A Drought May End:
With every year a postseason drought may end while another will start. Some teams continue to excel while others keep drowning in their sorrows. A team may gain another ring while another team goes ring-less. With the season half way over and Olympic hockey going full speed, teams will be looking to keep their Lord Stanley dreams alive. Therefore, a drought is inevitable for every team this year except for the lucky winner. There are 13 teams to have never won a cup: Atlanta, Buffalo, Columbus, Los Angeles, Ottawa, Nashville, Minnesota, Phoenix, Washington, St. Louis, Vancouver, San ...
Bits and Pieces from the NHL, Feb. 8th
After a long, long stretch of winless games, 10 to be exact - it appeared that the Bruins bandwagon was on the fast track to the bottom of the Eastern Conference. After dismal losses to some of the best teams in the league – Chicago and Ottawa as well as to some of the worst teams – the ‘Canes and Blue Jackets - both the Bruins and their fans were wondering what the heck had happened this year. Occasionally the brakes appeared to have a little juice left in them (3 OT losses) but overall things weren't looking ...
You Say Goodbye & I Say Hello: Red Wings Adding, Subtracting From Roster
With Johan Franzen set to return to the Red Wings roster on February 5th, and Andreas Lilja sometime in the near future, Detroit will be forced to squeeze themselves underneath the cap ceiling. Tomas Holmstrom returned Tuesday night and had no problem being inserted into the roster with Justin Abdelkader being sent to Detroit’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids. However, with the return of Franzen, Detroit will be roughly $700,000 over the cap and must trim the roster to accommodate the return of “The Mule”. Franzen suffered a torn knee ligament early on in the season and has remained sidelined ...
A Flair for the Dramatic
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, Burke shipped out some big contracts in Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake in exchange for goaltender J.S. Giguere from Anaheim, in what was a cap balancing move, but it also ...
It’s Hard To Watch… But We Do Anyways
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 for a team record 5 straight seasons, you would think fans would be tuning out in droves. Yet, the game that CBC showed in place of the ...
Changing of the Guard
Being a team captain in the NHL carries a number of duties. Officially, captains (or alternate captains) are the only on ice players allowed to communicate with referees regarding interpretation of the rules. This usually happens on plays when there is confusion, such as whether or not a puck crossed the goal line or if the puck goes out of play. This is done mainly to ensure the refs are not mobbed by the players while trying to sort out some confusing details. Additionally, captains may serve as a team representative of sorts. It’s the captain that first receives the ...
The Greatest Canadien of All
Mon Dieu! Fellow hockey fans, hell is freezing over, because here I am, a devout Bruins fan, about to write my second story in a row on…gulp..the Montreal Canadiens. Have I lost my mind? Yes, I think so after this year which has seen my Bruins really struggling with injuries, inconsistencies and lack luster play. I was actually at the Bs-Columbus Blue Jackets game last night and it was indeed a dismal affair. But my attention to the Habs is not a change in loyalties, not by any stretch of the imagination. And it is not a plea to the hockey gods, ...
Let the bidding war begin
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 a hefty 11 million a season, but with the increasingly popular CBA loophole that spreads the cap hit over the total amount of the contract, Kovalchuk could likely get his money with ...
Oh, That’s Right! There’s an NHL Team in OH!
Jan 20th, 2010 2:06 pm Posted By
On The Verge of Gr8ness
Jan 19th, 2010 6:39 pm Posted By
A-Train Leaving the Station?
Jan 19th, 2010 6:32 pm Posted By
Welcome to the Big Leagues
Jan 17th, 2010 9:25 pm Posted By
Referee Rant
Jan 16th, 2010 3:00 pm Posted By
A Big Man with a Big Heart
Jan 16th, 2010 10:00 am Posted By
Trophy Tracker – Q2 (Vezina/Norris/Calder)
Jan 15th, 2010 10:00 am Posted By
A Little Guy Gets His Chance:
Jan 14th, 2010 3:00 pm Posted By
