to a two-year, two-way contract (2008-09 to 2009-10)

This season, Desharnais registered 9 points (3 goals, 6 assists) and is a plus-2 through 11 games with the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs. He participated in his first training camp with the Canadiens this season, and recorded two points in three preseason games (0-2-2).

Coyotes Douse Flames 4-2

2008-11-05T07:04:00.004-05:00

Huge victory for the Coyotes last night in Calgary. But not just a huge victory; a night of veteran firsts for this season. Defensemen Derek Morris was first for the Coyotes, scoring his first goal of the season. Next was Captain Coyote Shane Doan scoring his 7th goal of the season. Doan now leads the team with goals scored so far this season. Olli Jokinen is trailing close behind... Ed Jovanovski was next, scoring his first goal (and point) of the season. Last but certainly not least, was Steve Reinprecht's back-hander at the end of the 2nd period. This was Reino's 300th NHL career point, CONGRATS REINO! Scoring for the Flames: Daymond Langkow & Dustin Boyd. Both Flames goals were scored in the first period. Calgary outshot Pheonix, Bryzgalov stopping 27 of those 29 SOG, Kiprusoff only stopping 18 of the 22 he faced.

A few things of note from www.phoenixcoyotes.com:

Rookie Kyle Turris was a healthy scratch last night in favor of Garth Murray, who played his debut game with the Coyotes in Calgary. With a total of 11 minutes of ice time, Murray blocked 5 shots, delivered 2 hits and even had a rather entertaining fight with Calgary's Eric Nystrom.

Center Olli Jokinen played in his 386th consecutive game, the second-longest active streak in the NHL.

Kiprusoff has played every minute of every Flames game so far this season.