A flurry of deals...Vokoun, Toskala, Aucoin and Bell...

Just got home, and realized that some huge deals have been pulled off in the last few hours, especially in the goalie market.

For starters, the Nashville Predators traded goalie Tomas Vokoun to the Florida Panthers, about an hour and a half ago, in exchange for a first round pick and two second rounders.

Vokoun agreed to waive his no-trade clause to be dealt to the Panthers.

The Czech goaltender had a in-and-out 2005-2006 season.
He got injured for about 2 months early into the year but remained his usual solid self when he returned.
Chris Mason, however, proved to be too good to sit on the bench down the stretch and for the entire playoffs in GM David Poile's eyes.

As a result, Poile has chosen him as the team's number one goalie heading into next season.
Mason broke out of a backup role to post all-star like numbers.
I think a 2.38 GAA, 24 wins, a .925 save percentage and 5 shutouts in 40 games is pretty wicked.

Vokoun had a nearly identical season to Mason's, posting 27 wins, a .920 save percentage, a 2.40 GAA and 5 shutouts in 44 games.

But, in the end, Poile dealt Vokoun and showed the hockey world that money is still talking.

Vokoun will be paid an average of $5.5 million over the next 4 seasons, while the thrifty Mason will earn only $1.25 million over the 2 coming seasons, before being eligible to hit the open market at the end of 07/08.

That, faithful fanatics, explains the entire logic and reason behind this deal.

Vokoun is an established no. 1 goalie, something Florida hasn't had since Roberto Luongo, and certainly something they didn't get from the terrible Alex Auld and the party-wild Eddie Belfour last year.
Time will only tell how he adjusts to Eastern Conference teams and especially his new team, which is a huge downgrade from the dominating and powerful Predators he played for in the recent years.

It wasn't Manny Fernandez, or Tomas Vokoun but, hallelujah! The Toronto Maple Leafs have FINALLY gotten a respectable goalie.

And GM John Ferguson Jr. has just silenced his critics and some sour (aren't they all?) Leafs fans by getting top-notch 'tender Vesa Toskala from the cross-continent Sharks to go along with tough-hitting and scoring forward (see Blackhawks days) Mark Bell.

But it's worth mentioning Bell had a pathetic season on the scoresheet, scoring only 11 times and ending up in the coach's doghouse during the Sharks playoff run in favour of youngsters Ryane Clowe and Patrick Rissmiller.

I'm also feeling lazy today, and don't really want to write this up myself, but here are the complex details concerning the picks San Jose gets, courtesy of the Globe link above:

The deal, which includes forward Mark Bell going to Toronto, has cost the Leafs a conditional first-round selection, 2007 second-round choice and 2009 fourth-round picks. The Sharks can choose whether to take Toronto's first choice tonight (13th overall) or the 2008 first-round selection. If the Sharks choose the latter condition and the Leafs have a top-10 pick next June, the Sharks have to wait until 2009 for Toronto's first-rounder.

And where does this leave Andrew Raycroft, whom the Leafs gave top goalie prospect Tuukka Rask to the B's so he can go back to his Calder days, and be their solid number one goalie.
He did neither, and had a very streaky season in goal.

Toskala didn't quite repeat his terrific 2005-2006 year, he was good, but not better than the wall named Evgeni Nabokov, who re-claimed top-goalie status after losing it in the previous year.

Adrian Aucoin's miserable and injury-raddled days in Chicago are over.

TSN is reporting that the Flames will acquire the former star defenceman from Chicago, along with a seventh round choice for defenceman Andrei Zyuzin and prospect Steve Marr.
Zyuzin was a quite "gets the job done" type player for Calgary last year, and was well-liked by the media and fans.

Aucoin, on the other hand, was not.

Constantly booed, injury and lost on the ice, Aucoin's tenure in Chicago has stained his successful career, and has erased all memory of his glorious Islanders days as a top scoring point man.

His hefty salary of $4 million over the next couple years is also a major cap hit in Darryl Sutter's books, and the Flames clever GM must be praying this pans out for him.

Aucoin may be a replacement for impending UFA's Roman Hamrlik or Brad Stuart, one of which is expected to pack his bags and play elswhere next year with the most likely being Stuart.

And that's all for now!

If anything else happens, you'll hear from me later or if I'm still lazy, tomorrow.

--BBR

Flyers sign Hartnell and Timmonen...already?!

The title should really be: "Flyers acquire Hartnell and Timmonen for Flyers"

Our buddy and faithful hockey insider over at TSN, Bob McKenzie, is reporting that the Flyers have signed defenceman Kimmo Timmonen and forward Scott Hartnell to multi-year contracts.
That is, of course, after the Flyers dealt the first round pick Nashville gave to them for Peter Forsberg, in exchange for two unisigned UFA's, Kimmo Timmonen and Scott Hartnell.

Both were expected to be hot commodities on the open market.

The terms of the deals?

Hartnell, who was scheduled to become a free agent on July 1, signed with Flyers on a 6-year, $25.2 million deal for a cap hit of $4.2 million per year.

The Flyers also agreed to terms with Timonen on a 6-year, $37.8 million contract for an annual cap hit of $6.3 million.

Someone bring me some painkillers...did I just read right?
Scott Hartnell and $4.2 million in the same sentence, in this universe?

Oh God, that is huge overpayement for a guy that ammassed 39 points last year, 22 of them being goals. I understand the hype around him, but $4.2 million, at this point in this career is really overdoing it.

Now, back to the main topic: FLYERS SIGN HARTNELL AND TIMMONEN, ALREADY?!

The Philadelphia Flyers have dipped into the free agent market a little early, thanks to the Nashville Predators.
Because of Nashville's uncertain ownership future and an expected tight budget in the coming year, sources tell TSN the Predators arranged with the Flyers to give them exclusive negotiating rights to two coveted free agents — defenceman Kimmo Timonen and forward Scott Hartnell.
Sources tell TSN the Flyers have now signed both Hartnell and Timonen to long-term contracts.

Wow, wow, wow, totally unreal.

At first, I thought this wasn't allowed, that you couldn't do this, but then I just realized that you can.

Not trying to say that this is bad, but it goes against everything that free-agency means, and how it works.

I just don't get how the NHL, really, can allow a team to do this, to trade for an impending UFA and sign him, that's just trying to get to the UFA pool early...hmmm, come to think of it, if the Habs can't sign Sheldon Souray, they should trade him to a team that really wants him right away, since this kind of activity is apparently allowed!

Still, legal or not, top talent shouldn't be allowed to be taken away by any other team before July 1st, and as a result, this is going to make more than a few GM's lose their tops.

--BBR

Balsille switches over to Preds...to move them?

After failing to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins from Mario Lemieux earlier in the NHL season, Blackberry mogul Jim Balsille has reportedly put an agreement in place to buy Music City's Predators.

Balsille went after Pittsburgh and a deal like this was almost done, until Balsille backed away the last minute, he eventually came crawling back but Mario coldly said "no", and his franchise then faced relocation.

Luckily for the Pens, the city was able to make a deal in time with Lemieux and co. for a new building, that would move them out of the oldie that is Mellon Arena.

Balsille, according to a Nashville news publication, has indeed bought the Predators, and he very well may have bought a failing franchise.

The Preds have had a tough time attracting fans consistently, and many have toyed with the idea of relocation; their fan problem is also mainly due to the fact that Gaylord Entertainment Centre, isn't exactly your natural hockey arena, and has a surplus of seats for other events like soccer, arena hockey, lacrosse.

Balsille pulled a whopping $220 million out of his pocket to buy his first NHL franchise.

There is a way out, however.
Because average game attendance for the season recently ended was below 14,000, the team has 60 days from its final hockey game to exercise an exit clause.
That move, which would have to happen by mid-June, would trigger a one-year cure period in which the city must bring ticket sales up to 14,000 per game. Otherwise, after the year, the team could leave.

That is very, very interesting.

And what make this even all more intriguing, is the fact Balsille is rumoured to be buying land and it speculated he will build an arena for his Predators there.

Where? In...Cambridge?

One of the guys from the sports desk who is from the area says where the land was purchased is "a stones throw from the 401 ... probably about 1 hour and 10 minutes from downtown Toronto." -Mirtle
--BBR

Unleashing the fury...a look at San Jose vs. Nashville

-I tried to watch Dallas-Vancouver after a not-so-hot crushing of Calgary by Detroit, and the crappy commentating didn't help, but I just couldn't...and ended up falling asleep in the second period and wake up when there were 10 minutes to go.

The game was low-scoring, and unless there's frantic end-to-end action or your favourite team is in it, they're usually boring to hell.

Marty Turco looks like a new goalie, the one that shook off his disgusting career playoff stats by posting 3 shutouts in the first round alone, I wonder if he's looking to make a run at the 9 shutout record set by Brodeur a few years back? That is, if the Stars make it that far.
For the first time in these playoffs...THERE WILL BE A GAME 7!

I mean, it's about time already, Ottawa took care of the Pens in 5, San Jose dumped Nasville in 5, the Sabres dumped the Isles in 5 too, heck, so did the Ducks when they beat the Wild in 5!
(Speaking of the Pens, check out what they're doing now)

The only series that can potentially have a Game 7 are...the Devils vs. Tampa series (3-2 Devils), duh, Vancouver vs. Dallas (3-3 tie), Calgary vs. Detroit (3-2 Detroit), and that's it!

-SAY WHAT?! Crosby played with a broken foot through mid-March?
And that's why he won't play for Team Canada at the WC?
Of course, now the media will make such a big buzz (and fans too), on how the Pens could've beat the Sens if Crosby were 100%.
And what makes this even better, is that Crosby believes he broke it while blocking a shot against...guess who? Montreal!
You can tell I don't like the guy.

-Sad news from Tampa, according to Ice Chips, 38-year old captain Tim Taylor has a degenerative hip condition and it might end his career.

-Tough guy Colton Orr (2-years $1.75 million), and dancer Ryan Hollweg (2 years $1.25 million) each got contract extensions from the Rangers.

With the Preds out, I guess it'd be nice if I bid them adieu...

San Jose Sharks

The Hero: Patrick Marleau
Marleau portrayed the same finesse he had in the regular season by potting 3 goals, 1 game winner and adding 3 assists.


The Zero: Marcel Goc
1 assist in 5 games in pathetic for Goc.
And Mark Bell's a healthy scratch? Pffft.

The Unsung Saviour: Craig Rivet
Acquired at the deadline from the Canadiens, Rivet's been a leader on defence for Ron Wilson's squad, and surprisingly, on offence as well.
The veteran defenceman had only career 1 playoff goal in 11 seasons heading into the series, he's doubled his career high with 2, and is second only to Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton with 5 points.
He's a strong presence in the dressing room, and I can't stop reading about how Sharks fans all love him.

The Sniper: Milan Michalek
Craig Rivet didn't know who Milan Michalek was, once he arrived in California.
He sure knows now.
The young forward is an offensive machine, and has scored 4 times already this series.


The X-Factor: Joe Thornton
Isn't it obvious?
The Sharks need Joe Thornton, if they expect to win the Stanley Cup.
Marleau and Cheechoo can't do it by themselves, they'll need last season's Hart winner to help them.
Thornton, who had for the second time in the past two seasons, more than 90 assists.
He has 6 so far in 6 games.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Evgeni Nabokov, Jonathan Cheechoo

The Comebacker: Craig Rivet
Well, I can't really find anyone else except him, he went from pneumonia in Montreal, to 2nd scorer in San Jose.

The Minute Men: Craig Rivet and Marc-Edouard Vlasic
How many times has Rivet's name come up? (I thinks it's going to be 5)
Anyhow, the young Vlasic (who has just come off a season in junior) is playing with an 11-year veteran, and it's turned out to be a good combination for San Jose.
Both are upwards of 23 minutes per game, with Rivet getting 26.

Interesting: Marc Bell and Joe Pavelski
Not enough room on the team for both, Pavelski's going in and Bell should get used to the press-box.

Nashville Predators

The Hero: J.P. Dumont
After a decent regular season, the former Sabre scored 4 times and added 2 assists for 6 points in a losing cause.
He also led the team in +/- with a +4 rating. Dumont also did not take a penalty.


The Zero: Paul Kariya
Dissapointed big-time.
Karyia had 2 assists and was a team worst -4.
He should've stepped his game up, instead, he stepped down.

The Unsung Saviour: Alexander Radulov
You could argue that the hit-from-behind on Steve Bernier in Game 2 was the turning point of the series, even if the Preds won, Radulov had 3 goals in the first 2 games and was looking like a God.
After a 1-game suspension, he came back and did nothing.

The Sniper: JP. Dumont
He scored 4 times on 8 shots, how better can you get?
Oh yeah? Score me 4 goals on 8 shots in the NHL and we'll talk.


The X-Factor: Peter Forsberg
Acquired from the Flyers, Forsberg's transition back to the Western Conference was slow and very frustrating.
He did not have a good stint with Nashville in the regular season, but, he was once the best player in the world, and the Preds believed he can do it again and help them in the playoffs.
He did have 4 points in the playoffs, which was acceptable for most Preds fans, but you could feel that the "ripped" arrow is beginning to point at David Poile after giving up Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent and a 2nd rounder for him.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Tomas Vokoun, Steve Sullivan

The Comebacker: JP Dumont
It's the second time in two teams that a name has appeared 3 times, Craig Rivet for San Jose and now Dumont again for Nasvhille.
His regular season was good, but his playoff performance was even better.
4 goals, 2 assists, 6 points in 5 games and a +4 rating.

The Minute Men: Kimmo Timonen and Ryan Suter.
Another youngster playing with a veteran, they got nearly 24 minutes of ice-time and were solid game-in and game-out for Nashville.
And "solid" is not pushing it, the pair combined for an EVEN rating.

Interesting: Ramzi Abid, Darcy Hardichuk and Jerred Smithson
The trio (Abid and Hardichuk played in 2 games, Smithson in all 5.) combined for a total of 0 shots on goal in 15 minutes of total ice-time.
I mean, come on, you are enforcers, but not even 1 shot on goal?
If Tootoo can get 3, than so can you.

So long, farewell, the Islanders and Predators are gooonne!

So long! Farewell! Auf wierdesehen, goodbye!

From the classic "Sound of Music"

And that little line perfectly tells us fans what happened to two teams yesterday night, as the battle for Lord Stanley's Cup is getting narrowed down.

First off, those New York Islanders...tss, tss...the Islanders drop Game 5 last night in Buffalo, 4-3 and they have been eliminated from the playoffs.
It wasn't too unexpected, although, many thought this would be a sure sweep.

The Islanders played a good series and you can see the potential that this team has, the potential to be an even better team.
What I'm wondering is...how come they haven't become a better team?

I'd like to the Islanders become kind of like the Rangers, in terms of progress, and make a run for the division next year.
The Rangers have been improving ever since their pre-lockout (sad...) laughstock and the Islanders should do the same.
Well, not this year, since New York didn't even finish 10 points above the Isles, but I'm also thinking about last season, when the Rangers were making a serious run to win the Atlantic.

Not saying the Isles are a laughstock, but, they're just...the same, the same as they were before the lockout.
Make the playoffs, as the 8th seed, lose to the Lightning or the Sabres in 5 games.
And it could be even tougher to win the Atlantic Division, with teams like New Jersey, Pittsburgh, their cross-town foes and possibly the reinstatement of the Flyers, might make the Atlantic Division the best in all of hockey.

It didn't help the Islanders that Sean Hill wasn't in the lineup, after he was awarded a 20-game suspension for taking "performance-enhancing drugs", or as the NHL likes to call it, "substance-abuse".

I'd also to commend Ted Nolan's fantastic work behind the bench, he has been by far better than his predecessors and he probably deserves the Jack Adams award, he's been that great...
His team played, in the final month of the season, as if all their games were Game 7, as if they all counted (they did) should they make the playoffs or not.

I also congratulate Rick DiPietro for doing his best in goal, even after his return from injury, and his backup Wade Dubielewicz, who has earned himself a roster spot next year and potentially 10-15 starts behind DiPietro.
Dubie also got them there down the stretch, but it was DiPietro who carried the team on his back for the most of the season before getting injured.

Garth Snow surprised everyone in his rookie year, and made some good moves, most notably getting Ryan Smyth.
Who says a backup goalie can't be a GM? He knows the players better than a GM, he's PLAYED against them!

The Sabres were just overmatching them in every category.

Even in goal, when Ryan Miller made a spectacular save in the dying seconds of Game 5 with his hand, and blindly!

"I panicked,"said Miller,"and luckily I got a hold of it!"

The Islanders haven't gotten past this round since 1993.
That's about 14 years!

And the Preds go down...again.

I know the Preds are still a "young" team in terms of longetivity in the NHL, but, I am beginning to wonder if the label "choke" should be associated with them?

03/04: Lost to Red Wings in quarter finals 2-4
05/06: Lost to Sharks in quarter finals 1-4
06/07: Lost to Sharks in quarter finals 1-4

It's also funny that it's been San Jose knocking them off, and the way things looked between the teams in this series, it could be the start of a nice new rivalry.

I just don't understand...yes, San Jose is a very good team, but the Predators are supposed to be better!

When, when will Nashville finally show they can play in the regular season, and advance in the playoffs?

They have the team, they got Forsberg for chrisssakes! They got Arnott, Kariya, Vokoun, quality d-men, a scary offense!
Their team has been constantly progressing, from 91 points, to 106 points, to 110 points, what's next? 120 points and getting swept from the first round?

The Sharks will most probably face the Red Wings in round 2, should the latter drop the series to Calgary.

Patrick Marleau scored with under 5 minutes remaining to put away a vastly improved Predators team.

"We kept putting our fingers on the stove, and we got burnt by it," said Nashville coach Barry Trotz."

And NHL.com says his job may be in jeopardy, since the team's dropped 3 straight quarterfinal series.

I say no, Trotz is a great coach and there's no way they can get rid of him, not after the way he's made his team better, but they haven't made themselves any better by losing again last night, 3-2 against San Jose.
Then again, if Julien gets fired on the verge of a hundred point season, so can Trotz.

sigh, this is really an enigma.

Or maybe it was that Tomas Vokoun wasn't as good as he should've been, or simply Evgeni Nabokov was better.

Or maybe it was just meant to be.

Happy golfing Preds!

-The Devils shut out Tampa 3-0 on home ice and take a 3-2 lead in the series. Martin Brodeur finally played a good game after allowing a few weaks goals in the previous games.

Predators played some real hockey last night...

Wow, just wow, if you tuned into TSN to watch the Preds and Sharks like I suggested, you'll have found that it was a great suggestion.

From the opening faceoff, you could feel the tension between Barry Trotz and Ron Wilson, both standing on opposite sides of their team's benches.

This is playoff hockey.

Bonecrushing hits, penalties, power plays and just great team chemistry.

From the start, Dan Marouelli and Kelly Sutherland went to warn Barry Trotz and Ron Wilson about the crap that was going on after the whistle was blown, shoving, basically the Sharks wanted to get the Predators off their game.

And he showed the coaches he wasn't bluffing, and sent off Bill Guerin and Vern Fiddler for "jousting" as Gord Miller called it at the faceoff circle.

Barry Trotz believed the Sharks were looking for payback after the Hartnell-Cheechoo collision.

"You could see from the opening whistle that was their intent," he said.

The San Jose Sharks had a 5 minute powerplay after Alexander Radulov went elbow-first into Steve Bernier along the boards.
Radulov, the young sensation who had scored yet another goal for the Predators earlier in the game and in Game 1(twice), was ejected and awarded a 5 minute major.

At that point, the score was 2-1 Nashville, and the Sharks had a golden opportunity to tie the game, I was almost certain that Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Scott Hannan, Ryane Clowe, Craig Rivet, the one-legged Jonathan Cheechoo and Bill Guerin would put up something with this huge man advantage.

It turns out they didn't.

Amazingly, the Sharks failed to capitalize on a 5 minute powerplay, although, they spent a lot of time in Nashville's zone but it seemed like they just couldn't complete any play, you have Barry Trotz's great coaching and the Preds' defencemen to thank for that.
They didn't leave Ron Wilson's squad any room to maneuver in the high slot and there were no good scoring chances or scrambles around Tomas Vokoun, who, after allowing Craig Rivet to score on his on rebound in the first period, rebounded and made a few fine saves.

And to add insult to injury, Ryan Suter (one of those many defensively-sound Nashvillians) went off for roughing, and the Sharks would have a 2-man advantage for a little under a minute, still enough to cause serious damage to an indisciplined Predators team.
Ron Wilson, realizing that his team wasn't producing anything on the powerplay, called a time out in hope of getting his guys back in the game and setting them up for a goal.
You could read the exasperated coache's lips: "MOVE THE PUCK." is exactly what he shouted to his team, and he was right, the Sharks weren't getting many great chances because they didn't have good control of the puck or where it was going, their passes were often intercepted and their plays seemed pathetic.

As it turns out, the timeout was wasted and the Sharks had just missed out on 6 consecutive minutes of powerplay.

Streaking out of the box was Jordin Tootoo, serving Radulov's penalty, he chipped the puck ahead to JP Dumont, who rushed in along the right wings boards with Tootoo placed perfectly in front of the net.
Craig Rivet did his best to block the pass but it was all for none, as the veteran defenceman fell for Dumont's fake and sniped the puck low glove side on a surprised Evgeni Nabokov, who didn't look like a happy camper after he allowed that 3rd marker.

What really pissed me off was the officials' plain stupidity, late in the second, Bill Guerin comes up behind Peter Forsberg in the neutral zone and pulls him down, Guerin goes off for interference and to Trotz' anger, Forsberg goes off for diving.

He didn't stop yelling for two full minutes, Marouelli told him to stop or he would end up with a penalty too, Forsberg couldn't believe the call and he grudgingly went to the penalty box.

I didn't like the Bill Guerin played, he played dirtily like most of the Sharks players played late last night, he limited his offensive production to zero and he ended up with a whole new rash of penalty minutes, giving the Preds powerplays that they converted once on eight chances.

JP Dumont made it 4-1 when he scored on a pretty passing play on the powerplay.

In the 3rd, especially near the end, things got dirty.

Ryane Clowe scored to make it 4-2 with about 8 minutes remaining and gave the Sharks a little hope of coming back.

And from there on out, the "street brawl" began.

Mike Grier, Ryane Clowe and Scott Hannan each received fighting majors and misconducts near the end of the game, while Smithson, Tootoo and Hartnell received the same.

Ryane Clowe said he wanted to fight Hartnell to "avenge" the hit on Cheechoo.

"I'm sure he knows what he did, obviously, just common sense that somebody is going to stand up for your teammate, and that's what I did," Clowe said. "We stuck together, and that's the main thing."

Barry Trotz thought otherwise and said he Clowe instigated Hartnell to fight.

Ron Wilson said he had no comment after the game, and I don't blame him, Barry Trotz had one nice comment to add.

"We came here to play hockey tonight," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We knew it was an important game, and they turn it into a street brawl."

The series is tied 1-1 and who knows how much better this is going to get!

"I think Colin Campbell has a job, and his job is to review these plays," Joe Thornton said. "I'm sure if he wants us to play this way, we can play this way. It's in his hands, and we'll see what happens."

Drumroll...Three-way tie...damn!

Andrei Kostitsyn, the new "AK" in town, scored this nifty one which proved to be the winner, in the shootot as the Canadiens beat the rival Leafs 3-2 last night at the Bell Centre...

The Canadiens and Maple Leafs both faced off yesterday at the Bell Centre in Montreal with the teams both needing points to advance in the ever-toughening Eastern Conference standings.
Before the game, the Canadiens sat in 11th place with 76 points, 2 behind the 8th spot Islanders and 1 behind the 9th spot Leafs.

Now?

Now they sit in a sticky three-way tie with the Islanders, who lost big in Florida yesterday, and the Leafs.

It was a fun-filled game for the most part.

Alex Kovalev came back into the lineup and played well partly on the 4th line and near the end of the game, on the 3rd.

Francis Bouillon dropped them...again, he did too against Atlanta a few games ago and got his *insert word here* kicked badly, against our favourite guy, come on, guess who?
He did alright against Darcy Tucker, landing him a few punches to the head and getting some back. The winner? Definitely Bouillon.
The two landed 5 minute majors to end the first period and returned in the second.

The 1st period was more or less end-to-end hockey, with both teams gaining momentum they forced each other on defence constantly, there was none of this "New Jersey Devils" crap.
The forecheck and body was on and there were shots on net.

Jaroslav Halak FINALLY gave the Canadiens some kind of goaltending, playing great, making key saves for the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge and keeping his head up all game long.
He also kept his head up when in the same period, Leafs captain Mats Sundin attempted a wraparound and the young Slovakian shut the door.
Sundin's reaction was one of the many let go by the referees last night, who did a pretty horrible job in this department.
He just lifted his stick under the chin of Halak and pushed his mask up, RIGHT NEXT TO THE DAMN OFFICIAL, Andrei Markov amazed of the no-call, yelled at the official during the play.
He made 37 saves including big ones on Kyle Wellwood and Darcy Tucker in the shootout.

"I thought he played really, really well, especially in the third period when Toronto came out strong," said coach Guy Carbonneau, who went with Halak after a bad outing by David Aebischer in a 6-3 loss in Pittsburgh on Friday night. "They got the puck to the net with traffic, so he had to make some big saves."

Andrei Kostitsyn, who's finally showing his potential the Canadiens drafted him to be, scored the first Canadiens goal of his abbreviated season, slipping it through the legs of Andrew Raycroft and a helpful screen Hal Gill on a left-wing rush from the Belarusian youngster.

"Let's settle down and don't push him," said Canadiens captain Saku Koivu of Kostitsyn who also had a goal in regulation and in the shootout. "He's a young, very talented player working his way up to the NHL."

Darcy Tucker had a bad night and must've taken on at least 7 hits.
He did not seem like the offensive force he should be and for some reason, was never in front of the net! Probably because he was afraid of getting hit by Mike Komisarek, who had a solid game as well and laid down a few nice body checks too.

I don't know, but I'll always be there if he wants to play physical," said Bouillon of Tucker "That's the kind of game I like to play in - so intense and physical, but with good hockey at the same time."

Saku Koivu had a good game and got his 60th point of the season by putting his 19th goal of the season behind Raycroft, backhand style, in the 2nd period of play.
This is Koivu's 3rd 60-point season and hopefully, he will continue to do the same each game.

Nik Antropov really surprised me.
I know of alll the criticism the kid takes for not being good enough but hey, he can hit and skate! He doesn't have much of a shot, but I was surprised at him putting the body on that often, it's even more surprising he's a European! (no pun intended)

Pavel Kubina is still not worth the money he's getting from John Ferguson Jr.
His goal was a lucky bounce off Chris Higgins in the 3rd to tie the game at 2 and send it to extra frames. He should be a superstar, but, he's not, and he's a HUGE waste of $5 million a season.
Despite his injuries, he should be doing a lot better.

Too many Leafs fans in the Bell Centre uhhh, it was paining to hear them scream go Leafs go along with pissed Habs fans go Habs go to give go Laffs go!

Yanic Perreault played a good game, however, he's better than a 4th line centre.

Sheldon Souray had a few braincramps last night...and imagine, he's like -20 and he has 23 goals this year, what if he didn't have all those goals? -33? -40?
God...

Kyle Wellwood is a good player. I like him a lot and he's very dangerous, the most creative passer in the game today, he set up Kubina with a nice back pass to tie the game in the 3rd and scored himself the other Leafs goal to tie it up in the first, finishing a pretty passing play.

Andrew Raycroft played how the Leafs want him to play. Ok, he'll give up the occasional softie, but all-around, he kept his team in the game.

Mike Modano scored twice liked I predicted a few lost posts ago...he's now 1 goal away from becoming the all-time American-born top scorer and a pass to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Stephane Robidas was taken off on a stretcher after a cou-cou play by the seemingly over zealous Jordin Tootoo.

Eric Brewer pushed the Oilers' streak to 10 in a row, scoring 2:04 into overtime against his former team in a 3-2 Blues win. One more loss and the Edmonton Oilers will tie the franchise record of 11 losses in a row, set 13 years ago.

Mike Comrie honored his mother, who died of breat cancer when he was just 10 years old, and used a pink stick in honor of her in a 3-2 Senators win over the falling Flyers.

Martin Gerber got the start in net against Philadelphia and Dean McCammond and Wade Redden also helped out Comrie with pink sticks...

Brendan Morrison scored a shorthanded goal against the Wings to give them a 4-1 win in a crucial matchup in the West. Roberto Luongo made 32 saves.

Chad LaRose scored twice as he switched to center in a 7-2 mauling of the New Jersey Devils which put Carolina in the 7th spot and solidified its chances of an encore playoff run.

Dave Lewis was not pleased as the Bruins lost 7-0 in MSG, humiliating the coach and the players. Tim Thomas gave up 3 goals on 15 shots and Lewis put waiver claim Joey MacDonald in.

"Excuses are for losers," Lewis said. "We looked slow, weak, soft and
intimidated."

Updated standings
Playoff Push

Going to the Bulldogs-Cruch game at the Bell Centre today, boy, can't wait!

TSN/Eklund: 9 players on waivers.

EDIT: TSN just reported this, it is official.

It is Eklund, so until this becomes official (if it does) ...take it with a grain of salt:

He claims a reliable source has informed him that, 9 players have been put on waivers and here they are:

"Brian Boucher, Bryan Berard, Michael Leighton, Denis Hamel, Jason Krog, Niko Kapanen, Marc Chouinard, Aaron Downey, and Petr Cajanek"

Some very interesting names in there, especially Berard, Kapanen, Boucher and Cajanek.

Berard requested a deal out of Columbus, maybe putting him on waivers is the first step, although, I would not understand any logic behind this since Columbus would lose one of its top defencemen and get absolutely nothing in return.

Expect most of these names will likely be claimed.