I’ve been trying to think of a good time to write about this topic, but it had occurred to me that there never will be a good time when discussing a tragedy like the one that befell Brian Burke and his family last week. Brian’s son Brendan, aged 21, lost control of his vehicle in a snowstorm and collided with another vehicle. Brendan was taken to hospital where he later died from his injuries. Brendan... 

As of last night, the marquee free agent of 2010, Ilya Kovalchuk, is now a New Jersey Devil. Atlanta Thrashers GM Don Waddell could not come to terms on a contract extension with the Russian superstar, and vowed to maximize his return on his investment. That return? 28 year old blueliner John Oduya, 22 year old winger Nicklas Bergfors, 19 year old junior Patrice Cormier, and the Devils 2010 1st round... 

Say what you will about Brian Burke, but no one should ever question his showmanship. On Sunday Burke rocked Leaf Nation, and to a lesser extent, the rest of the NHL, when he announced that he had acquired Dion Phaneuf from the Calgary Flames in a blockbuster 7 player deal that, to the relief of Leafs fans everywhere, made no mention of a “first round draft choice”. Later that same day,... 

A rare occurrence happened last weekend, as the Toronto Maple Leafs did not play a game on Saturday, January 16th. I say this is a rare occurrence because in recent seasons it has pretty much been a given that the Maple Leafs would be playing in the prime-time slot on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada. With the Leafs mired in a 5th losing season since the lockout that should see them miss the playoffs... 

With approximately 3 weeks to go until the unofficial trade deadline of February 12th, the Olympic break period in the NHL, all eyes are going to be on one man, and that man is Ilya Kovalchuk. Arguably the biggest free agent since Peter Forsberg, Kovalchuk is among the NHL elite and only Alexander Ovechkin has more goals since the lockout. Rumours have circulated stating that Kovalchuk is asking for... 

Alexander Ovechkin has missed 8 games in this NHL season, and yet he is still second in the NHL scoring race, and tied for second in goals with arch-rival Sidney Crosby. Ovechkin is scoring at an incredible 1.6 points per game clip right now, and after watching him pot 5 against my Maple Leafs on Friday night, I can agree that he truly is the best player in the game today. In just his 5th NHL season,... 

As of this writing, the Maple Leafs have lost their 3rd game in a row, have slipped to 9 points out of a playoff spot, and are having trouble finding the net, scoring just 10 goals in their last 6 games. Their penalty killing seems destined to set a new NHL record for futility, they have lost many players to injury, and nothing seems to be going right in Leaf Nation. Fans are calling for Wilson’s... 

Killing penalties is an art form. In the new NHL, it’s a particularly important one. Good penalty killers come in all shapes and sizes, from Blair Betts to Jay Pandolfo to Zdeno Chara. They range in skill as well, from one-dimensional players like Shean Donovan and Willie Mitchell, to two-way players like Mike Fisher and Jordan Staal, to elite superstars like Pavel Datsyuk and Zach Parise. There...