T-Ruff

Friday, December 10 Montreal at Detroit New Jersey at Ottawa Colorado at Atlanta Carolina at Dallas Tampa Bay at Edmonton Calgary at Anaheim Saturday, December 11 Philadelphia at Boston Pittsburgh at Buffalo Detroit at New Jersey Atlanta at NY Islanders Montreal at Toronto Colorado at Washington x2 NY Rangers at Columbus Carolina at St. Louis Dallas at Phoenix Florida at Nashville Tampa Bay at Vancouver Minnesota at Los Angeles Chicago at San Jose Sunday, December 12 Washington at NY Rangers Vancouver at Edmonton Minnesota at Anaheim

Kunitz - Crosby - Dupuis Cooke - Talbot - Asham Conner - Letestu - Kennedy Rupp - Adams - Godard The forward lineup the Pens iced last game. Pathetic The Penguins are my least favourite team in the league, but anyone who doesn't think Crosby is the hands down Hart winner at this point in the season loses all credibility on the topic of Penguins/Crosby, they're clearly blinded by hate.

Good idea on the winter classic thing Friday, December 3 Colorado at Carolina NY Islanders at NY Rangers Columbus at Buffalo Calgary at Minnesota Vancouver at Chicago Detroit at Anaheim Saturday, December 4 New Jersey at Philadelphia San Jose at Montreal Buffalo at Ottawa Boston at Toronto x2 Atlanta at Washington Pittsburgh at Columbus Colorado at Tampa Bay Minnesota at Dallas Florida at Phoenix Carolina at Nashville St. Louis at Edmonton Detroit at Los Angeles Sunday, December 5 Philadelphia at NY Islanders Ottawa at NY Rangers Calgary at Chicago Phoenix at Anaheim St. Louis at Vancouver

I would love to see it happen (another team in Toronto) and Jimmy Balsillie certainly deserves a team... Your hypothetical situation does make some logical sense, of course it's just speculation, but an interesting thought. I personally think a 2nd Toronto team is inevitable and will happen within 20 years or less though.

Haven't paid attention to him since he left San Jose. Even if he has sucked in Colorado though, I think he has a chance to have a resurgence and have a big impact on the Caps

The Capitals getting Hannan is the bigger news here IMO... They have needed a guy like him for years, he has potential to be an absolute monster there, I can't to see a Caps game on TSN with Pierre between benches. Great trade by the Capitals, they are a much scarier and complete team now.

The best part of all this (as they discussed on TSN last night) is that nobody on the Sharks had a hissy fit about it

I've seen two of these now, first was Liles, Lids and Byfuglien... this one swaps Byfuglien with Chara. It appears both have forgotten about Kris Letang: 19pts in 23 games, 23:07 average ice time, and a +10 which is the best on his team by 3, and 6 higher than Crosby. You gotta think that if the Norris ended today, Lidstrom would win with Liles and Letang runners up

Friday, November 26 Carolina at Boston New Jersey at NY Islanders x2 Calgary at Philadelphia Ottawa at Pittsburgh Nashville at Minnesota Chicago at Anaheim Tampa Bay at Washington Detroit at Columbus Toronto at Buffalo NY Rangers at Florida Montreal at Atlanta St. Louis at Dallas San Jose at Vancouver Saturday, November 27 Philadelphia at New Jersey Calgary at Pittsburgh Buffalo at Montreal Toronto at Ottawa Florida at Tampa Bay Dallas at St. Louis Anaheim at Phoenix NY Rangers at Nashville Minnesota at Colorado San Jose at Edmonton Chicago at Los Angeles Sunday, November 28 Columbus at Detroit Carolina at Washington Boston at Atlanta

The issue is that in the past there have been these exact situations where the puck has gone in (wasn't under control by goaltender) and yet its called no goal because play was dead due to a whistle (this case) or the "intent to blow the whistle". (Read: Hossa's disallowed tying goal against the Ducks in 2009 playoffs that would have forced OT in final 2 minutes IIRC). That's why even the Pittsburgh announcers were shocked, it was called contrary to the way it has always been done in the past, and that's where the controversy is stemming from. Now, as an aside, IMHO, the way they called this goal should be the way that it's done. There is such thing as human error so why not use common sense and say that if a goal should be a goal, call it a goal? It's not like everyone stopped playing for that fraction of a second.

Friday, November 19 Carolina at Pittsburgh Los Angeles at Buffalo Minnesota at Detroit Washington at Atlanta Ottawa at St. Louis Chicago at Calgary Phoenix at Edmonton NY Rangers at Colorado Columbus at Anaheim Saturday, November 20 Los Angeles at Boston Tampa Bay at Buffalo Nashville at Carolina Toronto at Montreal Florida at NY Islanders Philadelphia at Washington Colorado at Dallas New Jersey at St. Louis NY Rangers at Minnesota Chicago at Vancouver Columbus at San Jose Sunday, November 21 Calgary at Detroit NY Islanders at Atlanta Edmonton at Anaheim Phoenix at Vancouver x2

A bunch of those are potential contenders this season IMO: Vancouver, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia and even LA could prove to be a bit of a dark horse, especially if they acquire a playoff piece at the deadline.

Saw it live, one of the best I've seen, they were swinging for the fences to be sure

Friday, November 12 Edmonton at New Jersey Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh Colorado at Columbus Minnesota at Florida Calgary at Phoenix Dallas at Anaheim Saturday, November 13 Ottawa at Boston Washington at Buffalo x2 Colorado at Detroit Carolina at Montreal Florida at Philadelphia Vancouver at Toronto Pittsburgh at Atlanta St. Louis at Phoenix Chicago at Nashville Calgary at San Jose NY Islanders at Los Angeles Sunday, November 14 Edmonton at NY Rangers Minnesota at Tampa Bay Atlanta at Washington Anaheim at Chicago

I think Bettman could be good for the MLB, maybe introducing some much needed changes (e.g. playoffs)... But frankly, you're delusional if you subscribe to the notion that Bettman is the root of all evil and once he is gone everything will change for the better.

On HNIC's Hotstove intermission feature last night, Pierre Lebrun mentioned that the GMs are meeting next month and will discuss a new overtime format for next year. OT would be 8 minutes in total, 4 minutes of 4 on 4 followed by 4 minutes of 3 on 3, followed by a shootout if necessary. This would significantly reduce the number of shootouts, and Lebrun claims that most GMs favour the idea and it will most likely be implemented. I love it, there's no downside, IMO. After reading about the experimental camp in August, I believed it was inevitable.

UPDATE: When Lebrun mentioned it on CBC last month he was pretty confident most GMs would be in favour, however, on the 2nd intermission of NYI @ OTT just now Darren Dreger mentioned that all signs seem to indicate that it won't fly, "the commissioner loves the shootout" and I guess that means most other GMS do too... I'm still optimistic that it could get changed by next year

Friday, November 5 NY Rangers at New Jersey Boston at Washington Montreal at Buffalo Carolina at Florida Calgary at Minnesota Phoenix at Dallas Detroit at Edmonton x2 Pittsburgh at Anaheim Saturday, November 6 St. Louis at Boston Florida at Carolina Ottawa at Montreal Philadelphia at NY Islanders Buffalo at Toronto Chicago at Atlanta Minnesota at Columbus Dallas at Colorado Pittsburgh at Phoenix Nashville at Los Angeles Detroit at Vancouver Tampa Bay at San Jose Sunday, November 7 Philadelphia at Washington Edmonton at Chicago St. Louis at NY Rangers Nashville at Anaheim

Nashville at Detroit Pittsburgh at Carolinax2 Florida at Montreal Boston at Ottawa NY Islanders at Philadelphia NY Rangers at Toronto Buffalo at Dallas Atlanta at St. Louis Chicago at Minnesota Columbus at Colorado Tampa Bay at Phoenix Washington at Calgary New Jersey at Los Angeles Anaheim at San Jose

In my opinion, Atlanta has been the most likely franchise to move for the past year or two... and I think having no present and virtually no future after losing Kovalchuk and trading away picks and prospects for Byfuglien and friends will only speed the process.

Friday, October 22 Calgary at Columbus Ottawa at Buffalo Tampa Bay at Atlanta Chicago at St. Louis Minnesota at Vancouver Saturday, October 23 NY Rangers at Boston Anaheim at Detroit Buffalo at New Jersey Montreal at Ottawa x2 Toronto at Philadelphia Atlanta at Washington NY Islanders at Florida Nashville at Dallas Pittsburgh at St. Louis Columbus at Chicago Los Angeles at Colorado Carolina at Phoenix San Jose at Edmonton Sunday, October 24 Nashville at Tampa Bay New Jersey at NY Rangers San Jose at Calgary

Not to mention it's simply not practical for regular season TV and travel schedules

100% agreed, but I am also ok with this slow feeling out process they are doing. (Not to say testing in the AHL would be a bad idea, quite the contrary). Here is what they need to do to finally come to the perfect system, and IMO it is inevitable that they make it here: 1. Make every game worth 3 points, one way or the other. 3 for a win in regulation, 2 for a win in OT or Shootout, 1 for a loss in OT or shootout. Fair to everyone. 2. 4 on 4 OT followed by 3 on 3 OT. Better than the current system and better than the pre-lockout system, adds much excitement while also cutting down on shootouts 3. Make shootouts 5 skaters a side. Soccer does 5, international hockey does 5, where the hell did they ever get 3 from? This is what can never be done for a variety of reasons: - Award no points for losing in OT or Shootout - Go back to having ties - Introduce shootouts or 4 on 4 or 3 on 3 stuff into the playoffs - have continuous OT during the regular season And on a complete sidenote: They need to start the season in mid to late September, so that the playoffs finish before June and then they can bump up the draft and UFA day so that the latter doesn't fall on North American holiday weekends (July 1st and 4th)

No because that would be taking a step backwards by bringing ties back into the game. They're slowly finding the balance, once they make all games worth 3 points and increase the shootout shooters to 5 (less important), it will be quite satisfactory. I'm surprised people can complain about this and would even prefer to go back to the pre-lockout system, I for one can't wait to watch me some 3 on 3 OT.

Thanks Kook