Hey, long time no post.

Just to let you guys know, the podcast probably won’t pick up until the week of January 11th, but we’re still not sure. It depends when we can get studio time at the college. We won’t find out what’s available until we go back, which is the week of the 11th. I think 2009 should be a good year for us here at the blog. Make sure you listen in for our special trade deadline episode, where we will go through every notable trade that was made, and offer our two cents, as well as who we feel won the trade. During the playoffs you will see beefed up coverage as well, we will be getting in depth into each match up. Should be fun!

Just some other news that some may find interesting, especially goaltenders. TPS has been bought out, so prepare to see goaltenders who currently wear their equipment switch to other brands. There’s been quite a bidding war going on for some of the soon-to-be-former TPS goalies, with Vaughn recently signing Josh Harding to a contract, and extending the current Vaughn wearer Steve Mason’s contract for three more seasons.

Henrik Lundqvist’s party was asking for too much money, so Vaughn has backed out of a deal with him. He’s expected to sign with CCM sometime soon. Lundqvist would have liked to have signed with Vaughn, seeing as he wore their equipment back in Europe, but I guess money talks.

Roloson in Edmonton is likely switching to Vaughn as well, so watch for the equipment changes in the new year!

Tags: goaltending, harding, lundqvist, podcast, roloson

There was mention of a really good fight on the latest podcast (November 28th). We couldn’t remember who the Columbus player was, we thought it was Jared Boll, but it turns out it was another young Blue Jacket by the name of Derek Dorsett.

Great tilt on both sides, both men are going to have some pretty awesome fights down the road. Dorsett is only 22 and Carcillo is only 23. Hope you enjoyed it, I know I did.

Tags: carcillo, dorsett, fight, hockey

Mike Smith of the Tampa Bay Lightning got into it a little bit last night in New York with forward Aaron Voros. Something must have been said or done that I’m not aware of, because Smith laid into Voros quite a bit:

I wonder if it has anything to do with Voros lighting up netminders all year long so far (5 goals in the first 8 games of the year).

I have no idea why a Lightning player didn’t step in and fight Voros, you shouldn’t let your goalie go at it with a player like that, especially an agitator like Voros who you know is going to come right back at him. He could have easily broken a hand, or been kicked out of the game. That’s not something you want to happen to your star netminder.

Another interesting thing is how the linesmen broke it up right away. Both of them clearly wanted to fight, and there was no advantage to either side yet (although Smith did land a beauty uppercut, as you probably saw). Let them go at it some more! I understand you’re looking out for their safety, but they should have let it go on until one of them had the clear advantage.

Some entertaining stuff nevertheless.

EDIT: Now Rangers coach Tom Renney wants Smith suspended. Hah, nice try. Almost as nice a try as trying to get compensation for prospect Alexei Cherepanov’s death. Disgusting.

Tags: aaron voros, fight, goalie, mike smith, new york rangers, tampa bay lightning

Twenty-nine teams had a shot a a top-tier goaltender, who won the Stanley Cup no less than 4 seasons ago, and every single one passed on him. Now that doesn’t mean the twenty-nine teams thought they wouldn’t improve if they took Nikolai Khabibulin, there are about 5 teams I can name off the top of my head that would benefit greatly from the addition of Khabibulin (*cough Nashville,Ottawa,Detroit,Boston,Colorado *cough*). Sure, if you force the Blackhawks to release Khabibulin then you can reduce the hefty price tag of 6.75 Million, but then he’ll be free to sign anywhere he wants. If you’re a struggling team, then don’t bet on him coming your way.

My explantion is that General Managers are afraid of taking risks. Mis-managing the cap can lead to tough decisions, and may cost them their job.

Although the addition of Khabibulin may boost the club’s talent level, GMs aren’t willing to sacrifice that much money under the cap. They would rather take the risk and sign him on an open market, or trade for him, dumping some salary in return. We’ve seen this time and time again, with both big and small name players.

Where will Khabby end up? That’s yet to be seen. Hopefully it’s somewhere where they need him, as it was clear he wasn’t needed in Chicago. I’m just hoping the place doesn’t end up being Russia. He is far too talented to let go. He left once before during a salary dispute, in the 1999-2000 season, so I’m sure he wouldn’t hesitate leaving now.

To the twenty-nine General Managers in the league who can get Khabibulin, do it! Get him! He’s well worth the risk!

Tags: blackhawks, chicago, goaltending, khabibulin, waivers

The NHL’s rookie camps open this week, and is anyone else as excited as I am? Every season has tingly sensation to it for every hockey fan, but after witnessing the 07-08 playoffs, I think we’re in for something special. Every team starts on the same level, so many surprises and unexpected events are sure to occur.

I love reading the previews like The Hockey News Yearbook and The Score Forecaster, not to take any of the predictions to heart or for the fantastic articles, but just so I can look back and see how wrong they were! Sure they may get a few things right, but it’s the unexpected twists that we as hockey fans live for. Definitely pick up one of the magazines I mentioned above if you want a quick refresher on what to expect for the upcoming year, or if you just want a head-start for your fantasy pool.

If you’re like me and you need something to hold you over until the season starts, I suggest you pick up a copy of NHL 09. It was rated 9.0/10 by IGN, making it not only one of the best hockey games ever made, but also one of the best sports games ever made. Take that, Madden! It’s extremely addicting, with great new features building on NHL 08’s success. I really enjoy the new custom soundtrack feature that’s on the Xbox 360 version. It lets you choose songs for goals, breaks in play, penalties, the whole bit. It makes the game much more realistic hearing “Vertigo” blasted after the Habs score a goal.

So there you go ladies and gentlemen. The pre-season is just around the corner believe it or not. I can’t wait for this season to get started! How about you?

(PS: Mats Sundin, hurry the f**k up already!)

(PSS: Podcast is still being worked on! I’m swamped with work for college. Please be patient!)

Tags: 08-09 Season, NHL, NHL 09, The Hockey News, The Score Forecaster

At the trade deadline earlier this year, the Toronto Maple Leafs shipped veteran forward Chad Kilger to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a third round draft pick. Kilger never reported to the Panthers, and requested time off for “personal reasons.” After the period of time that the Panthers gave Kilger was up, and he had still not reported, they suspended him. Although he is still technically a member of the Florida Panthers, his future is in serious jeopardy.

Fast-forward to the current day. The Leafs and Panthers are at it once again, working on a trade. This time it is Bryan McCabe being shipped for Mike Van Ryn. Cliff Fletcher let it be known early in the off-seaon that McCabe was available to be traded, even going as far as stating that McCabe was not “in the future plans,” despite the fact that he is under contract for the next 3 seasons (The contract is also known as “JFJ’s biggest mistake”).

Did Fletcher have this deal in place at the end of the season, but the media never picked up on it until late July? It sure seems like it to me. After the media picked up on it, it became the worst kept secret in Leafland since the Raycroft buyout. There were a few teams that hinted interest in McCabe (Ottawa, Montreal, Buffalo), but by the time they found out, it was probably too late. McCabe was already packing his bags and halfway out the door by that time.

I don’t think the league had anything to do with it, making the Leafs trade McCabe to the Panthers because they practically stole a third round pick from them, I think Fletcher just did it out of good nature. He wanted to get rid of McCabe, gave Jacques Martin a quick call, found out that he was interested and hammered out a deal, qucik snap. Fletcher probably didn’t even hear offers from other teams.

That’s how I think it went down. Right or not, justice has been served for the botched Kilger/Draft pick trade from earlier this year.

After the trade from Columbus to Tampa Bay, it was all downhill for Marc Denis’ career. It appears that he has hit rock bottom, after being placed on waivers by the Lightning today, and is expected to be bought out if not claimed by another team.

After struggling in his first season with the Lightning in 2006-2007, posting a record of 17-18-2, he followed it up with a dismal 2007-2008 campaign. He owned a record of 1-5 in 10 games, with a 4.05 goals-against-average, and a 0.859 save percentage before being sent down to the Lightning’s AHL affiliate in Norfolk. Even there he only won 11 times in 32 games.

For a goalie who is supposed to be hitting his prime at age 31, Denis is far from it. He showed flashes of greatness for Columbus, when he was playing behind a brutal squad for years, so everyone knows that he has the talent, it’s just a matter of putting it together in the right situation. He may be in the AHL for the rest of his career, or in Europe, but I still think an NHL team should take a flyer on him, and send him to their AHL squad.

If Denis does get another shot, he better not blow it, because it could be his last.

UPDATE: Denis has signed a contract with the Montreal Canadiens. He’ll likely start the year in Hamilton. He’s replacing Yann Danis who signed with the Islanders (Denis to replace Danis???) Welcome to Hammertown, Marc!