So, Chad Kilger still hasn't returned to the Panthers. He's MIA and the Panthers have suspended him.

I think he's really convinced himself that he, in fact, had a "no trade" clause and refused to waive it.

Canes keep chugging along with a 6-3 win in Atlanta tonight. Problem is, so is Washington, which dumped Buffalo. At this rate, the Southeast might get two teams in yet. Carolina up three with Caps a game in hand and will get another in hand tomorrow as Carolina goes home to play Minny. Canes (and Cam Ward especially) have had troubles in back-to-backs this year.

the Avs have had some huge wins lately against teams they've struggled against this year. On Thursday, they shut out the Ducks 1-0 and then yesterday they beat the Stars 3-1. Both games had a playoff atmosphere to them. Avalanche fans seem rejuvenated by the signing of Forsberg and the return of Foote - Forsberg's debut 3 games ago was the highest rated Avs game for Altitude (the team's station). The team seems revitalized as well. With the addition of Foote and Ruslan Salei and the subtraction of Karlis Skrastins (yay!), our defense is the best it's been since the last Cup.

and, incredibly, Ryan Smyth is skating already. Our powerplay is still atrocious, however, and we aren't going anywhere if that doesn't change.

Awesome game going on between the Rangers and Bruins right now. 0-0 with 4 minutes left...Auld and Lundqvist have been unbelievable.

Rangers win in a shootout, 1-0. Henrik was just nasty.

Sabres lose against Carolina on Saturday night in another heartbreaking OT decision.

Their 'best' player (Vanish...er, Vanek) is benched almost the entire second period for lackluster effort. I don't see them getting their act together in time to make a playoff push but hope I'm wrong.

What a difference a year makes...President's Trophy winners in '07 to early season golfers the next. :(

Carolina gets help from the Pens in turn today as they get the fluke own-goal from Backstrom late to beat the Caps 4-2. Carolina now up seven points on Washington (the Caps now have just one game in-hand) and are playing as well as they did when they got off to that great start early in the season (13-5-1 since the All-Star break). Things are looking better for the playoffs. I wouldn't dare hope for a deep run, but after all the adversity with injuries, illnesses, and the like, this team has played with tremendous heart.

and as soon as I say something nice about the Avs, they get absolutely smoked by the Stars. Forsberg missed the game with a groin injury, Foote missed the game with a hip injury, and Salei left the game with an eye injury - there's your three deadline acquisitions right there.

Hey Rangers fans!!

I reported that post.

i dont know how this isnt tampering, but uh, cool for the devils i guess

The Devils will sign former Oilers captain Jason Smith this summer when he's an unrestricted free agent. Smith started his NHL career with the Devils.

Edmonton Journal

The Wings finally signed Super Dan Cleary to a contract extension. $14 million over 5 years, which comes out to about $2.8 million a year. I think Holland was angling at $2.5 million, but considering Cleary would have likely made a lot more than $2.8 million on the open market, it's a great deal. He scored 20 goals in 57 games before getting hurt. He can play in any situation and can play both on a top line and a third line. He's been a great player for the Wings and I think the deal is fair and another indication of a "home town" discount for the Wings.

The Wings had finally righted the ship. They won 5 in a row after their terrible February where they only won 2 out of 12. It's not at all surprising to see the Wings' fortunes make a turn for the better as soon as they got Kronwall, Rafalski, and Lidstrom back. So much of the Wings' offense comes from their defense. Their entire puck control style relies on capable, skilled defensemen who are able to carry the puck and make that first great outlet pass. When your top pairing is Brett Lebda and Andrea Lilja, that's not going to happen. The loss of Lidstrom was catastrophic the Wings' defense as well. He's a steadying force back there and they completely rely on him. Up until the knee injury, I think he's only missed something like 15 games over the course of his entire career. If what we saw when he was out is any indication of what the Wings will look like post-Lidstrom, I am afraid. Very, very afraid...

More recently, however, they are mired in a 2 game slump. It's annoying to constantly struggle against Nashville, Columbus, Chicago, and the like.

The Wings will have plenty of opportunities to work out any kinks against these teams. Just look at the Wings SUPER SWEET schedule the rest of the way: Columbus-Nashville-Columbus-St. Louis-St. Louis-Nashville-Chicago-Columbus-Chicago.

As was my worry when the season began, the Wings' goaltending situation is beginning to be troublesome. Hasek has not seemed sharp in a few months. These minor aches, the hip thing, the back thing, make me nervous. He's old and easily distracted. I have a hard time seeing him making it through the entire playoffs. Osgood hasn't been too stellar of late either. A creaky Hasek and Osgood do not lift one's spirits.

So, I'm watching a replay of PTI and they show a goal just scored on the Leafs.

Wow. I think Jay Onrait just chuckled and didn't say anything.

Vesa Toskala may have surrendered the worst goal in NHL history. If you didn't see it, check Youtube tomorrow -- there will be about 800 versions of it.

To his credit he stood on his head the rest of the way. The Leafs were down 1-0 in the third and no doubt every Toronto sports writer was getting their "You can't spell Toskala without s-a-l-o" jokes ready, but the Leafs ruined it by pulling out a 3-1 win.

What was said goal?

A 180-foot slapshot that bounced about a half dozen times.

The ice was awful all night, and it just ate him up. The last bounce was a ridiculous hop over his shoulder. It was a one-in-million fluke, but will probably follow him to his grave.

The Rangers need to sign Avery.

I love youtube.

Caron did that with Pittsburgh a few years ago.

Wow.

This is still the worst goal as that goal killed a career.

Plus, I dig that song.

Here's the live game clip:

Southwest needs to use that in a commercial...

"Wanna get away...."

It wasn't Toskala's fault. Ponikoravski puts his stick out and deflects it -- he needs to get down and block that shot!

Need to, but won't.

I can't stop chuckling over that shot... :D

On a more serious note, the Caps picked up two more points against Nashville so Carolina's lead is down to three with eight to play for both sides (and Florida's now five back with their recent streak). Carolina has back-to-back roadies starting tomorrow night in Atlanta then Thursday in Florida. Needless to say, it's important that they win these games. The Canes do get a little advantage as Washington has to play the next five on the road including one in Raleigh next Tuesday.

Don Cherry has been telling those players for YEARS to stop deflecting shots with their sticks. Will they never learn?

Been meaning to mention here for awhle, I got my THN Future Watch a few weeks back.

If anyone is interested, I can try and post their team's top 10 prospects.

Bumping...this is pretty weird. I posted above at 12:21, yet the thread remained on the 2nd page, showing Fidatelo's post at 9:17 as the last post?

:confused:

Is anyone else watching this Buffalo/Tampa game? What a comeback by Buffalo.

w00t, Drury!

Unbelieveable....down 4-1...the Sabers have scored 4 goals in like 5 minutes.

Geez, 6 goals in the 3rd period.

Nigel Dawes is awesome.

The Sabres continue to confound...after tonight, they are now the highest scoring team in the NHL.

How the hell did that happen?

Yeah, those are always fun. What do they have on the Ducks and Kings? Thanks!

Every time I see the score of a Sabres game they are either blowing someone out or getting blown out. There doesn't seem to be a lot of middle-ground with this team.

TELL ME ABOUT IT.




gah.


Awesome game last night though, Telle and I met up with Chubby and his Fiancee and we were all bumming after 2 periods, then all hell broke loose!!

Great night overall!

Pics.

Lol @ MikeVic!

Yes, Chris Osgood is indeed a nerd.

Hey I just want to see what FOFCers look like.

I tried to snag some pics with my camera phone, but it was too dark at the pub. Sorry to dissapoint dude ;)

I give Chubby some props though, he found himself a cutie!


We all really had a great time last night, I wish more of the buffalo area folks could have come!

that's Alton Brown!

Dammit. Don't tease.

They used to give a ETA on the NHL roster, but no longer do that.
Player with rank in the top 75, draft position and current league.

21 and under grade= prospects plus any NHLers age 21 or under.
Leveling rank is comparison of ranking and teams avg draft position int he last 4 drafts. For example, Pittsburgh has the #1 21 and under grade (due to Crosby, Malkin, Staal & Letang). Avg draft position of 6.3 is 3rd highest during the period, so Pittsburgh's a +2.

Ducks

21 and under grade: C+ (21st out of 30)
Leveling = -12 (ADP of 12.3 (ranks 9th))

1) Bobby Ryan RW (7th overall) 2nd overall pick 2005 draft - AHL
2) Brian Salcido D (NR) 141st in 2005 -AHL
3) Brendan Mikkelson D (NR) 31st in 2005 -AHL
4) JP Levasseur G (NR) 197th in 2005 - AHL
5) Petteri Wirtanen C (NR) 172nd in 2006 - AHL
6) Logan Macmillan C (NR) 19th in 2007 - QMJHL
7) Eric Tangradi C (NR) 42nd in 2007 - OHL
8) Mark Mitera D (NR) 19th in 2006 - CCHA
9) Matt Belesky LW (NR) 112th in 2006 - OHL
10) Maxime Macenauer C (NR) 63rd in 2007 - QMJHL


Kings

21 and under: A- (5th of 30) (includes Kopitar and J Johnson)
Leveling: +1 (ADP 9.3 ranks 6th)

1) Jonathan Bernier G (10th) 11th in 2006 - QMJHL
2) Teddy Purcell RW (26th) 2007 free agent - AHL
3) Thomas Hickey D (30th) 4th in 2007 - WHL
4) Brian Boyle C (72nd) 26th in 2003 - AHL
5) Trevor Lewis C (NR) 17th in 2006 - AHL
6) Oscar Moller RW (NR) 52nd in 2007 - WHL
7) Wayne Simmonds RW (NR) 61st in 2007 - OHL
8) Lauri Tukonen RW (NR) 11th in 2004 - AHL
9) Jaff Zatkoff G (NR) 74th in 2006 - CCHA
10) Jon Quick G (NR) 72nd in 2005 - ECHL

Could you post the Rangers? Thanks.

Rangers

21 and under grade: B (11th of 30) (includes Staal and Dubinsky)
Leveling: +2 (ADP 14.0, ranks 13th)

1) Alexei Cherapanov RW (19th) 17th in 2007 - Russian League
2) Bobby Sanguinetti D (32nd) 21st in 2006 - OHL
3) Al Montoya G (51st) 6th in 2004 - AHL
4) Ivan Baranka D (NR) 50th in 2003 - AHL
5) Artem Anisimov C (NR) 54th in 2006 - AHL
6) Lauri Korpikoski LW (NR) 19th in 2004 - AHL
7) Alex Bourret RW (NR) Trade w/ ATL 2007 - AHL
8) Greg Moore C (NR) Trade w/ CGY 2004 - AHL
9) Dane Byers LW (NR) 48th in 2004 - AHL
10) Michael Sauer D (NR) 40th in 2005 - AHL

Avs too, pls

Damn.

Brad Stuart, who's been very solid since joining, is out 3-6 weeks with a broken finger.

I thought Montoya was traded...?

Carolina gets a huge sweep of a back-to-back beating FLA 2-1 in a shootout tonight. Florida outplayed Carolina much of the game, but a fluky goal by Letowski early and then stellar goaltending by Cam Ward (who finally seems to have become the goalie everyone has been expecting him to be the last few weeks) allowed Carolina to survive. Staal has been on such a roll of late that his SO winner was essentially stopped by Vokoun and then trickled through his legs and into the goal. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

Carolina now gets ready for what could amount to a division-clinching game at home against Washington next Tuesday, especially if Washington should lose to Atlanta tomorrow. Carolina now up seven points on the Caps and eight on Florida with six to play.

I believe the scout voting is done Jan/Feb. Same issue with Pittsburgh, Esposito is their #1 ranked prospect.

21 and Under: C+ (16th of 30) - includes Wolski and Cumiskey
Leveling: -1 (ADP of 21.8, 17th of 30)

1) Kevin Shattenkirk D (39th) 14th in 2007 - Hockey East
2) Chris Stewart RW (NR) 18th in 2006 - AHL
3) David Jones RW (NR) 288th in 2003 - AHL
4) Colby Cohen D (NR) 45th in 2007 - HE
5) Ryan Stoa C (NR) 34th in 2005 - WCHA
6) Michael Carmen C (NR) 81st in 2006 - WCHA
7) Nigel Williams D (NR) 51st in 2006 - OHL
8) Denis Parshin RW (NR) 72nd in 2004 - Russian League
9) Trevor Cann G (NR) 49th in 2007 - OHL
10) TJ Galiardi LW (NR) 55th in 2007 - WHL

Like father...

Sorry for the stupid question, but who the hell is that?

Jonathan Roy.

I'm at work, so I can't see the Youtube clip....but guessing it's his meltdown.

However, I am holding out hope it's a clip of him putting two rings in his ears.

Actually it is a clip of Wade Dubielewicz shutting down the Pens last night...how the hell does that happen after scoring 7 goals on the Devils....Wade Dubielewicz???

Dubie Dubie Dooooooo. Don't beware of the Penguins?

Anybody else remember those beer commercials with those penguins?

Bud Ice

Oh. My money was on a Jr. Hextall or maybe a Cloutier. That other goalie needs to grow some balls, as does the defenseman who half heartedly chucks a couple of punches at him after he beat the crap out of his goalie.

You know, Roy's kid looks like a real prick and he'll probably get a massive suspension, but what the hell is that other goalie doing? I don't think I've ever seen somebody just curl up in a ball and refuse to fight back. How hard is it to just hold on until a ref gets there, and maintain a little dignity? When did Ghandi learn to play goal?

That's awesome. Is he any good? Can he make the NHL? I'd like to see him lay a beating on some goalies.

It actually makes a lot more sense when you realize the other goalie is Mike Vernon's daughter.

Let me give you a background on the situation. Bobby Nadeau is the Saguenéens' goalie while Jonathan Roy is the Remparts' goalie. Nadeau is one of the best goaltender in the Q (No NHL future, but still a very good junior goaltender) while Jonathan Roy is Quebec's backup and probably wouldn't even be in the league if he wasn't playing for his dad's team. If Nadeau fights back, he will be suspended or risks injurying his hands, putting his team in danger because the Remparts will still have their starting goaltender.

In my opinion, Nadeau showed he cared about his team by not answering, showing his reputation is not more important than the team's success.

Big Nadeau fan eh?

So how exactly do you pronounce "Saguenéens" anyway?

Sa (Like in Salvador)
Gue (Like G in Girl)
Né (Nay)
En (No idea how to explain, just look at the last exemple on this site)

I think it's like "ungh" but with an "e" sound.

edit: oops, didn't see you edited to include an audio helper.

That's the kind of shit that happens when Pascal Dupuis doesn't dress.

How doe she get suspended for fighting when the other guy clearly instigated it? And if he doesn't want to fight, why not at least try to hold on until the refs come and save you (the McCabe-vs-Chara strategy)?

Great goal by Mike Richards to beat the Rangers in OT.

That sound you hear are the screams of Sabres fans after their (my) team turned a 3-1 lead with less than ten minutes left into a 6-3 loss.

Presidents Trophy winners to playoff observers in one year. Just dreadful. :(

Almost happened yesterday with the Habs against the same Senators, was 7-1 Canadiens after 2 and the Senators came back to 7-5. Luckily Price was able to hold the fort because that third period effort was disgusting after two perfect periods that lead to a standing ovation.

Jonathan Roy got a 7 game suspension and Patrick Roy got 5 games.

He's back? Just in time for me to watch the rest of my hockey fantasy playoffs.

Gold.

He's been back for about a week and a half now. I am in the finals of my Fantasy Hockey league...him and Derek Roy had huge nights for me. We get bonus pts for GWG and Overtime Goals.

Pens clinch a playoff spot after out-deviling the Devils 2-0. For as much as Conklin has faltered over the past 2 weeks, Fleury is coming on, winning 11 of his last 12.

News out of New Jersey is saying that Sutter has been fired as head coach and will be replaced by...surprise ...surprise...Lou Lamoriello!

This is fantastic:



Direct link if Red X'ing: http://www.sportsargumentwiki.com/im..._flowchart.png

pretty much killing myself now

Meh. Try going from the Cup to being an observer in one year. At least it looks like we'll get in this year (would have liked to have won last night for sure, though, just to make it a foregone conclusion).

the devils may be the worst offensive hockey team ive ever seen on the professional level. definitely in nj, anyway. its brutal.

and ive witnessed some brutal offenses in devils history

I think I heard where the Devils scored 2 goals or less in 28 games? Does that sound right?

I think they've scored a total of 2 goals in their last 28 games combined, yeah.

and been shut out 10 times (for serious, yo)

On the brighter side, Brian Rafalski has a career high in goals (12) this year with the Red Wings. Yay Rafalski!

So uh.. Dallas hasn't been very good since that Brad Richards trade that had so many pundits jump on their balls. Dallas is 3 points out of the 8 seed. Talk about fall from grace.

All I ask for as an NHL fan is for this to work out (and its very possible) so Anaheim and Minnesota play in the first round. Ugh the fights. I want blood.

What? The possibility of Detroit and Colorado going at it again fails to interest? Or does that go without saying?

I am a Wings fan and it does nothing to excite me. Most guys are gone from the rivalry and it hasn't had much drama in recent years. Plus Colorado has no goaltending so I can't see them doing anything in the playoffs.

not much interest here either. it's definitely not the same when Det and Col meet now. Colorado moved into 7th tonight, just 1 behind Dallas (but Dallas has 2 games in hand). They've played 2 dynamite hockey games after looking terrible for 3 or 4 games.

That would be a bloodbath. Even the Ducks don't have enough toughness to deal with a pissed off Boogard, Simon and Fedoruk (well Fedoruk is only one punch away from being a cabbage, but is still a big dude)

I'm trying to think who is out there that the Ducks could sign as a UFA, because that series could be real nasty and Parros on his own isn't going to cut it. CR - anyone in the minor system that I am missing out? Bring back Stu Grimson :)

Don't we still have Brad May? :)

And besides, the Wild won't go too nuts because they know if they do, Pronger or Bertuzzi will cheap shot Gaborik.

also, Pronger will fuck their wives.

The whole trading for Simon thing doesn't make any sense. The Wild didn't need anymore toughness and certainly don't need the distraction that is Simon. Three of the Wild's top 12 (13? 14?) forwards, Boogaard, Simon, and Fedoruk, will become pretty much useless once the playoffs start.