The Skin of Our Teeth

[b]NHL[/b] - Note : [i]This comes almost word for word from a post I made on a message board and a little from a conversation with a friend of mine.[/i]

This must be addressed as many people still think Detroit overpaid for Robert Lang.

How does Detroit over pay here?

They're trying to win a Stanley Cup in 2004....this is the last good chance they have (look at the ages of (Bret) Hull, (Christ) Chelios, (Steve) Yzerman, and then the possible stoppage.) As with any team that has a solid shot at it, you go big and try to acquire players that can help you. 160 pound kids lighting it up in the WHL (Western Hockey League) AREN'T going to help you now or in the playoffs. Hell, (Tomas) Fleischmann won't even help the (Washington) Capitals (if at all) for another four or five years. By that time, (Detroit GM Ken) Holland will have already restocked his cupboard with prospects just the same.

The idea going into the playoffs is to solidify your team and make it better TODAY...Holland knows what he's going to get out of Lang now - he doesn't know what he's going to get out of the wire-framed Fleischmann in a while.

What are you going to tell your future Hall-of-Famers like (Brendan) Shannahan, Hull, Chelios, Lidstrom, Schiender, ect who might not be back next year? That they should take a hike and we're going with Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Fleischmann instead? That we're aiming to win the Stanley Cup not this season but in 2010?

That's not going to work folks. Never does. In this day of "hired to be fired" GMs and coaches, if you have a legit stab at the Stanley Cup, you're going to do much near anything to improve your chances in the playoffs. Most GMs aren't going to be around long enough to watch their team build towards that 2010 championship so you DO have to make competitive strides and this is probably the last realistic stride that Holland has at this point.

They'll still have Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Fischer, Hudler, Kopecky, Robison and others in the future. But there's at least going to be some re-tooling for the next season, that's a fact.

Honestly, it's not like the talent of Detroit is being flushed down the drain in this trade. The first round pick is never certain and it's late first round anyway. The fourth rounder is in 2006 and is of little consequence right now. Detroit will probably end up stock piling enough picks through draft day trades in 2004 and 2005 where they won't even think twice about that fourth rounder. And Fleischmann, are you willing to gamble a chance that someone else pick up Lang and going into the Cup finals with the team you have and that Fleischmann will mean anything in the future?

I'm sorry but this wasn't much to overpay - they gave up nothing off their roster nor really anything they were banking on in their future. It'd be different if they had to give up say Hudler, then yes - that'd be an overpayment but I doubt Holland was banking on Fleischmann in 2005 or 2006 even - so his plans haven't changed much.

[b]NHL[/b] - Ok, the title is [u]slightly[/u] backwards here but the Washington Capitals have traded the NHL's leading scorer, [b]Robert Lang[/b] and his remaining 3 contract years from the Washington Capitals in exchange for [b]Tomas Fleischmann[/b], Detroit's first round pick in 2004 and a fourth round selection in 2006.

So much for my musing that moving over $15 million in salary would be next to impossible but [b]Ken Holland[/b] looks to be loading up for another Cup run before it's too late. With the contraversy in net over with and probably the greatest collection of defensemen in NHL history, Holand went a long way to plug up the second-line center hole. They're still an overly slow team in terms of speed but Lang helps.

Fleischmann is doing good for himself over in the WHL with Moose Jaw and he benefited from leaving the Czech Republic emensely. He's at least getting ice time over here. Thin as a rail but exteremely intelligent (for a 19 year-old) and very gifted with the puck. Add a bit of meat to his bones and give him four years and he maybe a regular on Washington's second line.

Right now, the fourth round pick I feel isn't worth discussing but will hold some value and possible flexibility at a future date. The first rounder, will end up being a very late first round pick as Detroit will finish near the top of the standings of course. It'll allow the Caps to maybe take a gamble on a player late such as [b]Alex Radulov[/b] or [b]Boris Valabik[/b].

For the Red Wings, they get easily the best player in this deal and someone they can easily plug into their line-up and locker room. He's never been very vocal nor described as a cancer. Lang's contract is very easy for the Wings to take on because nearly most of their roster is UFA and payroll can be cleared very effeciently.

As I say, when you're gunning for a Stanley Cup, you can't worry about what a prospect MIGHT turn out to be if you have an opprotunity to add a solid and known quantity to your line-up. You know what you're going to get out of Lang and you know you're going to get it this season for the playoffs. You can't say the same about Fleischmann. By the time he's ready in four years, Ken Holland will already have the cupboard restocked.

[b]THINGS FOR COMMENT[/b] -
Was this fair return on Lang?
Will Lang lead Detroit to the finals?
What do you think Washington's draft plans are?
Will Fleischmann be able to survive the NHL?

NHL - Three NHL transactions to mention this evening.

The Lightning have acquired from Nashville minor-league defensemen Timo Helbling. Helbling is 6-3 with a bit of a nasty streak but not much talent to be more than a 4th or 5th defensemen tops in the AHL. With the Springfield Falcons set to become the sole affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Lightning needed help in stocking the Falcons' defense corp. Nashville, who expects Stanislav Neckar to finally join the team from his groin injury, needed to not only make room for Neckar but room on the Milwaukee Admirals to send a defensemen down. For now coach Barry Trotz wants to keep eight defensemen on the roster but I doubt they'll go into the playoffs with eight.

Just an AHL depth move.

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Pierre Lacroix has acquired Darby Hendrickson from divisional rival Minnesota for a fourth round pick in 2005. The Avalanche also recieve an 8th round pick in 2004 with Minnesota native Hendrickson.

While the Wild do lose their native son, he's barely played for them all this season spending most of it with the Houston Areos of the AHL. It's always a good deal when you can spin a fourth round pick out of a player who you put on waivers earlier in the year.

Lacroix pretty much acquires Hendrickson for the fourth line and to compensate for the loss of Andrei Nikolishin, who's out indefinitely with an abdominal injury and has been out since the 24th of January. It's just insurance, if Nikolishin can come back - great. If he can't, at least Lacroix has acquired a decent face-off man and a strong penalty killer with leadership qualites and more expierence than young Cody McCormick, Riku Hahl and Steve Moore. He also adds a bit of speed to the team which could help if the Avalanche run into a team like the rival Detroit Red Wings in the playoffs.

As many of you that I've talked to, either in person or online, I absolutely am in love with McCormick but at this point in his career, I'd rather take the 31 year-old Hendrickson over him come playoff time.

Hendrickson is also a Group III free agent after the season.

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To make room for Hendrickson, Lacroix placed left wing Brad Larsen on waivers where he was quickly snatched up by Atlanta to play under former Avalanche coach Bob Hartley.

Larsen's day-to-day with a groin injury and has been out since Valentine's Day but should be due back soon. The 26 year-old Larsen should help out on the fourth-line until Slava Kozlov and JP Vigier return from their injuries as well. And then Larsen's place is up in the air, do the Thrashers put him back on waivers and send him to the Chicago Wolves?

He's sound defensively and has had to work hard his whole hockey career but honestly, I'm not sure he has the talent (or the skating ability) to stick in the NHL, even in Atlanta. I wish Brad luck, however.

[b]NHL[/b] - Big day today in the NHL as [b]Glen Sather [/b]has step down as head coach of the New York Rangers. Sather will remain as team president and general manager, much to the chagrin to many fans of the Rangers.

The Rangers have technically been eliminated from the playoffs (they'd have to go something like 16-3-1 in the last twenty and pray other teams lose to make it) and now it's time for Sather to step aside and evaluate this team solely as a GM. He knows next season he won't have [b]Mark Messier[/b] and he could possibly be without [b]Eric Lindros[/b] as well - either for just next year or forever. Does Sather want to go into re-building mode right now or just re-tool? Either way, it won't be easy to move all those salaries around and Sather's probably doomed in New York within a year. He only ended up taking the coaching job because no one else wanted to do it (you saw how quickly the axe fell on [b]Bryan Trottier[/b] last year and managing these egos isn't a dream job even if you have security.) Now the problem becomes, who would want to take over the GM duties - so I think Sather will stay for a bit until they find someone who's willing to put up with remaking this team.

Decisions for Sather to make soon is whether or not the team is going to re-sign [b]Matthew Barnaby[/b], [b]Alexei Kovalev[/b], [b]Boris Mironov[/b], [b]Jamie Pushor[/b], [b]Martin Rucinsky[/b], and [b]Chris Simon[/b], as well as Louie DeBrusk, Paul Healey, John Jakopin and Larry Nycholat or are they going to instead trade these guys in order to get something for them or do they just let them walk in free agency. Does Sather dare pick up the options on [b]Pavel Bure[/b], Lindros, [b]Vladimir Malakhov[/b] and [b]Petr Nedved [/b]or do they get thrown into the trade mix. The first two will probably be impossible to move but can you move Nedved and Malakhov with those options?

[b]Dan Blackburn[/b], [b]Joel Bouchard[/b], [b]Jan Hlavac[/b], [b]Jason Labarbera[/b], [b]Dan Lacouture[/b], [b]Jamie Lundmark,[/b] [b]Dale Purinton[/b], and [b]Chad Wiseman[/b] also have their contracts up at seasons end and which of these Group II free agents will Sather retain?

Is [b]Mike Dunham[/b] the answer in net? The save precentage is horrible but so is the team in front of him at clearing the front of the net. Blackburn's still the future of this franchise but he still needs at least a season or two of polish in Hartford.

So who does Sather retain out of this group and what can he get for the rest? It's time for him to start shaping the team for next season.

On the coaching aspect of it, [b]Tom Renney[/b] has been promoted to head coach and assistants [b]Ted Green[/b] and [b]Terry O'Reilly[/b] are retained. Renney was once the Canucks coach and is again one of those assistants that deserves to be a head coach again and I even figured he would have been the one to take over last season but for some reason that never transpired. Much like the Washington situation, the guy who should have had the job to begin with, now finally has the job and its way too late to fix the mistakes and problems.
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So you believe [b]Joel Quenneville[/b] or [b]Bob Francis [/b]will be in New York by the end of the week? I wouldn't quite count on it. I think there maybe a little hesitancy on the part of general managers hiring coaches for a bit.

You notice in all the recent coach firings (Washington, St Louis, Phoenix and the step downs in Florida and Columbus) they just promoted assisstants to the job - people they already have under contract. Carolina's the only one to go outside and I don't think [b]Peter Laviolette[/b] is making that much in money. Where as a coach like a Quenneville or a [b]Paul Maurice[/b] may command a little bit more in the way of money in a contract.

The Rangers are also going to some one they have in the system. Until we know there's going to be a full season next year, I don't think anyone's going to be throwing money around on coaches outside of the system for now. I'm sure if these teams do hire coaches it'll be towards the back end of the playoffs and before the draft (you NEED to have a coach before the draft in my opinion) and any contract a coach signs will probably have an escape clause for the team if the NHL season is indeed wiped out. You don't want to be stuck paying a Quenneville say $5 million and not have him coaching anyone.

Right now, let the teams sit back and pay cheaper assistants - one's they already have on the payroll - to finish out the rest of the season. Rangers and Coyotes aren't going any where obviously.

Well I already commented on Bob Francis being kicked out of Phoenix in favor of his assistant Rick Bowness and the same thing occured in St. Louis with [b]Larry Pleau[/b] relieving [b]Joel Quenneville[/b] of his duties and promoting assistant [b]Mike Kitchen[/b] to the head coaching position for the remainder of the year.

Joel's almost 7 years with the franchise have been mired by the fact that the Blues are .500 (34-34) in the playoffs despite the Blues competing for the Presidents Trophy for the top record in the NHL almost every year.

Owner [b]Jeff Laurie[/b] has been very critical since the off-season that if the Blues didn't win a Stanley Cup soon he'd get rid of the team as he was sick of pumping money into a franchise that didn't win. I guess it's at least a relief that there are franchise out there that WANT to win (just look up north on I-55 to Chicago) but Laurie and Pleau haven't gone about it the right way. They have a few top name guys but the cupboard is bare of prospects and the depth of the team is close to hideous.

It wasn't Joel's fault that the team was crushed by injuries and inconsistent goal tending but Joel's claim to fame is that he's the best in the business in preparing a team for a game. The Blues would never lose because they weren't prepared for the game. But this year it's been injuries, a lack of overall talent (especially on the flanks) and just being outworked at times. Add in the troubles [b]Brent Johnson[/b], [b]Reinhard Divis[/b] and [b]Chris Osgood[/b] have had in net and it's no surprise that the Blues are fighting for a playoff spot.

I've gone over the troubles of the Blues many times over as I'm in Blues territory now and I get a chance to read the Post-Dispatch quite often. It'll be interesting to see what the Post-Dispatch will have tomorrow and what kind of lies and BS will be propoganded in the paper much like the Chicago Tribune with the Blackhawks and their "direction."

Will the firing motivate the players into the playoffs? I think history shows that a new coach does wake up some players but you can't just catch lightning in a bottle like this. The weaknesses of the Blues will be exposed in a 7-game series in the playoffs. This move can push them into the playoffs, which will give the team the much needed playoff gate reciept. The reciept in today's NHL is more important that the higher draft pick by far.

Was it the right move? Kitchen is very capable and probably does deserve a shot at being a head coach much like Bowness deserved to have another shot but Quenneville was one of the top five coaches in the league hands down and his knowledge will be sorely missed.

If this team doesn't make that final playoff spot, and they sit a point out with the tie-breaking over the Los Angeles Kings in hand, I wouldnt' be surprised if Larry Pleau also gets the axe in St Louis and the team just starts to rebuild. I'm not sure if Pronger will be traded (it'd be dumb to do so) but I think the next GM would go cheaper and start building through the draft again. Blues fans have been spoiled by a long post-season streak and they maybe about to embark on a new post-season drought for a couple seasons to get this ship right side up.

My predictions, Glen Sather somehow drugs or hypnotizes Bob Francis into coaching the Rangers next year and Quenneville winds up in Phoenix - though I'd keep Bowness personally in Phoenix's case. Washington could also be another possible destination althought I absolutely love Glen Hanlon and it would be unfair to him to demote him after what he's given that organization.

NHL - The season's almost over and that means its time to start talking Awards. Who's going to win them this year? I usually don't like to do this before the playoffs but I'm going to take a look at my Calder votes for Rookie of the Year in the NHL.

1. [b]Andrew Raycroft[/b] - BOSTON - I think this is hands down everyone's choice and he was preseason choice before the Bruins acquired Felix Potvin but that hasn't mattered at all to Raycroft as he's also getting some people's vote for Vezina (goalie of the year) and Hart (MVP). The Bruins are near the top of the Eastern Conference with this rookie goaltender between the pipes.

2. [b]Trent Hunter[/b] - ISLANDERS - He leads the Islanders in scoring and could pot 30 goals this year. I thought scoring on the wings might be a problem for the Islanders this year but he's come out of no where to provide this offense. If he bulks up a bit, he could be a mainstay at the 30 goal mark.

3. [b]Joni Pitkanen[/b] - PHILADELPHIA - The lone Defensemen on this list. Pitkanen's steadiness on defense has been a big help to the Flyers who have since be able to deal off Eric Weinrich. +17 and on pace for 30 points.

4. [b]Patrice Bergeron[/b] - BOSTON - Boston's other young gun. I had him listed as a first round pick in the 2003 draft but even I couldn't have imagined that he'd be playing in the NHL this season and producing as the youngest player in the league. He's been solid on the second line and might fall just short of 50 points.

5. [b]Michael Ryder[/b] - MONTREAL - Many people disagree with my selection of Ryder at fifth. Sure he's leading the rookies in points and I'm really surprised he's kept up this clip but he's going to be nothing more than a checking line forward at the NHL level. Sure I shouldn't hold potential against him but if he does this kind of season again, I'll eat my hat and you can hold me to that one.

6. [b]Ryan Malone [/b]- PITTSBURGH - He's been a lone bright spot for the Penguins this year but honestly, someone had to score goals in Pittsburgh. He beat out Surovy and Abid for a spot on the left wing, that ought to count for something. He'll be an alright Penguin but not this year.

7. [b]Matthew Lombardi[/b] - CALGARY - Calgary didn't know where it was going to get its goals from and while Lombardi has only potted 12 (paced for 16) it's 12 goals Calgary probably wouldn't have gotten from another source. He needs to improve his defense but he's quickly becoming a favorite player of mine.

8. [b]Eric Staal[/b] - CAROLINA - The 2nd overall pick of the draft has already subplanted Ron Francis as Carolina's top line center. On pace for 32 points, 7th on a club going no where this season.

9. [b]Daniel Hamhuis[/b] - NASHVILLE - While that -11 makes me cringe, he's now a top four defenseman in Nashville behind Jason York, Marek Zidlicky and Kimmo Timonen. At 21, he can only get better and he's on pace for 20 points this season.

10. [b]Nikolai Zherdev [/b]- COLUMBUS - He's on pace for 24 points in 59 games this year. He's a late coming to the NHL season because of troubles over his commitments to the Russian Army. But he's been showing off since he got here. Doesn't have much of a work ethic but still looks amazing while gliding out there. If anyone can get him to focus every shift, he's going to be a mega star.

NHL - The Phoenix Coyotes have fired [b]Bob Francis[/b], coach of the year in 2001-02, and replaced him with assistant coach [b]Rick Bowness[/b]. Francis leaves the team number one in games coached, wins and winning percentage.

[b]Benoit Allaire[/b] stays on as goalie coach and [b]Pat Conchar[/b] retains his assistant position with the team. Scout [b]Tom Kurvers [/b]moves from his position to the bench to be the second assistant and to work with the defensemen.

I liked Francis a lot. I also like Kurvers and Conchar too. Francis did wonders with this team even when experts and critics (fans like me) didn't think they could make the playoffs (I had them in the hunt in 01-02 but I never could have thought they'd make that big of a push and that Francis would be the Jack Adams Award winner.)

Phoenix is having a down but they're on the right track on building a team. Mike Johnson has been hurt most of the year and Ladislav Nagy's season ending surgery crushed the team's spirits and their playoff hopes. Unreal expectations were put on Brian Boucher after he rolled off an unreal hot streak of five straight shut outs. He still could be the main man for the franchise but he's struggled mightly down the stretch.

GM [b]Mike Barnett[/b] will look to trade [b]Brian Savage[/b] (who they put on waivers yesterday but no one will probably claim because he has two more years totaling about $7 million) and [b]Mike Sillinger[/b] at the deadline. But it's time for him to start evaluating his club for next year.

They're on the right track though. [b]Shane Doan[/b] and [b]Ladislav Nagy[/b] emerged this year, [b]Fredrik Sjostrom[/b] looks to be ready to contribute, [b]Jeff Taffe[/b] is starting to look like the player we thought he'd be, [b]Daymond Langkow[/b], [b]Mike Comrie[/b], Taffe and [b]Chris Gratton[/b] give the Coyotes a solid four up the middle (though Barnett would love to find someone to take Gratton off his hands) and [b]Jason Jaspers[/b] projects well onto the third line next year. Hopefully, [b]Krystofer Kolonas[/b] will start to emerge a season removed from his horrible concussion problems and [b]Mike Johnson[/b] will be ready to go next year.

On defense, [b]Paul Mara[/b] and [b]Ossi Vaananen[/b] give the Coyotes an offensive weapon teamed with a defensive stalwart. But after them there's [b]David Tanabe[/b] and then a drop off to [b]Cale Hulse[/b], [b]Radoslav Suchy[/b],[b] Brad Ference[/b] and [b]Matthew Spiller[/b], who all should be 6th defensemen or at most 5th.

There's not too much in the cupboard to help next year so this is what Barnett's got to work with.

As for Bowness, he's only around until the season's end so far. His career coaching record maybe horrible but remember he coached the Ottawa Senators through their dark years and he did it while being nothing but positive. He's an intelligent coach that is great with younger guys and he probably deserved another shot some where, I just never thought he'd be replacing Francis.

Anyone need a coach next year, I don't believe Francis will be out of a job long.

[b]NHL[/b] - Well folks, if you were fooled by [b]Bob Pulford's [/b]claim that the Blackhawks were in the middle of a youth movement, then it's time to wake the hell up. The only movement the Hawks are in is towards owner Bill Wirtz filing the franchise as a tax write-off and lining the the govenor (the incomptent Blagovich) and other Chicago polititions' pockets to pass the more favorable liqour laws.

The Hawks today acquired 27 year-old [b]Jason Morgan[/b] from the Calgary Flames and 28 year-old [b]Eric Nickulas[/b] from the St Louis Blues. They also grab a conditional pick from the Flames but they give up 26 year-old [b]Ville Nieminen[/b], who goes to the Flames.

Surprise, surprise, picking up another player with connections to the Sutter brothers. At 27, Morgan has made it into 33 NHL games including 19 this year split between Calgary and Nashville. The career minor leaguer started the year with Calgary before Nashville claimed him off waivers to plug up some injuries. When Nashville acquired Steve Sullivan from Chicago, they put Morgan on waivers and the Flames quickly snatched him up again.

Anyone else find it hilarous that the Blackhawks could have picked Morgan up off waivers just a week ago if they wanted him so badly? He'll report to Norfolk in the next couple days. Norfolk picks up a solid AHL performer with a boat load of AHL leadership but the guy's never been talented enough to play an NHL shift.

As for Nickulas, he's having a career year for the Blues but only because the Blues have no one else to put on the wings. 44 of his total 81 NHL games have come in this season. Nickulas can serve a role on the third line of the Hawks. The only upside is he only makes $450k a year.

In losing Nieminen the Hawks lose one of their "big" free agent acquistions from almost a year ago when former GM [b]Mike Smith[/b] brought him in. He was on pace to play all 82 games for the Hawks and was 9th on their scoring list with 13 points. And that's Nieminen's trouble, he's never scored enough to really stick at the NHL level. 2 of those 13 points are goals and what Calgary will probably look to the winger to do is score goals. He can play either wing so he adds some flexibility to Darryl Sutter's line-up. Hopefully that -15 rating is only a reflection of the Hawks' third-line but he's -33 for his career now. What doomed him in Chicago was the fact he was making $600k I figure.

Both Morgan and Niemminen have years remaining on their contracts this wasn't your dumping of free agents that you can't sign and this definately wasn't a youth movement. The Hawks just keep pushing that payroll down closer to $20 million.

NHL really needs to step in and take this team away from Wirtz.

Any comments?

[b]NHL[/b] - The Pittsburgh Penguins maybe hitting new lows by extending their winless streak now to 18 games by losing to the Ottawa Senators 6-3.

But that didn't stop GM [b]Craig Patrick[/b] going out and making a move today, picking up forward [b]Landon Wilson[/b] from the Phoenix Coyotes for the well-traveled Future Considerations.

The Coyotes look to now be unloading what they can as they continue to struggle and now have lost top line [b]Ladislav Nagy[/b] for the season due to a dislocated wrist. Wilson's an unrestricted free agent (group III) at the end of the season so I assume Patrick intends to sign him for the next season and if he's let go or there is a lock-out, what do the Penguins really lose?

A former first rounder (Toronto 1993), Wilson has been nothing beyond a bit player for the third and fourth lines in his career - a career that was almost ended last year after a serious eye injury. At 6-3, 225 Wilson has had all the physical tools and talent to be a pretty good NHLer but he's never put it together for some reason.

Still he's managed to play even +/- in 329 NHL games to date, picking up 105 points. He's a cheap ($735 k) addition to Pittsburgh's checking lines, however.

Look for the Coyotes maybe to peddle Mike Sillinger at the deadline - other than that, I think Barnett needs to start evaluating what he has coming back for next season.

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tsn.ca reports that the Blackhawks are shopping around [b]Alexander Karpovtsev[/b] at the deadline. Karpovtsev just returned tonight from ankle surgery that's kept him out since November and his $3.1 million salary and his impending UFA status make him a number one target to get rid of.

Sorry, Bob Pulford but I think you're going to have bite the bullet on this one and lose Karpovtsev in the off-season because I don't know of anyone crazy enough to rent him for the rest of the year. Not even for a ninth round pick would I take Karpovtsev and his ankle right now. Unless someone's really desperate for a defensemen (and who isn't at this point) and lose out on the [b]Sergei Gonchar [/b]and [b]Scott Lachance[/b] sweepstakes...and well every other sweepstakes out there to boot.

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BTW outside users CAN use the comments feature on this BLOG and I encourage such comments. Except Leatherface and his Canadian hate-speech.

It was only yesterday I figured that Pierre Lacroix could send [b]Martin Skoula[/b] somewhere. Personally I would have held on to him but never mind that - Lacroix one upped me by sending Skoula to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for 2nd year man [b]Kurt Sauer[/b] and a fourth round draft selection in 2005.

Skoula, a former first rounder, now comes in as Anaheim's 6th dman. He could still be a potential 2/3 dman but at 24, he needs to start now. He's still not that bright on defensive coverage and his production isn't enough to make up for that fact.

Sauer played impressively in Anaheim's run to the Cup finals last year and had high expectations placed on him for this year. What you see is what you're going to get with Sauer. The offensive upside is next to zilch but he plays well in the defensive zone and like Skoula is mobile enough. Sadly, he needs to hit more with his size being what it is. [b]Adam Foote[/b] and [b]Bob Boughner[/b] hopefully will be able to toughen the kid up.

The money both make is pretty much even so it wasn't a money deal for the Ducks. They can only hope giving Skoula more ice time to develop will do him some good but if he couldn't learn a strong work ethic from [b]Joe Sakic[/b], Blake, and the others on the Avalanche, he's certainly not going to learn it from [b]Sergei Fedorov[/b] and [b]Sandis Ozolinsh[/b]. Maybe [b]Keith Carney[/b], if he's not dealt, can get Skoula working.

Personally, I think the Lanche wound up taking this one unless Skoula all of a sudden can blossom in the California sun to make it even.

[b]NHL[/b] - The Colorado Avalanche acquired defensemen [b]Bob Boughner[/b] from the Carolina Hurricanes today in exchange for a third round draft pick (originally Washington's pick acquired in the Konowalchuk deal) and defensemen [b]Chris Bahen[/b].

Boughner of course will add defensive depth and physical play to the Colorado blueline and help while [b]Rob Blake[/b] is out with the hairline fracture in his leg. Don't expect Boughner to put up offense but he'll be in everyone's face. If and when Blake does come back, this means bad news for [b]Martin Skoula[/b], as the former first round selection would be the odd man out. Could he be packaged in a deal for another player come the March 9th trade deadline? It maybe smarter just to hold on to Skoula as a 7th defensemen until next season when he's sure to be back into the line-up. But Skoula would be a nice chip to play in a trade.

Carolina making their cuts where they can. [b]Jim Rutherford [/b]said he won't be traded [b]Glen Wesley[/b] or [b]Sean Hill[/b] at the moment so Boughner was the obvious choice to go. Wesley is not willing to go through the "rent-a-player" phase he went through last year again and Hill's wife is from Raleigh and the family would rather stay. Wesley still could be presauded but I don't expect to see Hill moved.

Unless [b]Ron Francis[/b] approves a deal (rumoured to be going to the Boston Bruins) I believe Rutherford is finished making his moves. He'll try and find someone stupid enough to take [b]Rod Brind'Amour[/b] off his hands and he'll listen to offers for [b]Jeff O'Neill[/b] but as I've said before, he doesn't need to neccessarily deal O'Neill and the price to nab him thus becomes steeper. RFA's are easier to move doing the off-season though I believe Carolina has enough to re-sign him.

As for Chris Bahen, don't worry if you don't know who that is. I usually chide people that bitch and whine that they've never heard of this guy or that guy - ignorance is no excuse. But Bahen's a guy I had to look up even though I follow his current team pretty regularly. Bahen's seen action in 17 games for the 2nd division EV Landshut Cannibals (probably the coolest name and logo in all of sports) and he played four years at Clarkson, Colorado drafting him in the sixth round of 2000. He's a smooth skater but not much else, though one may note that he played with Cole in college. I assume he'll find himself in a Lowell uniform next year.

Many people think Colorado gave up too much for Boughner looking at what Timander and Weinrich went for but I think you're underrating the defensive game Boughner can play. It will be a high 3rd round pick but it essentially boils down to Boughner and Konowalchuk for Battaglia so what's the problem? If Weinrich is worth a fourth then this is about spot on for the deadline race.

LANDSHUT CANNIBALS website - www.la-cannibals.de

[b]NHL [/b] - Looks like every time we talk about trade rumours, we're talking about the Philadelphia Flyers. As usual, Bobby Clarke has been busy this year tooling his team for the playoffs. Now he's loading up with Alexei Zhamnov coming over from the Chicago Blackhawks in a deal that sees center prospect Colin Fraser and defensemen Jim Vandermeer go to Chicago. The teams also exchange 2004 draft picks - Chicago getting a second rounder and Philadelphia a fourth rounder.

Well we knew Zhamnov would be traded to, we just didn't know where and Philadelphia was always in mention but when both Jeremy Roenick and Keith Primeau went down with injuries, we knew Clarke would try and up the ante for Zhamnov.

While I figured Zhamnov wouldn't bring in as much as people think, they did get more of a return on him than they did with Steve Sullivan.

Jim Vandermeer is a 23 year-old defensemen who has seen action in 23 games this season because of injuries up on the big club. Though with the Hawks, he'll come into a full-time role on the blue-line and will hopefully be a part of the Hawks' future for a long time. He's well on his way to becoming a solid stay-at-home defensemen but don't expect any offensive upside from him. Just rock steady defense.

Vandermeer played his junior hockey with Red Deer and that's where Colin Fraser currently plays his junior hockey and in the WHL, he's known as an aggitator and full of fiest. He's undersized and probably that 6-0 is being generous to him. He's got a lot of heart and there's a bit of scoring touch there but I'm not sure he'll be more than a roll player. He'll make the NHL just on heart alone.

As for Zhamnov, he'll come in immediately as Philadelphia's top center until (and if) Roenick can return. He played for a long time centering current Flyer Tony Amonte so they'll possibly be put back together. He's missed a chunk of the season with a back injury so don't look too much at this year's numbers. He's also not a bad defensive center either - he can play against some of the top lines if needed. Too bad he does play a bit soft on the physical game but he's a skill player. A lot of people tend to believe he takes nights off and I disagree, if you played in Chicago for 7 years, you'd take a night off too. Management is so inept that you can't help but be depressed there. Zhamnov only saw the playoffs once in those seven years and I can only hope that being thrusted into the playoff picture with Philadelphia can pick up his game and bring excitement back to him.

As a Blackhawk fan maybe the surprise and anger of this trade is very much subdued and softened because I knew Zhamnov was going to be traded. Sullivan was a complete surprise and shock to everyone. But with Zhamnov, it was just a matter of when it would happen. Vandermeer's a good return as is the draft pick and we can only hope Colin can make it on his heart and aggression alone (or that he grows three or four inches with magic fairy dust.)

Too bad Bob Pulford won't be able to find any free agents that would want to come to Chicago for the money you just saved by trading Zhamnov - not that Pulford intends to spend that money any way.

Darren Pang, stop drinking Pulford's kool-aid you chimpanzee.

[b]NHL[/b] – The Florida Panthers and their future looks bleak. They lost $17 million last year and supposedly this year is looking even worse and the team’s chances of staying around seem to hinge on whether the owners (especially primary owner Alan Cohen) can cover the bills of the lost.

For the longest time I’ve been against the contraction of the Florida Panthers. What Rick Dudley has built there in the past couple years is a nice young unit. They have a young, strong captain, a top-flight defensemen, a young franchise goalkeeper and several other key young players on their roster and in the system. If you did get rid of the Panthers and sent all their players around the league in a dispersal draft, you would ruin what could be a great future team. To me it’d be exciting to watch what this franchise grow up together and win together. I think they could do it. But it just won’t be.

You could move the franchise BUT who’s going to buy this team? As we’ve seen over the past couple seasons, the market for buying an NHL team isn’t hot. No reasonable businessman wants to be a part of a losing investment and until the NHL turns a profit, then the market will always be low. If the team does move, think about the fact that the Office Depot Center itself turned in a profit yet the team didn’t. I don’t know how many years are left on the lease with the arena but it maybe a huge financial hit to either keep paying the lease (while obtaining a new one where ever they wind up) or to buy themselves out of the lease. If Cohen and his group have the money to buy the lease, move and secure a new lease more favorable to them, then by all means let’s do it. Let’s just not think moving the team to say Winnipeg is going to be easy because it won’t be.

The easiest answer is to just contract the team. The lease would still have to be bought out but the NHL would probably have to help in that aspect if they did decide to go through with contraction. But as I’ve made clear, destroying what Dudley and last couple GMs have done in Florida would be a shame. Keep these kids together.

[b]NHL[/b] – Everyone’s favorite Latvian goalie, Arturs Irbe’s exile is finally over. With the demotion of Jamie Storr to Lowell, the Carolina Hurricanes have brought up Irbe from Johnstown of the ECHL where he was doing amazing posting a 1.98 GAA and a .931 save percentage.

Irbe landed in the AA minor league when he refused to accept a buy-out of his NHL deal when he lost his starting job to Kevin Weekes last year. Honestly, I don’t think you can tell me that Jim Rutherford (Carolina’s GM) wasn’t trying to humiliate Irbe here. I could only wish that they brought Irbe up to use him as trade bait but he’s 37 and if you couldn’t find a buyer for him in the off-season, it maybe hard to find a buyer for him now. Irbe’s a proud man and if he wouldn’t accept a back-up role in Carolina, he’s not going to do that elsewhere (say his former team the Dallas Stars.)

Now the future of Jamie Storr is up in the air. The former first round draft pick originally signed with Avengard Omsk of the Russian Superleague in the off-season but when Patrick DesRochers struggled mightily in training camp, the Hurricanes called up Storr’s agent and he was on the first plane back to the states. However Storr has yet to win a game for the Hurricanes this season and Carolina brass has lost all faith in DesRochers, a former first round pick himself. I really thought this was going to be DesRochers year to break out but he hasn’t even come close and with players like Randy Petruk and Cam Ward behind him in the Carolina system, DesRochers time with Carolina maybe coming to an end and maybe so is his hope of an NHL career.

[b]NHL[/b] – Robbie Ftorek is back in coaching, though it’s not quite where you’d expect. Ftorek is back with the New Jersey Devils farm club in Albany, the River Rats. It’s the same farm club he led to the Calder Cup championship back in 1995. Ftorek has coached New Jersey, Boston and Los Angles as well compiling a 229-170-44 record.

Ftorek’s been know to be rough on his players but he’s done very well for himself in the Devils organization. I wish him luck and I hope he’ll be coaching in the NHL once again soon.

He replaces Dennis Gendron.

[b]NHL [/b] – Yet more on Steve Sullivan today as Sullivan says he’s surprised he was traded from Chicago. So basically what you’re telling me is Bob Pulford didn’t “make every attempt possible” to sign Sullivan to a long term deal, huh?

Why do I have the feeling the conversation between Pulford and Sullivan went something like this –
“Sully, I know you’re one of our best players and our leading scorer but how would you like to take a pay-cut down to $1 million even though it’s a bargain to have you at $3 million?”
“What the hell?”
“Ok, that’s a no. Well I tried my hardest and made every attempt possible, you’re now a Nashville Predator.”

If Pulford believes potential off-season targets like Boston’s Glen Murray are going to want to come to a losing franchise for less than $3 million then he’s even dumber than I thought. The man lies through his teeth.

[b]NHL[/b] - The Montreal Canadiens had yet another fight in practice today as [b]Saku Koivu[/b] and [b]Mike Riberio[/b] got themselves into a little disagreement. The long standing rumour that the two centers don't like each other finally came to life as Saku supposedly speared and crosschecked Riberio.

So much for the idea that captain Koivu is the glue that holds the team together. But honestly if anyone thinks that 20 guys come in every day and get along just jolly for a whole entire season then you’re either dreaming or just naïve. Think about how many times you’ve had little spats with co-workers and by the next day or next week you’re fine. Or how about the spats with your friends that only wind up with you guys being friends again in a week. “Boys will be boys” is the comment that comes to mind.

We’re all going to fight with one another from time to time. Let us not make too big of a deal of it. It would be nice to see complete team unity while fighting for a playoff birth but there’s going to be frustrations. Forget it and move on. Koivu and Riberio will either have to kiss and make up for this team won’t go far in the playoffs – they both realize this fact and if they’re men about it, they’ll do the right thing.

This deal has been lingering around for about a month now as sportsnet.ca let slip onto their headlines that [b]Peter Bondra[/b] had been trade for [b]Shane Hnidy[/b]. Obviously, that was not true and I was a bit skeptical when they broke the story today. But after a month of trade talks, the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals have now reached an agreement.

Peter Bondra will go to the Senators for Ottawa's 2nd round pick in 2005 and prospect [b]Brooks Laich[/b].

Honestly, I'm sure some one will disagree with me when I saw this return is slightly better than Hnidy. Laich is a 20 year old prospect playing for the Senators' AHL club. He also found himself in 1 NHL contest so far this season. In his junior years in the WHL, he proved himself to be a point-producer with a nice defensive sense.

He's had to work for every inch he has recieved so he will out work nearly everyone in the corners and on the ice. He'll never be a flashy scorer at the NHL level so don't expect tons of goals. He projects onto the third or fourth line but don't let that fool you - he'll definately out work any one he's put up against. Now if he could only find a way to add on weight then he'd already be an NHLer.

He'll never be exactly an impact player so those who are saying that Ottawa overpaid with a 2nd rounder and Laich - get off it and stop overrating Laich. The Senators did excellent to pick up a solid impact NHL player for absolutely nothing off their roster or having to give up [b]Antoine Vermette[/b], [b]Ray Emery[/b] or [b]Igor Mirnov[/b] from the system. Any time you can add a Bondra to your playoff roster for that - you do it.

Does Washington get hosed? No and they have the same chance as everyone else to sign Bondra once he becomes a UFA at season's end. Though it does look weird to be adding yet another third/fourth line grinder into the mix in Washington.

Sadly, Washington does lose their all-time leading scorer and the salary dump continues. So who's next? Unlike a lot of people, I don't believe it will be [b]Robert Lang[/b]. Lang's contract is still for another 3 years and his kind of money is hard to move easily and costs other teams more valuable players that they either don't have or don't want to give up. Lang's just too tricky to move easily. I have a feeling it will probably be banger [b]Mike Grier[/b] that sees the boat next. His salary is more managable and the want for his type of player is quite large.

I'm not all too convinced that they absolutely NEED to trade [b]Sergei Gonchar[/b] and only if he wants out of Washington, do they really need to try and accomedate that. And [b]Olaf Kolzig[/b] could go but the Capitals would HAVE to get a starting goalie out of the deal as none of the goalkeepers in the Washington system are close enough to taking over the starting duties any time soon.

TSN is reporting that [b]Shayne Corson[/b] is now a member of the [b]Dallas Stars[/b]. The contract runs through the remainder of the season and the playoffs.

My guess would have been he winded up in Philadelphia or Montreal and my guess would have been wrong. Dallas was one of the last places I thought we'd see the 37 year-old vet.

I commented more on Corson's (at the time) rumoured comeback on 13 February and those comments can be found in the archives to your left.

If Corson is indeed healthy (as passing the physical suggests) he shall join [b]Rob DiMaio [/b]on the fourth line, bumping warm-body [b]Blake Sloan[/b] down to the AHL's [b]Utah Grizzlies[/b]. Even at Corson's age, he's a viable upgrade to Sloan, in terms of play and leadership. As long as Corson stays healthy and stable, the Stars may have made a nice pick-up here.
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I've done a lot over the past three or four years to seperate myself from Chicago sports. Living down in the St Louis territory, I've taken more of a shine on the former enemy as I've realized sports is just a business - no one's truly evil, it's just a sport. Players go from team to team, uniform to uniform and life goes on. And thus, I've learned to watch the sport with little biasness just for the sport itself. I root for players I like over teams because I know the team name on the jersey is just an enitity.

But obviously with my reactions to the [b]Steve Sullivan[/b] trade to Nashville and the win over the Boston Bruins, I still have a passion for the once great franchise. This enitity once was more than an enitity - it had a soul. I have since calmed down but this trade still is one of those to rattle your cages.

The good of the trade, the Blackhawks do have 14 picks in the 2004 draft.

The bad of the trade, the "new" scouting staff accounts for [b]Eric Daze[/b] and not much else. It would be alright in management knew how to draft.

The good of the trade, the Blackhawks do free up $3 million from the payroll to use in the free agency market, only loosing a player who would have taken them to arbitration and rather not have been back.

The bad of the trade, Sullivan didn't want to be back because he knows he has no chance of winning in Chicago and at 29, the prime years of his career, he desereves at least a shot at the playoffs - something that would be a regular thing for him if he were still with Toronto or New Jersey.

Also, never mind the fact that the Blackhawks CANNOT attract free agents to the team making it almost laughable when [b]Bob Pulford[/b] says they'll make a dive into the free agent market. When have the Hawks EVER made a big money acquistion? [b]Scot Nichol [/b]was a wise move but let's see - [b]Doug Gilmour[/b] and [b]Theo Fleury[/b]? That's the best the Hawks can do with their bank account in the free agency market? Maybe you'll woo [b]Jozef Marha [/b]back to the team.

The good of the trade, more draft picks give the Hawks more flexibility in the draft.

The bad of the trade, Pulford and crew have to be inept enough to make the smart moves to move up in the draft.

A lot of fans are thinking that this gives them enough pull to land 2005 draftee [b]Sidney Crosby[/b] and 2004 top-gun [b]Alexander Ovechkin[/b]. Sorry folks but if the Hawks don't wind up with the first overall pick through the lottery then it doesn't matter what they have in the way of assests, they aren't going to wind up with Crosby or Ovechkin, let alone both.

I don't know any team that would trade away those two top spots. [b]Evgeni Malkin[/b] is about the highest shot the Hawks have - unless the Penguins can turn it around and that 13 point lead they have on the cellar goes away. Don't get me wrong, Malkin is one hell of a second-prize but it's kind of moot when in five years when he's a star in the league and his first or second contract is up and he wants his fair value (by today's economic messed-up standards) the Hawks will drop him off to another team for another two draft picks and nothing else.

Chicago, you have a young team - a young team with no leadership isn't going anywhere. Why do you think Tampa Bay brought in players like [b]Dave Andreychuk[/b] and Darryl Sydor? Florida brought in [b]Lyle Odelien[/b] and Nashville has kept on to [b]Greg Johnson[/b] (a former Hawk) and once kept around [b]Bill Holder[/b] on defense. As much as I love Tuomo Ruutu, Kyle Calder, Anton Babchuck, Mark Bell, Pavel Vorobiev, Mikhail Yakubov, and the piles of young talent you have sitting around in Norfolk and the Hawks - they need some one to turn to as a leader and I'm sorry but [b]Alexander Karpotasev[/b] and [b]Steve Poapst[/b] don't cut it.

Good to see a payroll around $30 million, have fun throwing that money at this state's worthless govenor for the more favorable liqour-laws so you can make even more fucking money that your "tax write-off" will never see.
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[b]Vancouver Canucks[/b] brass is yelling at the league to suspend Colorado center [b]Steve Moore[/b] for his check on Canucks' captain [b]Markus Naslund[/b].

Naslund, who had his head down on the hit will miss at least a week in a cruical juncture in the season.

Honestly, I hate giving opinions on hits like this. No matter what you say, everyone's got a different interuptation of what's clean and what's dirty and the bigger the star, the dirtier people scream.

These things happen. Moore's hit wasn't illegal and Naslund commited the cardinal sin of having his head down. I still think Moore could have stopped his check (he stated he was just finishing his check) and that he could have let up with Naslund's head down. However, that's something I cannot prove - I wasn't inside Moore's head and I'm NOT going to accuse him of head hunting unless he tries something like this again, then a flag may be raised but at this point - who am I to say that Moore could have let up or even saw that Naslund was prone? The game happens so fast and those are the breaks Canucks fans. I think we should all just shut up and be thankful that this great player isn't out longer but that was a pretty big hit.
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A day after getting Steve Sullivan from the Blackhawks, the Predators also wrapped up [b]Scott Walker[/b] for a multi-year deal.

Walker's the franchise leader in goals with 83, PIMs with 406, third in games played with 354, third in assists with 119 and second in points with 202.

I've always loved Walker but this franchise has been around longer than all the other three fellow expansion franchises and their all-time leader only has 83 goals? Though it's not that surprising.
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I was going to let the A-Rod thing slip and not comment about baseball's [b]New York Yankees[/b]. For the most part, I've supported the Yankees winning attitude - I'd do everything in my power to win every year too. I like the winning attitude and all but when they can go out and so easily acquire Alex Rodriquez from the Texas Rangers then I don't know.

What was so wrong with the trade to the Red Soxs and what do the Yankees improve in their deal? After being so steadfast and stubborn only a couple months ago, why did the Player's Union roll over so quickly this time around? Maybe there's something I'm missing. Alfonso Soriano is a great player but this was a player that the Yankees had already wanted to cast off as garbage because he struck out too much as a lead-off hitter (how about not letting him bat lead-off) so a player that the Yankees wanted to get rid of and the ever popular Player to be Named Later (PNL) for baseball's best player AND $63 million?

Boston was trying to rid themselves of a player they didn't want anymore in Manny Ramirez and now they have to mend fences with Manny (who I really don't think cares, just let him hit) and now Nomar Garciaparra as well. What makes the Yankee's deal better?

And now you want to add Greg Maddux (though it's only a rumour and far from official) to go with Mike Mussina, Kevin Brown, Jose Contreras, Javiar Vazquez and Jon Lieber? Already at $210 million, wouldn't Maddux (looking for 8 figures) push that upwards to $225 million? A quarter of a billion for a baseball team? Now we're getting fucking ridiculous.

Is it bad for baseball? Damn right it. Good cities like Pittsburgh and Cincinatti can no longer afford to compete like the fans deserve. But will it matter? No, baseball will keep on going shooting itself in the foot while we now all root against the Yankees and wonder why they went for Sheffield, when they obviously could have thrown more at Vladimir Guerrero. Let's aim for $300 million next year Georgie....have a payroll worth more than the entire value of the Cincinatti Reds.

Hope you'll be happy as the fourth starter Maddux.
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[u][b]THINGS FOR COMMENT[/b][/u]
Will Corson be fit enough mentaly to help the Stars?
Will we see the Hawks go an entire century without a Cup?
What do you think of the Sullivan trade?
Is Steve Moore a headhunter? Does he deserve punishment?

I don't want any comments on the A-Rod stuff; It just goes in circles and I've already had enough of ill moods today. No one's happy about it and that's really final.

This time it's a small minor league move as the Flyers acquire left wing Steve Gainey from the Stars in exchange for right wing Mike Siklenka.

Siklenka goes to the Utah Grizzles of the AHL and the one-time "project" forward looks to be no longer a project and a career minor leaguer. 6-5 224 is a plus but it's only a plus to the fourth line of Utah.

Gainey has played 7 games with the Stars this year as an emergency call-up. There's little upside to either side of his game and if he does stick, it'll only be on the fourth line.

Some how I doubt this is the big moves Tom Hicks threatened.
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In bigger news, the [b]Nashville Predators[/b] become buyers in the NHL trade market by acquiring [b]Steve Sullivan[/b] from the [b]Chicago Blackhawks[/b] for two second round draft choices - one in 2004 and one in 2005.

I figured Sullivan could be on the block but if the Hawks do in fact move [b]Alexei Zhamnov[/b] too - where does the leadership come from on this team? A couple days back (you can find it in the archives) I mentioned that if Zhamnov was dealt, I wasn't too thrilled about having Sullivan as the team's best player and captain. Well I'm even less thrilled to put that lable on one of the kids, most likely [b]Kyle Calder[/b].

The run for [b]Alex Ovechkin[/b] or [b]Evegni Malkin[/b] heats up. I guess after the Hawks won against Boston, [b]Bob Pulford [/b]realized the team needed to get worse if they were to beat Pittsburgh out for the number one overall draft pick.

Sullivan's a RFa standing to take an increase over his $3 million next year. Pulford said they traded Sullivan after they "made every effort to re-sign him to a multi-year deal." Made every effort or just didn't want to? Owner Bill Writz doesn't have three million stashed away in his ****ing sock? I figure it's probably more that Sullivan told them that he wanted out and who can blame him? He's spent five years there so he's painfully aware about management's total lack of commitment to winning.

Amazingly, I doubt they'll find the money to re-sign Zhamnov now also.

Nashville gets a player for their second line who can score and play with heart. As always, the small size is a worry but Sullivan proved in Chicago that he can produce at his size with little help at times. Also doesn't hurt that he can line-up at all three forward positions.

He joins the Predators in time to play the Sharks on Thrusday.

As a former long-time Hawks fan - Fuck Bill Writz.

Today the [b]Vancouver Canucks[/b] and the [b]Edmonton Oilers[/b] struck a trade over players on their minor league roster as the Canucks sent goalie [b]Tyler Moss[/b] to the Oilers in exchange for center [b]Peter Sarno[/b], back this year after a year aboard in Finland.

Moss comes in to backup [b]Tommy Salo[/b] while [b]Ty Conklin[/b] is on the mend from his hand injury. HE can play amazing at times but those flashes are few and far between. Salo will get all the bulk and Moss is only there because they feel [b]Mike Morrison[/b] isn't a viable option if they needed to use their back-up. [b]Stephane Valiquette[/b] would be servicable in this case but he's going to be out. Morrison gets to return to the Roadrunners and try to get them into the AHL playoffs.

Sarno's crafty but that 5-11, 180 worries me. He could maybe fit on a third line down the road somewhere but not much is expected out of him. 18 points in 31 (of 55 team games, he spent 6 games with the Oilers however) isn't tremendous. Not sure where he stands in the Oiler's system - especially with the fact that they have their two top centers out and they brought up [b]Mike Bishai[/b] (same size, same age) over him.
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While I caught the New York Islanders and the Los Angeles Kings on the afternoon tilt, I was in class while the Blues took on the Coyotes and won 4-2, giving them their second straight win in nearly two months.

[b]Jamal Mayers [/b]scored what was described as a fluke goal - I haven't seen it yet but really does it matter? Fluke or not, it's a goal and it's a confidence builder. Captain [b]Chris Pronger[/b] had a goal and an assist so maybe all the arm-chair critics in the St Louis area can shut up now.

Much like the Blues, the Coyotes were also trying to break out of a slump and go towards the playoffs with only one win in their last ten. With a fluke goal like that late, it should be interesting if newly annointed starter [b]Brian Boucher[/b] can shake that one off as he's been notorious for shakey confidence and inconsistent play. The Yotes also lost former Blue, [b]Ladislav Nagy[/b] to a wrist injury. No word how long he'll be out.

Now the Blues can hope to string a third victory to this streak with [b]Pavol Demitra[/b] due back Thrusday. [b]Petr Cajenek[/b] had his first point in God knows how long, hopefully this is a sign that he's back on track.
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Buffalo sniper [b]Miroslav Satan[/b] netted four goals in a 7-2 win over the slumping Atlanta Thrashers. The Sabres have 21 goals in their last three games so maybe it's just in time for the Sabres to make the Eastern Conference race fun as they move four points back of the Islanders and Canadiens.

Last season my keeper-league fantasy baseball fell apart because of a couple new people who couldn't get along or play by the rules. (also didn't help that one of our players got thrown in jail for crack but...) We were all friends before then but the league's dead and I've only talked to one of the other seven since then (I also changed jobs, so most of these people I didn't get to see every day anymore.)

So I'm trying to resurrect fantasy baseball for this season. Yes - with strangers. Seems to be my only hope. We'll probably do it on Yahoo (the only free one I can find and I really don't want to flush $25 like I have the past 4 or 5 years) as a keeper league (possible expansion in later years.) I'm looking for 6, 8, 12 or 16 teams. If I only decide on 6 or 8 people, it'll be NL only. 12 or 16 people will allow for both AL and NL.

I'm just fielding interest, my fantasy NHL league was pisspoor interest (only 3 other people showed for the live draft) and has been realitively no fun (I don't even check my team, no one's made moves in months.)

So just for interest sakes - give me an email at dynamitehack91@yahoo.com

Over on the gamefaqs.com general hockey message board a [b]Jajajajim[/b] decided to start a couple discussions on each of the NHL's all-time teams for each of the 30 NHL clubs. 12 forwards, 6 defensemen and 2 goalies for each club. I've always wanted to get this discussion going but for one reason or another, we never get far into the teams.

And while I'm not going to steal his thunder, (you can find the thread here [url=]http://cgi.gamefaqs.com/board...[/url] ) I figured another kind of team is needed all together. If any
of you have ever picked up Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Line-ups then you know what I'm talking about - the All-Time Traded-Away team. What if you could make a team out of ALL the players your stupid mangement has traded away or lost to free agency and waivers over the entire run of the franchise? What kind of team would that make? Well for Anaheim, we're going to find out (and we're only sticking to players drafted by the Ducks in the entry draft.)

Here goes nothing

[b]FORWARDS[/b]

Paul Kariya (Colorado)
Jeremy Stevenson (Nashville)
Chad Kilger (Montreal)
Matt Cullen (Florida)
Trent Hunter (Islanders)
Johan Davidsson (Europe)
Petr Tenkrat (Europe)
Brian Gornick (Rangers)

[b]DEFENSE[/b]

Oleg Tverdovsky (Russia)
Jordan Leopold (Calgary)
Pavel Trnka (Florida)
Jesse Fibiger (San Jose)
Stephen Peat (Washington)

[b]NET[/b]

Mikhail Shtalenkov (Retired)
Blaine Russell (Out of hockey)

Okay wow, that team really does suck.

Just for the record my All-Time Ducks team was

[b]FORWARDS[/b]: Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne, Steve Rucchin, Petr Sykora, Matthew Cullen, Joe Sacco, Marty McInnis, Peter Douris, Mike Leclerc, Shaun Van Allen, Tomas Sandstrom, Sergei Fedorov (unfortunately)

[b]DEFENSE[/b]: Randy Ladouceur, Bobby Dollas, Oleg Tverdovsky, Ruslan Salei, Jason Marshall, Fredric Oluasson

[b]NET[/b]: Guy Hebert, Mikhail Shtalenkov

Until next time, Quack.

The [b]Ottawa Senators[/b] signed tough guy [b]Rob Ray[/b] today to a contract for the rest of the year in order to add toughness into their line-up. Ray was acquired at the trade deadline by Ottawa last year but Ray wound up getting into only 5 games after spending his entire career in [b]Buffalo[/b].

Ray's been sitting out the whole entire season and I'm sure he's been keeping in shape and working around on the side but at 35, is he worth it? He's always been a liability on the ice for his entire career so this looks like a desperation move but right now with the injures the Senators have, any warm body would do.

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The Newark Star-Ledger is saying that [b]Igor Larionov[/b] wants to remain a [b]New Jersey Devil[/b] and cannot figure out the reason why he's been a healthy scratch of late.

Hey, Igor - could it be that you walked (well skated) out of one of [b]Pat Burns's [/b]pratices not too long ago? Sure both sides said they have put that misunderstanding behind them but you can't tell me that Igor's little spat isn't weighing in the back of Burn's mind each time he fills out his line-up every night.

Larionov has a no-trade clause (who doesn't these days) so he could keep his wish of being a Devil but as many of us are predicting, Larionov would most likely waive it if it meant going back to Detroit.

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Congrats to [b]Shane Doan[/b]. You were rewarded a 3-year deal with the Coyotes today. You've finally arrived and now the 1995 NHL Entry Draft doesn't look as bad as it once did.

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[b]Shayne Corson's [/b]agent says there is interest for his mentaly unstable client. Agent [b]Rick Curran[/b] claims that "three or four teams have show interest." So which is it? Three or four?

While Corson could be a grand addition to any team going towards the playoffs - only if he's healthy and stable. He walked out on the Maple Leafs during the playoffs already, I'd be worried about that but I wouldn't think Corson and his agent would go public if he wasn't healthy and fine.

And at 37, I wouldn't think that Corson could add much more than to a fourth line role or as a spare forward.

Just because they've called in interest, doesn't mean they're actually going to do it. It's only an option and I can't really see any teams taking that option.

Though if I had to pick any team, it would be Montreal, where Corson started. He could end as a Hab and help the young team towards their 2004 playoff push.

[LINE]

[b]Matt Walker[/b] will return to the [b]St Louis Blues[/b] line-up after missing the first 51 games with a severe groin injury. The 23-year old defensemen played well in his 16 game try-out with the Blues last year and may provide a spark that they need on defense with his physical play.

Now only if [b]Bryce Salvador[/b] could find his game, [b]Chris Pronger[/b] would stop trying to do so much, [b]Doug Weight [/b]could start his motor again and if players like [b]Erik Nickulas[/b], [b]Eric Boguniecki[/b], and the lot would start playing with heart again - the Blues just MIGHT be able to right the ship.

Sadly, without [b]Pavol Demtria[/b], [b]Al MacInnis[/b], and [b]Barret Jackman[/b] I'm afraid to say the Blues don't have enough talent to do nor the detph and prospects in the system to make the neccessary moves to get the proper talent.

[b]Johnny Pohl[/b], [b]Jay McClement,[/b] [b]Curtis Sanford[/b], [b]Colin Hemingway[/b], [b]Shawn Belle[/b], and [b]Konstantin Barulin[/b] aren't going to be enough to fetch any thing worth while.

But should the Blues strip the entire team? Unlike some of the fools out there, I don't believe they need to. They have a solid foundation with Pronger, Jackman, [b]Keith Tkachuk[/b], [b]Dallas Drake[/b], [b]Mike Danton[/b] and Demtria and Doug Weight isn't far from being a point-per-game preformer again. Don't forget the blue-line does have [b]Christian Backman[/b], [b]Walker[/b] and [b]Jamie Pollock[/b] as part of its future and that [b]Petr Cajanek[/b], [b]Jamal Mayers[/b], and [b]Reed Low[/b] have the ability.

Whole sale changes don't need to be made for next season. The team just needed to stay healthy, maybe look elsewhere in net (no offense to [b]Chris Osgood[/b]) and hope that Pohl, [b]Petr Sejna [/b]and Hemingway are ready to step up next year and if they aren't going to, hopefully they can find someone in free agency to play on the flanks.

Look at what the Blues have on the wings this season and it's not surprising this team can't score goals and then you look at the injuries they've had on the blue line, the slumps in net, it's not surprising they've not kept it out of the net. None of that justifies getting rid of Pronger, Weight, Demtria or Drake.

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[b]THINGS FOR COMMENT [/b]-

Will Ray help the Senators?
Will Larionov be a Devil by the deadline?
Any thoughts on the future of Doan and the Coyotes?
Would you trust Corson enough to play again?
Can Corson play again?
Would you trade a franchise player just because your team has a single bad year?
Would you dismantle the Blues entirely knowing that you have next to nothing in the system ready to come up? (think as Blues management, don't be stupid.)

[b]May 25th, 2004[/b]. Mark that on your calander because none of you are going to see me for about two weeks.

Why? Because season 2 of [b]Smallville [/b]is finally coming to DVD. And the day can't come quick enough, Season 3 is going great but that's once a week only and I finished the Season 1 set back in December. I'm addict (no, sorry Eddie Guerrero) and I'm craving my Smallville hit and already I can't imagine what I'll do between now and May 25th.

Season 2 clocks in at a 1045 minute run time spread out over six discs and this time around, we get more special features. Deleted scenes for at least four episodes, commentary for at least two episodes, a special FX featurette, a [b]Chloe[/b] featurette, a [b]Christopher Reeves[/b] featurette and even a gag reel.

Honestly this is a happy day. Now if we can only get around to the Clark versus [b]Adam[/b] showdown in Season 3.


[b]POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW[/b]
























I figure that blood that Adam's injecting into himself (God and the writers only know why) is Clark's own blood (Seeing as we've seen the scientist before BUT working for Lionel.) So this is going to get ugly when Lex figures out what she's working on. Season 3 is going to leave scars.

[url=]http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl...[/url]

You know while I can't disagree with any of the comments Mr. Kelley makes in this article - I think he's learned his lesson to make sure Hasek is as far away from him as possible before goading him. Last time Kelly opened his mouth, Hasek punched him in it.

I really don't find it to be Mr. Kelley's place to do such things but hey, he's a journalist - that's what he does best.

As much as I wish never to question the integrity of an athelete or question their injuries, Kelley isn't the first to question Hasek's odd behavior and heck, I've done so myself over the time. It did strike me funny that Hasek has considered the entire rest of the season a wash and we're only just approaching the ides of February (shuddup) with a good chunk of games left to go. I failed to mention my astonishment yesterday (mainly because I was sick of typing) and this article brought it up yet again so I'm presenting it here for you - make your own call.

[b]THINGS FOR COMMENT [/b]- Is Hasek faking this injury? Or is Kelley just taking pop shots at his favorite target?

The [b]Pittsburgh Penguins[/b] have dealt journyman defeneseman [b]Drake Berehowsky[/b] to the [b]Toronto Maple Leafs[/b] in exchange for 25 year old defensemen [b]Ric Jackman[/b].

Berehowsky was going to be one heck of a dman. Inconsistancy and an eye injury (if I'm not mistaken) dropped his career quite a bit. Right now he looks to be the 7th dman in Toronto and might get in a couple games over Pilar. He's steady enough and he's got a leadership (as shown in Nasvhille) - it's just an insurance move picking him up. Not that dare piss off Leaf fans but I'd rather have Drake in there if someone gets injuried than ([b]Carlo[/b]) [b]Colaiacovo[/b], ([b]Brendan[/b]) [b]Bell [/b]or ([b]Pierre[/b]) [b]Hedin[/b] right now. Expierence is everything come playoff times.

Pittsburgh gets cheap AND young talent. Ric can probably play on their third pairing for the rest of the year and they won't lose much. May get some time on the power play in Pittsburgh with that shot so there's a possibility his numbers could go up - he's already heading for his best season (that's not saying much though as it's only 12 points.)

Only problem i see is Jackman makes more in base than Berehowsky. So I'm assuming Berehowsky has hit (or will hit) some incentives in his contract. I figure coming off a season-long knee injury like he did, an incentive laden contract is probably what he has. Typically this is the case for players like Berehowsky coming off injuries.

Today the NHL GMs announced the changes to the game that only DECIDED to talk about. These changes are in no ways official yet but hey, it's a start. At least they're talking about changes. As many of you are aware (or you know, you're just not aware of it) the people running the NHL are the biggest conservatives and traditionalists on the planet. They're complete fossils who have no concept of change and up hold the status quo even though they're about to become extinct.

My point, every game in the world has changed and evolved to stay alive over the years. It's social Darwinism employed to sports - only the fittest sports survive and you must change to survive. The NBA introduced the 3-point line and the shot clock. Baseball lowered the pitcher's mound. Football changed its pass interference rules to turn itself into a pass-happy league.

Granted, the NHL does make rule changes but sadly they either don't do anything constructive or (in 99% of the cases) reactionary changes. I agree with Ray Ferraro here (or more Ferraro agrees with me as I've been saying it since I wrote a school paper on the subject in 1998) but the league needs to be more proactive in its rule changes or it will die.

[b]Bill Masterson[/b] falls, cracks his head on the ice and dies in Minnesota. The NHL finally grandfathers in helmets to the game. A young girl in Columbus is struck in the head by a puck leaving the playing field and THEN the NHL puts up netting on the far sides of the ice to give the illusion of safety to the fans. Always reactionary. If a rule doesn't work, well at least you tried it folks. The NHL has an advantage over most of the other sports (sans MLB really) in that it does have a fully-functional and sizeable minor league in which to try out rule changes to see if they work. However, as an NHL fan (not particullarly an AHL fan as they're not on TV) I don't want to wait three or four years for you guys to collect enough data to see if the rules properly work. I'm not saying go 'hit or miss' with the rules but there's certain rules I think we can all agree upon that will help and we should implement them not in the NHL. If they don't work as we figure, then get rid of them but sadly the NHL brass is too steeped in the "tradition" of the game that they can't bring themselves to even think about tinkering with it.

Maybe it's a testiment to [b]Gary Bettman[/b] that he was able to come in from the NBA and as NHL commissioner, get the brass to add teams, move the nets slightly and add in a couple rules - mainly the instagator rule (ableit it's lack of success as a rule.) He actually got things done - now we're in this crisis (the second on his watch) so his reign as been a bit mired by this fact.

But lo and behold, the GMs have come in and put together some good ideas - even one I didn't think of and that's the major one - goaltenders will no longer be able to handle the puck. The specifics have not been worked out as of yet but if this one passes, it should radically change the game. Some people call it revolutionary, other's call it deveolution of the game by punishing goalies that have learned a skill.

Certainly, we can all agree it will increase forechecking especially coupled with the change that they're going to move the nets back to 10 feet out, where they were originally before a late 90s rule pushed them to 13 feet out. Honestly, I agree this hurts goalies like Brodeur and Giguere who can play the puck but now all the goalies are equal in this and it all depends on your definition of a goalie and I agree with the mass here - he's a puckstopper. Not a third defensemen or an offensive weapon. I also think it helps that [b]Ken Holland[/b] was the major supporter for this one - he made his career out of handling the puck as a goalie.

The much popular tag-up offsides will be brought back in order to put more flow back into the game and have less stopages - one of the points I outlined in my 1998 paper.

Goalie pads will have their length reduced to 10 inches from the 12 inches they have been using in previous seasons. Sadly, now this means there's going to be a whole bunch of crap on are they checking this equipment or not and what's the penalty if you're caught with 12 inch pads. Frankly, the difference between 10 and 12 inches is a lot for the eye and I hope there's no debate. Pad makers will be keeping themselves busy (and rich) by having to pump out these new pads prompting my friend to believe the equipment companies are in on it. *moron*

The new point system they're going to try in the AHL will just make things more confusing for the casual fan and there's always the debate of how things would turn out if you did heavily favor regulation wins. I say screw it all and just go to two columns - you either win or you lose.

How would that be? Let's keep the four-on-four five minutes of OT but if you're not settled in score by then, we go to a shootout and you get 2 points if you win, 0 points if you lose. Think that's unfair to get 0 points, then you should have won it in regulation then - everyone's at the same advantage/disadvantage. I've never heard a fan complain about a shoot out folks. Ditto with fights, regardless of the image it may or may not portray to the toothless apes of Kentucky who matter zlich in the NHL's demographics.

I'm a huge propopent of shootouts and I will always remain to be until they're actually in the NHL - not the AHL.

Now that we've got the GMs convinced enough to help change the rules - can they in turn convince the board of Governoners later? That will remain to be seen. But this is a step in the right direction.

[b]THINGS FOR COMMENTS[/b] : Do you believe taking away the ability for goalies to play the puck is revolutionary or a devolution to the game? Do you think a minor penalty should be assessed for it or should it just be a minor infraction stopping the play?

How do you feel on the change of the pads? Do you believe they will be able to easily regulate such a change?

How do you feel on shootouts and using the AHL to test out these type of things?

What other changes do you wish they would have looked at?

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Adding to the growing list of star players out for extended periods of time - [b]Dominik Hasek [/b]has told the press that he's shutting it down for the year and that his groin isnt responding well. Hasek says that he'll be back next year after coming back from retirement this year. He played in only 14 games but I doubt any one was surprised as we all figured rust and such would be a factor. He'll be a free agent after this year so then he could fit his next contract around the new and in-coming CBA next season and go where ever he wants - good deal for him that will keep his options open.

[b]Curtis Joseph[/b] will remain the starter. So the saying is "the best trades are the ones you don't make," because if the Red Wings were stuck with [b]Manny Legace [/b]and [b]Marc Lamothe [/b]or [b]Joey MacDonald[/b] in net, they'd be in the pinch for another one.

[b]Rob Blake[/b] today found out he had a broken leg. So did you play the all-star game with it or did it happen in the All-star game? Crazy how these things happen. It's only a hairline so it shouldn't keep him out too long (knock on wood) but it's a hit to the Avalanche's stretch run and Blake's Norris-calibre season.

Brain injury advocates are telling [b]Eric Lindros[/b] to hang it up. Honestly, I've supported all of Eric's returns from the previous seven concussions. I don't think we can forciblely retire him but I'm afraid this time I'm going to have to say, enough is enough Eric. Look at your brother. In the world of sports you can ALWAYS find a second opinion for another doctor that says you're fine but Eric, trust your common sense. It's not worth it. It's been fun watching you but your main strength - you're ability to bang and crash and use your body - has been taken away from you. You can't play physical anymore and it's about time you did hang it up. You were having an All-Star campaign this year and you were one of the snubs. I wish you the best of luck and thanks for sharing you talents with the NHL fans and it'll be hard to see you go but it would be even harder seeing you brain dead or even worse, dead.

[b]THINGS FOR COMMENT[/b] : Do you think Hasek is done or will he find a new team next year in the new CBA? Is Eric Lindros done and what can we do about concussions in the NHL?

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The [b]Pittsburgh Penguins[/b] lost their 12th straight game and their 11th straight at home (ties an NHL record.) This franchise has seen bad times before but this is certainly the worst of them and maybe in the last twilights of their time in the city of Pittsburgh. Even before Mario, they were never this bad. [b]Ryan Malone[/b] has been a small bright light but even that's not enough. [b]Konstantin Koltsov [/b]and [b]Brooks Orpik [/b]shouldn't have to learn on the job in these conditions and [b]Alexey Morozov[/b] is sadly, their best player. [b]Marc-Andre Fleury[/b] rests as the future cornerstone of this franchise but we won't see him again until at least next season. Let's face it, the Penguins are in the dumps.

The only consolation is if they never win another game for this season, they've got a pretty good lock on the first overall pick and [b]Alexander Ovechkin[/b] - unless of course someone right behind them wins the lottery and jumps ahead. Wouldn't that make the season all the worse? Though [b]Evgeni Malkin[/b] isn't a bad second prize so don't worry.

[b]Steve McKenna[/b] is the winner of all this - by tearing his pectoral muscle, he gets out of playing the rest of the season on this team. "I've got good news Steve." "I'm not going to miss any games?" "No, I just saved money on my car insurance by switching to GIECO."

[b]THINGS FOR COMMENT[/b] - How bad do you rate this Penguins team? Will Mario play next year? Will they even be in Pittsburgh in five years? Will Orpik, Malon and Koltsov be fine teaching themselves the game?

Until next time.

Man, still a lot on the docket after the NHL All-star break. I really haven't had time to write up an actual "non-sports" article/column this week so we'll learn about my adventures in research today. Expect an NHL update here in a little bit tonight but without any further ado.

Quite honestly, it sucks getting lost in the library - the fourth floor of the library here is an absolute maze. The shelves are so close together that you can only fit one person through at one time and there's countless hardcovered and dusty books on thousands of subjects long since forgotten in the invention of the internet. To make matters worse, they seemingly crank up the heat on the fourth floor to about 50 C. Sadly complicating the matter was the fact that the call number for one of the books I was looking for was a P99. Well immediately finding the P section to the left of the elevator (to which I always retrace my steps after finding a book on the fourth floor) I found a section of books labled P but P175 to P2450 or whatever. The next shelf over was labled PA and the wall nearest to the P shelf where I would figure the P section to spill off to was labled HN.

Maybe because the fourth floor is a furance, there's never any library help on that floor - if there is, they're lost in the labyrinth too and well across the way in the DS section or the large print A. So I wandered around catious of minators and what-not until I finally found the rest of the P section across the way to the right of the elevator. My eulation continued though - the next call number on my list was HQ and I now knew where that was. Unfortunately for me, HQ is a section of rather large tomes filled to the brim with articles and each book had about an inch layer of dust. The books weighed about 100 pounds and were all on the bottom of this shelving unit so I had to get on my hands and knees to check the titles out.

Pure horror struck then as I couldn't find what I was looking for. The HQ section was not even a quarter of a shelving unit and the book that was promised to be there, wasn't. The online catalog said it was in but I figure, with other people in the class doing similar subjects, a book of records was probably taken off the shelf and not yet been replaced on the shelf and that I may come back later in the week.

Another book caused similar dismay as someone didn't put it back on the shelf right, moving it over four books to where it was supposed to be. I though call numbers were supposed to eliminate this garbage.

Off back to the DS section, I found a large section of books on Japanese history and I'll be damned if I didn't see about twenty to thrity books I wouldn't mind reading but not a single one on censorship in Japan and least of all, the one I had jotted down off of the online catalog. Again I figured it wasn't placed back yet and this was the time I finally saw another human being and a librarian at that! He was putting books back on the shelves over in section B and oh, how I had longed for human contact for the past hour but I just put my head down and hurried past. It's kind of funny after you've been alone for even that short period of time and everything's been so quiet around you and you come across one other person, how much you don't want them to distrub your quiet. Plus, he was scowling (maybe because of the heat) so I don't think he would have wanted to talk anyway. Sadly, I had to pass him twice more trying to find my way out of the section - I missed a turn in the retracing of my steps but I noted where the Japanese history section was and found the elevator and went back down to the second level to check myself out and scurry on to class. The second level is ALL records and references and then a wide open space of computers, sitting areas and everything in reserve at the school so it's impossible to get lost there. Though there's also a lot more people and obviously, I'm drenched in sweat because of the damn heat I had just came out of.

This is my first semester at this college so that was actually my first library expierence, I'm just now getting use to the lay of the classrooms as the building is equally a maze and even then, the architect won some flippin' award for this place. You'll probably think I'm lying but there's not a single right angle in the entire complex so no square rooms. Sort of "how can you think outside the box while IN a box." So I'm just now getting use to how to get to the cafeteria and the bookstore and my three class rooms from any where without having to take the long way and retrace my steps.

Being a Lit major, I plan to spend a lot of my time in the library but I found the other things important - like finding food when I need it and where my classes are. Now that I got that out of the way, NOW I'm tackling the library and my research papers. And maybe, if I have time, I'll tackle the student life center - only reason I haven't gone down there is because it's not connected to the other buildings via the underground and it's just too damn cold out or not really worth it to travel the distance to it so that'll be something I can explore in the spring.

Now I know that the first level (the basement) of the library is microfilm and some records; second level is computers, reserve materials, records and references; third level is periodicals and journals; fourth level is the general collection of books. So what the hell is on the fifth floor? I can't seem to find anything on the online catalog that's stored on the fifth floor and outside the library, you cannot get to the fifth floor in the elevators - only by the stairs or the from the stairs and elevators inside the library itself. You can enter the library from the second and third levels only. No one ever talks about the fifth level and I have yet to see anyone go up there in the stairs and from the outside of the building, the fifth level is only half the size of the lower levels so that's another mystrey I must solve tomorrow - what's on the fifth level. Hopefully learning the answer, won't kill me. If I don't post tomorrow, please contact the authorities and my parents.

To tell the truth, I'm sick of talking about the Flyers so I'm happy that it's now official. Philadelphia sends [b]Mike Comrie[/b] to Phoenix for [b]Ben Eager[/b], [b]Branko Radivojevic[/b] and [b]Sean Burke[/b].

I've already made my feelings on Burke clean (see below) so I'll talk about the other three players and [b]Brian Boucher[/b].

Comrie is probably the best player out of this deal and at 23, he can get better. Here's to hoping he can elipse the 60 point barrier next season. 9 points in 21 games on Philadelphia's fourth line isn't horrible. He'll imediately come in as Phoenix's top center pushing [b]Daymond Langkow [/b](another former Flyer) down to center the second-line, closer to where he should be. Phoenix usually wants biggish centers (hey, they were stupid enough to take [b]Chris Gratton[/b]) but I don't think they can be unhappy with grabbing Comrie.

Radivojevic is the same age as Comrie and despite being in his third NHL season, he's not really known around the league. He's played in all but one of the Coyotes games and he's headed for career highs in all categories. He has amazing vision but his defense still needs work and I don't think anyone expects him to be a goal scorer at the NHL level - though he's on pace for 14 this year so maybe 20 in the future isn't entirely out of the question. He'll take over Comrie's spot on the fourth line so those numbers could possibly take a hit in Philadelphia.

Ben Eager is a former first rounder, playing in the OHL. I want to see him with the Philadelphia Phantoms (the AHL club of the Flyers) before I make a judgement. He's a banger and crasher with a nice shot but he only projects out to be a third-liner at the most. Sure ever team needs third liners but he's not a lock by far to make the NHL right now. Let's judge him after his first pro season.

Boucher probably has the most to gain out of this deal - you're the man now in Phoenix. If the Coyotes make the playoffs, you're the one who's going to do it. Boucher is known as the guy who made 5 straight shutouts earlier this year. Before then he was known as the guy who had the worst confidence problem in the world. His consistency has been horrible since his days with the Flyers (seems like these two teams just juggle goalies.) Obviously, we've seen the talent that made him a first round draft pick in 1995, just hopefully he can now put it together now that he's strictly the go-to guy.

So who backs him up? Does [b]Zac Bierk[/b] miraclously recover from that hip flexor injury that's had him out since November? Honestly, I think he's just been left on the IR so the Coyotes wouldn't lose him on waivers. If he's not ready to go, do the Coyotes call-up AHL All-Star [b]David LeNeveu[/b]? [b]Jean-Marc Pelletier[/b] where are you?

I'm sure Branko will be missed in Phoenix but they wanted Comrie so they ought to be happy. Clarke gets his goalie, a capable young kid and a possible third-liner someday so can't be too displeased either.

[b]Jeff Hackett[/b] retires, but I don't think it's the exact last we've seen of him - unless of course that vertigo is worse than I thought.

[b]Fedor Tyutin [/b]was called up by the Rangers today - a showcase for [b]Minnesota[/b]?

[b]AHL All-star [/b]has been entertaining but I'm listening on the radio - it won't be on TV in this area until 3 in the morning and I honestly am not staying up that late for it.

Again and always, comments are much appriecated. Good or Bad for Philadelphia or Phoenix?

Some proclaim him the most hated man in the NHL, well now he's the most hated man in Swiss hockey as EV Zug. His contract runs until the end of the Suisse playoffs.

http://www.evz.ch" title="http://www.evz.ch" target="_blank"http://www.evz.ch for the info

Maybe the end for Claude when he can't even get a multiple year deal out of a Suisse club.

Anyone care to share their favorite or least favorite Claude memories?

We were all looking at what [b]Bobby Clarke[/b] would do with [b]Sean Burke[/b] and he slips this one through the radar.

I figured [b]Eric Weinrich[/b] would be gone at the deadline but not this soon - what happens if they get another injury? [b]Jim Vandermeer [/b]and [b]John Slaney[/b] are healthy but you're playing with fire. Looks like the Philadelphia Flyers will go with [b]Kim Johnsson[/b], [b]Danny Markov[/b], [b]Joni Pitkanen,[/b] [b]Marcus Ragnarsson,[/b] [b]Chris Theiren[/b] and [b]Mattias Timander[/b] until [b]Eric Desjardins[/b] comes back in mid-March from his broken arm. The Flyers aren't in bad shape with those six but I would have waited more until the return on Desjardins before dealing off Weinrich.

Weinrich is a capable defensemen that tends to wear down near the end of the season but he's been invaluable in his stops with Montreal and Boston and really the Blues don't have much of a choice on their backline.

The Flyers save themselves some money, (the remaining portions of Weinrich's $3 million) and pick up a fifth round pick in 2004, another draft pick - an asset that Clarke stock piles like it were the Great Depression.

The Blues, of course, bring in Weinrich to play the number two role on defense. While I pencil him in as a 3 or 4, the Blues are without [b]Al MacInnis[/b], [b]Barrett Jackman[/b] and [b]Alexander Khavanov[/b] (though most Blues fans aren't crying tears over Khavanov's injury.) Khavanov should be back fairly soon (foot injury) but the first two most likely won't be coming back.

Weinrich is an upgrade over [b]Bryce Salvador[/b], [b]Murray Baron[/b] and [b]Aris Brimanis[/b] but I'm worried about the minutes Weinrich will be asked to played St Louis and if he can handle them this late in his career. Here's to hoping Larry Pleau is able to score another defensemen out there but with nearly all the clubs looking for defensemen, I'm afraid Weinrich maybe the best they can grab cheaply.

It helps but it's not the major move that most Blues fans feel the team needs.

EDIT

Philadelphia goalie, Jeff Hackett is doing something I never expected from him - he's willing to take the medical buy-out package and retire from the game freeing up some cash to go towards Clarke paying for Sean Burke's $4.5 million option for next year.

I still believe Clarke would like Burke to restructure his deal to a more friendly number but this certainly helps. Hackett says he'd rather retire than be the odd-man out in Philadelphia and he'll onlly do so when and IF the Flyers acquire Burke.

Intresting fall-out from the All-Star game to say the least. First the game was alright, 10 goals scored and my over/under was 12. [b]Joe Sakic's [/b]hat-trick for the losing (4-6) Western All-Stars sealed the MVP award. I cringe at the losing team getting the MVP but again it's just an all-star game and really, would you give it to [b]Daniel Alfredsson[/b] on the East?

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[b]Patrick Roy[/b] opened his mouth on rule changes in the game over the weekend. Funny enough he's one of the first goalies I've seen that wants to reduce the size of the goal pads back down to 10 inches. Anyone else find it funny he's mentioning this AFTER he retired.

Roy also claimed that the league needed to go back down to 16 teams so there's more skill on each team and we can eliminate dump and chase hockey. Roy claims the fans deserve to see skill.

So you eliminate 14 of the current cities in the NHL - which fans deserve to see that skill then? I think for the most part people can agree that we don't need [b]Nashville[/b] and [b]Carolina[/b] (though I'd like to see how Nashville reacts to the team's first ever playoff berth before truly marking them off) but after those two, you still have twelve more to go Patty.

Which do you choose? Which do you choose? I think it's more difficult than just pointing at attendance and saying, bye-bye because that's going to eliminate [b]Chicago[/b], [b]New Jersey[/b] and [b]Long Island[/b] - three teams I don't think you can get rid of. One of the Florida teams is a goner but which one, the [b]Panthers[/b] on the East Coast or the [b]Lightning[/b] on the West Coast? Panthers were supported when they were winning and building smartly. They fell on hard times and they should be competing again as soon as next year (again if there is a next year.) They have the franchise goalie in place, a top-flight defensemen under 21, a couple other servicable d-men, a hard-working captain, and an impressive stable of young forwards up the middle that should be ready very soon. Disprising this unit before they gel, I see as a crime.

[b]Tampa Bay[/b] at least has the attendance to save it and the playoff berth this season. They're an exciting team to watch and [b]Martin St. Louis[/b] is starting to become a name. They finally have their top defenseman in [b]Darryl Sydor[/b] and people are now aware who All-Star [b]Pavel Kubina[/b] is. So which team goes?

Also Patrick, if you just cut off the 14 teams and start disprising their players among the 16 remaining, can you imagine the salaries of those teams? It'd be choking, even IF the players took the 5% cut that some of them claim they're willing to take.

And even with the talent over 16 teams, the NHL is still loosing out to some great talent that would be border line on the 16 team league. We'd lose that talent to Europe and while most of the team's in the NHL would look great, their farm systems would probably stink. You'd need to increase the size of the AHL and the benefits for playing in the AHL to keep some of the skilled players over here and not in Europe.

I agree with cutting teams - let's go back down to 24 or 26 but cutting the league in half might be a little difficult to do.

[LINE]

[b]Rick Dudley[/b] has decided that he will step down as head coach of the [b]Florida Panthers[/b] to focus on his duties as GM. Capable assisstant [b]John Torchetti[/b] will take over behind the bench.

Really when Florida fired [b]Mike Keenan[/b], this was the arrangement I wanted and thought made sense. I've never liked GM/Coaches as it doesn't surprise me that both [b]Pat Quinn[/b] (Toronto) and [b]Doug MacLean[/b] (Columbus and former Panthers coach) have step down from one or the other to focuse on a single job in the past year. Now we can only hope [b]Glen Sather[/b] (New York) takes hint and steps down from GM.

Either [b]Steve Ludzik[/b] or Torchetti should have been the coach of this team after Keenan. Dudley had coached before in Buffalo and honestly, he wasn't any good at handling players. Though I could say the same thing about Ludzik too. This is Torchetti's shot and he's got a real nice chance here. Dudley says the job is Torchetti's if the team plays well in the final 27 games. Really Dudley should have just said, if you make the playoffs, then you'll be back.

And Florida can do it, sitting in ninth a point out with a very nice and favorable schedule. I wouldn't call the schedule easy but it does give the youngest team in the league a shot at returning to the playoffs. Good luck John and welcome to crunch time and the fire.

[LINE]

So is Burke a Flyer or is he not? Now after blabbing about it to big-mouthed [b]John Bucigross[/b], the Phoenix Coyotes are denying a deal was ever in place. Mainly because the Rangers have supposedly thrown their hat into the ring by offering up center [b]Jamie Lundmark[/b] and defensive prospect [b]Fedor Tyutin[/b].

I've been a supporter of Glen Sather, prefering to look at what he did in Edmonton instead of his follies in New York but as I discussed the other day, Burke is 12-22 in his career in the playoffs. You're willing to give up one of the only three prospects worth a darn ([b]Hugh Jessiman[/b] and [b]Henrik Lundqvist [/b]being the others) in your system for that? Honestly, Sather, you have no top notch prospects, stop insulting other GMs by offering them up.

Lundmark's intriguing but I think Phoenix only stopped to see if they could drive up the price from Philadelphia and we'll see Burke in Philadelphia by the end of the week, if not before tomorrow. As Sather has already started talking to Minnesota about [b]Manny Fernandez [/b]where Lundmark and Tyutin maybe enough.

It's just a rumour for now so don't put stock into it just yet.

[LINE]

Just from a www.tsn.ca article -

[i]Bertuzzi became one of the rare guys who actually gets booed while playing for the home team.[/i]

What about [b]Patrice Briesbois[/b] in Montreal every night?

[LINE]

Commish [b]Gary Bettman[/b], as much as I love to hate you so, he's hinting at mandatory visors being grandfathered in as part of the next CBA.

Brava! but I'll believe it when I see it. I know the ill effect of wearing a visor and that it doesn't protect from everything (see [b]Marian Hossa[/b] the other night, he wears a visor and still got hit in the eye causing him to miss the all-star game.) BUT I've never seen a bunch of people so against protecting their eye-sight. Ask[b] Al MacInnis[/b], [b]Landon Wilson[/b], [b]Bryan Berard[/b] and the countless others that have suffered eye injuries of late what they think of that.

Honestly, I want my kid out their with a face shield and if I were writing the million dollar checks that pay for these assests - then I would want them protected from such things. Why this is still an issue to be argued is beyond me. I don't like wearing a visor either BUT I do because I'm scared shitless about losing an eye.

[LINE]

And finally, [b]Butch Goring[/b] is again with the New York Islanders as an assistant coach. Goring coached the [b]Krefeld Pinguine[/b] of the German DEL to a first place finish and a league title last year. However, this season the Pinguine came stumbling out of the block with almost an entirely new roster and Goring was fired. Talk about, "what have you done for me lately!"

I've always loved Butch and his ability to work with young players. I'm just surprised that his involvement is on the Islander's bench and not with Bridgeport, the farm club, where he can have more of an afffect on the younger Islanders.

Until Next time.

I didn't watch them personally, I'll just catch the highlights in those stupid magazines like [b]People[/b] and [b]Star[/b] when sitting in the store line while the old lady in front of me takes each one of her coupons out seperately and stares a hole through each one with her bottle thick glasses to make sure its the right one for her 20 bags of kitty litter or something.

Seems the only reason we have the Grammys (or any of these award shows) is to talk about what everyone's wearing. You can make or break your career by the designer you're wearing. Anything less than John Varbatos is a death sentance.

You know, I hate music today for the most part. I don't understand it and half it is next to no good. If you've got a thug look or the tits, it doesn't matter how well you can play or sing - you'll sell. Talent is meaning so much less now adays. Strangely enough I like Justin Timberlake and his solo stuff. I really don't give a rat's ass about the Super Bowl crap - if you stop talking about it, it'll just go away and be forgotten. But Justin as a preformer reminds me a lot of Michael Jackson. Even though Jacko's a nutbag now, you can NOT deny you were jamming out to Thriller back in the day. Jackson's put out some of the best music ever - it's only unfortunate that he's unstable. And much like I like Michael, I like Justin here now. I hate all the guys that are so insecure in their sexuality to admit that they even remotely like him.

The White Stripes won something? :roll:

I don't own anything by Outkast and I get them mixed up with all the other rap groups out there (mainly because I don't keep up with the thousands that hit the scene every year) but Hey Ya was addictive I'll admit. I may pick up the album just to give it a twirl. I can't promise I won't mix them up with Ludracris or whatever but congrats either way.

You know, the first time I heard Evanesance's Bring Me to Life way back in like October of 2002 (mainly because I was eagerly awaiting the Daredevil movie) I couldn't wait for their album to come out and it wasn't until, what March, before we got it? And honestly, Amy Lee is beautiful and has probably one of the best lead female voices I've heard in some time and they should have been in the New Artist category but Album of the Year category? Crazy talk. They can take their two Grammys and build of that but there was no way they should have been in the Album of the Year.

Can anyone friggin explain to me the difference between Record of the Year and Song of the Year? They seem to both be single songs. What's the catch?

And seeing as I didn't watch, I'm out of comments.

Wait one more - **** the White Stripes.

Until next time

Up to this point, every piece of news surrounding the new [b]Batman[/b] movie directed by [b]Christopher Nolan[/b] and starring [b]Katie Holmes[/b] and [b]Christian Bale[/b] has been tremendously good. I've maybe groaned at a couple small notes but it sounds like they're doing the character right this time around and [b]Warner Brothers[/b] is leaving the filmmakers alone and allowing them to make the film they want to make. I can only hope this will last but I know it won't. Honestly, [b]Joel Schumaker[/b] did not ruin the Batman movie franchise folks - WB did. The movies were never about getting into the head of the infinitely fansicating character study that is Bruce Wayne - or is that Batman? Which is the true face? And there's so much more to the character than that but to WB it was always ALWAYS about selling stupid toys.

No doubt I did buy the 1989 Batman figure with the grappling thing that came out of the utility belt and I had the [b]Jack Nicholsen Joker[/b] (I believe his face would change colors when contacted with water) and the Batwing and the Batmobile and crap, I even had the action figure named Bob, Joker's dumb worthless "number one guy." Yes, I bought the damn toys and I did play with them. Batman the movie sucked (despite Jack) and [b]Batman Returns[/b] was absolute garbage, but geez, I bought the friggin toys. I remember the little toy penguins with the missle packs from Batman Returns - I had a couple of them actually.

[b]Batman Forever[/b] was sadly the best of the films even though [b]Val Kilmer[/b] was flat, [b]Nicole Kidman [/b]was a bore and [b]Tommy Lee Jones[/b] was hideous (not that he had anything to work with. Where's the tragic [b]Harvey Dent[/b] from the comics?) And [b]Batman and Robin[/b], deservedly killed the series. But I still don't blame Shumaker. I blame WB for getting their hands all over the damn project.

And while it looks like they learned their lesson for the newest Batman movie, they haven't learned it for [b]Superman[/b] - be it a re-launch or Superman V.

First of all, as much as I would love to see Superman return to the big screen, we already have this generation's version of Superman in [b]Smallville[/b] much like [b]Superboy[/b] served as the Superman of the early 1990s (slightly before [b]Dean Cain[/b] and [b]Terri Hatcher[/b] starred in [b]Lois and Clark[/b].) Smallville is an amazingly intelligent look and study of the character of [b]Clark Kent[/b]. It's deep, funny and entertaining. So even if you don't always get some of the inside jokes or you don't always pick up on the subtle themes Miller and Gough throw into each of their shows, you can still enjoy them on the pure entertainment value of it. I think Smallville serves well enough as our Superman for now.

But that's not good enough for the WB brass as they've been trying to get this project off the ground since the whole [b]Superman Lives[/b] mess with [b]Tim Burton[/b], [b]Nic Cage[/b] and [b]Kevin Smith[/b]. They had a talented director in [b]Brett Ratner[/b], with a clear vision of the movie he wanted to make. WB took too long and Ratner left so DC replaced him with supposedly "hot" director [b]McG[/b].

Who? Yeah, the same **** that gave us that bastardized version of [b]Charlie's Angels[/b]. Sorry buddy but [b]Full Throttle[/b] ranks as one of the top five worst movies made in the entire history of cinema. It was a complete joke and I will NOT have you make Superman into a film like Charlie's Angels - no substance, all flash. One of the reasons Superman works is NOT because he's invicible to bullets or that he can fly or that he can leap tall buildings in a single bound - it's because Clark Kent and the supporting cast are very real, human characters. They're fiction, of course, but there's substance to the characters and I don't think McG has a clue what substance is - there's obviously none in his head. Why the hell does he call himself McG anyways? Is he too embarrased to use his real name?

Making movies isn't like making music videos you ****ing hack.

Sorry, I got off track but now comes [b]Beynoce Knowles [/b]saying McG has approached her about playing Lois Lane in his Superman raping. [url=]http://www.superherohype.com/...[/url]

You know, I like Beynoce and all but [b]Lois Lane[/b]? I was one of the few people that supported [b]Michael Clarke Duncan[/b] as the [b]Kingpin[/b] in the [b]Daredevil[/b] movie - MCD was the only man who could have pulled off that role, white or black - the color was never important. The character itself was important. But Lois Lane as a black lady? I hesistate on that one and I'll probably get slammed for it but that's alright, wouldn't be the first time.

She's another singer that wants to try their hand and acting and while I didn't see The Fighting Temptations, I'm doubting she's a calibre actress. Sadly, WB is trying to pull in as much star power as it for this movie. SINCE WHEN DID SUPERMAN NEED PUSHING!!!??!! Sure the comics haven't exactly flown off the shelves in recent years (but with Jim Lee and Michael Turner coming on board to do the art, that won't be a problem much longer) but he's the most recognizable icon in the world with no due respect to [b]Mickey Mouse[/b]. He doesn't need a star studded cast of $20 million actors to get people to want to see it.

The only reason we never got an actor casted for Superman while Ratner was aboard was because WB would only accept a big name star to play the role - [b]Matthew Bomer[/b] and the other small names that Ratner mentioned were immediately dismissed while WB went low enough to ask [b]Brendan Fraser[/b] more than once and was begging [b]Josh Hartnett[/b] - did you guys even watch [b]Hollywood Homicide[/b]? Dean Cain, [b]Christopher[/b] and [b]George Reeves[/b], and everyone else to play Clark Kent were never big names before their gig. Why does this have to be different?

[b]Johnny Depp[/b] as [b]Lex Luthor[/b]? I like Depp, actually I love Depp and I have ever since I first saw [b]Benny and Joon [/b]([b]Cry-Baby[/b], [b]What's Eating Gilbert Grape[/b] and [b]Edward Scissorhands[/b] sadly escaped me before then) But it's getting sad when WB is trying to grab every big name they can find. What's next - [b]Arnold[/b] as [b]Perry White[/b]? How about [b]Lawerence Fishbourne[/b] for [b]Clark[/b]? Maybe we can get [b]Justin Timberlake[/b] to be [b]Jimmy Olsen[/b]! Maybe that girl from American Idol wants to be friggin [b]Lana Lang[/b]? Ok, she's got name power, why not?

Hey Warner Brothers, you're doing right by not touching Nolan while he works on Batman. Do us a favor before you make a bomb with Superman, fire McG, let Smallville run its course and let the next director make the film he wants to make. Ok? Can we all be happy with that?

Longtime comic editor Julius Schwartz died today. Sadly, after all the contributions this man has made - all the amazing stories about him that have accumulated in his great life - and there's no mention of it on the front page of DC's webpage. Even if they are in the middle of a huge and special tribute, I'd at least expect a mention on the front page before its done.

Matt Evanier has a nice mention for him here [url=]http://newsfromme.com/[/url]

While I usually make fun of the silver age comics, I've come to have a great deal of respect for Mr. Schwartz and some of the stories I've heard about him especially those of Elliot S! Maggin like the on posted on Evanier's weblog. And again while I didn't know him, I'd like to still take this time to say thank you for saving the Batman books and laying the comic foundations of the DCU that I so enjoy today. I realize that it would not be the same without your input. Thank you and God bless.

EDIT - Today DC did put a tribute to them on their front page and that can be found here [url=]http://www.dccomics.com/news/...[/url] Enjoy.

As much as I think he's a moron, [b]John Bucigross[/b] is reporting that the [b]Philadelphia Flyers[/b] have re-acquired [b]Sean Burke[/b] from the [b]Phoenix Coyotes[/b] in a deal that will be announced either during or after the All-Star game. Second time Bobby Clarke's made an all-star day transaction (and I believe there's only been three or four total it seems.) The last one saw him bring in [b]Alexandre Daigle[/b] for [b]Vinny Prospal[/b] in a deal that really didn't do much for either side. Daigle scored his 100 career goal with the Flyers and that was about it.

More on the actual deal with the details do come in but it's been something that's been rumbling in people's ears - looks like it will come true. But is Burke a big upgrade over [b]Jeff Hackett[/b] or [b]Robert Esche[/b]?

I really thought Hackett would be brought in to back Esche this year and they've split the time. I'm a huge Esche supporter and I always have been since his time with the Coyotes and their AHL team in Springfield. I think he'll be a capable starter and I thought it would be this year - obviously, that isn't the case. Esche will be good and alright, just I don't mind nor am I suprised that Clarke brought in somebody more established - I would have probably done the same thing if I had the assests in draft picks (and I believe it will only be a draft pick going back to Phoenix) that Clarke has amassed - the guy just sucks up draft picks like a vaccuum and has them will he needs them the most to swing deals like this or the [b]Adam Oates[/b] deal or the [b]Tony Amonte[/b] deal or the [b]Sami Kapanen[/b] deal or - you know.

Hackett's vertigo must not be relenting but regardless I've never been too high on Hack. He's always thought of himself as a starter and gets peeved when he's not (See case in point with [b]Ed Belfour[/b] in Chicago or in Montreal behind [b]Jose Theodore[/b]) and yet he brain farts on long shots at times and has never been able to handle starter minutes AND stay healthy - which he has failed to disprove this season as well. Then again, Esche has yet to show he can stay healthy or play a full-season (with a knee tweak having him out for the next three weeks.)

Big problem with Burke - [b]you've played in 34 playoff games since the 88 playoffs[/b]. You've been around forever and you've yet to take a team far. I use to always give Burke the benefit of the doubt with those hideous Whalers and Devils squads he use to play on but excuses are over Sean, you've lost your past three playoff series 1-4 (one with the Flyers and two with the Yotes.) Clarke re-acquired you again for the stretch run and here's your chance to prove that you're in fact one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. [b]12-22 will NOT work this year [/b]nor will just making it to the second round of the playoffs (something he hasn't done since he took the Devils there in 88, his first year in the league.)

Is he a step up from Esche (who once backed-up Burke in Phoenix) and Hackett? Yes. Do I think he'll help the Flyers have a shot for the Eastern Conference Finals? Yes. Would I be surprised if they get bounced in the first or second round with Burke in net? No.

[LINE]

As for the skills comp - alright you A-Holes have gone and done it - I'm watching the All-Star game tomorrow. Twist-my-F-ing-arm. It will be the first All-Star game I've watched since 2000 (unless you count the five to ten minutes I watched of the 2001 game.) Coupled with watching [b]Miracle[/b], I'm ready for hockey. This season has been dreadful to watch (other than the [b]Pavel Datsyuk[/b] highlights and the goal [b]Maxim Afinogenov[/b] scored early in the year) and I was to the point where I couldn't care less if these dumbasses wanted to shoot themselves in the foot and waste the next year and a half. But the Skills game really, really was good this year. Sadly, [b]Adrian Aucoin[/b] winning the hardest shot was the only event I called correctly and he only tied that. Still good job Aucoin - you're one of the most underrated and least talked about players in the league - I hope people are talking now. You and [b]Pavel Kubina[/b] and [b]Sheldon Souray[/b] - who had four wrist surgeries last year and was able to come back.

[b]Jaromir Jagr's [/b]goal on the breakaway - amazing. Datsyuk, man I was expecting you to pull something out of your butt on the breakaway and you didn't - you're an amazing and gifted player, it's just a shame it took three years for ESPN to realize it. [b]Dwayne Roloson[/b] - I questioned your selection to the squad but you proved me wrong completely. I apologize. [b]Jeremy Roenick[/b] - Atta boy! I'm sure there's a lot of "haters" right now still sitting and grumbling in their couches right now. **** them.

Young Stars game wasn't as good as the previous two. [b]Matthew Lombardi[/b] was my pick to win MVP (before the game) out of the group and he screwed up at least four scoring chances. Way too much passing where someone had to just bury it past [b]Andrew Raycroft [/b]or [b]Philipe Sauve[/b]. [b]Matt Stajan[/b] looked great too as did [b]Nikolai Zherdev[/b]. It's not often that I agree with [b]Barry Melrose[/b] but Raycroft has my mid-season Calder vote for rookie-of-the-year as well. Had it before the games, still has it now - he's been amazing and [b]Michael Ryder [/b]is extremely overrated by Montreal fans.

This is what hockey needed - a night to forget about the troubles its having on and off the ice and just have fun and show the fans what the stars can do. Hockey is a huge part of my life and my entertainment. I can debate it and talk about it until the cows come home twice over and of course the looming lock-out has been a big discussion but for about two and a half hours tonight, it was the furtherest thing from my mind. Thank you, NHL All-Stars, thank you makers of Miracle ([b]Kurt Russell[/b] and the cast included - as well as[b] Herb Brooks[/b], bless him) because for one night, you entertained and put a smile on the face of this long time hockey fan. Thank you all.

All comments are appriecated.

No, I'm not talking about that Superbowl thing everyone's yelling about. Christ, I wish that would go away but this from the Sun Sentinel newspaper in Southern Florida.

[url=]http://www.sun-sentinel.com/n...,0,7208186.story?coll=sfla-news-fron t[/url]

God that's distrubing and I don't think I need to say much more on the subject. What's the world coming to when this stuff happens? These kids couldn't have hit pubertity enough to even enjoy that crap! How the hell do they know what oral sex is in the first place and why are they that old and still in fourth grade?

This is from the same state that had the world's youngest drug dealer not too long ago in an 11 year-old girl selling heroine for her mom and her mom's boyfriend.

I'm about to puke.

I don't really talk much about my family to anyone. It's not the most dysfunctional unit ever - TV's Rosanne taught me that - but at times, I'm not proud of who I share my genepool with, lawfully or by birth. The only one that I stake proud claim in is my grandfather. Sadly, he had a stroke either before I was born or before I could remember so he's always been a little slow and hard of hearing. And when you're young, you don't always quite understand these things.

Well he's suffered four strokes and a couple heart attacks by now and has developed adult diabeties but he keeps trucking along well past 70 now.

Though this week, he landed in the hospital again with shortness of breath. No one could figure out what was wrong with him at first. It wasn't another heart attack or stroke. They thought it was bone cancer but not a shred of cancer could be found on him. His arteries are just hardened and there's not much they can do at this point. His legs are in bad shape because of the lack of blood flow to them but the doctors believe they can amputate some of his toes and that should help. I figure, it's better than the whole leg. And he should get to go home soon after the procedure.

For a guy who has seen a lifetime of hospital rooms, he's in high spirits. At least there, no one bothers him and he gets to sleep when he wants. And it's not a problem with his kidneys - as he's afraid of dialaysis (I know I'm butchering that spelling) because of the pain one of his sisters went through while on it. He keeps on with his resolve.

Though I'm afraid, he wouldn't have this resolve if it wasn't for the great grandchildren that have come into his life since. If it wasnt' for the kids, I doubt he would have made it this far. They maybe little brats and too quick for him but they've added a pure joy into his life.

Sadly, I'm by far the youngest of the grandchildern and at twenty years of age, I'm not ready to start a family yet with Amanda. I've got a crumy Associates degree that I can't do much with and I'm chugging away towards a Bachalors and hopefully, a Masters and a PHD, if time allows. Then Amanda has her schooling on top of that, wanting to be a Vet one of these days - so we've both got a lot of schooling to look forward to before we start a family.

And while it looks like another eight years before my hellspawn is brought into this cruel world, I'm not so sure my grandfather has another 8 years sometimes, let alone 10 to 12. I want him to be there to see Oliver ("Ollie") when he's born, be there for Ollie's first Christmas (for we always spend Christmas at my grandfather's), to watch Ollie walk and for Ollie to have a conversation with his great grandfather - even if it is only in baby talk or about GI Joes or something. I want him to see my son someday and for him to smile because of it. I'm not only the youngest, I'm also the one that lives furthest away and barely sees him so sometimes I think that might bring the biggest smile to his face - knowing that I'm going to turn out alright.

I wish for only this but a sting of reality really keeps me up at night with this. My dad's going to be turning 50 in 2004 (my mom in 2005) and is about to go in for his second spinal surgery soon and he's always in pain regardless of what drugs the doctor gives him. Neither him or my mom eat all that healthy anymore (Despite the fact that my mom is also diabetic like my grandfather.) They never have any guests over so this house is going to get very lonely when I move out. I really think open-nest syndrome is going to hit them hard. Sometimes I worry that they might not even get to see a lot of Ollie's life.

I know worrying is only going to give me wrinkles or mess with my head. That's there's little I can do about it and God has his plan for everyone - me, my parents, my grandfather, Amanda and my future child. But at least it's got me realizing how important the future is, how important family really is to me and how I want to shape my bloodline.

Here's to the Future.

Until next time

With the NHL All-Star break starting up in Minnesota this weekend, it looks as though Chicago Blackhawk forward and captain [b]Alexei Zhamnov[/b] may have played his last game in a Hawks uniform. Ownership has brought the axe down and has said that Zhamnov will be gone at least, by the March 9th trade deadline. But with this break in the action, Pulford would love to try and dump Zhamnov's salary now.

Sadly, two years ago I said that [b]Pittsburgh[/b] and [b]Chicago[/b] would be competing head-to-head for the services of [b]Alexander Ovechkin[/b], the uniamous 1st overall pick for the 2004. Either it's sad that I had Ovechkin pegged as a 16 year-old or that I was right on the Hawks and Penguins because seemingly both teams look ready to give up on this season. Heck, even Washington and Carolina haven't given up yet (as evident by the Jagr and Williams trades, respectively.) Columbus could spoil the fun but regardless, it looks like it will come down to the Hawks and Penguins.

Zhamnov started off on the wrong foot in Chicago, being acquired (along with Craig Mills and a draft pick) for [b]Jeremy Roenick[/b], one of the most popular Hawks players ever. But as the talent kept being shipped out - Belfour, Amonte, Chelios, and others - Hawks fans grew to love Zhamnov (basically because there was very little else on the team) and Zhamnov even became captain of the Hawks, something I never thought would ever happen.

Now once again we have a player the fans love, who has played well for the franchise and who will be shipped out for whatever [b]Pulford[/b] can get because ownership doesn't want to open up the pocketbook.

Of course, Zhamnov is the only tradeable commodity this team does have. Offers for fellow unrestricted Free Agents, [b]Alexander Karpotsev [/b]and [b]Steve Poapst[/b], do not figure to be great in value. I figure Poapst could shore up a team like Colorado but both Poapst and Karpotsev have been plagued by injuries this season, dragging their value down. Restricted free agents like [b]Bryan Berard[/b] and [b]Nathan Dempsey[/b], also don't figure to fetch much in the way of younger players and/or draft picks.

How does mangement feel about having pint-sized [b]Steve Sullivan[/b] as the club's best player and team captain? He's on pace for another 60 point season but if Zhamnov goes, teams will have to concentrate solely on Sullivan and that could be determential to his point totals. [b]Eric Daze [/b]plans to play again after yet another back surgery but at this point, I'm skeptical and don't feel as if he's a reliable option any more. The target date of the middle of this month seems like a dream.

The young forward core of [b]Tuomo Ruutu[/b], [b]Kyle Calder[/b], [b]Mark Bell[/b], [b]Tyler Arnason[/b], and the Norfolk-mired Russians - [b]Igor Radulov[/b], [b]Pavel Vorobiev[/b] and [b]Mikhail Yakubov[/b], are really going to have to step it up around Sullivan next year. Add to that list either Ovechkin or [b]Evgeni Malkin [/b](whomever they wind up with out of the 2004 draft) and there's room for promise but 2004-2005 (if it occurs) will be a complete dreadful season up front for Chicago. Good luck Steve Sullivan because you're going to need it with this bunch.

So where will Zhamnov wind up? Atlanta, Vancouver, New York, Detroit? Obviously, Chicago won't get quite as much as fans expect out of Zhamnov but I'm not going to hazard a guess to where he winds up. Just I would like to shut up Vancouver fans - WE DON'T WANT YOUR DEAL!!

Jason King, Alex Auld and Fedor Fedorov for Alexei Zhamnov? No thanks. With Jocelyn Thibault due back soon from hip surgery and two young goalies already in the system duking it out in Michael Leighton and Craig Andersson - Chicago doesn't need another young goalie to throw another wrench into it. Auld maybe big enough to cover angles in the NHL but his mobility and agility is on par with my grandmother. They also have Steve Passmore and prospects Mike Brodeur and Corey Crawford - another goalie is something Chicago does not need.

Fedor Fedorov has been an absolute headache for the coaching staff of Manitoba. Vancouver fans hold this kid in such high regard but honestly, Vancouver would like anyone to take him off their hands. Nice size and the potential is there but that attitude is something no one wants to take on - just drop all the Fedor rumours and cut your losses with him when his contract is up.

Jason King, another player that Vancouver fans tend to overvalue. He's had a good start but is in Manitoba right now and I don't think the Hawks really need another young right winger at this moment with Nieminen, Radulov, Vorobiev, VandenBussche, and Matt Keith all vying for spots on the right side after Ruutu and Sullivan.

King maybe decent, but King for Zhamnov doesn't strike my fancy - the other two players are just garbage thrown in. Bring on Detroit and Atlanta's offers.

I won't be watching the All-Star game this year (it's a habit I don't want to start) so some body's going to have to tell me if there's any highlights. I'm doubting. My over/under for total goals is 12.

Finally we can get everyone to shut up about Schastlivy rumours - someone was stupid enough to take him off of Ottawa's hands. He's teased the NHL long enough with his speed but honestly, his size, inconsistancy and his proness to injury have made him an unreliable option for the Senators. He was supposed to grab the second-line left wing job this year but through 43 games he only has 2 goals and 6 points. At 24, he's not going to be getting any bigger so maybe a new destination will help him find his stroke.

In Anaheim he'll get a shot at the second line job until Holmqvist and Niedermayer come back (Nieds being day-to-day with a groin, Holmqvist on the IR with a pulled stomach muscle) and further marks the downfall of the promising Stanislav Chistov in his sophomore season. Chistov was assigned to Cincinatti on the 31st to work out his game.

Todd Simpson goes the other way to Ottawa and he was claimed to have "not played up to expectations" in Anaheim - who in Anaheim has?! He was claimed up in the waiver draft at the beginning of the season and played in the absence of Keith Carney (out the first month with a broken foot) and after that was regulated to 7th defenseman. Even with Ozolinsh out to mid-March, the Ducks felt it better not to play Simpson, instead calling up former Panther farm-hand and DEL-veteran Chris Armstrong to act as the 6th d-man until Ozolinsh comes back.

The Senators wanted to get tougher and Simpson is a step. The former "Captain Concussion" in Calgary joins 7 other defensemen in Ottawa, Chara out day-to-day with an upper body injury. He'll at least play in Ottawa on the third pairing and add some grit. He's not going to be their save-all for toughness but at least it's better than Pothier (in that department.)

Anaheim gets a cheap project that could grow into something good for the team (all for a player they paid nothing to get), Ottawa tries to patch up their toughness and blueline.

As many of you know, I'm a huge Smallville fan and I'd go as far to say that it is one of the best things on television right now and while it will someday have to end, it's one of those things you dream and wish never will. I was never a fan of Superman growing up - I was more into the cooler, darker Frank Miller Batman, Daredevil, X-Men and the first incarnation of WildCATS (despite my gripes today with Jim Lee.) The movie was cool but the fact that he was invincibile (for the most part) just turned me off. But the ideas and themes that Alfred Gough and Miles Miller have dwelled into with Smallville have opened my eyes to the wonderful character of Superman. They've given him a humanistic streak that I certainly enjoy and once again prove the theory, "there are no bad characters - only bad writers."

Season 3 of Smallville has dragged along since its return from the Holiday re-runs. Maybe it's because I finally got ahold of the Season 1 DVD set and watched all the episodes at least twice in the span of two weeks and I had time to sit an enjoy them and dissect them together as a group. I haven't had the same pleasure to sit back with Season 3 together yet so maybe in the end, when I do get to watch them all together, I'll notice the same genious I saw in Season 1.

Don't get me wrong, "Magnetic" has been the only episode worth skipping in Season 3 but it seems episodes like "Whisper" and "Extinction" have done little in the sceme of things.

Now we're on the 12th episode of the season and close to reaching the halfway point, and while I have some what of a clue to where its all heading, I cannot wait to see what Smallville has in store from here on out. "Hereafter" was probably one of the single best episodes they've put out this year and yes, I thought it was better than "Shattered" and "Aslyum."

A lot of parallels are being drawn in this episode and that always makes for a grand time. Of course we still have the continueing comparasion of Clark to Lana's new squeeze, Adam Knight. Adam and Clark both have their secrets that they're both keeping from Lana and while Clark hurts her by pushing her away, Adam is hurting her by doing the same thing but in a different way. Adam keeps hanging her by a thread, keeping her close but when she wants to know anything about him, he shuts her down and pulls out the "trust" card - "Why can't you trust me" - even though I'm using IV-needles and having violent nightmares that destory the whole loft above the Talon coffee shop. She thought Adam was going to be different from Clark but now, he's probably going to damage her worse.

Another painfully obvious study is Clark and Jordan Cross. In Jordan Cross we have yet another kid with gifts - this time the kid can see the exact moment that someone's going to die just by touching them. Somewhat like Cassandra's visions back in "Hourglass" (1.6) but not quite. He doesn't see the future, only death and that's got to freak out a kid and destory a mind. I can't believe he's not more messed up than he already is by the time he tries going to Smallville High to interact with kid's his age.

Jordan reminded me a lot of Rouge from the X-Men. At least in the human contact aspect of their powers. They both long for contact but they know that's beyond the realm of possibility (ableit the fact that Rouge's been cured of her powers in certain instances, most recently on the pages of X-Treme X-Men.) Being around all those kids at school is not his place but when you have gifts like Clark and Jordan's - what is your place? They both have the power to save people but Jordan has to learn the hard way that it's best to keep your secrets. Can people like Megan actually save themselves? Going back to Cassandra's quote, "People only want to know if every thing's going to turn out alright," Jordan's not going to be able to save any one just by telling them something bad is going to happen.

So is it the right of Clark and Jordan to save people's lives with their gifts? Obviously, Coach Altman wanted to die to join his daughter who had died only recently. He had to make the difficult decision to pull her off of life-support and in a way, Clark made the opposite decision in saving him, letting him live. Clark was his life-support in a cheesey sense. Was it his decision to make or God's? Clark changing the plan of everything, puts three more lives in danger - including Lana, who he cares about more than anything in the world. Being able to make the choice if someone lives or dies - to change destiny (as Jordan puts it) - is an extreme power and of course, the question of what if he makes the wrong choice weighs heavily on the mind of Clark.

But as Martha comforts Clark, "You can't save them all." Someone needs to keep reminding him that but isn't it a dark, gloomy truth? Other than Clark, we're all going to die and we can't always count on a miracle to be there for us because even in a world (the DCU) where miracles happen every day, no one can save us all. There's a sort of divine feel that enchants the Superman character (as well as the Flash, Green Lantern, and the rest of the JLA.) This makes me want to watch Mel Gibson in [b]Signs[/b] again.

The final comparsion is Jonathan Kent and Jordan's dad. Jordan's dad kept Jordan in hiding all these years because of the "gift" bestowed upon Jordan. While I feel the effects that would have on one's personality and character are subdued by the writers, it was obvious that they did have negative effects on Jordan. Jonathan remarks to Clark near the end that yes, he wanted to hide Clark from the world, to protect him and his gifts from those who would do Clark harm but Martha (good ole sweet Martha) convinced Jonathan to do the opposite - to put Clark amongst the world. Score one for Nuture in the ever on-going battle with Nature because Clark definitely wouldn't be the same person now or in the future if he had been hid from the world.

Misc. Comments and Questions -

What was Mr. Cross's end? Jordan would have had to have touched his father at some point and he would have had to do it very young - I'm guessing at 6, before they realized what his visions were. I'm imagine that would damage a kid of that age considerablely. I'm having a hard time believing that Jordan is that mentally stable after all these years of this gift.

Getting to see the 'S' and the cape was a great tease - just like the glasses in "Whisper." Almost sad that the glasses haven't returned since.

Jonathan does in fact realize the extent of his deal with Jor-El. I missed parts of "Phoenix" so maybe this is a surprise only to me.

With Jonathan wanting to keep Clark close and Martha wanting to push him out the door - isn't that a role reversal? Usually the mom wants to keep the child forever.

Why is Adam shooting up drugs at Smallville High? He's not even a student. Couldn't Chloe have seen him somewhere else? I don't know where or how but c'mon - it made my eyebrows raise.

Let me get this straight - Lana's on the Cross-Country team? She broke her leg in four places maybe 6, 7 weeks ago and she's already back to cross-country and running that well? Plus, she's a fairly great student, she's got a job running the Talon (she can't take too many days off from the place) AND she's fitting in Cross-Country and a beau in the loft? That's just crazy. How does she find the time?

Until next Time

As I said in the last part, I'm using this BLOG as a continuation of ANECS. So how's this going to work? The original ANECS had five members who would post a column on his or her day of the week and a review of something (could be a movie, a book, a position, anything) the day before it. So essentially, when we were on schedule, there would be a column and a review posted each day. That obviously didn't happen quite the way we wanted it to.

I've decided that I will update this BLOG as my 'column' on [b]WENDESDAYS[/b] each week (except for this one) and I'll do my review on another day of the week that has yet to be decided.

The topics don't really have a set range - in previous ANECS lives, I wrote columns on my casting call for a new Superman movie, a candid review of each of the Final Fantasy games to come out since the beginning and even a positive review on the hit-show [b]Queer Eye for the Straight Guy[/b]. So expect a bag full of things.

I've also decided to try and keep another ANECS feature going - [b]the Girl of the Week GOTW[/b]. Luck had this crazy idea that we could get girls off the street (though the couple we got were ones we already knew) to let us take their picture, answer a couple questions and have that all posted on our pathetic no-name site for free (well they did get a t-shirt...) That obviously didn't work out but I figure, let's try this again. I haven't gotten exact details drawn up but I was thinking about featuring a girl here each week and then setting up a website to keep sort of a Hall-of-Fame archive around with your pictures and a little bit about you. I'm not looking for supermodel girls exactly, I'm looking for plain girls that are interesting. If interested contact me at dynamitehack91@yahoo.com or comment below. Again I'm not sure how this will exactly work out so we'll play it by ear.

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As it is the second of February, I feel I ought to comment on the Superbowl. I remember when the Superbowl use to be a tradition of food, friends and fun. I'd actually go over to people's houses and watch. Last time I did that was two years ago and it was only three people that time around. I worked through last year's Superbowl and I slept through most of this one. And if I wasn't sleeping, my girlfriend was trying to distract me from the game. All I remotely remember is Brady being picked-off in the end zone and Vinatari's field goal to win it.

Vinatari must be the anti-Buckner now as he's won the area two championships now. Here's to Vinatari, the football god now.

But what I can't figure out, is some people are trying to pass this off as the greatest Superbowl ever. Either I need to kick myself for sleeping through it or these people didn't watch all of the previous 37 Superbowls. Someone tell me which is it.

Where's all the New England dynasty talk? I figured it would be out in full force with all the hype surrounding this team - 15 straight wins, two titles in three years. Hell, if the New Jersey Devils can be considered a dynasty with 3 Stanley Cup championships in 9 years - then where do you put the Pats in football? The Devils have been put on a platform with the 1980-84 New York Islanders, the following Edmonton Oilers dynasties and the Montreal Canadiens of the 50s and 60s that won a bajillion Stanley Cups.

Granted, New Jersey has been on top of the NHL food chain since 1997 (remember, they missed the playoffs in 1996, the year after their first championship in 95 - sound firmilar New England?) and that's a nice trick in today's pairity sunken NHL but so have other teams like the Red Wings and Avalanche (both with two Stanley Cups in between the Devils 3 in 9.) I find it hard to really put New Jersey in the dynasty category. Plus it doesn't hurt that their style of play is killing excitement in the NHL.

So where's the Pat dynasty talk then? I've heard it mentioned once and that's it. The "Greatest Team Ever" talk has been in full swing though and while the Pats ARE a good team - where's the arguement that they are the greatest? 15 wins in a row? Do we forget the Greatest Dolphins team ever? How many Hall-of-famers were on that team? How many Hall-of-famers will come out of the Patroits? Antwoin Smith?!? Troy Brown?? I think not. It's possible but right now I'm skeptical.

And I'm sure one of my friend's will bring this up about the Patroits - how many games of their's did I watch in entirity? And my answer is NONE. Other than the Superbowl, I had not watched anything on the Patroits this season. In fact, I only watched one football game this entire season - the Rams/Panthers playoff game. Usually, I'll watch every Bears game and a couple other games here and there along with most of the playoffs but my Sundays were busy this season and I really never got in the football mood to watch when I could.

This was also the first year in a while I did not bet on the Superbowl - then again voting on the favorites really wouldn't have won me too much money.

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Those who watched the game probably saw the trailer for [b]Van Hesling[/b] starring Hugh Jackman (X-Men.) I can tell you the trailer worked much better on TV (I was awake for a moment during it, I don't know how many times it was shown) than it does on the PC. I don't know why. So before Van Hesling meets up with Jonathan Harker, he took on the Wolfman, Frankenstein's monster AND vampires at the same time? Wow, so this guy can kill anything huh? Next time I have ghosts, I'm not calling Ghostbuster, I'll tell you that much.

[b]Hidlago[/b] looks like Disney spent $90 million wisely as I think it'll be a nice box office sucess with Viggo in the lead. And it'll be about time to get a 2004 box office hit - can anyone even explain to me the premise of [b]You Got Served[/b]?!! The trailer tells me not one damn thing about the movie's plot - if there is one. And usually when a trailer does that, the movie doesn't have one.

Sadly, [b]Win a Date With Tad Hamilton! [/b]isn't doing so hot in the box office. Hopefully, I'll catch it before it slips out with no warning as movies like this one tend to do.

Until next week - damn, I still can never think of a good ending catchphrase - take care