In Glacialis Blog

Meus three astrum of seasons’ primoris vicus es:

(3) Pascal Leclaire — backstopper of BlueJackets, disbelievingly in lascivio litis, per a .940 servo percentage, 1.59 calx- obviam ( secundus- optimus in league) quodquinque shutouts. Hes’ meus Vezina Trophy victor pro prothoplastus vicus;

(2) Henrik Zetterberg — antea a magnificabiliter ustulo porro, iam a superstar, quod videlicet a magis dynamic talentum sursum frons pro Pennae quam Interfixus Datsyuk. Nunc futurus pensus sic?;

(1) Vincent Lecavalier — simplex having suus optimus season ut a pro, leagues’ plumbum ustulo per 32 pts.; dominion suus contradictio quod condita quis eram puto futurus a caput capitis- gravis somes of Telum’ porro in a primoris versus ut’ sic bonus is res parum quis contributions, si ullus, insisto. Hes’ meus Hart Trophy victor pro prothoplastus vicus.

Recolitus profero: Jarome Iginla (26 cuspis in 19 venatus) est having an MVP species season, tamen hes’ laboriosus in a nixor Flamma stipes. Quod Comcast, pro coming per per NHL CenterIce, NHL Network, quod Lisa Tumulosus.

Cado astrum:

(3) Lavatio Caput

(2) Proficiscor Andre Fleury

(1) Reebok

Midwest Mojo: Redivivus in Pullus quod St. Louis es ahead of passus quod infigo. Pium Kane est meus Calder Trophy victor pro prothoplastus vicus. Robert Lingua, per 19 cuspis in 20 venatus, quod skating a +7, est giving Hawks subtilis quidam quaedam quedam quidam uber, veteran gubernatio theyd’ spes pro in caput capitis versus. Etiam, Hawks have proventus — in suum tergum terminus. Theyve’ trado 61 calx, quod utriusque Khabibulin quod Lalime lusum sub-.900 servo percentages. Tamen secundum a decade of dreariness, Hawks es fun ut vigilo iterum. plumbum ustulo pro Puteulanus es greybeards Paul Kariya quod Keith Tkachuk. Exinde, suus’ a lunchpail outfit ut’ outworking suus inimicus. Illic’ multus of juvenis illius roster, sic is may fulcio ut season progrsses. Quod quis of Rudis, vindicatum of Jiri Novotny quod Kris Beech? They es duodeviginti obvius Occasus, quod 6-2-1 domi.

In Oriens, Montreal quod Insula have been attonitus prosperitas repono. Suus’ a pondera tentatio in Montreal: Habs iam have duodeviginti ludio ludius in geminus digits in ustulo. Quod memor quam everybody in hockey eram misericordia Isles secundum oris hora of solvo procurator, ut guys amo Jason Blake, Tom Venenum, quod Viktor Kozlov telum? Ted Nolan est opus suus secundus consecutive miracle in Isle.

Vires in Michaels. Mike Richards quod Mike Cammalleri have talea sicco take- is- ut--bank Totus Astrum venatus lectio. Richards (23 cuspis in 19 venatus) est Philadelphias’ plurimus convenienter quod dynamic tractare, a cuspis-per- venatus ludio ludius quisnam is season has transitioned ex spondeo youngster ut elite, caput- species talentum. Suus three shorthanded procerus plumbum league. Cammalleri (12 calx, 7 succurro) est orsa ut vultus multus amo Occasus placitum’ poema poematis of Bellicus St. Louis.

Jolly Ole Uber St. Nik. Nik Antropov est sanus quod lascivio virtually a cuspis-a- venatus hockey pro Folium, quod skating a +9. Quisnam knew is could? Is had 33 cuspis permaneo season, quod a altus of 16 calx quod 29 succurro in 2002-03. Obviously hes’ in passus parumper tutela annus. Alex Kovalev est in passus pro 40 calx. Meanwhile, Jonathon Cheeechoo has iustus 3 calx in 21 venatus pro Partis. Jaromir Jagr, Im’ tristis ut opinio, est in passus pro 16 calx is season, quod Sarcalogos Drury (3 calx!) vel minor. Etiam, suum Rangers have serio fervens sursum in Atlantic.

Jeremy Roenick — memor him? — est outscoring Mike Modano, Brendan Shanahan, Thomas Vanek, Drury, Sarcalogos Higgins, Vepres Gionta, quod Pium Mara. Unus of causa Tampa eram validus supersto damnum of Dan Boyle pro ultum of seasons’ primoris vicus eram lascivio of Paul Ranger: 4 calx, a +11, quod an validus pensator in vox lascivio cuspis.

Is certus videor tanquam Peter Forsberg has ludio ludius suus permaneo venatus in NHL, quod forsitan in pro hockey period. Tunc subsisto, Aula of Laus. Minor liberaliter sidelined, in meus ratio, es Scott Niedermayer quod Teamu Selanne, quisnam videor ut volo permitto suum Ducks teammates ut umerus humerus mane ordinarius seasons’ bumps quod livor pro forsitan rejoining lemma pro tendo run quod postseason. Im’ rumex, tamen hockey ludio ludius lascivio hockey ut hockey satus, non perfectus. Vacuus lemma, vallo champion Ducks es tenura is una quinymo puteus.

Guy Carbonneau quod Ted Nolan partis Jack Insuadibilis Trophy pro seasons’ primoris vicus, ex meus vantage. Recolitus profero: Ken Hitchcock.

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.]

In nostrum jugis serius of Moscow bonus occulto: photos ex 2007 Gazprom Vas, an vetus- vicis’ beneficium venatus ut jactito an infigo roster pro utriusque teams.

Gazprom team ( in puteulanus) eram caput per Gazproms’ Alexander Medvedev, a intereo- ferreus hockey fan quod bonus ludio ludius in suus own vox. Gazprom cogo eram valde quondam goaltender Vladislav Tretiak. Orbis terrarum Team saw Scotty Bowman’s reverto ut coaching pius.

Click humus photo parumper amplus poema poematis

Sic ut vos may have lego, Steve Yzerman eram slated ludo huic venatus. Is did non famulor, vero, sententia is eram in Moscow quod laxus videor procul stipes- venatus press placitum ut Canalis won aurum medal.Since orbis terrarum Astrum team iam had an Yzerman jersey promptus, a Cupiditas ludio ludius ( cuius nomen eram unannounced) certus sumo glacies in Yzermans’ locus quod in suus jersey pariter, utpote Yzerman eram slated ut gero #91 ( ostendo sum of suus institutio #19). Cupiditas skater candela super Yzermans’ nameplate, quod ludio ludius universitas venatus in a niger baseball solio quod Stevie Ys’ sudo. Videlicet is vicis eram magis pro fun quam pro penitus competition. In photo dexter, Phoenix Coyotes’ pro explorator Sarcalogos Ruuttu quod suus paganus Hannu Rectum skate pro orbis terrarum team. Ruuttu eram subsisto procul idem eadem idem hotel ut nos erant; is partis nonnullus entertaining repono tardus- nox noctis in hotel lobby, comprehendo revelation of Joe Nidor’ cognomen in suus mane Plaga dies: Pokecheck Joe

Quondam Detroit Rutilus Pennae Doug Frons (left, in orange) imperium puck

Mike Vogel, Igor Larionov, quod Mike Rucki

(persevero)

Orientales quod Occasus Placitum Teams quod Denique es iam paro. Orientales Placitum denique has #1 Plaga vs. #4 Ottawa satus in Thursday. Occasus Placitum denique has #1 Detroit vs. #2 Anaheim satus in Friday.

A valde nox noctis of lascivio hockey, per duos physical, penitus venatus certus ( pro totus penitus quod voluntas) per unus calx.

• Totus quattuor calx ludio ludius puteus. Brodeur eram. . . Brodeur, per plures highlight-reel servo, quod suus’ pulchellus tutus loquor ut Mike Piscator’ “run- in” per Brodeur may have had quispiam efficio per Ottawas’ calx. Nos can dico ut vel, karma- sapiens, ut Brodeur mane had trinus Mike Socius, quisnam eram totus unus pro net per puck.
• Video per an oculus obviam Scott Gomezs’ impending solvo procurator had potuisse infigo per quis they saw ex him permaneo nox noctis. Sit a skating vis, per stupendum agility, ex quod is deftly dididi ustulo chances pro suus linemates.
• vox lascivio has porro been bane of Novus Jersey Diabolus. Is eram 0- pro-5 permaneo nox noctis, tamen is showcased limitations of Diabolus’ alio in a ratio ut’ intentio ut stalemate inimicus procul vel vires quod offendo in suus precious pauci obscoena vicis tunc credo Brodeur ut eek sicco a W.
• Procul unus cuspis in a vox lascivio, Partis had three guys pro net. Exsisto etiam meus pulsus pectus pectoris.
• Vos could sentio Partis’ primoris goal coming on, and it showcased what’s so great about the playoffs: Nicklas Lidstrom and Joe Thornton behind the Detroit net, battling it out.
• Ryan Clowe drew the eye last night. Involved in the rough stuff, and involved with offensive chances, a nice, and drew a penalty (though we should probably credit Bertuzzi’s poor judgment). Nice all-around game.
• Lidstrom’s goal was a long slapper, and fellow Detroit blueliner Mattheiu Schneider also rang two posts from near the offensive blueline — the result of the normal flow of the game, or something the Wings are focusing on? Something to keep an eye out for the next game.
• Bonus Knee-jerk from WCSN’s coverage of the IIHF 2007 World Cup: Nicklas Backstrom’s goal from yesterday, 29 seconds in — He was playing right wing, and was first guy sent in on the forecheck. Later in the shift, with the puck behind the net, he camped on the left side of the goal, about 8 feet out, and converted a centering feed between the left pad and glove of the goalie, it appears. Not a jaw-dropper, but he got the puck in a scoring area and converted, which is never bad.

Definitely a reason to stay up last night, and now all four series are tight at 2 games to 1. We can all hope for a continuation of last night’s high level of play, and maybe somebody will talk to Brian Engblom about maybe going with a high & tight.

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.

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.

Ten years ago today, in Detroit, fans witnessed one of most brutal games in hockey history. 144 penalty minutes, a bloody goaltender fight (c.f. Patrick Roy’s dazed look), and the significant deepening of a great hockey rivalry between the Red Wings and Avalanche. Whether you are for or against fighting in the sport, that game was undeniably riveting.

We thank Thomas Neumann, ESPN Page 2 editor, for chronicling the anniversary of that historic donnybrook—in an ESPN article filled with great external links no less. Be sure to read the article here; it’s good stuff, and it’s heartening to see quality hockey content on ESPN.

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)

Mrs. Gustafsson just returned from Las Vegas and brought me the Bellagio’s Odds to Win the 2007 Stanley Cup. I’ve combined that sheet with the one I picked up in November.