Canes reacquire Cory Stillman for Ryan Carter and a 5th round pick(bit expensive).
Leaffan, mnemosyne, officiating is awful League wide. Or like Brad Watson’s favorite call "#59, Carolina, 2 minutes being on the ice. ":mad:
The Ottawa region is Habs territory, Leaffan; TSN/Habs (if you have Bell) and RDS both carried the game.
Hockey could be so much better if the refs and the league were ever held accountable for their actions. Cherry-picking calls, ignoring blatant rules violations, the phantom “make up call”…all of it is an embarrassment.
I’m going to an AHL game tonight…should be interesting to see if it’s any better! Go 'Dogs, Go!
I have Shaw (Starchoice) and the game was blacked out on TSN. I don’t get RDS. Sigh…
Yeah, I understand about the ref situation, especially the phantom “make up call.” On the other hand, hockey is not like other sports; it is blindingly fast compared to all other team sports and calls need to be made in real time. I really think the refs do a good job MOST of the time.
Hey, Kerry Fraser is retired, so the league average for poor calls must have gotten better!
I’m going to a 67s game in a couple of weeks. At least there will be playoff hockey somewhere in Ottawa this year.
Blindingly fast or not, one Ref can do the job. Especially with the support the NHL review system can provide. I just want to get one of the zebras off the ice. Three is enough, it’s ridiculous when a team goes 2 men down and is out manned by the officials on the ice. 
Stillman back in Carolina, and the Canes beat the Pens 4-1. Staal out at least one game with an upper body injury.
Ottawa is looking to extend Chris Phillips, which absolutely mystifies me. He’s been a wonderful player for us over the years, but his play has gone off a cliff this year and we need to start opening up spots on the blueline for the prospects we have coming up. I really don’t understand why Ottawa isn’t looking to trade him and get some good picks while he still has value. I really don’t see a lot in his game this year that suggests that his poor play is anomaly. I worry that he’s lost a step and it’s really hurt his effectiveness.
One ref really can’t. The first ref needs to follow the play around the puck. The second ref is free to look for infractions away from the puck. Getting rid of the second ref would give teams free reign to mug players away from the play. No thanks.
An important early game today when Nashville plays at Dallas. Looks like Brad Richards is expected back for the Stars. Both Dallas and Nashville have 70 points going into this game.
Columbus has won their past 3 games, so now they’re pushing themselves into playoff contention as well. With 12 teams in the playoff race for the Western Conference, this is going to be one of the most exciting finishes to a regular season I can remember.
This:
might be explained by this:
If he’s dropped off and lost his trade value–even though Ottawa seems content to get anything in their fire sale, like a conditional 7th for Kovalev–they should just let his contract expire. He’s got a NTC, so he may have been approached about waiving it and said no, but that doesn’t change that extending him would be mystifying…
That does it. We’re cursed. cries
14 809 fans in the Bell Centre last night to watch the Hamilton Bulldogs play a “home” game against the Adirondack Phantom. We went with friends from Texas, who have been to several Dallas Stars games and had never seen anything like this crowd! They were also ecstatic to get photos with Youppi! and Bruiser!
It was a good game, too, with the Dogs winning 4-1, including a goal by Nigel Dawes in his first game as a Bulldog.
Sharks are on a roll, now leadin the Pacific Division. Good to see some gritty hockey for a change.
Yesterday, in case some of you missed it, Blake Geoffrion made his NHL debut. He is the fourth generation to play in the NHL from the same family. His father Danny played a few years in the early 1980s. His grand father is the legendary “Boom Boom” Geoffrion and his great grandfather is the also legendary Howie Morenz.
I swore I saw Howie Meeker in a grocery store in Stittsville, ON today. Is that possible, do you think?
I would say it’s unlikely, since he lives out west. But hey, nothing’s impossible. I’m sure I once saw Pierre McGuire at the No Frills in Sturgeon Falls, ON, one summer.
Infomercials get better ratings than the Florida Panthers?
Where are all those fair weather rat tossing fans? The Panthers haven’t been a good team for a few years, but they have enough players to make watching their games worthwhile. At least better than infomercials!
Probably still in Miami, or at least Dade County. The Panthers played downtown in their salad days, but now they’re out in the middle of nowhere in Broward County.
Speaking of the Panthers, their roster for next year is amusing.
They’ve got Booth, Weiss and Olesz, a couple of kids on EL contracts, Weaver and Garrison on D and Scott Clemmensen in net. Other than that, they’ve got about $42m to re-sign some guys and fill a lot of holes.
Should be a busy off season in Sunrise…
The Habs are almost in the same boat, although the core of Gomez, Gionta, Plekanec and Cammalleri are signed long term. Other than that, though, the only guys with contracts are Moen, Eller, Spacek, Subban and Price.
I want them to sign Gorges SOOOOOOO MUCH! I miss him!
RDS just reported that the Atlanta Thrashers team photo was taken by the arena’s zamboni guy because they couldn’t afford a photographer.