I got 99 and missed the Red Wings because I couldn't sell Pavel Datsyuk correctly.

Big shootout win for the Wings tonight vs the Sharks. Detroit is now just a point behind Columbus for first in the Central.

Two thoughts regarding the Lightning.

1) We all know that either Tampa Bay or Florida will end up being relocated eventually. The question is, which one will it be? My bet is on the Panthers.

2) Does Lecavalier get traded this year? I think he will, especially if the Lightning are out of playoff contention at the trade deadline.

That was a great game too. I am really liking how the Wings have been playing the past three games.

Just wanted to read this again, because I know it won't last for long. Thanks!

Meanwhile, Carolina hits bottom and doesn't look like they're letting go of the shovel any time soon. In spite of some rejuvenated play from youngsters Boychuk and Sutter, the Canes blow a 2-0 lead and drop the last-place pillow fight to Toronto at home tonight.

Everything's just gone to hell in a handbasket for this team.

ugly,ugly game....i could barely watch it.

Agreed. Boychuk and Sutter certainly gave jolts of excitement for me to watch, but they really made the rest of the team just look old and slow and pitiful by comparison. Frankly I'd rather have the youthful exuberance and inexperience generating some hope rather than watching any of the other players continuously fail to control the puck, pass, or do anything else in a semi-coordinated fashion.

Jim Rutherford made a bet that this team could have one more good year before the clock ran out and a rebuild had to begin, but it certainly looks like he lost that bet. The question now is how much longer will they play it out before he decides to start blowing it up. Rumors are already floating around that he's looking to move players out.

And now Carolina comes to Columbus. I absolutely hate this game, because it seems like it has all the making of being a trap game. Carolina hasn't won in a while, we have Detroit coming up next, we're sitting at home while Carolina played last night.

Hopefully Commodore will put some 'money on the board' and get this team to not overlook the 'Canes.

Well, all C-bus has to do is ride out the first period (typically our best), then pocket one goal sometime in the second and then another maybe a minute or two after that and just let it snowball from there. Pretty standard script we've played to during this losing streak.

I am excited for the Michigan/Columbus game. Zetterberg and Datsyuk have really picked it up, the team D is much improved and Ozzy looks good. We have Toronto tonight which is a worry because I can see this being a game we overlook much like you're worried with the Jackets. We'll see how it shakes out though.

No Hemsky, Horcoff, or Souray...this should be fun to watch.

Wow...the Leafs eh....5-1 over the Red wings

I made it through my (Pittsburgh) late night hockey week.

What started so promising in Anaheim on Tuesday (4-3 W) ended with disaster- (5-2L Thurs in LA and (5-0 Sat night in SJ)

Will be nice in a few weeks when Malkin returns, and shortly after that, Gonchar.

More importantly, Tyler Kennedy played in Anaheim, then sat out the next two. He is the best winger on this team.

I missed the Bruins win over Buffalo last night but it looked like an good all around win. The offense finally got going and Shawn Thornton won two spirited fights. How badly did Chara destroy that punk Kaleta in the 3rd period? I couldn't find video cause it wasn't a fight.

The Free Press site is all jacked up but something worth noting, especially for Devils fans:

They interviewed Steve Yzerman and one question was about if he could come back as a player, who would it be?

He said the two obvious are Sidney and Alex, but the kid he really likes is Zach Parise. Talk about high praise. He did also mention Pronger, if only for one day to feel what it's like to be a big guy, but I'd rather not talk too much about that.

Leafs looked good. The Monster was solid, but it was not Detroit's best effort.

Also of note, Jason Williams broke his leg, which means Detroit has lost Franzen, Flippula and Williams, on top of Hossa, Hudler, etc.

There was nothing there - Boston was late making a change on a draw so Chara skated up into a forward position opposite Kaleta. Kaleta hit Chara's stick and then Chara slashed Kaleta on the back of the knee. Chara got in a shot at Kaleta and that was it. Even the Bruins announcers were shocked Chara didn't get penalized an extra two but the game was over anyway and if I was Lindy Ruff, I would have declined the powerplay anyway.

Sabres stunk up the joint again last night. Here comes the annual downward spiral...

The Leafs have improved (could they have gotten worse?) but they beat a Carolina team in freefall and a beat up, sub-par Detroit team.

They could be worse...they could be Carolina:D

WOOHOO! Nylander is headed to Russia!

McPhee for GM of the year!

I'm not putting much stock into a game where our 3rd string goalie played...

I love how other teams call Kaleta a punk. :)

I want to see Chara fight Myers. Would be fun to watch the league's two tallest players fight it out. :)

As for the Sabres, they need to stop with the turnovers and start producing on the powerplay. Also, they need to learn to get physical and get into the game.

Adam Mair cleared waivers today.

Umm, as one Sabres fan to another, we definitely don't want to see a Chara/Myers fight anytime soon.

Chara is likely the scariest fighter in the league and not even the toughest guys in hockey would want a piece of him. Myers would not get up...

Cue bbor or Maple Leafs inserting a clip of Chara ragdolling Bryan McCabe a few years ago. :)

McCabe beat the shit out of Chara with his face!!

Charas nail did'nt grow back for a week!

Speaking of which, Carolina signed Manny Legace yesterday. He'll promptly start tomorrow night against the Kings in Raleigh. Good to see we made a solid investment in Michael Leighton...you know, the guy who was supposed to take over in case something bad happened to Ward.

Wait. None of you ever heard of him? C'mon, he's started, what, five times since Maurice took over as coach last year.... :banghead:

Could be worse....you could have Toskula and his 6 mil as a back-up.

Surprised no talk about the HoF induction the other day. Congrats to one of the best HoF classes ever.

Particularly to Luc Robitaille, who was described by a scout once as "slower than the Zamboni" when he was a prospect.

I heard and read some of Yzerman's induction speech and (not surprisingly) I thought it was great. There was a lot of press on Yzerman over the weekend in the local papers and it was fun to read through it all.

He did a Q&A with the Detroit Free Press and was asked about the biggest goal in his career. He obviously mentioned the Game 7, Double-OT series winner against St. Louis in '96, but followed that up by mentioning a goal he scored in Game 2 in the Western Conference Finals against Colorado in '97. I remember that game vividly. It was the height of the Wings/Avs rivalry and the Wings were already down 1-0 in the series and I think they were trailing 2-1 going into the third. They ended up winning the game 4-2 and I was jumping up and down on my couch at the end of the game.

It was also nice to see the first (of many) of the 2002 Wings team make into the Hall.

Indeed. Even though I'm a Sabres fan, my favourite hockey player of all time is Steve Yzerman - pure class in every respect.

All the speeches were good but I particularly liked Brian Leetch and Luc Robitaille's - Robitaille especially had a lot to overcome being a ninth round pick and I enjoyed hearing him talk about the naysayers and how it motivated him.

Plus, it didn't hurt that they kept panning over to his wife in attendance...still smokin' after all these years! :)

But he was excellent in Sudden Death!!

Also, the obligatory "Tom Glavine was drafted 5 rounds ahead of in the 1984!!" reference.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

Yeah, that was ugly. Wings had 7 even strength goals which is almost unheard of.

Also, I wonder if Hitch sent a message to Mason because he pulled him, then put him back in the second, and kept him in the rest of the game, where he gave up five more. He has been really off so far this year.

The sad part is that he had been playing well the last few games. He had been bailing out a terrible defense the past few games. Tonight, he didn't and the Jackets couldn't score 10 goals to make up for it.

The wife and I left after the 2nd period, the first time I've ever left a game that early. A complete embarrassment, and I wasn't waiting around another 15 minutes to watch the end of the movie when I already knew the ending.

Thankfully this only counts as one loss in the standings, and maybe it convinces this team that they're nowhere close to being a playoff team and they need to work harder.

Sabres beat Edmonton 3-1. The Sabres had a boat load of penalties (including giving the Oilers a 4 and a half minute 5-4 one at the end).

Liam Reddox was boarded by Clarke MacArthur head first and had to be carried off the ice. Hopefully he's okay. Was a strange play. Both were going for the puck, and Clarke just leaned on Liam and was enough to send him into the boards. Wasn't a dirty play or anything.

No. It couldn't. Quit trying to be suckier than we are (and you have a win on us, so there). :D

For the record, it's 13 straight now. Legace had a few nifty saves, but looked a bit unsure playing the puck behind the net a lot. However, that sketchiness resulted in a rather preposterous save in the first period as he completely misplayed a puck behind the net. He desperately scrambled back and got stupid lucky as the Kings shooter had a totally open net and somehow fired the puck into Legace's catcher, which was about the only thing in front of the net at the time.

What's the record for consecutive losses in the NHL? We have to be closing in on it at this point.

Is Maurice in trouble?...i hope not...i really like the guy.

I don't think you can read much into the Wings/Columbus game other than Steve Mason was really, really struggling last night. There were a couple of very bad goals. Hopefully for him he'll rebound.

I know Mason played bad, but the whole team was slow, didn't check and were just chasing the play the whole night (or at least for the two period I watched). Honestly, I wasn't as upset with him as everyone else seems to be.

I just keep telling myself that the Jackets beat Detroit 8-2 in the Joe last year and that this only counts as one loss.

At least Toronto is #1 in something.

Flyers Rank Fifth in NHL in Franchise Worth

Not yet. Some complaints are beginning to arise, but generally, the belief is that he's safe unless this becomes a truly catastrophic history-making season (which, if they lose to the Islanders in the next game, will start happening as they'll tie the franchise record for consecutive losses dating to the Hartford days). Contributing to this would be the fact that Carolina's still on the hook for Laviolette's salary after firing him last year and it's widely thought that Karmanos isn't going to lay out for three coaches when two of them aren't working. It also doesn't hurt that Maurice, Rutherford, and Karmanos are generally tight anyway. Basically, if he weren't who he was, in the first year of a three-year deal, while his predecessor was also still getting paid at the same time, he'd probably be gone or close to it by now.

:jawdrop:

Really? You thought it was dirty? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OotlW...eature=related


Anyways, we get Calgary tonight. Not being able to watch them (no center ice), how physical and tough are they? That is one of the things I've been hearing.

I think Calgary has been living off a reputation as being physical and tough for a while and it's not entirely justified at this point. Sure, Phaneuf can level people when they aren't ready for it, but poke him back and he wilts. Iginla certainly is tough and a great player. Rheager is a pretty rugged defensemen. So, they have some physical players, but overall I don't seem them as a giant, bruising team that's going out out muscle everyone.

I was at the Buffalo/Edmonton game the other night - MacArthur certainly isn't a dirty player, generally, but that play was pretty ugly and unnecessary.

To be quite frank, I'm surprised he hasn't been suspended for a game or two. There was nothing malicious or premeditated about the hit but you have to be responsible and not push a guy into the boards from behind.

Calgary will be a tough test for Buffalo - sold my tickets for tonight's game but will be watching at home. I expect a 3-2 type game - Buffalo will miss Grier tonight, currently nursing a groin injury I believe...

I do agree with you to a point. It just looks like it was a freak accident. Two guys going for the puck.

Do you have season tickets?

I've been impressed with Grier. He's brought back that leadership and grit from his previous stint here. I know Kaleta will move up to the third line and Mair will play in his spot tonight? Vanek needs to get it going soon.

So, Wings 4th line last night was:

Brad May: 38 years old and signed off the streeet during training camp.

Drew Miller: Recently picked up off waivers after being sent to the minors by Tampa Bay.

Justin Abdelkader: Promising rookie who was supposed to spend the vast majority of the season in Grand Rapids.

Free agency, injuries and the Edmonton Plague have really taken their toll on the depth of the Wings.

The brightest spot last night was Jimmy Howard. He played his best game in the NHL last night. It was spectular or amazing or flashy, but he was solid and kept his team in it. The Wings were woefully out shot (15-5) and out played in the first period. I am still not convinced of him yet, but it was nice to see and hopefully this will help his confidence.

14

(at least they get a charity point for going to OT)

Yeah, I've had season tickets since the lockout. Let me know if you ever want tickets - if I have a game available I'll sell to you at my cost, which is much lower than the box office price. I'll likely go to about 15 or 20 games this year and sell the rest...

Grier has been great in his role as a leader and a checker and the three goals is a big bonus. Looks like the team really stepped up tonight in his absence - that was one of the most physical and intense games I've seen the Sabres play in awhile. Really entertaining game even with the low scoreline.

I was watching the game when it happened and was cringing as it went down. It could've been much, much worse...thank God the kid is just banged up and not severely injured.

I'll commend Clarke for his genuine concern but when are guys going to learn? They were both going for the puck, but Reddox had position and MacArthur needed to concede, not "lean" on Reddox's back 10 feet away from the boards.

Does the NHL have to follow minor hockey's lead and put a stop sign on the backs of jerseys to get the message across..."if you can see the stop sign...STOP!!!"