Deadline heating up

One day later with the roster freeze lifted, teams are already quick to make moves. Especially with the chaotic 3 PM Wednesday deadline. There's already been a couple of noteworthy deals.

1.The Pens  acquired D Jordan Leopold from the Panthers for a 2011 2nd Rd pick, bolstering their blueline.

2.The Predators picked up D Denis Grebeshkov from the Oilers for a 2010 2nd rounder. Most expect Nashville to unload future UFA Dan Hamhuis.As for Edmonton, they're in discussions with the Rangers revolving around Sheldon Souray and Wade "Tinman" Redden. The 32 year-old Souray is still hurt and has two years left at $4.5 million per. Tho I'm no fan of his, if Slats can unload one cap headache, fine. But what else would be involved?

Also see the Isles and Jackets swung a "blockbuster" swapping Greg Moore for former Ranger draft pick Dylan Reese.

Other moves of interest included Calgary inexplicably re-signing Matt Stajan for four years at $3.5 per. Yikes. He's a nice player but come on. Likewise, Dallas re-signed Avery clone Steve Ott for four years, $11.8 M. Uh. Almost three million for him? Woh.

A couple of days ago, Glen Sather predictably claimed vet backup Alex Auld from Dallas. So much for Chad Johnson getting to stay up. Typical. In other Battle news, the troubled career of Rick DiPietro is once again in limbo with the career Islander out indefinitely due to knee swelling...Just hot off the press...David Freeman steps down as Nashville Predators chairman. Why exactly remains a question.

And finally, today February 28, 2011 has already been declared National Hate Sidney Crosby Day. Over 27,000 34,000 are already confirmed. We might be the only non-Canadian/Pen fan not to.

Leafs deal for Giguere and Phaneuf

Yesterday will go down as Maple Leaf Day. With his club languishing in last off a brutal 4-3 home loss to the Canucks in which they blew a 3-0 lead, Brian Burke finally did something The savvy exec, whose penchant for making big moves never wavers, revamped in net and on the blueline acquiring Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Dion Phaneuf in separate deals.

Hints at the first trade came a day prior when the Ducks extended top goalie Jonas Hiller, setting the stage for Giguere's Anaheim career to come to an end. With Burke desperately in search for a netminder to stop the bleeding, he turned to old pal Giggy Jiggy (thanks @Erin Rose)who backstopped the Ducks to Lord Stanley in 2006-07.

Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake were sent packing for the 32 year-old former Conn Smythe winner who'll reunite with Burke in an attempt to turn both his career and the Leafs around. Giguere earns $6 million this year and gets $7 M next year. Can he regain his old form or will the Cup winner be in an identical situation with Jonas Gustavsson? Only time shall tell. Meanwhile, the Ducks acquire Toskala ($4 M) who comes off the books this summer, saving them space. However, Blake earns the same salary and has two more years left. He's 36 and had just 10 goals this season. Better hope he finds the Fountain Of Youth in Tinsel Town.

Who Wins? MAPLE LEAFS

They get a proven goalie capable of shouldering the load, which likely won't be necessary due to their Swedish Monster project. Burke sacrificed little and upgraded at an important position. The Ducks get a serviceable backup who's once again blocking former Leaf prospect Justin Pogge albeit temporarily. They free up space but take on Blake.

Burke's second move was even bigger going for the much maligned Phaneuf, who Calgary was basically whoreing. The seven-player trade between the Flames and Leafs stunned the hockey world. Phaneuf, Freddy Sjostrom and defense prospect Keith Aulie went to the Hockey Capital in exchange for a package that included Ian White, Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers. It's amazing to think in the Cap Era that such a blockbuster deal involving big salaries could actually be consumated, speaking to the gambling nature of Burke, who added Phaneuf's hefty $6.5 million paytag to a crowded blueline that includes Tomas Kaberle ($4.25 M) along with overpaid duds Francois Beauchemin ($3.8 M) and Mike Komisarek ($4.5 M). With Jeff Finger ($3.5 M), Garnet Exelby ($1.39 M) plus kids Luke Schenn ($2.975 M) and Carl Gunnarsson (626 K). Mike Van Ryn ($2.9 M) anyone?!?!?!?!?! Figure Kaberle to be on the move if he agrees to waive his no-trade.

By unloading Stajan and Hagman, the Leafs boast little up front outside of top scorer Alexei Ponikarovsky and Phil Kessel with Lee Stempniak the third best option. With only 148 goals, Toronto was already a lowscoring team. Unless they see improvement from Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin, John Mitchell and kid trio Tyler Bozak, Viktor Stalberg and Christian Hanson, it could become uglier. What Burke's banking on is that Phaneuf rediscovers the talent that made him a Norris candidate while Giguere shores up the goaltending. The last thing the Leafs want is to finish last in the East with only Edmonton worse, meaning that No.1 pick they traded to Boston could actually turn into Taylor Hall. Considering that this is the same franchise that gave away Tuukka Rask to the B's for Andrew Raycroft, who got the ultimate revenge coming in relief of Roberto Luongo the other night, it would be EPIC FAIL.

There's no doubt Burke got the most talented player back in the enigmatic Phaneuf, who has regressed. Still just 24, he possesses a lot of physical tools including a booming shot along with utilizing his size for thunderous hits that can intimidate opponents. Basically, he's Komisarek with offense. A high risk player who often will go for the big hit, prone to getting caught out of position. There's also a reputation with a few dangerous blows coming under intense scrutiny. Think that's going to change in Toronto where everything's under the microscope? Opponents will be out for retribution making the former 2003 Calgary ninth overall pick a target.

If he wants to have a long career, it may be wise for Phaneuf to tone it down because that kind of rugged style tends to create wear and tear. With another four years to go, what kind of player will he be? Offense is also a concern with the Edmonton native's production way down. Sure. The 10 goals are fine but how can he only have 12 assists? You'd think playing under Junior coach Brent Sutter would've benefited him. Instead, the Sutters gave up on him with rumors that he was a locker room problem. No wonder local fans were split on acquiring the big guy. On one hand, you can argue that Burke didn't give up anyone with that kind of potential. Even if White's a year older and a solid player, he's not in Phaneuf's league.

Stajan and Hagman weren't part of the Leafs' future and are good fits for a Calgary club that lacks scoring depth. White is a decent return who is added to what should still be a good back end featuring Jay Bouwmeester, Robyn Regehr and emerging Mark Giordano. Vet Cory Sarich, Adam Pardy and Aaron Johnson are also still around.

Who Wins? NO DECISION

It would be easy to say the Maple Leafs because they got the best player and also added Aulie, who's supposed to be decent. However, the deal hinges on Phaneuf. Can he regain the form that made him an All-Star or is he a headcase? While we won't know the end result on one side for a while, for the Flames it's all about now. They expected to compete in a crowded West for the Cup. Instead, they broke up part of their core to plug holes. A 6-1 blowout of hapless Alberta rival Edmonton doesn't mean they're back. They were reeling and needed a change. Will it work? Stajan is a nice player who can play first or second line. Does he get to play with Jarome Iginla? Daymond Langkow really should be anchoring another line. If Olli Jokinen is traded today, then they get even more depth in Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik. But why in the world would you take Kotalik? Makes little sense unless they're setting up for another big move. Kovalchuk??? They'll have a lot more space this summer.

If Calgary doesn't make the playoffs, they lose with probably just White (RFA) being re-signed. At least Toronto has Phaneuf for a while. The big question lingers.

Rumored deal with Flames could make Jokinen Blueshirt

As was reported by many outlets last night during the Rangers' win over the Avs, they were set to make a trade with the busy Flames, who earlier yesterday finally traded much rumored Dion Phaneuf to the Maple Leafs in a seven-player extravaganza that excluded picks. A rarity in the Cap Era. More on that blockbuster later along with Brian Burke reuniting with Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

With Calgary unloading Phaneuf along with former Ranger PK fixture Freddy Sjostrom plus D prospect Keith Aulie for a package that included Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and Ian White, it allowed Darryl Sutter enough maneuverability to consider dumping Olli Jokinen on our team, who desperately lacks a No.1 center. Something Joke-inen used to qualify for. With the Blueshirts having their own headache in failure Ales Kotalik, the two sides hammered out a deal that would bring Jokinen and enforcer Brandon Prust to Broadway filling two voids in exchange for Ally and Chris Higgins.

As of late last night, the deal was on hold pending Kotalik's willingness to waive his no-trade and accept a deal back to Alberta where he spent part of last year with Edmonton before agreeing to the preposterous three-year $9 million contract that Glen Savior handed out. As we noted in our game story, Larry Brooks reported that Ally left the team after hearing that he would be dealt. The story which appeared on the NY Post's site was published before the Rangers and Avs faced off with Kotalik's teammate Higgins participating in what might have been his final game of an exasperating stint after coming over in the Scott Gomez salary dump last summer.

If the trade goes through, the Rangers would rid themselves of Kotalik, who had become the odd man out in John Tortorella's lineup. Being able to find a taker for such an insane contract would be a miracle of epic proportions. As for Higgins who has never stopped working despite a severe lack of finish (6 goals), he would be on his third team in less than a year with his contract ($2.25 million) up, giving Calgary necessary space to go after Ilya Kovalchuk.Combine that with subtracting Phaneuf's hefty $6.5 million salary along with both Stajan ($1.75 M) and Mayers ($1.4 M) turning unrestricted while White (850 K) would be an RFA and the Flames just saved a ton.

For the Blueshirts, even a 31-year old Jokinen looking on the downside would be low risk due to his $5.25 million salary coming off the books this summer. The former Panther hasn't been the same since he was traded to Phoenix, who dumped him to Calgary less than a year in. It would also be his third team in a year. Though underwhelming, his 35 points (11-24-35) would rank third behind Marian Gaborik (33-32-65) and Vinny Prospal (9-30-39). Such a deal would take heat off centers Brandon Dubinsky, Chris Drury and Artem Anisimov, allowing Jokinen to play with Gaborik. Only question is what happens to waiver bargain Erik Christensen, who's meshed well with Gabby in limited duty. With Brian Boyle anchoring the fourth line, Tortorella would have more options available, balancing things out up front for a roster that's produced only 141 goals, ranking near the bottom.

All these questions are moot until it becomes official. It's too good to be true. Don't forget this is the Rangers we're talking about.

A Wild 3rd Jersey Plus A Telling Quote

I was thinking about getting a Mikko Koivu Minnesota Wild third jersey. NHL.com is selling it for $114 and change without customization, which runs another 50+ hiking it to about 170 plus shipping. This is the premier year of Minny's traditional hockey 3rd and to be honest, we love it. It's a nice color forest green with white and looks good. A sharp jersey and probably one of the better alternates IMHO.

Why the Wild? Well, I like them. Especially Koivu, who flies under the radar as one of the better overall players in the game. Why? Because of who he plays for, which only happens to be a great hockey town that deservedly got another team. Since a dreadful start, they've been playing better with even Martin Havlat contributing with a recent OT winner over Calgary and three points in a tough 4-3 defeat to Vancity. Maybe the gifted Czech is finally 100 percent, which would be nice for my fantasy team that's hanging in there. Just picked up Jimmy Howard too. Now, if only Cam Ward could win. :P

Anyway, I probably will get the jersey even though it costs. I haven't gotten one in a while with my last being a Russian letter Ovechkin. As for the telling quote, it's provided by veteran Wild pivot Eric Belanger after his team defeated the Flames in a game they outshot Jarome Iginla & Co. 46-23:

“They still got a point. That is so sad.”

Of course, he's referring to the silly point system that rewards losing teams no matter what. The flipside is that one can argue that Miikka Kiprusoff earned his team a point. Maybe it's just us but we prefer the old system that gave you two for a win and none for a loss regardless. It would separate the pile up we got in the East minus Carolina. You really think Bettman Inc. will reverse it? They love parity because it makes for more intriguing playoff races, keeping more teams in the hunt come February/March. Sure. This post comes on the heels of the Rangers losing a tough one last night in which they outshot Atlanta 48-27. They deserved two but fell in the gimmick which really made it feel like a loss.

I know it's not going anywhere anytime soon. But what if we had the old system in place? Wouldn't more teams go for it in regulation? Of course, you'd still have ties. But don't teams want to win? It really would put more emphasis on getting two points, separating the contenders from the pretenders. Oh well. Sure makes ya wonder.

All-Star starters announced, Brodeur gets nod in goal for East

Earlier today, the league announced the starters for the upcoming All-Star Game.

Here's who that elite list of stars will include:

2008 Eastern Conference All-Star Team Starting Lineup

Goal: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey

Defense: Andrei Markov, Montreal
Defense: Zdeno Chara, Boston

Forward: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh
Forward: Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay
Forward: Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa

2008 Western Conference All-Star Team Starting Lineup

Goal: Roberto Luongo, Vancouver

Defense: Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit
Defense: Dion Phaneuf, Calgary

Forward: Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit
Forward: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit
Forward: Jarome Iginla, Calgary


From the look of things, two quick notes:

1.No Ilya Kovalchuk for the stacked East
2.The Western lineup with the exception of goaltender is made up of all Red Wings and Flames.


We'll have much more later on.

Some extra Saturday stuff

With it being a very busy Saturday in the league, we figured we'd throw out some other extra stuff as well from other games:



-Toronto captain Mats Sundin's two goals in his team's 3-2 home loss to the Flyers gave him 20 for the season- making it the 17th consecutive season the 35 year-old Swedish pivot has scored at least 20 in his brilliant NHL career.



Sundin, who was taken first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in 1989 has tallied 408 of his 543 with the Maple Leafs since coming over in a trade for Wendel Clark. No.543 last night moved him past Stan Mikita into sole possession for 25th on the NHL's all-time goalscoring list.



Swedish Finisher A Magnificent Mats (Most Consecutive Seasons of at least 20 goals-or-more)



Gordie Howe 22 seasons

*Brendan Shanahan 18 seasons

Marcel Dionne 17 seasons

Brett Hull 17 seasons

Mats Sundin 17 seasons

+Jaromir Jagr 16 seasons



*still active needing five goals to reach 19 straight

+active and needs nine more for 17 in a row





-Emergency third string goalie Ty Conklin continued his amazing story stopping all 35 Panthers shots in backstopping the suddenly surging Pens to a 3-0 shutout- their sixth consecutive win.



The 30 year-old journeymen who's with his third organization in two years has been utterly brilliant since being recalled from AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In six straight starts, he's allowed only eight goals. In fact, he's now seven-for-seven when he gets the nod in net for Pittsburgh, which trails first place New Jersey by just a point.



"Its nice, mostly because the team's been plying so well," Conklin told the Associated Press after yesterday's latest stellar performance. "Everything's a lot more fun when you win."



"When you have a goalie that can make the saves, he's giving you a chance to win, and this is what he's doing right now," Pens' coach Michel Therrien added.



It sure is a lot simpler when you've got a hot goalie. That it would come from such an unlikely source due to a high ankle sprain which has sidelined starter Marc-Andre Fleury makes it even more special for the Penguins.



Conk-ering All (Ty Conklin this season with Pens)



8 GP 7 GS Record: 7-0 2.00 GAA .939 Save Pct 2 SHO





-With another goal (No.32) plus two assists, Calgary captain Jarome Iginla remained red hot in leading his Flames to a 6-4 win over the NHL's worst team the LA Kings.



After a slow start under new coach Mike Keenan, the admirable 30 year-old power forward has turned it up carrying his team to wins in 11 of their last 14 to move up to 49 points- one fewer than division leader Vancouver.



In fact, when Iginla tallies, the Flames have a pretty good record this season improving to 16-4-3 after last night.



Iginla Lighting The Lamp With Regularity (A breakdown of Iginla's goalscoring this season)



October 12 GP 8 goals

November 14 GP 5 goals



Two month total 26 GP 13 goals



Since Dec. 1 17 GP 19 goals



Notes:



-Iginla has only failed to score a goal in five of the 17 games.

-The Calgary franchise has six multi-goal games during the stretch including a hat trick in a 9-6 win over Tampa Bay on Dec.13.

-Included was a five-game goalscoring streak from 12/11 - 12/18 in which he lit the lamp eight times.

-The goal last night made it three straight games with a goal (5 total). He's tallied eight times in the last six contests.



More Iginla (Goalscoring leaders for 2007-08 season)



Ilya Kovalchuk, Atl 33 goals

Jarome Iginla, Cgy 32 goals

Alexander Ovechkin, Wsh 32 goals





-With his OT winner in a 2-1 victory over the Islanders, Marek Svatos continued his bounce back season. After scoring only 15 times in 2006-07, the 25 year-old Avs' right wing already has one more goal than he did in 66 games last year.



Svatos has three goals in his last two games and six in his past seven.

Marek's Turnaround In 2007-08

2006-07 66 GP 15 goals

2007-08 38 GP 16 goals

Flames snap Ranger three-game win streak

The Rangers had been feeling good about themselves after finishing 2007 with a hard fought 4-3 overtime win last Sunday on home ice.

But they couldn't keep it going in the first of a challenging three-game Western Canada road swing- falling to Mike Keenan's Flames 4-3 last night at The Saddledome.

They never led as Hart candidate Jarome Iginla scored twice including a third period tally off a turnover and inept defensive coverage by every Ranger on the ice to restore a two-goal lead.

In perhaps his best game of the season, rookie pivot Brandon Dubinsky was rewarded for some hard work when he completed a give-and-go with Sean Avery to cut the deficit to 3-2 with six and change left.

But a really odd play broke the Rangers' backs. Off a faceoff, Martin Straka broke free from two Flames and was nearly in on Miikka Kiprusoff but lost control before trying a back pass to Michal Rozsival which didn't work as the defenseman who struggled all night wasn't set.

Instead, a hustling Kristian Huselius went the other way off the costly turnover and fooled Henrik Lundqvist with a tricky shot from an extreme angle down near the left boards.

The 25 year-old netminder was apparently expecting a centering pass and caught napping as he wasn't all the way against the post which allowed the puck to go in.

Just brutal. Totally inexcusable for Lundqvist who's been less than stellar for about a month now. Maybe it's the thoughts of a long-term extension which could be happening any day now.

The latest bad goal really hurt because leading finisher Brendan Shanahan tallied with 14 seconds to go. But it would be too little too late as Jaromir Jagr couldn't get a shot off as time expired.

This was a frustrating defeat because Kiprusoff (29 saves- many timely) totally outplayed Lundqvist. Given some of the quality chances the Rangers generated for the final 22-23 minutes, they easily could've been in overtime with at least a valuable point with another up for grabs.

Kiprusoff was that good IMO. He really was sharp and played like the former Vezina winner he is which bodes well for the Flames, who are 8-1-1 in their last 10 and really playing better hockey.

The other frustrating aspect of this loss was that once again, the Blueshirts came away without a win against a Western Conference opponent. I think that's now 0-5-1 against the West.

That's why they continue to trail the first place Devils (now up by three) who had a nice home win (3-2) over the Panthers where their franchise goalie Martin Brodeur shined in making 31 saves to allow Brian Gionta's five-on-three power play tally to hold up.

Eventually, the Rangers need to break through and it's not going to be any easier tonight at Vancouver against Roberto Luongo.


One other note from last night's action: Ilya Kovalchuk scored his league-leading 33rd and assisted on three other Atlanta goals including a Marian Hossa winner during a 5-4 OT win at Carolina.

Kovalchuk has been amazing this season. At the halfway mark, the exciting Russian sniper has 33 goals and 24 helpers for 57 points.

If he gets them into the postseason, he should win the Hart.


If you missed the highlights, be sure to go to yahoo and check out his awesome end-to-end PPG.


Also, John Buccigross appeared on our New York Hockey Report show last night. I'll link up the archive a little later. Fyi...actually, the link for the podcast appears at the top corner of the left part of our page. So you can just click on the NYHR link with our cool logo!

Many topics were covered including the very successful outdoor Winter Classic which drew the best network TV rating since Wayne Gretzky's final game. Plus plenty of league stuff as we talked about surprises and the seasons of Kovalchuk and the ageless Nicklas Lidstrom.


Be sure to tune in for our next show. It's usually every Wednesday between 9 and 10 over at blogtalk radio.


I need to get going now. See ya'll later.

Rangers Home Opener

October 4th versus the Panthers.

It'll be LA-ANA in London on 9/29 - 9/30, then regular opening night on 10/3, which will feature Leafs-Sens and likely an American doubleheader for Versus, and everybody's in action 10/4.

Devils will likely open in the south, because their 2nd game will be 10/6 at Florida.

Philadelphia opens up in the northwest at Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

Paddock to Coach Sens

John Paddock has been named the new coach of the Otttawa Senators.

This move reeks of Jim Playfair to Calgary last year.

Expect Padock to be gone within a year.

Load of Signings

-Calgary Signs Owen Nolan, 1 Year
-Anaheim Signs Todd Bertuzzi, 2 Years
-Nashville Signs Radek Bonk, Greg De Vries, both 2 Years
-Los Angeles strikes again, signing Kyle Calder for 2 Years
-Smolinski to the Habs, 1 Year, 2 Million

What do you all think?

Video of McClennan's Idiocy

http://video.nbcsports.com/player/?id=93835

About 3 minutes in, it gets ugly.