In Glacialis Blog

Per pauci dies of sileo quod pauci rookies per relevo pera, Caps take glacies semel utpote 7-1 raking of Folium.

• Rags es a mugio- ustulo, vix- solvo squad, quod recedentia ex shoe- in pro Sto Vas denique plures in MSM forecasted in preseason. Auditus ut in-season diagnosis pro? Nos quoque. Nonetheless, Henrik Lundquist est a venatus-changing, venatus- rapio talentum. Is diligo lascivio obviam Caps. Quod illa Rangers diligo lascivio Caps in Prolixus.
• Vix moment in prothoplastus per Rags fragosus net. statim fatigo eram ut Kolzig tweaked genu iterum. Ut quidam quaedam quedam quidam genu-jerk nos dont’ postulo. Tamen magnus guy videor nullus peior pro gero.
• Jurcina can exsisto duco super ut vindico a flattening reprehendo per tabula virtually sulum nox noctis. Caps postulo magis illorum.
• Interesting: Procax per nonnullus PP vicis. Quisnam wouldnt’ diligo video vidi visum him per an susicivus- vir procerus?
• Infractus record dept.: AO per a frendo umerus humerus reprehendo offensio an inimicus in suus keister.
• Vos cant’ vado duos men down dum sequor 0-1 in tertius in via quod specto ut lucror plures venatus.
• Caps erant manus manus a 4-minute PP per etiam ubertas of vicis left ut rally in tertius, down 2-0, quod dum they ingenero duodeviginti offa in is, nullus vere qualified ut a eximius species vicis. Quod ut eram fabula of Caps’ nox noctis.
• Is certainly wasnt’ a nocens nixus, tamen is quoque wasnt’ inspired nixus nos saw Monday in Toronto.

In pipeline, October rotundus: 2004 draftee Eo Mos est secundus in ustulo in Oriens Coast Hockey League per 6 calx quod 5 succurro in duodeviginti venatus pro Meridianus Carolina. Is had a hat furta Sanctio nox noctis in Stingrays’ 6-5 damnum ut Columbia. Pium McNeill est quoque skating in Meridianus Carolina, quod hes’ got 3 calx quod 5 succurro in duodeviginti venatus. Quinque Stingrays ordo in Es’ caput capitis 10 ustulo. Josh Godfrey ordo in caput capitis 10 of tutaminis ustulo in OHL ofr Sault St. caltha is has 15 cuspis in 16 venatus (8 quod 7). Mathieu Perreault est iterum lodged in QMJHLs’ caput capitis 5 ustulo, per 9 calx quod 16 succurro in 15 Titan venatus. Hes’ quoque a +11 pro Acadie Bathurst. Caps’ alius Q dynamo, Suffragium Bouchard, quoque est garnering gravis inimicus reprehendo; suus numerus es down leviter ex a annus abhinc: 7 calx quod 14 succurro pro 21 pts. in 16 Drakkar venatus.

Quinque Caps’ prospicio mos intereo ADT Canalis-Russia Challenge Serius is mensis. Simeon Varlamov mos satus in net pro Russia. Perreault quod Bouchard mos reddo Team Quebec. Josh Godfrey mos patronus blueline pro OHL viscus in Challenge. Quod Karl Alner mos skate pro unus of duos WHL squads.

Forsitan Poema poematis est sensus estus ex repens rumor ut NHL volo ut reverto ut ESPN. Forsitan theyve’ had nonnullus hockey proprius intentio utpote obfirmo. In ullus theca,Poema poematis has a proprius airing tonight quod theyre’ sollicitus super suum ratings.

In an nixus ut boost ratings, theyve’ verto utSinuate Interventus quod a dose of viral venalicium. Viral venalicium est a “phenomenon ut facilitates quod firmat populus abeo per a venalicium nuntius” Sinuate Interventus contactus nos, quod a numerus of alius blogs, iuvo hype tonights’ proprius.

“We’ve iustus suscipio vox ex Poema poematis super nonnullus proprie video impleo pro … proprius quod est airing is Tuesday procul 630: PM ET. proprius est secuutus per Rangers VS Penguins venatus procul 7PM ET. Poema poematis intentio in tenura is impleo pro themselves, tamen has iam certus distribuo is proprie impleo ut a lego pauci sites [ quod] sentio ut sententia is would exsisto a valde opportunus pro vestri site.”

Is proprius focuses in unus current NHL ludio ludius cuius nomen EGO moris’ vel have ut sono, vos iam teneo quisnam is est. EGO agnosco votum ut venalicium him ut vultus of NHL. Tamen quare does is have futurus UNUS visio. Illic es alius perspicuus tener astrum talis utPhaneuf, Kessel, Toews,quod Ovechkin. Would non venalicium totus quinque penitus magis populus quod exsisto magis efficens quam iens ut puteus unus ut multiplex perunus? venalicium contradico league quod network sees off glacies can velociter stringo per suus se gero in glacies.

EGO admiratio si dispensatio illae “ proprie impleo” ut Ive’ iam seen in multiplex sites mos have an appreciable presencia. Si vos havent’ seen is, suus’ vox hic:

Hopefully, is ero prothoplastus of a serius qua they focus inalius ludio ludius, quoque.

Quod evenit ut sepulchrum est etiam in presencia pro Caput. Secundum an praeclarus satus, Caps verto in duos penuriosus periods obviam a validus Rangers team, quod quomodo curo ut tantum perdo per duos calx. D.C.s’ team eram accersitus pro duodeviginti numerus poena, tamen curo facio quisque vere duco, quod trado three vox- lascivio calx in signum suus fortuna.

• Vepres Pothier may non have had optimus venatus of suus tutela. Lets’ licentia is procul ut.
• Solus Caps dignitas a darn procul terminus of dies erant Ovechkin quod Kolzig. Everybody tamen Ovy should exsisto vis ut apologize of Olie, coaching baculus comprehendo.
• Procul nonnullus cuspis, is planto voluntas ut question quam nocens vox lascivio est vox iam. Illic’ multus of “ suus’ tantum 4 venatus in” ambitus, tamen duos cuspis iam duco exigo quantus quantus is mos ut vir- sursum iunctum reperio suum chemistry. Quispiam isnt’ opus, quod suus’ non nefas ut cuspis ut sicco.
• Hic’ hoping is est pessimus primoris period Caps mos verto in totus season.
• In positus pars of res, Kolzig vultus praeclarus quod pulchellus ultum singulus-handedly kept suus team ex vere res ex is, quod Ovechkin eram praeclarus procul utriusque ends of glacies, ustulo a highlight-reel calx quod opus impigre impetro tergum in tutaminis. Threw a bonus ledo, quoque. Si team wasnt’ lascivio cras, Id’ narro tribuo lemma a dies off.
• Is est directus ex meus venatus notitia: “ Caps couldnt’ exsisto lascivio ullus stolidus”. Volo EGO could discrepo per ut coepi speculatio, tamen poena, turnovers, mis- lego quod brain- refercio no is a ferreus venatus ut vigilo interdum.
• Alius bonus novus? In a venatus ut Caps should have lost per six calx, they lost per duos. They didnt’ redono, they didnt’ sarcina is in, they persevero laboro ferreus.

Is vires exsisto unus illorum venatus ut magister a team multus super themselves, ultum amoSedecim Candela doctus nos totus super Molly Ringwald. Suus’ quidam quaedam quedam quidam scientia ut succurro vos grow ut a alio. Fortuna, in meus mens, Caps adepto pello pepulli pulsum glacies cras nox noctis, quod capto opus quod adepto nocens sapor ex suum os. nocens novus est ut suus’ obviam a firmus Plaga squad. Ferreus opus, smart, simplex lascivio quod castrensis mos totus vado a porro via ut subsido res down.

Quis would a manus manus of hockey bloggers careo divinatio pro novus NHL season?

Nos dont’ vindicatum potior aut crystallus ball vel spys’ eyes inside palaestra castra of 29 alius stipes, tamen nos sententia is vires exsisto benevolens ut nostrum lector ut congero a album of offseason ( quod tardus permaneo season) ludio ludius tractus, in a concisus lima, quod have aliquantulus fun vitualamen sursum nullus- quoque-accountable “ pollex Sursum” vel “ pollex Down” forecasts pro totus 30 teams.

Basically, a team meritus a “ pollex sursum” si nos sententia suus manuevering quod maturation innutum ut itd’ amplio super suus 2006-07 cuspis numerus. Stipes ut “ subsisto pat” vel engineered boneheaded volo quod/ vel inedicabilis, altus- terminus solvo procurator farewells erant awarded “ pollex down.”

Sic weve’ dummodo panton “primer” a puckhead could postulo hic.

Praeter beer.

Team	Comings	Iens	Juvenis est Servo	Verdict
	Mathieu Schneider	Selanne quod Neidermeyer ( pro iam?), Pulvis Penner	Bobby Ryan
	Eric Perrin, Ken Klee, Todd Niveus	Scott Mellanby, Crur Hnidy, Glen Metropolit, Keith Tkachuk, Denis Harniis, Eric Belanger,	Bryan Parum(?)
	Glen Metropolit, Aaron Pupillus pupilla, Peter Schaefer	Crur Donovan	Res Ferito (?)
	Jocelyn Thibault	Fere sulum	Dan Paille, Drew Baculus
	Adrian Aucoin, David Vigoratus, Cory Sarich, Owen Nolan	Tony Inter, Jeff Amicus, Romanorum Hamrlik, Brad Stuart, Andrei Zyuzin	Eric Nystrom (?)
	Res Runco	Jack Johnson, Anson Currus, David Tanabe	Nullus	Hmm . . .
	Brent Spoel, Robert Lingua, Sergei Samsanov, Andrei Zyuzin, Yanic Perreault	Michal Manus manus, Adrian Aucoin, Peter Vinculum, Jason Cullimore	Jonathon Toews, Pium Kane, Jack Solers
	Scott Hannan, Ryan Smyth,	Ken Klee, Pierre Turgeon, Ossi Vaananen, Pium Brisebois	Nullus
	Michael Peca, Jiri Novotny	Vepres Boucher, Bryan Berard	Gilbert Brule, Insulto Orichalcum (?)	Hmm . . .
	Todd Fedoruk	Res Barnaby, Jon Klemm, Eric Lindros, Ladislav Nagy, Pium Stefan, Darryl Sydor	Niklas Grossman
	Vepres Rafalski, Dallas Drake	Robert Lingua, Todd Bertuzzi, Kyle Calder, Danny Vestigium, Mathieu Schneider	Igor Grigorenko
	Crusta Acidus, Joni Pitkanen, Pulvis Penner, Denis Grebeshkov, Dick Tarnstrom	Ryan Smyth, Joffrey Lupul, Petr Sykora, Jason Smith	Sam Gagner, Ryan OMarra’ (?)	Hmm . . .
	Uber Zednik, Radek Dvorak, Tomas Vokoun	Ed Belfour, Alex Auld, Bellicus Gelinas, Sarcalogos Memor, Todd Bertuzzi	Nullus
	Brad Stuart, Tom Preissing, Kyle Calder, Michal Manus manus, Ladislav Nagy	Mathieu Garon, Jamie Heward, Tom Kostopoulos, Jamie Lundmark, Aaron Miller	Jonathon Bernier, Jack Johnson
	Eric Belanger, Sean Tumulosus,	Ratio Fernandez, Todd Niveus	Benoit Fomentum (?)	Hmm . . .
	Romanorum Hamrlik, Bryan Smolinski, Tom Kostopoulos	Crusta Acidus, Radek Bonk, Sergei Samsanov, Mike Johnson	Tutela Pretium, Kyle Chipchura, Andrei Kostitsyn
	Bellicus Gelinas, Radek Bonk	Fere sulum	Villa Koistinen, Kevin Klein (?)
	Fastidiosus Zubrus, Vitali Vishnevski, Kevin Weekes, Karel Rachunek	Scott Gomez, Vepres Rafalski	Nicklas Bergfors (?)
	Bill Guerin, Mike Socius, Ruslan Fedotenko	Fere sulum	Sean Bergenheim (?)
	Scott Gomez, Sarcalogos Drury	Michael Nylander, Karel Rachunek, Res Runco, Kevin Weekes, Brad Isbister	Proficiscor Staal, Ryan Callahan (?)
	Tondeo Donovan, Luke Richardson, Denis Harniis	Mike Socius, Tom Preissing, Peter Schaefer, Oleg Saprykin	Nick Foligno, Vepres Lee
	Daniel Concisus, Joffrey Lupul, Jason Smith, Bellicus Biron, Scott Upshall, Kimo Timonen	Peter Forsberg, Joni Pitkanen, Kyle Calder, Robert Esche, Todd Fedoruk, Mike York	Braydon Coburn, Ryan Parentis
	Alex Auld, Radim Vrbata, Niko Kapanen, Mike York	Owen Nolan, Jeremy Roenick, Velum Joseph, Mike Ricci	Peter Mueller
	Darryl Sydor, Gary Roberts, Petr Sykora	Eric Cairns, Joel Kwiatkowski, Jocelyn Thibault, Michel Ouellet, Nils Ekman, Josef Melichar	Kristopher Letang
	Craig Flumen, Jeremy Roenick	Scott Hannan, Bill Guerin, Vesa Toskala	Nullus	Hmm . . .
	Paul Kariya, Keith Tkachuk	Radek Dvorek, Dallas Drake, Glen Metropolit, Jamie Flumen	Erik Johnson
	Michel Ouellet, Sarcalogos Memor, Jan Hlavac	Cory Sarich, Ruslan Fedotenko, Eric Perrin	Karri Ramo (?)
	Jason Blake, Vestigium Campana, Vesa Toskala	Jeff ONeill’, Michael Peca, Yanic Perreault, J.S. Aubin	Jiri Tlusty (?)
	Brad Isbister, Ryan Crur	Bryan Smolinski, Brent Sopel, Jan Bulis, Rory Fitzpatrick,	Luc Bourdon (?)
	Michael Nylander, Viktor Kozlov, Tom Venenum	Fastidiosus Zubrus, Kris Beech, Bryan Muir, Jiri Novotny	Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Viridis, Tomas Flesichmann

Caput did ut pollicitus: they erant major domus ludio ludius in solvo procurator venalicium is offseason. Quod suus’ haud certus res ut theyre’ perfectus paciscor, ut negotium of RFAs via professio has been a civitas calx of team pro mensis.

Im’ non sententia ut Michael Nylander, Viktor Kozlov quod Tom Venenum erant absolute optimus hockey ludio ludius sursum pro carpo; tamen volo reddo smart permoveo ut directus oratio teams’ postulo vacuus caveo posterus. Plurimus maximus, permoveo amplio team statim dum servo satis crumens manus manus ut obfirmo in Ovechkin quod Semin — Id’ quinymo animadverto team ante sursum illi duos super ullus of magnus- nomen porro huic annus’ UFA proventus. Los Angelus Rex rgis took a similis propinquo ut Caput’, volo cardo Michal Manus manus ( quattuor annus, $16M), volatilis Ladislav Nagy ( unus annus, $3.75M ) quod Kyle Calder ( duos annus, $5.5M) quod D Tom Preissing ( quattuor annus, $11M). Alius cognatus responsible restocking huic offseason of magnus prodigo.

Quam did ceterus 28 teams fare? Puteus, lets’ recenseo pauci of notabilis. Quinymo quam a typical grading ratio, Peius’ rudimentum a Hollywood Astrum ratio instead: Scarlett Johansson, Lindsay Lohan, vel Nicole Uber.

Scarlett Johansson

Undeniably venustas, smart, quod sexy. Quod Scarlett aint’ nocens aut. Nonnullus teams no iustus vox permoveo, non only in suum choice of ludio ludius tamen quoque per paciscor they dedi. Quinymo quam prodigo amo Datum Trumps’ e-wives, certain teams instituo vox ludio ludius() pro vox pretium.

Avalanche fans ero thrilled per Ryan Smyths’ adventum in Colo colui cultum. Per addo in Smyth (5 annus, $31M) quod Scott Hannan (4 annus, $18M), Avs adepto duos scabrosus- quod- tumbus ludio ludius cuius penicullus opportunus team perficio. 31-annus- vetus Smyths’ quinque- annus paciscor est non tantum a iuste affordable solio ledo, tamen a oportet tentatio ut foedus ut nonnullus alius volo.

Detroit Rutilus Pennae persevero suum minor- est- magis propinquo per volo iustus unus notabilis ludio ludius in prothoplastus duos dies of UFA- Solemnitas: Vepres Rafalski. Secundum losing 38- annus- vetus Mathieu Schneider ut Ducks, Pennae curo ut upgrade dum non losing a dime per volo 33- annus- vetus Rafalski. Suus $6M per annus pro quinque annus est super quis Ducks es pensio Schneider per annus; etiamnunc Rafalski est quinquennis iunior. In addition, Rafalski notched 55 cuspis permaneo season (30 in PP) dum lascivio Diabolus’ ultra-conservative ratio. Unus would reputo abyssus’ tractare vel melior in Motor Urbs’ magis suscito penicullus of lascivio. Quondam iterum, Detroits’ procuratio curo facio vox permoveo vacuus effrego bank; suus’ haud admiratio theyre’ jugis contenders.

Lindsay Lohan

Nonnullus teams went in sinus ut certantibus Ms. Lohan’s. Novus York Rangers quod Philadelphia Flyers signed magnus nomen players to ignotus pactum — condita sexy tamen rabidus permoveo. Amo Tyrone Maior per fragor cocaine, neither team could reluctor prolecto of prodigo per relinquo. Videlicet utriusque teams’ rosters es dramatically amplio pro tunc season; tamen is quasi freewheeling prodigo backfires magis sepius quam non. They utriusque es trying emo championships; quod in hockey, ut rare officina.

Philadelphia coepi suum binge mane, conicio rabidus pre-July 1 paciscor procul Kimmo Timmonen quod Scott Hartnall — utriusque appealing tamen iam- opprimo ludio ludius — whose pactum es rabidus secus ultum in terms of annual salary ut they es in terms of tentatio. Tunc Flyers occumbo themselves per giving telum- ut--groin Daniel Concisus an duodeviginti annus paciscor. Sulum illorum ludio ludius est undeniably ingeniosus; tamen pupa quod tentatio illorum pactum planto unus admiratio si Bobby Expedio est etiam in Philadelphia, opus campester ut vir secundum velum.

Mens vos, Rangers’ rudimentum facio Novus York Yankees videor amo cheapskates est iustus ut attonitus. Snagging utriusque Sarcalogos Drury quod Scott Gomez est per a pluma quippe. Tamen $7M per annus ut Drury, combined per a $51.5M septem- annus paciscor ut Scott Gomez ( quisnam has validus 20 calx iustusquondam in septem annus of lascivio), est insanity.

Comprehendo Jaromir Jagr, they iam have prodigo super a tertius of suum salary solio inthree ludio ludius, quod they have non subcribo Brendan Shannahan, Sean Mediocris, vel Henrik Lundqvist etiamnunc. Yikes. Unus admiratio quamdiu capiet Jagr queror super damnum of Nylander si suus adjustment ut Gomez/Drury est minor quam perficio. Verum, is sanus amo hes’ iamlaying groundwork pro posterus queribundus.

Nicole Uber

Eatenus, ceterus 2/3 of Novus York eram ferinus diripio per solvo procurator’ incursio. Amo Nicole Uber, Sabres quod Insula es skeletal remnants quisnam practically species pro Foedero calamitas suffragium.

Sabres lost utriusque suum co- caput quod videor habeo reverto ut suum spendthrift mores. Secundum suum season of excellentia eram eclipsed per Ottawa Orchestra, Sabres procuratio permissum utriusque caput ingredior absentis per promptus minimal nixus ut subsisto lemma. Per penitus league- prolixus penitus in utriusque Drury quod Concisus, nemo specto Sabres ut retain utriusque ludio ludius. Tamen losing utriusque est a contricio pulsus ut team, non iustus in terms of solers tamen of gubernatio pariter. Procuratio’ dimidium- pectus pectoris pactum dedi, proprie ut locus vir Drury, testimonium a “ puteus, nos exertus” attitude subsido in per Buffalos’ orichalcum. Hic’ unusSabres fan stilus pro ESPN quisnam certainly sentio ut via

Ut pro Insula, they lost Kozlov, Venenum, Ryan Smyth — quisnam verto sicco futurus a quinymo carus pensio, sumptus duos quondam primoris- rotundus picks plus is years first’ teres — captain Jason Smith, quod Uber Zednik. They videor futurus emulating Florida Mara, tantum vacuus championship ( puteus, non in preteritus 20+ annus). Tunc theyll’ rename suum pulvis ut Nassau Mausoleum. Isles fans cannot exsisto gauisus losing three of suum caput capitis six scorers — quod suum sole UFA volo of Jon Sim est non refero. Atrum dies es ahead in Insula.

Quod. . .

Alius teams were relatively silens, plurimus notabilis Caps’ Inferus certantibus. A Visum ex Vilis Sessio vultus procul Caps’ divortium foes, quod est similis unimpressed per suum volo eatenus.

Pauci alius permoveo of nota: Puteulanus snagged Kariya quod Tkachuk (a.k.a. “ St. Louis Boomerang”), Folium us Jason Blake ex decimated Insula, quod Penguins sapienter re- subcribo Ryan Niveus ( tamen quis’ per Darryl Sydor volo? Umbra of Phillys’ Insulto Securis erroris), quod Pullus brought in Robert Lingua. Ducks opprimo Todd Bertuzzi ut subsequens they have quispiam sumo bardus poena si Pronger gets vulnero. Nusquam quoque suscito illic, sententia Puteulanus es videlicet vultus to return to the playoffs per illud veteran paciscor.

Ut pro Caput, fans videor pulchellus gauisus super teams’ acquisitions; nonnullus may vel abdico suum hockey grumpiness. Hogs essimilis commodo,quod Off Pennae Sententia has nonnullus interesting laudo ex GMGM placitum dico.

Totus in totus, suus’ been a bonus iugo dies pro Caput bloggers quod fans pariter. . . with forsitan magis bonus news on horizon.

[sentio solvo ut stipes vestri take ut a ineo — aut in Caps’ permoveo vel alius teams’ signings.]

Some tight-checking, defensive hockey over the weekend, including the rise of a player I’ve never been a particular fan of.

• Say what you want about his diving and his off-ice antics, but Sean Avery has been playing excellent hockey for the New York Rangers, in many cases being their best player on a given night. I’ll never be a fan, but props to his remarkable playoff performance so far.



• The Red Wings surprised me on Saturday. I thought for sure that San Jose had asserted themselves, but the play of much-travelled Dan Cleary has them tied in a series I thought was definitely going the Sharks’ way.
• It was close, but I think the video judges made an error on the disputed goal at MSG yesterday. The calls, in general, have been very odd in that series, and in the Sabres’ favor. I’m not an indulger in conspiracies, and I don’t think there’s any bias in the officiating, just some bad calls are being made, and they’re being called on the Rangers. The Sabres are a skilled, fast team, and that creates opportunities for the refs to call a penalty with only a split-second to make a decision. Buffalo Coach Lindy Ruff complaining about the officiating was out-of-line, if predictable.
• Zubrus has really been throwing the body this series, though his hit on Jagr looked a little low to me.
• I’ve liked Jonathan Cheechoo’s effort in the Detroit series.
• Anaheim is big, physical, and skilled. Vancouver did a fantastic job stealing a game from them, but I can’t see them taking it from the Ducks. The Canucks got good games from Luongo, the Sedins and Naslund and still lost. That doesn’t bode well.
• Martin Broduer looked like his old self on Saturday, which is bad news for Ottawa. The series is too close for me to strongly favor either team, but goaltending makes and breaks playoff series.

A fun hockey weekend, and it’s always nice when there’s an early game and an evening game, so you can catch both without staying up to 1 am. Back to the late-night grind tonight.

The headline will make sense momentarily . . . read on, MacDuff:

First, David Amber posted an interview with Eddie Cahill on ESPN today. Cahill, a die-hard New York Rangers’ fan (though we won’t hold that against him), played Team USA goaltender Jim Craig in Disney’s Miracle. He also stars in CSI:NY as Detective Don Flack.

While his role in Miracle was indeed impressive (Jim Craig thought so), and he acquits himself well on CSI — though between CSI and Law & Order one wonders if any residents of New York City are still breathing — his most impressive career accomplishment may well be smooching Jennifer Aniston for seven episodes of Friends as Tag Jones.

Q: What’s been the highlight of your acting career so far?

A: I think I’d have to say “Miracle.” That group of guys was great to work with . . . there was something special about my experience on that movie. I mean, getting to live out my fantasy hockey career was pretty cool. When you try to get into acting, [it takes so long] before you look around and say, “Holy crap! I might actually be a part of this thing.” And after “Miracle,” that happened for me. I realized this very well may be what I do for a living.

Q: If “Miracle” was No. 1, I’m not sure where you put making out with Jennifer Aniston on your list . . .
A: [Laughs] 1-A. That was great.

Cahill is clearly gifted when it comes to understatement.

In addition, Cahill is blogging on NHL.com throughout the playoffs — or at least as long as his Rangers are in the hunt. It’s not quite as appealing as Miss Minnesota 2006 Nicole Swanson’s blog (with video of her modeling a Wild sweater), but Cahill is undoubtedly a passionate fan.

We at OFB revel in digging at the MSM’s general apathy toward the sport we love; it’s only fair that we also share those instances when its hockey coverage goes beyond simple game summaries.

And the first team falls. In a game that may cost Atlanta general manager Don Waddell his job, the loaded-for-the-playoffs Thrashers showed some signs of life against the Rangers, but it was too little, too late, and they’re playing the blues in Blueland.

• Apparently, Keith Tkachuk’s first period goal was Atlanta’s first lead of the series. Yikes. Despite Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti’s protests, the non-call on Kovalchuk’s hit on Sean Avery was correct. I’m not sure what penalty you can call if player A hits player B into player C and player B drops like they are slipping on a banana peel.
• And that’s how fast Buffalo can score on you. The Isles had things going, and were looking pretty good, then *wham*, they’re down by one.
• Zubrus has found his spot on the Sabres, it seems, which is no longer being mis-cast as a first-line center. Caps’ management did the right thing in trading him, but it’s nice to see Dainius do well.
• Martin Brodeur doesn’t quite look like the usual playoffs Brodeur, but did come up with a few big stops when he had to. I didn’t like the first penalty called in the game, which was a ticky-tack call on winger Jason Ward.
• Nice shot by Gomer to end the game. He and Drury have done nothing but drive their off-season paydays up.
  Man, do I prefer watching games on national television.
• Tim Connolly can stick-handle a little bit.
• Why doesn’t it surprise me to see Zack Parise raise his game in the playoffs?
• Vokun has to stop Pavelski’s and Michalek’s second goal.
• I’m really enjoying the intensity of the San Jose/Nashville series. Lots of action.

Should be more action tonight, with three teams facing elimination, so there will be a lot on the line.

No sweeps tonight, which I selfishly like, as it means more hockey to watch.

• New York was all over the Thrashers, who look turned around. Goalie changes aren’t helping, and the team seems to be on the ropes. You have to wonder if Don Waddell’s much-publicized late-season moves will come back to haunt him in the off-season. His guarantee of last season didn’t end his tenure in Atlanta, but this was an aggressive and public push to get deep in the post-season.
• Gary Roberts has been a huge addition for Pittsburgh. He’s a fixture on the ice late for the Penguins.
• Ilya Kovalchuk going after Sean Avery, that’s frustration. Kovalchuk actually got a shot or two in.
• Ottawa’s first goal is exactly the kind of fluke goal that seems to happen to M-A Fleury.
• Mike Comrie is playing out of his mind right now.
• Dan Cleary clocked Dion Phaneuf, then created a Detroit goal. I never expected to type those words in that order, but all credit to Cleary.
• Roberto Luongo’s working out okay in the playoffs, isn’t he?
• The importance of seeding shows in the Ottawa/Pittsburgh series — the Penguins look like they could beat any of the Islanders, Devils, Lightning, and Thrashers right now. Due to their seeding, however, they are taking on a talented, veteran team that is playing with a lot of confidence. Ottawa’s taking some heavy blows from Pittsburgh and staying with a calm, measured approach.

So everyone is still alive, though some are hanging on by a thread, and some very interesting series going on. It will be interesting to see how Martin Brodeur plays this evening, as well as the next chapter in the San Jose/Nashville drama. The physicality of the playoffs has been a welcome change from the regular season, and has made for some hotly-contested games.

Already the Doom and Gloom set is sure that the Caps are longshot suitors for super-talented UFAS this summer. Their thinking is: no one would want to come and live here, and play for this cursed franchise, when offers from the league’s elite and non-rebuilding are considered. Their conclusion is that Caps’ management is necessarily in a position of having to “overpay” guys to lure them here. And even that, most often, won’t be good enough. I wonder.

I make no pretense that the Caps are on level skating with the negotiating likes of say the Rags or Wings (although living and raising a family in Detroit ain’t all it isn’t cracked up to be). And while D.C. has its downsides — brutal traffic, ungodly expensive housing, Kornheiser and Wilbon — it’s far from Dubuque on a Friday night.

I wonder at when and how the “DC is a dead-end destination to play” sentiment allegedly took hold. It certainly hasn’t held Danny Snyder back. And I’m quite sure I don’t agree with it.

That the Caps’ room is as tight-knit a bunch as it is, and no less than AO himself has recently intimated that he wants to play his entire career here, certainly seems to suggest otherwise. It took Milan Jurcina all of about two weeks to profess a deep attachment to his new teammates and the town he arrived in, and he left what a lot of folks think is one of the better cities in all of the country.

I wonder, too, at folks’ dismissal of AO as a recruiting card. I tend to think him a powerful one, and that all those high-profile media accounts of his talking to Pavel Datsyuk at the All Star game, etc., in part drove Wings’ management to the contract largesse it did. With my own eyes I saw how attached visitors from Pittsburgh and Buffalo were to Chinatown after recent games — we couldn’t get the [expletives] to leave. I would definitely agree that Mr. Leonsis would have a hard time pitching his team to free agents were the Caps still in the Cap Centre — the Prince George’s County nightlife, relative to the District’s, leaving one unfulfilled.

Pittsburgh is definitely an unpleasant place to play and live because it has no economy, and generally no one wants to live there (that’s why they all live here — what do you call a Pens’ fan living in Pittsburgh? Unemployed), and for at least another couple of years it has a godforsaken rink; Gary Roberts initially did refuse to go there six weeks ago. But ultimately guys will want to skate with Crosby and Malkin and Staal, as they will with best-in-the-world talents like our Alexes and Backstrom and likely others. (Continued)

• Color us increasingly impressed with both Versus and NBC. Versus has a delightful habit of expanding its coverage with “in progress” transitions to late-night games. More puck for your buck. And it’s come so, so far from its primitive studio sets and sterile analysis there circa autumn 2005. We still think Bill Clement better at color work than studio hosting. Mike Emerick? Simply one of the best play-by-play guys in all of sports today. And Peter McNab! His ice-level analysis was so chock full of poise and polish and penetrating insight that NBC more or less converted him to a second color guy in the booth. His work surely shamed that of the ice-level puck bunnies of recent years . . . Erin Andrews (where has she gone??) exempted . . . for aesthetic reasons . . . of course.
• Sean Avery with the luckiest/weirdest of all goals . . . off a crazy bounce from a dump in Saturday. Fortunately it wasn’t the Rags’ game winner. That trade deadline acquisition is fast turning out to be one of the better ones.
• Finally . . . finally! . . . some decent use of “Mic’d up” and “Sounds of the Game.” We’ve waited about two seasons for it. While a scrum was broken up by the refs Saturday in Atlanta, Thrasher Brad Larsen said to New York’s Thomas Pock “Don’t fool yourself . . . it’ll be the end of the period for you . . . you don’t want that!” And Sidney Crosby actually articulated some insightful reflections for NBC Saturday.
• Brett Hull laments Ottawa fans’ “respectful booing” of Crosby. Why? Is his memory that short? Mario got it pretty good on the road in the Patrick Division postseason in his day.
• The final minute in the Mullet zone late Saturday afternoon was high octane incredible pressure by Ottawa, playoff puck at its regulation time most dramatic. That was one fabulous game for 80 percent of the U.S. to receive.
• Saturday night: It’s HNIC and no Canadian teams are playing, yet they aired the complete singing of the U.S. National Anthem. There was a time when the U.S. broadcasters did the same. We miss those days.
• Not the normal early game HNIC announcers on Saturday — they must have the main guys for the earlier Senators’ game. Which also means no ‘Coach’s Corner.’ Is this why we haven’t seen Grapes on NBC yet?
• Speaking of NBC, both Saturday’s Sens/Pens’ and Sunday’s Wings/Flames’ games seemed to be a bit dark and yellowish. Saturday’s broadcast of Rags/Thrash, however, was bright. Is the lighting in Philips Arena that much better, or is it something else?
• Scott Gomez can dramatically obliterate the meager numbers from his injury-plagued regular season with a prosperous postseason. Let’s hope he does, and that he seriously considers trading in that red, white and black for red, white, and blue.
• It’s only one game, but in Buffalo Saturday night it was the Rick DiPietro Show, squashing talk of a SlugSweep, and as veteran Caps’ fans, we’ve seen enough Isles’ postseason heroics in net for four lifetimes.
• Marty St.Louis with a killer one-timer from a sharp angle — the little guy always comes up with large goals.
• Daniel Alfredsson can look uninvolved and marginalized for large portions of a game and then, as in Sunday in Pittsburgh, in a flash release a laser shot from the faceoff circle that sours the spirits of the Iron City-swilling faithful.
• The Stars again are in an early postseason hole, but does anyone want to scapegoat Marty Turco? The margin between victory and defeat in this series, in all three games, has been sheer agony for Stars’ fans — it could very easily be a 3-0 lead in games for Dallas this morning.

In the NHL, divisional rivalries are always full of emotion and intensity. When those rivals share the same city, the emotion and intensity grows larger. This is the case in the first period of the Islander Ranger game on Tuesday night.

Kelli Higgins and Chanel Benson are New York Islander Ice Girls. Among their game day jobs, the Higgins, Benson, and the other Ice Girls clean ice shavings in and around the goal during commercial breaks.

According to Newsday, Higgins and Benson were the recipients of a slash from goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and a spitting from the Ranger bench respectively.

But Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist declined to move [from the crease] and used his stick to whack the squeegee Kelli Higgins was using to push the snow into a pile during the first TV timeout, knocking the butt end of the squeegee stick into her stomach.

“I said ‘Excuse me’ maybe two or three times,” Higgins said Wednesday. “He didn’t move and didn’t say anything, so I gave up and went around him.

“The tip of my squeegee kind of hit the tip of his stick. I don’t know if he thought I did that on purpose or whatever, but he took a big windup and slashed the squeegee pretty good. It startled me a little bit. It didn’t feel great, but I wouldn’t say I was injured or in a ton of pain. I was shocked.”

Later on in the period, it was Benson’s turn to clean the goal crease.

… a linesman told her to clean around Lundqvist but not in the crease or the net. As she was leaving the ice, Benson skated near the boards in front of both benches, which are separated only by a panel of glass located at the center red line.

“All of a sudden, my back got wet,” said Benson, who was wearing a standard outfit of pants and halter top that leaves the midriff area exposed. “I believe one of the Rangers players who was sitting along the wall spit on my back. It had to be on purpose because I wasn’t directly in front of anyone to spit and not realize I was there.”

An NHL spokesman would not discuss the account provided by the on-ice officials.

Thanks to OFB reader “Strike Man” for the assist.

The latest issue of The Hockey News has ranked all 30 NHL team’s prospect systems. They have defined prospects as players under 22 years of age as of January 31, 2007. This ranking does not take into account any movement of players at the trade deadline. Note that three of the Caps’ Southeast Division rivals bring up the bottom-5 rear.

1. Pittsburgh [Last Year’s Ranking 1]
2. Washington [7]
3. Nashville [6]
4. Los Angeles [10]
5. Chicago [8]
6. Boston [12]
7. Anaheim [2]
8. St. Louis [28]
9. Montreal [17]
10. N.Y. Rangers [19] (Continued)