Jovo rejected trade to Islanders...

Phoenix Coyotes defenceman Ed Jovanovski reportedly rejected a trade that would bring him to Long Island this past offseason by using his very handy no-no clause.

Rumours had been swirling for much of the offseason and heading into the new campaign that Phoenix was intent on trading the veteran pointman if he could waive his no-trade clause.

This is surprising, as the Rangers were the rumoured New York team to be seeking Jovanovski, in a rumour that was shot down several times due to cap constraints involving the overpaid Canadian's $6.5 million figure.

Why overpaid?

Simple, Jovanovski has done close to nothing to merit that kind of paycheck from the Coyotes.
He's been injured far too many times and his offensive prowess that got him this deal has suffered in the desert under the regime of Yotes' head coach, Wayne Gretzky.

A change of scenery would do him good, although, I hear players love living in Arizona and that most of their families are well settled there; and despite their not-that-unobvious hockey woes, players accept to play there, even if it means for a losing team (no offence meant) and a cool salary like JovoCop's.

As stated in the article linked above, Isles GM Garth Snow proceeded to sign both Andy Sutton and Bryan Berard instead of Jovanovski.
And despite Sutton's inconsistency, and Berard's uncertainty (of how long his decent performance so far will last), I'd take them both any day over Jovanosvki because:
a) Their salaries combined barely surpass half of Jovo's.
b) They will eventually combine for more points together
c) They're buff and gritty and look like Islanders...Jovanovski, would not look good as an Islander, it just wouldn't feel right.
d) They aren't locked into a contract that long (Jovo's got 3 more years)
e) Last time I checked, having 2 pointmen of a decent to above average caliber who can toughen out the minutes, hit hard and score on the powerplay is better than having an overpaid, aging, injury-prone and underachieving veteran.

Many are calling Jovanovski "McCabe revisited"; as the latter has struggled since signing a huge deal with the Maple Leafs as well, and is drawing criticism from fans and the media alike for his occasional brain cramps and missed opportunities.

On a happier note, happy 33rd Saku!

-BBeR

DiPietro shows off Isles new jersey...

"Barring" the news that Mark Bell is headed to jail and that the annual Hockey News Ultimate Pool guide for the upcoming season is out (yipee!), Islanders 'tender Rick DiPietro gave bloggers something to write about as he has recently unveiled New York's new RBK jersey look on ice at Iceworks rink in Syosset, NY.

(Thanks to fellow blogger Sean over at Popjocks and regular Peter Arheim for sending this in!)

And as every single other jersey that RBK has remade out there, this is "the result of two years of Reebok research, it incorporates the company's "Edge" system, which offers lighter, more breathable fabric that allows for a greater range of movement, and two new technologies -- Bead Away and Playdry -- which wick away moisture, providing for a significantly drier jersey over 60 sweaty minutes."

Sure we've all heard this many times before, and many of us have even examined the concept of a RBK Edge jersey, but I wonder, will the fabric of the jersey you wear really make you noticably faster, or will this just turn out to be another NHL-laid bomb?
I will reserve judgement on the actual results of wearing this newly designed and manufactured jersey, until I see some action this October.

As for the look of the jersey, I have to admit, it looks pretty nice even if I hate the fact there are numbers on the front of the jersey and that horizontal striping is just plain silly.

Oh and sorry for the lack of posting this month, as you've probably noticed, hockey news is becoming increasingly rare.

The jerseys post will be updated soon!

-BBeR

Yeah, this was unexpected: Yashin wants to play in Montreal...

Fresh off a huge buyout of the remainder of his 9-year/$90 million contract, that has the entire hockey world talking, and on the first day he's allowed to negotiate with other NHL teams, Alexei Yashin is at it again, except this time, Montreal is his desired target.

That's right, Alexei Yashin WANTS to play for the Montreal Canadiens.

Baffled by first reading this on RDS, I actually softened my position regarding Yashin and his Islander failure, by thinking straightly.

"Hey, this would be a pretty decent pickup at a decent price"

And why not, Yashin is still a damn good forward and was on pace to have his best season ever with the Islanders and led them in scoring through one third of the campain, until he got injured, and was never the same when he returned.

Losing his patience with the enigmatic Russian captain, Isles head coach Ted Nolan pencilled in Yashin as the team's 4th line centre for the last 15 or so games, the move outraged Yashin while fans were happy to see he got the punishment he so longly deserved.

He finished with 18 goals and 32 assists, for a respectable total of 50 points in only 58 games.

Everyone knows the "Alexei Yashin Islanders Crusade" fairy tale, and that now it is clear, that this little adventure with Mad Mike's team was never meant to be.

Now, he wants to don the bleu, blanc et rouge, and seriously...WHY NOT?

He'd be a great addition, but nothing more than 2-2.5 million for him, Bob, please.
Maybe we could really be getting something here by playing an all-Russian line: the doghoused Sergei Samsonov, the centre Alexei Yashin and the man of the year...Alex Kovalev.

But if these guys seriously were to get their grooves back, wow, NHL, watch out...
Stanley Cup? Here we come!

Yashin's "list" includes Los Angeles, Washington and most recently, according to Yahoo! Sports, the Ottawa Senators.

--BBR

Islanders buy out Yashin

Charles Wang made the decision yesterday to buy out the remaining 4 years on Alexei Yashin's contract...this cost them $17.63 Million. Wang is allowed to pay that over the next 8 years. $2.2 million will go against the salary cap over that time. In a statement Ted Nolan, coach of the Islanders said:

"It was a hard decision, but when push came to shove, it was the best decision for this organization to give Yash a nice, fresh start. For us, it's a new beginning. You start looking for new players to come in. There's a time for people to move, and we just felt it was the right time."

Article Found Here
Margee, has already begun rejoicing.

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.

Islanders' Sean Hill, hopefully, first and last player to get nabbed for cheating...

This isn't baseball, it's hockey.

Islanders defenceman Sean Hill has been suspended 20 games by the NHL for "violating" the league's substance-abuse policy, blah, blah, he was suspended for taking 'roids!

By God, it was about time someone got caught, too bad it had to be a formely respectable player in Hill.

I can imagine why he did it though, old age, no one's gotten caught, his body's breaking down, but still.

I hope, that for the NHL's reputation (which is already shaky), that this is the first and last time someone gets caught, although, I doubt it.

Dick Pound must be feeling really good about himself just around now...

Unleashing the fury...a look at Buffalo and New York...

Buffalo Sabres' captain Chris Drury at practice this morning, is the HERO of the Sabres this series.

I guess I can afford this little feature on every playoff series out there now.

Buffalo Sabres

The Hero: Chris Drury
Drury's showing why he's wearing the "C" on his jersey.
The big-hearted captain is leading his team in every aspect of the game, he's flourished on offence, he has 4 goals in the first 4 games of this series, and has been playing some great defence.
He looks commited to winning it all this time around and I don't know if anything living and moving can stop him.
And one word can also describe him: "clutch"

The Zero: Ales Kotalik
"Ales Kotalik's offensive production, if found, please return to Buffalo Sabres."
Where the heck has Ales Kotalik been venturing off into for the past few weeks?
He came off a serious injury and has been a zero all along.
He has yet to collect a single point and his ice time seems to be waning.
Good riddance.

The Unsung Saviour: Dainius Zubrus
The hard-hitting and hard-passing forward is settling into a consistent offensive force.
Playing alongside Chris Drury, Zubrus has 5 assists in 4 games and his linemate Drury, has 4 goals.
He's pushed Maxim Afinogenov down to the 4th line, and he has his strong play to thank for that. Zubrus has become a very good player along the boards for the Sabres and his behind-the-net plays are always fun to watch.

The Sniper: Brian Campbell
Campbell played on the blue-line with the slapping Sheldon Souray in the ASG earlier in February and is looking a lot like his all-star counterpart now.
His presence on the blue-line has not gone unmentioned, he's put 2 pucks in the back of the net and added 2 helpers to go with 13 shots on goal.
Campbell is also leading his team's defence corps with a total of 15:00 minutes of ice-time on the powerplay, a serious margin over the Russian-born Dmitri Kalinin (9:19 minutes)

The X-Factor: Daniel Briere
Briere, the co-captain and the creme-de-la-creme of his team's offensive spread, has been a consistent and productive player for Lindy Ruff throught this one.
He has 4 points and is looking like the Briere we have enjoyed all season long.
Briere and Drury have been key for Buffalo and if they hope to go far, the X-Factor title will be well merited by Briere.

The Comebacker: Tim Connolly
Connolly missed all but two games in the regular season due to one of his usual concussion sagas and has rebouned in fine fashion in the playoffs.
The former 5th overall pick is logging a good amount of ice time and he's playing with grit, but you can feel he's still a little rusty.
Just wait, the Syracuse-native will knock your socks off.

The Minute Man: Tony Lydman
The smooth skating defenceman is averagin nearly 25 minutes per game, and in Buffalo with all that great depth, you know that's good.
Lydman's been a force in his own end and there's no indication Ruff won't up his ice-time more.

Interesting: Jochen Hecht
He leads his team in shots on goal with 16 and has yet to score a goal, let alone get a point.

New York Islanders

The Hero: Rick DiPietro
After suffering from various concussion-like syndromes over the last month, Rick DiPietro's return to action for the Islanders was a huge success.
The "Rock" showed everyone his magic and made spectacular saves and won Game 2 for New York practcally all on his own and has stolen the show this series for the Isle.
He is the reason the Islanders have any hope of advancing, with respect to "Dubie", the "Rock" has reclaimed his no.1 job back.
And boy, is he better than ever.

The Zero: Alexei Yashin
Ted Nolan finally realized his captain wasn't producing and demoted him to the 4th line with Andy Hilbert and Richard Park, hardly the company he had on the 1st line.
He also saw shades of the bench in Game 4 for New York and the media our of New York is going beserk.
"Time to buy out Yashin, time to cut ties with him, time to get rid of him"
Maybe it is time to dump him, but, the only chance of doing that will be if they pay 2/3 of his current remaining contract total, which would clear up $3 million annually for the Islanders and eat up $6 million annually.
Now the question I ask: Is it worth paying $6 million and saving only 3 to dump Yashin? I mean, he didn't have that horrible of a season.

The Unsung Saviour: Arron Asham
Laugh all you like, but Asham got the ice-time he deserved from Ted Nolan on the 2nd line and I think his strong play in Games 3 and 4 will earn him this title.
Asham has a hell of a shot and despite only 1 goal this series, it feels like he should have more.
He's one of those guys that shakes things up for his team with either a hard hit or a hard shot.
Asham's also going to surpass the team's highest paid player and "Zero" in ice-time per game tomorrow night.


The Sniper: Trent Hunter
Trent Hunter's current performance is an indication of the solid season he had, Hunter's got 2 goals and he's playing some inspired hard hockey.
Not afraid to use his body or meddle with the goalie, Hunter's been in the right place in the right time for New York, especially (duh) around the crease area so far.
He's also the only Islanders' player to have more than 1 goal on his stat sheet.

The X-Factor: Ryan Smyth
You can argue that Ryan Smyth's output after THE trade, wasn't as good as the Islanders would've liked or expected.
Nevertheless, Captain Canada's putting up quite a show, he's like a wild moose set loose from his cage.
He's going hard into the corners and his forecheck is phenomenal.
He's also doing very well on offence and leads the Islanders in points so far in the playoffs.
He one of their top players now, alongside Jason Blake, and he will be key for the Islanders heading into Friday night's potential last game for them.
HONORABLE MENTION: Jason Blake

The Comebacker:none
Although, you can say Rick DiPietro should be here.

The Minute Men: Marc-Andre Bergeron and Tom Poti
Both are averaging nearly 27 minutes of ice-time and both have put up 2 and 3 points respectively.
They are iron men on the point and have a nice offensive side too.
Watch out Tony Lydman.

The Down Side of Video Replay

Sorry I have been away, I have had some computer trouble....

The most unfortunate thing about the video replay controversies in the Sabres - Islanders series is that they have taken away from the real story of a hard fought series. Instead of people talking about the drive and determination of Ryan Smyth and the clutch play of Chris Drury people keep talking about replay. It is a shame. For the record I think they got both calls right. From what I witnessed it is obvious that the Vanek goal was ,in fact, in the net across the goal line.

I also can empathize with the Islander's fans who feel robbed with last nights "no goal." Empathy aside, it appears to have been the right call. The logic referee Mike Leggo cited was that the puck was out of sight when Miller was pushed, therefore the fact the puck entered the net was not in dispute. The argument was whether or not his being pushed in caused it to enter the net. It is an opinion play. In Leggo' opinion the puck entered the net as a result of the push. As it wasn't visible there is no way to controvert his opinion. The fact that the puck entered is irrelevant because in Leggo's opinion the play ended when Miller was pushed into the net by Satan and Witt. Therefore the call was right in the eyes of the rulebook.

It is curious to me that the result of replay has led to far more disallowed goals than finding of "missed" goals. For a league that strives for offense it is an interesting conundrum. Getting it right often takes the excitement out of the game. I suppose in this day and age replay is necessary, but it is a shame that it ends up hurting the very game it was designed to help all too often.

DiPietro stones Sabres, Fans Panic!!!

Well, I am feeling a bit pessimistic this morning.

It's April 16th. It is tax day. It is snowing...hard.
Worst of all I just listened to Sabres fans panic for 1/2 hour straight on WGR55.
Perfect! It is absolutely not the way I needed this week to start.
Did I mention it is snowing on tax day?

Anyhow, enough of that.
The Sabres lost a game Saturday that they did not deserve to win. They failed to show up for the first 15 minutes of play and went down two goals. It was hole they clawed out of well. In fact they dominated much of the rest of the game but couldn't score in the clutch.

I have got to hand it to Ted Nolan and the Islanders. They had a plan and worked it well. They collapsed down on DiPietro and took advantage of a Sabres team that didn't come top play.
After they got their two goal lead they played tough defense and refused to panic in the face of pressure. I myself have criticized Nolan's game planning prowess in the past, but not today.
He refocused a team who's confidence had been dented and had them play their game.
Heck, even Miroslav Satan was forechecking and playing physical.
That is worth the Jack Adams in and of itself.

Now for the Sabres. Did they play poorly? Not really. They started bad and were dominate after. They sseem to have forgotten that this is the playoffs though and that you have to play 60 minutes to be a champion. it shouldn't have been all that surprising though as this has been the MO of this club all year. Play haphazard hockey and turn on the jets when the other team gets ahead. Well, it didn't work this time. Is it the end of the world?

Nope, just a bump in the road.

The Islanders and DiPietro played their absolute best and barely held on.

Some of the Sabres need to look in the mirror and decide if they are ready.
Daniel Briere has looked mediocre an Ryan Miller was shaky at best Saturday.
These are trends that need to reverse or this team could find itself in an Edmonton Oilerish nightmare.
That being said pretty much every other player is firing on all cylinders and the Vanek-Afinigenov-Roy line is proving just how good it is.

I fully expect the Sabres to come out blazing tonight and break the Islander's will. That has been another hallmark of this team.
Any adversity has been met with determination and often domination.

It is what I expect tonight. Buffalo still wins in 5.

Goalies Johan and Johan stand tall...

Johan Hedberg, Thrashers.
Johan Holmqvist, Lightning.

in case you hadn't guessed that by now...

Rangers/Thrashers
Johan Hedberg actually played very well for Atlanta, he made 37 saves, and despite the 2-1 loss, he was not to blame.

The first goal was an unlucky bounce after an Avert dump-in along left-wing boards, he went out to play the puck but it ended up taking a funny bounce and going in to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
Ilya Kovalchuk scored a great goal early in the 3rd period, he snapped the puck past a screened Lundqvist top-shelf.

It was all for none as Sean Avery buried his second of the game with 4 minutes remaining on a lunging Hedberg in the slot to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead heading back to MSG.

Lightning/Devils
After a paltry performance in Game 1, Johan Holmqvist stepped his game up, and led the Lightning to a surprising 3-2 victory over Brodeur's Devils.

What surprised me more, is that Johan was able to outplay the Devils' netminder, after a really crappy show in Game 1.

The big guys, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis carried Tampa to victory with a little help from Filip Kuba, who scored a short-handed marker in the first and Martin Brodeur, who clearly wasn't on his game especially after allowing St. Louis' goal from a seemingly impossible angle.

"I was just trying to put it on net and get some air underneath it," St. Louis said. "I don't know where it went but it found its way in."

Brodeur's reply.

"I was there, it just went through me," Brodeur said. "I would love to have it back, but it doesn't work like that in hockey. He had nothing to lose and he hammered it as hard as he could and it went through me."

Zach Parise continued his fine play and scored for the Devils, on the powerplay late in the first, and Jamie Langenbrunner had the other New Jersey goal.

Pens/Sens
Very good game by both teams, especially Ottawa for the most part.
Pittsburgh really woke up in the third period.

The Sens kept their play cool and organised all game long, you can tell there was nothing to complain except the powerplay if Bryan Murray wasn't over his head after the game.
But, the powerplay is not very cool at all. (1 for 9 in this game)

"They got a goal on their first shot and our power play wasn't very good - understatement - but I thought that we really didn't give up any chances for two periods," Senators coach Bryan Murray said. "We couldn't score enough to do any damage and at least get the game in a position where you could just play a checking game. And then they played a great third period."

Sidney Crosby scored on a mirror-play of Alfredsson's setup by Spezza and Heatley ON THE POWERPLAY in the second, that proved to be the game-winner.

Crosby scored just two minutes after another youngstar, Jordan Staal sniped it passed Ray Emery to tie the game at 3.

Jason Spezza scored for Ottawa, and so did Chris Kelly.

Ryan Whitney and Gary Roberts scored powerplay goals for Pittsburgh, respectively in the first and third period and Marc-Andre Fleury rebounded after a terrible playoff debut, and made 34 saves.

He also stoned Mike Fischer with a little over 10 second remaining to steal the win for his team.

Ray Emery was not-so-hot, and he needs to step up his play a notch.
He allowed 4 goals on 21 shots, hardly the .918 SPCT% he put up in the regular season.

Isles/Sabres
Wow, just a good all-around game, thanks for giving us a nice performance!

The Islanders were a completely different team in Game 2, they scored the first goal and even went ahead 2-0 before the Sabres crawled back to tie it.
They had 1 shot in the first period in Game 1, well, in Game 2 they had 12.

Trent Hunter and Bruno Gervais put the Isles up 2-0, and in response, defencemen Tony Lydman and Dmitri Kalinin (who played an awesome game) tied the game at 2.

Rick DiPietro was MARVELOUS in his first game back in nearly a month, and made so many spectacular saves to lead New York to an upset 3-2 win over Buffalo.
The game-winner came from Marc-Andre Begeron on the powerplay, with 10 minutes left to play.

The Sabres, played a good game, but not good enough in Lindy Ruff's eyes.

"We weren't moving our feet," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "Obviously, we want to clean up the first 10 minutes of the game (when the Islanders went up 2-0)."

"It was nice," DiPietro said of the win. "We did a lot of the things we talked about."

It looks like they actually listened to Ted Nolan for a change, anyhow, the series is tied at 1 heading in New York...

-Ottawa will be looking for revenge in PIT, as they face Crosby and the Penguins today at 6:00 PM...Read More

-Calgary tries to even things up today at 1:00 against Detroit while they get Robyn Regehr back while the Wings don't get Bertuzzi back... Read More

-Two "late" games includes Minnesota, at home, trying to come back from a 2-0 deficit to the Anaheim Ducks...Read More...and the 'Nucks trying to take the lead against the Stars in Dallas...Read More

Until later...

Islanders' rushing of DiPietro is a panic-filled move...

Do the Islanders remember who this guy is above? What he did to take the Islanders into the playoffs?

According to a New York Newsday report, Rick DiPietro has been cleared to play by doctors.

He will skate in a full practice today with the team.

I am actually very surprised at this, I think that they're rushing Rick DiPietro back way too quickly.

I just don't get what the problem is with Dubielewicz's play?

He played well last night in New York's 4-1 loss, he made 31 saves and was key for the Islanders in that final stretch while replacing Rick DiPietro.

Jesus, the guy endures 2 concussions in one month and he's already back, I think this is a panic move on the Islanders' part, they probably think they don't have a chance to beat the Sabres with Dubielewicz in net.

This is deja-vu all over again.

Remember when Cristobal Huet was rushed into play, 2 months after undergoing surgery for a torn hamstring last Saturday in Toronto?
Huet was obviously rusty and played shakily in a 6-5 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs which proved to be the difference maker in the Canadiens' run to make the playoffs.

Jaroslav Halak was riding hot but played "ordinarily" in game 80 for Montreal against the Rangers (3-1 loss), Wade Dubielewicz was playing great and he gives up a weak goal against the Sabres...yes, that means it's time to rush Rick DiPietro back into the net.

Now tell me: why is it that the backup goalies who have been called up from the minors and have suddenly played spectacularly are being completely degraded here.

There is no need to rush DiPietro back, he'll probably have a rusty game and cost the Islanders Game 2 as well, and to think that 2 days ago every living being in the media kept saying how Rick DiPietro was down and out.

Dubielewicz deserves to start Game 2, and possibly Game 3 depending on his play.
Right now, it's simple for Ted Nolan and his GM: "Play the hot hand".

They're just making this complicated for themselves...

My God, have they forgotten Wade Duielewicz COMPLETELY?

"No, there's no decision there at all," Nolan said when asked about who would start Game 2. "We'll make that decision when [the time comes], but we know exactly what the decision will be when Ricky comes back."

He was not to blame for last night's loss...the Islanders didn't play well at all, I think they forgot it was a playoff game...oh yeah? Just take a look at their shot total: a measly 21.

It is not yet known if DiPietro will play Game 2, but if he does, hold your breath...and no, I haven't forgotten his marvelous season.

Maybe they think that they'll have a better chance to win with DiPietro in net, but I think otherwise, especially right now.

If the Islanders want to win, they have to shoot more and be more consistent on offence. They can't just sit back and play defence...IT'S THE PLAYOFFS!

If they think their chances of winning are better with DiPietro in goal, they thought wrong.

-The Flames put up a poor performance last night and lost to the Wings 4-1.
Miikka Kipprusoff is not looking like the heroic goalie that made stupendous saves when needed for Calgary in their previous playoff runs.
Penalties were key to the game, as Calgary took one penalty after another and fell to a botomless pit that went by the name of Detroit.
The Wings lead 1-0, and I can see them knocking this Alberta team off this time around.
-The Sabres breezed by Ted Nolan's squad, 4-1 last night.
Arron Asham scored the only goal for the Islanders on a pretty 2-on-1 setup by Jason Blake, and that was the only shot that mattered for New York last night.
They only got 21 shots on net and Ryan Miller could've won this thing with his eyes shut.
Tim Cononlly had a good game, Dainius Zubrus is finally producing offensively with a 3 assist night.
-Atlanta loses their first ever playoff game, 4-3 to the Rangers who won their first ever playoff game since 1997.
After being swept by the Devils in the first round of the playoffs last season, the Rangers put up a W for the first time since 1997...
Jaromir Jagr was miserable, despite scoring the Rangers' first goal:
"I don't like to score the first goal," Jagr said. "That gives me bad luck. I scored the first goal this year and I struggled. I hate that."
I didn't know that, that's nice to know!
Pascal Dupuis haunts his former team (the one he spent less than a week with) and scores a goal for Atlanta, he's been a great pickup by Don Waddell!
Michal Roszival, Marcel Hossa and Michael Nylander helped out Jagr and scored the other 3 Ranger goals.
Eric Belanger, another good acquisition, scored a powerplay goal late in the first period and defenceman Shane Hnidy scored the other goal for the Thrashers.
After Tomas Pock took a holding the stick penalty with about 1 minute to go, the Thrashers came oh-so-close to overtime as (I can't recall who) hit the post.
-Goalie woes continue for John Tortorella's team; Devils top the Lightning 5-3.
Vincent Lecavalier and Zach Parise each scored twice for their teams, the Lightning blew a chance to tie with about 6 minutes remaining by not capitalizing on Devils penalties.
Johan Holmqvist put the game out of reach by making a pad save on Patrik Elias and then promptly passing the puck to his surprised defenceman, who wasn't ready for that, Scott Gomez picked the puck up, made a move and passed to an open Gionta in front of the crease who insured the Devils of their 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

How the Edmonton Oilers went from the Stanley Cup finals to a sad, sad season...

Chris Pronger (left) and Ryan Smyth (right) stand next to Oilers GM Kevin Lowe (centre). The pair proved to be invaluable to the Oilers, and after their departures, the once respectable franchise became a sad mockery.

The Edmonton Oilers were a bad team in 2006-2007.

Face it, it's not pretty, but it's the truth.

This team went from making the playoffs on the last day of the season and coming oh-so-close to winning the Stanley Cup to a sad bunch who seem like they've lost all interest in playing hockey.

Let us evaluate what the players brought to the table.

Petr Sykora, signed to a 1-year deal late in the free agency period, has proved to be this team's top scorer after a previously miserable season with the Ducks and Rangers.
He finished with 53 points, and had the inversed stats of the departed Ryan Smyth, who equally had 53 points but he put that up in 53 contests while battling injuries and then eventually being dealt to the New York Islanders on Trade Deadline Day.
Sykora had 22 goals and 31 assists while Smyth put up those numbers...but inversed, 31 goals and 22 assists.

The young Ales Hemsky is set for a great career and is taking it one step at a time, he finished with 53 points as well and put up 40 assists in 64 games, he could've scored more, he has a great shot, but nevertheless, he would've beat out Sykora had it not been for injuries too.
The pair were argurably the only Oilers to have a strong season, if you want to call a measly 53 points as your team lead "strong", go ahead, but that's not good enough for most GM's and Kevin Lowe acknowledged that.

Lowe told the media yesterday, that they should expect 6 to 8 new faces this offseason in Edmonton.
When asked which positions, Lowe said practically all of them, and it's true.

The Oilers struggled on defence; Ladislav Smid, Matt Greene and Jan Hejda were not enough to compensate for the losses of Chris Pronger, Jaroslav Spacek and even the belated Dick Tarnstrom.

Injuries to Jan Hejda (shoulder), Daniel Tjarnqvist (inflamed pubic bone) and Steve Staios (kneecap) thrust many unproven minor-league players and prospects into the Oilers lineup.

Marc-Andre Bergeron was let go by the Oilers, he traded to the New York Islanders, and went off to have a superb second half which saw the young defenceman score 6 goals and add 15 assists for a total of 21 points in just 23 contests with the Islanders. The Oilers got a lost prospect back in Denis Grebeshkov, who hopefully, will return and play for Edmonton next season.
With Edmonton, however, he was not the Bergeron that the organisation saw last season, he struggled on defence and his offensive side was inconsistent.
He eventually was stuck in Craig McTavish's doghouse and then sent to the New York Islanders.

Bergeron was a steal for Snow, Pronger's flourishing in Anaheim, Spacek is a secondary powerplay quarterback for the Sabres and Dick Tarnstrom's putting up 29 points in 44 games so far with Lugano of the Swiss League.

The Oilers' defence was non-existant on offense, Steve Staios managed to get 17 points in 58 games after going down with surgery.

Other than that, only Daniel Tjarnqvist hit the 15 point plateau, the rest were stuck in mediocrity.

Tjarnqvist was also amazingly the only Oilers point man with a +/- rating above 0 (3), and he only played in 37 games, you could argue he's their best blueliner now.
Other than that, the Oilers combined for a horrific -83 +/- rating and managed to score a mere 15 goals and Tjarnqvist was the only one with a powerplay goal (he had 2).
And ironically, he missed more than half the season with multiple injuries.

Geez, this is already giving me a headache, and worse, the Oilers used 6 rookies on their blue-line throughout the course of the season, more importantly in their second half.

And to top it all off, the Oilers finished last in the league with a miniscule 2.34 GF per game, this stat was hugely affected after the Oilers lost Ryan Smyth on Trade Deadline Day.

They had already lost Ethan Moreau to shoulder surgery for the season, forward Jarett Stoll possibly forever with a devastating concussion, and they just didn't get anything from Fernando Pisani after a magical playoff run last year, Shawn Horcoff was invisible after Smyth was traded and after scoring 27 times last season, Raffi Torres dissapeared into the wind along with the non-existant Joffrey Lupul.

Yup, and here's the stat that mattered most: 2-18.
What's this? It's just the record the Oilers put up without Ryan Smyth after he was dealt, which ultimately cost them a chance to make the playoffs but gave them the oppertunity to go golfing in the month of March.

Jean-Francois Jacques, a promising player in Hamilton, was thrust between Wilkes/Barre and Edmonton 12 times throughout the season and he put up nothing on the scoresheet; he was pointless in 37 games.
Danny Syvret, one of the many rookie defencemen used by Craig McTavish and a promising point man, showed limited talent with only one assists and a -10 rating in 16 contests.
Zach Stortini scored 1 goal in 27 games and showed scouts why he will be destined for fourth line duty at best.
Tom Gilbert had a decent year, and averaged half a point per game (better than Sergei Samsonov) for the Oilers...in 12 contests.
Bryan Young, a defenceman, was equally a no-show in his rookie campaign and didn't put up a point in 15 games with the Oilers and managed only 2 shots on goal.

I know I'm not an Oilers insider, but it doesn't take a genius to see why the Oilers struggled last season, especially when they lacked talent and offensive production from their forwards, and stability on the back-end.

Dwayne Roloson had an OK season, and he was the reason the Oilers weren't worse than their 32-47-7 record.

I hope Lowe's right when he says there will be changes, as this team is desperate for some.

The Leafs should get their golf clubs out...

...especially now that this kind of expected decision has been made.

Maybe he does, because his decision to play the little-used Scott Clemmensen in goal will not please the damned Leafs captain, Mats Sundin.
Actually, it has not yet been announced, but TSN and the Toronto Star are reporting this.

"I hope Brodeur plays," said the Swedish Captain to the TSN media after the Leafs beat you-know-who yesterday, 6-5.

Of course he wants Brodeur to play, then that gives the Devils the advantage over the Islanders.
Now, if you're really behind in all this, the Islanders are a point behind the (sigh) 8th place Leafs and can surpass them and qualify for a playoff spot if they beat Lamoriello's Devils today.

Giving Scott Clemmensen the call in goal is a wise choice by the enigmatic Lou Lamoriello.
Brodeur needs a rest, especially now with the playoffs in the horizon, the Devils netminder will probably enjoy getting a day off; the game today has absolutely no significance to them but is pivotal for the Islanders, who will either qualify for the playoffs today and knock off the Leafs, or, even worse, if they lose (how could they with Clemmensen playing?!), Toronto will win the lottery and advance to the post-season.

The least that the Islanders can do today, is beat Jersey to (yes!) take the Leafs out of a possible playoff run.

All indications point to Wade Dubielewicz getting the nod for the Islanders.
The minor-league callup has been impressive in his recent stint for the Isle, he saved their season after relieving the depleted Mike Dunham, who just couldn't stop a beach ball at this point.

It should be a good game, but, don't be surprised at all if the Islanders win, with respect to Scott Clemmensen, it's obvious right now who has the clear advantage.

Thank you Lou!

I wonder who's the best golfer on the Leafs? I'll put my money on Matt Stajan...

Islanders' Matinee Can Impact Big Game

Tonight’s monumental game against the Toronto Maple Leafs could be worth all the marbles should the New York Islanders fail to pick up the two points they would need to help themselves into the playoffs.

The great thing about the Islanders’ game today is that it’s at 1pm. Thus, both the Leafs and Habs will know exactly what’s on the line tonight when they square off for the first puck drop.

Should the Isles drop their match to the Philadelphia Flyers tonight (or even lose in overtime or shootout), the winner between Montreal and Toronto will make a post-season dance with the Buffalo Sabres.

For the Leafs, however, a win in regulation would be required because an OT or SO win would bring them into a tie with the Canadiens who would remain ahead thanks to more wins. Also, should the Islanders lose or pick up only a point tonight, Montreal would need only a single point to clinch their playoff spot.

It wasn’t until this morning that I actually felt the full excitement of tonight’s match. Honestly, it’s all that I can think about, and probably all I’ll think about until the middle of next week. I even dreamt of hockey last night, though, I cannot recall the outcome of the dream.

In my opinion, this is Toronto’s game to lose, if only because they hold home-ice advantage. It will be vital for the Canadiens to score early in the game to take the Leafs’ fans out of the game a bit. Thing is, scoring first isn’t one of Montreal’s strong points. I can’t remember a whole lot of games this season where Montreal took the first lead and held it.

Another key to the game tonight is goaltending. You have to like the Habs’ chances with either of Jaroslav Halak or Cristobal Huet. The logical choice would be Huet, even if he is a bit rusty having missed the last 20+ games with a hamstring injury, because of experience. The Maple Leafs have Andrew Rayrcoft, a goaltender Montreal has proven they can beat both in Boston and Toronto.

Either way you slice it, the degree of importance regarding tonight’s game will be heavily decided by the outcome of the Islanders/Flyers match this afternoon.

Will $2600 be wasted?

Tonight, contrary to general belief, is the night, it's the night we find out who wasted $2 600 on a ticket to the highly-anticipated Leafs-Habs game in T.O on Saturday.

Forget all that Leafs-Habs showdown blablah...if things go a certain way tonight, there will be no need to buy the ticket that's going for $2 600 on eBay...

First off, the Rangers play host to the Canadiens.

I was personally there when the Canadiens blew them away 6-4, when the first-star of the week-Henrik Lundqvist-was pulled from the game.

Backed by hot rookie Jaroslav Halak, a surging offence to compliment a newfound team chemistry, and if fate allows it, the Canadiens seemed destined to clinch a playoff spot tonight in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd.

Saku Koivu (above) has confirmed that he can still score...he put in two highlight-reel goals against the Bruins on Tuesday, and more impressively, by going through the mammoth that is Zdeno Chara.

Sergei Samsonov (left) has been of invaluable help to the team.

No, no...not on the ice-are you joking?-but off the ice...he's sat for 11 straight games and it appears very unlikely he'll ever dress for hockey's most storied club ever again.

In those 11 games, the Canadiens have gone 9-2.

THANK YOU SERGEI!

Anyway, ahem, it's expected that the 28-year old forward's contract will be bought out at 2 thirds of the price at the end of the current campaign (and eventual playoffs).

Samsonov, Bob Gainey's then-prime offseason signing, has been nothing more than a branch in the mud for Guy Carbonneau's squad this season, he's only put in 8 goals this year, and more dissapointing is his point total: a measly 28.

But...we must not forget about those Toronto Maple Leafs either, who, fresh off a 3-2 overtime W over the Philadelphia Flyers, are on the other side of town, in Long Island actually, taking on the New York Islanders.

The Islanders looked like a playoff contender 2 weeks ago, but have fallen off a deep cliff recently and find themselves on the verge of missing the playoffs and making Garth Snow a mad man.

With one game in hand over the Leafs, Habs and Rangers, the Islanders must win tonight to avoid the same situation the defending Stanley Cup champs, Carolina Hurricanes, have innundated themselves in.

Wade Dubeliewicz, career minor-league goalie with the Isles' AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, seems like that last hope Charles Wang's team has of making it to the post-season.

With Rick DiPietro out with a post-concussion syndrome, induced by Canadiens enforcer Steve Begin a few weeks ago, Mike Dunham has responded horribly to his new role...this can be verified by taking a look at last Friday's Isles-Sabres box score: he allowed 5 goals in the first period alone...

The Leafs are on the brink of (yes!) missing the playoffs for the second straight season.

They sit in 9th place, one point behind the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge, with the risk of never giving fans (especially the ones who paid $2 600...) the "winner-takes-all" battle at the ACC on Saturday night, the eve of Easter Day.

To sum all this talk up: if the Habs win and Isles win tonight (in regulation), somebody out there will have wasted $2 600 on a worthless piece of paper.

If the Rangers win and Leafs win, the Leafs move into the 8th spot and the Rangers clinch their second-straight playoff spot in the last two seasons (and yes, it's a big deal, remember the pre-lockout terror-filled horror movies...sorry, they were the Rangers' dismal seasons).

I certainly hope that the first option is the one, otherwise, I will wake up tomorrow morning with a terrible headache...

7 teams fighting for 3 spots...

The Hurricanes and Islanders have fallen (make that) 4 points out of the final spot...7 teams are fighting for a playoff spot.

With the Canadiens, Islanders, Maple Leafs, Rangers and Lightning in action tonight, the playoff barely got clearer and it looks like we're gonna see it all go down to the wire folks!
The Canes are failing and their schedule isn't very easy till the end of the season...the Islanders won't go anywhere without Rick DiPietro...

• The Canadiens held on to beat the East-leading Buffalo Sabres, 4-3.

Michael Ryder, Radek Bonk, Maxim Lapierre and Saku Koivu all scored for the Canadiens and Jaroslav Halak, winning his 6th of his last 7 starts, made 22 saves.
The Sabres got to the Habs first, Daniel Briere became the first player since Pat LaFontaine to surpass the 90-point mark for the Sabres, scoring 9:20 into the first frame.

Michael Ryder responded with a trickle through-the-legs goal on backup goalie Ty Conklin, who got the start over the tired Ryan Miller and did not impress me at all as he allowed 4 goals on 19 shots.

Dainius Zubrus, who indicated he might be interested in coming back to Montreal as a free-agent this summer provided the Sabres with their 3rd goal and that was where the line was drawn for Lindy Ruff's club.

The game was nearly penalty free, with both teams getting only 2 powerplay opportunities and both going 0-fer with the extra man tonight...4 of the Canadiens 5 goals were assisted by defenceman (the lone attacker to get a helper tonight was Alex Kovalev, who was blanked for the second straight game after scoring two 2-goal games in a row against the Rangers and Capitals) namely Janne Niinimaa, only his 3rd point of the season, Andrei Markov, Francis Bouillon, who shot the puck that was tipped in by Michael Ryder in the first period, and Mark Streit (well, he is a d-man playing forward...)

The Canadiens have won 5 of their last 6 games and things are looking mighty good after tonight's win over the Sabres, the chemistry is very good, the team is focused, they know what's at stake...Jaroslav Halak made a few very good saves, but...Cristobal Huet is coming back in a few days and is the dream over for the young Slovakian netminder?

He's played great and all, but his last 3 starts (he's allowed 11 goals) are a worrisome indication...and you know what else? Everyone's making a HUGE deal out of Halak winning 5 in a row and not how the Canadiens have won 5 in a row.
You know? Hockey c'est un team sport.

He had a 1.33 GAA last week and was named the NHL's third star, he deserved it, he played awesome...and I shudder to think how it'd ruin his confidence if he was sent down.

Or maybe I'm exaggerating at the 11 goal stat and just sore that Cristobal Huet still isn't cleared to play...I really don't know how Gainey will go along with this.
Aebischer you ask? Screw 'im...

• Wow! The Leafs beat the Penguins

It's desperation time for Paul Maurice's squad now, the Leafs know that margin for error in their upcoming stretch is little to none.
After a sad 3-2 overtime loss to the Atlanta Thrashers, Paul Maurice promised his team would be ready for tonight's game.

They sure were: my NHL.com scoreboard read 4-1 Leafs at some point in the second period, and I was like: "Wow!".
Another "wow" goes to Tomas Kaberle, who scored his team's 3rd goal in the second period and flashed "clutch" by potting the game-winner in extra innings just as Bob Cole exploded.

A "wow" to the Penguins also, who rallied from a 3 goal deficit to tie the game and send it to overtime. Sidney Crosby gets a goal to further add to his scoring lead over the Sharks' Joe Thornton...just as all was said and done and Harry Neale put away his broadcasting equipment, Ryan Whitney ties the game with 4 seconds to go!

I think that deserves a "wow" too.

Andrew Raycroft made 32 saves and Leafs TV made a horrible choice for the 3 stars, putting in Pavel Kubina as the 3rd (he had only one assist on the Kaberle goal in overtime), simply ignoring Kyle Wellwood's 3 helpers.

Jocelyn Thibault was pulled after allowing 4 goals on 20 shots and that likely spells the end of the veteran goalie's attempt to win over Michel Therrien's heart and be the Pens' number one guy come playoff time. Marc-Andre Fleury relieved the latter about half-way through the game and made 16 saves.

• 
  
  THANK YOU OTTAWA!

And I'm saying those words after the Scotia bankers beat the Habs last night...and they repaid me nicely, but not entirely, by knocking the Islanders even further on their rear end.
Victor Kozlov and the revived Marc-Andre Bergeron scored the only 2 goals for the Isle, who lost for the second time in as many nights and in that span being outscored 11-6.
Mike Dunham simply isn't getting it done for the Islanders, so Ted Nolan goes to minor-league goalie Wade Dubielewicz and the result was astonishing.

I don't think the likes of Tom Poti, Brendan Witt, Chris Campoli, Bruno Gervais, Sean Hill and Marc-Andre Bergeron were there tonight.

They allowed 46 shots on goal and Dubielewicz did the best he could, pushing away 42 of those shots and keeping his team in the game as long as he could...you don't win games by allowing the double of your shots on goal and scoring only twice.

Mike Comrie scored twice, Christoph Schubert, the defenceman/forward put in his 8th and Dany Heatley is 2 goals away from yet another 50-goal season after scoring late in the 3rd to put the game entirely out of reach.

Dean McCammond scored his 14th and Martin Gerber got the start in goal.

• The Flyers can't upset this time..

The Flyers closed some mouths a few days ago by beating Peter Laviolette's awe-strucken Hurricanes team 5-1.
Tonight was a different story, well, it was the same story entering the game: A nothing to lose team trying to ruin a team's chances of making a run at Lord Stanley's Cup.
Final score: 6-4, not bad, the Rangers didn't exactly coast through this one.

Jaromir Jagr, the shadow of last season's version of himself, scored twice for Big Apple, Martin Straka, Tomas Pock, Ryan Callahan and Peter Prucha scored the others.
Jagr also added an assit, as well as Martin Straka (he had 2).

Michael Nylander added 2 assists and Sean Avery stayed out of the penalty box.
For the Flyers now...the 23rd overall pick by the 'Yotes back in '02, Ben Eager, scored his 5th and 6th goals of the season and Braydon Coburn, the young defenceman acquired from Atlanta for Alexei Zhitnik, scored only his 3rd and Ryan Potulny potted his 6th of the season. Simon Gagne was also on the scoresheet with 2 assists...
Martin Biron was pulled from the Flyers' goal after giving in to 5 Rangers' goal on 22 shots, Antero Niittymaki made 11 saves out of a possible 12.

The Ligtning still alive...

After beating out on the Canes 4-2 last night, the Lightning had an easy opponent in the Washington Capitals and the score proved it once again: 5-2 Lightning.

The league-leader in goals, Vincent Lecavalier, scored his 51st of the season while quebecois Martin St. Louis added his 43rd.

Lecavalier also added his 54th and 55th assists as he continues his career season...
Jason Ward, Dan Boyle and Ryan Craig scored the other 3 Tampa goals...Cory Sarich got his 14th and 15th assists.

The Lightning still hold a 2-point lead over the 8th place Canadiens and a one point lead over the Rangers...

Yawn...good night!

Oh, and on a side note, the Panthers are still winning and they have not lost hope yet...but, with barely 5 games to go for the season and a 4 point deficit, barring any *ouches wood* Habs losing streak, the Cats are probably out.

Kronwall's injury is more serious than expected, he'll miss 6-8 weeks of action and that possibly means the entire playoffs. HUGE blow for this Wings team, Kronwall is a fine puck-moving defenceman but I think Andreas Lilja can compensate for this loss.
This is the third major injury of Kronwall's 3 season career (knee surgery, broken leg...)
And he didn't strain his hip, he BROKE his sacrum, which is a "large triangular bone at the base of the back" (Hat tip to Wikipedia).
Yow! That's gotta hurt.

And here's something for you to sleep...or wake up on:

Ahhh...Montréal and those damned Leafs...and Islanders, and Senators, and Rangers, ahh...

The Montreal Canadiens lost yesterday, I felt it in the air before the puck even dropped, it's inevitable, the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge colours just don't go well with the Scotiabank Place ice and with the evident home team, the Ottawa Senators.

Heading into last night's game, the Canadiens shakily held onto a spot in the Eastern Conference's top 8 teams, to be more precise, tied for 7th with the Tampa Bay Lightning who faced off against the Carolina Hurricanes, a team who's just come off a puzzling and embarrassing 5-1 loss to the lowly Philadelphia Flyers.
And yet, the Canadiens do not have a smooth surface to skate upon in the upcoming days, after a seemingly effortless 5-2 loss to the Scotiabank Place's team (come on, you know who...), a Tampa Bay 4-2 victory over the failing 'Canes and their inconsistent stoppers, who haven't stopped much lately, Le Canadien find themselves in a dogfight for the 8th and final playoff spot in the NHL's Eastern Conference and a difficult schedule to deal with.

Montreal's upcoming crucial games include stops in Madison Square Garden, a home decision in a few days against the eliminated Bruins, a final game showdown against versus the Leafs at the ACC that may decide who gets in and who doesn't and tonight at the Bell Centre, the Buffalo Sabres, who really want to play the Canadiens in the 1st round since they started Ty Conklin in goal... (!?)

On a good news side, the Islanders lost 6-4 to the Sabres Friday night, backup goalie Mike Dunham isn't getting the job done for the Islanders, who have lost Rick DiPietro indefinitely, as he allowed 5 straight goals in the first period alone.

The Leafs are playing the Penguins tonight on Hockey Night in Canada (what's new?), they sit one point behind the Canadiens...TONIGHT, I hope the Sens win against the Islanders, and hey, with the duo of Mike Dunham and Wade Dubielewicz, you can kiss Long Island's team out of a playoff spot; with any miracle, the Flyers will pull of another upset and beat the Rangers...

Updates to be posted later on tonight...it's 1-0 Buffalo now, 2-1 Rangers over the Flyers, 1-0 Penguins, and it's scoreless at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa with the Sens taking on the Islanders...

Kovalev and Yashin la creme de la creme of the NHL's 4th liners...

Alexei Yashin (left) and Alex Kovalev (right) are the best 4th line players in the NHL

Alexei Yashin was demoted to the fourth line in Tuesday's game at Tampa Bay, as coach Ted Nolan was steamed that he did not cover Vincent Lecavalier in the second period, leading to a goal. "Whether it's our captain or not, you have to perform. At this time of the year, there's no excuses."

Alexei Yashin is now the most expensive 4th liner in the National Hockey League, beating out the Canadiens' Alex Kovalev by a $5 million margin.
Kovalev is making $4.5 million in Bleu, Blanc et Rouge this season whereas Yashin's always-famous 10 year/$90 million contract is still glaring brightly in Long Island.

Ironically, both players are underachieving and they're getting paid a lot of money to do so. But, both still remain top-notch players with Kovalev getting the slight edge, despite his inconsistency.

Yashin was well on his way to his best season since signing the second biggest deal in Islanders history (recently beaten out by Rick DiPietro's 15-year contract) until a knee injury put him out of action for a good period of time.
Since his return to the lineup, Yashin has only 2 points in 6 games, and is hardly the player he was in the first part of the season, as he formed a great duo with impending UFA Jason Blake, who's still going strong.

Kovalev was benched in a game against the Ottawa Senators a few weeks ago as the Canadiens dropped back-to-back games against the latter and falling lower in the playoff race, when he gave the puck away at his own blue-line, costing his team the game.

New York Newsday cites that he was benched for a nearly identical reason, as he did not cover Vincent Lecavaler who added to his league leading goal total and helped his team go 2-0 over the Islanders. The Islanders fought back with 3 consecutive goals from Richard Zednik, Richard Park and Miroslav Satan to take the lead but the Lightning still ended up winning in overtime.
The loss was costly as the Islanders fell to 11th place in the Eastern Conference, 1 point behind the 8th spot which is up for grabs by three teams (Canadiens, Maple Leafs and Hurricanes)

Yashin has been an underachiever since he came to New York, fresh off outstanding season with the then-depleted Ottawa Senators, he was expected to produce big-time and put up all-star numbers, season-by-season.
He has not done that and up until today, he has been an average (for his salary) 60-70 point player for the Islanders and has not helped them advance past the first round of the playoffs.

The Russian-born player still remains however, a good tennis parter of owner Charles Wang...and the Russian-born Kovalev is excelling on the 4th line with Quebecois rookies Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse, some even say it's been his best showing in a long time.

The move to the 4th line is likely temporary in Yashin's case, since excluding certain teams, as the Canadiens, Sabres and Stars, the 4th line doesn't get much ice time.

Alex Kovalev has 14 goals and 28 assists for a total of 42 points in 65 games this season, a considerable drop-off of the 65 he ammassed in 69 games last season.
Captain Yashin has 14 goals and 26 assists for a toal of 40 points in 48 contests.
Yashin has the slight advantage of a better entourage than Kovalev, who had to suffer with Sergei Samsonov and the used-to-be mediocre Tomas Plekanec on his side.

I don't think Samsonov is exactly Blake, but, nonetheless, both are underachieving, highly-skilled players.

Four teams vying for final playoff spot in East...

Here's a table showing you the teams in the race for the final playoff spot of the Eastern Conference with the games remaining and their last game result. Below, you can see abbreviated summaries of the games mentioned above.

• The Canadiens beat the Bruins 1-0 yesterday with the help of rookies: getting 30 saves from rookie Jaroslav Halak and a goal from rookie Guillaume Latendresse, his 16th of the campaign to help top the Bruins, who now seem like they've completely given up on making the playoffs, having not scored a goal in a little more than 138 minutes...Tim Thomas was sensational, making 31 saves in another losing Bruins cause, but not a losing cause for him as he kept the Bruins in the game till the very end, but, when a team doesn't score a goal, it's kinda hard to win a game...


• The Leafs held off the Devils 2-1, the Devils attempted to pry their way back with a goal from rookie sensation Travis Zajac late in the 3rd period, but it was in vain as the Leafs win a crucial matchup against a powerhouse with help from Kyle Wellwood, and his 11th goal of the season, and Nik Antropov with his 16th to seal the deal. Andrew Raycroft was just a little better than the Devils' star netminder Martin Brodeur, making 24 saves with his counterpart making one less for 23...The Leafs are tied with the Canadiens and Hurricanes for the final playoff spot and the Eastern Conference, and along with Carolina, -have 1 game in hand over Montreal...

• The Islanders lost again, this time to the Lightining, in overtime 4-3. The loss puts the Islanders at a mediocre 3-4-3 record in their past ten games. Just as you thought they were a lock, they started losing. Tampa Bay came back in fine fashion after an embarrassing loss to Washington on Sunday (a 7-1 crumbling) despite blowing the lead and going down before tying the game and winning it in overtime. Eric Perrin notched his 12th goal of the season, Vincent Lecavalier scored his league-leading 49th, Jason Ward tied the game with his 5th and Filip Kuba won it in overtime for the Lightning...The Isles got goals from Richard Zednik, his 7th, Richard Park with his 6th and Miro Satan tallied his 25th in a losing cause. With this loss the Islanders fall out of the 8th spot and into the 11 spot in the Eastern Conference, they do hold however, games in hand over the other competing teams...

• The Hurricanes were idle but are coming off a 7-2 thrashing over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday and prepare to play Thursday against the Washington Capitals.

Simon's NHL career gets spanked with huge suspension

Now here's Chris Simon, stepping up to the plate...and the pitch from
Hollweg...swing and a head hit! Great contact by Simon, he just pounded the headball with that swing...

After swinging at Ryan Hollweg's head a few days ago, gritty Chris Simon of the New York Islanders will sit for a minimum of 25-games according to Colin Campbell and co.
This officially ends his season, the entire playoffs(that is, assuming the Isles get in) without exception, even if the Islanders go far and more importantly, his NHL career.

Simon, 35, is nearing the end of his career. After a terrible 2005-2006 campaign with the Flames, the Islanders took a chance on this shaky but season vet, signing him to a one-year deal. He brings grit, strength and occasional scoring ability to the table.
He's having a decent year by his standards, he inherited a spot on the top line recently, with 10 goals and 17 assists for a total of 22 points.

His NHL career is probably over, Simon should hang 'em up once the season and his suspension are over. He's not made for the fast new NHL, players like him are unfortunatly abundant but fortunately dissapearing.

Here's the play Simon will probably have ever made in his career; what a sour way to end your NHL stay.

Colin Campbell and co. should start worrying, trash like this is becoming a custom in the new NHL (see Cam Janssen and Tomas Kaberle)

Now, we have to think...who's the next one to do something like this?
Makes me wonder if these guys are on something like amphetamines.

Goodbye Chris Simon, you will not be missed, *ahem* well, not by me...