MacK_Attack

I'd be pretty surprised if he's not claimed by the Islanders.

Both Kaberle & Kubina lose their NTC's this summer. But, with Kaberle coming out and saying that he'll take a trade, I think that will pave his way out of Toronto by the deadline. Moore's a good guy that knows his role. Never tries to do too much, but never stops trying. Solid 4th liner.

Antropov will be moved, too. I think one of Kaberle or Kubina will be moved before the deadline, the other at the draft or during the summer. Ponikarovsky, Moore & Stajan will be peddled too. Poni & Moore are almost definitely on the move.

I wonder what her name was....

Huge surprise that Burke's first trade brings in Brad May. Conditional pick to Anaheim.

Potentially. I think it probably paves the way for Mayers or somebody like that to be moved out.

After multiple back surgeries and missing nearly two years, Steve Sullivan will suit up for the Predators on Saturday.

It's a conditional 6th rounder in 2010. Apparently the condition is based on May re-signing, so I can't imagine that'll happen.

I still think you're wrong.

Markstrom didn't exactly shy away from it. In fact, it looked like he had some intent involved in trying to hit Della Rovere, either to draw a penalty or to actually hit him. He's a good goalie, but clearly Canada knew that they could throw him off his game by getting in his face and it worked. The Canadian players were guilty of going after him and Markstrom was guility of flopping around anytime he was hit by a stiff breeze. The first one where he was nudged and he went flailing backwards was pretty bad.

The goalie didn't do himself any favours, either. He looked like a fish out of water.

Schenn's rock-solid. Very happy with that pick. He puts a lot of veteran D-men to shame. It's too bad they aren't a whole lot worse this year, Fletcher didn't quite strip them down enough. Tavares would've been nice, but that ship has sailed. Fortunately, Burke's his own man and won't let meddling owners get in the way of building a team that he wants. Hate Burke all you want, but he's exactly the kind of GM the Leafs have needed since Punch Imlach, sadly. Just can't wait to see what the returns are for Kaberle, Kubina, Antropov, Ponikarovsky and Moore. It's going to be a fun trade deadline with a real GM for a change.

I agree. It would have to be a 10 year deal or something with a high salary to start with, which depreciates over the course of the deal. Franzen simply isn't in a position to take less money. He's got to make off like a bandit while he can. Like I said, this is his only opportunity to do so. Given the potential of a declining cap in two years, he's got to cash in now.

Fortunately, he's said the only thing he's interested in is draft picks.

Can't say I blame you. Gary lives for the playoffs and he's said this will be his last season, so he'll definitely be dealt from Tampa Bay for one last kick at the can.

I can't wait for Burke to dynamite my Leafs.

Which is why I said he would get that on the open market. However, I doubt he'll take a 50% reduction to stay. Unlike some guys, he hasn't been making millions for years. This is his one and only chance to hit the jackpot. I don't think he's going to sign for $3.5 million or something. He's 29, he's never made more than $900,000 and change in a season. He doesn't have the luxury of having millions in the bank like a Hossa or Datsyuk. He's got a chance to cash in in a big way. He won't get another opportunity to get a big contract.

If he scores 40 goals, you think he's going to go for $3-4 million? Suuuuuuure. Only if his agent has mittens pinned to his coat all year 'round. Open market, $6 million as a bare minimum, probably $7 million in the end.

I find it funny that Stamkos is a bust because he hasn't put up points as an 18-year old. It's not that uncommon. Canada was at a bit of a disadvantage because of the top-five picks in the past NHL draft (all Canadian, by the way), only one was able to play in the tournament (Pietrangelo) because the other four are in the NHL. It would be a different story with Stamkos, Doughty, Bogosian & Schenn playing, but that's the way it goes when you develop high-end players. Plus I think guys like Gagner, Turris, Sutter, Gillies & Bailey were eligible too, but are in the NHL. And I suppose you had your head buried in your make-believe world when Tavares scored two goals 43 seconds apart in the game against the U.S. that rallied Canada from being down 3-0. And you probably didn't notice who got the puck to Eberle when he tied it up: John Tavares.

......but you're not bitter.

Canada needs to do to Sweden what they did to them in the exhibition game: Run them early and run them often.

That was one hell of a hockey game.

Assuming Buffalo hangs on, they'll knock Pittsburgh down to 9th in the East. Rumours swirl that Pat Quinn is headed there after the World Juniors, and that he'd pressure Shero into trading for Nik Antropov to play with Crosby.

How can you have a visor that you can easily remove in a fight that isn't going to accidentally fall off every shift? Even if there was such a thing, you'd likely end up with something protruding from the front of the helmet that could cut a hand up pretty good. Linesmen are NOT going to jump into an on-going fight because a helmet came off. Too dangerous for everybody involved. You'd end up with linesmen getting punched out. Keeping helmets on during a fight isn't really a solution, either, because helmets come off accidentally, too. Plus, the number of broken hands would be huge. Ever punched a helmet? Doesn't feel good. From all accounts, it was a freak accident and wasn't due to one player trying to tackle the other. One lost footing and they both went down. Perhaps the only rule that could come of this is banning the intentional removal of helmets before the fight starts, but from what I heard, that didn't happen in the Sanderson fight, either. Perhaps we need to get away from making up new rules every single time somebody gets injured or worse in a hockey game. It's the first time this has ever happened at a high level in terms of a fight causing a death. Players know the risk involved with fighting, and they accept it every time the gloves are dropped.