F2B&G

+1. We're all in this together.

Cornell plays a grind-it-out, trap-happy style of hockey that is frequently bitched about and maligned by their rivals. His hitting game shouldn't suffer there.

Expect the Rags to make him an inflated offer, and heavily play the Torts card. Overpaying FAs is Sather's bread and butter. Sounds like it'll come down to money vs. lack of "media pressure".

The Blues have a solid young team, but they're still missing a couple pieces. With the Johnson trade, they'll need a couple new D prospects - guys who could either play opposite Pietrangelo or fill the #3 role. The results of the biggest trade of 2010/2011 will play out over the next 2-3 years, but St. Louis has the edge for now. The fact that Chicago tanked long enough to draft a winning team isn't going to help the Blues in their push to regain their contender status. And Nashville is going to be around for some time as long as Rinne sticks around and Trotz has them playing the lock. The Wings maintain the edge for now because of depth and experience. The prospects still in our pipeline show no indication that the Wings have a shortage of younger guys with potential. The Central is a very tough division with Chicago having a pretty good team again, and Columbus becoming competitive enough to steal games and be pesky. IMO, the Blues still have some important decisions to make in the next few years before they will contend again.

I say Caps in 5. Roli's going to have to really stand on his head for this to get stretched out. Much more talent up front for Washington than for a Pittsburgh team without Crosby and Malkin.

To hell with the Toilet Seats, but the Bruins look awful, and with the series shifting back to MTL, this looks to be over.

I didn't want Phoenix or Nashville, but here we are. Wings in 6, maybe 7.

This is Nashville's best chance to finally win a playoff series. Preds in 5 or 6.

He's basically learned all that he could from Maine's current staff. Time for him to over-ripen in Grand Rapids.

I think they could win the Cup if they really want to, but the way they have started down the regular season stretch...:puke:

I ate my words last night, so tonight the Wings get curb-stomped and lose 6-1 due to a Pavelski hat trick.

Personally, I'm thrilled at the prospect of lighting up Ellis like a Christmas tree.

How 'bout a little payback for that December shellacking? Let's get 'er done Wings!

Get your priorities straight - only Sharks fans care about that paperweight.

Basically, the Titanic and the Lusitania trade deck chairs.

There really isn't a better team in the league that Jarkko could've ended up with. Hilarious.

Time to see if the Wings can answer a nice win against Tampa with a solid win against a team with nothing to lose.

CHL scouts were forecasting "doom & gloom" for this summer's draft a couple years ago, based on an allegedly thin CHL draft that year. It seems that the outlook has improved somewhat since then, and this draft will just be a little below average - not a lot of players with obvious 'star' potential, but plenty of depth prospects. However, all the negative forecasting has definitely increased the propensity to give up higher 2011 picks for current players.

That's what they said two years ago, but now it sounds like enough talent has since come out of the woodwork that this will be just an average draft - neither great, nor terrible.

Nice to know Mario still needs a pacifier in his old age.

If he were truly Brett Favre-ing it, he'd have signed with us and texted nude photos one of Carolina's ice girls. Still, this is a little ridiculous. He'll probably eff up his ankle again soon enough.

Start out on the right foot and beat the Sens and BJs, split the home-and-home with the Preds, beat the Rags at the Joe, split the home-and-home with the Bs, split the Florida roadtrip. Then, shoot to win at least three of the remaining five - Mild on the road, then San Hoe and the Stars at home, and finally face currently struggling Sabres and Kings squads on the road (though they could improve later in the month - hard to say at the moment). The good news is that the only back-to-backs will be on the Florida trip, and one of those teams isn't very good. EDIT: Whoops, there's a back-to-back this weekend. My bad. I'll say 8-4-2, with the team looking better as the month wears on and the lines re-gel. It won't be quite what we'd prefer to see, but it should be better than January. With hard work and a little luck, maybe we'll be fortunate enough to sweep the Preds or the Bs. Here's to a lack of injuries from here on out!

I'm willing to toss in a half-empty bottle of Evan Williams bourbon, a well-used leather desk chair, a discount coupon from my uncle's sealcoating business, and an unknown amount of coins in my change jar. I can also offer up a Glock 17 which I propose to use for the ownership group's personal protection (can't be too careful in Newark).

I can't believe I'm saying this (and he is still an idiot), but I actually agree with Milbury. Kovalev has been a lazy floater and a waste of talent for the majority of his career. Funny he could never recognize that trait in his years as a GM.