The Devils had to have done this before.

I reckon Brad Stuart fits nicely in the above Cory Cross and not quite Rob Blake range.

Mr. Holland, I am still awaiting your call to become a member of the Braintrust.

Don't soccer clubs do this quite often?

That's funny...yet the Leafs don't have the balls to fire Maurice...what gives??

No point. He'll be gone as soon as the new GM comes in. And besides, a new guy might coax a few extra wins out of the team and that's not what we need right now.

They waited too long to fire Junior and they've done the same with Maurice. The Leafs have been disinterested since before Christmas and whether that is Maurice's fault or not, he should've been canned simply because every Leaf has a no-trade clause and they aren't moving...proving yet again why Junior should've been done prior to this season...at the very least!!

we wait until the last possible moment, thank you very much

Bernier scored two goals (first two of the game in the first period) and one assist in his day-view as a Sabre. Still one more period to go.

Including tonight, Leafs sort-of prospect Jeremy Williams has played three games, spread over three seasons, and has scored three goals.

That makes him the only player in NHL history with the at least three games in the NHL who has scored in every game he's ever played. You can probably win a few bar bets with that trivia question, at least until the next Leafs game.

Marian Freaking Hossa next to Crosby!!!!!! :D

The Pens are only missing that nasty 3rd line to play against in the playoffs... oh wait, reports of Gary Roberts demise are premature, he skates today alongside Crosby before practice.

Ok, yeah, they are missing more, like a true #1 pairing D to play with Gonchar...and a settled goaltending position between Conklin and Fleury...but they had to vault themselves to, or close to, the top of the East.

Now they just need to hope every series in the West goes 7 games, each into multiple OTs, so that the winner of the West is demolished by the time they arrive in the finals.

What a crazy game! Buffalo-Nashville. It was like a bar brawl.

I was there live...great atmosphere, fun game, lots of fights, goals and even a penalty shot.

Bernier was a stud on day one. Instant crowd favourite in Buffalo.

He was ready to fight at the end. But the Predator guy said no. He looks like he's re-engerized Roy and Vanek. Giving them a big, power player with an offensive game should really open that line up. I wonder how Vanek will be used now.

Bernier seems like he just wants to play hockey and have fun. I think he'll fit well with this team. As much crap as Reiger gets (and I think the higher-ups do handcuff him), he has a great nose for finding talent that fly under the radar or washout. I can't stand the Sabres forum. People don't seem to get the idea of a "salary cap" and being selective in who you have to keep.

quoted for posterity.

Are you surprised that Therrien is pulling Malone off of Malkin's line to put him on with Staal and Hossa?

I agree with you on their defense, they have plenty of offensive defensemen with Whitney, Gonchar, and Letang, but no real shut down defensive guy.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=230739&hubname=nhl

Panthers' grant Kilger leave of absence

SUNRISE, Fla. - Chad Kilger, acquired by Florida in a trade with Toronto, was granted a leave of absence by the Panthers on Wednesday due to personal reasons.

Just one day after Kilger was sent to the Panthers by the Maple Leafs, the forward sat out when Florida faced his former team at home.

Kilger flew back to Toronto after meeting with Jacques Martin, the Panthers coach and general manager, and team officials said it wasn't known when he would return.

Martin was expected to talk about Kilger's situation on Thursday. Kilger missed five games earlier this season after being granted a leave of absence by the Maple Leafs.

Kilger, acquired just before the NHL trade deadline for a third-round draft pick, had 10 goals and seven assists in 53 games with Toronto.

---------------------------------

A quick update on this story. Reports now indicate that Kilger has returned to Toronto and is currently negotiating a retroactive no trade clause with Cliff Fletcher. Early indications are that the Leafs will reach an agreement with Kilger, the trade with Florida will be undone with Kilger returning to the Leafs and the Panthers getting their 3rd round pick back, and then Kilger will refuse to waive the clause.

I will keep everyone posted.

Thanks.

Really H_B? Or are you just messing around with the no-trade clause stuff? I really don't know anymore.

I am just messing around with the no-trade clause stuff, because it makes me laugh almost as much as that picture of that Maple Leaf kid giving Andrea Lilja the finger. Almost...

It was believable...

Anthony Smith is guaranteeing a Pens trip to the Finals.


Um, the names Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi obviously mean nothing to you! ;)

Seriously, and this probably through my black and gold glasses, but Gonchar has been solid in his own end, especially during this recent stretch since Crosby's been out. And Scuderi (now hurt) has played out of his cranium (my Myron Cope reference in a time of mouring). He should be, at best, on a 2nd pairining, probably 3rd pairing. He's not going to get confused with Pronger wrecking people, or Lidstrom position-wise, but he's been the biggest surprise in the lineup this season.

As far as Therrien moving Malone...no not surprised at all. Up until Crosby's injury, he had been changing lines on the fly during the game. The fact that line lasted 18 games or something is amazing to me.

There should be a rule against leaving your shield on when you fight.

I used to try that line with my girlfriends, but it never worked.

Hossa left the game in the first period in his first game with the Pens. Early reports say knee injury...mcl sprain.

All right, almost March 1. Isn't time for Lou to fire his coach and take the Devils' reins to their usual second round playoff loss?

Oh, he's still coaching? Well, then, he's ahead of the game. :)

Incidentally, Barry Melrose said on a local radio show today that he feels the Ducks (as now composed) are still the best in the West, and the team to beat, despite current records (Wings way ahead, Stars a few points ahead). He also said he feels they are better than last year's team.

Hard to argue with the second part actually. Teemu and Niedermayer are fresher, and Getzlaf and Perry have gone from young potential to All Stars. Plus, they added Bertuzzi (replaces Penner) and Schneider.

I still think it's going to be a brutally competitive playoffs in the Western Conference (like the NBA).

sutter will at least last the year

i feel pretty good about the devils right now, but i dont want them to win the #1 seed.

Way to go out on a limb there, Barry...

Getting an endorsement from Barry Melrose is like getting one from Beano Cook...the kiss of death. Nice knowing you Ducks.

Wow, Carol Alt is married to Yashin? She used to be married to Ron Greschner.

Heh...we'll see. If it does, I might fly to Bristol and firebomb his house. :)

Sabres look like crap last night. This team has the talent, they just seem to make a lot of dumb plays and don't show up every night.

Did NHL.com always have those bush league, fake Windows interface type banner ads all over it? Or is that recent?

Carolina wishes to thank a pair of teams tonight. First, a thank you to Toronto for putting down the Caps tonight. Secondly, a hearty thanks to Chicago for Tuomo Ruutu and especially Sergei Samsonov. Ruutu had a goal and an assist while Samsonov bagged a pair of goals in a 5-1 rout of Tampa. Samsonov has tallied 11 goals since coming to Carolina, five coming on this homestand that Carolina went 4-1-1 on.

Carolina's now up five on Washington but the Caps still hold two games in hand.

Sorry, DD, Svatos and Smyth are done for the season.

Granted, all hope is not lost, as they played inspired hockey over the last month without their first line. Can they do it again?

I know that Campbell is not the be-all, end-all, but damned if this wasn't exciting:

well, I don't think Smyth is officially done for the year. No shocker on Svatos - he has yet to play a full NHL season. His career high is 66 games. We can win without both, IMO, but can't really absorb too many more injuries up front.

Interesting article:

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/304287

Crosby is back tonight

All they did while he was out...was go 11-6-4, and move into first in the East.

Also, glad you are here breaking the Pens news bsak. I am never on at work anymore...damn man, holding me down.

that was a great move by Campbell and some terrific passing to set it up...
but what exactly was Price doing there? That looked awful.

Great effort by Campbell to keep himself onside.

Man, I cannot stand Versus.

It was annoying to hear that NHLPA guy in the booth for so long. I think this is the D team as far as announcing crews go.

And the Sidney Crosby lovefest every game (even when he isn't playing that game) annoys the hell out of me.

1) Call the damn game.

2) Show some passion in calling it.

I can finally say I totally agree with a Sabers fan.

Just did it again. You a Flyers or Pens fan?

Flyers....but I live near Pittsburgh so I get to hear everyone fawn all over Crosby.

How many times Crosby is mentioned during an entire game on VS would make for a terrific drinking game.

Hey Pumpy

Toronto announcers just called White a good defenceman....care to cooment?

Yeah, I heard that shit. Funny how they said that when his great defensive play was only necessary to cover up for a turnover that he made himself! He doesn't have to go back and sweep the puck off anybody's stick if he doesn't give the puck away to begin with. Way to go, bundle dick.

I was getting pretty tired of the Toronto commentators arguing over whether Johnny Oduya hit one of the Leafs from behind, too. I mean, if they want to disagree about it, fine, but they continued to argue about it for a full five minutes after it happened. It was like one of the commentators (the one who thought Oduya committed a penalty) wanted to blame the loss on a bad non-call. Could it perhaps have been related to the Leafs being unable to put the puck into the net on one end and being in slow motion on the other end? No? It was just the non-penalty, right?

I only saw the third period of the game, but from the highlights, I guess Brodeur should've gotten the first star. If the Devils had played a competent team, though, Brodeur gives up 3 goals in the third period alone. He put himself out of position, he was falling down behind the net, he was turning the puck over, and so forth. The only reason the Devils were able to hold a lead was because the Leafs couldn't shoot a puck into Lake Ontario if you put them on a boat and sailed them halfway out there.

But, uh, yeah. I wanted to slap the guy who said that Colin White was good.