StaticWithABeat

Wicked Cup hangover + losing 2 of 3 best players + questionable offseason acquisitions = not a good year in Anaheim...think Hurricanes of last year.

Got to hand it to Petey, he's a battler...with everything his body has gone through over the past decade, many would've been content to cash out a long time ago.

All the elite wingers in the world will only take you so far when you have s*** for defense and no centers worthy of playing above the 3rd line.

Vancouver would let the Sedins walk before they give up Luongo. They will happily pay him whatever he wants to remain a Canuck forever.

Whenever the Blues and Blackhawks get together I usually root for a meteor strike on the host arena. If I absolutely had to choose between them, it would be the Blackhawks...the Blues are #30 on my list of favorite NHL teams.

Any other team would've done the right thing and burned that roster to the ground years ago...too bad no one in the Toronto organization cares about winning.

He would've been worth taking a chance on for maybe 2m or under...all things considered I'm glad he didn't stay, although a Hudler-Filppula-Bertuzzi second line would've been interesting.

The idea of relocating an O6 team to southern Louisiana probably gives Bettman a giant boner...if he had his way we'd see such hockey powerhouses as the Baton Rogue Bruins and New Mexico Canadiens. Chara seems to hurt his right hand rather frequently during fights...too strong for his own good perhaps. It might also help if his signature move wasn't delivering full-force blows to the helmet.

I think this one deserves a top 10 spot.

This just in: The Toronto Sun is reporting that the Leafs are putting the final touches on a deal that would send Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Marian Hossa, Bobby Orr, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Toronto in exchange for Carlo Colaiacovo and a 1st round pick.

The biggest problem for Hudler and Filppula is they both have small, penguin-like bodies, which makes it hard for them to create space for themselves or win physical battles. Filppula in particular has the quickness and hands to carry the puck around from time to time, but 99% of the time that play ends with him getting quickly overwhelmed and shoved off the puck. I think they would both benefit from having a corner-digging, crease-crashing type player on their line instead of slack-ass Samuelsson. Once Franzen comes back I'd be interested to see how a Hudler-Filppula-Franzen line performs.

I'm going to go ahead and just add this to the giant pile of random Forsberg rumors that have been spewed out since the summer. Apparently every team in the league is currently in talks with him, and his choice is down to Colorado or whatever city the reporting news outfit is based in. On paper he would look nice on the second line with some combination of Hudler/Filppula/Franzen/Samuelsson, but if he wants any more than a 1-year 2mil deal then no thanks, there will be better options available as the season progresses.

I recommend sporting a giant t-shirt with "RICHARD WAS A PANSY" across the front, drinking too much, and telling loud "How many French Canadians does it take to screw in a lightbulb" jokes to the people around you.

KEN: Well he's been quiet and uninteresting for 20 straight minutes, so let's talk to Hall-of-Famer Larry Murphy so he can state the obvious and feel involved in the broadcast. Larry take us through that last play. LARRY: Well Ken, Rafalski makes a great play right there, clearing the puck out of the zone and away from the forechecker. That's great defensive awareness, definitely showing why Ken Holland went out and got him. KEN: Fascinating. I know I mention it every time he touches the puck, but since I need to ask you things to get you to say anything remotely interesting, tell us again how wonderful it was to be paired with Nick Lidstrom during your time in Detroit. LARRY: It was the greatest honor I've ever received, Ken. Allow me to elaborate by praising whatever Lidstrom just did on the ice for the next 30 seconds. KEN: If Mickey quits I will kill myself.

Ahh yes, the first of what is sure to be many players to fall out of Mike Keenan's favor. I can think of few players in the league worse-suited for an Iron Mike system than Alexei "Naptime" Kovalev...then again they were together on the '94 Rangers so who knows, maybe they'll get along great and Kov will score 75 points.

He simply isn't worth what he's asking for, hence his lack of a job. If any NHL GM gets desperate enough to sign him, my money is on Lou Lamoriello. Matvichuk is on his way out of town and Colin White has a busted eye so they're really hurting for someone like Markov right now.

Even if he really is available, I doubt the Wings would have much of a shot at him...he would come expensive, and there are plenty of teams out there who are in positions to give up a lot more for him than the Wings would...he would make a fantastic addition to the second line though, that's for sure.

Slow, incompetent, obscenely overpaid blueline in Toronto...maybe 2 worthwhile defensemen on the roster. Every time I feel down about the Wings' management decisions I just look at Toronto and feel blessed.

Ironically, I will miss part of this game because I have a job interview with Aflac tomorrow.

He's a heck of a player, quite possibly the best Leaf ever. Unfortunately he is doomed to join the ranks of underappreciated Leaf greats who never came anywhere near a Cup thanks to poor team management. I know he's made it abundantly clear that he has no interest in leaving Toronto, but it'd be nice to see him get a legitimate shot at a Cup before his career winds down.

Similar in nature to the Chris Simon hit last year...intentional or not, the NHL is clearly trying to set a hard precedent by amping up the punishment each time something like this happens, so I expect he'll get no less than 20-25 games.

Anyone happen to catch Nathan Horton vs. Aaron Asham the other night? Definitely my pick for fight of the year thus far...Horton rarely fights but he's vicious when he does. Put a beating on some guy from Carolina last year too.

It should also be noted that Maltby is running circles around the rest of the league in the looking-pissed-off-no-matter-whats-going-on category.

Back in the 80's Perry, Avery, Tootoo, etc would've been hunted down and made into decorative rugs by the likes of Probert, Tony Twist, Marty McSorely, or Joey Kocur. Nowadays with the new rules and massive crackdown on violence, players barely have to worry about on-ice retribution anymore, and think nothing of throwing around elbows and late hits. The players can't effectively police themselves anymore because of the instigator rule, new fighting restrictions, and of course the NHL's wacky disciplinary policy so it's no surprise people are getting cold-cocked left and right.

First of all, Atlanta will resign him before he becomes a UFA, you can bet on that...they have reasonable cap room and he is among the best players in the league, not the kind of player that gets thrown around in deadline deals for picks, which is more or less what I was alluding to...If he gets dealt out of Atlanta - even if they're out of the playoff hunt - you can be there will be at least one elite player headed the other way.